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Grantland article on CUSA
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ruowls Offline
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Post: #61
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 03:54 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 10:34 AM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 10:11 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Also, a negative towards moving to the MWC is that it would significantly lower our standing in the college baseball world. I understand that football, and to a lesser extent, men's basketball drive realignment, but hopefully we'd think twice before making a move to a conference that would seriously inhibit our chances of being a national seed again.

Couple of thoughts on this:

* There is still some overlap between the current MWC and our previous stint in the WAC (where we obviously did OK)

* Per Warren Nolan, CUSA ranked #8 in RPI this year while the MWC ranked #11; in 2014 the MWC ranked #9; moving us from one conference to the other would close the gap further

* I do admit that travel becomes an issue for non-revenue sports as the most eastbound MWC baseball team program is New Mexico; on the flipside, a move could further facilitate recruiting in California

??? Some of you are dreaming about the prospects of Rice recruiting nationally; particularly on either Coast. Why would any California raised student-athlete choose to go to Rice over Stanford, Cal, UCLA or USC? Not only is C-USA far less attractive than the Pac-12, but the climate is worse, the politics is likely unattractive (particularly to the parents) and for all but Stanford, the cost is more.

I don't know Walt. Maybe you could enlighten me. I need insight into the folly of my youth.
06-25-2015 05:19 PM
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ruowls Offline
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Post: #62
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
In my experience, Rice hasn't put much effort into recruiting CA. They just don't care. Brown recruited CA some and Rice had 3 CA offensive starters in 1985. I have given Rice the names of some pretty good CA talent over the years and not one of them ever got a response back from Rice. I'm pitching Rice hard to CA kids in an echo chamber. Having matured, I see that the institutional patterns of recruitment have become ingrained.
06-25-2015 05:35 PM
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waltgreenberg Offline
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Post: #63
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 05:19 PM)ruowls Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 03:54 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 10:34 AM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 10:11 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Also, a negative towards moving to the MWC is that it would significantly lower our standing in the college baseball world. I understand that football, and to a lesser extent, men's basketball drive realignment, but hopefully we'd think twice before making a move to a conference that would seriously inhibit our chances of being a national seed again.

Couple of thoughts on this:

* There is still some overlap between the current MWC and our previous stint in the WAC (where we obviously did OK)

* Per Warren Nolan, CUSA ranked #8 in RPI this year while the MWC ranked #11; in 2014 the MWC ranked #9; moving us from one conference to the other would close the gap further

* I do admit that travel becomes an issue for non-revenue sports as the most eastbound MWC baseball team program is New Mexico; on the flipside, a move could further facilitate recruiting in California

??? Some of you are dreaming about the prospects of Rice recruiting nationally; particularly on either Coast. Why would any California raised student-athlete choose to go to Rice over Stanford, Cal, UCLA or USC? Not only is C-USA far less attractive than the Pac-12, but the climate is worse, the politics is likely unattractive (particularly to the parents) and for all but Stanford, the cost is more.

I don't know Walt. Maybe you could enlighten me. I need insight into the folly of my youth.

We're talking 2015; not the mid-to-late 1980s, when we were still in the SWC, and both Stanford and Cal were the laughing stock of the Pac-12. I ask you the question, RU-- why would a student-athlete from California today, with no ties to Texas, choose Rice and CUSA, over Stanford, Cal, UCLA or even USC? And in baseball, the cost of tuition issue becomes a factor vis-à-vis UCLA, in particular.
06-25-2015 05:43 PM
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RiceBull Offline
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Post: #64
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
I am a father of a current female athlete from Ca. I wouldn't think our case is unique though it may be unusual. For her, academics and div. 1 were the determining factors. She applied at all the schools, with the exception of USC, that you mentioned and did not get accepted to any. She finished with a 3.5+ gpa. in Bio Eng. Not sure why she didn't get accepted other than Bio Eng is an impacted major in Ca. She did get accepted to UCSD. She was devastated though because she wanted div 1. So we did some research into top Bio Eng. schools. You all know where Rice comes in on that list. We contacted the coach and he was able to pull some strings and got her in. She is not on an athletic scholarship. Rice however, is quite generous, at least for us, in regards to discounting tuition based on need. The cost between UCSD and Rice was nearly the same. Once we learned that it was a no brainer.
06-25-2015 06:10 PM
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ruowls Offline
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Post: #65
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 05:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 05:19 PM)ruowls Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 03:54 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 10:34 AM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 10:11 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Also, a negative towards moving to the MWC is that it would significantly lower our standing in the college baseball world. I understand that football, and to a lesser extent, men's basketball drive realignment, but hopefully we'd think twice before making a move to a conference that would seriously inhibit our chances of being a national seed again.

