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Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
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theATLDawg Offline
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Post: #41
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
Well the enviable thing about UTEP is that you have beautiful facilities and a great fan base. I will always be a fan Of UTEP and its fans. They more than deserved going to CUSA, however now in retrospect, I don't see how the move benifit them. They can go anywhere and survive but your natural rivals are still in the WAC and I am sure alot of your fans really miss that. I know the WAc misses you. Good luck and know that when I say that you would be better in the WAC, I don't mean it as anything other than a compliment. UTEP should be a WAC school again. You will not get the excitement for Rice and Houston that you will for Nevada NMxST and UTah st in basketball and N.MxSt Boise State Nevada, and Fresno in football. They are your footprint. It is taking LATech years to build the kind of rivalries in the WAC that UTEP just threw away.
08-21-2007 04:40 PM
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eager eagle Offline
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Post: #42
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
theATLDawg Wrote:Well the enviable thing about UTEP is that you have beautiful facilities and a great fan base. I will always be a fan Of UTEP and its fans. They more than deserved going to CUSA, however now in retrospect, I don't see how the move benifit them. They can go anywhere and survive but your natural rivals are still in the WAC and I am sure alot of your fans really miss that. I know the WAc misses you. Good luck and know that when I say that you would be better in the WAC, I don't mean it as anything other than a compliment. UTEP should be a WAC school again. You will not get the excitement for Rice and Houston that you will for Nevada NMxST and UTah st in basketball and N.MxSt Boise State Nevada, and Fresno in football. They are your footprint. It is taking LATech years to build the kind of rivalries in the WAC that UTEP just threw away.

Miner, you listen to these Tech people now because they know everything about everything. They want you back so you can play them in Shreveport again, remember the game I think in 2003 when they had only about 2500 fans show up. Surely you havent found that kind of excitment in cusa. And, remember too that Hawaii and Idaho and Boise and Fresno are right in your footprint, just out the back door a bit.
08-21-2007 09:29 PM
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MondoMiner Offline
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Post: #43
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
theATLDawg Wrote:Well the enviable thing about UTEP is that you have beautiful facilities and a great fan base. I will always be a fan Of UTEP and its fans. They more than deserved going to CUSA, however now in retrospect, I don't see how the move benifit them. They can go anywhere and survive but your natural rivals are still in the WAC and I am sure alot of your fans really miss that. I know the WAc misses you. Good luck and know that when I say that you would be better in the WAC, I don't mean it as anything other than a compliment. UTEP should be a WAC school again. You will not get the excitement for Rice and Houston that you will for Nevada NMxST and UTah st in basketball and N.MxSt Boise State Nevada, and Fresno in football. They are your footprint. It is taking LATech years to build the kind of rivalries in the WAC that UTEP just threw away.

I can't say that UTEP really had any rivals in the WAC. We were beginning to build a rivalry with Nevada in basketball, but that's about it. What determines a "natural" rival? Geography? NMSU has historically been our biggest rival (because of our proximity), but we've never been in the same conference (maybe back in the old Border Conference?) I disagree, we've only had been in the conference two seasons, and we've already had some thriller games with Houston, Tulsa, and Rice. Our first few years in the post-defection WAC we were terrible in football and basketball, and never established rivalries. In football, we were only good our last year, maybe we could have established some rivalries (we beat Fresno on the road- maybe that could have sparked a rivalry).

