What is the best conference for Furman Football? - Sun Belt?

[tim]

FYi - the Big South is a dying conference. They had 9 fb playing members in 2021. 5 have left. Monmouth, Kennesaw St,, NC A&T, Robert Morris and North Alabama have left.

Affirm- The Pioneer League is not feasible. We all know that FU is in financial peril, a very poor university, financially strapped. We cannot even afford a baseball team. The Pioneer has teams in California, Minnesota, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and New York so the travel costs alone would cause FU to close it’s doors.

Not to mention Flagman having to fly to California every other year for games.

[Flagman]

FYi - the Big South is a dying conference. They had 9 fb playing members in 2021. 5 have left. Monmouth, Kennesaw St,, NC A&T, Robert Morris and North Alabama have left.

Affirm- The Pioneer League is not feasible. We all know that FU is in financial peril, a very poor university, financially strapped. We cannot even afford a baseball team. The Pioneer has teams in California, Minnesota, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and New York so the travel costs alone would cause FU to close it’s doors.

Not to mention Flagman having to fly to California every other year for games.

Would seriously jeopardize my record.

[Affirm]

Caution to FUBeAR, do not read, I do not want you to feel bad. Stop reading here. These Pioneer Football League travel concerns mentioned by several need not be a stumbling block. I will address this matter further whenever I have time, not now.
NOW 03.21.2022 5:30 M ADDRESSING AS PROMISED:
Travel would be to
San Diego
Minneapolis
Des Moines
Valparaiso (Chicago area)
Indianapolis
Dayton
Morehead KY
Poughkeepsie NY
Charlotte
Clinton
DeLand FL
2x maximum to each of those each 4 years, with each school from there coming to us at the same frequency.
Fans wanting to attend every one of those 22 away games every 4 years can either
A) get beyond that desire
or B) drive to DeLand FL, Clinton, Charlotte, Morehead, Dayton, and Indianapolis; and fly to the other 5 (5 flights total every 2 years, save up your money for the $2500 estimated air fares involved for every 2 years). Should be doable if you’re a real fan already traveling to every single away game.
Regarding team travel, the dollars being saved on the football scholarships 20% or less of all the money being saved on athletic scholarships for football would cover the higher travel costs. (These very bright student-athletes playing football would get other types of scholarships to attend Furman.)
Benefits would include, among other benefits, having enough money to reinstate baseball as well as to further improve all other athletics programs.
All those 11 schools figure out a way to do it.
I’m saying that this Pioneer Football League possibility should continue to remain under consideration as a way to improve Furman athletics overall and Furman University overall.

[Sad Din]

Here's an out of the box idea of how to change conferences for less than a few thousand dollars...

The SoCon has been in business for many years. Its the oldest Conference. IMHO "Southern" is not necessarily a modern term to market.

Simple... re-market the Conf Name. Retire the "SoCon" and rebrand it. Just the news will generate $millions in advertisement and new coverage. Its like going from the Diamond F to the new logo. Something new.

It could be the:
Sustainability Conference
Southerm Ivy Conference
Little Big 10 Conference
Two Bid Conference (joking on his one)
Meta Conference
Modern Conference
Avant Gard Conference
etc etc

[FUBeAR]

Here's an out of the box idea of how to change conferences for less than a few thousand dollars...

The SoCon has been in business for many years. Its the oldest Conference. IMHO "Southern" is not necessarily a modern term to market.

Simple... re-market the Conf Name. Retire the "SoCon" and rebrand it. Just the news will generate $millions in advertisement and new coverage. Its like going from the Diamond F to the new logo. Something new.

It could be the:
Sustainability Conference
Southerm Ivy Conference
Little Big 10 Conference
Two Bid Conference (joking on his one)
Meta Conference
Modern Conference
Avant Gard Conference
Justice Conference
etc etc

Added another suggestion to your excellent list

[Affirm]

Here's an out of the box idea of how to change conferences for less than a few thousand dollars...

The SoCon has been in business for many years. Its the oldest Conference. IMHO "Southern" is not necessarily a modern term to market.

Simple... re-market the Conf Name. Retire the "SoCon" and rebrand it. Just the news will generate $millions in advertisement and new coverage. Its like going from the Diamond F to the new logo. Something new.

