FCS pre-season Top 25 poll by Sam Herder

[dchen]

When Florida state leaves we can join the acc . Might need to add a few more seats to our stadium

I’m hoping for this as well. We fit the ACC profile - flagship state university and a private school. Other possibilities are WVU but would they want to leave the Big 12 who has a bigger TV deal than the ACC? Or UConn who I think would be attractive to the ACC - elite MBB and WBB and already FBS in football.Edit: But following Friday’s news from the West Coast, the ACC may be able to consider Stanford and Cal as members.

[GhostOfThePeeWall]

When Florida state leaves we can join the acc . Might need to add a few more seats to our stadium

I’m hoping for this as well. We fit the ACC profile - flagship state university and a private school. Other possibilities are WVU but would they want to leave the Big 12 who has a bigger TV deal than the ACC? Or UConn who I think would be attractive to the ACC - elite MBB and WBB and already FBS in football.Edit: But following Friday’s news from the West Coast, the ACC may be able to consider Stanford and Cal as members.

I think when the SEC and B1G get done destroying college football, everyone left out of the semi-pro big 2 will do a hard reset back to regionalized competitive conferences. Hopefully this will be a good thing for UD in the long term.

Seems like those west coast schools hated the Apple TV deal almost as much as we hate FloSports.

[Hengrad07]

When Florida state leaves we can join the acc . Might need to add a few more seats to our stadium

I’m hoping for this as well. We fit the ACC profile - flagship state university and a private school. Other possibilities are WVU but would they want to leave the Big 12 who has a bigger TV deal than the ACC? Or UConn who I think would be attractive to the ACC - elite MBB and WBB and already FBS in football.Edit: But following Friday’s news from the West Coast, the ACC may be able to consider Stanford and Cal as members.

UConn > UD to ACC all day long!
Hoops & FH are perfect additions.

[Housthen18]

As both a UD and ACC school alum who follows ACC news closely, we are not even on the ACC’s radar lol. They were looking at Washington and Oregon as potential additions before the Big Ten move, now potentially targeting Cal and Stanford.

The ACC’s biggest problem is that its revenue distributions are lower than the SEC and Big Ten’s. They have no interest in taking a school that would further dilute that, particularly a school with virtually no built-in fanbase like UD.

The most likely scenario is that the ACC blows apart (either in 2036 or, if FSU/Clemson/etc can figure a way out of the grant of rights, before then). The ACC heavy hitters then depart to the Big 10/SEC and the remaining schools, like Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, scramble to find a new alliance. But that could end in the formation of a “Southern Ivy” conference with the likes of Wake, GT, Tulane, Rice, etc.

This is part of why I’ve encouraged UD to consider the Sun Belt or CUSA as a stepping stone — the future of college football alignment on the East Coast is with the Southeastern schools. UD straddles the geographic line and can choose its alignment.

[Delawareparent]

The time is now or never for us to move up. If Notre dame leaves the independent or if UConn joins the acc there will be an opening in the aac.

[jd of de]

UCONN made their decision when they left the AAC to move back to the Big East. The Huskies will be happy to watch the football program die a slow death if that keeps their basketball programs where they believe they belong; the Big East.

The TERRIBLE media rights deal the ACC is locked into (until 2036) with ESPN guarantees the B1G (FOX media rights) will come knocking for Virginia and North Carolina next.

[Housthen18]

With respect to conference viability, it occurred to me that Delaware has the distinction of being the only state flagship university in the United States located within a top 50 metro media market (in the #4 media market, no less) that plays football at the FCS level.

[jd of de]

With respect to conference viability, it occurred to me that Delaware has the distinction of being the only state flagship university in the United States located within a top 50 metro media market (in the #4 media market, no less) that plays football at the FCS level.

Respectfully, only a small portion of Delaware is considered to be part of the Philly media market; 230,000 of the 465,000 tv homes in the state. And of the 2,950,000 tv homes that make up the Philly media market, with only 230,000 in Delaware, we are not seen as a important part of that market. It has been and remains the biggest obstacle to moving up; we are not seen as adding value to any conference’s media deals.

[Housthen18]

With respect to conference viability, it occurred to me that Delaware has the distinction of being the only state flagship university in the United States located within a top 50 metro media market (in the #4 media market, no less) that plays football at the FCS level.

Respectfully, only a small portion of Delaware is considered to be part of the Philly media market; 230,000 of the 465,000 tv homes in the state. And of the 2,950,000 tv homes that make up the Philly media market, with only 230,000 in Delaware, we are not seen as a important part of that market. It has been and remains the biggest obstacle to moving up; we are not seen as adding value to any conference’s media deals.

This makes sense. I knew Delaware's status as a very small state means it's not similarly-situated to other flagship schools, even if it technically exists in a large media market.

What stinks is that I think we would still have value if we were perceived as having committed alumni in the NYC/Philly/DC metros willing to subscribe to TV packages to watch Delaware football. Look at a school like Texas Tech - the Lubbock DMA has only 171k TV households and yet they were admitted to a major conference.

[UD '01 grad]

On the plus side of the TV-market talk (in Kent County with Fios at least) on NFL Sundays, if the schedule falls right, you can get up to six games on regular network TV thanks to the area's link to the distinct Philly, Baltimore and Washington coverage territories, including the national NBC game on Sunday night.

