Campbell to CAA

Wow... who knew an announcement about Campbell leaving the BSC would stir such passion? Really people? This get's you stirred up? Ask yourselves the question, do you really care what conference Campbell is in? Campbell leaving the BSC doesn't change anything for TSU in this overall picture. Our fans were not going to travel to Campbell. Our fans would not show up in big numbers for even Homecoming to watch us play Campbell.

I wish some of you would stop defending your points to the degree that you don't really read what others are saying. And, in the big picture, we really shouldn't give a damn why any school left the OVC for another conference. It was there business decision to make. That being said, I don't remember any school that left the OVC making a statement about poor leadership in the OVC. And, if poor leadership was an issue for those schools, they all served in a capacity to change the leadership. That is a fact. That's not me saying that the OVC doesn't have poor leadership, just to be clear. APSU, EKU, JSU and MSU all had power to raise any leadership issues to the rest of the membership. None of them.

Opportunity could have been the primary reason for each of the schools that left the OVC to go elsewhere. But, keep in mind their are no guarantees in an opportunity. The ASUN obviously presented itself as a better conference for those that went there. For now that's not proving to be the case. And, with JSU being out after this season, it's going to be even less appealing. So, it is reasonable to question in hindsight, leaving the OVC for the ASUN. What have they gained?

I think the biggest issue with both the ASUN and the OVC is they lean too much towards basketball. The ASUN is has far more schools that do not field football teams. So, adding football teams like those from the OVC not only increased the number of football members, it increased their basketball footprint as well. To add more football schools will more than likely continue to increase the basketball members and footprint to one that is not desirable for a lot of schools. The ASUN may have done better by creating a separate ASUN-Football Conference. Which based on a video released by their Commissioner a few years ago was part of the plan. A plan that included merging ASUN and BSC football schools with schools from other conferences to create a conference that had more television appeal and more sponsorship. That grand plan doesn't appear to be materializing as he envisioned it. It was never clear if the BSC ever joined in the vision.

The OVC has also been more basketball oriented for some time now. It appeared that might be changing briefly when the additions of EIU, JSU, UTM, Samford and WKU (football only) were added. All of which were considered strong additions football-wise. But, WKU only hung around for 2 seasons and went FBS. Samford left for the SoCon after 5 years in the OVC. The OVC had just lost mTSU as well to go FBS. During those departures, APSU and Morehead dropped scholarship football. As we know APSU eventually returned to playing football. Then in 2008 the OVC for some oddball reason added SIUe which doesn't play football. Followed by Belmont in 2013, which also does not play football. That sent a message that the OVC was back to being a basketball centric conference. The addition of SIUe and Belmont were made with no opposing votes from any members. Specifically, APSU, EKU, JSU and MSU. While the decision allowing SIUe and Belmont to join the conference occurred under DeBauche, the departures of mTSU, Samford and WKU did not. The decision to allow APSU and Morehead to remain members when they dropped scholarship football did not. I say that to point out that the woes of the OVC started before DeBauche and continued afterwards. The biggest concern for me was that TSU also voted in favor of most the changes that took place. Which to me was not acting in TSU's best interest. So, we share the partial burden for the OVC's mismanagement and poor decisions. We carry 100% of the burden of not exploring options along the way and/or not willing to explore new options today with a real sense of commitment and gravity. Dr. Allen is not willing to make any public statements on what if any plans he has with regards to conference affiliation. I understand that to a limited degree. What he fails to see is a need to address the anxiety amongst TSU supporters with more than we are investigating statements repeated time and again. That has become a scratched record that is annoying AF. For all that he's doing to build the program, this one issue can kill his success if not handled correctly. It is my hope we will hear a statement at least by the end of the upcoming football season. If not, I don't think people are going to give damn anymore.

Now, back to the actual topic... Campbell leaving the BSC is not a direct story pertaining to TSU sports until TSU makes it so. As such, I'm moving this topic to Non-TSU sports. For those who continue to follow this thread under the Non-TSU Sports section, I have to ask... What are you guys expecting at this point? Because how you perceive schools leaving the OVC to join the ASUN, how you perceive the football merger between the BSC and the OVC, or Campbell leaving the BSC for the CAA, doesn't change the fact that TSU has not made any announcement of what it plans to do. So, why keep going at each other here? Why not go to the decision makers? What happened to the petition that was supposed to be created petitioning TSU's leadership to leave the OVC to join the SWAC or some other conference? Clearly, TSU is not feeling pressure from those who want to see change pertaining to athletic conference affiliation. All the pressure is being played out here and on other social media sites amongst people who have mostly opinions not facts. If you really want change or at least some answers, go to the decision makers.