What’s the long term SWAC Football goal


Yeah.... yall FCS Playoff lovers can prosper on Facebook but that dumb mess won't fly over here at ALL with a very knowledge crew of posters who KNOW the FCS playoffs are a money loser

What does money losing mean to every school in the conference though? How much do schools that aren't JSU, SU, Bama State, or FAMU really make to be able to say the money is all that matters? It's not like everyone outside of the top few make money anyways. This is also the toxic reason your team has to shame themselves year in and out being embarrassed by teams like NDSU for a check. How is that the wave? That's not a good argument for not being competitive lol. And most of the folks here are OLD and still holding on to shit from 30 years ago when it comes to advancement. The reality is, the swac and most members are content with the way things are and that's just that. People need to just start being real about this subject. Money is cool, but football is STILL meant to be a competitive sport. A&T realizes this and that's why they're head and shoulders above everyone else right now. They get money AND compete...and do it well. And ironically, their success has them making far more money than they would've made if they were just content being a standard meac team.
 
Not all were national powers prior to moving up to FBS. However, they all saw the move up as a way to better market and grow their schools. Coastal is an outlier because they put their program in the hands of a billionaire who bankrolled this move-up for them for the most part.

However, why would you leave the pond where you're a big dog to go to another pond where you're lower on the food chain? Maybe that pond you were in wasn't good enough for the tastes?

Like I said earlier, of the soon-to-be 12 members ... only Prairie View, Southern, Alabama State, Texas Southern and FAMU were spending spending over $11 million on athletics. Also, of that group, only PV was spending over the current FCS median budget amounts. Two of those schools — Alabama State and FAMU — made an attempt to move up in the past.

If enough of us (about 8) can raise individual budgets to the low $20 million range, then we can go up to FBS hand-in-hand as a group ... get those deals, bowl game tie-ins and what not, and continue to build as a home for others that are willing to make the move past the initial group of 8.

How many teams that moved up were trash on a competitive level before moving up other than Georgia State? If leaving the pond meant a more successful program then yes. Also, you can NOT move to FBS as a group. Not sure where this even came from but every school would need an individual waiver. And unless you're able to spend bread like Liberty, that won't happen either because that's the only reason they were given one. There will not be a "conference move up." Also, what's even the point of that move? You're not increasing the competitive level of either team. You're basically just moving up to only play each other. I don't get the logic in that? You'd go broke and gain nothing other than a division change.

Look at the Sunbelt vs CUSA. CUSA is full of a bunch of programs that modeled after the p5 bringing in a bunch of big metro area schools thinking it would get them more money on their tv contracts but it failed. Now the conference is a mess. The schools that are competitive now are the sunbelt teams... the ones that were competitive before the move. The Sunbelt i'm pretty sure was ranked right behind the AAC last year. So we're not going to act as if that doesn't matter. There are two, maybe 3 schools that would be able to do what it takes. No chance on the whole conference... or even half of it if we're being real.
 
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How many teams that moved up were trash on a competitive level before moving up other than Georgia State? If leaving the pond meant a more successful program then yes. Also, you can NOT move to FBS as a group. Not sure where this even came from but every school would need an individual waiver. And unless you're able to spend bread like Liberty, that won't happen either because that's the only reason they were given one. There will not be a "conference move up." Also, what's even the point of that move? You're not increasing the competitive level of either team. You're basically just moving up to only play each other. I don't get the logic in that? You'd go broke and gain nothing other than a division change.

Look at the Sunbelt vs CUSA. CUSA is full of a bunch of programs that modeled after the p5 bringing in a bunch of big metro area schools thinking it would get them more money on their tv contracts but it failed. Now the conference is a mess. The schools that are competitive now are the sunbelt teams... the ones that were competitive before the move. The Sunbelt i'm pretty sure was ranked right behind the AAC last year. So we're not going to act as if that doesn't matter. There are two, maybe 3 schools that would be able to do what it takes. No chance on the whole conference... or even half of it if we're being real.

Off the top of my head if you wanna go pre-mid 90s ... UL-Monroe won a FCS title in the 80s. Troy was a power. Georgia Southern was a dynasty. From the mid-90s on out ... App State was a dynasty, Coastal got bankrolled into competitiveness. Texas State was decent in the Southland.

UCF, South Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia State, UT-San Antonio and South Alabama were microwave move-ups.

But the question of certain HBCUs moving to FBS is a matter of which way you want to grow your brands in order to attract more students. One thing our schools don't have that those other schools have is way larger enrollments. More students = more student fees to subsidize athletics. Even then, we can't be Liberty or Coastal with someone, or someones, bankrolling the operation.

No. I don't expect all 12 members of the SWAC to raise budgets to a level to be a viable FBS member. Hell, last numbers showed Grambling and Jackson State not spending over $10 million. Can those schools increase their budgets enough? Who knows? We all should encourage members to increase budgets where necessary to upgrade facilities and provide the best environments for our student-athletes.
 
It's pretty much impossible for just 1 HBCU to move up to FBS alone, but moving up as a conference can be done. There is strength in numbers. The problems that Bama St. and FAMU faced had a lot to do with not having the money to sustain themselves as an independent, and not to mention no FBS conferences were offering up memberships to them either. The entry fee to join as a new member would cripple their operating budgets and quickly reduce them to bottom-feeder status. Mounting debt would force them to still take money games against the same teams they would've been playing in FCS, but they're fans/alumni would demand that they keep their HBCU rivalries alive.

But as a conference, 1) there's no entry fee for being a new conference member, 2) you only have to win 6 games in order to become bowl eligible (just win your conference games and you're in there), 3) now multiple teams are playing in multiple bowl games getting paid money. Split the sum amongst the other conference members and we're all growing our budgets, 4) attendance-wise the conference will be fine (15k+ avg. requirement met even though a lot of current FBS teams are failing to meet that mark). 5) Even scheduling would be a breeze. 8 conference games and 4 OOC games, and now because you too are FBS you can schedule a home and home with P5 if you wanted. Imaging AAMU/ASU playing a Tennessee or UGA at home, or JSU/Alcorn playing Ole Miss or LSU at home. And you're still playing your in conference games. Revenue would not be hard to find. Now, you can pay your coaches more competitive salaries.

It should be no secret that a few schools in the SWAC already have/had FBS in there sights (FAMU, JSU, and Bama St.) based on past attempts and/or current expectations. Some other schools in the SWAC haven't expressed interest but could make the jump if they seriously committed (SU, PVAMU, Alcorn, AAMU, and GSU). Each school has a few things they'd need to improve upon. I think the largest jumps would have to be made by the remaining 4 (TxSU, UAPB, MVSU, and BCU) because of the financial strain they would have to endure, but like I said before there's strength in numbers.

Now's not the time to be flat-footed and maintain the status quo. People are ready for a move like this. If we formulate a plan now and work towards it as a collective, we'll get there in 10 years. Don't be caught looking stupid when FAMU or JSU announces that they plan to leave the SWAC in the next 5 years. Deion already has it the scenario written into his contract. Think about it.
Overall I’m in agreement, but P5 most likely won’t be doing home and home. We can do home and home with G5, and maybe two for 1 with lower tier Power 5 (e.g. Vandy) or even a neutral site.
 
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