Reader Poll: What Should Jeff Bourne Do?
[polldaddy poll=6133571]As Todd explained on Wednesday, things are looking a little unsettled in CAA land. Georgia State just skipped town for the Sun Belt and the A10 is courting both VCU and George Mason. The Georgia State news was met with a collective yawn, but the potential loss of VCU and GMU has CAA fans buzzing and the rumor machine working overtime. The CAA has been fortunate to experience great success in both football and basketball in the last decade. Since not every league school fields a football team, including perennial hoops contenders VCU and Mason, there is no consensus league strategy for the future however. Some schools want to focus on hoops and keep climbing the mid-major ladder. Other schools favor making football the #1 priority. And the elephant in the room is that at least half the schools in the league would entertain offers from a stronger/FBS football/multi-bid hoops league. Or at least half the schools’ fans would. So with the uncertainty surrounding JMU, we’re curious what you think JMU’s AD Jeff Bourne should do. You could think the CAA is perfect for JMU and Bourne needs to fight to keep it together. Maybe you’re convinced the CAA is dying fast and Bourne needs to put out an APB to find a new league before it’s too late. You might think its best to just take a deep breath, calm down, and see how everything plays out. Or maybe you’d got other ideas we haven’t even considered. One thing seems pretty clear, the CAA is changing and Jeff Bourne needs to do what’s best for JMU.
I checked leave the CAA, but with the caveat that we should do it only if the finances make sense. Moving to a FBS league, which is really the only place to go if we leave the CAA (and always assuming a situation presents itself), will be require a much greater investment in athletics. I’m confident the administration understands that and is trying to determine whether we can afford it. If we can’t, if it means huge losses each year, then we should stay at a less expensive level.
I don’t think things are nearly as cut and dry for any single Internet poll to ever completely cover the possibilities.
These things involve back-door deals and “off the record” conversations, to which none of us are privy. Let’s just hope that the foreshadowing Bourne leaked(?) out to the DNR last fall is an indication that things are progressing well for us, and, our plans probably don’t include the CAA.
It could be that by the time we (or Yeager) hear about any of this, it’s the final tip of the iceberg and ADs and other people in the know already know exactly what’s going to happen….because it’s already done…unofficially.
Fair point Dukie95. The poll wasn’t intended to really be comprehensive. We really just wanted to see if we could gauge which way folks were leaning.
Personally speaking, I really like the CAA and enjoy the regional rivalries. I’d love for it continue, but I think JMU needs some contingency plans. Bourne’s recent comments make me think he’s working on some.