Comments on: Jacksonville St. Approves FBS Upgrade Exploration

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 04:18:53 +0000

I’ll be really interested to see the outcome at Jacksonville State.

It would make sense that the WAC would be the only option for JSU, which could really mean an even bigger increase in their overall athletic budget (beside the cost involved moving football up to IA) because of travel costs. Think about, Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., would be the closest conference member (provided they don’t leave for the Sun Belt) and still be an almost 8 hour bus ride away. Texas State and Texas-San Antonio would be almost 1,000 miles not mention traveling to San Jose, Calif., Moscow, Idaho, Denver, Logan, Utah and Las Cruces, NM. It’s on thing for your football or basketball teams to have to fly for games, it’s whole another thing when every team you have (think golf, baseball, soccer, volleyball etc) has to get on a plane for a conference road event. I’ve worked in college athletics and see how travel costs can take a toll on an athletic program.

By: Peter Hunt

Peter Hunt — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:01:37 +0000

Wow, Jacksonville State would have some travel exspenives if they joined the WAC. Alabama is not that close to Moscow, Idaho. I think that’s where the Kibble dome is? Good thing Hawii is joing the MWC.

By: Matt Peloquin

Matt Peloquin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:27:10 +0000

Beggars can’t be choosers. If the WAC is the only option and all

By: Nathan Brice

Nathan Brice — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:44:41 +0000

I don’t believe that the WAC would invite them. There are too many factors that would make it not worth it for either side. I would be surprised if they decided to go FBS because they would probably not get in a conference that they would like.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:08:53 +0000

“At this time, it seems that due to the existing NCAA rules, the WAC might be the only option for any potential FCS upgrade.”

Would such invitation by the WAC cement the conference’s new found reputation as the Atlantic Sun of I-A Conferences? Also, would the NCAA decide to revoke its recently relaxed rule about league membership stability requirement?

I am surprised that I-A schools from the power conferences are not limiting the overall number of I-A programs. If we are to have a playoff in I-A, then the power conferences would want to limit the number of schools who will receive a slice of the financial pie.