Interesting thread...
Lemme play Devil's Advocate for a minute...Having our own thing is great in terms of revenue; The Legacy Bowl is great for the folks that actually participate in it (MEAC or SWAC). What exactly does it mean (from a fiscal and competitive standpoint) for Black College Football collectively?
In order to have our 'own thing' and have it actually be a viable competitor to the NCAA playoffs in terms of credibility, the product on the field has to be up to snuff.
Right now, black college football as a collective is piss-poor as far as the on-field product is concerned. We sit here and argue about which conference is sellin' out, but the REALITY is that BOTH conferences (save a few seasons here and there from a select few teams) DO NOT win (in some cases, even compete) on a consistent basis with programs outside of HBCU football that are supposed to be on the same divisional level as far as talent and resources go. That's the underlying problem here and it frankly makes all of the MEAC vs. SWAC foolishness moot.
In order for this trend to change, BOTH conference have to get their respective schools to be serious in terms of making our programs competitive. That means marketing our programs correctly; it means getting people into leadership positions that know how to maximize resources.
Most importantly, we've got to get AD's and coaches into our conferences that are committed to building and winning against everybody, not just their own inner circle of football programs...That means recruiting and selling the school and program. Kids like playing against the best competition possible. If you'r going to have an event thats going to directly compete with a National Championship, you best have a plan in place to attract the best talent possible and sell them on the HBCU concept in order to make that happen.
So far, we've failed miserably at it. Playing the PWC's in order to grow our own brand is fine, as long as you have the means to put a comparable or superior product on the field...Right now neither conference is doing that.