I think the move had to happen. We have history with the teams there, except UConn. We've played Cincy 17x in football, Tulane 12, Tulsa 10, Houston 12, Memphis 21, Temple 11, UCF 12. Aside from Southern Miss with 38, Marshall with 14, and UAB with 11, we don't have a ton of relationships with anyone remaining. If we have to be in a conference with teams we have nothing in common with, it would have to be a promotion and not upstarts, IMO.

Besides that, it's the money and the fact that these schools are putting effort into improving their programs.

(10-18-2013 11:12 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:01 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  After things settle down, I think the majority of folks will realize that the AAC is not really any better than CUSA... and I'm talking football, basketball, women's basketball, soccer, baseball, media markets, etc.

Tulane isn't 5-2 (3-0 conference) if they're in the AAC.

Tulane probably isn't 3-0 in conference if they had to play ECU and UNT on the road.

(10-18-2013 11:36 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:12 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:01 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  After things settle down, I think the majority of folks will realize that the AAC is not really any better than CUSA... and I'm talking football, basketball, women's basketball, soccer, baseball, media markets, etc.

Tulane isn't 5-2 (3-0 conference) if they're in the AAC.

Tulane probably isn't 3-0 in conference if they had to play ECU and UNT on the road.

Not sure. Tulane doesn't see a real drop-off between road and home performance. They looked excellent against ULM (who crushed them the previous year), and dispatched La Tech on national TV.

(10-18-2013 11:36 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:12 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:01 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  After things settle down, I think the majority of folks will realize that the AAC is not really any better than CUSA... and I'm talking football, basketball, women's basketball, soccer, baseball, media markets, etc.

Tulane isn't 5-2 (3-0 conference) if they're in the AAC.

Tulane probably isn't 3-0 in conference if they had to play ECU and UNT on the road.

Maybe not. But if we win the west we will have earned it because we assuredly will have played a tougher C-USA schedule than UNT or Rice.

(10-18-2013 11:31 PM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 08:27 PM)CajunFanatico Wrote:  East Carolina wanting to play football in the AAC?

I count 5 bowl tie-ins with C-USA, 3 with the AAC, and one split between the two, the Liberty Bowl.

What's up with that?

I think CUSA has more than 5 bowls, and the AAC definitely has more than 3. Also, not sure where you're getting your LB info. It could be a CUSA/AAC match up this year IF the SEC stars align correctly, but beyond that it's a back up for the AAC at best (not likely to be utilized).

Announced AAC bowls (so far):

Military vs. ACCx6
Birmingham vs. SECx6
BBOB vs. ACCx3, CUSAx3
Miami vs. TBDx6 (May or may not be in the G5 pool rotation)
AF vs. Big 12x2, Army
Hawaii vs. MWCx3
Bahamas vs. MACx2
Boca Raton vs. MACx2, CUSAx2

That's six primary (guaranteed) slots per year so far if my math is correct.

My math could definitely be faulty as I just skimmed the list. Lemme list 'em out.

C-USA
1)R+L Carriers New Orleans
C-USA vs. Sun Belt

2)Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg
C-USA vs. American

3)Sheraton Hawaii
C-USA vs. MWC

4)Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
C-USA vs. ACC

5)Heart of Dallas
Big Ten vs. C-USA

6)AutoZone Liberty
C-USA/American vs. SEC

AAC
1)Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg
C-USA vs. American

2)New Era Pinstripe
American vs. Big 12

3)Belk
American vs. ACC

4)Russell Athletic
ACC vs. American

5)AutoZone Liberty
C-USA/American vs. SEC

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...l-schedule

I like C-USA. As far as football goes, yes it would be nice to be in a conference with Houston. But I think being in a conference with Rice, UTEP, and UTSA is a better situation for North Texas. I think this configuration of Texas programs will be very beneficial to C-USA, and I think Houston and SMU will struggle to generate fan interest by playing so many teams from the east. In their last home game SMU hosted Rutgers and their was nobody there. They reported over 19,000, but there was no where near that many people. Last week Houston hosted Memphis and had a crowd of 20,000, and Memphis is the closest public university to Houston in the AAC. I just don't see Tulane, SMU, or Tulsa traveling as well as Memphis.