Couple of thoughts on this:

* There is still some overlap between the current MWC and our previous stint in the WAC (where we obviously did OK)

* Per Warren Nolan, CUSA ranked #8 in RPI this year while the MWC ranked #11; in 2014 the MWC ranked #9; moving us from one conference to the other would close the gap further

* I do admit that travel becomes an issue for non-revenue sports as the most eastbound MWC baseball team program is New Mexico; on the flipside, a move could further facilitate recruiting in California

??? Some of you are dreaming about the prospects of Rice recruiting nationally; particularly on either Coast. Why would any California raised student-athlete choose to go to Rice over Stanford, Cal, UCLA or USC? Not only is C-USA far less attractive than the Pac-12, but the climate is worse, the politics is likely unattractive (particularly to the parents) and for all but Stanford, the cost is more.

I don't know Walt. Maybe you could enlighten me. I need insight into the folly of my youth.

We're talking 2015; not the mid-to-late 1980s, when we were still in the SWC, and both Stanford and Cal were the laughing stock of the Pac-12. I ask you the question, RU-- why would a student-athlete from California today, with no ties to Texas, choose Rice and CUSA, over Stanford, Cal, UCLA or even USC? And in baseball, the cost of tuition issue becomes a factor vis-à-vis UCLA, in particular.
The cost of tuition difference is only relevant between Rice and Cal/UCLA (state schools). Cost of tuition will be similar between the private schools (Rice, USC, Stanford).

The fundamental reason to choose Rice is the personality of the school. Opportunities also aren't equivalent for everyone at every school.

CA tends to be segregated into Northern CA and Southern CA. People tend to affiliate with one region or the other. It is a graduated affinity for So Cal (USC/UCLA) or No Cal (Stanford/Cal) depending on one's personality. It also applies to professional sports. People tend to support Angles/Dodgers/Padres or Giants/A's; Sharks vs. Kings/Ducks; 49ers/Raiders vs. Chargers; Warriors/Kings vs. Lakers/Clippers. There just isn't uniformity in how Californians view these institutions. If you don't feel the environment is right at Stanford, it is not a given that USC will be held in the same regard. Therefore, looking to Texas isn't as far fetched as you might think. Central CA tends to be a swing area where some lean No CA and some lean So CA. I live in an area that is geographically in the south but officially designated Northern CA. We are conflicted. We like Cal Poly.

Long story short, don't assume that all Californians have a natural affinity for all CA schools. By the way, the weather in Central CA isn't that great.
06-25-2015 06:12 PM
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Post: #66
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 04:02 PM)WIowl Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 03:28 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  Okay, I'll give you that the MWC has slightly better basketball than CUSA right now.

Travel. A MWC move makes no sense for the student athletes or the budget. Being that Rice's priority is academics, why fly the voleyball team out to San Jose for a match and then have them return to Houston at 3am in the morning?

No, MWC is much better in basketball. Not marginally. UNLV, UNM and San Diego St average 13k, 15k, and 12k+/game. CUSA finished #16 out of 32 teams, behind the Big West and Ivy League this year.

Travel:
Conference distances, widest point:
MWC with Rice (SJSU-Rice) 1887 miles
CUSA with Rice (UTEP-ODU) 2002 miles (nearly 1400 for Rice-ODU)

So why fly the volleyball team 1400 miles to ODU and then have them return at 2am in the morning (we gain an hour returning!)?

I don't care about their attendance. What have they done in the postseason lately? And why send a volleyball team to ODU? We shouldn't. I've long been a proponent of a 16-team CUSA so that we wouldn't have to travel very often to the East. The example you use is a poor one anyway. By any standard, membership in CUSA West involves far less travel than being a member of the MWC, which is based in the Rocky Mountains and west coast.
06-25-2015 06:24 PM
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waltgreenberg Offline
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Post: #67
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 06:10 PM)RiceBull Wrote:  I am a father of a current female athlete from Ca. I wouldn't think our case is unique though it may be unusual. For her, academics and div. 1 were the determining factors. She applied at all the schools, with the exception of USC, that you mentioned and did not get accepted to any. She finished with a 3.5+ gpa. in Bio Eng. Not sure why she didn't get accepted other than Bio Eng is an impacted major in Ca. She did get accepted to UCSD. She was devastated though because she wanted div 1. So we did some research into top Bio Eng. schools. You all know where Rice comes in on that list. We contacted the coach and he was able to pull some strings and got her in. She is not on an athletic scholarship. Rice however, is quite generous, at least for us, in regards to discounting tuition based on need. The cost between UCSD and Rice was nearly the same. Once we learned that it was a no brainer.

