(02-12-2012 12:30 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  actually Atlanta Trojan I think their status as our primary rival dissapears just as soon as South is a full-fledged football member.

I tend to agree with that--outside looking in (I really don't know if USA is bound to U of Alabama or not. Hope not). UAB used to be a great rival with WKU. But honest I think UAB's long term prospects are pretty dim. They'll always be subservient to the Univ. of Alabama system. And there's no way UA will allow UAB to shine brighter.

I think, for expansion, we look for other schools other than UAB.

(02-12-2012 12:50 PM)WKUSledgeHammer Wrote:  

(02-12-2012 12:30 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  actually Atlanta Trojan I think their status as our primary rival dissapears just as soon as South is a full-fledged football member.

I tend to agree with that--outside looking in (I really don't know if USA is bound to U of Alabama or not. Hope not). UAB used to be a great rival with WKU. But honest I think UAB's long term prospects are pretty dim. They'll always be subservient to the Univ. of Alabama system. And there's no way UA will allow UAB to shine brighter.

I think, for expansion, we look for other schools other than UAB.

Nope... USA is completely independent... in no way tied to the UA system.

(02-12-2012 12:50 PM)WKUSledgeHammer Wrote:  I think, for expansion, we look for other schools other than UAB.

I'm crushed.

C'mon Smaug, most Sun Belt fans just don't feel UAB brings enough to our league. Yall have a history of fine basketball, but fans just don't get excited about the idea of adding your program to our roster. It's certainly not personal toward the Blazer fanbase.

(02-12-2012 04:24 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  C'mon Smaug, most Sun Belt fans just don't feel UAB brings enough to our league. Yall have a history of fine basketball, but fans just don't get excited about the idea of adding your program to our roster. It's certainly not personal toward the Blazer fanbase.

That's fine. I don't take anything I read on message boards personally.

I just think whether or not the Sun Belt would take UAB back with open arms is moot. UAB is a charter member of CUSA, and will remain in CUSA for as long as there is a CUSA (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

I'm not here to throw smack on any school, or the Belt in general. Fact is, there's not a dime's worth of difference between any of these conferences that aren't in the cartel, except for TV dollars and bowl tie-ins.

We all want to join the $EC, but that ain't happening, so we follow the words of Theodore Roosvelt. We're doing what we can with what we have, where we are.

If UAB ever ended up in a conference with, say, Troy and USA, that'd be okay with me. If they didn't, that'd be okay, too.

All this fruit basket turnover has basically reduced me to the point of saying, "Know what? I think I'll just go watch MY team play, and let the opponent be a surprise."

Quote:All this fruit basket turnover has basically reduced me to the point of saying, "Know what? I think I'll just go watch MY team play, and let the opponent be a surprise."

Great attitude to have and CFB would be a better place if this mindset permeated through the fans.

There is a legitimate threat that C-USA could fall apart very soon.

(02-12-2012 05:05 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  There is a legitimate threat that C-USA could fall apart very soon.

Anything's possible.

I think the alliance with the MWC is going to happen. If it doesn't, the remaining CUSA teams will try to fill its ranks with whoever fits the profile. Maybe a Belt school or two. Anything I say is pure speculation,

I just know UAB's president is in Dallas today, and so is Temple's.

(02-12-2012 05:05 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  There is a legitimate threat that C-USA could fall apart very soon.

If the Merger fails they will backfill.

(02-12-2012 05:17 PM)panama Wrote:  

(02-12-2012 05:05 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  There is a legitimate threat that C-USA could fall apart very soon.

If the Merger fails they will backfill.

Yep.

Then the question becomes twofold:

1. Who does CUSA see as best fitting the profile (whatever that is)?

2. Who would view CUSA as a step up from their present situation?

And if it comes to that, we're probably not talking about just one or two schools.

with all of the departures that C-USA has suffered I don't see yall as a step up at all. I expect yall to lose the television contract and some of your bowls.

the thing that is really funny to me personally, is that the fans of the remaining schools turn their noses up at the Sun Belt Conference, yet want to fill the holes with Sun Belt programs. that is just hilarious to me. "We're too good for yall, but we're gonna bring some of ya in to our cool club and make you good enough." The teams are still the same teams, but adding the C-USA logo to their jersey instead of the Sun Belt logo makes all the difference.

(02-12-2012 05:49 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  with all of the departures that C-USA has suffered I don't see yall as a step up at all. I expect yall to lose the television contract and some of your bowls.

the thing that is really funny to me personally, is that the fans of the remaining schools turn their noses up at the Sun Belt Conference, yet want to fill the holes with Sun Belt programs. that is just hilarious to me. "We're too good for yall, but we're gonna bring some of ya in to our cool club and make you good enough." The teams are still the same teams, but adding the C-USA logo to their jersey instead of the Sun Belt logo makes all the difference.

