by gophoenix on Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:12 pm
If App and GSU leave then the conference needs to fix things fast. I think that may be why the 14 team conference being pushed by the commish and why it is taking so logn to add a football member.
My guess is that Western fans will be upset if GSU and App leave, but more out of a feeling of being deserted. They are a smaller public school in a small market. Their sports of late haven't been spectacular, who's going to take them? And if the conference plays their cards right, UTC will stay depending on who we add now.
Presbyterian would fit in well with Elon, Furman, Wofford and The Citadel overall. Coastal, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw St (if they add football), North Alabama (if they move up), UNCP (when they move up) could all be possibilities, some bad and some good. Plus you still have opportunities with SC State, A&T, Hampton and Delaware St who have an increasing number of young alums who want to leave the MEAC.
IMHO Charleston Southern should be out, end of story. Gardner-Webb should also be out, end of story. I can't take the piss poor academics, poor facilities, fights at games, g-w's ncaa investigation, etc. It's too much and the rest of deserve better.
So what could the SoCon look like? Depends on the focus, if you keep it a private like league:
Furman, Wofford, Elon, Prebyterian, The Citadel, VMI, Liberty, Samford, Hampton, Campbell, Davidson, CofC
or the public-private mix:
Furman, Elon, Wofford, The Citadel, VMI, Western, UTC, Coastal, Samford, Kennnesaw St, ETSU (if the revivie football)/SC State/A&T
We have options, the SoCon just has an image crisis right now and needs to have the schools work together instead of against each other.