(04-18-2014 09:12 AM)WIowl Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 07:36 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  And just for the record, here are the current NATIONAL UNIVERSITY academic rankings according to U S News & World Report for the 2014-2015 CUSA schools. The rankings are 2013 rankings.

Rice - #18
UAB - #152
LA Tech - #190
Charlotte - #201
ODU - N/R
USM - N/R
UNT - N/R
UTEP - N/R
UTSA - N/R
Marshall - N/R
MTSU - N/R
WKU - N/R
FIU - N/R
FAU - N/R

The "not ranked" schools are listed in no particular order.

This just confirms that Rice is on an island.

I don't think there was any question in that regard.

Though to be clear, while in some ways Rice has more in common with other smaller private schools, in some ways I have a harder time relating to the those schools when they don't ended up being academically selective. What's the point? Whereas public universities have a wide variety of purposes and missions that happen to be different than Rice's but equally important.

(04-18-2014 10:37 AM)JustAnotherAustinOwl Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 09:12 AM)WIowl Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 07:36 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  And just for the record, here are the current NATIONAL UNIVERSITY academic rankings according to U S News & World Report for the 2014-2015 CUSA schools. The rankings are 2013 rankings.

Rice - #18
UAB - #152
LA Tech - #190
Charlotte - #201
ODU - N/R
USM - N/R
UNT - N/R
UTEP - N/R
UTSA - N/R
Marshall - N/R
MTSU - N/R
WKU - N/R
FIU - N/R
FAU - N/R

The "not ranked" schools are listed in no particular order.

This just confirms that Rice is on an island.

I don't think there was any question in that regard.

Though to be clear, while in some ways Rice has more in common with other smaller private schools, in some ways I have a harder time relating to the those schools when they don't ended up being academically selective. What's the point? Whereas public universities have a wide variety of purposes and missions that happen to be different than Rice's but equally important.

True. That's why UTEP was ranked no.7 nationally in that category.

(04-18-2014 09:12 AM)WIowl Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 07:36 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  And just for the record, here are the current NATIONAL UNIVERSITY academic rankings according to U S News & World Report for the 2014-2015 CUSA schools. The rankings are 2013 rankings.

Rice - #18
UAB - #152
LA Tech - #190
Charlotte - #201
ODU - N/R
USM - N/R
UNT - N/R
UTEP - N/R
UTSA - N/R
Marshall - N/R
MTSU - N/R
WKU - N/R
FIU - N/R
FAU - N/R

The "not ranked" schools are listed in no particular order.

This just confirms that Rice is on an island.

Yes, you guys really are. Happy to have you guys in the conference, but you definitely are not a culture fit with the rest of the league.

I'm happy to see Charlotte have a ranking though. We've made a lot of strides in recent years. Hopefully we can get into the top 150 in the coming years.

(04-17-2014 04:40 PM)Volkmar Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 12:54 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 09:38 AM)mufanatehc Wrote:  True, but CUSA had academic peers for Rice when they joined (Tulane, SMU, Tulsa)

Tulane yes, SMU probably, but Tulsa not so much.

I'm curious why you disregarded Tulsa. I'm not familiar with any details about the academic programs or entrance requirements of the three schools, but I do know that Tulsa's admission rate (40.7%) is lower than SMU's (53.8%).

Rice has a long history with SMU. SMU and Tulane also have robust graduate programs, and billion dollar endowments. Dallas, New Orleans and Houston are all large southern cities. Tulane and Rice have never had a religious affiliation and are both AAU.

I would not use disregard; it is just less in common than with the others.

The story that I had heard was that when UAB was admitted to C-USA it was provisionally, we committed to get our football up to league standards and bring that sport into the conference ASAP. When that time came, the conference took a vote for our admission as a full member, and UAB was blackballed by Louisville. Animated debate ensued but the Louisville AD was not backing down.

A vote was taken, Louisville was expelled from C-USA, UAB was voted in, and then Louisville was re-invited and voted back in.

(04-18-2014 02:48 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  The story that I had heard was that when UAB was admitted to C-USA it was provisionally, we committed to get our football up to league standards and bring that sport into the conference ASAP. When that time came, the conference took a vote for our admission as a full member, and UAB was blackballed by Louisville. Animated debate ensued but the Louisville AD was not backing down.

A vote was taken, Louisville was expelled from C-USA, UAB was voted in, and then Louisville was re-invited and voted back in.

I don't know about that, but Louisville's football coach at the time has admitted that he left for Oklahoma U after the formation ofCUSA bbecause he didn't want to be in"that conference." Same dude (Howard Svnydbjdzehm) later ended up at FAU and swore that they'd never be in CUSA. He's never responded to my invitations to Thanksgiving dinner, either.

The other story I've heard is that Louisville almost got expelled from CUSA for academic reasons. That really boggles my mind, but I think it was reported by 60 minutes.

(04-18-2014 02:48 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  The story that I had heard was that when UAB was admitted to C-USA it was provisionally, we committed to get our football up to league standards and bring that sport into the conference ASAP. When that time came, the conference took a vote for our admission as a full member, and UAB was blackballed by Louisville. Animated debate ensued but the Louisville AD was not backing down.

A vote was taken, Louisville was expelled from C-USA, UAB was voted in, and then Louisville was re-invited and voted back in.

that happened and I have hated Louisville because of it. their fans make bama fans seem humble. even with all the bad blood Louisville saved UAB football this year and all is forgiven.

