Hampton looking to leave the MEAC for the CAA


Tigerpride said:
LOL.. u really hate our conference don't you? All of the things she mentioned can be solved with one thing: MONEY! Money is the one thing we don't have. I think we are doing great to make it this far. Not many of us can even afford to fund scholarships in all of our sports.

What Hampton needs to do is find out how much money the CAA is splitting. I doubt that it's much but if it's significant, they may have a point in moving. If not, i don't see the benefit. If you are not going 1-A.. where the money, TV, marketing, fans and exposure are, stay put! That's just my opinion.
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Nope I love the tradition and pageantry of our conference but thats about it...I cannot openly support a conference who continues live off of past accomplishments and have yet to compete with other conferences in terms of athletics...we could be so much more with VISION and Money!

I think Harvey has the right idea and surely has done what it takes to make a move to another conference considering he has tried it already! Also Hamptons fan base maybe behind the move true a few fans will moan and groan but they will be back once they see the team do well hopefully they can keep a few regional rivalries in place for football...
 
the band fan said:
people don't realize those PWCs want to play us also to boost their numbers.....winning is one thing but alot of them on our level and the smaller D-1 level struggle to fill their stands as they have a lot of fans who associate with the big state schools instead

When I see teams bragging on 25K and that's a record....we've pulled that for decades
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Can elaborate more on this because I think the band has alot to do with this? A few years back Central Michigan and the University of Miami wanted to play JSU but neither school provided the right amount of money for the Boom to come so that deal was shut down quick.
 



band = fans

I think the name CAA is what the administration wants but will they do what it takes to competitive across the board as your whole philosophy changes to compete
 
If you have a true fanbase, then you can draw a good crowd regardless of your conference affiliation. I believe if JSU were to field a true, competitive team year in and year out...we could do well in a PWC conference (attendance wise). If you can't draw 20k in a championship caliber season, then your fans aren't thoroughly excited with HBCU opponents anyway. If you have trouble getting 10-15k every home game, then the problem is that your school doesn't have a fanbase. Hell, we were getting that much with "the devil" on the sideline.

Tennessee State outdraws damn near everyone in the SWAC except Jackson State and Southern. I think they outdraw everyone in the MEAC except FAMU, SCSU, and maybe NCAT. All of this with a subpar team and playing in the OVC.
 
Clarksdale_Wildcat said:
If you have a true fanbase, then you can draw a good crowd regardless of your conference affiliation. I believe if JSU were to field a true, competitive team year in and year out...we could do well in a PWC conference (attendance wise). If you can't draw 20k in a championship caliber season, then your fans aren't thoroughly excited with HBCU opponents anyway. If you have trouble getting 10-15k every home game, then the problem is that your school doesn't have a fanbase. Hell, we were getting that much with "the devil" on the sideline.

Tennessee State outdraws damn near everyone in the SWAC except Jackson State and Southern. I think they outdraw everyone in the MEAC except FAMU, SCSU, and maybe NCAT. All of this with a subpar team and playing in the OVC.
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They draw when they play HBCUs. Against the OVC they get under 10K unless it is homecoming.
 
Clarksdale_Wildcat said:
If you have a true fanbase, then you can draw a good crowd regardless of your conference affiliation. I believe if JSU were to field a true, competitive team year in and year out...we could do well in a PWC conference (attendance wise). If you can't draw 20k in a championship caliber season, then your fans aren't thoroughly excited with HBCU opponents anyway. If you have trouble getting 10-15k every home game, then the problem is that your school doesn't have a fanbase. Hell, we were getting that much with "the devil" on the sideline.

Tennessee State outdraws damn near everyone in the SWAC except Jackson State and Southern. I think they outdraw everyone in the MEAC except FAMU, SCSU, and maybe NCAT. All of this with a subpar team and playing in the OVC.
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We played Northwestern LA in 2004 and still drew 30K to the game...All of our home games against Delta State have been pretty good crowds! I believe it can happen in football and basketball with the right HBCU schools....and if u can keep a few rivalries!
 
JROCK said:
I would need to see some hard core numbers to determine if this is a good move financially. This would entail RESEARCH. The other thing is one would have to get into the head of Harvey to know what his agenda is. i.e. Does he have issues with the way the MEAC is run? Does he feel that Hampton has more in common with institutions in the CAA? Is he looking at moves of other institutions that used the CAA as a stepping stone for upward mobility? Does he plan on doubling his budget to strength his athletic department and compete on a higher level? Does he believe being a part of the CAA would reflect a better image on Hampton. Again, RESEARCH would be involved in answering some of these questions.
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Well, according to Joe Taylor, the football program was underfunded and the salaries for assistants have not been good. Hampton has money but that endowment money can't be touched. Joe Taylor left for FAMU simply because of program support. That is well documented. Then look at who Hampton has hired since then. They have not made major moves to get back to where they were under Taylor. They have been promoting people from the staff.
 
the band fan said:
people don't realize those PWCs want to play us also to boost their numbers.....winning is one thing but alot of them on our level and the smaller D-1 level struggle to fill their stands as they have a lot of fans who associate with the big state schools instead

When I see teams bragging on 25K and that's a record....we've pulled that for decades
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You are correct about PWCs. Now tell them about conference fees.
 
