Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
Just an idea: Rice as an independent
Author Message
Michael in Raleigh Offline
All American
*

Posts: 3,633
Joined: Jul 2014
Reputation: 325
I Root For: App State
Location:
Post: #1
Just an idea: Rice as an independent
As the thread title suggests, this is just an idea, not something I think will happen. But hey, what are message boards for?

With the ranks of independents going up to six starting next year (ND, Army, BYU, UMass, NMSU, and Liberty), it seems that survival at least as a G5 independent is more possible than it may have been a few years ago. Independents can, at least in part, schedule each other in late October through November.

With that in mind, I think that most schools' best interests are to be in a conference. For G5 schools, there's at least access to CFP revenue and the chance at the access bowl. Conferences provide a schedule and a layer of security. But Independence provides... freedom to schedule how you want, as best as you can. For Rice, who arguably has endured the worst downside in conference affiliation over the past 20+ years (70+ years in the SWC to the mega-WAC to a badly weakened WAC to C-USA 2.0 to a C-USA with no historic rivals at all), independence could have some merit.

Rice is now the only private school in a 14 team league. They know the SWC will never get back together, but they like playing old SWC foes out of conference. They also like playing other elite academic schools, like Stanford this year.

I can imagine Rice alumni being much happier with a 12 game slate featuring a mix of former SWC teams, other independents, other private schools, and other schools from Texas and surrounding states.

I don't think it would be as hard for Rice as it would be for most G5 schools to find 10 schools a year (plus one FCS and one payday game) who would be willing to do home-and-home series with Rice.

An ideal Rice independent schedule would have a few from each of these:
- 8 former SWC schools
- Independents
- Elite private schools/military academies: Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force
- Other schools in Texas: UTEP, North Texas, UTSA, Texas State
- FCS game
- Payday game against an Ohio State or other big spender
- A few others from across the country to fill it out

Rice obviously would need to join the Missouri Valley, Horizon, WAC, or some other league for Olympic sports.

I'm curious if anyone thinks this could make sense or if I'm just wacky.

Hope all of you affected by Harvey and Irma are safe and recovering well.
09-12-2017 09:21 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


Fighting Muskie Online
Senior Chief Realignmentologist
*

Posts: 11,790
Joined: Sep 2016
Reputation: 789
I Root For: Ohio St, UC,MAC
Location: Biden Cesspool
Post: #2
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
Rice is probably a school that could pull independence off. The question is would all of the schools they'd want to play be willing to make space in the schedule for them? Schools only have 3-4 games to work with OOC and one is usually an FCS teams and for the G5s oftentimes there's one is not two buy games against the P5. Some schools also have some established OOC rivalries you'd need to work around:

UTEP vs NMSU
SMU vs TCU
SMU vs UNT
UTSA vs Texas St (hopefully becomes more permanent)

Heck, Rice is even struggling getting crosstown rival Houston on the schedule.

Rice is a school full of a lot of smart folks and I think they will take things cautious and stay in C-USA for the stability. They may loath the newcomers but it's 3 guaranteed games against Texas schools a year. They have one of the tiniest alumni bases in FBS so it's not like they bring a lot of television appeal that they could market on their own. As an Indy they'd probably be playing on the LHN for about $27.94 a game.

It's an intriguing idea but I don't see it coming to be.
09-12-2017 09:41 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Nerdlinger Offline
Realignment Enthusiast
*

Posts: 4,908
Joined: May 2017
Reputation: 423
I Root For: Realignment!
Location: Schmlocation
Post: #3
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
If we get enough independents in FBS, they can all start scheduling each other regularly. A round-robin of independents, if you will. They might even play some sort of tournament game between the two best teams in the grouping each year. Maybe even start up a kind of collective television network to show the games they play. And the payouts could be distributed evenly among all the participating independent schools. True independence.
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2017 09:46 PM by Nerdlinger.)
09-12-2017 09:44 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
NoDak Offline
Jersey Retired
Jersey Retired

Posts: 6,958
Joined: Oct 2005
Reputation: 105
I Root For: UND
Location:
Post: #4
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-12-2017 09:21 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  As the thread title suggests, this is just an idea, not something I think will happen. But hey, what are message boards for?