(04-17-2014 12:32 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:58 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:51 AM)919R Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 12:45 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 12:43 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

I bet your administration couldn't keep a straight face during that conversation.

I believe they contacted Marshall, ECU, UAB and Southern Miss about joining. I respect their efforts, but it just wasn't happening.

It was widely reported that the SBC invited Charlotte back in 2012, but we declined.

Had Charlotte been invited to CUSA just yet? Would be interesting to know if Charlotte declined SBC with no CUSA invite pending.

No, but we weren't willing to completely sell out the basketball team to join the SBC.

The administration knew CUSA would be a step down from the A10, but they also believe it can be a multi-bid conference. They did not feel the same about the SBC.

Yet the SBC had two bids in 4 years (08-2012) and C-USA only has 1 more at large bid during the last 7 years....9 vs 10

(04-18-2014 08:33 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 12:32 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:58 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:51 AM)919R Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 12:45 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  I believe they contacted Marshall, ECU, UAB and Southern Miss about joining. I respect their efforts, but it just wasn't happening.

It was widely reported that the SBC invited Charlotte back in 2012, but we declined.

Had Charlotte been invited to CUSA just yet? Would be interesting to know if Charlotte declined SBC with no CUSA invite pending.

No, but we weren't willing to completely sell out the basketball team to join the SBC.

The administration knew CUSA would be a step down from the A10, but they also believe it can be a multi-bid conference. They did not feel the same about the SBC.

Yet the SBC had two bids in 4 years (08-2012) and C-USA only has 1 more at large bid during the last 7 years....9 vs 10

Have to take into consideration the changes.

CUSA lost Memphis, but it still had several programs with a respectable history. UAB, Charlotte, UTEP, and ODU all have pretty good histories. MT looked like a program rising after the previous season. Same for USM and La Tech.

Now throw WKU into the mix and it really isn't close. There are schools here that care about basketball. I'm not sure the same can be said for the SBC. The recruiting for about half of the league looks very good this year.

(04-18-2014 08:58 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-18-2014 08:33 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 12:32 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:58 AM)RedParallax Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:51 AM)919R Wrote:  It was widely reported that the SBC invited Charlotte back in 2012, but we declined.

Had Charlotte been invited to CUSA just yet? Would be interesting to know if Charlotte declined SBC with no CUSA invite pending.

No, but we weren't willing to completely sell out the basketball team to join the SBC.

The administration knew CUSA would be a step down from the A10, but they also believe it can be a multi-bid conference. They did not feel the same about the SBC.

Yet the SBC had two bids in 4 years (08-2012) and C-USA only has 1 more at large bid during the last 7 years....9 vs 10

Have to take into consideration the changes.

CUSA lost Memphis, but it still had several programs with a respectable history. UAB, Charlotte, UTEP, and ODU all have pretty good histories. MT looked like a program rising after the previous season. Same for USM and La Tech.

Now throw WKU into the mix and it really isn't close. There are schools here that care about basketball. I'm not sure the same can be said for the SBC. The recruiting for about half of the league looks very good this year.

I expect to see at least two bids from C-USA every year and if we can get the bottom improve and I don't mean major...just a few more OOC wins. Then I think C-USA will be right up with the A-10 in a couple years. Or past them if they have any kind of a downturn.

I was just pointing out that in 2012 the SBC was a better conference than most people think/thought and that was during a time Western was sucking because of a bad hire.

At that time it wouldn't have took much to made the SBC a very strong conference in basketball and football....and crippled C-USA if the SBC had held together and the 4 or 5 teams offered had accepted.

CUSA offered Temple an invite. This was during the period where CUSA and the MWC were talking about a merger. A few days later the Big East gave them an invite and the rest is history.

(04-19-2014 06:45 AM)mwp1023 Wrote:  CUSA offered Temple an invite. This was during the period where CUSA and the MWC were talking about a merger. A few days later the Big East gave them an invite and the rest is history.

I'm pretty sure that's right. It may not have been a formal invite but it was reported that Temple reps were at a C-USA meeting and most of us here were expecting Temple to join. BE squashed that but the BE still had some big guns then. Plus Temple fits better up there. Villanova had to swallow hard to accept Temple and then it wasn't too long before the bb schools threw up in their mouths and left.

Tulsa turned down a couple of conference invitations, including C-USA. Back in the late 80s or early 90s the Missouri Valley Conference, where Tulsa played at the time, decided to drop their football affiliation from D-1A to D-1AA. Tulsa wanted to stay D-1A so they went independent in football while keeping other sports in the MVC.

Several years later they realized they really needed to be in a conference for scheduling and bowl considerations so they went looking. They got invitations from the new CUSA and the more established WAC. At the time the WAC, with BYU and Utah, looked like the better option, especially since they would be included in a division with SMU, TCU, and other close schools. In hind sight joining the CUSA of the time would have been the much better option but I don't think anyone saw the split off of the MWC coming.

Fast forward to the major re-alignment. When the Big East was trying to scurry around and add schools to keep afloat they gave TU a football only invitation, similar to what they extended to ECU, and Tulsa said no because there was no place for them to place their other sports. Later when spaces opened up and Tulsa was extended an all-sports invitation they accepted.