[77HEN]

With respect to conference viability, it occurred to me that Delaware has the distinction of being the only state flagship university in the United States located within a top 50 metro media market (in the #4 media market, no less) that plays football at the FCS level.

Would Durham, NH be considered to be in the Boston media market?

[Cluck U]

UD could market itself better to the media.

Why consider only the physical boundary of Delaware when talking about the University of Delaware's regional media reach? It isn't as though the university doesn't draw from the surrounding area/states.

Although UD is the state's flagship school, about 69% of UD students come from out of state...many from nearby Jersey and PA. We are MUCH bigger than nova, St. Joe's, LaSalle...bigger than Penn...about the same size as Drexel. Of the Philly Six schools, only Temple has a larger enrollment, by a couple thousand.

Seems as though Delaware doesn't want to think big...hemmed in by their own mindset more than their actual physical geography.

[Gannonfan]

UD could market itself better to the media.

Why consider only the physical boundary of Delaware when talking about the University of Delaware's regional media reach? It isn't as though the university doesn't draw from the surrounding area/states.

Although UD is the state's flagship school, about 69% of UD students come from out of state...many from nearby Jersey and PA. We are MUCH bigger than nova, St. Joe's, LaSalle...bigger than Penn...about the same size as Drexel. Of the Philly Six schools, only Temple has a larger enrollment, by a couple thousand.

Seems as though Delaware doesn't want to think big...hemmed in by their own mindset more than their actual physical geography.

Was touring colleges this summer with the middle kid who's a rising senior - UD is basically no different than Clemson in terms of size of school, mission in terms of being a state supported institution, and overall rigor of the school (Clemson is a tad better overall, but certainly within the margin of error). The only real difference is the approach to athletics, where Clemson cares a great deal, and UD cares less than that. And that's by choice, not by default.

[Caribbean Hen]

1 more poll…

Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll

1. South Dakota State (14–1, 8–0 Missouri Valley), 1,400 points (56 first-place votes)
2. North Dakota State (12–3, 7–1 Missouri Valley), 1,329
3. Montana State (12–2, 8–0 Big Sky), 1,294
4. William & Mary (11–2, 7–1 CAA), 1,172
5. Holy Cross (12–1, 6–0 Patriot), 1,113
6. Furman (10-3, 7-1 Southern) 1,035
7. UIW (12–2, 5–1 Southland), 935
8. Idaho (7–5, 6–2 Big Sky), 932
9. Samford (11-2), 8-0 Southern), 885
10. Sacramento State (12–1, 8–0 Big Sky), 881
11. New Hampshire (9–4, 7–1 CAA), 798
12. Southeast Missouri (9-3, 5–0 Ohio Valley), 768
13. Weber State (10–3, 6–2 Big Sky), 744
14. Montana (8–5, 4–4 Big Sky), 711
15. Southeastern Louisiana (9–4, 5–1 Southland), 710
16. UC Davis (6–5, 5–3 Big Sky), 513
17. North Dakota (7–5, 5–3 Missouri Valley), 479
18. Richmond (9–4, 6–2 CAA), 387
19. North Carolina Central (10–2, 4–1 MEAC), 330
20. Mercer (7-4, 5-3 Southern), 293
21. Rhode Island (7–4, 5–3 CAA), 169
22. Delaware (8-5, 4-4 CAA), 166
23. Northern Iowa (6-5, 5-3 Missouri Valley), 155
24. Eastern Kentucky (7-5, 3-2 ASUN), 137
25. Gardner-Webb (7-6, 5-0 Big South), 12

26. Central Arkansas (5–6, 3–2 ASUN) 110
27. Chattanooga (7-4, 5-3 Southern) 84
28. Jackson State (12-1, 8-0 SWAC) 71
29T. Southern Illinois (5–6, 4–4 Missouri Valley) 66
29T. Youngstown State (7-4, 5-3 Missouri Valley) 66
31T. Florida A&M (9-2, 7-1 SWAC) 65
31T. UT Martin (7–4, 5–0 Ohio Valley) 65
33. Elon (8-4, 6-2 CAA) 61
34. Austin Peay (7-4, 3-2 ASUN) 40
35. Fordham (9-3, 5-1 Patriot) 28
36. Yale (8-2, 6-1 Ivy) 18
37. Villanova (6-5, 4-4 CAA) 8
38. McNeese (4-7, 2-4 Southland) 7
39T. Abilene Christian (7-4, 3-1 WAC) 6
39T. St. Thomas (10-1, 8-0 Pioneer) 6
41. Saint Francis (9-3, 7-0 NEC) 5

[dchen]

On the plus side of the TV-market talk (in Kent County with Fios at least) on NFL Sundays, if the schedule falls right, you can get up to six games on regular network TV thanks to the area's link to the distinct Philly, Baltimore and Washington coverage territories, including the national NBC game on Sunday night.

One article I read on the PAC 4 situation indicated that conferences and media outlets consider the size of a school’s total following in their market which includes attendance, tv ratings, streaming subscribers and national following. The writer called this a school’s “tribe”. Notre Dame’s tribe is large. Stanford’s and Cal’s not so much. The concern to a Big 10 conference is that adding those two would dilute the per school revenue share instead of increasing it.