I do miss the WAC, and will always pull for the WAC when they're not playing CUSA. Nonetheless, I don't think you can understand the value of CUSA West for UTEP. We are getting media coverage in Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, and Houston that we never got before. Yes, part of that is that Mike Price has had some success, but we had occasional success in the WAC, and nobody east of El Paso knew about it. The talent level of our recruits is getting better, and we are getting consideration from Texas kids that never gave us any consideration before. Aside from that, we are getting media coverage in the east as well. Just yesterday there was a UTEP preview in an Atlantic City, New Jersey newspaper. We are getting more money from the conference than we did from the WAC, and our alumni in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio are contributing more than ever now that they can better follow us. I think that our current rivalries with Tulsa and Houston are as heated as any we ever had in the post-defection WAC.
08-21-2007 11:31 PM
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theATLDawg Offline
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Post: #44
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
Yeah but the talent level of CuSA has produced little to no excitement on the national stage since Louisville left. Other than USM there just arent any teams to get anyone raising an eyebrow. Even USM has been losing its luster under the new CUSA. Your bowl tie ins are bringing in more money but unless more teams step up they are going to turn into an also ran. I really thought the WAC was in trouble when they lost UTEP but they really have gotten stronger and that is something that UTEP could have gotten in on. And lets not even get started on the basketball side of things. Jeeez.
(This post was last modified: 08-23-2007 07:53 AM by theATLDawg.)
08-23-2007 07:50 AM
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Hambone10 Offline
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Post: #45
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
theATLDawg Wrote:Oh my god please don't come over here and try to tell us with a straight face that you think CUSA is just as strong now as before. They are much worse. USM is the only decent football team in a sea of mediocrity. And Memphis is the only standout in well below mediocrity in basketball. Convince yourself all you want but nobody is buying it. I thing the WAC is a much better conference since the WACE teams moved to CUSA because they did little to improve and actually made CUSA a joke. The very bottom of the WAC may be a joke but even they are hiring good coaches and picking up their game. Top to bottom the WAC will be alot better than CUSA in the future. Yes their conference has alot of tie ins but they are filled with 4 6-5 teams. Hardly world beaters. Ask the Sunbelt.


Rice's 3 best football records and our best overall decade in the past half century were in the WAC... 7-4 twice, and 8-4 once... beating the conference champ pretty handily... PLUS we brought a National Championship to the WAC (albeit in baseball). CLEARLY we were more than competitive in the WAC. Now that we're finally renovating our basketball arena, we should see improvement there as well. I'm not trying to knock the WAC, but to say that we did little to improve and made CUSA a joke makes you appear to be in denial.
08-23-2007 01:33 PM
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jediwarrior Offline
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Post: #46
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
Hambone10 - June Jones used to refer to Rice football players as "tough smart guys". :) I've watched UH play at Rice a couple of times (...and got the splinters in my butt to prove it), and really liked the atmosphere in the stadium. Crowds weren't big, but definitely a fun place to watch some college football.

...and you're right about Rice baseball. Winning the CWS was definitely a major highlight and accomplishment for the conference. Rice baseball was/is awesome.
08-23-2007 01:42 PM
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ejmpalle Offline
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Post: #47
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
I think that another year of on-the-field performance and on-the-court performance will put this discussion to bed. Let's just let wins/losses speak for themselves after this season is complete.
08-23-2007 02:35 PM
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theATLDawg Offline
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Post: #48
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
I think what made cusa a joke had more to do with Louisville leaving than Rice coming in. I apologize for inferring otherwise. Your baseball team alone is worth having you in a conference. SMU I am not so sure. Just saying that CUSA is an afterthought as a football conference with no media hype despite all the "big media markets" and the basketball conf. is hanging on by a thread thanks to Memphis. You have one hell of a baseball conf. though.
08-23-2007 07:02 PM
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MondoMiner Offline
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Post: #49
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
theATLDawg Wrote:Yeah but the talent level of CuSA has produced little to no excitement on the national stage since Louisville left. Other than USM there just arent any teams to get anyone raising an eyebrow. Even USM has been losing its luster under the new CUSA. Your bowl tie ins are bringing in more money but unless more teams step up they are going to turn into an also ran. I really thought the WAC was in trouble when they lost UTEP but they really have gotten stronger and that is something that UTEP could have gotten in on. And lets not even get started on the basketball side of things. Jeeez.

"Since Louisville left" was two seasons ago. The WAC "getting stronger" in two seasons? Yes, Boise made it big last year, and I was stoked for them. Whether the whole conference is significantly better over the long term remains to be seen. Same goes for CUSA, we had a horrible year last year (both football and basketball). That doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. You have two preseason top-25 teams, and that's great. However, the important polls are at the end of the season, not the beginning. As far as basketball, I GUARANTEE we will have at least two teams in the NCAAs next year, which will match the WAC. The difference is that one of ours will be a #1 seed and will be favored to be in the final four.

