(01-21-2012 12:28 PM)USM@FTL Wrote:  I see the merits in this too:

ECU
Marshall
Memphis
UAB
USM
Tulane

Rice
UTEP
Tulsa
CSU
AFA
UNM

Wyoming
Utah State
Hawaii
UNLV
Nevada
Fresno State

3 divisions would mean a wild card team for a playoff. Still doable. Play your 5 division mates plus 2 crossover, then playoff week, then the championship game.

Wyo and CSU need to be in same division. ONly 45 miles apart and this sticks Wyo with quite a bit of travel. Peeling New Mexico west is a bit better travel for the Far West teams as well. Two 9 team divisions is a better set up than this 6 team set-up I think for the western teams

I hope wherever we end up is a Southern based conference.

(01-21-2012 02:10 PM)NoQuarter08 Wrote:  

(01-21-2012 02:01 PM)PATiger Wrote:  ODU is a sleeping giant. If they move up to FBS and expand their stadium, they could be pretty good quickly.

Between Toledo and NIU, I'd lean towards NIU although I think there are a few better options out there.

I was thinking bringing BOTH would be great for the CUSA side later IF the merger is temporary. Also bring in WKU to bridge the gap a little to the north. I just wish there were enough schools ready right now and spread out just enough to expand CUSA to 16.

Future lineup could bring in GSU, ODU, NIU, WKU, Toledo, FIU and La Tech to go with the 9 we have right now.

Just brainstorming a few future possiblities here.

I just can't see WKU or La Tech. Neither bring market. Neither bring an athletic budget which would allow them to compete. Other than WKU men's basketball and La Tech women's basketball (both of which have fallen on hard times), they don't offer any competition athletically.

Like I said, Temple would be the obvious choice if we could get them. FIU would be the most obvious FBS school after that. ODU would be the #1 FCS school.

Maybe Temple + Umass would be willing to come together instead of WKU + LaTech. I'd prefer a southern conference like panama said but I'm not sure how many options are left in the south that have adequate budget, success of some sort AND market.

(01-21-2012 02:23 PM)NoQuarter08 Wrote:  Maybe Temple + Umass would be willing to come together instead of WKU + LaTech. I'd prefer a southern conference like panama said but I'm not sure how many options are left in the south that have adequate budget, success of some sort AND market.

Temple and UMass both have good markets and budgets.

As for this being a "southern" conference, I could not care less. I just want the best conference we can get both competitively and financially.

Arkansas State has a budget and a market half the size of USM. There is absolutely no way I could support ASU just to add a Southern team.

We need schools to help lift up the conference, not hold it back. There are just not a lot of good options in the South.

Temple and UMass are never coming...ever. They can wait around and eventually end up in the Big East

This thread is interesting because it starts off with fans from UTEP, Memphis, and others saying that everyone wants UTEP to stay east with the CUSA crew. If that is truly the case and the general consensus is for UTEP in the east, what's the point of discussing the eastern FCS or SBC options? In my opinion the only reason as to why UTEP should get pushed to the east is if an expansion candidate that can't be passed up is available- like Temple, Navy, or Army. Unfortunately, programs like Navy, Army, or Temple will most likely get scooped up by the Big East or stay independent.

So since everyone wants UTEP to stay east, why make them move? Therefore a more appropriate discussion would be who should be added to get to 9 members in the western division.

Not much out west either. USU and SJSU are the most frequently mentioned candidates and they would be near the bottom of the conference in athletic budgets.

(01-21-2012 02:37 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Not much out west either. USU and SJSU are the most frequently mentioned candidates and they would be near the bottom of the conference in athletic budgets.

True, but USU's athletic budget continues to increase upwards every year. Right now they receive a pay out from the WAC's TV contract which only distributes about $400k a year. If USU moved to the MWC or the merger they would have an additional $1.5-2m more to add to their revenue which would catch them up to some.

USU's basketball program make them a strong candidate IMO. They have averaged 8-10k a game for awhile now, and football is improving as well. Out of all of the candidates in the nation, Temple or USU would be the only schools that would instantly improve the league in one of the two revenue sports(CFB/MBB).

How about this 16 team league? Sorry UTEP I'm assuming you guys eventually end up with the MWC side. I'm almost certain that the Alliance is a stop gap until we get to something that looks sort of like this in the East. Maybe UTEP, Rice, Tulsa and UNT eventually end up on the MWC side?

