Possible realignment D1 ASUN effect on D2?

[UWAalum]

How many UNA folks to you know? Venture over to our message board and see how many want to still be in D2. Zero.

Also, if you think Alabamians give the same credence to Faulkner and Miles as they do to Troy and UAB, we don’t know any of the same folks or even live in the same world. Lol.

I’ll be watching UAB take on WKU tonight because I’m interested. I’m not an alum. But, I couldn’t tell you anything Faulkner, Miles, or Tuskegee this year.

I don't know as many as someone who went to school in Florence but I do not quite a few, some that served on the BOT and many that worked at the University.

You said most in Alabama only consider FBS real football and I challenge that notion with "most" don't care about any kind of football but Alabama and Auburn and it doesn't matter what level. It was an exaggeration to make a point, it is something we do in my world.

I will say that this thread as reminded me that I am happy UNA moved up...

[UNALions]

In Alabama, there are only two kinds of football - Alabama and Auburn. UAB, Troy, and Southern Miss aren't given any more or less consideration than Jax State, Samford, UNA, UWA, Faulkner, Miles and Tuskegee. "Consideration" being that only alums give a rip about it and even then if your alma mater were playing Alabama or Auburn half of the alums would be pulling against their former school.

If UNA is happy to be in D1, I am happy for them. The UNA folks that I know wish they were still in D2 but they could be in the minority. But even though football has some challenges, the other sports in D1 are doing pretty well and the games are mostly competitive.

How many UNA folks to you know? Venture over to our message board and see how many want to still be in D2. Zero.

Also, if you think Alabamians give the same credence to Faulkner and Miles as they do to Troy and UAB, we don’t know any of the same folks or even live in the same world. Lol.

I’ll be watching UAB take on WKU tonight because I’m interested. I’m not an alum. But, I couldn’t tell you anything Faulkner, Miles, or Tuskegee this year.

[UWAalum]

In Alabama, most don’t consider anything other than FBS as real college football. That’s just facts. Even in FCS, it’s viewed as lesser than by the droves of college sports fans in the state.

In Alabama, there are only two kinds of football - Alabama and Auburn. UAB, Troy, and Southern Miss aren't given any more or less consideration than Jax State, Samford, UNA, UWA, Faulkner, Miles and Tuskegee. "Consideration" being that only alums give a rip about it and even then if your alma mater were playing Alabama or Auburn half of the alums would be pulling against their former school.

If UNA is happy to be in D1, I am happy for them. The UNA folks that I know wish they were still in D2 but they could be in the minority. But even though football has some challenges, the other sports in D2 are doing pretty well and the games are mostly competitive.

[Rational Observer]

Even though Valdosta Sttate has budget issues just competing in D2, a jump to the ASun could be possible because there is really nothing elite about the ASun.

It's also interesting the RO suggested an athletics fee. I had a conversation with one of my staffers the other day where he talked about the pushback by students against athletic fees.

School	Enrollment	Athletic Budget (millions)
Jacksonville State	5,884	$14.6
Central Arkansas	7,291	$13.2
Austin Peay	6,126	$14.1
Kennesaw State	27,300	$24.4
Eastern Kentucky	9,558	$17.1
North Alabama	4,673	$10.4
Valdosta State	7,232	$6.7

According to the University System of Georgia, the enrollment at VSU is "more than 11,200". That number does include graduate students.

The same sources list UWG's enrollment at "more than 13,000".

[UNALions]

Seems like UNA missing being in the GSC. Only thing I see going up is more expensive costs for more losses. Hard to get excited when you are 4-7 every year. Of course if you create a d1 conference out of mostly d2 schools you could say farewell to making the playoffs because of your rankings with out quality wins. Some schools do make it though but it’s usually a long uphill struggle. The Southern Conference has had some success especially App. State and Ga. Southern. Mostly you’re moving up to become average at best.

I do miss the rivalries of the GSC but I don’t miss D2. In Alabama, most don’t consider anything other than FBS as real college football. That’s just facts. Even in FCS, it’s viewed as lesser than by the droves of college sports fans in the state.

Thankfully, the ASUN has 11 great schools in the conference even after Liberty, Jax State and KSU move on to CUSA. But, I do daydream about a few GSC foes coming aboard.

[Bearhof]

Seems like UNA missing being in the GSC. Only thing I see going up is more expensive costs for more losses. Hard to get excited when you are 4-7 every year. Of course if you create a d1 conference out of mostly d2 schools you could say farewell to making the playoffs because of your rankings with out quality wins. Some schools do make it though but it’s usually a long uphill struggle. The Southern Conference has had some success especially App. State and Ga. Southern. Mostly your moving up to become average at best.

[UNALions]

Enrollment numbers now include online students. One high school student taking a dual enrollment english class counts as enrolled. I thought I read that UNA’s on campus was in the 7k range.

Those numbers have been included for years now. UNA was named the fastest growing university in AL in 2021 when they announced record enrollment of 8800 last fall. That jumped to 10k this fall.

