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Conference USA football can celebrate placing a record nine teams in bowl games this season, but there’s little joy for the league when you consider fan interest.

The disappointing crowd in Boca Raton for Saturday’s C-USA title game reinforces a worrying trend. The conference announced 14,258 at FAU Stadium, but the actual figure appeared to be significantly lower.

When the title game was played at WKU in Bowling Green a year ago, C-USA announced a crowd of 13,213. The actual attendance may have been half that figure.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/...rylink=cpy

The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

I have no interest in the Sun Belt but also recognize that I have nothing in common with 80% of the teams in the eastern division of this league. Outside of a couple of Basketball games against ODU or Charlotte and that number goes to 100%

(12-06-2017 08:27 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

Yes. I would rather play App State and Ga Southern as opposed to some of the teams in this conference.

I would love to end this conference and start fresh with some eastern based teams that actually care about football. These 4 schools could easily break off and form a new conference if we wanted. Why we haven't done so is starting to just piss me off to be honest.

Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU





New USM athletic director Jon Gilbert is among those who are open to suggestions, saying earlier this year, “I think that the idea of a regionally based conference probably warrants discussion.”

MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro told The Virginian Pilot in April that “It’s inevitable that there’s going to be some kind of consolidation among the Group of Five.”

Writer is a hack. Patrick "Big 12 inches toward expansion" Magee.

Rice fans (all 17 of us) have the same complaints about the conference. Of course, the problem is that none of the P5 or AAC want any of us and the other potential options are arguably worse than CUSA. I wish more teams would go independent (football only), but ban together in a loose affiliation for bowl invite purposes. But finding a home for the other sports becomes problematic.

(12-06-2017 08:51 AM)herdfan129 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 08:27 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

Yes. I would rather play App State and Ga Southern as opposed to some of the teams in this conference.

I would love to end this conference and start fresh with some eastern based teams that actually care about football. These 4 schools could easily break off and form a new conference if we wanted. Why we haven't done so is starting to just piss me off to be honest.

Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU





New USM athletic director Jon Gilbert is among those who are open to suggestions, saying earlier this year, “I think that the idea of a regionally based conference probably warrants discussion.”

MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro told The Virginian Pilot in April that “It’s inevitable that there’s going to be some kind of consolidation among the Group of Five.”

If the consolidation includes a nation-wide G5 re-alignment - then I am fine with it. If it involves just C-USA and Sunbelt - what's the point?

(12-06-2017 09:14 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 08:51 AM)herdfan129 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 08:27 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

Yes. I would rather play App State and Ga Southern as opposed to some of the teams in this conference.

I would love to end this conference and start fresh with some eastern based teams that actually care about football. These 4 schools could easily break off and form a new conference if we wanted. Why we haven't done so is starting to just piss me off to be honest.

Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU





New USM athletic director Jon Gilbert is among those who are open to suggestions, saying earlier this year, “I think that the idea of a regionally based conference probably warrants discussion.”

MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro told The Virginian Pilot in April that “It’s inevitable that there’s going to be some kind of consolidation among the Group of Five.”

If the consolidation includes a nation-wide G5 re-alignment - then I am fine with it. If it involves just C-USA and Sunbelt - what's the point?

I sort of agree, but the only other conference that would really be in the mix is the AAC, and they don't want to reshuffle. Even if they wanted to get rid of Tulane, Tulsa and ECU (which they probably shouldn't have brought in to begin with), why would those guys ever agree to leave? I'd be absolutely thrilled with annual basketball games against Memphis, Cincy, UConn and Temple, so Im sure they are too. The MW and MAC are already regionally aligned. UTEP might be able to slide to the MW, while ODU and Marshall could theoretically go to the MAC. But frankly, I think I like CUSA better than the MAC and their Tuesday night football games. They just seem to have much better conference leadership. CUSA teams and potential should be better than theirs most seasons.

A CUSA/SB reconfiguration of the like of Marshall, ODU, WKU, MTSU, UNCC, App St, (North) Ga St, GSU, Ark. St., UAB, So Miss., FAU (South) I could get behind.

we've been ignoring patrick magee for a decade. we suggest you do the same.

I was at both of WKU's championship games and I can tell you that they had more than 13k at both. Should they have filled the stadium? Yes. However, there were more than what was counted because of the broken ticket scanners and such where they were just letting people through. I saw that personally. The 1st championship game at WKU was pretty full. The 2nd one wasn't as attended but still, it was a fun environment.