I appreciate your concern for CUSA, but we'll be just fine. By this time next year, It could be 2 CUSA teams in the preseason football poll.
08-24-2007 12:02 AM
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eager eagle Offline
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Post: #50
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
ejmpalle Wrote:I think that another year of on-the-field performance and on-the-court performance will put this discussion to bed. Let's just let wins/losses speak for themselves after this season is complete.

You are absolutely correct, let it play itself out on the field. All these comparisons, polls, arguments, dont mean crap. CUSA is basically a NEW league, this group has been together only just a couple of years. How do you compare a two year old with the WAC or SEC or Big 10, etc that has been in business for years. Just wait 5-10 yr giving even more time for rivalries and league to develop and one can bet things wont be the same. The business plan for cusa has it enveloping most large metropolitan areas in the South and Southwest as time goes on and the future is BRIGHT.
08-24-2007 07:26 AM
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theATLDawg Offline
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Post: #51
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
you may very well get two in in basketball. and good for Memphis for having a good basketball team. They are clearly the Boise of your conference just in basketball but unless someone or just anyone doesn't pick up their game in basketball and get the conf. RPI up there will continue to be only one team in. You tout yourself as a basketball conference but you are far from it. Nobody said CUSA wouldnt be fine. what else would they be. They are not going to disband. I just dont see why UTEP would leave a great conference in their back yard for a very mediocre conf. in two sports and thrives in the one sport you dont have. Your fans would really rather be in a conf. with Rice and SMu than with Nev. NMxSt Boise and Fresno? I bet most of your fans would say no. Just as I bet alot of TCU fans are rethinking why they left their CUSA rivals for playing in a non exciting MWC. The MWC is the most boring conf. out there. TCU is alone and nobody gives a damn.I don't how the WAC pulled it off, but they are the most competitive and exciting non BCS conf out there. Most of that thanks to the great rivalries that UTEP gave up. And you gave up a free trip to Hawaii for Hattiesburg. The armpit of the south.
(This post was last modified: 08-27-2007 12:38 AM by theATLDawg.)
08-27-2007 12:33 AM
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MondoMiner Offline
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Post: #52
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
theATLDawg Wrote:you may very well get two in in basketball. and good for Memphis for having a good basketball team. They are clearly the Boise of your conference just in basketball but unless someone or just anyone doesn't pick up their game in basketball and get the conf. RPI up there will continue to be only one team in. You tout yourself as a basketball conference but you are far from it. Nobody said CUSA wouldnt be fine. what else would they be. They are not going to disband. I just dont see why UTEP would leave a great conference in their back yard for a very mediocre conf. in two sports and thrives in the one sport you dont have. Your fans would really rather be in a conf. with Rice and SMu than with Nev. NMxSt Boise and Fresno? I bet most of your fans would say no. Just as I bet alot of TCU fans are rethinking why they left their CUSA rivals for playing in a non exciting MWC. The MWC is the most boring conf. out there. TCU is alone and nobody gives a damn.I don't how the WAC pulled it off, but they are the most competitive and exciting non BCS conf out there. Most of that thanks to the great rivalries that UTEP gave up. And you gave up a free trip to Hawaii for Hattiesburg. The armpit of the south.