From this article:

https://thebamabuzz.com/una-breaks-e...nce-fall-2021/

The University credits several reasons for its record enrollment which occurred for 14 consecutive terms. They are:

• A sharp increase in on-campus students, with a record number of students living in University-affiliated housing
• The increase in the number of on-campus international students and international partners, including those in China at Guizhou University-University of North Alabama International College of Engineering and Technology on the Guizhou University campus in Guiyang, China
• The growth of the Delores and Weldon Cole Honors College which has more than 750 students enrolled in 2022, marking its largest enrollment in its more than 15-year history at UNA

Enrollment at UNA has increased 40% since 2015.

[UWAalum]

Where did these numbers come from? UNA just announced record enrollment of over 10K. I don't ever recall enrollment there being below 5K. It usually hovered in the 7-8k range most years in D2.

Enrollment numbers now include online students. One high school student taking a dual enrollment english class counts as enrolled. I thought I read that UNA’s on campus was in the 7k range.

[CalifOKRA]

It would be fun for ASUN Football to be:

APSU
UCA
EKU
UNA
VSU
UWF
UWG
DSU
UWA

That’s 9 football schools, Stetson plays in the non-scholarship PFL, along with the 6 non-football schools for a 16 school league. If EKU is likely to leave, snag Miss College too.

These GSC schools would really help fill in the geographical make up of the conference between the north (KY/Tenn) and south (Florida).

Won’t likely happen but would be a fun conference.

I would enjoy that a whole lot!

[UNALions]

It would be fun for ASUN Football to be:

APSU
UCA
EKU
UNA
VSU
UWF
UWG
DSU
UWA

That’s 9 football schools, Stetson plays in the non-scholarship PFL, along with the 6 non-football schools for a 16 school league. If EKU is likely to leave, snag Miss College too.

These GSC schools would really help fill in the geographical make up of the conference between the north (KY/Tenn) and south (Florida).

Won’t likely happen but would be a fun conference.

[UNALions]

Even though Valdosta Sttate has budget issues just competing in D2, a jump to the ASun could be possible because there is really nothing elite about the ASun.

It's also interesting the RO suggested an athletics fee. I had a conversation with one of my staffers the other day where he talked about the pushback by students against athletic fees.

School	Enrollment	Athletic Budget (millions)
Jacksonville State	5,884	$14.6
Central Arkansas	7,291	$13.2
Austin Peay	6,126	$14.1
Kennesaw State	27,300	$24.4
Eastern Kentucky	9,558	$17.1
North Alabama	4,673	$10.4
Valdosta State	7,232	$6.7

Where did these numbers come from? UNA just announced record enrollment of over 10K. I don't ever recall enrollment there being below 5K. It usually hovered in the 7-8k range most years in D2.

https://whnt.com/news/shoals/una-see...rd-enrollment/

Jax State just announced record enrollment also at 9,633.

https://www.jsu.edu/news/articles/20...t-records.html

UCA was over 10k last year.

https://uca.edu/news/uca-sees-more-t...te-enrollment/

APSU went down a bit from its high of 11k in 2019 to 9,609 last fall.

https://www.apsu.edu/about-apsu/fast...about-apsu.php

KSU is over 43k.

https://ksuowls.com/news/2022/10/14/...n-2024-25.aspx

EKU is 14k.

https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisvi...move-in-at-eku

Valdosta State was over 12k even with the pandemic.

https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/n...9df65b99f.html

[UNALions]

Another game at Toyota Field was just announced for UNA. This time for baseball taking on Auburn. These types of games help excite fans and alumni while also utilizing the Huntsville media market to grow the school’s brand and outreach.

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[Shugley]

Even though Valdosta Sttate has budget issues just competing in D2, a jump to the ASun could be possible because there is really nothing elite about the ASun.

It's also interesting the RO suggested an athletics fee. I had a conversation with one of my staffers the other day where he talked about the pushback by students against athletic fees.

School	Enrollment	Athletic Budget (millions)
Jacksonville State	5,884	$14.6
Central Arkansas	7,291	$13.2
Austin Peay	6,126	$14.1
Kennesaw State	27,300	$24.4
Eastern Kentucky	9,558	$17.1
North Alabama	4,673	$10.4
Valdosta State	7,232	$6.7

Students have been pushing back for years against athletic fees, but there is nothing they can do about it. I fussed about it when I was at DSU, and continue to fuss about it, but it's not going to change. I personally think the entire NCAA structure is doomed and that all athletics after high school should be privatized and education should be left out of it. I realize I'm radical in this approach.

[UNALions]

Can you run the 300+ D1 enrollment numbers? I'm curious.

You can sort the Wikipedia page for a general idea.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...I_institutions

[Brandon]

For D2, I’d say 10k and above. VSU is 35th out of 303 D2 schools in enrollment. UWG and UWF a bit higher. Of course, then you have GVSU at 24k, etc.

Can you run the 300+ D1 enrollment numbers? I'm curious.