To be honest, if I were the AD of a school hosting a championship game, I would seriously consider making that a free game for everyone to attend or at least the price per ticket would be dirt cheap. It's a reward for the community. I would also move that game to Friday or even Thursday night. The SEC championship was right after ours and like 3 other championship games were happening during ours so who's gonna risk missing those games? Move it to another night before all of those.

(12-06-2017 09:22 AM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 09:14 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 08:51 AM)herdfan129 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 08:27 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

Yes. I would rather play App State and Ga Southern as opposed to some of the teams in this conference.

I would love to end this conference and start fresh with some eastern based teams that actually care about football. These 4 schools could easily break off and form a new conference if we wanted. Why we haven't done so is starting to just piss me off to be honest.

Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU





New USM athletic director Jon Gilbert is among those who are open to suggestions, saying earlier this year, “I think that the idea of a regionally based conference probably warrants discussion.”

MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro told The Virginian Pilot in April that “It’s inevitable that there’s going to be some kind of consolidation among the Group of Five.”

If the consolidation includes a nation-wide G5 re-alignment - then I am fine with it. If it involves just C-USA and Sunbelt - what's the point?

I sort of agree, but the only other conference that would really be in the mix is the AAC, and they don't want to reshuffle. Even if they wanted to get rid of Tulane, Tulsa and ECU (which they probably shouldn't have brought in to begin with), why would those guys ever agree to leave? I'd be absolutely thrilled with annual basketball games against Memphis, Cincy, UConn and Temple, so Im sure they are too. The MW and MAC are already regionally aligned. UTEP might be able to slide to the MW, while ODU and Marshall could theoretically go to the MAC. But frankly, I think I like CUSA better than the MAC and their Tuesday night football games. They just seem to have much better conference leadership. CUSA teams and potential should be better than theirs most seasons.

A CUSA/SB reconfiguration of the like of Marshall, ODU, WKU, MTSU, UNCC, App St, (North) Ga St, GSU, Ark. St., UAB, So Miss., FAU (South) I could get behind.

But what's the point in it for us (FAU)? What advantage do we get out of this? Why re-align to get what we already have? Geographically speaking, through no fault of C-USA's or NCAA's, FIU and FAU are on the "island". Even in your configuration, we have two C-USA West teams. South Florida, does not fit too well in any geography based configuration. That's why if the re-alignment does not include AAC, it makes no sense.

Think about this division: USF, UCF, FAU, FIU, Troy, GaSo, USA

(12-06-2017 08:27 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

No one wants to play in the Sun Belt. Not even Sun Belt teams want to play in the Sun Belt. But if you give me the following, I'd be fine with it. Not like any teams we play have name notoriety anyway, making a regional league would help costs and allow fans to travel to games.

USM
Tech
ULL
Ark St
UAB
MTSU
WKU
USA
one more

(12-06-2017 09:39 AM)BlueraiderJT Wrote: [ -> ]I was at both of WKU's championship games and I can tell you that they had more than 13k at both. Should they have filled the stadium? Yes. However, there were more than what was counted because of the broken ticket scanners and such where they were just letting people through. I saw that personally. The 1st championship game at WKU was pretty full. The 2nd one wasn't as attended but still, it was a fun environment.

To be honest, if I were the AD of a school hosting a championship game, I would seriously consider making that a free game for everyone to attend or at least the price per ticket would be dirt cheap. It's a reward for the community. I would also move that game to Friday or even Thursday night. The SEC championship was right after ours and like 3 other championship games were happening during ours so who's gonna risk missing those games? Move it to another night before all of those.

That would be awful. Why, when you get to host the Championship, would you not want to make money off of it. If your fans have zero interest in your program, that's your own fault, but you don't commit financial suicide and make the game free.

(12-06-2017 09:56 AM)EagNBran Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 08:27 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]The article suggests restructuring the conferences. And, maybe, it is a good idea for most sports but not for football. You mix any conference with Sun Belt, you will get Sun Belt A and Sun Belt B. Do Marshall, USM, and ODU, for example, want to play in Sun Belt?

No one wants to play in the Sun Belt. Not even Sun Belt teams want to play in the Sun Belt. But if you give me the following, I'd be fine with it. Not like any teams we play have name notoriety anyway, making a regional league would help costs and allow fans to travel to games.

USM
Tech
ULL
Ark St
UAB
MTSU
WKU
USA
one more

You dip into South Alabama and who would you group South Florida schools with?

(12-06-2017 09:56 AM)EagNBran Wrote: [ -> ]No one wants to play in the Sun Belt. Not even Sun Belt teams want to play in the Sun Belt. But if you give me the following, I'd be fine with it. Not like any teams we play have name notoriety anyway, making a regional league would help costs and allow fans to travel to games.

