RE: C-USA at 13 can't endure.
I think its worth taking a look at the basketball budgets in the AAC, CUSA and MAC for comparison sake. Note the huge basketball budgets at Memphis, UConn, SMU and Cincinnati.
The median basketball budget in the MAC is Kent State at 1.86 mil. The median budget in CUSA is Middle Tennessee at 2.16 mil. So its a difference of 300k, which is not to much. The median AAC budget is Temple at 4.13 million, 2 million more than CUSA.
The idea of Ohio moving to CUSA was to get it among a group of schools that had higher budgets. Ohio is #1 in MAC basketball budget and equal in budget to UMass of the A10. If Ohio joined CUSA they would walk in as the #2 basketball budget but in the AAC they would only rank #8.
The questions for Ohio is does CUSA make enough difference and/or will the AAC be too hard? Do you go for the CUSA invite or do you hold out for the AAC?
If you are talking about getting into the AAC post raid after Memphis and UConn have departed then walking in Ohio would rank #6 in budget, closer to the median if not the median.
So I believe then the answer for Ohio is to stay in the MAC and wait for the AAC. Get the basketball budget up over 4 million and the basketball practice gym built. Put the production equipment in place as required for the MAC's TV deal. Get the naming rights for the basketball arena and the new scoreboard done. If Akron or NIU want to join CUSA I get that since they'll never have a sniff at the AAC but for a legit AAC contender there is no point in making a move.
American Athletic Conference
01.) University of Memphis - $8,457,959
02.) University of Connecticut - $7,293,895
03.) Southern Methodist University - $6,582,998
04.) University of Cincinnati - $6,172,290
05.) University of South Florida - $4,399,051
06.) Temple University - $4,125,712
07.) University of Tulsa - $3,920,631
08.) Tulane University - $2,849,058
09.) University of Central Florida - $2,843,388
10.) University of Houston - $2,598,898
11.) East Carolina University - $2,465,163
Conference USA
01.) The University of Texas at El Paso - $3,446,830
02.) Rice University - $3,110,636
03.) University of Alabama at Birmingham - $2,946,415
04.) Western Kentucky University - $2,668,950
05.) Old Dominion University - $2,529,553
06.) Marshall University - $2,373,586
07.) Middle Tennessee State University - $2,155,002
08.) University of North Texas - $2,016,950
09.) University of Southern Mississippi - $2,002,033
10.) Florida International University - $1,776,629
11.) Louisiana Tech University - $1,744,438
12.) The University of Texas at San Antonio - $1,642,525
13.) Florida Atlantic University - $1,625,290
Mid-American Conference
01.) University of Massachusetts Amherst - $3,266,120
02.) Ohio University - $3,222,448
03.) University at Buffalo - $2,142,779
04.) University of Akron - $2,051,314
05.) Miami University-Oxford - $1,900,435
06.) Western Michigan University - $1,867,684
07.) Kent State University - $1,855,599
08.) University of Toledo - $1,847,789
09.) Central Michigan University - $1,666,104
10.) Eastern Michigan University - $1,608,150
11.) Ball State University - $1,561,611
12.) Bowling Green State University - $1,460,613
13.) Northern Illinois University - $1,447,289
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