I hate to dig up an old thread but Ive got to put some things straight:
1) Marshall does not have a "Sugar Daddy" for men's soccer. Jeff Hoops and his family have given not only to Marshall but WVU and most of the DII/DIII/NAIA schools in WV. The soccer stadium was going to be built without his 750K gift (Vet Memorial Stadium was 8.9 million).
2) Veteran's Memorial Stadium at Hoops Family field has the capacity of 1006. But it's record crowd was 3,033. And there was probably another 1.5-2K turned away vs #4WVU. Coach Chris Grassie believes a crowd of 10K could be reached against WVU and Kentucky if there was a good enough place to hold it.
Despite Hoops Family Field only holding 1006. It has had many more than that:
Sept 21 2021 #4WVU 3,033 - 2-2T (Marshall ranked #6)
Nov 24 2019 WVU 2,126 2-1W (NCAA Tournament Game, 1st ever time Marshall had made the NCAAs, Marshall was the 11th seed)
Nov 3 2019 #15Kentucky 2,032 1-0W (Marshall ranked #20)
Sept 21 2021 #10Kentucky 1,728 0-0T (Marshall ranked #1)
Aug 23 2013 Campbell 1,433 3-0W (1st ever game at Hoops Family Field)
3)The Sun Belt will be one of the best soccer conferences in the nation. It will fight the Big East for the 2nd best conference and on some years will fight the ACC for the top spot.
SBC Soccer:
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ODU
JMU
GA State
GA Southern
Coastal Carolina
Marshall
Kentucky
South Carolina
WVU
UCF (2023)
In the last 3 years:
7 of the 10 have made the NCAA
6 of the 10 have been raked the Top 25
5 of the 10 have been raked in the Top 15
4 of the 10 have been ranked in the Top 10
3 of the 10 have been ranked in the Top 5
2 of the 10 have been ranked #1 or #2
1 National Championship
Also as much as some of you all along with others like Arkansas State and Appy State wanting to get in on men's soccer. It would almost be discouraged by those in the conference now. Anyone starting up would surly drag the conference down as a power. That's not a knock on any university, just a fact is all.
As it is this conference will most likely have anywhere between 3-5 schools ranked at any time and will be a multi bid league each year.
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