Post by elonfirefighter on Jan 27, 2008 12:54:01 GMT -5
Big leagues in 49ers' future?
Proposed football program could lead to spot in BCS conference
DAVID SCOTT
dscott@charlotteobserver.com
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If the Charlotte 49ers begin playing football by 2012 -- as the school's football feasibility committee has recommended -- their first destination would be the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA).
After that, the committee has recommended a jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) as soon as possible.
There would be plenty of issues to work out to make football happen at Charlotte, including cost, stadium, Title IX and hiring a coach. And this: In which conferences would the 49ers play, while they're in the FCS and after they land in the FBS?
Finding a temporary league in the FCS might be difficult, according to officials of two leagues with schools near Charlotte. But when a potential move to the FBS is made, enough might have changed by then that a spot in a major conference might be available to the 49ers.
"If you're looking at (FBS) conferences right now, the situation is going to be limited," said Bill Carr, CEO of Carr Sports Associates, a Florida-based college sports consulting company that has worked with colleges interested in starting football programs. "But you've also got a very fluid situation."
Said Gene Corrigan, a former NCAA president and commissioner of the ACC who is now a consultant: "Leagues in (FBS) are always looking for schools to join. It won't be a problem for (Charlotte)."
More changes coming?
A key factor for Charlotte will be a probable shift in the college sports landscape over the next six-to-eight years, as there was two years ago when an ACC-driven change in conference affiliations took place. The next change could come as long-term television contracts begin to expire and leagues continue to look at ways to increase revenues and exposure.
The recent moves had a tumble-down effect that reached schools like Charlotte, which switched from Conference USA to the Atlantic 10.
If the 49ers' stay in FCS is temporary, it might be difficult to find a league to play in during those years. The Atlantic 10 doesn't sponsor football. Most of its members that play the sport do so in other FCS leagues.
"If we were to bring somebody in, it wouldn't necessarily have to be permanent," said Big South commissioner Kyle Kallender, whose league includes five football-playing schools. "But if we knew it was a stepping stone for something different down the road, we'd probably have a tough time going in that direction."
Three Atlantic 10 schools -- Richmond, Massachusetts and Rhode Island -- play football in the FCS' Colonial Athletic Association. CAA officials could not be reached.
The FCS has four independents -- Presbyterian, Stony Brook (N.Y.), N.C. Central and Savannah State. Three plan to join FCS leagues soon: Presbyterian and Stony Brook are headed to the Big South, and N.C. Central is negotiating with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
"(Charlotte) could hang out for a few years as an independent," said Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino, who added that his league wouldn't consider Charlotte as an interim member. "It would be a challenge with scheduling, but that would probably be the least disruptive way."
BCS would be best
The ideal FBS situation for the 49ers would be to land in a Bowl Championship Series conference. But Charlotte would be another school in a long line hoping to drink from the BCS's deep financial trough.
"Everybody who's not in the BCS wants to be in the BCS," said Carr. "And they should want that, financially."
Six leagues -- the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, Pac 10 and Big 12 -- receive automatic spots in BCS bowls and, this season, will receive $17 million each from the BCS to divide among their member schools.
Non-BCS Conference USA would provide a familiar landing spot for Charlotte, which was a member from 1995-2005. It would also provide East Carolina -- C-USA's eastern-most school -- a geographic football rival in the conference, which has six members in Texas and Oklahoma.
Carr, a former athletics director at C-USA's Houston, said discussions of shifting membership in the league are common.
"The only constant in that league is change," said Carr. "When we started the conference (in 1995), one thing everybody had in common was that we all wanted to be somewhere else."
Charlotte was among the charter members of C-USA, along with South Florida, which had a fledgling football program. Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati were also there at the beginning, but they (along with South Florida) jumped to the Big East after the ACC raided the league for Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech.
The Big East might be another possibility for Charlotte, if the conference loses teams from another league's expansion or wants to grow large enough to accommodate a championship game.
Consider this: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany implied last summer his 11-team league could expand if it needs another team to add content to its new television network. A 12th school would also allow the Big Ten to hold a lucrative conference championship game.
If the Big Ten -- which has been turned down at least twice by football-independent Notre Dame -- were to look east for a new school, some have speculated it could be Rutgers, which would give the league a presence in the New York market.
Attractive market
The dominos might then fall the 49ers' way. Charlotte's market -- smack in the middle of ACC country -- would be a logical foothold for the Big East and its string of football-playing schools stretching from the northeast through West Virginia, Louisville and on to South Florida.
There's also the possibility that the 16-member Big East might splinter because of its unwieldy size in basketball. The league has eight football schools and could look to increase that to 12 (a championship game's magic number) by looking elsewhere.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese wouldn't comment. Charlotte officials, including athletics director Judy Rose, also won't comment on football.
But Mac Everett, who chaired the feasibility committee, said the group didn't consider which conference the school might play in when it recommended starting a program.
The committee's proposal will be considered by chancellor Phil Dubois, who will then take it to the school's trustees in May.
"That wasn't part of our vision, to consider what conference they would play in," said Everett.
"But it does need to be a major conference."
