RE: Greedy nbe vs Greedy CUSA vs greedy Sunbelt teams
Here is the reality of all this. Conferences are there for the teams, for some built in scheduling, to provide revenue that would otherwise not be likely. It has also turned into bowl appearances, and increasing your future. It is obvious that you go to the conference that can give you more of what you need and the smaller your budget, tv market, or recruiting area is, the more you need the conference. Southern Miss is a charter member of C-USA and was part of forming it so we know the early troubles in forming it. We can remember fighting Louisville over revenue, fighting to get ECU football into the conference and the entire history of it. We also know that had USM been invited to join the Big East and the advantages look to be greater than C-USA has then we would have taken it, and so we do understand other teams moving on. The schools must do what is best in their view, for their school just as USM does. Sadly, you get relationships with some schools and to lose them hurts. Memphis has been a long time opponent for us and we have enjoyed a domination of that series, but it also has too often been an easy game with a negative reaction should we lose. Tulane was much the same, and many times players at USM would have a tough time getting up to play them. ECU was the other side. ECU gave us many close and hard fought games, with a rivalry that most USM fans (I know I am one of them) looked forward to.
However, like with Ole Miss and Miss. State, series end and you move on to find new rivals, or maybe renew old ones. La. Tech is a team USM has played since 1935 off and on which has given us a much tougher time than the series record would lead one to believe (USM 30 wins, La. Tech 13) but it was and will be a series that will be great again. The "Rivalry of the South" as it is known, will be something that the conference and teams involved will value. UAB has certainly given USM trouble the last 4 times and even in the 9 USM won before that, some were hard fought.
I have no hard feelings to any team that has left and we at USM have seen them all. I look at them as those I am glad are gone (Louisville was one that I didn't enjoy the rivalry that much because they were not the most respectable opponents), Cincinnati was ok but too often they were also a trap game. It really is great to have long regular rivals, but new and growing ones are just as needed. I know also that should a great deal come from another conference, USM will jump it to make our program better and as a fan I would be angry if we didn't.
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Greedy nbe vs Greedy CUSA vs greedy Sunbelt teams
