Solutions to improving HBCU football long term


SUJagFan said:
Drop down a division. Put the money saved toward basketball.

HBCUs are much more competitive in basketball. With concerted effort, I believe some programs could become strong midmajors.

It's hard to compete in any sport without athletes and money. Football takes too many athletes and too much money to be competitive nationally.

Basketball requires fewer good athletes to field a competitive team. Takes less money to operate the program.

HBCU football will still have its traditions and fans. I don't think there's any shame in putting effort into areas where you're most likely to get the highest return. Highest bang for your buck. Right now, that's in basketball.
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I guarantee you that schools would not invest that money into basketball. If anything, the budgets would shrink greatly and that money will just go to other parts of the school. Not to mention you'd never be able to charge 6-figures for games against higher-level competition. And Classics won't cover the losses.
 
In_The_662 said:
We need a College Gameday like thing that is HBCU centric. And this would carry on for the entire game not just the picks are made. Get sponsors and show the entire halftime show

I'm interested to see how the No Huddle thign works out on Aspire because right now they seem to be in the lead as far as possibly bringing HBCU football back to TV regularly similar to the BET days. They just need to stop being so East coast centered and s**ting on the UAPB and Valleys while kissing the a** of SU, Grambling and A&T

And I still think the MEAC and SWAC need to build up their own digital network from the ground up and go from there. That makes it a lot easier to get our games on ESPN+/ESPN3 (similar to the OVC) as well as feature our games the way they need to be featured (halftime, etc.)
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Unfortunately, HBCU Gameday doesn't have the financial backing to fund the MEAC and SWAC with a TV deal that is even equal to what ESPN is paying.
 



2kool said:
8-3 (yet unranked) SCSU left out of the FCS playoffs.
Undefeated Bowie State losing in the 1st round of the D2 playoffs.
9-2 Miles losing in the 1st round of the D2 playoffs.
SWAC has only 1 win the Celebration Bowl

What are some solutions to this?

NOTE: If you're fine with the current affairs, THIS DISCUSSION IS NOT FOR YOU.
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Ban it for 25 years and focus on academics.
 
SUJagFan said:
Georgetown basketball competes in the Big East. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League. Football is a step down and they put their money toward what Georgetown is known for - basketball.

I'm sure there are other examples.
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But Georgetown is Division I in all sports.
 
westcoastaggie said:
I guarantee you that schools would not invest that money into basketball. If anything, the budgets would shrink greatly and that money will just go to other parts of the school. Not to mention you'd never be able to charge 6-figures for games against higher-level competition. And Classics won't cover the losses.
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Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Folks think nobody cares that we're midmajor Division I schools ... move down to D2 and watch that shrink even more. Don't let the CIAA Tournament fool y'all.
 
JAG89 said:
Being creative and coming up with sensible ideas are too much like right for today's HBCUs. Our leadership is just mimicking what they see others do without analyzing things for their specific school. It is almost like they don't trust the their own intelligence or just plain lazy.
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I think the laziness and ignorance consumes them to a point where they cannot fully function in their salaried/paid position(s). smh
 
westcoastaggie said:
I guarantee you that schools would not invest that money into basketball. If anything, the budgets would shrink greatly and that money will just go to other parts of the school. Not to mention you'd never be able to charge 6-figures for games against higher-level competition. And Classics won't cover the losses.
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I am willing to put my life on it lol

I warn Valley people who throw this out there that if you think it's hard now, let us drop down to D2 and there is no more JSU or Alcorn to pack out the basketball gym or bringing their bands with them in football. People are not gonna get up for Miles or Lane like that and they sure ain't bringing fans like that either. Oh yeah. Those money game run in basketball that HBCUs thrive on during this time of year? Gone.

I would guarantee you that our admins would drop some more sports and shift that money to other areas.
 
SUJagFan said:
Georgetown basketball competes in the Big East. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League. Football is a step down and they put their money toward what Georgetown is known for - basketball.

I'm sure there are other examples.
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The Patriot League is D1
 
In_The_662 said:
You just don't know how true this is smh

I know if my non-doctorate carrying self can come up with sensible ideas (a couple that have been used/will be used at Valley and hopefully others down the road) that just make plain sense then I know "the powers that be" at our schools can as well. Some do it better than others
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The 'powers that be' at most of our schools were put there by others. Some are there to be destructive. We have to start challenging those outsiders and demand that they put competent individuals over our schools and not some political fool.
 
SUJagFan said:
Georgetown basketball competes in the Big East. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League. Football is a step down and they put their money toward what Georgetown is known for - basketball.
I'm sure there are other examples.
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Big East and Patriot League are both in D1, just one conference is D1-FCS.

Are there any examples of D2 or below football programs with a school that sponsors D1 sports in everything else?
 
In_The_662 said:
I am willing to put my life on it lol

I warn Valley people who throw this out there that if you think it's hard now, let us drop down to D2 and there is no more JSU or Alcorn to pack out the basketball gym or bringing their bands with them in football. People are not gonna get up for Miles or Lane like that and they sure ain't bringing fans like that either. Oh yeah. Those money game run in basketball that HBCUs thrive on during this time of year? Gone.

I would guarantee you that our admins would drop some more sports and shift that money to other areas.
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That's the biggest risk. That's our version of "fundraising".... Deebo it internally.
 



SUJagFan said:
The point was football is a step down from basketball at the same school. The Patriot League is not the same as the Big East in terms of scholarships and other measures. Saying they are both ”D1” is semantics.
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But our "step down" is in a totally different division

Are there any universities split between D1 and D2?
 
2kool said:
But our "step down" is in a totally different division

Are there any universities split between D1 and D2?
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None in any major sports. I don't think the NCAA allows that anymore unless a school is in transition from a lower division to a higher one.
 
2kool said:
Big East and Patriot League are both in D1, just one conference is D1-FCS.

Are there any examples of D2 or below football programs with a school that sponsors D1 sports in everything else?
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No, except for Hockey. "The Dayton Rule" stops this from happening. Otherwise, you'd see most of the Pioneer Football League play on the D-3 level while keeping Basketball D-1.
 
SUJagFan said:
Why wouldn't they divert money into basketball if it's a strategic move to create the next Gonzaga, Xavier, Butler, VCU, and Wichita States of the world? Or a couple of conferences with several competitive basketball programs?

Most of us would have never heard of Gonzaga if it weren't for basketball. Wouldn't have a clue where it was. I highly doubt one of my cousins would have a Master's from there if not for the name recognition gleaned from basketball.

If administrators don't understand how name recognition garnered from winning sports programs benefit the entire school, then maybe HBCUs don't deserve to be any more than they are.

As far as pay for play games against P5 schools go, many on this site don't believe we should be playing those games anyway for a variety of reasons.
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All of those schools have endowments that trump the ones at D1 HBCUs except for Hampton and Howard.
 
Journalist said:
Conference realignment ....

Schools with ties to the largest classics leave the SWAC and MEAC and form their own league. Leverage the classics into a streaming/TV contract as we're now in the streaming wars and streaming services need content ... https://www.hbcusports.com/2015/11/...-proposal-for-a-new-hbcu-athletic-conference/
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Must be pre-CB. It's an interesting concept but you did not include a comparison of TV contracts for similarly formed/marketable conferences.
 
SUJagFan said:
Why is a comparison needed?

Why can't HBCUs find solutions to their own problems without sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it first?

HBCUs should be proactive, not reactive. Aggressively looking for ways to save themselves because, honestly, no one else is looking to show HBCUs the way.
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History matters in TV deal negotiations. You have to be able to justify your starting point with numbers.
 
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