It could be the:
Sustainability Conference
Southerm Ivy Conference
Little Big 10 Conference
Two Bid Conference (joking on his one)
Meta Conference
Modern Conference
Avant Gard Conference
Justice Conference
etc etc

Added another suggestion to your excellent list

Treat Us Fairly Conference

[fupaladin01]

Exhausting and, honestly, depressing read so far. I think the conference-switching proposal is a non-starter for many of the above reasons. I guess I'm #TeamFUBeAR too. But here is my line of thinking:

App St and GSU didn't leave the SoCon because they didn't have full stadiums or because the competition was boring. In fact, they had each other and they had US. Their stadiums were full and their fans were engaged because 1) They put a good product on the field 2) There was almost guaranteed post season year after year and 3) They have a large fan base.
Furman has experienced #1 and #2 at several times in the past. We do not have #3 in terms of alumni and nothing can change that. We do, however, have a GVL market that is growing and we are the only game (technically) in town. I believe JD is smartly capitalizing on that.

ASU was basicaly WCU for many years in the SoCon. They were never a basketball power. Even with their size, they had no option to move up to FBS until they started winning the little old SoCon. They managed to do this in a time where the conference already had 2 dominant teams- FU and GSU. It took a solid, seasoned coach, a talented, energetic staff, a group of solid, committed athletes, and a great recruit at QB who all bought into the same vision. (a huge victory on a national stage didn't hurt either).

Furman has many of the above pieces assembled (though we would probably disagree on which). We just need to get back to dominating the SoCon and we will BE that team that makes the SoCon fun- where the FU game is everyone's big draw. Paladin Stadium will fill up if this team is fun to watch and wins 9-10 games a year en route to a playoff run. Then watch another fledgling state school rise to the challenge as our next "big" rival. Making FU Football great again will make the SoCon great again.

[FUBeAR]

Exhausting and, honestly, depressing read so far. I think the conference-switching proposal is a non-starter for many of the above reasons. I guess I'm #TeamFUBeAR too. But here is my line of thinking:

App St and GSU didn't leave the SoCon because they didn't have full stadiums or because the competition was boring. In fact, they had each other and they had US. Their stadiums were full and their fans were engaged because 1) They put a good product on the field 2) There was almost guaranteed post season year after year and 3) They have a large fan base.
Furman has experienced #1 and #2 at several times in the past. We do not have #3 in terms of alumni and nothing can change that. We do, however, have a GVL market that is growing and we are the only game (technically) in town. I believe JD is smartly capitalizing on that.

ASU was basicaly WCU for many years in the SoCon. They were never a basketball power. Even with their size, they had no option to move up to FBS until they started winning the little old SoCon. They managed to do this in a time where the conference already had 2 dominant teams- FU and GSU. It took a solid, seasoned coach, a talented, energetic staff, a group of solid, committed athletes, and a great recruit at QB who all bought into the same vision. (a huge victory on a national stage didn't hurt either).

Furman has many of the above pieces assembled (though we would probably disagree on which). We just need to get back to dominating the SoCon and we will BE that team that makes the SoCon fun- where the FU game is everyone's big draw. Paladin Stadium will fill up if this team is fun to watch and wins 9-10 games a year en route to a playoff run. Then watch another fledgling state school rise to the challenge as our next "big" rival. Making FU Football great again will make the SoCon great again.

Great post 01…here’s you free MFUFGA Hat…

[Yadkin]

The author of the "join the PFL nonsense" has as much clout as the handful of modern-day Romanians backing the memory of the communist Nicolae Ceausescu. He was parroting the same line 6-7 years ago before changing to his current screen name. It's nice to hear from the extreme element from time to time to remind us where the real path truly lies.

[apaladin]

The author of the "join the PFL nonsense" has as much clout as the handful of modern-day Romanians backing the memory of the communist Nicolae Ceausescu. He was parroting the same line 6-7 years ago before changing to his current screen name. It's nice to hear from the extreme element from time to time to remind us where the real path truly lies.

Don’t underestimate his power. Rumor has it he is Mr. ED.