Tigerpride said:
Well, according to Joe Taylor, the football program was underfunded and the salaries for assistants have not been good. Hampton has money but that endowment money can't be touched. Joe Taylor left for FAMU simply because of program support. That is well documented. Then look at who Hampton has hired since then. They have not made major moves to get back to where they were under Taylor. They have been promoting people from the staff.
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TP, the operative word is "plan." Too many unanswered questions exists. Perhaps the president has executed due diligence based on his vision. We simply don't know his entire vision. Many people would be totally dismayed at HBCU administrators vision relating to athletics. In many instances it is antithetical to what most have or think in this forum. BTW, the reference relating to accessing restricted funds/endowment money has nothing to do with my post. I'm quite sure their president has enough sense to not violate his fiduciary responsibilities in that manner. :lol: :emlaugh:
 
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jag4life said:
They draw when they play HBCUs. Against the OVC they get under 10K unless it is homecoming.
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I see that was the case in 2011. I'm not sure if that is traditionally the case with TnSU. They've had bad teams since 2009.

Do you believe that moving to a PWC would hurt Southern's attendance?
 
Clarksdale_Wildcat said:
I see that was the case in 2011. I'm not sure if that is traditionally the case with TnSU. They've had bad teams since 2009.

Do you believe that moving to a PWC would hurt Southern's attendance?
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If SU joined the Southland, they would proably be fine and they would still probably try to play JSU and Grambling but for right now, SU and Grambling are not going anywhere because no one would give up their auto bid for them. For JSU, sometimes, I wanna see us move but mainly becasue I want to see us in in different territories. Joining the Southland would not help us much with exposure as they cover the same geography that we do and their RPI in all sports is about where we are. I would rather us move to the OVC where the bball RPI is good. We might be about to keep some of these local stars at home if we were in a higher rated bball conference. As for football, the OVC is not very attactive in terms of attendance or RPI. Having TNState as a confernece game might blow the SHC off the map tho. :) Also, a series vs Jacksonville State might be interesting. Outside of that.. blah!

The SoCon would get us along the EAST coast (my bias) and they have a decent football and bball RPI and I think our fans would be interested in some of the 1-AA football powerhouses like App State, GaSo, and Wofford coming to Jackson. We would have to make a serious investment in football in make that move tho. However, it would def open up a different pool of HC candidates. I think a lot of people would like to coach in the SoCon. Unfortunately for us, the OVC and the SoCon would increase our travel expense greatly.

Join the MEAC... :lol: I know... I know why? Again, it gives us exposure outside of the south and for those of us living outside of the deep south, we know the value of that. We would also be in a playoff eligible conference (which is not important to me but it makes some people hard). Being able to have games in Baltimore, DC, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida would open up marketing opportunites but it would also overload our travel budget. Although Howard sucks, I think our fans would love to play them in DC and I know we would like trips to FAMU. Games vs A&T and Norfolk would also be attractive especially if we had funds for the band.

I end my rambling, all of this is being said to say, there have to be some sort of reason or decided advantage for a move. I don't see any yet with Hampton's move to the CAA.
 
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Tigerpride said:
I think we all know the answer to that.. and we know pops ain't ask that question.. :lol:
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This is correct. 1 said it is a money a move, another said something similar and the most viable of the Hampton peeps stated that it was "all about the benjamins, it has been in the works for a while"
 
You know MVSU out distance Hampton in average home game attendance. And Hampton is in a large metro area and Valley is located in a very very small town.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2011.pdf




http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect...football+attendance+reaches+new+heights+again

•Among FCS conferences, the Southwestern Athletic Conference enjoyed its 33rd attendance title in 34 years. The 10 SWAC teams averaged 12,944 fans per game and totaled 686,051 spectators. The Southern (679,491 fans for an average of 12,821) and the Colonial Athletic (754,705 fans for an average of 12,173) were a close second and third, respectively.
 
Remember when the numbers came out that listed the revenue FCS conferences made. the MEAC was #1 and the SWAC was #3. don't remember where CA was.
 
Tigerpride said:
Football aside, would Hampton's bball attendance improve with a move to the CAA?
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Maybe. Because the CAA features schools that MEAC schools beat up on. This looks like a move to get some more attention and look at postseason even if it's the CBI tourney.
 