With the ranks of independents going up to six starting next year (ND, Army, BYU, UMass, NMSU, and Liberty), it seems that survival at least as a G5 independent is more possible than it may have been a few years ago. Independents can, at least in part, schedule each other in late October through November.

With that in mind, I think that most schools' best interests are to be in a conference. For G5 schools, there's at least access to CFP revenue and the chance at the access bowl. Conferences provide a schedule and a layer of security. But Independence provides... freedom to schedule how you want, as best as you can. For Rice, who arguably has endured the worst downside in conference affiliation over the past 20+ years (70+ years in the SWC to the mega-WAC to a badly weakened WAC to C-USA 2.0 to a C-USA with no historic rivals at all), independence could have some merit.

Rice is now the only private school in a 14 team league. They know the SWC will never get back together, but they like playing old SWC foes out of conference. They also like playing other elite academic schools, like Stanford this year.

I can imagine Rice alumni being much happier with a 12 game slate featuring a mix of former SWC teams, other independents, other private schools, and other schools from Texas and surrounding states.

I don't think it would be as hard for Rice as it would be for most G5 schools to find 10 schools a year (plus one FCS and one payday game) who would be willing to do home-and-home series with Rice.

An ideal Rice independent schedule would have a few from each of these:
- 8 former SWC schools
- Independents
- Elite private schools/military academies: Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force
- Other schools in Texas: UTEP, North Texas, UTSA, Texas State
- FCS game
- Payday game against an Ohio State or other big spender
- A few others from across the country to fill it out

Rice obviously would need to join the Missouri Valley, Horizon, WAC, or some other league for Olympic sports.

I'm curious if anyone thinks this could make sense or if I'm just wacky.

Hope all of you affected by Harvey and Irma are safe and recovering well.
Interesting topic.

Rice wouldn't go to the WAC as the academics would not be sufficient. The MVC might be possible, but the MVC schools seem too travel restrictive. The Horizon has openly talked about adding schools well outside the Midwest.

Still suspect Rice is angling for an American or MWC bid as an enormous preference to fb independence.
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2017 11:35 PM by NoDak.)
09-12-2017 09:45 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Blitz Offline
2nd String
*

Posts: 474
Joined: May 2002
Reputation: 8
I Root For: Toledo
Location: San Francisco
Post: #5
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
You can’t have Rice without Chicken???

Seriously though, financially and schedule-wise, IMO the only schools that can make it in the long run as Independents have fan bases that extend beyond their academic affiliations – such as religious “Institution” schools (i.e., schools that represent an entire religion or sect – ND, BYU, or Liberty), and the “Primary” military academies (A, N, AF). Since the reach of those programs is not limited to their immediate geography or their alumni base, they have local fans wherever they play. So scheduling is not an issue, because they are an attractive match.

Perhaps a massive regional school like UTex could pull it off (and they may have considered it), but knowing the long-term odds, I doubt that they would ever chance it.

Rice is certainly a super-elite academic institution, but as an Independent sports program, they’re about as compelling of an entree as a bowl of instant rice.

