George Mason's New President

[gobo]

Not by default, but if you commit to it & have solid coaching/recruiting, you can score major upsets ala AppySt./Michigan, JMU/VPI&SU. Those wins definitely raised the bar for visibility among potential applicants.

Oddly enough, so did the Final Four. And it provide a much longer and more "profitable" boost (according to media mentions, etc) than any I-AA upset ever has.

[GMUGemini]

Well, one could argue that if we were forward thinking enough to have started football in the 1990s and aggressively expanded, we could have been in a situation similar to USF/UCF (right place, right time) and could be playing Big East football/basketball in 2013 (pipe dream, I know, but it could have been possible).

If you had started your university in the early 1800's you might be in the Ivy League! Yeesh

Well, USF started their football program in 1997, went 1-A in 2001 after CUSA got raided the first time, and joined the Big East in 2005.

UCF began playing I-AA in 1990, went division 1-A in 2002 in the MAC, and is now joining the Big East in 2013.

These are not too far fetched analogies...

[HyperDuke]

Oddly enough, so did the Final Four. And it provide a much longer and more "profitable" boost (according to media mentions, etc) than any I-AA upset ever has.

I don't think the difference is as big as you make it to be. I've seen reference to that JMU win vs. VPI&SU countless times. I know Mason gets lots of press for their run (although VCU is now everyone's favorite cinderella example), but again, I don't think the difference is as big as you make it out to be.

[Pablos]

If ODU can do it, then why can't Mason? Granted that ODU already had a stadium, but I'm sure if it needed to raise money for a new stadium that it would have done so. I'm going to leave it to people like PiKapp to develop a viable financial plan, but with over 30,000 students I would assume that Mason could establish and maintain a FCS program without hurting the men's basketball program.

[walter_williams]

http://boards.caazone.com/attachment...3&d=1285352009

[HyperDuke]

I appreciate that walt, but my point was the "media mentions" like gobo referenced. I'm really not trying to make this about Mason or JMU. I'm much more interested in the side effects of football on a college campus.

[GMUFinance2008]

If ODU can do it, then why can't Mason? Granted that ODU already had a stadium, but I'm sure if it needed to raise money for a new stadium that it would have done so. I'm going to leave it to people like PiKapp to develop a viable financial plan, but with over 30,000 students I would assume that Mason could establish and maintain a FCS program without hurting the men's basketball program.

The only drawback is a lot of the 30K wear Hijabs, Kufis, Turbins, and hello kitty shirts and don't give a damn about football nor basketball. Definitly one drawback of having a mulitcultural niche.

[gobo]

The media mentions aren't even comparable. That was my point. A run in the NCAA tournament will dwarf any I-AA upset over a BCS team 10 days out of 10.

The side effect is this: unless you play high lever FBS football, a majority of schools LOSE money. A VAST majority lose money.

http://www.ncaapublications.com/prod...2010RevExp.pdf

[HyperDuke]

I see you are very much against Mason football. I simply see more synergy at football schools among the student body & I imagine that translates fairly well to future athletic donations. We're just starting to experience that side of football at Madison, so I can't point to us as evidence of this.

[gobo]

I see you are very much against Mason football. I simply see more synergy at football schools among the student body & I imagine that translates fairly well to future athletic donations. We're just starting to experience that side of football at Madison, so I can't point to us as evidence of this.

You haven't read my position on football at Mason very well then.

I am pro football at Mason. For the right cost. And currently, there is no plan that I have seen laid out that addresses those costs. Until then, I don't want to be 18 mil (and counting) in the hole like Madison is.