USC UPSTATe joins BSC

[gwujake08]

Solid pickup though now we go back to an unbalanced sched although this opens the door for that school in Lynchburg to go away bigsouthsports.com/news/2017/11/15/general-big-south-to-add-usc-upstate-as-full-member.aspx

[winthropeaglefan]

And Hampton is going to be joining the league too. They have a press conference at 11am today to announce the move.

[gwujake08]

Does anyone think GWU will consider a move to the SoCon maybe as the BSC has a couple members to act as a buffer?

[gwebb1994]

We had our chance before and didn't do it, so no.

This is prepping for LU to bolt somewhere else completely more than likely, although rumblings are PC is bleeding money and might be looking at stepping down a level.

Too bad it wasn't anticipating GW dropping down to D3 football, but we all know better.

[gwujake08]

Dont know why everyone is eager for us to move down. Being on the D-1 level brings a lot of clout to the university and it's something we should all be proud of IMO

[dawgdad]

Nov 16, 2017 12:46:33 GMT -5 gwujake08 said:

Dont know why everyone is eager for us to move down. Being on the D-1 level brings a lot of clout to the university and it's something we should all be proud of IMO

Well, how about the feeling of your son's Alma Mater tanking in the " spotlight" of FCS football. We had a respectable program going for several years, then Dickerson and now Carroll minus Randall.

Hopefully, the BSC may be preparing for the two schools who CANNOT properly fund FCS programs to move to an appropriate level in football.

Jake, who is excited on or off campus today with an 0-9 fcs record? Clout? I hope you're joking...

[gwujake08]

No I'm not joking I'd rather have a winless Division one team then a ranked d2 or division 3 squad because you get more exposure to the great University that Gardner Webb is with games on at least a digital platform if not better on television every single week schools in lower divisions don't have that opportunity I want everyone possible to know about Gardner Webb and what a great school it is and division 1 athletics including football is it good vehicle to do so

[gwebb1994]

Nov 19, 2017 17:15:11 GMT -5 gwujake08 said:

No I'm not joking I'd rather have a winless Division one team then a ranked d2 or division 3 squad because you get more exposure to the great University that Gardner Webb is with games on at least a digital platform if not better on television every single week schools in lower divisions don't have that opportunity I want everyone possible to know about Gardner Webb and what a great school it is and division 1 athletics including football is it good vehicle to do so

Respectfully and heartily disagree with you Jake. The issue is three-fold:

(1) G-W, as an institution, is struggling to maintain financial viability, any way you cut it. Going D-3 in football and taking half the money saved and putting it back in the general fund of the university, while taking the other half and upgrading all of the other sports to actually be at D-1 level is almost too logical. You mention exposure of football on television and digital platforms. Digital platforms are everywhere, you can watch D2 or D3 football and other sports on them, not just FCS football. In fact, on my ESPN sports tier on local Spectrum cable this season, I saw more D2 and D3 game options than the Big South conference. Frankly, we get a vast majority of our national name exposure through mens and womens hoops first and foremost, not our mediocre football program.

(2) G-W is not committed to running an athletic department that is viable on the D-1 level. If you don't believe me, simply go to D-2 schools like Belmont Abbey, Wingate, and L-R and compare the SID setup of each to G-W. Look at the strength/conditioning program, compliance, and academic support of each. We never had the infrastructure in place 15+ years ago to move up from the D2 level. That is not an excuse now, there has been more than enough time to adjust. We have zero over the air radio presence, period. Can you imagine the flat out embarrassment it would be for us to somehow actually get to the Big Dance in March and not be able to hear our own home announcers over the radio, and the local Shelby radio would have to take a national feed of the game? All because the almighty prick Noel Manning, Jr. though it better to deep six radio and go 100% internet?

(3) G-W does very little, in any regard, to get alumni actively involved in the life of the university after they leave, with the exception of making damned sure they beg for $$$. Alumni want to be proud of our alma mater, but when you see (1) the President of the school after his auto-coronation into the position, drive the school into financial turmoil with no fear of any repercussion to his job whatsoever by a limp-wristed Board of Trustees and (2) the most visible arm of the university, the athletic program, being run on the cheap and with an NAIA culture and mindset of mediocrity, it makes enthusiasm become non-existent.