[FurmanATT]

The best conference for Furman football is the one it's in.
Things ebb and flow. Once the SoCon had Appalachian, Marshall and Georgia Southern. Go back far enough and it had about everybody who's anybody in the South. The aforementioned three schools moved on over several years, and the effect was to lower the level of competition. I don't think FBS is the answer for Furman. We could have the best team in school history and the best we could hope for would be, oh, the Liberty Bowl, maybe, or, more likely, the Independence Bowl. Now there's the possibility of a national championship. The balance of power has shifted because the great powers of the high plains have stayed put. Most schools rise to the level of their own incompetence, though, I admit, Presbyterian is an extreme example. We must guard against those kinds of delusions of grandeur. The Big South had Coastal Carolina, Liberty and Monmouth, and Kennesaw State moved through like a bandit when others outgrew the league. The CAA is changing right now. JMU is leaving. A great advantage of the SoCon is that it is stable. Another is that there is some semblance of parity. A 3rd is that Furman can win it. There's a good mix of public and private schools. It's where we've been and where we should remain. -- MD

[Affirm]

The author of the "join the PFL nonsense" has as much clout as the handful of modern-day Romanians backing the memory of the communist Nicolae Ceausescu. He was parroting the same line 6-7 years ago before changing to his current screen name. It's nice to hear from the extreme element from time to time to remind us where the real path truly lies.

Don’t underestimate his power. Rumor has it he is Mr. ED.

True, he might actually have clout. His opinions about PFL might be potentially shared by a large number of Furman supporters, though not the ones who go to football games or contribute financially to football. In any case, a lot of what he writes is good info and worthy of consideration, so it could catch on.

[Affirm]

The best conference for Furman football is the one it's in.
Things ebb and flow. Once the SoCon had Appalachian, Marshall and Georgia Southern. Go back far enough and it had about everybody who's anybody in the South. The aforementioned three schools moved on over several years, and the effect was to lower the level of competition. I don't think FBS is the answer for Furman. We could have the best team in school history and the best we could hope for would be, oh, the Liberty Bowl, maybe, or, more likely, the Independence Bowl. Now there's the possibility of a national championship. The balance of power has shifted because the great powers of the high plains have stayed put. Most schools rise to the level of their own incompetence, though, I admit, Presbyterian is an extreme example. We must guard against those kinds of delusions of grandeur. The Big South had Coastal Carolina, Liberty and Monmouth, and Kennesaw State moved through like a bandit when others outgrew the league. The CAA is changing right now. JMU is leaving. A great advantage of the SoCon is that it is stable. Another is that there is some semblance of parity. A 3rd is that Furman can win it. There's a good mix of public and private schools. It's where we've been and where we should remain. -- MD

Best thing: “…we must guard against … delusions of grandeur.”

[FUBeAR]

The author of the "join the PFL nonsense" has as much clout as the handful of modern-day Romanians backing the memory of the communist Nicolae Ceausescu. He was parroting the same line 6-7 years ago before changing to his current screen name. It's nice to hear from the extreme element from time to time to remind us where the real path truly lies.

Don’t underestimate his power. Rumor has it he is Mr. ED.

True, he might actually have clout. His opinions about PFL might be potentially shared by a large number of Furman supporters, though not the ones who go to football games or contribute financially to football. In any case, a lot of what he writes is good info and worthy of consideration, so it could catch on.

PLEASE BE ADVISED
“affirm” is an online persona. “affirm” has no capacity to make any decisions related to Furman University or Furman Athletics. The opinion or opinions “affirm” has posted here are solely the opinion(s) of “affirm.” These opinions are not the opinions of the leadership of Furman University nor Furman Athletics. Further, these opinions are shared by few, if any, others in the greater Furman Community, to include Furman donors and fans. Furman Football is, and has been for many decades, a Championship NCAA Division I fully-funded FCS scholarship Football program. No changes to that, other than continuing to increase investment in the success of the Football program, are under anyone’s consideration.

[FUBeAR]

we must guard against … delusions of grandeur

Disagree - don’t think it’s “delusions of grandeur” at all. FUBeAR feels strongly that our Furman Basketball program WILL make it to the NCAA Tournament next season. Post-season success is nigh for this hoops squad!