Future of UD Football Poll

[Hens79]

I'm not a fan of polls with overly-wordy descriptions of each choice, they are almost ALWAYS leading the audience to make a particular choice.
Saying "...and would rather dominate here", makes it sound like we want to be a big fish in a small pond. We're not.
Maybe if we actually were "dominating" at this level the wording would make sense. I think as written it may lead people away from this choice.

I would actually favor a Championship Subdivision (meaning Playoffs) that included the current top tier of FCS and lower tier of FBS.

You must be thinking of 01s polls. Talk about leading questions and not disguising what he thinks and wants. This one is pretty clear. If there isn’t a majority or even a significant number of folks on gohens wanting to stay in FCS, it is highly likely it is because there are in the minority.

And your desire is a 100% non starter. It is barely a fantasy.

But yeah. Let’s make the polls as simple as possible. How about:

- Stay in FCS or go to FBS.

But if more choices are desired:

-Go to FBS ASAP (1-2 years) even as an Independent

-Go to FBS but need to accomplish more at FCS first and only to a conference

-Stay in FCS

And on “game day experience” how about?

-Love it. No changes needed.

-Like it but with some tweaks, e.g. turn down the volume of the piped in music and have the band play more.

-Don’t really care.

-Don’t like it. Many changes needed in addition to those for option 2.

-Hate it. Start over.

[Roger_Podacter]

Go FBS ASAP. Pick a Conference that wants UD in it and go from there. UD can always change Conferences in the future.

[BlueHenBobby]

We are not ready at this time. However, I believe we are exploring the move to FBS. When we are competing for a National Champions in the FCS on a regular basis we will have some choice as to where we will end up. Schools that have made the move were in the FCS championship hunt before they moved. Look no furthere that JMU.

1- I would hate to move up as an indipendent, not playing for a conference title, and just hoping for some minor bowl game. I want to play for something more meaningful.

2- Start the move up by improving our OOC schedule. Stop playing top 20 FBS schools. Start playing schools that have recently moved up themselves. Schools like JMU, ODU, Coastal Carolina, etc... We need to recruit against these type of schools. It might be possible to arrange a 2 for 1 deal.

3- Become a dominate CAA team on a regular basis. I would hope we are at least headed in that direction.

4- Do not go to a conference that plays on Thursday night. Football is a Saturday game.

5- Continue improving the Stadium blueprint. Starting of the next phase lets everyone know that it is our plan to make a move.

Just my two cents.

You pretty much hit the things I want to see. I don't like the weekday football, I'm retired so I could make it, but football is for Saturday. I'd also like to see us go out of FCS football on a winning note like JMU did. Make it extremely obvious to possible FBS suitors that our program is back on track.

[VIKING '87]

Didn’t think it would be, but had to keep it as an option.

I chose Option 1.
And I think it's more popular than many might think.

Of the 3 options, though, Option 1 is almost immediately known - just look at the playoff attendances over the years. That should be pretty close to exactly who would vote for Option 1. And if that is the case, it's not a really large subset of our total fanbase.

Do you think UD vs UMass would draw more? Unless it is a P5 squad or perhaps a local rivalry (maybe Temple)? I don't see any reason why there would be a boost in attendance.

[Info Hound]

Speaking only for myself, obviously, but I would like to see a resumption of that old rivalry. Amherst is also a fun road trip destination.
I don't see me ever going to Bryant or Campbell, and some others.

[Udforever1]

Speaking only for myself, obviously, but I would like to see a resumption of that old rivalry. Amherst is also a fun road trip destination.
I don't see me ever going to Bryant or Campbell, and some others.

Loved that trip!

[UD '01 grad]

I'm not a fan of polls with overly-wordy descriptions of each choice, they are almost ALWAYS leading the audience to make a particular choice.
Saying "...and would rather dominate here", makes it sound like we want to be a big fish in a small pond. We're not.
Maybe if we actually were "dominating" at this level the wording would make sense. I think as written it may lead people away from this choice.

I would actually favor a Championship Subdivision (meaning Playoffs) that included the current top tier of FCS and lower tier of FBS.

You must be thinking of 01s polls. Talk about leading questions and not disguising what he thinks and wants. This one is pretty clear. If there isn’t a majority or even a significant number of folks on gohens wanting to stay in FCS, it is highly likely it is because there are in the minority.

And your desire is a 100% non starter. It is barely a fantasy.

