G5 Original Content
NATIONAL 10 CONFERENCE
Its the middle of summer, which means that in addition to hot days with no breeze, it is also the season of wild speculation among College Football fans. So, as the balmy days of summer slowly march ( painstakingly slow that is) towards the cooler days of Fall and the start of the 2015 Football Season, I am dedicating todays blog post to the creation of a new Gang of 5 Conference.
I have built the new conference to compete with the AAC and MWC and have taken schools from the MAC, SUN BELT AND CONFERENCE USA to do so. I have concentrated almost entirely on schools with good football programs. In a few cases a school's market was key to their entry into the new league. I also chose schools that I believe a Commissioner could take to tv Networks and make a solid case for both money and strong tv coverage.
HERE WE GO:
NATIONAL 10
(in no particular order)
1. ARKANSAS STATE: WITH AN IMPRESSIVE RECORD OVER THE PAST 4 YEARS( WITH MULTIPLE COACHES NO LESS) AND A BEING LOCATED IN STATE WITH ONLY ONE OTHER FBS SCHOOL ARK STATE BELONGS IN THE NATIONAL 10. THE RED WOLVES HAVE ALSO RECRUITED WELL AND HAVE ONE OF THE MOST PRO ACTIVE AD'S IN THE COUNTRY.
2. GEORGIA SOUTHERN: SOMEWHERE ERK RUSSEL, THE FATHER OF GEORGIA SOUTHERN FOOTBALL, IS SMILING. THE EAGLES KNOW HOW TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES, PERIOD. THEY DOMINATED FCS PLAY AND NOW LOOK LIKE THEY ARE FULLY CAPABLE OF WINNING AT THE FBS LEVEL AS WELL. GEORGIA SOUTHERN ALSO HAS A GREAT GAME DAY ATMOSPHERE MAKING THEM A SOLID PICK FOR THE NATIONAL 10.
3. MARSHALL: MARSHALL IS BACK TO ITS WINNING WAYS AND HEAD COACH DOC HOLIDAY KNOWS HOW TO FIND TALENTED FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO WANT TO PLAY IN HUNTINGTON. WITH ONE OF THE MOST LOYAL FAN BASES IN ALL OF FOOTBALL, MARSHALL IS A MUST HAVE PROGRAM FOR THE NATIONAL 10. THE THUNDERING HERD IS A DOMINANT GANG OF 5 SCHOOL AT THE MOMENT.
4. LA TECH: LA TECH HAS A GREAT FOOTBALL PEDIGREE AND THEIR BASKETBALL HISTORY IS BRIGHT AS WELL. HEAD COACH SKIP HOLTZ LOOKS LIKE HE HAS FOUND HIS GROOVE AND IS POSITIONING LA TECH INTO A CONFERENCE USA POWER. WITH GREAT RECRUITING GROUNDS AND A PASSIONATE FAN BASE THE BULLDOGS BELONG IN THE NATIONAL 10.
5. ULL: WITH ONE OF THE BEST HEAD COACHES IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND A FAN BASE THAT HAS ONE OF THE BEST TAIL GATING SCENES AMONG THE GANG OF 5 , THE RAGIN CAJUNS HAVE A LEGIT PROGRAM. ADD IN BASEBALL AND THE RICH LOUISIANA RECRUITING GROUNDS AND THE RAGIN CAJUNS MAKE FOR A FINE ADDITION TO THE NATIONAL 10.
6. WKU: WHILE THE HILLTOPPERS ARE RELATIVELY NEW TO THE RANKS OF FBS COMPETITION THEY HAVE PROVEN THAT THEY CAN RECRUIT AND PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL AT THIS LEVEL. WKU BASKETBALL HAS A GREAT TRACK RECORD AND WOULD BE A HUGE PLUS FOR THE NATIONAL 10.