I don't think you're unique at all. Though not applying as a student-athlete, my situation was similar. Growing up in the suburbs of NY, I had my heart set on Dartmouth, and early decisioned my app...but was put on wait list. I did get into both Brown and Princeton, but was totally turned off by the Providence campus, and thought Princeton was far too provincial and preppy for my taste. I thought I was going to be a math major (ended up switching to Physics, and double majoring in Econ, before heading off to business school), so asked the dean for elite level schools outside of the Northeast, and Rice was identified (along with Reed, Cal-Tech, and several others). I had the opportunity to visit Rice since my dad had an architectural job in the DFW area the winter of my Senior year...and, obviously, thought the campus was beautiful. (It didn't hurt that the Houston weather in January compared quite favorably to the winters in the Northeast!) Consequently, when I never got off the Dartmouth wait list, I decided to come down to Rice...but to be honest, my initial intent was to bust my butt and transfer up to Dartmouth after my Freshman year. However, I was fortunate enough to be placed in Baker one year after Baker and Hanzen went co-ed, and I fell in love with the residential college system....and the rest, as they say, was history.

I couldn't have been happier with my Rice experience, and things could not have worked out better for me...BUT, in reality, I came to Rice from the NY area because I did not get into the school(s) I had wanted. Also, keep in mind, back in the mid-1970 (I matriculated in '74), Texas was still largely democratic politically, though the conservative tide was gaining in prominence. Furthermore, the other lure for me of Rice was that they were in the SWC, and though at the time we were conference bottom-feeder, I wanted to go to a school with big time college sports, where I could see the best players in the country and experience the college football weekend (which was still very much a part of the Rice experience at the time).

Given the political environment in Texas today, coupled with the CUSA conference affiliation, I very much doubt I would have chosen Rice if I had to make the decision today. In fact, I know I wouldn't.
06-25-2015 07:42 PM
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owl95 Offline
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Post: #68
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
Walt..didn't know you were a fellow Bakerite. Cheers!
06-25-2015 07:59 PM
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ExcitedOwl18 Offline
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Post: #69
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 07:42 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 06:10 PM)RiceBull Wrote:  I am a father of a current female athlete from Ca. I wouldn't think our case is unique though it may be unusual. For her, academics and div. 1 were the determining factors. She applied at all the schools, with the exception of USC, that you mentioned and did not get accepted to any. She finished with a 3.5+ gpa. in Bio Eng. Not sure why she didn't get accepted other than Bio Eng is an impacted major in Ca. She did get accepted to UCSD. She was devastated though because she wanted div 1. So we did some research into top Bio Eng. schools. You all know where Rice comes in on that list. We contacted the coach and he was able to pull some strings and got her in. She is not on an athletic scholarship. Rice however, is quite generous, at least for us, in regards to discounting tuition based on need. The cost between UCSD and Rice was nearly the same. Once we learned that it was a no brainer.

I don't think you're unique at all. Though not applying as a student-athlete, my situation was similar. Growing up in the suburbs of NY, I had my heart set on Dartmouth, and early decisioned my app...but was put on wait list. I did get into both Brown and Princeton, but was totally turned off by the Providence campus, and thought Princeton was far too provincial and preppy for my taste. I thought I was going to be a math major (ended up switching to Physics, and double majoring in Econ, before heading off to business school), so asked the dean for elite level schools outside of the Northeast, and Rice was identified (along with Reed, Cal-Tech, and several others). I had the opportunity to visit Rice since my dad had an architectural job in the DFW area the winter of my Senior year...and, obviously, thought the campus was beautiful. (It didn't hurt that the Houston weather in January compared quite favorably to the winters in the Northeast!) Consequently, when I never got off the Dartmouth wait list, I decided to come down to Rice...but to be honest, my initial intent was to bust my butt and transfer up to Dartmouth after my Freshman year. However, I was fortunate enough to be placed in Baker one year after Baker and Hanzen went co-ed, and I fell in love with the residential college system....and the rest, as they say, was history.

I couldn't have been happier with my Rice experience, and things could not have worked out better for me...BUT, in reality, I came to Rice from the NY area because I did not get into the school(s) I had wanted. Also, keep in mind, back in the mid-1970 (I matriculated in '74), Texas was still largely democratic politically, though the conservative tide was gaining in prominence. Furthermore, the other lure for me of Rice was that they were in the SWC, and though at the time we were conference bottom-feeder, I wanted to go to a school with big time college sports, where I could see the best players in the country and experience the college football weekend (which was still very much a part of the Rice experience at the time).

Given the political environment in Texas today, coupled with the CUSA conference affiliation, I very much doubt I would have chosen Rice if I had to make the decision today. In fact, I know I wouldn't.

I totally, totally agree with you on conference affiliation part of your argument. Smart, athletic (at the high school level) kids want to go to Duke or Vanderbilt, not Rice. They can be a "Cameron Crazy" or go to Vandy and see SEC teams (Not unlike Rice circa 1974 I'd argue).