But yeah. Let’s make the polls as simple as possible. How about:

- Stay in FCS or go to FBS.

But if more choices are desired:

-Go to FBS ASAP (1-2 years) even as an Independent

-Go to FBS but need to accomplish more at FCS first and only to a conference

-Stay in FCS

And on “game day experience” how about?

-Love it. No changes needed.

-Like it but with some tweaks, e.g. turn down the volume of the piped in music and have the band play more.

-Don’t really care.

-Don’t like it. Many changes needed in addition to those for option 2.

-Hate it. Start over.

"01s polls precisely capture the mood of Blue Hen Nation, offer balanced choices and are the only reason I click on Go Hens."

Signed,
01

[Cluck U]

Football is for Saturday?

Pro football used to be for Sundays. Some guy thought up Monday Night Football…anybody watch those games? Then, someone came up with NFL games on Sunday nights and on Thursday nights. Anyone watch those? Anyone watch the London games…because football is for ‘Merica.

High schools…Fridays or Saturdays? Night games versus day games. Play the game and people will come.

Plenty of people will watch college football during the week.

Change isn’t a bad thing. Heck, liquor stores used to be closed on Sundays.

[Bluewyn Gold]

I chose Option 1.
And I think it's more popular than many might think.

Doesn't appear to be the case, unless you believed Option 1 would actually be LOWER than 15%.

Unscientific though the poll is, more than 8 out of 10 GoHens voters favor an FBS move of some sort.

[Bluewyn Gold]

Go FBS ASAP. Pick a Conference that wants UD in it and go from there. UD can always change Conferences in the future.

Something to think about. It would cost a minimum $2.5M to withdraw from the MAC (as of now) plus $50K per month if the departure is less than the 24 months required by membership. The exit fee for CUSA is $3M, though three schools that recently departed negotiated it down to $1.75M/school. Pf course, there would be no exit fee moving from independent status into a new conference, though there COULD be an entrance fee.

[Brookside kid hen]

I will always want our hens playing for a national championship every year, but I understand most of our fans to move up to bigger and better. I'm afraid that horse is out of the barn, so it's really a matter of where we end up in an FBS move. I believe that within the next few years the 4 mega conferences are going to want to keep all the money they generate to themselves, and a new group of five type conference or two or three are going to come into existence, much more regional in nature due to travel costs and more level competition. That's our best bet I think. As many have said, the CAA is just awful now, what a fall from the 2000-2013 heyday.

[HensRock]

I chose Option 1.
And I think it's more popular than many might think.

Doesn't appear to be the case, unless you believed Option 1 would actually be LOWER than 15%.

Unscientific though the poll is, more than 8 out of 10 GoHens voters favor an FBS move of some sort.

Actually, Yes. -
Based on the general sentiment here, I expected it to be less than 15%. I expected less than 5%.

I like (real) Playoffs.
I like starting each season with at least the possibility of winning a National Championship.
I like the prospect of knocking off one of the "big boys" of College Football every once in a while.

I do not like college football on Weekday nights.
I do not like meaningless "Toilet" Bowl games.
I do not like how watered down FCS has become.

My ideal would be for the NCAA to introduce a new D-I subdivision between current FCS and FBS which only includes scholarship programs (maybe they must sponsor at least 40 and no more than 65 scholarship equivalencies, for instance). And there is a playoff system to determine a champion.

[Caribbean Hen]

This is the best poll I can ever remember on gohens

Actually the kind of poll that “the administration” might look at, not to mention some of the other Fan message boards and even the media… just wait

The results are not surprising at all and the way the question were written have absolutely nothing to do with the way people are voting

UDforever
Thanks for doing the poll

[jd of de]

Yesterday, Hero Sports (one of UD Dans homes) posted a number of articles on G5 realignment. Some very good reads.

C-USA new media deal with ESPN/ESPN+/CBS sports has all October football games being played mid-week.

[HensRock]

This is the best poll I can ever remember on gohens

Actually the kind of poll that “the administration” might look at, not to mention some of the other Fan message boards and even the media… just wait

The results are not surprising at all and the way the question were written have absolutely nothing to do with the way people are voting

UDforever
Thanks for doing the poll

I concur. Great poll!
And the wording is fine. I was mostly referring to other polls we've had here that were very leading, and someone was obviously trying to push an agenda.
This one is actually pretty unbiased in that regard. I just took issue with the "dominate here" phrase, because we are not.