(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now...

Nah, doesn't work like that, trust me.

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

(08-14-2013 02:02 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

Win a game in the last 18 months and then you can start talking. (Just wanted to join in on some smack talk)

(08-14-2013 02:06 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:02 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

Win a game in the last 18 months and then you can start talking. (Just wanted to join in on some smack talk)

I didn't start this.

(08-14-2013 02:09 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:06 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:02 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

Win a game in the last 18 months and then you can start talking. (Just wanted to join in on some smack talk)

I didn't start this.

I know but hell we are still a couple of weeks for football and I'm just ready to go.

Believe me, I am too. That whole 18 months thing.....

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

It is kind of hard to grow a fanbase with Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa just a few hours away. Most of our fanbase chooses to be "walmart SEC fans" over where they went to school or where they live. It is something we deal with on a daily basis. ECU, yes you compete with North Carolina and so on but we can both agree that is nowhere near the level of Alabama, LSU, and the SEC. It is a whole different world down here with that. Despite all those setbacks including our lack of market(which people love to throw in our face) or our lack of academics(that USM degree didnt seem to phase our governor, Chuck Schiana a mulit millionaire businessman or several military commanders including Jeff Hammond and Walter Yates). We simply win, we win football games. One season will never define who we are whether it is 12-2 or 0-12. I would rather have the respect of the college football world then sit here and be lectured by teams we have dominated over the years about what is wrong with our program and what it takes to get into a conference we were already in for 15 years. All these fans of schools that have left and go over to the AAC and talk about how they are so glad to have shed the excess baggage that was holding them back, just remember one thing, we are proven winners on the field and all the money or markets in the world will not change that. That is all our fans care about, so you can have your AAC(which is the exact same conference we were in last year plus Temple, Cinci, and Uconn, your not fooling anybody) and you can have your markets and all that other stuff, I will take winning all day everyday. Rant over.

(08-14-2013 02:11 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:09 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:06 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:02 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

Win a game in the last 18 months and then you can start talking. (Just wanted to join in on some smack talk)

I didn't start this.

I know but hell we are still a couple of weeks for football and I'm just ready to go.

Your mama wears combat boots and pulls for Tulane.

(08-14-2013 12:09 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 10:58 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  So let me get this straight, when USM was winning with the teams that are now in the AAC, that wasn't as big a deal as it was for the teams winning after those teams left. But now that ECU is going to the AAC, those teams in the AAC are significantly stronger than anything C-USA has to offer?

My comment was directed to the Marshall fan who has said USM was the best program in CUSA. In the only CUSA HE has known, ECU has been the better program.

I certainly think the first version of CUSA around the early 2000's was and will always be the golden years of that conference, but those first years USM was winning there wasn't much to CUSA. Really there were only 6 teams in CUSA one year USM won a championship for instance, and it was a different conference for all intensive purposes. No doubt though this most recent version of CUSA you are in right now with Marshall has been ours by comparison.

(08-14-2013 11:17 AM)oldtiger Wrote:  I think that it's pretty obvious that until Tulsa joined, ECU and USM ruled CUSA. That dominance even preceded the conference as they also dominated the Liberty Bowl Alliance, which was the foundation for this all-sports conference. Arguing about which one was more dominant is like comparing Patton to Sherman, they both have been highly successful.

The truth is the Liberty Bowl Alliance in which we won both years of it's existance was a hell of a lot closer to CUSA 1.0 especially in early years of it than CUSA 1.0 is to CUSA 2.0 from 2005-2012. CUSA pre 2005 was a completely different conference, with a completely different format to choose a champ. People can talk about championships without the distinctions and all that but it was a different animal from 2005-

What the hell are "intensive purposes"?
Did you mean "intents and purposes"?
Maybe you meant "attentive porpoises"?

(08-14-2013 02:02 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

Your fan was wondering out loud about why you weren't in another conference. That's the reason why. If anything when you have won as much as you have and still are getting outdrawn by some FCS schools and have the lowest budget in CUSA that's even more of a major red flag and what was scaring conferences off. It's shows a very low ceiling.

(08-14-2013 02:49 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:02 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

Beat us more than 28% of the time in football, then you can start talking.

Finally beat us in basketball (11 straight wins for USM), then you can start talking.

Your fan was wondering out loud about why you weren't in another conference. That's the reason why. If anything when you have won as much as you have and still are getting outdrawn by some FCS schools and have the lowest budget in CUSA that's even more of a major red flag and what was scaring conferences off. It's shows a very low ceiling.

I guess you couldn't detect the sarcasm in any of what I said, I thought the moving to Nola or Jackson would have given it away.

