CAA, Big South, Monmouth

[FUBeAR]

JMU leaves and the CAA has really gone downhill IMHO. Has anyone ever been to Campbell U. Look up “middle of nowhere” and you will see a pic of CU.

FUBeAR has certainly been to Campbell University & Buies Creek, NC many times.

Don’t wanna say you’re exaggerating quite a bit, but you’re exaggerating quite a bit.

Buies Creek is the same distance from downtown Raleigh, NC (which happens to be FUBeAR’s hometown) as Greenville suburbs, Fountain Inn & Travelers Rest, are from one another. Sure, it’s a little off the beaten path, but it ain’t THAT far from it. And, there are some outstanding Eastern NC BBQ establishments very nearby!

And, Campbell is a nice campus. Small, but pretty in a North Carolina Sandhills sorta way. The Stadium is nice and their students/fans are very engaged & enthusiastic. They certainly were when FUBeAR last attended a Football game there in 2013. Also, Mike Minter has grown the heck out of that program since then. That surprised FUBeAR considerably - did not buy that Minter was doing anything more than a 1 or 2 year “box check” when he took that job.

The only ‘problem’ with Campbell is it’s academic profile, while diverse, is not rated well. But, Monmouth is rated even lower…so it doesn’t seem that the CAA gives a rat’s rear end about that. With college athletes now professionals, should anyone care about that anymore? Do the Players really even need to attend classes / pursue degrees anymore? Anyway, wouldn’t have minded Campbell in the SoCon, but don’t mind that they aren’t either. Would prefer A&T, Richmond, and W&M to get to 12 Football schools, but that ain’t happenin’…yet.

[Davemeister]

Does Campbell shape up as a future OOC opponent for Furman?

[Affirm]

The thing FUBeAR finds interesting is that…

1) the rumors are heavy that the CAA will add Howard to get to 16 Teams
2) then split scheduling into 8-Team North/South Divisions
3) South 8 will be Campbell, NCA&T, Elon, Hampton, Richmond, W&M, Towson, Howard

FUBeAR doesn’t think E*Loan’s Elite thought they were joining the MEAC+Campbell when they exited the SoCon. Guess Towson U & Howard away games in the DC area will give them all the “Northeastern” ‘brand exposure’ they’re gonna get

Would not be surprised to see Richmond & W&M rejoin the SoCon at some point. Just don’t think the CAA South is where they will want to be either.

Good and interesting comments and info (as usual, thank you).
My main area of concern, though, is about what might be better for the overall future of Furman scheduling and competition, particularly football AND men’s basketball.

SOCON

OK.
But …
If that is true, everyone should start writing about how wonderful and beneficial the the SoCon is, and will be, to Furman, instead of so frequently complaining so much about weaknesses concerning things such as refereeing, about scheduling, about playoff opportunities, about quality of overall competition within the league, in-season tournaments, about the SoCon direction and management, etc.
I look forward to it.

[Davemeister]

People are always going to complain about the Conference, regardless of which Conference we are in.

Only real prob with us being in the SoCon is that we are not winning the SoCon.

[FUBeAR]

People are always going to complain about the Conference, regardless of which Conference we are in.

Only real prob with us being in the SoCon is that we are not winning the SoCon.

…and the Football Officiating.

It has been really bad. May have been a little better last year, but not sure what changes were made to drive any improvement. Will hope this perceived improvement continues this season and proves to be a reality vs. just a perception.

[Furmanoid]

People are always going to complain about the Conference, regardless of which Conference we are in.

Only real prob with us being in the SoCon is that we are not winning the SoCon.

…and the Football Officiating.

It has been really bad. May have been a little better last year, but not sure what changes were made to drive any improvement. Will hope this perceived improvement continues this season and proves to be a reality vs. just a perception.

You know pretty much everything, how much do SoCon refs get paid?

[FUBeAR]

People are always going to complain about the Conference, regardless of which Conference we are in.

Only real prob with us being in the SoCon is that we are not winning the SoCon.

…and the Football Officiating.

It has been really bad. May have been a little better last year, but not sure what changes were made to drive any improvement. Will hope this perceived improvement continues this season and proves to be a reality vs. just a perception.

You know pretty much everything, how much do SoCon refs get paid?

FUBeAR is a Bear of very little brain & knows very little, but he does know a lotta people that know things.

Working on an answer to this for ya. Will post if the info is discovered & revealed.

UPDATE: Source says $800-$1000 game

[Furmanoid]

People are always going to complain about the Conference, regardless of which Conference we are in.

Only real prob with us being in the SoCon is that we are not winning the SoCon.

…and the Football Officiating.

It has been really bad. May have been a little better last year, but not sure what changes were made to drive any improvement. Will hope this perceived improvement continues this season and proves to be a reality vs. just a perception.

You know pretty much everything, how much do SoCon refs get paid?

FUBeAR is a Bear of very little brain & knows very little, but he does know a lotta people that know things.

Working on an answer to this for ya. Will post if the info is discovered & revealed.

UPDATE: Source says $800-$1000 game

Good job. I think you unearthed the problem. These guys ruin their weekend for $1000. Then they have to put up with trash talk from us. Methinks there’s a small and dwindling universe of people willing to do that. Heck it’s getting to where you can hardly get anybody to do anything for any price.

