About These Appalachian State to the CAA Rumors
If you haven’t heard by now, the CAA “formally contacted” College of Charleston, Davidson, and Appalachian State last week. There are also rumors that Elon and Furman are under consideration. We don’t know what the “formal” contact consisted of, but it’s safe to assume that it was an attempt to gauge each of the schools’ interest in joining the CAA. There is a world of difference between contacting a school and extending it an offer. There is an even bigger difference between extending a school and offer and a school actually joining a new league. The fact that CAA commissioner Tom Yeager and his colleagues are possibly targeting App State is huge though. It’s a sign that they’re serious about solidifying the CAA spot at the top of the FCS pecking order.
Virtually everyone is skeptical that App State will leave the Southern Conference for the CAA. And with good reason. The Mountaineers have officially acknowledged its desire to move up to FBS. Making a move to another FCS conference doesn’t really track with that plan. A lot of those dismissing the possibility of App State making the move allege that it would upset the fanbase. However, if App State’s Southern Conference-mates skip town for the CAA, the idea of sticking around to play in an increasingly unstable league might upset the fans even more. And as anyone who has followed conference re-alingment will tell you, wanting to make the jump from FCS to FBS is only one half the equation. The other half involves an FBS league actually wanting you to join. Thus far, App State hasn’t had any offers come through. They might get one sometime in the future, or they might not. Maybe the prudent thing to do would be to hedge their bets by joining the top FCS league in the land in case the FBS leagues never come calling.
In addition to those who say App State would never entertain an offer from the CAA, there are folks claiming that the league shouldn’t even waste their time courting the Mountaineers. Their logic is that App State would be a short-timer and would be heading for the exits as soon as an FBS league extended an offer. That may be true. As previously stated though, they haven’t received any offers yet and they might not ever get one. This last round of FCS to FBS moves seemed to be driven with media markets in mind. Like JMU, App State finds itself located in a small media market. To me, it seems like it’s worth a roll of the dice for the CAA. And even if App State did make the jump to FBS in a few years, the CAA would be better off in the short run. The league is perpetually one FBS move away from being completely shaken up anyway. They might as well be the aggressor and attempt to drive the ship instead of just waiting around for the next move. And I’ve got to think that Yeager and the powers that be agree with me at least a little bit. If they don’t, then why would they even “formally contact” Appy in the first place?
It’s pretty clear I’m all in for this move. I’m skeptical it will come to fruition, but I really hope it does. There is no way that anyone could argue that swapping out ODU and Georgia State for Appalachian State and any one of the other SoCon schools would not be a major, major upgrade for CAA Football. I thought JMU vs ODU had the potential to be an epic rivalry for years to come. The idea of the Dukes and Mountaineers challenging each other as conference foes is damn appealing though. The 2008 JMU vs App State game in old Bridgeforth was one of the best sporting events I ever attended. Sure, the Dukes rallying from 21 points down to win had a lot to do with that, but the atmosphere itself was electric. Plenty of App State fans made the trip and there was an energy surrounding the game that you just don’t see often in FCS. Repeat that scene every other year in the new Bridgeforth as CAA tilts? That would just be amazing.
I couldn’t agree more. Although ODU JMU had a chance at a true rivalry, JMU APP ST could be great too. Also I like the idea of expanding the CAA into North Carolina, just seems logical and I don’t personally care about markets but if it is a consideration, NC is the fastest growing state in the country. One possible negative I thought of was the northerners of the conference not liking the increasing focus on a southern league.
About the only thing that would make it palatable to remain stuck in FCS for the next ten years would be an annual tilt with App St. One thing I didn’t see you mention was the fact that we collectively just made it four times less palatable for a school like App St to join the CAA. As you mentioned, App St has stated aspirations for FBS. It’s a matter of time before the Sun Belt, WAC or even CUSA come calling. By raising the exit fee to $1M, the only way App St would come is if they were sure there would be no FBS offers, at least for the next several (many) years.
To my read, if the NCAA enacts another ten year moratorium on moving up, then the CAA becomes more attractive to some one like App St. Otherwise, why move within FCS and incur that big liability?
Don’t blame them for trying, but the $1M price tag they just put on leaving the CAA isn’t going to help.
All 3 of these options are horrible.
I agree with your assessment on Crappy Appy, with the strongest point being “why would we bring them in knowing they are going to leave?”. I really see zero incentive in leaving the SOCON for the CAA right now… even if they don’t move up.
Davidson also has zero incentive to join the CAA. They have a football team in name-only, and their hoops team goes to the NCAA’s every year already. Nothing to gain from the CAA there either.
Let’s face it, C of C isn’t even a real school. Legit schools have football teams.
Rather than raising the exit fee a day late and a dollar short (and screwing us), the CAA needs to be honest about what they have to offer potential schools. Right now, the CAA can offer a crappy hoops league with a couple of suspended teams, a huge exit fee that will prevent you from expanding in the future, and a fading football conference that *might* not be any better than the SOCON or the Big Sky anymore.
It seems like football is the only leg the CAA can semi-stand on right now. They should look at primetime football schools that aren’t already in the SOCON if they want to fix this mess. Otherwise JMU and Delaware need to get out ASAP.
If they are going to “formally contact” anyone, here are some suggestions:
-Lehigh
-Stony Brook
-Liberty
-Georgetown (football only)
-Coastal Carolina
-VMI
They also need to plan ahead for when Richmond formally transfers to Division III.
I actually think all 3 of these schools would be good additions. C of C and Davidson would be solid additions for hoops. My assumption is that Davidson would continue to play football in another league. Despite some folks objections, Yeager and the president need to add some schools for basketball reasons.
As far as your other suggestions go, Stony Brook is the odds on favorite to get an invite so the assumption is that the CAA has already contacted them. Lehigh will never leave the Patriot League and neither will Georgetown. Coastal’s academics are going to make it tough for them to get support from some CAA programs, and VMI just can’t compete on the field. Anyone who’s against bringing in Appy for fear that they’ll leave, should shy away from Liberty for the same reason. They’ve stated they want to go FBS already also.
-We can’t really question Coastal’s academics when we let Georgia State, Towson and ODU into the conference. Let’s be honest.
-Your point about Lehigh and G-Town is the same reason App is not on the table.
-VMI would be a money decision, and I don’t see how VMI is any less competitive on the field than Northeastern/Rhode Island.
-To your point about Liberty and App moving up…. I thought we indended to move up also, so why do we even really care what happens to the CAA?
I’m not personally questioning Coastal’s academics, but the fact is that in today’s CAA, certain schools (say W&M, UD) might be more concerned with not bringing in schools with academic reputations far below their own.
My point about Lehigh and G-Town was that they were firmly planted in a niche conference, made up of relatively similar private schools with outstanding academic reputations. It’s also very stable and there are no members publicly weighing options to leave. The SoCon is a bit more of a mixed-bag of schools (public private, strong academic, average academics, etc) with several members publicly considering other options. I don’t think the situations are alike.
The fact that we’re comparing VMI to Northeastern and URI is exactly my point. Northeastern dropped football and URI is leaving the CAA because neither one could keep up.
I don’t know if JMU is moving up. Fans want to, but the administration has said its committed to the CAA. That’s very different than at Liberty and Appy, where the administration commissioned feasibility studies and publicly stated its intent to move to FBS.