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Originally posted by Da Coach
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If so, that seems kind of lame and restrictive if you ask me.Thinking is the hardest work, that is why so few people do it. -Henry Ford
Yeah...I've been in college for a while now and I'm pretty sure that awesomest is not a word. -Andrew E. -
I think there are a few exceptions, I know that you can have D-1 hockey while having lower division other things. But I think the rule basically is that if you have D-1 other programs then any programs you add have to be at the same level.Comment
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Agreed.Originally posted by Stryker View Post... At the end, of the storm, there's a golden sky. And the sweet silver song of the lark. Walk on, through the wind, walk on, through the rain, though your dreams be tossed, and blown. Walk on, Walk on with hope in your hearts, and you'll never walk alone!
I'm behind you 100% Bradley Braves, You'll Never Walk Alone! BEAT STATE!Comment
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I'm sure Texas-San Antonio has bigger aspirations than what I'm thinking of. Butler and Drake are both schools that are similar in size and budget to Bradley and they can pull it off.
I think I'm taking this thread way off topic, but I found an interesting article regarding the University of New Orleans that states:
How much will a I-AA non-preference, non-scholarship football program at UNO cost?
$500,000 a year would comfortably cover the costs of maintaining a Division I-AA non-preference, non-scholarship football program at UNO. This is neither a minimum figure nor a maximum figure. The budgets of the schools studied ranged from a low of $150,000 per year to a high of between $900,000 and $1.1 million per year. The budgets for the schools cited in this proposal are as follows:
LaSalle - $150,000
SUNY at Stony Brook - less than $300,000
Austin Peay - $130,000 plus coaches' salaries
Georgetown - less than $300,000
Jacksonville - $350,000
University of San Diego - $400,000
Louisiana College - $860,000 for first two years of program including start up costs
Dayton - $425,000 to $450,000
Yale - $900,000 to $1.1 million
These budgets encompass, with minor exceptions (see individual school summaries), all aspects of maintaining I-AA non-preference, non-scholarship football including recruiting, travel, equipment, equipment maintenance, field maintenance, game guarantees, coaches' salaries, insurance, game management, office supplies and expenses, athletic supplies, film editing equipment, conference dues, meals, contract services, field rental and administrative.
Can we do it?Comment
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I would double my annual donation if we had non-scholarship football. My donation isn't anything to get excited about, but I think we could make it happen.
I think the biggest issue besides funding would be where we would play. Outside of Peoria Stadium, there really isn't a venue for football in Peoria. It would take a MASSIVE upgrade/overhaul of Shea Stadium, and I don't think that BU would really want to do that to one of the premier soccer facilities in the country.
But I would still support the initiative 100%.Onward and Upward!
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Okay...last post from me about football.
This article is very recent and explains the start-up costs for Cleveland State, looking to play in the Pioneer League...just as I'm proposing.
So this is roughly what Bradley could expect to pay.
A consultant's study estimated football would cost $13 million to $15 million to launch and roughly $1 million a year to operate. Where the team would practice and play, and how adding football might affect Title IX (federal equity-in-sports requirements) are among many questions to be resolved.
C'mon. Any rich donors on this board have $13 mil lying around? I'm sure they'll name a stadium after you. C'mooooon!Comment
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If Tulsa can be D-I FBS and play in bowl games annually, we can at least play Pioneer League football...Onward and Upward!
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As much as football appeals to me, I'm not sure I can get that excited about Bradley making a run at it. If we're non-scholarship it seems like we'll struggle to be any good... I can't imagine we'd make any money off of it... And I kind of think it could actually hurt our soccer program, which is a strong one... So I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. I think resources would be better spent on hockey and maybe lacrosse in an effort to get in on the ground floor of those sports.Comment
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That's why we stick to playing other non-scholarship programs in the Pioneer League. I can imagine some pretty fun regional rivalries with Drake and Butler...maybe even Valpo and Dayton.Originally posted by thefish7 View Post
With Butler, Drake, Valpo and Dayton...that's the start of the nice new private school conference I was envisioning.
Heck...let's make the Pioneer League an all-sport conference and our new home! (Ok...maybe not)Comment
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Going back to the random conference speculation...it's a good idea down the road, but Bradley, or for that matter every other Valley school, won't be the trigger point for the creation of that conference.
The goal of Bradley should be to improve the athletic department to the point that we're a very, very attractive candidate to be poached from the MVC into the new private league conference. The goal isn't to spearhead the creation or be in on the ground floor of the conference. Reason? The programs that will be in on the ground floor are the displaced Big East teams, and probably some A-10 teams and maybe Butler. They're going to have the power.Comment
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I agree TAS, our focus has to be to position ourselves to be attractive when the time comes. That includes success in basketball but I think strong programs in the non prestige sports can play a role too... I'm not sure that a non schollie football program helps much. Though headless bobcat brings up a very good point about it maybe helping us build relationships with some of the schools we may want to fall in with.Comment
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Football is meaningless unless it's D-1, IMO. Even if programs like Dayton, Drake, and friends have the Pioneer League.Comment
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Keep dreaming people, Bradley in my lifetime will not have a football team. It would be a money pit, never mind that they have no place to play (Shea Stadium and whatever high school stadium in the area is out of the question). Tulsa plays higher-level because they can. Thank the oil industry.
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I agree that Bradley will likely never again have a football team. But that doesn't stop me from declaring that I would enjoy it if they did.
I can't look down on 1-AA football too much when I already follow a mid-major basketball team. Clearly top-level sports are not my priority.
We're all on this board because we want to stay in touch with Bradley in some small way. For me, football would be another way to do that (soccer ain't cutting it for me).
I envision a Bradley-Butler football rivalry like a Harvard-Yale rivalry...albeit not as old or prestigious. Two similar schools competing for similar student bodies. Good times.
But I'm also realistic enough to know that I'm just daydreaming. Thanks for letting me indulge.Comment
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