One of the big unanswered questions about Charlotte's startup football program is which conference the 49ers might end up in when they move up to the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision level (formerly I-A).
It apparently won't be the Big East.
A day after the Big East announced it plans to expand from eight to 10 football members and that the league was already evaluating possible candidates, 49ers athletics director Judy Rose said Charotte would not be one of them.
"We have to crawl before we walk," said Rose. "We're committed to (Football Championship Subdivision) for an indefinite amount of time."
The Big East -- which announced no timetable for the expansion -- is reportedly already considering Villanova, a basketball member and the reigning national FCS football champion. Other possiblities for the league have been reported to be Texas Christian or Central Florida.
Charlotte officials have privately said the Big East might be their best-case scenario in the future. But unless the conference were to decide to expand again, that's not looking likely.
Other 49ers notes
-- Women's soccer play Macky Wingo was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's national player of the week after scoring five goals in victories against Temple and Saint Joseph's last weekend. The top-seeded 49ers begin play in the Atlantic 10 tournament on Friday at Rhode Island.
-- Charlotte's volleyball team raised $10,000 in October in its "Dig Pink" campaign for breast cancer research. The 49ers raised the money in a variety of ways, including selling pink T-shirts during a match against Temple, a five-set victory for Charlotte.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
49ers won't pursue Big East
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14 comments:
Oh no !!! We suck again.
What else is Judy supposed to say? She's trying to get us in an FCS football conference WITHOUT leaving the A10 in our other sports. She's got to convince Yeager (CAA) and Kallander (Big South) that we'd stay in their conference more than 5 minutes.
We missed our chance at getting into the Big East by not starting football sooner, and they aren't going to wait on us now. Our best bet is to play FCS football in the CAA for a while (5 to 10 years) until we can find a group of teams looking to move up, and build a new FBS conference with.
6:45 is right......Judy has publicly stated the WHOLE point of starting Fball is to get into a great conf. (ie;Big East). THAT IS STILL THE PLAN, but she can't say that publicly NOW while she's trying to get us into a good FCS league. WHo is going to want a team thats already planning to leave.
......I'm ok with this.
Hopefully we have a real AD by the time football is launched.
Everyone knows in the inner circle that Judy is an awful admin and decision maker.
The A10 plays football in the FCS, so the 9ners could stay, or move to the SoCon in Football, and remain in the A 10 for everything else.
I used to didn't take much favor to Judy, but I have to admit, I actually kind of like her now. I absolutely hate the fact we continue to call our school "UNC" Charlotte. Heck, some folks ignorantly call the school, UNC. Anyway, she won all kinds of cool points with me by changing our athletics to the Charlotte 49ers, which the school chancellor at the time, didn't whole heartily agree with. She obviously doesn't have any football background, but the AD is doing absolutely everything to learn the in's and out's and do everything the right way. Well, at least as I'm concerned.
PLEASE FIRE JUDY ROSE!
UNCC doesnt have enough parking lots close to the stadium, only parking decks. Tailgating will only be allowed at a designated parking lot on the east end of campus beginning two hours before the game. There will be a bus to take you across campus.
I can't believe you even wasted the time to write this.
The A10 doe not curently play football. They did have a football conference between 1997 and 2005, which had started life as the football-only Yankee Conference. When the NCAA made the rules difficult for 1 sport conferences, the A10 agreed to take over management of the Yankee Conference as the majority of its members were also A10 schools. The defection of Northeastern from A10 football to the CAA resulted in the A10 not having enough schools to maintain football conference status and the CAA basically took over management of what had once been the Yankee Conference.
I'm not sure about all the behind the scene issues involved with the 49ers acceptance into the Big East, but I think Judy Rose needs to reframe her comments in a more productive way. It should be abundantly clear that UNC Charlotte would walk on water to be part of the Big East conference.
Charlotte will NEVER be appreciated by the Charlotte community or around the country as a member of the A10 or as a participant in a non division I football conference. We must hasten our move to a major conference and the Big East is a perfect fit. Our school leaders shouldn't underappreciate the significance of the persistent migration of northeast yankees to Charlotte. We have migrated to Charlotte in mass and many of us miss our Big East teams. When Charlotte hosts the likes of Syracuse, Georgetown and Connecticut in basketball there will be an immediate reaction among the many fans from up north. Interest in Charlotte sports will grow dramatically and recruiting will transform over night for all of our teams.
Charlotte's best chance of creating a first class sports attraction among students and area sports fans hinges on participation in a big conference and a conference that warms the hearts of our citizens. Since the most popular local conference is the ACC and it looks down on Charlotte, we would be smart to activate all the longing sports fans from the northeast. We should seek an agreement now to enter the Big East after a predetermined number of seasons.
So yes, Charlotte must walk before it runs. However, we will find our stride far more quickly when potential recruits to ALL our teams see the Big East in our future. And, in the long run we will create a fun rivalry with our ACC neighbors that will attract a lasting fan base!!
So, Judy Rose needs to express Charlotte's intense interest in the Big East and begin mobilizing our current fans on a letter writing campaign to show the Big East we care!!
Excellent post 4:04
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