Interesting topic though.
09-12-2017 11:56 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
mturn017 Offline
ODU Homer
*

Posts: 16,737
Joined: May 2012
Reputation: 1592
I Root For: Old Dominion
Location: Roanoke, VA
Post: #6
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
It is getting easier for schools to be independent for football but don't think it's in Rice's best interest. They like I'm sure to be in a conference with three other TX schools not only for football but Olympic sports as well. And CUSA actually is a good baseball conference which is a big sport for them. I don't see them jumping anywhere soon.
09-13-2017 12:19 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


C2__ Offline
Caltex2
*

Posts: 23,633
Joined: Feb 2008
Reputation: 552
I Root For: Houston, PVAMU
Location: Zamunda
Post: #7
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
Rice could not become an independent. No bowl is gonna invite Rice, not even the Texas Bowl (because of their current tie-ins). Although in a major market, they have little penetration. No, just, no on Rice.
09-13-2017 12:22 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
BruceMcF Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 13,103
Joined: Jan 2013
Reputation: 760
I Root For: Reds/Buckeyes/.
Location:
Post: #8
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-12-2017 09:21 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  An ideal Rice independent schedule would have a few from each of these:
- 8 former SWC schools
- Independents
- Elite private schools/military academies: Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force
- Other schools in Texas: UTEP, North Texas, UTSA, Texas State
- FCS game
- Payday game against an Ohio State or other big spender
- A few others from across the country to fill it out

Note that most of these bullet points are fluff ... Rice already has three of the four schools listed in "other schools in Texas" in its conference schedule, can already have an FCS game, and can get paid to get beat up by a big spender now. "Independents" is not aspiration in it's own right, it's a way to reduce the loss of access to home games later in the season ... except of course for the one independent that everyone wants to play, who can be slotted into one of the other bullet points. And CUSA does just fine as far as "a few others from across the country to fill it out". Really, just two bullet points here represent the aspiration:
Quote: - 8 former SWC schools
- Elite private schools/military academies: [Notre Dame,] Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force

Rice is not magically going to be attractive for home and away contracts with P5 schools just because it goes independent, so a lot of the schools in this wish list really slot into the one buy game spot in the schedule. Texas, TAMU, TCU, TexasTech, Arkansas, Baylor, Notre Dame, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford and Vanderbilt are all rivals for the same single buy game spot ... or two buy game spots if Rice decided to go that way, but being independent doesn't really expand on that.

It's just Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, and Air Force.

It's not like an independent Rice is going to have annual series with each of those schools. And if they want to play Rice on a fairly frequent basis, Rice can play one or two of them a year from inside Conference USA ... which is not too far off what they would get as an independent.

So I reckon there is less to this notion than it might appear at first blush.
09-13-2017 01:15 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
ESE84 Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 6,596
Joined: Mar 2005
Reputation: 205
I Root For: Rice then UH
Location: Houston

New Orleans BowlDonators
Post: #9
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
I doubt football independence is in any master plan. As the original poster and others note, Rice needs a suitable home for our flagship baseball program, plus the women's and men's basketball programs, both showing improvement through recent investment. C-USA is not the worst place for these programs and our strong Olympic sports, as long as the conference maximizes our current 14-team configuration and minimizes the travel between the East Coast and Texas members.

With all of the scenarios that could play out when the Big 12 GOR expires, it is best to not make any major moves other than keep investing in Rice. We could find ourselves in many possible situations (travel partner to Texas in a P5 conference, back filled into a Big 12 that has lost its marquee programs, or slotted into the AAC or MWC when members are rearranged by the Big 12 moves), depending on what happens with the University of Houston.

2017 is a pivotal year for David Bailiff (one year remaining on his contract) and the football program. Following the $50M investment in the stadium, Rice made assistant coach investments on both sides of the ball. Maybe we saw that start to pay off in the dominant win at UTEP (and the early 2018 recruiting results), or maybe UTEP is just that bad and/or the Owls were on a Hurricane Harvey adrenaline rush. I don't see any reason to make a major move right now.
09-13-2017 06:17 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
The Cutter of Bish Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 7,281
Joined: Mar 2013
Reputation: 217
I Root For: the little guy
Location:
Post: #10
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 12:22 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Rice could not become an independent. No bowl is gonna invite Rice, not even the Texas Bowl (because of their current tie-ins). Although in a major market, they have little penetration. No, just, no on Rice.

Yeah, pretty much.

