Football
Went to 3 straight bowl games
Won 3 straight bowl games
Had a bowl that had more than 50,000 people

Basketball
Won the Sunbelt Tournament
Went to the Big Dance

Baseball
Ranked #1
Hosted a regional (beat Mississippi State)
Hosted a super regional

Softball
Hosted a regional
Hosted a Super Regional
Made to the Woman's College World Series

No brainer!!! Basketball holds more than 13,000 people, football after renovation could hold up to 40,000, plus building brand new athletic performance center, we have an indoor practice facility, and renovating our baseball field.

There has always been talk about having a G5 level Southwest conference and with Louisiana you can have a division with that feel.

UT El Paso
UT San Antonio
North Texas
Rice
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana
Southern Miss

That would be a great division for CUSA from a rivalry perspective. Closer games for fans to travel to.

CUSA right now is looking at having no representative in Alabama or Georgia. If it had to go into one of those states, my vote would be for Georgia since it would be a larger state. That would mean that either MTSU or WKU would have to head West. Both Georgia St and Georgia Southern are very new programs also.

(11-30-2014 04:24 PM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  Bad poll without the #1 candidate included as an option.

Huge hole in CUSA map without GA and GaSt has been a disaster.

Also need to add JMU and TX St. as an option.

From what BB has said in the last year. CUSA would not add another startup program....You can strike jmu and liberty. Texas State would be interesting. Geo Southern fits into the CUSA map nice; however it is a terrible location to access and for travel. If we pluck from the SBC I think they will finally add Liberty. IMO If UAB is not replaced this spring the conference may just stand at 13.

All speculation at this point.

(11-30-2014 04:39 PM)garddawg LTU Wrote:  I want Georgia Southern because they would bring some strength to the conference. They have a competitive reputation among all schools and a history of supporting their program which shows up on camera. If we want more attention paid to our Conference then we need the most competitive programs out there. The networks will reward us if their cameras show excited fans in a great atmosphere.

Georgia State here in Atlanta is an illusion. Yes they are in a huge market but NO ONE let me repeat NO ONE pays attention to them. If we keep going after just the televisions and not the talent we will end up looking like the AAC with big markets but no interest.

Bingo. In the new playoff format, conferences MUST perform on the football field. We saw this year how much more respect the MWC received which hurt CUSA had Marshall won out. Yes, it was Marshall's lack of a P5 that hurt, but a better conference performance may have been enough if they were undefeated.

No doubt Ga Southern is quickly building respect with the Florida win and winning the SBC in our inaugural season.

(11-30-2014 04:43 PM)Bigtom12 Wrote:  Football
Went to 3 straight bowl games
Won 3 straight bowl games
Had a bowl that had more than 50,000 people

Basketball
Won the Sunbelt Tournament
Went to the Big Dance

Baseball
Ranked #1
Hosted a regional (beat Mississippi State)
Hosted a super regional

Softball
Hosted a regional
Hosted a Super Regional
Made to the Woman's College World Series

No brainer!!! Basketball holds more than 13,000 people, football after renovation could hold up to 40,000, plus building brand new athletic performance center, we have an indoor practice facility, and renovating our baseball field.

You can also add that Louisiana is a long time FBS school unlike the SBC schools in Alabama and Georgia.

ULL leaving the Belt would help free up room in that conference for Missouri State, especially if they cut NMSU and Idaho loose as rumored. They still have ULM for some representation in the state.

(11-30-2014 04:34 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  I think it needs to be a team that will fit in the western division since Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, WKU, MTSU, FIU, and FAU makes a clean east division. Arkansas State or Louisiana Lafayette are both good choices though my preference would be the Cajuns. They have had some great crowds at the New Orleans Bowl and they also have better hoops tradition.

I would also take a look at Missouri State if they are interested. Great hoops program, Springfield is a nice sized town, loads of potential there.

Baseball is very good as well. Short of adding an Ohio school from the MAC, my list for the Sun Belt goes..

Louisiana Lafayette
South Alabama
Arkansas State

Well, that didn't take long. You guys didn't even let the dead body get cold before moving on.

This poll will have no scientific value. All the authors did was open the flood gates for the fans of every Sunbelt and FCS team to come vote and state their opinion. The only votes that should count are those from current CUSA members, not everyone else's.

I'd like to see Wichita St. for all sports but FB and Ga Southern for all sports with UAB retained as member.

The most important thing is to keep UAB in the fold for basketball.