Every conference has a hierarchy of schools that another conference might want to cherry pick. Hell, it's happened to CUSA twice in the last 10 years. It happened to the Big 12. Why would the Belt be immune?

If CUSA picked up the phone tomorrow and asked Troy to join tomorrow, would Troy say no?

I can't say what we would do, but I would be against it. I've stated several times that my ideal scenario would be for everyone currently in the Belt stay put and add La Tech and Southern Miss to bring us to 12.

C-USA is too unstable and the footprint is massive. I have little interest in jumping on to a ship heading around with world with no stops and no bathrooms. That's what Conference USA is. the food might be good, but everyone has to hit the head sometime.

(02-12-2012 06:08 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  I can't say what we would do, but I would be against it. I've stated several times that my ideal scenario would be for everyone currently in the Belt stay put and add La Tech and Southern Miss to bring us to 12.

C-USA is too unstable and the footprint is massive. I have little interest in jumping on to a ship heading around with world with no stops and no bathrooms. That's what Conference USA is.

So, if the Belt picked up the phone and asked USM, what would they say?

(02-12-2012 05:58 PM)Smaug Wrote:  

(02-12-2012 05:49 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  with all of the departures that C-USA has suffered I don't see yall as a step up at all. I expect yall to lose the television contract and some of your bowls.

the thing that is really funny to me personally, is that the fans of the remaining schools turn their noses up at the Sun Belt Conference, yet want to fill the holes with Sun Belt programs. that is just hilarious to me. "We're too good for yall, but we're gonna bring some of ya in to our cool club and make you good enough." The teams are still the same teams, but adding the C-USA logo to their jersey instead of the Sun Belt logo makes all the difference.

Every conference has a hierarchy of schools that another conference might want to cherry pick. Hell, it's happened to CUSA twice in the last 10 years. It happened to the Big 12. Why would the Belt be immune?

If CUSA picked up the phone tomorrow and asked Troy to join tomorrow, would Troy say no?

Honestly, I'd hope they'd say no. TROY isn't quite ready for a higher profile conference, but with the instability of CUSA, y'all don't currently qualify as higher profile. So, the SBC, as a whole, can continue to move up the ladder with what we have...not everybody subscribes to that philosophy, at this time though.

Smaug they'd probably say no. the remaining C-USA fans seem to have a similar mentality as some whites did after the Civil Rights Movement. "we're still better, regardless of the facts."

(02-12-2012 06:16 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  Smaug they'd probably say no. the remaining C-USA fans seem to have a similar mentality as some whites did after the Civil Rights Movement. "we're still better, regardless of the facts."

With all due respect, and I know how this is going to sound, but I think Troy and/or several other Belt schools would be on the next plane to Dallas after getting such a call.

And speaking of not taking things personally, please understand I don't think as people anybody's better than anyone else (except we're all better than $EC knuckle-draggers).

Again, to the extent that we're talking about who's "better" what we're really talking about is money and exposure. We all have a little. The question is, who has more?

Right now, at least, that's CUSA.

(02-12-2012 06:14 PM)trojanbrutha Wrote:  

(02-12-2012 05:58 PM)Smaug Wrote:  

(02-12-2012 05:49 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  with all of the departures that C-USA has suffered I don't see yall as a step up at all. I expect yall to lose the television contract and some of your bowls.

the thing that is really funny to me personally, is that the fans of the remaining schools turn their noses up at the Sun Belt Conference, yet want to fill the holes with Sun Belt programs. that is just hilarious to me. "We're too good for yall, but we're gonna bring some of ya in to our cool club and make you good enough." The teams are still the same teams, but adding the C-USA logo to their jersey instead of the Sun Belt logo makes all the difference.

Every conference has a hierarchy of schools that another conference might want to cherry pick. Hell, it's happened to CUSA twice in the last 10 years. It happened to the Big 12. Why would the Belt be immune?

If CUSA picked up the phone tomorrow and asked Troy to join tomorrow, would Troy say no?

Honestly, I'd hope they'd say no. TROY isn't quite ready for a higher profile conference, but with the instability of CUSA, y'all don't currently qualify as higher profile. So, the SBC, as a whole, can continue to move up the ladder with what we have...not everybody subscribes to that philosophy, at this time though.

Don't get me wrong. I think what conference is better or worse (among fans, at least) is a silly argument.

I want my school and the conference it's in to be successful. But that's what we all want. It's because of message boards and talk radio and ESPN that we all feel the need to break out the tape measure and see who's johnson is biggest. It's silly.

Are UAB fans guilty of it? Sure we are! So are Troy fans, and every other schools' fans.

(02-12-2012 11:41 AM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  They are our biggest rival (sorry middle) and that won't change anytime soon. We will continue to play them every year but they will not want to be in the same conference as "Pike county college".

Why apologize to us? We don't consider you our biggest rival either. Troy is a big rival, but nothing compared to Western.