I think they don't want to be independent, either. I think it's become clear they'd rather be with more western schools, having thrown themselves out there for the Big XII and MWC. Independence doesn't do anything for that, really. Yeah, you probably get BYU and NMSU as locks...they aren't the right programs to fit the needs. UMass and Liberty won't help much. Army would be great, but, drop a whole conference with other western programs just to get them almost guaranteed yearly, and maybe some time with Notre Dame (who would want to be in Texas from time to time)? Not seeing it.

And if they went independent in football, who takes the ollies? CUSA won't keep them without football.

I sort of hold out hope there's a MAC future for Rice...highly unlikely. Again, not the regional fit.
09-13-2017 08:21 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
lance99 Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,121
Joined: Jun 2013
Reputation: 21
I Root For: Akron Zips
Location:
Post: #11
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 08:21 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  And if they went independent in football, who takes the ollies? CUSA won't keep them without football.

I sort of hold out hope there's a MAC future for Rice...highly unlikely. Again, not the regional fit.

I would love to Rice in the Conference, but they just do not fit in any way04-cheers
09-13-2017 09:01 AM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


BePcr07 Online
All American
*

Posts: 4,900
Joined: Dec 2015
Reputation: 342
I Root For: Boise St & Zags
Location:
Post: #12
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
Due to the history and academics of Rice, it would be welcomed by either the American or Mountain West. The American would likely on invite Rice should Houston leave for greener pastures, but the Mountain would be a good fit along with perhaps UTEP.

As far as independence, I don't think Rice would have trouble. They have a long history with former Southwest Conference schools, a short history with some Mountain West / American / Conference USA schools, and they are a private, academic powerhouse which tends to draw series with other private, academic powerhouses. Stanford, Duke, and Northwestern seem to regularly play each other. Throw in Vanderbilt, Rice, Notre Dame, USC, Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, etc. and you have a decent size group of FBS academic elites that can, do, and should schedule each other regularly.
09-13-2017 09:09 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Bull Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 5,349
Joined: Mar 2011
Reputation: 380
I Root For: USF, UofH, AAC!
Location:
Post: #13
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
Yes, if you get enough independents they can schedule each other which makes surviving indy easier... There has been some suggestion that the G5 'power programs' (Boise, Houston, etc.) go indy... But at what point to you look at this growing group, say if another 6 or so go independent, and wonder 'why not just have a ccg'? Geography aside, there are obvious benefits to being in a conference.
09-13-2017 09:10 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
blazr Away
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 12,981
Joined: Nov 2003
Reputation: 276
I Root For: UAB
Location: Nashville, TN
Post: #14
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 09:09 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  Due to the history and academics of Rice, it would be welcomed by either the American or Mountain West. The American would likely on invite Rice should Houston leave for greener pastures, but the Mountain would be a good fit along with perhaps UTEP.

As far as independence, I don't think Rice would have trouble. They have a long history with former Southwest Conference schools, a short history with some Mountain West / American / Conference USA schools, and they are a private, academic powerhouse which tends to draw series with other private, academic powerhouses. Stanford, Duke, and Northwestern seem to regularly play each other. Throw in Vanderbilt, Rice, Notre Dame, USC, Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami, etc. and you have a decent size group of FBS academic elites that can, do, and should schedule each other regularly.

Rice has repeatedly said they do not want in MWC as they get Central/Eastern time zone games in CUSA. UTEP has said that, too, but odds are likely higher than Rice that they would jump especially if CUSA gets more east-heavy for whatever reason. Rice would have problems being independent because it would be tough to attract teams to play them at home and they don't have to pay teams to come to Rice (a la Liberty) when they already get 4 home games/yr in CUSA.

