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Really sorry to hear that his wife has passed.

Amen

not sure about the source i got this from, but it’s definitely interesting...James Madison is considering joining the ASun and that’s why they haven’t announced yet

Very interesting indeed. Would be a strong base for a good FCS football conference.

@huggy_bear, I've heard the same rumor as well. I've heard they aren't happy with their current conference home. They also have very strong aspirations of going FBS which I think is what makes the idea of them joining the ASUN pretty strong. I mean...look at that stadium!

That's one heck of a stadium. And mostly full!

oh my

My heart goes out to Lion1983. I don't know what I'd do without my wife.
Jesus loves you my friend.

https://jmusports.com/facilities/bridgeforth-stadium-zane-showker-field/1

Seats about 25,000 and record attendance was vs Richmond at just over 26,000...

JMU is a big time and seems like a good candidate for a FBS conference....about 22,000 total enrollment....like UCA founded as the state's "normal" school in 1908 (UCA was 1907).....60 miles from Charlottesville and UVA.....130 miles from DC.....travel is probably an issue for them........for football only Elon (200 miles), Richmond (120 miles) and William & Mary (180) are the closest by far.....next closest for football is Nova in Philadelphia (270 miles) and Delaware (280).....others are 400+ to 800+ mile trips....basketball is better but still 500+ mile trips to Charleston and Boston.....

Their football conference has been first rate for years although not quite the dominator right now other than JMU.....other normally ranked teams include Nova, New Hampshire, Richmond, W&M, Maine and Delaware....

Not clear what FBS conference makes great geographic sense....AAC has only 11 football teams but the travel is awesome with only Temple, East Carolina and Navy reasonably close....... CUSA already has 14 teams and travel just as bad or worse........wonder how long it takes to travel from Harrisonburg to Ruston?....MAC has 13 teams so in theory an opening but the travel is out of bounds........MWC has 12 but the travel makes no sense ........Sunbelt has only 10 so they have spots in theory and being part of Sunbelt East is better but still long trips to the Georgia schools and very long trek to Troy......they are not in a major metro TV market but Virginia is a big state and might be attractive for that reason...

They would definitely be a power in ASun from day 1.........probably The Power in football and stout in lots of other sports......

Harrisonburg has a couple things in common with Conway......about the same population size (54,000 vs 66,000) and both have two Wal-Mart Supercenters....

Pretty sure the BMB's Director Brantley Douglas was assistant director of bands at JMU earlier in his career.....

2019 results...14-2 record with losses in first game at West Virginia and last game vs North Dakota State...each by only one score.........avg home attendance for regular season games was 22,144....for three playoff games it dropped to 10,036 in wins over Monmouth, Northern Iowa and Weber State

Date Opponent Score Att.
Aug 31, 2019 at West Virginia L 13-20 61891
Sep 07, 2019 SAINT FRANCIS W 44-7 22422
Sep 14, 2019 MORGAN STATE W 63-12 19777
Sep 21, 2019 at Chattanooga W 37-14 8795
* Sep 28, 2019 at #24 Elon W 45-10 11926
* Oct 05, 2019 at #24 Stony Brook W 45-38 12812
* Oct 12, 2019 #5 VILLANOVA W 38-24 25076
* Oct 19, 2019 at William and Mary W 38-10 11821
* Oct 26, 2019 #16 TOWSON W 27-10 23983
* Nov 09, 2019 #23 NEW HAMPSHIRE W 54-16 19660
* Nov 16, 2019 RICHMOND W 48-6 21947
* Nov 23, 2019 at Rhode Island W 55-21 2815
Dec 07, 2019 #14 MONMOUTH W 66-21 10881
Dec 13, 2019 #6 NORTHERN IOWA W 17-0 8741
Dec 21, 2019 #3 WEBER STATE W 30-14 10487
^ Jan 11, 2020 vs #1 North Dakota State L 20-28 17866

I am just excited to see the level of competition that we could get to play in Conway. No longer are the Razorbacks the only team in the state to watch. No offense to A-State, but Central Arkansas has much needed a regular FBS team to play games. Nothing is set in stone yet, but UCA is making big moves! The town, campus, and fanbase is growing!

I agree with alot of what you are saying, but how do you pay for a move to FBS when the school is experiencing some financial issues ? For example, when employees that leaving, for whatever reason, the school is not filling those position. It all boils down to "Money" and I just don't think UCA can do that right now.

I think many schools are currently doing this, but I also think you are going to have to take some kind of gamble so that way you can get butts in the stands. So many people in Conway I have talked to do not want to pay the current price of a ticket to a basketball game untill we are given a better experience by the university. Football has been a ton of fun. Baseball & Softball are also a good amount of fun! I love going to Softball games and sitting on the hill with family and friends! Maybe UCA can't do it, but they are going to have to raise some funds.

Your right....there is going to have to be a serious, serious effort to raise money for what your talking about. I agree with you on the Farris Center....that place is nearly 50 years old, however, as you and I have discussed here before, the school has not made an effort to improve the quality of the product on the floor. I'm glad you enjoy the baseball and softball complexes. That is two sports I just do not care for. Good discussion.

As much as I would like to UCA be able to move to FBS someday, I cannot see that it will be anytime soon. Our enrollment is not large enough plus our game attendance is low v FBS standards and the stadium would need major expansion. So, I am content to stay in FCS and keep working to win a national championship. It is great football.

Many, many universities are not replacing retirees and faculty and staff who resign. It has become very common to replace retired positions by promoting from full times remaining then hiring 1-2 part time adjuncts at a small fraction of the salary to be able to cover classes. UCA is not alone with expense pressure.

JRK you're dead on. Fund raising (for any dept.) at UCA has been woefully lacking since I began taking an interest in the school when my son played footballthere several years ago. Something that has puzzled me for all these years is how in the world is UCA not a major recipient of funds from Johnelle Hunt ? Isn't she a UCA grad? I live in Fayetteville and it's embarrassing to see the level of giving to the U of A that JB Hunt has provided. Is there a reason that UCA gets so little from an incredibly successful alum?