Hofstra drops football program

VCU and football go together as well as vinegar and water. It wouldn't work and quite frankly, I can't see Richmond supporting it. UR has its fans. VUU has its fans. I can't see where VCU would fit in the puzzle.

 

Funny you mention the alums part. Benedictine College, which at one time was an NAIA football power, continually reaps the benefits of their alumni who happened to be football players in the 1980s and 1990s. Would those players have gone to BC without football? I would bet not many of them.

I'm sure you can find schools that are exceptions, but most small schools in the NAIA and D-III are more than 50 percent athletes. Most of those athletes attend the schools largely because they get to play sports (my wife was one of them). Football can bring in 100 or more (continuing with Benedictine as an example, they had 175 this season) students. At $10,000 a semester, they more than pay for themselves. It's not a hard concept to grasp.

 

I agree. Logistics would be great problem. I remember when ODU got its program started and there was a buzz that VCU would do the same. I'm glad that didn't happen.

 

I know I joke with you about VCU football a lot but I'd be interested to know what the logistical problems are. I don't really know a lot about the area.

 

Is this the longest thread regarding CAA football in the history of SportsJournalists.com?

 

Outside the BCS conferences? Yes.

See the rest of the post above - for the most part athletics are a negative for colleges and universities.

 

Terrible loss to college football. There are plenty of FCS schools at the bottom of the Sagarins that absolutely do not belong in Division I.

Hofstra was not one of them. They had at least a little history, and this year they were 30th in the nation in power rating among FCS teams. Maybe there will be enough of an outcry to change school officials' minds. That's remote, though.

Someone mentioned Stony Brook earlier. Are there any D-II football programs on the island that could stand to benefit?

 

This is a myth.

How do I know that? My brother has been a D3 head coach at multiple schools, while also working in the admissions office. Pretty informed viewpoint. There is no college in America were they don't have 25 more applicants a year ready to step in if they cut football (or 100 more applicants a year if they cut all sports).

There are certainly schools that use athletics as a recruiting tool, and the cost/benefit math certainly works better when you're dealing with a non-scholarship situation, but schools folding? No shot.

My brother, of course, would completely disagree with my suggestion that athletics adds little or nothing to the college environment at many lower-profile schools that would be wiser to focus on improving academics. Don't want anyone thinking he endorses my generally negative viewpoint on the benefits of college athletics.

 

Hofstra is a college, now?

(Sorry, Beej. I held out as long as I could.)

 

I have a hard time believing most of these schools are turning away qualified applicants. Most schools would rather grow than turn away qualified applicants.

And in a school with about 1,000 students or less, it's not a myth. See how many are athletes. The schools won't fold because they aren't cutting athletics.

Back to the original point of the thread, I don't believe this will help Hofstra in the long run.