You keep talking about a low ceiling for USM, you have some hate for us that's for sure.

But remember Jonesy.. ECU would still be in the cellar if USM wouldn't had went to bat for them.

(08-14-2013 02:53 PM)gdunn Wrote:  You keep talking about a low ceiling for USM, you have some hate for us that's for sure.

What would you call it?

The guy said you had the 33rd all time best winning percentage. Obviously you’ve won a lot over the years but you don’t have much in the way of foundational things to show for it which has to scare conferences off. UTSA hasn't even played a full D1a schedule and are drawing more than you ever have. Starting from ground zero with rookie AD's and Coaches and everyone that had anything ever to do with all that past success no longer there doesn't help either.

(08-14-2013 03:01 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:53 PM)gdunn Wrote:  You keep talking about a low ceiling for USM, you have some hate for us that's for sure.

What would you call it?

The guy said you had the 33rd all time best winning percentage. Obviously you’ve won a lot over the years but you don’t have much in the way of foundational things to show for it which has to scare conferences off. UTSA hasn't even played a full D1a schedule and are drawing more than you ever have.

Yup. Soon they'll pass you too.

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

You realize that approximately 1/2 of the difference in the USM budget and the ecu budget is the difference in athletic fees charged to the students don't you?

Billy, look at a map, try UNC, NCSU, Duke, Wake, VT, South Carolina.

(08-14-2013 03:03 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 03:01 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:53 PM)gdunn Wrote:  You keep talking about a low ceiling for USM, you have some hate for us that's for sure.

What would you call it?

The guy said you had the 33rd all time best winning percentage. Obviously you’ve won a lot over the years but you don’t have much in the way of foundational things to show for it which has to scare conferences off. UTSA hasn't even played a full D1a schedule and are drawing more than you ever have.

Yup. Soon they'll pass you too.

We have top 40 to 45 support so I'd say more power to them if they did. They aren't App State or some of these other schools that outdraw you.

It doesn't matter though because there is no more upward mobility to better conferences than we are in beyond maybe UConn or Cincy and likely not for a decade or more.

(08-14-2013 02:20 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:57 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 01:49 PM)Billy Free Wrote:  Best part of this if your a Southern Miss fan is that we have the most wins in C-USA history and are 33rd all time in win percentage but with how college athletics are today we could have had the least amount of wins in C-USA, been 145th all time winning percentage but been in a big city and we would have been in another conference by now. It was all for not, fans don't care about wins anymore, they don't come to games to see their favorite team win, they come for the markets and the academic like minded institutions. That is what college athletics is all about. We spent all this time winning games when we should have been moving our university to Jackson or New Orleans.

Or you could actually grow your fanbase and budget.

It is kind of hard to grow a fanbase with Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa just a few hours away. Most of our fanbase chooses to be "walmart SEC fans" over where they went to school or where they live. It is something we deal with on a daily basis. ECU, yes you compete with North Carolina and so on but we can both agree that is nowhere near the level of Alabama, LSU, and the SEC. It is a whole different world down here with that. Despite all those setbacks including our lack of market(which people love to throw in our face) or our lack of academics(that USM degree didnt seem to phase our governor, Chuck Schiana a mulit millionaire businessman or several military commanders including Jeff Hammond and Walter Yates). We simply win, we win football games. One season will never define who we are whether it is 12-2 or 0-12. I would rather have the respect of the college football world then sit here and be lectured by teams we have dominated over the years about what is wrong with our program and what it takes to get into a conference we were already in for 15 years. All these fans of schools that have left and go over to the AAC and talk about how they are so glad to have shed the excess baggage that was holding them back, just remember one thing, we are proven winners on the field and all the money or markets in the world will not change that. That is all our fans care about, so you can have your AAC(which is the exact same conference we were in last year plus Temple, Cinci, and Uconn, your not fooling anybody) and you can have your markets and all that other stuff, I will take winning all day everyday. Rant over.

Ummm.....SOUTHERN MISS IS the baggage that, more often than not, held ecu back.

(08-14-2013 03:01 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(08-14-2013 02:53 PM)gdunn Wrote:  You keep talking about a low ceiling for USM, you have some hate for us that's for sure.

What would you call it?

The guy said you had the 33rd all time best winning percentage. Obviously you’ve won a lot over the years but you don’t have much in the way of foundational things to show for it which has to scare conferences off. UTSA hasn't even played a full D1a schedule and are drawing more than you ever have. Starting from ground zero with rookie AD's and Coaches and everyone that had anything ever to do with all that past success no longer there doesn't help either.

Let's see..."accomplishing more with less" sounds about right. How about "best bang for the buck". My personal favorite, though, is "let 'em talk; we own their ass."