GSU/Atlanta Discussion

[SplitFinger]

I assume you were actually trying to say "it will get killed by the other GSU."  Georgia Southern has a handful of I-AA national championships.  Georgia State doesn't even have a team yet.

[matta]

No, you read correctly.  Over 2/3 of Georgia Southern's team, almost every year, comes from ATL.  For these players, Georgia State is a better education, cheaper, closer to home, and they wouldn't have to live in the shithole that is Statesboro.  Georgia State will be the end of any success that Georgia Southern has enjoyed over the years.  Give it until 2013, and Georgia State will field a better team than Georgia Southern.

[SplitFinger]

I count 17 Atlanta-area players (and that's being as generous as possible, and counting guys from Dalton and Lawrenceville which are pretty far away) on their current roster, which is about one-fifth - nowhere near two-thirds.

Suffice it to say, starting a football team from scratch is a lot more difficult than you seem to think.  I would be very, very surprised if they're anywhere near as good as Georgia Southern usually is in just five years.  But hey, good luck to them - I don't have a dog in this fight, I have no real connection with either school.

[matta]

I counted 29 players, without stretching to Dalton, Cartersville, Forsyth, Conyers, etc. That's out of 90 players on the roster.  If you add these areas, considered just outside of Metro Atlanta (but still in N. Georgia), the number would be more like 40.  My 2/3's figure was not correct for this year, but it was reported by Tony Barnhardt, of the AJC, to be an accurate figure for years past.  And, just to be clear, I never said that Georgia State would be a I-AA national champion, or be as good as any Georgia Southern team while led by Erk Russell.  I did say that Georgia State will beat Georgia Southern by 2013, because Georgia Southern's talent will be extremely diluted to the benefit of Georgia State's team.  Here is the breakdown that I found by area:

Atlanta-4
Norcross-1
Kennesaw-1
Lawrenceville-3
Loganville-1
Decatur-2
Stone Mountain-1
Marietta-3
Snellville-1
Buford-2
Fairburn-3
Lilburn-1
Dacula-1
Duluth-1
Roswell-3
Lithonia-1

http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18700&KEY=&SPID=10890&SPSID=90304

[SplitFinger]

Tony Barnhardt, as usual, was talking out of his ass.  As I said, good luck with that.  I wouldn't bet the rent check on it if I were you, though.

[matta]

Are you the kind of guy that wears the "Emory Football..Still Undefeated" shirt?  Wouldn't be a surprise.  Just kidding man, I've enjoyed this spirited debate while procrastinating the workday away.  I don't really care in the end, cause I'm a dawg fan at heart, but I do think Georgia State could make a real impact at the I-AA level at some point in the near future.

[SplitFinger]

No, though I do think they're pretty funny, if you know the joke.  One of the many crappy things about law school is that it interferes with watching as much football and basketball as I would like.   To tell you the truth, I didn't even know GSU was talking about starting a team.  Maybe they'll be able to compete with Southern in the future, I just think it will take closer to 10-15 years than 5.

Either way, neither of the GSU teams is ever going to hold a candle to the 'Dawgs.  Woof!

[Connelly]

Any updates on the expected need issue?  I'm listed the same way.  I intend to apply for in-state tuition anyway, but it would be nice if it were already done.

[Blakkout]

Can anyone comment on BIGLAW placement possibilities in Atlanta for UGA grads compared to Emory or GSU grads?  Thanks.

[matta]

http://www.law.com/img/nlj/charts/composite.pdf