If they left, and UTEP moved to the MWC, CUSA hoops would be on life support. For football I would go with GaSo or Ark St. Otherwise there is too much separation geographically from the east and the west. We need a bridge to join us, and that needs to be in GA or Alabama/Arkansas. If the conference doesn't care about that, then personally I would prefer GaSo or App St as they are schools within a travel distance to Marshall, Charlotte and ODU and schools our fan bases are familiar with. I also think those two have a higher ceiling than some already in CUSA. Heck, GaSo just won the Belt in their transition year, and App St became bowl eligible too.

For hoops the best thing to do if UAB and/or UTEP left is only add someone if they seriously could make us better. That means UMass, Witchita State, or maybe College of Charleston.

(11-30-2014 04:39 PM)garddawg LTU Wrote:  I want Georgia Southern because they would bring some strength to the conference. They have a competitive reputation among all schools and a history of supporting their program which shows up on camera. If we want more attention paid to our Conference then we need the most competitive programs out there. The networks will reward us if their cameras show excited fans in a great atmosphere.

Georgia State here in Atlanta is an illusion. Yes they are in a huge market but NO ONE let me repeat NO ONE pays attention to them. If we keep going after just the televisions and not the talent we will end up looking like the AAC with big markets but no interest.

Dont worry. We're throwing our hat in the ring.

#FreeUAB

For conference balance I would strongly look eastward. Here are some schools to at least enter into the conversation.

Georgia Southern - Football power for decades, would immediately be a contender.. huge student body over 20,000 and growing in the 9th most populous state. Negative it's a smaller market, and Statesboro is fairly isolated, and they just joined the Sun Belt so they may not be able to jump.

Richmond - Small (about 3,5000) elite private school, big city good TV market, good football and basketball.. ODU might object.

Coastal Carolina - Currently FCS/1AA power outside of Myrtle Beach, around 10,000 students and growing aggressively. Very good in most sports especially Football and Baseball. Negative located in a smallish state where South Carolina and Clemson get all of the media coverage.

Ohio - Very stable program, would add stability credibility, large school at 23,000 students don't know if they would leave the MAC.

Georgia Southern

(11-30-2014 05:14 PM)Herd-in-ATL Wrote:  For conference balance I would strongly look eastward. Here are some schools to at least enter into the conversation.

Georgia Southern - Football power for decades, would immediately be a contender.. huge student body over 20,000 and growing in the 9th most populous state. Negative it's a smaller market, and Statesboro is fairly isolated, and they just joined the Sun Belt so they may not be able to jump.

Richmond - Small (about 3,5000) elite private school, big city good TV market, good football and basketball.. ODU might object.

Coastal Carolina - Currently FCS/1AA power outside of Myrtle Beach, around 10,000 students and growing aggressively. Very good in most sports especially Football and Baseball. Negative located in a smallish state where South Carolina and Clemson get all of the media coverage.

Ohio - Very stable program, would add stability credibility, large school at 23,000 students don't know if they would leave the MAC.

Didn't Ohio get talked to the last time CUSA expanded?

Coastal Carolina is a interesting choice.

Not sure how Richmond would play.

BUT, only Ohio has D1 football. I am not sure if CUSA is ready take another FCS come up.

I'm curious as to how UAB fans feel about this.. any chance they would consider switching loyalties to the tide?

NONE OF THOSE!

Ohio U.

Georgia Southern or Coastal Carolina. GSU has made a name for themselves this year and has an upside. CC is doing great in FCS football this year, and their baseball team has been good for years. Plus I have a "niece" going there and would love to take a road trip to Myrtle Beach.

(11-30-2014 05:36 PM)MU ATO Wrote:  NONE OF THOSE!

Ohio U.

I think they would win easy if we thought we could get them. I don't think anyone thinks we can get them.

I'm flattered our name has been tossed out and I'm all for it, but I think there are a few more things we need to be able to do first before we leave the SBC for greener pastures where ever they may be.

Bucketlist:
- Break our current attendance record
- Have a sellout crowd three or more times
- Expand our football stadium
- Win a couple bowl games
- Expand our media presence in Savannah and Atlanta
- Upgrade our basketball facilities
- Build up our basketball program

I believe all this will happen within the next 3-7 years, but still too far off for the here and now.

(11-30-2014 05:36 PM)MU ATO Wrote:  NONE OF THOSE!

Ohio U.

You know Ohio is NEVER leaving the MAC, but they'd be my first choice if they would. NIU is the most likely we could lure out of the MAC but they're just too far away.