Yes, most of our fans would rather be associated with Rice, SMU, Houston, and Tulsa. Mike Price already has a lot of connections in California, and we don't recruit Idaho. We've never been in the same conference with NMSU, and it's worked fine. When we were in the WAC, we never had a significant number of fans at away games (except maybe in the old WAC, when we went to Albuequerque). Now we are getting great representation at games in Dallas and Houston. We have a lot of alumni there, and they are getting excited about being able to follow the Miners. That has translated to a record amount of alumni contribution to the athletic department. Our home attendance has not suffered at all. (Last year we had a losing record, yet still ranked third in attendance nationally among non-BCS schools). The WAC was (and is) a great conference, but CUSA is a better conference FOR UTEP. You can criticize CUSA's on-field performance, but I GUARANTEE you the conference will have a better year in both major sports. CUSA is building a great conference. The WAC was the best non-BCS last year. This year remains to be seen.
08-28-2007 02:04 AM
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eager eagle Offline
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Post: #53
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
NMxSt Boise and Fresno? I bet most of your fans would say no. Just as I bet alot of TCU fans are rethinking why they left their CUSA rivals for playing in a non exciting MWC. The MWC is the most boring conf. out there. TCU is alone and nobody gives a damn.I don't how the WAC pulled it off, but they are the most competitive and exciting non BCS conf out there. Most of that thanks to the great rivalries that UTEP gave up. And you gave up a free trip to Hawaii for Hattiesburg. The armpit of the south.
[/quote]

Yes, most of our fans would rather be associated with Rice, SMU, Houston, and Tulsa. Mike Price already has a lot of connections in California, and we don't recruit Idaho. We've never been in the same conference with NMSU, and it's worked fine. When we were in the WAC, we never had a significant number of fans at away games (except maybe in the old WAC, when we went to Albuequerque). Now we are getting great representation at games in Dallas and Houston. We have a lot of alumni there, and they are getting excited about being able to follow the Miners. That has translated to a record amount of alumni contribution to the athletic department. Our home attendance has not suffered at all. (Last year we had a losing record, yet still ranked third in attendance nationally among non-BCS schools). The WAC was (and is) a great conference, but CUSA is a better conference FOR UTEP. You can criticize CUSA's on-field performance, but I GUARANTEE you the conference will have a better year in both major sports. CUSA is building a great conference. The WAC was the best non-BCS last year. This year remains to be seen.
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Miner, I warned you to heed what these Tecchie guys say, they are pros. Their program is so successful they couldnt sell all the 3,000 tickets they had alloted for the LSU game, many were returned to LSU for sale to the public.
(This post was last modified: 08-28-2007 08:40 AM by eager eagle.)
08-28-2007 08:40 AM
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theATLDawg Offline
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Post: #54
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
whetever man. be happy there. It is where you are. I just think the only reason you went in the first place is because UTEP was afraid of being left out if the WAC got raided again. If UTEP could have foretold the sudden flourish of the WAC, they probably would have prefered to stick around and be part of it. I don't think anybody would have guessed that CUSA would have dropped so drastically. And you are right about one thing USM, I don't necessarily think Tech is the right fit for the WAC but even I can admit when we are sitting on a good thing. And the WAC is a good thing right now. CUSA is not.
08-28-2007 11:21 PM
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MondoMiner Offline
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Post: #55
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
theATLDawg Wrote:whetever man. be happy there. It is where you are. I just think the only reason you went in the first place is because UTEP was afraid of being left out if the WAC got raided again. If UTEP could have foretold the sudden flourish of the WAC, they probably would have prefered to stick around and be part of it. I don't think anybody would have guessed that CUSA would have dropped so drastically. And you are right about one thing USM, I don't necessarily think Tech is the right fit for the WAC but even I can admit when we are sitting on a good thing. And the WAC is a good thing right now. CUSA is not.

Exactly, "RIGHT NOW". "Right Now" changes quickly. If you still think UTEP fans would rather be in the WAC, check out this thread from one of the UTEP message boards, Minerreport.com.

When asked the question "In what conference should UTEP play", 65% said CUSA, 35% said the MWC, and exactly ZERO responded WAC.
08-29-2007 02:33 AM
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GoGold Offline
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Post: #56
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
johnnylightnin Wrote:
GoGold Wrote:Some dudes opinion? I think I will leave it at that. Good luck this year.

Fair enough. But, you are the one who started throwing around terms like "hard cold facts". My post simply asked a question. Your opinion is noted.

