East Coast Football Alliance

[Zissou]

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This is an alliance of convenience for scheduling and TV negotiations. It wouldn't have been possible a few years ago as FCS to FBS moves had to be via a conference invite. Liberty changed that with their challenge to move directly to Independent.

This is 5 games in an Alliance schedule. The remaining 7 games would be open to schedule. It is a compromise to a full independent schedule. Either negotiate the Alliance winner into the PinStripe or create a new bowl for the Alliance winner.

Make a TV agreement with Fox, SNY,or YES.

Keep it at this size unless a desired program wants to join as they aren't happy with their own position. Think Temple, Navy, Cincy, Buffalo.

It's not a conference. It's an alliance of football independents.

 

[History Geek]

This is an alliance of convenience for scheduling and TV negotiations. It wouldn't have been possible a few years ago as FCS to FBS moves had to be via a conference invite. Liberty changed that with their challenge to move directly to Independent.

This is 5 games in an Alliance schedule. The remaining 7 games would be open to schedule. It is a compromise to a full independent schedule. Either negotiate the Alliance winner into the PinStripe or create a new bowl for the Alliance winner.

Make a TV agreement with Fox, SNY,or YES.

Keep it at this size unless a desired program wants to join as they aren't happy with their own position. Think Temple, Navy, Cincy, Buffalo.

It's not a conference. It's an alliance of football independents.

I used to hate your posts until this week

 

[Rufus]

They are different levels of football. UConn, Army and UMass could not play that many FCS schools for bowl eligibility purposes.

 

[Zissou]

They are different levels of football. UConn, Army and UMass could not play that many FCS schools for bowl eligibility purposes.

"It wouldn't have been possible a few years ago as FCS to FBS moves had to be via a conference invite. Liberty changed that with their challenge to move directly to Independent."

Nova, UD, and JMU would move to FBS Independent in this scenario.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

"It wouldn't have been possible a few years ago as FCS to FBS moves had to be via a conference invite. Liberty changed that with their challenge to move directly to Independent."

Nova, UD, and JMU would move to FBS Independent in this scenario.

Don't FBS have that 15K+ average attendance requirement? How will these schools achieve that with those small stadiums?

 

[Zissou]

Don't FBS have that 15K+ average attendance requirement? How will these schools achieve that with those small stadiums?

There is a requirement on the books. It really isn't enforced. There are 2 valid measuring methods - (1) tickets sold, or (2) turnstile counts. Most go with tickets sold. You may notice an attendance figure for a UConn home game but your eyes told you there were far less in the seats. There is restrictions on the selling price of tickets - a ratio to higher ticket prices sets the min price.

In Nova's case, we would ideally play the occasional game at the Linc, home of the NFL Eagles. Philly is loaded with Penn Staters and they'd love an away game that's a home game. 68,000 averages things up.

 

[B12]

Wouldn't the Colonial Athletic Association be more realistic?

 

[Zissou]

Wouldn't the Colonial Athletic Association be more realistic?

UConn will not drop down to FCS in my opinion. There are really no major barriers remaining to do this as FBS independents.

 

[Zissou]

The Alliance has a good mix:
3 similar sized Land Grant, small state Flagship Programs. 2 with Div 1 Football titles.
1 similar sized public, owning two Div 1 Football titles.
1 service academy, the smallest of The Alliance.
1 private university, owning one Div 1 Football title.

UConn, Army, and Nova have solid program brands.

 

[don356]

So what is the goal of this alliance ultimately? Convincing some tv network to televise the games? I'd say there's a decent chance(probably more so now) that Army is going to affiliate with the AAC in time. It provides games, but good luck monetizing that or recruiting quality players. If it was that simple, we'd probably not struggled to recruit in the AAC.

 

[nadav]

Doesn’t seem like it would be worth it for Nova or UD to spend money on an upgrade. We are proof of that!

 

[Fishy]

I'd say this kid's football alliance idea is nuts, but he willed UConn back into the Big East, so who knows.

 

[Zissou]

So what is the goal of this alliance ultimately? Convincing some tv network to televise the games? I'd say there's a decent chance(probably more so now) that Army is going to affiliate with the AAC in time. It provides games, but good luck monetizing that or recruiting quality players. If it was that simple, we'd probably not struggled to recruit in the AAC.

The goal is to make the best of an independent schedule in a compromise.

An Indy schedule is attractive in that it gives you the freedom to schedule various P5 programs. It is also a burden to fill out 12 games.