CAA (Colonial Athletic Association)

Football lineup:

The CAA football conference has the following members:

Delaware
Georgia State (program began in 2010, joins CAA play in 2012, and leaves for the Sun Belt in 2013)
James Madison
Maine
New Hampshire
Old Dominion (first CAA season in 2011, plans to leave for Conference USA)
Richmond
Rhode Island (leaving the CAA for the Northeast Conference in 2013)
Towson
Villanova (yes THAT Villanova, which is in the Big East for basketball)
William & Mary

Basketball:
add the following:

Drexel
George Mason
Hofstra
Northeastern
UNC Wilmington

*Maine and New Hampshire play basketball in the America East Conference
*Rhode Island and Richmond play basketball in the Atlantic 10
 
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the band fan said:
people don't realize those PWCs want to play us also to boost their numbers.....winning is one thing but alot of them on our level and the smaller D-1 level struggle to fill their stands as they have a lot of fans who associate with the big state schools instead

When I see teams bragging on 25K and that's a record....we've pulled that for decades
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I don't think we have to leave our conference...but I think we should see opportunities to develop rivalries with other FCS programs outside of HBCU programs. There are some geographical matchups that would be appealing on an ocassional basis as well as some "name" matchups that would appeal to our fans and generate a "one game" spike in media coverage.

Some "attractive" in-state (Regional) matchups: PVU vs Sam Houston, Grambling vs Stephen F Austin, Bama State vs Jacksonville State, JSU vs McNeese, UAPB vs Central Arkansas, SU vs Southeastern.

Some "Intriguing" national matchups: Grambling vs App State, JSU vs Southern Illinois, SU vs Georgia State, Bama State vs Richmond, TxSU vs Central Arkansas even if played in a neutral site.
 
SUjagTILLiDIE said:
Remember when the numbers came out that listed the revenue FCS conferences made. the MEAC was #1 and the SWAC was #3. don't remember where CA was.
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You know sometimes you have to think about the people who are buying your tickets to your game and realize of what competition they want to see rather than some move into a conference by some ADs and presidents who has ambitions of making a name for themselves. Do fans at Hampton really want to see games with Delaware,Maine?? etc. I thought a move to the CAA would help on travel expenses but looking at the members of the conference..travel expenses will still be an issue.Moving out of a conference does not mean you moving up,especially in this case with Hampton. If they want to cut down on expenses,then maybe Hampton,Howard,Delaware State,Norfolk State, Morgan State,
Maryland Eastern Shore ,Coppin Sate and Bowie State should form another conference and the remaining southern MEAC schools form a conference also to cut on travel expenses. Again..HBCU football is a different product from which the CAA offer. Hampton moving out of the MEAC would take them out of that market brand sort of...I think it's a shame that some HBCU AD's and presidents can't and don't value the market brand of HBCU football has to offer. Ego maybe is clouding their reasoning.


Journalist said:
CAA (Colonial Athletic Association)

Football lineup:

The CAA football conference has the following members:

Delaware
Georgia State (program began in 2010, joins CAA play in 2012, and leaves for the Sun Belt in 2013)
James Madison
Maine
New Hampshire
Old Dominion (first CAA season in 2011, plans to leave for Conference USA)
Richmond
Rhode Island (leaving the CAA for the Northeast Conference in 2013)
Towson
Villanova (yes THAT Villanova)
William & Mary

Basketball:
add the following:

Drexel
George Mason
Hofstra
Northeastern
UNC Wilmington

*Maine and New Hampshire play basketball in the America East Conference
*Rhode Island and Richmond play basketball in the Atlantic 10
Click to expand...
 
Journalist said:
CAA (Colonial Athletic Association)

Football lineup:

The CAA football conference has the following members:

Delaware
Georgia State (program began in 2010, joins CAA play in 2012, and leaves for the Sun Belt in 2013)
James Madison
Maine
New Hampshire
Old Dominion (first CAA season in 2011, plans to leave for Conference USA)
Richmond
Rhode Island (leaving the CAA for the Northeast Conference in 2013)
Towson
Villanova (yes THAT Villanova)
William & Mary

Basketball:
add the following:

Drexel
George Mason
Hofstra
Northeastern
UNC Wilmington

*Maine and New Hampshire play basketball in the America East Conference
*Rhode Island and Richmond play basketball in the Atlantic 10
Click to expand...

CAA members in Final Sports Network Top 25 Poll:

No. 8 Maine
No. 9 Towson
No. 10 Old Dominion (remember, they're leaving to move up to FBS/Conference USA)
No. 11 New Hampshire
No. 15 James Madison
No. 17 Delaware

William & Mary also received votes

So in football, Hampton could see half of its conference schedule against Top 25 teams...
 
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