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Hokies were 'strongest candidate' for SEC expansion in 2012

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Oh gawd...splutter. There goes my coffee.

Finebaum! LOL....only someone not familiar with this guy would call him an expert. He is widely ridiculed throughout the south where his radio shows for years have been sort of a side show act with a little of the Dude of WVU thrown in.

Don't forget the regular callers, like that backwoods intellectual, Phyllis from Mulga.

I listened to his show a couple of times, and, I can see why other Americans make fun of Southerners. SMDH...

Good God, his audience are 'Delieverance' type hillbillies, for the most part. Pitiful.
 
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If the SEC had to take Duke along with UNC, they would. It adds one of the top brands in Basketball and gives the SEC a boost on the academic side for image purposes and a team that could be competitive (not successful) in football with the right staff and facilities.

Agree 100 percent.

NC State is a large state school in a very good TV market for the SEC that actually might prosper out from under Chapel Hill's shadow if allowed.

NCSU hasn't won anything in the ACC in over a quarter century, so, I have my doubts they would prosper athletically in the SEC, either. Their lunatic fringe fans would eat up the whole 'being out of Carolina's shadow' thing, though. Except that just being in a different conference would not accomplish that. They'd actually have to win something first.

If UNC went to the B1G, the SEC would be smart to grab NC State, after all, who else is there to gab in NC - Wake (not a chance), ECU (sorry), UNC Charlotte (will not be ready in the next 20 years plus S Carolina and Clemson have pull there)?

You are correct, in that the SEC would take NCSU, simply to get into the NC market, should Carolina ever decide to join the B1G.
 
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Why in the world is NC State coming up in this thread?

They're never leaving the ACC ... partly because they don't want to, but mostly because no other conference has a use for them.

I am so glad that you said that. Because it is the absolute truth.

But, to hear their delusional fans talk, you'd think that the SEC was salivating at the opportunity to bring them in. Which makes Carolina fans laugh. :D

No other league WANTS NC State.
 
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They may not be UNC or NCSU, but ECU does have a significant following in North Carolina. ECU even has a significant fanbase in Virginia. It sounds like a bad analogy, but they are like JMU in Virginia. If JMU went FBS several years ago, they'd be significant in Virginia much the way ECU is in North Carolina. JMU threatened to go the FBS route not long ago and it would have been bad for UVa and VT recruiting.

ECU may not have the large media draw, but do have a large and significant state fanbase along with 27,000 students. ECU just doesn't have the coffers to compete with UNC or NCSU, but have a solid following and probably as passionate of a fanbase as WVU. Like the state of West Virginia, eastern North Carolina is very poor making ECU's setting similar to WVU.
 
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They may not be UNC or NCSU, but ECU does have a significant following in North Carolina. ECU even has a significant fanbase in Virginia. It sounds like a bad analogy, but they are like JMU in Virginia. If JMU went FBS several years ago, they'd be significant in Virginia much the way ECU is in North Carolina. JMU threatened to go the FBS route not long ago and it would have been bad for UVa and VT recruiting.

ECU may not have the large media draw, but do have a large and significant state fanbase along with 27,000 students. ECU just doesn't have the coffers to compete with UNC or NCSU, but have a solid following and probably as passionate of a fanbase as WVU. Like the state of West Virginia, eastern North Carolina is very poor making ECU's setting similar to WVU.

I live in eastern NC, and, believe me, ECU is a FAR and DISTANT third here. They are so far behind Carolina and State, that they're not even in their rearview mirrors.

ECU have a nice little five county barony in and around Greenville, but, thats about the extent of their following. But, even there, they are still 3rd to their ACC neighbors.
 
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I live in eastern NC, and, believe me, ECU is a FAR and DISTANT third here. They are so far behind Carolina and State, that they're not even in their rearview mirrors.

ECU have a nice little five county barony in and around Greenville, but, thats about the extent of their following. But, even there, they are still 3rd to their ACC neighbors.

Don't disagree they are 3rd in North Carolina as a fanbase. But you are oversimplifying and not giving them any credit. If they really have as small of a fiefdom as you say, then Kenan should have been 95% baby blue and white last year when you played ECU. Instead, I saw a lot more purple and gold than expected. Pretty good showing by that "distant third" fanbase.
 
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Don't disagree they are 3rd in North Carolina as a fanbase. But you are oversimplifying and not giving them any credit. If they really have as small of a fiefdom as you say, then Kenan should have been 95% baby blue and white last year when you played ECU. Instead, I saw a lot more purple and gold than expected. Pretty good showing by that "distant third" fanbase.