I just think the AAC looks a lot like the old C-USA. To me the new C-USA doesn't look like too different from their situation, and in some respects looks better. Unlike many programs in the AAC most of our teams are happy to be here.

If C-USA can generate more interest and better T.V. numbers than the AAC, the media dollars will probably end up being about the same. I think the new C-USA can create more interest.

(10-18-2013 09:30 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 09:19 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 09:09 PM)CajunFanatico Wrote:  Thanks guys. I was having trouble figuring out exactly the logic for the move.

Somewhat off-topic for you Tulane fans, but if things fall into place, how would you guys feel about a GreenWave/Cajun matchup in the Superdome for the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl?

The Bowl Committee wants this matchup like a fat kid wants cake. I wouldn't be shocked if they did everything in their power to secure Tulane provided that they DON'T win the conference.

I would personally like a 2nd shot at an ACC team in the Military Bowl as Tulane has a few ACC teams on the OOC slate coming up (GT, Duke, then Wake later on). It would also make things EASY for me in terms of attending the bowl game.

There would be 65,000+ in the dome. If we both have over 9 wins it would be an awesome atmosphere and game. The quarter would be like a saints playoff atmosphere maybe bigger.

That would be awesome. I think Tulane could bring 20-30k from random places to the bowl if that did happen.

(10-18-2013 11:38 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:36 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:12 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:01 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  After things settle down, I think the majority of folks will realize that the AAC is not really any better than CUSA... and I'm talking football, basketball, women's basketball, soccer, baseball, media markets, etc.

Tulane isn't 5-2 (3-0 conference) if they're in the AAC.

Tulane probably isn't 3-0 in conference if they had to play ECU and UNT on the road.

Not sure. Tulane doesn't see a real drop-off between road and home performance. They looked excellent against ULM (who crushed them the previous year), and dispatched La Tech on national TV.

Maybe not, but UNT plays a whole lot better at home.

If Tulane wins 9 games, we will (and we should) work like hell to get one of the C-USA bowl spots against an AQ team. If we win 7 or 8, we'll be in NOLA. We won't pull a La Tech because we'll negotiate within the confines of C-USA's bowls.
ULL is likely going to win 10, and they should work to get a better bowl spot too.
I know what the NOLA sports foundation wants and has wanted, and I know that board is full of Tulane alums, and they love the Cajuns (and they should - the Cajuns delivered for them) . If we win 7 or 8, we will have earned the NOLA bowl.

(10-18-2013 11:54 PM)CajunFanatico Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:31 PM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 08:27 PM)CajunFanatico Wrote:  East Carolina wanting to play football in the AAC?

I count 5 bowl tie-ins with C-USA, 3 with the AAC, and one split between the two, the Liberty Bowl.

What's up with that?

I think CUSA has more than 5 bowls, and the AAC definitely has more than 3. Also, not sure where you're getting your LB info. It could be a CUSA/AAC match up this year IF the SEC stars align correctly, but beyond that it's a back up for the AAC at best (not likely to be utilized).

Announced AAC bowls (so far):

Military vs. ACCx6
Birmingham vs. SECx6
BBOB vs. ACCx3, CUSAx3
Miami vs. TBDx6 (May or may not be in the G5 pool rotation)
AF vs. Big 12x2, Army
Hawaii vs. MWCx3
Bahamas vs. MACx2
Boca Raton vs. MACx2, CUSAx2

That's six primary (guaranteed) slots per year so far if my math is correct.

My math could definitely be faulty as I just skimmed the list. Lemme list 'em out.

C-USA
1)R+L Carriers New Orleans
C-USA vs. Sun Belt

2)Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg
C-USA vs. American

3)Sheraton Hawaii
C-USA vs. MWC

4)Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
C-USA vs. ACC

5)Heart of Dallas
Big Ten vs. C-USA

6)AutoZone Liberty
C-USA/American vs. SEC

AAC
1)Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg
C-USA vs. American

2)New Era Pinstripe
American vs. Big 12

3)Belk
American vs. ACC

4)Russell Athletic
ACC vs. American

5)AutoZone Liberty
C-USA/American vs. SEC

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...l-schedule

Okay, I see you are comparing current bowls which expire after this year. Still, the BBVA vs. SEC and more importantly the BCS bowl slot (AAC is AQ this year) are missing.