This compromise puts 5 regional games on the schedule and leaves open 7 others. I’d think UConn might want to schedule Pitt, Cuse, Navy, WVU, Cincy, BYU, etc., but easier to get 7 a year than 12.

Notre Dame has a similar schedule model with the ACC.

For TV, the Alliance deal would probably be modest, but only a piece of each school’s revenue efforts on a partial schedule.

Northeast content for TV programmers.

 

[Zissou]

Doesn’t seem like it would be worth it for Nova or UD to spend money on an upgrade. We are proof of that!

We don’t really need to spend more money. The stadiums are already built and both programs already spend at MAC level.

 

[don356]

The goal is to make the best of an independent schedule in a compromise.

An Indy schedule is attractive in that it gives you the freedom to schedule various P5 programs. It is also a burden to fill out 12 games.

This compromise puts 5 regional games on the schedule and leaves open 7 others. I’d think UConn might want to schedule Pitt, Cuse, Navy, WVU, Cincy, BYU, etc., but easier to get 7 a year than 12.

Notre Dame has a similar schedule model with the ACC.

For TV, the Alliance deal would probably be modest, but only a piece of each school’s revenue efforts on a partial schedule.

Northeast content for TV programmers.

Those teams are not going to schedule an independent Uconn team that is going to bring their overall schedule strength down. That's the catch 22 of going independent with a week hand. The schools that are in the top 100 are going more and more away from playing teams that drag on the resume. No shot at them coming here. The timing is horrendous. I actually believe the folks who made this decision when they said they had no firm plan for football. As someone said, they have acted as if they are folks who will not have to worry about it as it will be someone else's problem. After a few days to ponder it, i agree with them.

 

[Zissou]

Those teams are not going to schedule an independent Uconn team that is going to bring their overall schedule strength down. That's the catch 22 of going independent with a week hand. The schools that are in the top 100 are going more and more away from playing teams that drag on the resume. No shot at them coming here. The timing is horrendous. I actually believe the folks who made this decision when they said they had no firm plan for football. As someone said, they have acted as if they are folks who will not have to worry about it as it will be someone else's problem. After a few days to ponder it, i agree with them.

If you assume UConn will suck forever, you may have a point.

UConn should be able to improve over last year no matter where they are or not affiliated, in my opinion.

So would UConn be better off with a regional Alliance to fill 5 dates that alternate home games?

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Don't FBS have that 15K+ average attendance requirement?

Never stopped umess, Eastern Michigan ...

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Based on the proposed schools, no such alliance of dubious added-value will be required. Just schedule a few rotating games every few seasons with UConn <potentially> controlling and primarily benefitting from resulting SNY revenues.

 

[Kolumbo]

They should all join the Big MAC. Or be real pioneers and create the first "Football Only Conference."

 

[don356]

If you assume UConn will suck forever, you may have a point.

UConn should be able to improve over last year no matter where they are or not affiliated, in my opinion.

So would UConn be better off with a regional Alliance to fill 5 dates that alternate home games?

It doesn't matter. That's all they're going to get. Look at today's blockbuster adds to the schedule. Recruiting is the life blood of D1 football. Uconn has struggled to recruit in a conference. This will not improve it, in fact it will make it worse. D1 teams will avoid playing them with the trend that's going on now. Just not worth scheduling anymore. Drop down out of D1 and get this over with.

 

[Zissou]

They should all join the Big MAC. Or be real pioneers and create the first "Football Only Conference."

It’s against ncaa rules, hence The Alliance

 

[ZooCougar]

"It wouldn't have been possible a few years ago as FCS to FBS moves had to be via a conference invite. Liberty changed that with their challenge to move directly to Independent."

Nova, UD, and JMU would move to FBS Independent in this scenario.

First, let’s acquire the ability to travel at the speed of light.

 

[don356]

I don't know this to be true, but someone told me today that most Mac teams actually bus to games so more costly air travel is not needed. We'd probably have to subsidize air travel to play Mac teams at home. Strange, but maybe true?

 

[chalk1]

If we drop down to FCS might as well close shop. Whose going to watch that level of football in a 40k Stadium. You think it's empty now just wait. Simple rule is you can always grow by moving up, but down is destined for failure. We must try to follow the BYU model and not UMASS. Scheduling the first year or two is going to be tough. Longer term it is possible. Winning a little might make this more realistic.

 

[Drew]

@Zissou there’s zero interest on Nova’s end in upgrading right? I assume the Big East would freak if they ever tried