Statewide, they ARE a far and distant third, without question.

Its not that I am not giving them any credit. They have a small, but passionate, fanbase. They did show up in their numbers for their game vs VPI at BoA Stadium, and, they fill their stadium up for home games. Unfortunately, for UNC-ECU games in Chapel Hill, too many of our fans will give their unused tickets to their fans, and, you are right, it DOES look bad for us when there is so much purple on display.

We simply are not a good fanbase for football, which is sad, but, it is who we are, unfortunately. Your fans, Clemson's, and FSU's get all over us about attendance, but, it falls on the deaf ears of the 'basketball first/basketball only' elitists.

Even the 57,000+ crowd for last week vs San Diego State was a disappointment. And, attendance will be why we lose Coach Fedora, if he can turn things around here.
 
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Statewide, they ARE a far and distant third, without question.

Its not that I am not giving them any credit. They have a small, but passionate, fanbase. They did show up in their numbers for their game vs VPI at BoA Stadium, and, they fill their stadium up for home games. Unfortunately, for UNC-ECU games in Chapel Hill, too many of our fans will give their unused tickets to their fans, and, you are right, it DOES look bad for us when there is so much purple on display.

We simply are not a good fanbase for football, which is sad, but, it is who we are, unfortunately. Your fans, Clemson's, and FSU's get all over us about attendance, but, it falls on the deaf ears of the 'basketball first/basketball only' elitists.

Even the 57,000+ crowd for last week vs San Diego State was a disappointment. And, attendance will be why we lose Coach Fedora, if he can turn things around here.

I goes both ways. Cassell Coliseum looks like a home game for UNC when we play. Our basketball is a joke, although many Hokies are optimistic about Buzz Williams. I'm a realist/pessimist and hold judgment on Buzz Williams and the future of Tech bball. We're lucky to go above .500 this year IMO.

By the way, ECU has 102,589 living alumni compared to UNC's 156,600. Didn't look at NCSU, but assume they have the largest numbers in the state.
 

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By the way, ECU has 102,589 living alumni compared to UNC's 156,600. Didn't look at NCSU, but assume they have the largest numbers in the state.

In an ECU-UNC game, what fraction of ECU alumni would root for ECU?
 
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In an ECU-UNC game, what fraction of ECU alumni would root for ECU?

Assuming a neutral court/field.... in basketball, UNC would obliterate the ECU fanbase. Football would have more ECU fans than UNC fans, but at least some UNC fans would show up. At least that's how I see it. ECU football fans are fairly rabid considering the uphill climb they have to make.
 

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I meant among casual fans watching on television, would an ECU alum living in Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte or Greensboro be more likely to root for UNC or ECU? I.e. is UNC considered the state team and default rooting interest?
 
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In an ECU-UNC game, what fraction of ECU alumni would root for ECU?

All of them. They show up, and, they're LOUD. At home in Greenville, Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium holds 47,000 but it sounds like 90,000 when UNC or NCSU are visiting.

In Chapel Hill, as I said before, too many of our own fans give their tickets to their fans. Which means a lot more purple in Kenan Stadium than there should be. Its sort of an embarassment for Carolina. The University has expanded Kenan to seat 63,000...which is ridiculous, considering we had a tough time filling it to capacity when it held 57,500. When Butch was here, there were plans in place to go all the way to 70,000. smh...

We all know how that worked out. :confused:
 
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I meant among casual fans watching on television, would an ECU alum living in Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte or Greensboro be more likely to root for UNC or ECU? I.e. is UNC considered the state team and default rooting interest?

There are a good number of ECU fans who pull for ECU in football, and, UNC in basketball. Typically, they are not alumni, and, they tend to be older fans. Younger fans are less likely to have those divided loyalties.

Their alumni as a whole are a pretty loyal group.

That does not even bring into the conversation all of the dischord between the two schools over funding in the NC State Legislature.

UNC certainly has the largest fanbase within the state, but, it is clearly not the default team within the state. NCSU's fanbase is more than large enough to stop UNC from making that claim.
 
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I meant among casual fans watching on television, would an ECU alum living in Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte or Greensboro be more likely to root for UNC or ECU? I.e. is UNC considered the state team and default rooting interest?