Probably the biggest factor, as someone pointed out, being in a conference in baseball takes care of NCAA playoff bids/seeding (especially CUSA with other strong baseball schools). I can't see them ever going MAC under any circumstance as the academic profile v CUSA goes WAY down and they lose a heavy southern schedule for midwest.
09-13-2017 09:22 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Michael in Raleigh Offline
All American
*

Posts: 3,633
Joined: Jul 2014
Reputation: 325
I Root For: App State
Location:
Post: #15
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 01:15 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  
(09-12-2017 09:21 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  An ideal Rice independent schedule would have a few from each of these:
- 8 former SWC schools
- Independents
- Elite private schools/military academies: Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force
- Other schools in Texas: UTEP, North Texas, UTSA, Texas State
- FCS game
- Payday game against an Ohio State or other big spender
- A few others from across the country to fill it out

Note that most of these bullet points are fluff ... Rice already has three of the four schools listed in "other schools in Texas" in its conference schedule, can already have an FCS game, and can get paid to get beat up by a big spender now. "Independents" is not aspiration in it's own right, it's a way to reduce the loss of access to home games later in the season ... except of course for the one independent that everyone wants to play, who can be slotted into one of the other bullet points. And CUSA does just fine as far as "a few others from across the country to fill it out". Really, just two bullet points here represent the aspiration:
Quote: - 8 former SWC schools
- Elite private schools/military academies: [Notre Dame,] Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force

Rice is not magically going to be attractive for home and away contracts with P5 schools just because it goes independent, so a lot of the schools in this wish list really slot into the one buy game spot in the schedule. Texas, TAMU, TCU, TexasTech, Arkansas, Baylor, Notre Dame, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford and Vanderbilt are all rivals for the same single buy game spot ... or two buy game spots if Rice decided to go that way, but being independent doesn't really expand on that.

It's just Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, and Air Force.

It's not like an independent Rice is going to have annual series with each of those schools. And if they want to play Rice on a fairly frequent basis, Rice can play one or two of them a year from inside Conference USA ... which is not too far off what they would get as an independent.

So I reckon there is less to this notion than it might appear at first blush.

Fair points overall. I would disagree that those private schools would be able to command a road-only or a 2-for-1 from Rice. Duke, Wake, and BC have infamously weak he attendance. BC has done home and homes with NMSU and Idaho this decade. The other schools already play home-and-home series with Rice, Tulane, and other G5 private schools and military academies. Would they fit into a schedule? That's debatable. I do think, though, with NMSU and Liberty's success in getting solid schedules as independents would indicate Rice might be able to do the same.

I agree that Rice would have a really hard time ever expecting to get Texas, A&M, or Tech to come to Rice stadium, except maybe in a two for one or three for one. NRG Stadium probably would be the only way to get them to come to Houston in a one-for-one.
09-13-2017 09:38 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Frank the Tank Online
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 18,722
Joined: Jun 2008
Reputation: 1773
I Root For: Illinois/DePaul
Location: Chicago
Post: #16
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
Best case scenario for Rice is for it to be invited to the AAC as-is or the MWC with another Texas school. I hadn't heard that the Rice said that they don't want the MWC due to time zone differences - I think it's more about the MWC's current stance of not wanting to expand than Rice's desires on that point.

As for independence, Rice actually has a little bit better profile to hypothetically pull it off than others. A fair number of P5 schools don't have the immediate allergic reaction to traveling to Rice (or at least NRG Stadium) that they do with a lot of other G5 schools because of Rice's location in the Houston market and its academic reputation. They have had consistent home-and-home games with private P5 schools (e.g. Baylor, Northwestern, Stanford, Wake Forest) along with 2-for-1 deals with schools like UT and LSU (with the "1" being at NRG Stadium), so that's not too far off from the BYU model. Add in regular games against independents like Army (who they've played recently and have another future series scheduled in a couple of years) and it's at least *possible*. I agree with others that the bowl situation would be tougher - they'd need to find a way to possibly coordinate with BYU and Army on various deals. The WCC would a great institutional fit for non-football sports for Rice with some legit baseball programs, although it's stretch in terms of geography.

