Originally posted by Get Ready
I think JSU is the only school that can make this transition very easily. We wont have to upgrade the stadium nor is attendance a problem. JSU should leave the sWAC and become a DIAA independant or go D1 anyway.
You may be on to something GR. Because your second-place finishing team with 17 returning starters always comes up short in the East, you must be running out of excuses for why JSU can't win the SWAC. There is no worse circumstance for an alleged championship team to find itself than a situation where it can't explain why it has not won a divisional or conference championship in years.
Moving to D1-A solves you problem, doesn't it? It gives you another excuse for being an also-ran. If you can't win the conference, solve your problem by leaving it. You remind me of the kid who takes his ball and goes home because he can't beat the other kids in a pick-up game.
It also reminds me of the kid who won't fight with anyone of his size and age, but will attempt to fight someone who is much bigger and older. The kid knows that he is not expected to beat the bigger and older kid, and no one will ridicule him for losing that fight. You must believe that you will be able to explain those losing seasons by saying that JSU was playing larger schools, and was not supposed to win.
AAMU does not want that reputation. We want to be known as the team that wins at the level on which it plays. We won't try to manufacture excuses for shortcomings. We will simply correct them. If we decide to go D1-A, it won't be for show or vanity. It will be to compete. Therefore, even though we are in as good an athletic financial condition as anyone to make the move, we won't recklessly risk our good standing to move to a higher division without a valid reason.
If there is a bright side to a move to D1-A for JSU, it could be that you can get So. Miss. to come and drop fifty on you at Memorial.