"Cold hard facts" are entered into a computor program, that takes into account every game, played by every team, played every week in the season.
08-29-2007 03:34 AM
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johnnylightnin Offline
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Post: #57
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
GoGold Wrote:"Cold hard facts" are entered into a computor program, that takes into account every game, played by every team, played every week in the season.

Yeah...computer rankings are certainly indisputable...

04-jawdrop
08-29-2007 11:07 AM
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Juice752 Offline
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Post: #58
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
MondoMiner Wrote:
theATLDawg Wrote:whetever man. be happy there. It is where you are. I just think the only reason you went in the first place is because UTEP was afraid of being left out if the WAC got raided again. If UTEP could have foretold the sudden flourish of the WAC, they probably would have prefered to stick around and be part of it. I don't think anybody would have guessed that CUSA would have dropped so drastically. And you are right about one thing USM, I don't necessarily think Tech is the right fit for the WAC but even I can admit when we are sitting on a good thing. And the WAC is a good thing right now. CUSA is not.

Exactly, "RIGHT NOW". "Right Now" changes quickly. If you still think UTEP fans would rather be in the WAC, check out this thread from one of the UTEP message boards, Minerreport.com.

When asked the question "In what conference should UTEP play", 65% said CUSA, 35% said the MWC, and exactly ZERO responded WAC.

That is very surprising (sarcasm). I have never known the fans of a team to wish they go back to a conference they just left.
08-29-2007 11:43 AM
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UTEPDallas Offline
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Post: #59
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
What Mondo said.....

I think the other nonBCS conference that might be appealing to most UTEP fans is the MWC (according to the nonscientific poll on the MinerReport). It's where most of our old rivals are and we have history with seven of its schools. Not that we want to be in that conference but if we have to choose between the MWC and WAC.....the first would be the choice.

Like I said in other threads, I have nothing against the WAC. In fact, I wish each school the best (even to NMSU....I'd rather have UTEP beat a strong NMSU team than a weak one) but it came to a point where staying in the WAC was no longer an option. The conference that UTEP joined in 1967 looked way different in 2005.

1967
Arizona
Arizona State
Utah
BYU
UTEP
New Mexico
Wyoming
Colorado State

2005
Hawaii
Fresno State
Boise State
Idaho
Nevada
Utah State
New Mexico State
San Jose State
Louisiana Tech

HUGE difference.......
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2007 01:06 PM by UTEPDallas.)
08-29-2007 12:30 PM
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MondoMiner Offline
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Post: #60
RE: Thoughts on E-WAC/CUSA
Juice752 Wrote:
MondoMiner Wrote:
theATLDawg Wrote:whetever man. be happy there. It is where you are. I just think the only reason you went in the first place is because UTEP was afraid of being left out if the WAC got raided again. If UTEP could have foretold the sudden flourish of the WAC, they probably would have prefered to stick around and be part of it. I don't think anybody would have guessed that CUSA would have dropped so drastically. And you are right about one thing USM, I don't necessarily think Tech is the right fit for the WAC but even I can admit when we are sitting on a good thing. And the WAC is a good thing right now. CUSA is not.

Exactly, "RIGHT NOW". "Right Now" changes quickly. If you still think UTEP fans would rather be in the WAC, check out this thread from one of the UTEP message boards, Minerreport.com.

When asked the question "In what conference should UTEP play", 65% said CUSA, 35% said the MWC, and exactly ZERO responded WAC.

That is very surprising (sarcasm). I have never known the fans of a team to wish they go back to a conference they just left.

That was in response to the following statement.

theATLDawg Wrote:Your fans would really rather be in a conf. with Rice and SMu than with Nev. NMxSt Boise and Fresno? I bet most of your fans would say no.

If UTEP fans were unhappy about leaving the WAC, as ATLDawg believes, wouldn't there be at least ONE that would vote for the WAC when asked what conference should UTEP play in? If Miners fans saw CUSA as such an inferior conference and such a horrible decision, wouldn't ONE of them vote for the WAC?
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2007 01:40 PM by MondoMiner.)
08-29-2007 01:34 PM
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