2kool
Well-Known Member
A&T is halfway up the eastern seaboard.
Rumor Mill: More Teams Leaving the MEAC?
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A&T is halfway up the eastern seaboard.
number1
Well-Known Member
You don't have to slam A&Ms AD. lol
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Decks
Active Member
This move is coming from the president, not the AD. In April 2015 in a detailed power point presentation he gave a breakdown on how we needed to drastically reduce our travel related expenses. If the MEAC didn't make some changes we would likely move to a new conference. I was at this meeting so I kinda knew this was coming after five years on inaction by the MEAC.
This move will save us $500k per year which is significant when you see our athletic budget is around 13 million.
This didn't have to happen. Contraction was the remedy to cut the footprint down to reasonable size. Still the most sensible thing to do or risk losing more schools.
2kool
Well-Known Member
We played A&T in a OOC game. A&M doesn't run from ANYBODY.
JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
Did A&T have any recommendations on the table to save money for MEAC schools when it comes to travel budget???
JROCK
Preeminent
Interesting post. Sounds like they should have shifted to a division set up to mitigate membership's cost. Seems like the lack of action has diluted membership and may ultimately be their demise....So sad to hear.
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
He said it. MEAC needed to kick some schools out lol.
JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
That and split into a two division (North and South) conference with a championship game to determine the conference champ in football. For a few seasons, the MEAC Conference has ended up with a tie for the conference champs and sometimes it would be a three way tie. Too much uncertainty can cause some frustrations.
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
But the MEAC sat on its hands while the schools were letting them know travel costs were a problem. They have no one to blame but themselves.
Journalist
Listen up maggots! And that's an order!
The North/South alignment could’ve been beneficial across all sports, but ...
Decks
Active Member
Splitting into divisions is what Commissioner Thomas wanted to do however the MEAC Council of CEO's voted it down in early 2015, at the same meeting they approved the Celebration Bowl. Reason being they wanted the MEAC's second place team to remain available for an fcs at large playoff bid. At that point the only other option became contraction.
A truly bold move would have cut away Del State, UMES, and Coppin on the northern end. FAMU and BCU on the Southern end(head to SWAC). That would have left:
Morgan State
Howard
Norfolk St
Hampton
A&T
NCCU
SC State
Since the MEAC wasn't bold enough to do this the
Big South swooped in and seized the opportunity. With the exception of Monmouth, and UNA in football travel for all sports will primarily be VA, NC, SC and GA.
Earle
Well-Known Member
Hey Decks, will A&T's fanbase simply endure the racial disrespect across all sports that is certain to come their way? And what about the loss of revenue when visiting fans don't show up on your campus in significant numbers? While the Hampton/A&T matchups will undoubtedly now grow in significance, but will A&T retain any profitable MEAC alignments, or simply make a clean cut?
Decks
Active Member
Although I'd say the majority of or fans are against this move I don't think it will affect attendance or revenue. Keeping it real....most MEAC teams only bring a handful of fans so no change there. If we keep winning our fans will show up.
Using Hampton as an example they routinely lead all hbcu's in basketball attendance. Since moving to the BSC they still lead all hbcu's in basketball attendanc. We expect similar results.
JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
Maybe WSSU saw the footprint of the conference as a problem back when they moved back to the CIAA. IMO, the MEAC should have tried to stick with its namesake, which is the MID-EASTERN Athletic Conference. The conference should have stayed with schools within that region, from DC to the Carolinas.
BraveMan97
Well-Known Member
Does this mean more self-awarded National Championships are on the horizon?
JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
I guess that's why the MEAC haphazardly allowed Savannah State membership, to balance things out in the southeast part of the conference. We all know how that worked out. Except foe FAMU and BCU, there are not many HBCUs in the southeast (Georgia and Florida) in the position to make that jump to DI.
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In_The_662
Deeeeep In The Delta.....
Virginia came up with a state law that said that schools like JMU and NSU couldn't have 80% of their athletic budget propped up by student fees
NCAT is at 75% I believe so at some point someone will crash and burn because that's not sustainable
That may be the problem. It sounds like you need to get out of Atlanta more often. There is no way in hell anyone with good sense can say that A&T isn't a national brand/name within the HBCU space.
BraveMan97
Well-Known Member
I believe it is sustainable.
NCAT has a 12k strong enrollment and an athletic program that is competitive.
I don't know where they rank in attendance, nor do I know what type of revenue share deal they are getting with the Big South, but student fees are typically post graduation concerns.
I don't see fees as an enrollment deterrent, but time will tell.
That's a question you need to ask the MEAC commissioner. What you are asking isn't A&T's responsibility.
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JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
Sure it's the duties and responsibilities of the conference commissioner to balance things out for all schools, but once A&T saw it as a problem, they should have engaged the commissioner to come up with a solution. There's nothing wrong with A&T making recommendations to save money across the board. Basically on-campus resources that can improve our conferences and athletic programs. A&T was once a MEAC member school.
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