7. NIU: THE HUSKIES BELONG IN ANY NEW G5 CONFERENCE SPIN OFF BECAUSE THEY HAVE PROVEN THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN GAMES THAT GET THEM TO THE BIG SHOW. WITH A STRONG FOOTBALL PROGRAM AND BRAND THAT PEOPLE RECOGNIZE NIU MAKES A GREAT ADDITION TO THE NATIONAL 10.
8.FIU: THE FLORIDA MARKET IS JUST TO IMPORTANT FOR THE NATIONAL 10 TO SKIP. FIU IS STRUGGLING AT THE MOMENT BUT HAVE PROVEN THEY CAN WIN WHEN GIVEN THE RIGHT HEAD COACH. SUPURB RECRUITING GROUNDS, GREAT SPOTS FOR BOWL GAMES AND A SCHOOL THAT WITH THE RIGHT LEADERSHIP CAN WIN AND WIN BIG, FIU BELONGS IN THE NATIONAL 10
9. RICE: LIKE FLORIDA, THE TEXAS MARKET IS TO IMPORTANT TO PASS OVER. THE NATIONAL 10 PICKS RICE AS IT SOLE TEXAS SCHOOL. RICE IS INVESTING SOME SERIOUS CASH INTO THEIR STADIUM AND FOOTBALL PROGRAM. HEAD COACH DAVID BALIFF IS AN EXCELLENT EVALUATOR OF TALENT AND KNOWS HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM HIS PLAYERS. RICE ALSO BRINGS A NATIONAL NAME TO THE CONFERENCE.
NATIONAL 10
1. ARK STATE
2. GEORGIA SOUTHERN
3. MARSHALL
4. LA TECH
5. WKU
6. NIU
7. FIU
8.ULL
9. OHIO
10.RICE
If the conference were to expand to 12 here are schools that would be at the top of the list.
UAB
UTEP
APPALACHIAN STATE
SOUTHERN MISS
TEXAS STATE
I like that idea. And a conference like this is so deep it would likely stand above the MW and AAC as far as overall strength. (No UNLV for everyone to beat up on).
ReplyDeleteDavid,thanks. Certainly has fewer weak links than the MWC and AAC. Glad you found the blog.
DeleteLet's look at the reality of the last 15 years.
ReplyDelete"THE EAGLES KNOW HOW TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES, PERIOD."
GSU: 128-60
App: 138-58
"THEY DOMINATED FCS PLAY"
GSU: 1 Nat'l Champ - 7 FCS Apps - 6 Conf Champs
App: 3 Nat'l Champs - 11 FCS Apps - 7 Conf Champs
"GEORGIA SOUTHERN ALSO HAS A GREAT GAME DAY ATMOSPHERE"
Since 2005 (as far back as I could fin NCAA records) App has averaged 6300 more per home game than GSU.
You left out a major consideration for conference consideration. Facilities. Although GSU greatly improved their facilities last year they still have a lot of catching up to do with App.
Georgia Southern def has 6 national titles at the FCS level ---Thanks Management
ReplyDeleteNo one is disputing the 6 National Championships. However, four of them were won over 25 years ago. The last one was in 2000. Making the playoffs 7 times and not winning a NC in the last 15 years is not "dominating FCS."
ReplyDeleteI love the idea but suggest it be a National 12 adding App. State and Southern Miss. The league team's would represent eleven good football states, very passionate fans, and offer great football for tv. We need you to push the idea to the respective schools and to tv.
ReplyDeleteWas thinking about this today and the newest B12 rumors.
ReplyDeleteI think the worst case scenario for the G5 is a forward thinking, proactive B12. I think at the end of the day (may be several years) all of the P5 conferences will have at least 14 schools. That leaves a need for 6 schools to move up to the P5. Notre Dame is the big fish and I think will end up in a conference eventually, so 5 more schools to be poached from the G5 (unless they make a push for 16 team conferences... not impossible, meaning even more losses). I have to wonder what the landscape of the G5 will be in 10 years.