In football, I see it as 1) ECU = the proud and loyal fans, 2) NCSU = solid fans who come out of the wood work when they are good and 3) UNC = the flagship school that carries the state. NCSU may have greater numbers of living alumni, but UNC has more fans (locals and non-alumni) statewide. Heck, even where I grew up in Southside Virginia as a kid, UNC had as many fans (not alumni) as Tech and UVa. But to answer your question, UNC is their state's team, even in football.
 
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They may not be UNC or NCSU, but ECU does have a significant following in North Carolina. ECU even has a significant fanbase in Virginia. It sounds like a bad analogy, but they are like JMU in Virginia. If JMU went FBS several years ago, they'd be significant in Virginia much the way ECU is in North Carolina. JMU threatened to go the FBS route not long ago and it would have been bad for UVa and VT recruiting.

ECU may not have the large media draw, but do have a large and significant state fanbase along with 27,000 students. ECU just doesn't have the coffers to compete with UNC or NCSU, but have a solid following and probably as passionate of a fanbase as WVU. Like the state of West Virginia, eastern North Carolina is very poor making ECU's setting similar to WVU.

East Carolina in the SEC could become the ACC's worst nightmare. ECU has tremendous potential to become a football power for a number of reasons, some of which you cited: solid following with a passionate fan base ; 27,000 students; location within reasonable proximity to the Norfolk/Newport News metro area (1.7 million people); 50,000 seat stadium which could be easily expanded, etc. Plus, ECU is a football school located in a state known mostly for ACC basketball. I can only imagine what the SEC could do with ECU football in the unlikely event it brought the Pirates into the SEC.

I have a VHS tape of the 1990 Virginia Tech/Virginia football game, and during one of the time-outs, the proposed Big East Football Conference was being discussed. Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, Miami, West Virginia, Rutgers, and Temple were set to join and the discussion was on who would likely become the eighth and final member. The candidates--Virginia Tech, Louisville, and East Carolina. Things worked out pretty well for the first two.
 
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I like ECU as a football program. I, too, think that they might be a good addition to the SEC.

They have been an emerging program and I am wondering how far they will go.
 
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I like ECU as a football program. I, too, think that they might be a good addition to the SEC.

They have been an emerging program and I am wondering how far they will go.
As I've said about Cincinnati, I wouldn't call it a slam dunk for success, but I think ECU (and Cincinnati) could really make some noise as SEC members in states "owned" by other P5 conferences.

Addendum: Keep in mind that South Carolina was pretty much a dumpster fire in the late 1980s.
 
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As I've said about Cincinnati, I wouldn't call it a slam dunk for success, but I think ECU (and Cincinnati) could really make some noise as SEC members in states "owned" by other P5 conferences.

Addendum: Keep in mind that South Carolina was pretty much a dumpster fire in the late 1980s.

Except that USC-e shared/shares flagship status with Clemson and had/has as much presence in South Carolina as the Tigers on a media and living alumni perspective. ECU has a decent sized enrollment, but like SouthronCross says, ECU is 3rd in the North Carolina pecking order. Therefore it's a more difficult uphill climb for ECU than it was for USC-e to get to the SEC. ECU is a great football prospect, but a lot of work has to be done to change the image of "the 3rd team" in North Carolina to be an equal of UNC and NCSU. The problem is every P5 conference, excluding the ACC, wants large flagship or land grant schools that draw the state's interests. Not that ECU can't do it... it just will be very difficult. And unfortunately, ECU will probably never get an ACC invite.

As for Cincinnati, they have to scale an unstable cliff to get into the SEC with OSU in Ohio.
 
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Except that USC-e shared/shares flagship status with Clemson and had/has as much presence in South Carolina as the Tigers on a media and living alumni perspective. ECU has a decent sized enrollment, but like SouthronCross says, ECU is 3rd in the North Carolina pecking order. Therefore it's a more difficult uphill climb for ECU than it was for USC-e to get to the SEC. ECU is a great football prospect, but a lot of work has to be done to change the image of "the 3rd team" in North Carolina to be an equal of UNC and NCSU. The problem is every P5 conference, excluding the ACC, wants large flagship or land grant schools that draw the state's interests. Not that ECU can't do it... it just will be very difficult. And unfortunately, ECU will probably never get an ACC invite.

As for Cincinnati, they have to scale an unstable cliff to get into the SEC with OSU in Ohio.
I don't see how OSU could keep UC out of the SEC; it would be UK banging that drum. (And obviously it's all conjecture until we get further understanding of SEC's future expansion plans and ACC's stability come a time of future SEC expansion.)
 