So, as far independence viability goes, Rice has a few more attributes going for it than the average school. That doesn't mean it is a good idea to actually implement in the real world, but any school with a truly unique national factors like Rice (which has elite academics) that go beyond its immediate geographic area/region has a better independence case than schools that are purely regional in nature (even top P5 flagships).
(This post was last modified: 09-13-2017 09:48 AM by Frank the Tank.)
09-13-2017 09:46 AM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


blazr Away
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 12,981
Joined: Nov 2003
Reputation: 276
I Root For: UAB
Location: Nashville, TN
Post: #17
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 09:46 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I think it's more about the MWC's current stance of not wanting to expand than Rice's desires on that point.

I didn't mean to imply that MWC is standing at Rice's door waiting for them to say yes. When MWC has looked to expand in the past they have inquired to Rice and Rice has said no for the reasons mentioned.
09-13-2017 09:57 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Captain Bearcat Offline
All-American in Everything
*

Posts: 9,478
Joined: Jun 2010
Reputation: 766
I Root For: UC
Location: IL & Cincinnati, USA
Post: #18
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 01:15 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  
(09-12-2017 09:21 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  An ideal Rice independent schedule would have a few from each of these:
- 8 former SWC schools
- Independents
- Elite private schools/military academies: Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force
- Other schools in Texas: UTEP, North Texas, UTSA, Texas State
- FCS game
- Payday game against an Ohio State or other big spender
- A few others from across the country to fill it out

Note that most of these bullet points are fluff ... Rice already has three of the four schools listed in "other schools in Texas" in its conference schedule, can already have an FCS game, and can get paid to get beat up by a big spender now. "Independents" is not aspiration in it's own right, it's a way to reduce the loss of access to home games later in the season ... except of course for the one independent that everyone wants to play, who can be slotted into one of the other bullet points. And CUSA does just fine as far as "a few others from across the country to fill it out". Really, just two bullet points here represent the aspiration:
Quote: - 8 former SWC schools
- Elite private schools/military academies: [Notre Dame,] Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force

Rice is not magically going to be attractive for home and away contracts with P5 schools just because it goes independent, so a lot of the schools in this wish list really slot into the one buy game spot in the schedule. Texas, TAMU, TCU, TexasTech, Arkansas, Baylor, Notre Dame, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford and Vanderbilt are all rivals for the same single buy game spot ... or two buy game spots if Rice decided to go that way, but being independent doesn't really expand on that.

It's just Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, and Air Force.

It's not like an independent Rice is going to have annual series with each of those schools. And if they want to play Rice on a fairly frequent basis, Rice can play one or two of them a year from inside Conference USA ... which is not too far off what they would get as an independent.

So I reckon there is less to this notion than it might appear at first blush.

What would Rice fans rather have? The current C-USA, or a rotating lineup of Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force, the 5 indies (UMass, Liberty, NMSU, BYU, and Army), and the 3 Texas C-USA schools? The answer is obvious.

In addition, I think Rice would have an easier time getting home-and-home games with Sun Belt, MAC, and C-USA schools than NMSU and UMass do.
09-13-2017 10:16 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
blazr Away
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 12,981
Joined: Nov 2003
Reputation: 276
I Root For: UAB
Location: Nashville, TN
Post: #19
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 10:16 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  What would Rice fans rather have? The current C-USA, or a rotating lineup of Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy, Air Force, the 5 indies (UMass, Liberty, NMSU, BYU, and Army), and the 3 Texas C-USA schools? The answer is obvious.

In addition, I think Rice would have an easier time getting home-and-home games with Sun Belt, MAC, and C-USA schools than NMSU and UMass do.