[FUBeAR]

People are always going to complain about the Conference, regardless of which Conference we are in.

Only real prob with us being in the SoCon is that we are not winning the SoCon.

…and the Football Officiating.

It has been really bad. May have been a little better last year, but not sure what changes were made to drive any improvement. Will hope this perceived improvement continues this season and proves to be a reality vs. just a perception.

You know pretty much everything, how much do SoCon refs get paid?

FUBeAR is a Bear of very little brain & knows very little, but he does know a lotta people that know things.

Working on an answer to this for ya. Will post if the info is discovered & revealed.

UPDATE: Source says $800-$1000 game

Good job. I think you unearthed the problem. These guys ruin their weekend for $1000. Then they have to put up with trash talk from us. Methinks there’s a small and dwindling universe of people willing to do that. Heck it’s getting to where you can hardly get anybody to do anything for any price.

…OR…

These guys get to have amazing Fall weekends hanging out / staying free in nice hotels in cool cities with their buddies on Friday nights instead of being home with the old battle-axe harping on them about one thing or another. Then, they get to attend, and be part of, the majestic pageantry & tradition of FCS and SoCon Football. They get a great workout in while they watch amazing collegiate student athletes give their all for the glory of their school, team, and teammates from a better-than-front-row vantage point. Of course, all meals and travel is all expenses paid. They, essentially, get to take mini-vacations every Fall weekend…and GET PAID $333/hr!!

Regardless - they were hired by an NCAA Division 1 Conference to do the job. They should be much better than the crews that referee high school JV games. They have not met that standard…in the past.

Also - just watch this video. These Refs should have to pay to get the privilege of being this involved in the action.

[Affirm]

The thing FUBeAR finds interesting is that…

1) the rumors are heavy that the CAA will add Howard to get to 16 Teams
2) then split scheduling into 8-Team North/South Divisions
3) South 8 will be Campbell, NCA&T, Elon, Hampton, Richmond, W&M, Towson, Howard

FUBeAR doesn’t think E*Loan’s Elite thought they were joining the MEAC+Campbell when they exited the SoCon. Guess Towson U & Howard away games in the DC area will give them all the “Northeastern” ‘brand exposure’ they’re gonna get

Would not be surprised to see Richmond & W&M rejoin the SoCon at some point. Just don’t think the CAA South is where they will want to be either.

Good and interesting comments and info (as usual, thank you).
My main area of concern, though, is about what might be better for the overall future of Furman scheduling and competition, particularly football AND men’s basketball.

SOCON

OK.
But …
If that is true, everyone should start writing about how wonderful and beneficial the the SoCon is, and will be, to Furman, instead of so frequently complaining so much about weaknesses concerning things such as refereeing, about scheduling, about playoff opportunities, about quality of overall competition within the league, in-season tournaments, about the SoCon direction and management, etc.
I look forward to it.

Still am not seeing high praise, with reasons, for the SoCon on this board.
OK, I did see "only problem is we are not winning the SoCon", and "there is hope for the refereeing to get better (except they don't get paid enough)".
Still looking forward to reading and knowing the really good things about the SoCon in regard to the success of Furman football (and any or all other Furman sports).
I'll continue to look.
At least it appears we may no longer read complaints on this board about the SoCon (except perhaps about things we are able to do something about). That's good! We are satisfied with the SoCon. It WILL be good to read the reasons why we are satisfied with the SoCon.

[Furmanoid]

It’s like this, affirm. We want to play D1. FCS is sort of D1. OK, our work friends snicker behind our backs when we explain that Furman vs. VMI is D1, but that’s on them. We’re D1, by Jove. If we’re gonna be in FCS the SoCon is the only option that makes any sense. So it doesn’t matter if it isn’t very good. It’s all we’ve got. I kinda hope the divisions get updated soon and we new divisions with reorganized conferences. We do it in HS every 2 years.

[Davemeister]

If the SoCon isn't very good, then what does it say about US that we aren't winning it?

[Furmanoid]

If the SoCon isn't very good, then what does it say about US that we aren't winning it?

It says we’ve been kinda sucking for awhile. But there’s always next year!

[Affirm]

It’s like this, affirm. We want to play D1. FCS is sort of D1. OK, our work friends snicker behind our backs when we explain that Furman vs. VMI is D1, but that’s on them. We’re D1, by Jove. If we’re gonna be in FCS the SoCon is the only option that makes any sense. So it doesn’t matter if it isn’t very good. It’s all we’ve got. I kinda hope the divisions get updated soon and we new divisions with reorganized conferences. We do it in HS every 2 years.

I’m not even suggesting for us to definitely leave SoCon, but why say “it’s all we’ve got”? Obviously, Campbell and NCA&TSU didn’t say “it’s all we’ve got” when they were in the Big South, nor other schools. At some point Elon stopped saying “it’s all we’ve got” in whatever status they were in before joining CAA, and same is true for CofC. Davidson did not say “it’s all we’ve got” at multiple times in their athletics conference affiliations history over the last 40 or so years.
It is not true to say “it’s all we’ve got “. That is a cop-out.
(I am sorry if some work friends are not very smart and/or not very kind.)

[Davemeister]

Our AD famously said: "Furman is not married to the Southern Conference." This may be true, but I don't see us leaving the bitch any time soon.