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I don't see how OSU could keep UC out of the SEC; it would be UK banging that drum. (And obviously it's all conjecture until we get further understanding of SEC's future expansion plans and ACC's stability come a time of future SEC expansion.)

What I meant to say is that OSU's presence in Ohio would prevent the SEC from considering Cincinnati, as UC draws from a very localized city population versus the entire state of Ohio. In other words, UC doesn't really bring anything to the SEC table in terms of fanbase. ECU has a bit of a stronger case for the SEC than UC IMO.
 
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East Carolina in the SEC could become the ACC's worst nightmare. ECU has tremendous potential to become a football power for a number of reasons, some of which you cited: solid following with a passionate fan base ; 27,000 students; location within reasonable proximity to the Norfolk/Newport News metro area (1.7 million people); 50,000 seat stadium which could be easily expanded, etc. Plus, ECU is a football school located in a state known mostly for ACC basketball. I can only imagine what the SEC could do with ECU football in the unlikely event it brought the Pirates into the SEC.

The biggest thing working against ECU is their not being the flagship school of the state. UNC would be the one the SEC wants, but, if they turned them down, they'd take NCSU over ECU, and, it would not be in doubt. ECU's following in eastern NC is pretty strong, as you correctly point out. You are also correct about their location, relative to the Tidewater region. It is another huge positive.

But, the further west in NC that you go, the smaller their following gets. Also, the further south you go. By the time you reach Wilmington, ECU is a non-factor. They could develop that reach, if they continue to have the success they have now. But, a spot in the SEC is a pipedream for them.


I have a VHS tape of the 1990 Virginia Tech/Virginia football game, and during one of the time-outs, the proposed Big East Football Conference was being discussed. Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, Miami, West Virginia, Rutgers, and Temple were set to join and the discussion was on who would likely become the eighth and final member. The candidates--Virginia Tech, Louisville, and East Carolina. Things worked out pretty well for the first two.

I always felt that they should've been in the BE as far back as maybe 2000. They would've been competitive in FB, and, Miami aside, had the best baseball program in the league.
 
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Except that USC-e shared/shares flagship status with Clemson and had/has as much presence in South Carolina as the Tigers on a media and living alumni perspective. ECU has a decent sized enrollment, but like SouthronCross says, ECU is 3rd in the North Carolina pecking order. Therefore it's a more difficult uphill climb for ECU than it was for USC-e to get to the SEC. ECU is a great football prospect, but a lot of work has to be done to change the image of "the 3rd team" in North Carolina to be an equal of UNC and NCSU. The problem is every P5 conference, excluding the ACC, wants large flagship or land grant schools that draw the state's interests. Not that ECU can't do it... it just will be very difficult. And unfortunately, ECU will probably never get an ACC invite.say they want quality, not

As for Cincinnati, they have to scale an unstable cliff to get into the SEC with OSU in Ohio.

According to some media here, bothe ECU and NCSU want to grow their student bodies even more. State wants to be at 50,000 students within five years, and, ECU wants 30,000. ECU is almost there, as they sit at 27,000 now. State is at roughly 38,000, if the most recent enrollment reports are accurate. Carolina wants to stop at about 23,000 or so, which I believe is a mistake. But, they say that they want quality, not quantity. Pfft...
 
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According to some media here, bothe ECU and NCSU want to grow their student bodies even more. State wants to be at 50,000 students within five years, and, ECU wants 30,000. ECU is almost there, as they sit at 27,000 now. State is at roughly 38,000, if the most recent enrollment reports are accurate. Carolina wants to stop at about 23,000 or so, which I believe is a mistake. But, they say that they want quality, not quantity. Pfft...
I've gotten a few popup ads for UNC's Online MBA Progam, they market it as "The Online MBA Progam you probably can't get into." Pretty funny IMO.
 
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I always felt that they should've been in the BE as far back as maybe 2000. They would've been competitive in FB, and, Miami aside, had the best baseball program in the league.
As a football only which was the original AAC status.
 
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What I meant to say is that OSU's presence in Ohio would prevent the SEC from considering Cincinnati, as UC draws from a very localized city population versus the entire state of Ohio. In other words, UC doesn't really bring anything to the SEC table in terms of fanbase. ECU has a bit of a stronger case for the SEC than UC IMO.
I think clmsun lives in Greater Cinncinatti so might be a bit partial?
 
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