Conference Calls
A move into a new league to accommodate a potential new football program would be the Charlotte 49ers' fifth different conference since 1970, when the school began playing NCAA Division I basketball:
YEARS LEAGUE
1970-1976 Independent
1976-1991 Sun Belt
1991-1995 Metro
1995-2005 Conference USA
2005-present Atlantic 10
Proposed football program could lead to spot in BCS conference
DAVID SCOTT
dscott@charlotteobserver.com
Related Content
Gold Mine | Charlotte 49ers sports blog
A-10 hoops scores
A-10 hoops schedule
Hoops writers' poll: AP Top 25
College Basketball Scoreboard | Live updates
Forum: Talk about 49ers sports
More Charlotte 49ers sports news
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If the Charlotte 49ers begin playing football by 2012 -- as the school's football feasibility committee has recommended -- their first destination would be the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA).
After that, the committee has recommended a jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) as soon as possible.
There would be plenty of issues to work out to make football happen at Charlotte, including cost, stadium, Title IX and hiring a coach. And this: In which conferences would the 49ers play, while they're in the FCS and after they land in the FBS?
Finding a temporary league in the FCS might be difficult, according to officials of two leagues with schools near Charlotte. But when a potential move to the FBS is made, enough might have changed by then that a spot in a major conference might be available to the 49ers.
"If you're looking at (FBS) conferences right now, the situation is going to be limited," said Bill Carr, CEO of Carr Sports Associates, a Florida-based college sports consulting company that has worked with colleges interested in starting football programs. "But you've also got a very fluid situation."
Said Gene Corrigan, a former NCAA president and commissioner of the ACC who is now a consultant: "Leagues in (FBS) are always looking for schools to join. It won't be a problem for (Charlotte)."
More changes coming?
A key factor for Charlotte will be a probable shift in the college sports landscape over the next six-to-eight years, as there was two years ago when an ACC-driven change in conference affiliations took place. The next change could come as long-term television contracts begin to expire and leagues continue to look at ways to increase revenues and exposure.
The recent moves had a tumble-down effect that reached schools like Charlotte, which switched from Conference USA to the Atlantic 10.
If the 49ers' stay in FCS is temporary, it might be difficult to find a league to play in during those years. The Atlantic 10 doesn't sponsor football. Most of its members that play the sport do so in other FCS leagues.
"If we were to bring somebody in, it wouldn't necessarily have to be permanent," said Big South commissioner Kyle Kallender, whose league includes five football-playing schools. "But if we knew it was a stepping stone for something different down the road, we'd probably have a tough time going in that direction."
Three Atlantic 10 schools -- Richmond, Massachusetts and Rhode Island -- play football in the FCS' Colonial Athletic Association. CAA officials could not be reached.
The FCS has four independents -- Presbyterian, Stony Brook (N.Y.), N.C. Central and Savannah State. Three plan to join FCS leagues soon: Presbyterian and Stony Brook are headed to the Big South, and N.C. Central is negotiating with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
"(Charlotte) could hang out for a few years as an independent," said Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino, who added that his league wouldn't consider Charlotte as an interim member. "It would be a challenge with scheduling, but that would probably be the least disruptive way."
BCS would be best
The ideal FBS situation for the 49ers would be to land in a Bowl Championship Series conference. But Charlotte would be another school in a long line hoping to drink from the BCS's deep financial trough.
"Everybody who's not in the BCS wants to be in the BCS," said Carr. "And they should want that, financially."
Six leagues -- the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, Pac 10 and Big 12 -- receive automatic spots in BCS bowls and, this season, will receive $17 million each from the BCS to divide among their member schools.
Non-BCS Conference USA would provide a familiar landing spot for Charlotte, which was a member from 1995-2005. It would also provide East Carolina -- C-USA's eastern-most school -- a geographic football rival in the conference, which has six members in Texas and Oklahoma.
Carr, a former athletics director at C-USA's Houston, said discussions of shifting membership in the league are common.
"The only constant in that league is change," said Carr. "When we started the conference (in 1995), one thing everybody had in common was that we all wanted to be somewhere else."
Charlotte was among the charter members of C-USA, along with South Florida, which had a fledgling football program. Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati were also there at the beginning, but they (along with South Florida) jumped to the Big East after the ACC raided the league for Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech.
The Big East might be another possibility for Charlotte, if the conference loses teams from another league's expansion or wants to grow large enough to accommodate a championship game.
Consider this: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany implied last summer his 11-team league could expand if it needs another team to add content to its new television network. A 12th school would also allow the Big Ten to hold a lucrative conference championship game.
If the Big Ten -- which has been turned down at least twice by football-independent Notre Dame -- were to look east for a new school, some have speculated it could be Rutgers, which would give the league a presence in the New York market.
Attractive market
The dominos might then fall the 49ers' way. Charlotte's market -- smack in the middle of ACC country -- would be a logical foothold for the Big East and its string of football-playing schools stretching from the northeast through West Virginia, Louisville and on to South Florida.
There's also the possibility that the 16-member Big East might splinter because of its unwieldy size in basketball. The league has eight football schools and could look to increase that to 12 (a championship game's magic number) by looking elsewhere.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese wouldn't comment. Charlotte officials, including athletics director Judy Rose, also won't comment on football.
But Mac Everett, who chaired the feasibility committee, said the group didn't consider which conference the school might play in when it recommended starting a program.
The committee's proposal will be considered by chancellor Phil Dubois, who will then take it to the school's trustees in May.
"That wasn't part of our vision, to consider what conference they would play in," said Everett.
"But it does need to be a major conference."
Conference Calls
A move into a new league to accommodate a potential new football program would be the Charlotte 49ers' fifth different conference since 1970, when the school began playing NCAA Division I basketball:
YEARS LEAGUE
1970-1976 Independent
1976-1991 Sun Belt
1991-1995 Metro
1995-2005 Conference USA
2005-present Atlantic 10