Paul C wrote: ↑Mon Sep 06, 2021 11:27 pm
Holy Cross has been the the 1-AA/FCS playoffs 4 times and is 0-4. In MBB they finished last year #304 in Ken Pom and have only been better than 215 once in the last decade+. Maybe they should drop some sports and invest in football and basketball.
Most happy to continue this comparison between the 2 very similar schools by giving some additional information about Holy Cross.
1. In the most recent USN&WR ranking of liberal arts colleges, Holy Cross is #36 and Furman is #52.
2. Holy Cross has an endowment of approximately $767 million compared to Furman's approximately $670 million.
3. Regarding the number of sports teams that are sponsored at the Division I level, I too wonder how in the world Holy Cross can support to support that number of teams.
4. Holy Cross has the largest ration of Division I teams-per-enrollment of any school in the country.
5. Holy Cross has a 23,500-seat football stadium.
6. In football, Holy Cross is 621-512-55, 0.546, all time. By comparison, Furman is 573-432-38, 0.568 all time. So they have played 1188 games (+ this year). Furman has played 1043 games (+this year). They have played 145 more games than we have, but they have won only 48 more games than we have and 80 more losses than we have (also 17 more ties i.e., non-wins than we have).
7. In football, Holy cross was undefeated in regular season games in 2019 and in 2021 spring, and they were in the playoffs. They were also undefeated in regular season in 1987 and 1991. They have 6 players in the College Football Hall of Fame and 1 player in the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
8. In football, Holy Cross very often plays some very prestigious schools. Yale University home-and-home, one game every year. Frequently Harvard University. Georgetown University in conference. Not saying that those are great football schools, but they are great schools.
9. Holy Cross is one of only 8 colleges in the US that have won national championships in both baseball and men's basketball. They won baseball in 1952 and they won an NCAA post-season tournament game in baseball as recently as 2017, beating #25-ranked Nebraska. They won men's basketball in 1947. The won the 1954 NIT. They were in the 1946 Orange Bowl.
10. In closing, no, I am not wanting Furman to add 12 more varsity sports. Maybe Holy Cross should drop some. I am saying, however, that Holy Cross is a very good college for Furman to consider itself comparable to overall, academically and athletically.