Pat, home page does look pretty great.

Not much to say, CNU lost to a team that was 1-11 (last year and two games this year) in its last 12 games.

An old teammate and I were talking about the season so far and all the points the defense has given up, and I looked up these stats...

CNU defense has giving up 34, 58 and 33 points so far for a total of 125 through 3 games. 

In 2003, CNU gave up 88 points in the ENTIRE REGULAR SEASON (9 games total), which included playing Rowan, Bridgewater and Mcdaniel out of conference.

Narch, all great points.

You are right on about ODU not having beat anyone of consequence.  I am interested to see how they will do this Saturday again William and Mary.  I would guess not very well, but we will see.

I agree to an extent that "most" student athletes at MU would get into CNU, however I bet the majority of your "most" would not be playing football.  Also, you are right in stating that the larger size of CNU's incoming freshman class would allow to "hide" the exceptions and still not bring down the overall GPA and SAT numbers down that much.  However, I would contend that the "exeptions" at CNU are not granted for applicants with scores as low as at, for example, NCWC.

I could not find exact numbers but this is from the admissions page on NCWC website...

"Typically, students should have a 2.7 GPA and an 800 SAT score or a 17 Composite score on the ACT to be regularly accepted into NCWC."

An applicant with that GPA and SAT score would be doing nothing but wasting an application fee in applying to CNU.  If that is what is "regularly accepted at NCWC, then would would qualify as an exeption?  Per CNU's website, the average GPA and SAT score for incoming freshman is 3.6 and 1200.  An exeption to to that requirement would probably fall more in line with MU's avg scores for incoming freshman, which per their website are 3.28 and 990

All that being said, CNU still has a significant advantage in cost and facilities.  While that is a huge deal in winning athletes that could get into any USA South school they wanted to, it doesnt help at all the prospective student athletes who have no chance to be giving an "exeption, and therefore have to go to say, NCWC.

Dont have time to respond in full right now, so just an observation:  During my time at CNU 2002-06 and since, the only three sports that have noticibly declined to me (in terms of overall talent, and to a certain extent winning %) are Football, Men's Basketball, and Baseball. 

The sports 85 mentioned have all done exceptionally well and in many cases alot better during the past 7-8 years then they did before CNU began growing so rapidly.

Thanks Pat and 85.

85 - Obviously, more than 1200 were accepted and some chose other schools for whatever reason and I should of done a better job explaining what was my main point;    The increasing demand for acceptance into the university and therefore the increase in the quality of the applicants, and how this has affected the ability of the coaches to get student athletes enrolled.

You may know better than me, but I am pretty sure that Pres. Trible wants to keep the size of each incoming Freshman class at about 1200, and total enrollment around 4800 - 5000.  I was trying to show that 8400 applicants applied for only 1200 spots and that is how I came to the 14% figure.  I am sure that the other USA South schools also have a number they look to accept every year and I would imagine that number in relation to the number of applicants they receive is nowhere near 14%.

Where did you see the 50% accepted figure?  The numbers I gave were from a earlier story in the Daily Press.

CNU applications for fall 2010:

•Number of applications: 8,426
•Number of applications in 2009: 8,400
•Freshman class size: 1,220
•Total enrollment, 2009-10: 4,952
•Average GPA for Class of 2013: 3.64
•Expected average GPA for Class of 2014: 3.7

Sources: Christopher Newport University, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia

     I have checked these boards ever since completing my eligibility and graduating from CNU in May of 2007.  While I am not interested in bashing the players at CNU now or the coaches, I do have a few thoughts/opinions on the state of the program.

     First, KEEPING IT REAL, the notion that CNU should go to 1AA is as silly as it is unattainable.  ODU has many, many more alumni than CNU and the ability to attract close to 20k fans to every home game.  CNU has an enrollment of around 5000 and if they graduate even a quarter of that every year I am willing to bet that number does not come close to the number ODU graduates. 

     Second, CNU has many advantages over the other USA South members when it comes to athletics and they have been mentioned here many times.  Location and affordability being the two that get the most attention, and deservedly so.  However, the main reason CNU was so successful so quickly, other than outstanding coaches and great administrative and fan support, was the ability to get the student athletes into school.
     
     Just as an example, I graduated high school with a 3.0 GPA and scored 1100 on my SAT.  I was accepted to CNU as a student before I decided I was going to play football in college.  A high school senior with those same credentials has zero, repeat zero, chance of getting into CNU today as a regular student.  While everyone knows exceptions are made for athletics, the number of and quality (in terms of talent) of those exceptions has decressed every year CNU has had a team, which also has coincided with CNU becoming a much more sought after and respected option for college applicants.  If someone took the time to find the average SAT score/GPA of incoming freshman for 2009/10 for the USA South members they would see the desrepency between CNU and the other members.
     
     For the Fall of 2010, CNU had 8400 applications and only ACCEPTED 1200 freshman.  That is around 14% of applicants.  I have not looked up the numbers but I am willing to bet that the other schools accept closer to 50% of applicants if not a much higher percentage.
     
     I say all of this because Coach Kelchner and the rest of of staff are not able to recruit the same kid as they were in the early part of the last decade.  This is the single biggest reason for the decline of the program and I am farily sure if Coach K was able to speak candidly, he would say the same thing.  I am also fairly certain that other schools in the conference are aware of this, preferbly NCW, who has done very well in recent years in getting many kids from 757 that Kelchner was simply not able to get into CNU.
     
     Lastly, I was at both the Wesley and Salisbury game and it is painfully obvious to anyone who has watched CNU for the first 10 years of the program that there are maybe 10-15 kids that traveled to Salisbury last Saturday who would of been on the traveling squad in any year from 01-07.  I am willing to bet the other alumni on this board would agree.  I am not saying nor do I support CNU admitting any athlete that does not meet the standards of the school, I am just pointing out what I believe to be the main cause of the slow decline in talent, and make no mistake about it, that (talent) is the reason for the decline in wins.   I want nothing more than for CNU Football to be successful and will continue to support them in the future. 

    These are just my thoughts and thanks to all who have made this board an informative read for me the past 3 years.  Hello all.