(10-19-2013 12:07 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  I just think the AAC looks a lot like the old C-USA. To me the new C-USA doesn't look like too different from their situation, and in some respects looks better. Unlike many programs in the AAC most of our teams are happy to be here.

I agree that the AAC looks a lot like the old CUSA and is a primary reason most want to move. These like minded schools (peers) have associated with each other over the years as independents and/or across multiple conferences with the same goal...to compete at the highest level. These same schools formed CUSA with that intent. I doubt many assumed it would be a final destination, merely a stop along the way as were the Metro, GMW, SWC.... Many want to knock the AAC schools for their aspirations...which may never manifest themselves. But if history is any indicator, the AAC (MWC) is the next stop in the journey. And, if the call never comes, it's still a nice place to wait with like minded schools pushing each other to better themselves. A rising tide lifts all boats...or some such.

Personally, I don't think there's going to be a huge difference between the G5 over time in football. The biggest separation will occur in basketball both in prestige and dollars. The AAC is considered a major conference (so far) by the talking heads. If you can compete at a high major level in one of the revenue sports, you take it every day of the week IMO.

(10-18-2013 11:36 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:12 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:01 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  After things settle down, I think the majority of folks will realize that the AAC is not really any better than CUSA... and I'm talking football, basketball, women's basketball, soccer, baseball, media markets, etc.

Tulane isn't 5-2 (3-0 conference) if they're in the AAC.

Tulane probably isn't 3-0 in conference if they had to play ECU and UNT on the road.

Not so sure about that, sounds like sour grapes to me.....They are playing a style of football that has proven to be very successful in CUSA over the years. The better defensive football teams tend to win the Championship and they have a solid defense that is built to play spread teams. Where they would have problems is playing against a team that can line up and run that ball between the tackles and pound Tulane's front seven. ECU's coaches saw that fact and that was our game plan going into the game but he are just not built to play offense that way. That is why we did not move the ball very well in the 1st half...In the second half we went back to what we do and moved the ball pretty well but we just could not make the plays when we needed to beat Tulane. We had our chances but Tulane made the plays when needed and ECU did not. No excuses here from me....Hopefully we get to play them again.

There are striking differences...

Football - bowl perspective... it's not just the number of games, but payouts and opponents... this year the American is still AQ, they have a BCS bowl bid guarantee and bowls with large payouts... and moving forward, the AQ's are all gone, but the American will play more Power Conferences in bowls than any other G5 conference.

Basketball... the American has a slate of programs who are regularly dancing come tournament time, while CUSA is likely a one-bid conference most years.

Then there is television... American members will make more than twice as much in television revenue than CUSA, each American member will make more money from the football playoff payouts too. Beyond money, the American will basically have all of its basketball games on National Television beginning this year, and most of its football games on National Television next year... that level of exposure sets it apart from the other G5 conferences.

We are basically back to where we started with CUSA 1.0 10 years ago. We are just trading Louisville for UCONN. It's still a step up from CUSA 3.0 where the majority of teams are either sunbelt or start ups. No offense to Charlotte, UNT, FIU, FAU, UAB, UTSA, WKU, UAB, etc... But we do not view you as our peers and when you compare budgets, facilities, and fan support were not. ECU is much closer alligned with the programs in the AAC than in CUSA 3.0

When looking at basketball it's a huge step up with the power teams of UCONN, Cinci, Memphis, and Temple. The AAC is a power basketball conference.

Also, no team has ever moved up to a power conference from CUSA.

(10-19-2013 06:57 AM)mwp1023 Wrote:  We are basically back to where we started with CUSA 1.0 10 years ago. We are just trading Louisville for UCONN. It's still a step up from CUSA 3.0 where the majority of teams are either sunbelt or start ups. No offense to Charlotte, UNT, FIU, FAU, UAB, UTSA, WKU, UAB, etc... But we do not view you as our peers and when you compare budgets, facilities, and fan support were not. ECU is much closer alligned with the programs in the AAC than in CUSA 3.0

When looking at basketball it's a huge step up with the power teams of UCONN, Cinci, Memphis, and Temple. The AAC is a power basketball conference.

Also, no team has ever moved up to a power conference from CUSA.