USM
Tech
ULL
Ark St
UAB
MTSU
WKU
USA
one more

I'm struggling to see how this would work with the rest of the conference. If you carve out the middle in USM's dream group you leave a rump in the east and a rump in the west. If the idea is to make it more rational for everyone then USM needs to be the easternmost team in the west or western most in the east.

I think you guys are confused. I couldn't care less about the schools left behind. I'll play Rice in a baseball series every year, but don't care about other sports. Couldn't care less about the Florida schools or any left-behind Sun Belt schools. I'm looking at what is geographically, financially sustainable for the schools I've chosen. If that puts some schools on an island with the only prospect to go 1-AA, so be it. Need less D1 schools anyway.

I still think this is a terrible idea. What we need is time to develop a rivalry with some of the schools in the conference. We don't have 50 years of playing each other to draw from like some conferences. I honestly miss playing games against some of the WAC teams we shared the conference with the longest. Boise, Nevada, Fresno, Hawaii. I would love to play some of those teams again before they are forgotten by Tech fans.

Give this configuration time together and the fan interest will grow. FAU and FIU both having successful seasons this year and the game actually meaning something was a big step. Do that a few times and the fans will treat that game as important and can't miss. Even cross division rivalries can be developed.

(12-06-2017 10:02 AM)EagNBran Wrote: [ -> ]I think you guys are confused. I couldn't care less about the schools left behind. I'll play Rice in a baseball series every year, but don't care about other sports. Couldn't care less about the Florida schools or any left-behind Sun Belt schools. I'm looking at what is geographically, financially sustainable for the schools I've chosen. If that puts some schools on an island with the only prospect to go 1-AA, so be it. Need less D1 schools anyway.

That's why any realignment needs to include AAC. That works for the huge Florida schools. There is no practical reason school with over 50,000 students (FIU) should be co-habituating in 1-AA with the likes of Stetson or Grambling (both - around 4,500).

(12-06-2017 10:07 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 10:02 AM)EagNBran Wrote: [ -> ]I think you guys are confused. I couldn't care less about the schools left behind. I'll play Rice in a baseball series every year, but don't care about other sports. Couldn't care less about the Florida schools or any left-behind Sun Belt schools. I'm looking at what is geographically, financially sustainable for the schools I've chosen. If that puts some schools on an island with the only prospect to go 1-AA, so be it. Need less D1 schools anyway.

That's why any realignment needs to include AAC. That works for the huge Florida schools. There is no practical reason school with over 50,000 students (FIU) should be co-habituating in 1-AA with the likes of Stetson or Grambling (both - around 4,500).

Why should 20+ schools delay realignment because it isnt perfect for 2 members?

(12-06-2017 10:07 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 10:02 AM)EagNBran Wrote: [ -> ]I think you guys are confused. I couldn't care less about the schools left behind. I'll play Rice in a baseball series every year, but don't care about other sports. Couldn't care less about the Florida schools or any left-behind Sun Belt schools. I'm looking at what is geographically, financially sustainable for the schools I've chosen. If that puts some schools on an island with the only prospect to go 1-AA, so be it. Need less D1 schools anyway.

That's why any realignment needs to include AAC. That works for the huge Florida schools. There is no practical reason school with over 50,000 students (FIU) should be co-habituating in 1-AA with the likes of Stetson or Grambling (both - around 4,500).

The problem is that the AAC is a more sustainable group. They're getting the money and exposure necessary to justify such a spread out footprint. They would pass on any such proposal.

I don't think anybody expects realignment for better geography to spearheaded by the S Fl. schools but if enough of the others decide it's what they want you're going to have to go along likely.

(12-06-2017 10:17 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 10:07 AM)goliath74 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-06-2017 10:02 AM)EagNBran Wrote: [ -> ]I think you guys are confused. I couldn't care less about the schools left behind. I'll play Rice in a baseball series every year, but don't care about other sports. Couldn't care less about the Florida schools or any left-behind Sun Belt schools. I'm looking at what is geographically, financially sustainable for the schools I've chosen. If that puts some schools on an island with the only prospect to go 1-AA, so be it. Need less D1 schools anyway.

That's why any realignment needs to include AAC. That works for the huge Florida schools. There is no practical reason school with over 50,000 students (FIU) should be co-habituating in 1-AA with the likes of Stetson or Grambling (both - around 4,500).

Why should 20+ schools delay realignment because it isnt perfect for 2 members?

We're not talking perfect. We're talking an improvement. otherwise, what's the point re-aligning?