{"id":4026,"date":"2012-06-24T21:31:17","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T01:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4026"},"modified":"2012-06-24T21:32:51","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T01:32:51","slug":"about-these-appalachian-state-to-the-caa-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4026","title":{"rendered":"About These Appalachian State to the CAA Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If you haven’t heard by now, the CAA “formally contacted” College of Charleston, Davidson, and Appalachian State last week<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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