(01-21-2012 12:34 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(01-21-2012 08:57 AM)PATiger Wrote:  Georgia State has a significantly smaller athletic budget than ODU, so I'd consider ODU much quicker than GSU.

That's true for now. Let's check back in 5-6 years and see then.

Quote:Plus, GSU has a lot more competition in their market than ODU does.

Yes, but it's not like either one will ever be better than #3 in their markets.

Quote:A nine game conference schedule is not balanced. There would be some teams with more home games than road games and others with more road games than home games.

I agree with this, but it is still a fact that the Pac-12 has made 9-game conference schedules "work" for a long, long time. Big Ten used to, as well.

Quote:Geography is less of an issue as teams will charter flights to games.

It's not THE make-or-break issue, but I still think it matters.

Quote: (Teams being considered for expansion) need to offer us a decent market in order to negotiate better television contracts and they need to have an adquate budget to compete in all sports in CUSA. If they don't have those two, I'd have to vote them down.

+1

I disagree about ODU not being able to get higher than 3 in their market. I think they can easily do better than that.

(01-21-2012 02:52 PM)NoQuarter08 Wrote:  How about this 16 team league? Sorry UTEP I'm assuming you guys eventually end up with the MWC side.

Good looking league. But hypothetically if you were to add Toledo and NIU, wouldn't you consider the University of Ohio too?

Ohio U has practically NO market. Marshall is in same market also.

Why NIU? Chicago barely supports Northwestern football. NIU averages 15k in attendance.

(01-21-2012 03:01 PM)panama Wrote:  Why NIU? Chicago barely supports Northwestern football. NIU averages 15k in attendance.

Still in Chicago market. Pretty clear butts in the seats don't matter to the networks. THey've got a solid football program also so they've got 2 of the 3 criteria that are important to me at least. Give them some more exposure and they could bypass NW pretty easily IMO. NW is a small private U while NIU is a large public.

(01-21-2012 02:57 PM)NoQuarter08 Wrote:  Ohio U has practically NO market. Marshall is in same market also.

If markets are what you're going for, UMass is a questionable choice. The Minute Men are located in the #114 ranked Springfield-Holyoke DMA. They are located nearby the Boston-Manchester DMA, but they are virtually invisible in that pro-sports centric market.

So I guess it would come down to having 1 team for exposure in the #114 TV market or a second team in the #65 market. Tough call either way I guess.

if NoILL get u in Chicago
why doesn't LousT get Shrieveport & No Lous
Ohio gets part of state of Ohio
NoTex in Dallas
ArkSt gets Ark

(01-21-2012 03:13 PM)templefootballfan Wrote:  if NoILL get u in Chicago
why doesn't LousT get Shrieveport & No Lous
Ohio gets part of state of Ohio
NoTex in Dallas
ArkSt gets Ark

TV Market Rankings

LaTech is located in the Monroe TV market, not Shreveport. OhioU in the Charleston-Huntington TV market.

(01-21-2012 03:10 PM)AFAfan Wrote:  

(01-21-2012 02:57 PM)NoQuarter08 Wrote:  Ohio U has practically NO market. Marshall is in same market also.

If markets are what you're going for, UMass is a questionable choice. The Minute Men are located in the #114 ranked Springfield-Holyoke DMA. They are located nearby the Boston-Manchester DMA, but they are virtually invisible in that pro-sports centric market.

So I guess it would come down to having 1 team for exposure in the #114 TV market or a second team in the #65 market. Tough call either way I guess.

I think Umass might be a little more incentive to entice Temple also. That's another reason I've got them in there. I'd take Umass all day over Ohio.

(01-21-2012 03:13 PM)templefootballfan Wrote:  if NoILL get u in Chicago
why doesn't LousT get Shrieveport & No Lous
Ohio gets part of state of Ohio
NoTex in Dallas
ArkSt gets Ark

Don't ask me. That's how the media market lines are drawn up. ECU sits about 20 miles outside of the Raleigh media market. It's pretty easy to research this stuff. It's not about the state, it's about the physical location of the university in the state. THe acception to this rule would be major athletic programs / flagships with state wide followings. Despite their name Ohio U isn't one of those schools.

http://dishuser.org/TVMarkets/