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James Madison loses 130 K on bid to host first round playoff game

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4lessgovt:
Here is some background numbers on the James Madison bid to host a first round playoff game.
AD letter:
http://jmusports.com/news/2014/12/9/Athletics_1209140954.aspx

 Loss of 130K and some talk of them or Liberty moving to Conference USA
http://www.timesdispatch.com/sports/college/james-madison/jmu-bids-more-than-for-first-round-fcs-playoff-game/article_f363dece-190d-5352-abc0-b33017fa8ae4.html

CookieMonsterSig:
YSU would gladly lose that amount to host a playoff game, or even buy their way into a playoff game.  Just look at the money we through out there for MBB team to host a few rounds of the CIT matchups a couple years back.

I'm more intrigued with a potential opening in the CAA and if YSU would have any interest in at least exploring a move, if a spot opens.

YSUGO:
Sad how Liberty and James Madison are in the mix to go big time ...and we used to beat them like a drum...just like the flags and our aging stadium. ..we are becoming  like our basketball mens team...nobody cares nobody fears us...very discouraging. 

Lets_Talk:
Liberty has had hopes of moving to the "big time" since at least the 80's, if not sooner. Jerry Falwell had hopes to make Liberty University the Evangelical version of Notre Dame. And, that vision is now being carried on by his son, Jerry Falwell Jr.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/sports/ncaafootball/in-virginias-hills-a-football-crusade.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
..."At Liberty, once a tiny Bible college but now a budding giant, the plan is for college football — big-time, always-on-television college football — to do for evangelical Christians in the 21st century what Notre Dame football did for Roman Catholics in the 20th"...

Also, I'm not exactly sure C-USA is "the big time". Marshall went 12-1, won CUSA and will be playing in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec 23 against NIU, the winner of the MAC. How many people do you think are going to attend the game in person and watch on TV?

Marshall fans are not at all thrilled that there team is playing in the Boca Raton Bowl, after going 12-1 and finishing as champion of CUSA. But, this is one of the bowls to which CUSA has a tie in, Marshall fans travel well, and Boca Raton Bowl took the #1 CUSA team to play the #1 MAC team.

CBSSportsline has this rated #15 among the 38 bowl games.
Also, the Boca Raton Bowl has the 2nd lowest payout of all the bowl games. Win the MAC and CUSA, play in a meaningless bowl on Dec 23rd, with the 2nd lowest payout of any bowl. The payout is $400,000 per school, which will then be split among ALL members of each conference. The only bowl that pays less is Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, at $325,000. Also, it is played at FAU, a stadium that holds 29,419. And, my guess is the game will not sell out. The game does not even have a sponsor. ESPN has this game ranked 14th. So, it is a middle of the pack game, even though it pits the Champion of CUSA -v-s Champions of MAC Oh yeah, big time baby!!!!

As for dominating Liberty and JMU, not exactly the case. YSU is 6-3 all time against Liberty, and lost the last game the teams played in 2008 by a score of 31-28 at home. The 91 team lost 10-8 at home to Liberty on Homecoming.  Tressel was only 3-2 against Liberty. As for JMU, the series record is 3-1 in favor of YSU, but 3 of the 4 games have been decided by 7 points or less(including the lone loss, 52-49 at home in 1992), and only 1 of the 3 games was played at JMU (a 31-15 win by YSU in 1990).

As for YSU and the CAA, what would YSU add to the CAA? YSU does not get much media coavergae in Cleveland or Pittsburgh, and Ytown is no longer a top 100 media market. YSU has made the FCS playoffs 1 time in 14 years. And, there are no natural rivals in the CAA if using geography. There are rivalries with some schools based on the closeness and importance of games played in the past, but no geographic rivals. And, YSU would be the Western most school in the CAA. There would be some long road trips, when playing New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine. And, then if YSU were to join the CAA, I can already see and hear the whining of YSU fans about how YSU is disrespected by the CAA due to not being an East Coast school, and how YSU gets "screwed" in terms of the CAA schedule, does not get promoted by CAA for at-large berths...etc

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls14/story/_/id/11999230/ranking-college-football-bowls-1-38

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/24874586/the-top-36-your-2014-15-bowl-rankings

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x1753192984/Boca-Raton-is-second-lowest-paying-bowl-game

CookieMonsterSig:
Travel

The CAA is a conference that is closer and cheaper for travel costs.

The average distance between YSU and the other schools is 485 miles. The only school in the MVFC that is that close is Indiana State at 423 miles. The CAA has 4 schools closer to YSU than Indiana State.

The longest travel for YSU in the MVFC is to the Dakotas with NDSU at 1,050 miles, SDSU at 1,029 miles, and Univ. of South Dakota at 955 miles.  The longest travel for YSU in the CAA would be to Maine at 832 miles, New Hampshire at 654 miles, and Rhode Island at 552 miles.

Playoff Potential

Based on playoff potential - CAA has the lead historically but evening out.

Since the last time YSU made the playoffs, the MVFC has had 19 playoff teams in 7 years (including 2014), 10 alone in the last 3 years and 3 National Championships and only 3 times in the Championship Game.

The CAA has had 28 playoff teams in those same 7 years, 10 teams in the last three years, and 2 National Championships with 4 times in the Championship Game.

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