Wait, are we discussing what fans want or what will realistically happen with ADs/Presidents making the decisions? There are a lot of advantages of being in a conference that aren't obvious to fans and aren't just tossed aside. Also, don't minimize the value ADs place on having a set schedule from being a member of a conference. Rice has 6 games per year with CUSA members including and to the west of UAB plus another home game against a member in the East division and one trip a year to a school in the East. That means juggling 4 contracts per year for the remaining games. Compare that with creating/managing 12 agreements per season and the uncertainty that any of those could change for any reason (contracts are often being bought out in all kinds of circumstances). If you're talking about creating a "scheduling agreement" with a group of schools, Rice already has that in a conference and the chance of any of that group bailing out of the agreement is much less.

Again, there's a difference in what an AD/Pres would find preferable, or even consider, and what fans (of Rice or college football in general) would like.
09-13-2017 11:20 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Attackcoog Online
Moderator
*

Posts: 44,736
Joined: Oct 2011
Reputation: 2860
I Root For: Houston
Location:
Post: #20
RE: Just an idea: Rice as an independent
(09-13-2017 09:46 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  Best case scenario for Rice is for it to be invited to the AAC as-is or the MWC with another Texas school. I hadn't heard that the Rice said that they don't want the MWC due to time zone differences - I think it's more about the MWC's current stance of not wanting to expand than Rice's desires on that point.

As for independence, Rice actually has a little bit better profile to hypothetically pull it off than others. A fair number of P5 schools don't have the immediate allergic reaction to traveling to Rice (or at least NRG Stadium) that they do with a lot of other G5 schools because of Rice's location in the Houston market and its academic reputation. They have had consistent home-and-home games with private P5 schools (e.g. Baylor, Northwestern, Stanford, Wake Forest) along with 2-for-1 deals with schools like UT and LSU (with the "1" being at NRG Stadium), so that's not too far off from the BYU model. Add in regular games against independents like Army (who they've played recently and have another future series scheduled in a couple of years) and it's at least *possible*. I agree with others that the bowl situation would be tougher - they'd need to find a way to possibly coordinate with BYU and Army on various deals. The WCC would a great institutional fit for non-football sports for Rice with some legit baseball programs, although it's stretch in terms of geography.

So, as far independence viability goes, Rice has a few more attributes going for it than the average school. That doesn't mean it is a good idea to actually implement in the real world, but any school with a truly unique national factors like Rice (which has elite academics) that go beyond its immediate geographic area/region has a better independence case than schools that are purely regional in nature (even top P5 flagships).

Im pretty much in agreement. I dont know if its a good idea---but I thing Rice could probably pull off independence and its possible it would even be an improvement if they are successful at landing more P5 games. Its not like they would be giving up a huge amount of conference revenue and they might be better off with some sort of regional TV deal with the Fox Sports-SW or perhaps Root Sports Houston.

I could see Rice, as an Indy getting homes and homes with the academies, private G5s, and private P5's. Add a pay day game and few games vs the 6 other Texas G5's, maybe a Louisiana G5, a few games against ex-SWC schools, and fill in the late year schedule with other indies---I think their schedule could feasibly end up as being more fun for their fans and the casual area college football fans in Houston.

Something like---

UH
Texas /Tech/Aggie (preferably one public ex SWC P5 school)
Michigan (pay day)
TCU/Baylor/SMU (preferably one SWC private)
Tulane
N Texas
Texas St
U-LL
BYU
Army
UMass
N Mex St

I suspect the average area Rice fan would prefer that schedule to their current slate. I would think Purdue, Vandy, Duke, Navy, Tulane, Miami, Army, Northwestern, BYU, Tulsa, SMU, Air Force, Temple, etc would all be fairly regular home-and-home partners. Beyond that---they could get pay games and 2-for-ones with most anyone. They might even be able to land a Notre Dame game as an indy. Because of thier academic reputation and former SWC history---they are probably in a much better position to handle independence than many G5's. I think its even possible many in the Rice administration might prefer a schedule that featured more similar private schools and P5's.
(This post was last modified: 09-13-2017 12:41 PM by Attackcoog.)
09-13-2017 12:34 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.