Author Topic: Conference Realignment Rumors  (Read 12859 times)

VA_Seawolf

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #330 on: December 03, 2023, 03:15:04 pm »
Liberty finishes 13-0 in CUSA and goes to the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon on Jan 1....

Meanwhile JMU finishes 11-1 and will be due for a bowl here shortly...

It's absolutely pathetic how programs who we used to compete with and frequently beat 10 years ago have now lapped us multiple times over. This is infuriating.
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factorykitten

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #331 on: December 12, 2023, 04:43:31 pm »
Liberty finishes 13-0 in CUSA and goes to the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon on Jan 1....

Meanwhile JMU finishes 11-1 and will be due for a bowl here shortly...

It's absolutely pathetic how programs who we used to compete with and frequently beat 10 years ago have now lapped us multiple times over. This is infuriating.

you should ask shawn heilbron how this happened.

Hammertime

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #332 on: December 12, 2023, 05:32:14 pm »
Liberty finishes 13-0 in CUSA and goes to the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon on Jan 1....

Meanwhile JMU finishes 11-1 and will be due for a bowl here shortly...

It's absolutely pathetic how programs who we used to compete with and frequently beat 10 years ago have now lapped us multiple times over. This is infuriating.

you should ask shawn heilbron how this happened.

lol. It doesn’t fit SBU narrative

ibosbu

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #333 on: February 29, 2024, 10:49:10 am »
UMass is headed from the A-10 to the MAC for all sports (except hockey I'm guessing/I hope). That drops the A-10 to 14 teams. You wonder if they're content there or if they're still looking at adding a couple. There are a lot of sub-FBS/non-football schools in that conference, and we have a few attractive schools who fit that mold in our conference including, well, us . Yeah, but really, not happening.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1762198328673006013

Man, even the CAA (19) is ranked higher than the MAC (24) in KenPom conferences right now.

UMass basketball enthusiasts are not pleased. In the KenPom ratings, you can list off seven A-10 schools before you reach Akron at #100, and another three A-10s before reaching a second MAC team. Does Frank Martin skip town? Can they recruit at the same level? I dunno. I'm skeptical.

Here's a good rundown of what it all means for the program. All you need to know is that UMass Lowell is in a better basketball conference than UMass. On Saturday, they had their best crowd in years .... YEARS (7,000+) ... and this news broke two days later. Brutal.

https://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/2024/02/umass-move-to-mac-is-brutal-blow-to-its-mens-basketball-program-vautour.html

Delaware and UMass together to MAC would have been a more logical addition to MAC. Delaware must be regretting now for making the move too early to a far flung CUSA.

So now that MAC is sitting on 13, and logic says that they will add another one, will the 14th team come from northeast? Does this open the door for Stony Brook to FBS? I say our AD should at least have a talk with MAC. In Buffalo and UMass, there are peer schools in proximity in place. I would even root for all SUNY 4 centers to be in MAC ;D!!
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VA_Seawolf

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #334 on: March 05, 2024, 01:24:50 am »
UMass is headed from the A-10 to the MAC for all sports (except hockey I'm guessing/I hope). That drops the A-10 to 14 teams. You wonder if they're content there or if they're still looking at adding a couple. There are a lot of sub-FBS/non-football schools in that conference, and we have a few attractive schools who fit that mold in our conference including, well, us . Yeah, but really, not happening.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1762198328673006013

Man, even the CAA (19) is ranked higher than the MAC (24) in KenPom conferences right now.

UMass basketball enthusiasts are not pleased. In the KenPom ratings, you can list off seven A-10 schools before you reach Akron at #100, and another three A-10s before reaching a second MAC team. Does Frank Martin skip town? Can they recruit at the same level? I dunno. I'm skeptical.

Here's a good rundown of what it all means for the program. All you need to know is that UMass Lowell is in a better basketball conference than UMass. On Saturday, they had their best crowd in years .... YEARS (7,000+) ... and this news broke two days later. Brutal.

https://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/2024/02/umass-move-to-mac-is-brutal-blow-to-its-mens-basketball-program-vautour.html

Delaware and UMass together to MAC would have been a more logical addition to MAC. Delaware must be regretting now for making the move too early to a far flung CUSA.

So now that MAC is sitting on 13, and logic says that they will add another one, will the 14th team come from northeast? Does this open the door for Stony Brook to FBS? I say our AD should at least have a talk with MAC. In Buffalo and UMass, there are peer schools in proximity in place. I would even root for all SUNY 4 centers to be in MAC ;D!!

If that were ever gonna happen, this kind of move by Umass would be the first domino.... had this happened say a decade ago and our athletic department hadn't fallen off a cliff, I'd say us moving to the MAC would be a done deal

But yeah makes you wonder why Delaware jumped to CUSA. MAC is better than current CUSA, but maybe Delaware thinks they can land in the Sun Belt soon? IDK. With all the shuffling going on at the P5 level, the new playoff, talk of the Big Ten and SEC breaking away.... I honestly think if anything we should stay put. Hell, hindsight says maybe stay in the AE and see how this all shakes out because all the movement is by no means done.

I think if when all is said and done we wind up in a league with Buffalo, UMass, Temple, Delaware, etc I think that's a great end state. What it takes to get there and what that looks like in the interim I don't know.

sbupatriots

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #335 on: March 05, 2024, 08:21:26 am »
I like that the next step from CAA has consistently been FBS. The next step from AE has been CAA so I think the CAA move was necessary. Just taking a look at the FBS conferences, there's not really a good geographical fit besides the MAC and would that even excite us? When was the last MAC team to improve as a program and move up from the MAC? Seems like a bit of a dead end. Maybe if the American conference added a few northeast schools that would make sense but it's pretty much a sun belt conference now.
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Chairman of the Board

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #336 on: March 05, 2024, 12:55:49 pm »
Quote
I think if when all is said and done we wind up in a league with Buffalo, UMass, Temple, Delaware, etc I think that's a great end state. What it takes to get there and what that looks like in the interim I don't know.

in a lot of ways, these are good, localized peers that we could build rivalries with- that we largely dont have now.  we'd need a northeast connection to save on travel costs, bring in fans, recruits, etc.  we're not at the level where we are meant to be paired up against B10 teams, etc. 
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ibosbu

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #337 on: March 07, 2024, 11:32:01 am »
https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/2019/11/19/20972679/mac-midweek-games-maction-television-networks-fan-experience

Read this interesting article. We don’t get much student support anyway. May be being on National TV on weeknights wouldn’t be so bad? MACtion baby
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Chairman of the Board

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Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« Reply #338 on: March 07, 2024, 12:03:53 pm »
before the MAC- the Big East did it.  after they reformed 20 years ago, teams like cincy, louisville, and SF tried this, and it worked.

it helped that WV was good, Rutgers made a run, etc.  We dont have that luxury.  but i tuned in on thursdays and saw those teams.  a smart move.
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