Louisville and Texas Christian

All that the AAC did was pick some of the Johnny come lately schools having success and hope that it carries over. But I don't think many folks want to acknowledge that it isn't very many years ago when SMU, UCF, Houston, etc were not good in football. On the other side, folks forget that a number of teams currently in CUSA have had success and quite a bit of it in the not so distant past like USM, Marshall, La Tech, etc. Even UAB and UTEP who folks love to ridicule have been in the Top 25 in the past decade.

Again, I'm talking over a longer period of time like 3-10 years, I think you will find CUSA to be just as competitive if not more so than the AAC. In basketball, there is more of an advantage just because of the couple programs at the top of the AAC with Memphis, UCONN, Tulsa, Temple, and Cincinnati. Basketball isn't very strong among most of the others. Meanwhile CUSA has several programs with history of success in the NCAA tournament like UTEP, UAB, WKU, Charlotte, ODU. Even MTSU, Marshall, USM, La Tech etc aren't anything to look down on.

Baseball will be extremely strong in CUSA. Men's soccer is very strong. Women's basketball very strong. I'm not saying CUSA will be far superior but those thinking the AAC will be far superior are having delusions of grandeur.

(10-19-2013 12:18 AM)DrBox Wrote:  If Tulane wins 9 games, we will (and we should) work like hell to get one of the C-USA bowl spots against an AQ team. If we win 7 or 8, we'll be in NOLA.

I hope (and expect) that effort to hit a brick wall if it comes at the expense of another program staying in C-USA.

Tulane to New Orleans (if not the Liberty) makes economic sense for everyone. It does not make sense for you to play the Big 10 in Dallas over Rice or UNT, or the ACC over Marshall in Washington.

Most interesting will be which program gets penalized with Hawaii now that June Jones is no longer here to raise his hand for SMU. I don't think anyone really wants the expense of that game.

(10-18-2013 11:28 PM)DrBox Wrote:  

(10-18-2013 11:20 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  I'm not talking this year. I'm talking about when the dust settles. CUSA will be as good as the AAC if not better in some respects.

Baseball, perhaps, but even that's unlikely.

That is a bold statement from a Tulane fan. Your baseball program has not exactly set C-USA on fire since Rice arrived.

(10-19-2013 07:34 AM)Blazer85 Wrote:  All that the AAC did was pick some of the Johnny come lately schools having success and hope that it carries over. But I don't think many folks want to acknowledge that it isn't very many years ago when SMU, UCF, Houston, etc were not good in football. On the other side, folks forget that a number of teams currently in CUSA have had success and quite a bit of it in the not so distant past like USM, Marshall, La Tech, etc. Even UAB and UTEP who folks love to ridicule have been in the Top 25 in the past decade.

Again, I'm talking over a longer period of time like 3-10 years, I think you will find CUSA to be just as competitive if not more so than the AAC. In basketball, there is more of an advantage just because of the couple programs at the top of the AAC with Memphis, UCONN, Tulsa, Temple, and Cincinnati. Basketball isn't very strong among most of the others. Meanwhile CUSA has several programs with history of success in the NCAA tournament like UTEP, UAB, WKU, Charlotte, ODU. Even MTSU, Marshall, USM, La Tech etc aren't anything to look down on.

Baseball will be extremely strong in CUSA. Men's soccer is very strong. Women's basketball very strong. I'm not saying CUSA will be far superior but those thinking the AAC will be far superior are having delusions of grandeur.

Is your arm getting tired? You sure are trying hard to polish that turd.

(10-19-2013 07:08 AM)PGPirate Wrote:  

(10-19-2013 06:57 AM)mwp1023 Wrote:  We are basically back to where we started with CUSA 1.0 10 years ago. We are just trading Louisville for UCONN. It's still a step up from CUSA 3.0 where the majority of teams are either sunbelt or start ups. No offense to Charlotte, UNT, FIU, FAU, UAB, UTSA, WKU, UAB, etc... But we do not view you as our peers and when you compare budgets, facilities, and fan support were not. ECU is much closer alligned with the programs in the AAC than in CUSA 3.0

When looking at basketball it's a huge step up with the power teams of UCONN, Cinci, Memphis, and Temple. The AAC is a power basketball conference.

Also, no team has ever moved up to a power conference from CUSA.

Louisville and Texas Christian

Incorrect. TCU went to the MWC first, then the Big East, then the Big XII.

UL went to the Big East - which was the #6 conference and weakest BCS league.