There are definitely people who don't apply to Rice because of Texas' perceived conservativeness, but I think that is a bad decision on their part (and not just because I like going to Rice). First of all, Texas' political environment has very little impact on the average student at Rice.. I would characterize West U area as "purple," with other areas of Houston being more blue (Montrose), and others being more red (Piney Point, River Oaks). Secondly, why does the political environment matter so much? One goes to college to learn and make friends. If one cannot do this just because one is living in a red state, I question their overall mindset. As someone who is very conservative, I did not make my college decisions based on the political climate of the state the school was located in... I applied to Rice, University of Washington, Dartmouth, UT, Georgia Tech, UCSD, and a few other schools. There were reliably blue states in there, some swing states, and some red states.

This is actually a topic I find very interesting... I think we've established that it is fact that many students won't apply to Rice simply because of its location. Why is it in your opinion so difficult to attract students from liberal areas to Rice, when the conservative (not at the local level, but state level) politics of the area have little effect on the college experience?
06-25-2015 08:05 PM
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Fort Bend Owl Offline
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Post: #70
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
I also think politics matters very little to potential student-athletes. Maybe it matters some to general students, but student-athletes are looking at individual programs, coaches and conference affiliations for the most part when making their choices (and the money they are receiving for those not getting a full ride).

And as one who went to UCLA, but has been in Texas for almost 30 years now, I think Walt is downplaying the appeal of Rice to Californians. California as a state right now is hurting - some of it due to the drought, and some of it due to politics and the economy. It will rebound I'm sure, but many folks are leaving California for jobs in Texas these days.

We've had plenty of athletes from California through the years although we have had trouble keeping them in some sports. Men's basketball had three starters from California last year and four of the five from the West Coast. Some kids are always going to want to travel a bit for their college experience. Invariably, some of them get homesick and return to finish their college somewhere closer to home, but I think we'll continue to get plenty more athletes from the west coast in the future, regardless of Rice's conference affiliation.
06-25-2015 08:27 PM
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waltgreenberg Offline
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Post: #71
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 07:59 PM)owl95 Wrote:  Walt..didn't know you were a fellow Bakerite. Cheers!

Absolutely! External VP and Service Award winner my Senor year. Chair of Baker college sports for 3 of my four years.
06-25-2015 10:13 PM
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OldOwl Offline
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Post: #72
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
Your forgot Women's Tennis and Women's Soccer and the future looks great in Women's Basketball.
(06-24-2015 05:27 PM)owl95 Wrote:  
(06-24-2015 04:44 PM)WIowl Wrote:  
(06-24-2015 12:46 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  C-USA (who had just lost Tulsa, Tulane, and East Carolina but added Western Kentucky, UTSA, and Old Dominion) snuck past the AAC in a photo finish for the second place football dollars distributions, behind the MWC. SMU, Tulsa, Connecticut and Tulane all were frequent mentions on Bottom 10 lists.

But thanks to CUSA enlarging to 14 teams, CUSA received less $$ per team than AAC. And significantly less $$ in TV revenue and NCAA basketball distributions.

SMU, Tulsa, and Tulane are serious drags in the AAC. I hope that continues. As for TV revenues, is that a remnant of the old Big East? As for NCAA units, I hope that Rice will soon be in a position to help earn those for the conference.

Edit: Rice being strong in football, basketball, and baseball over the next few years would certainly make a difference to CUSA. It's exciting to think that with this AD, this actually could happen.
06-25-2015 10:24 PM
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WIowl Offline
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Post: #73
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 06:24 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 04:02 PM)WIowl Wrote:  
(06-25-2015 03:28 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  Okay, I'll give you that the MWC has slightly better basketball than CUSA right now.

Travel. A MWC move makes no sense for the student athletes or the budget. Being that Rice's priority is academics, why fly the voleyball team out to San Jose for a match and then have them return to Houston at 3am in the morning?

No, MWC is much better in basketball. Not marginally. UNLV, UNM and San Diego St average 13k, 15k, and 12k+/game. CUSA finished #16 out of 32 teams, behind the Big West and Ivy League this year.

Travel:
Conference distances, widest point:
MWC with Rice (SJSU-Rice) 1887 miles
CUSA with Rice (UTEP-ODU) 2002 miles (nearly 1400 for Rice-ODU)

So why fly the volleyball team 1400 miles to ODU and then have them return at 2am in the morning (we gain an hour returning!)?

I don't care about their attendance. What have they done in the postseason lately? And why send a volleyball team to ODU? We shouldn't. I've long been a proponent of a 16-team CUSA so that we wouldn't have to travel very often to the East. The example you use is a poor one anyway. By any standard, membership in CUSA West involves far less travel than being a member of the MWC, which is based in the Rocky Mountains and west coast.

Similarly to CUSA, we would be in a MWC east division and would not travel to San Jose as often. Keep on enjoying the Rice vs. Middle Western Southern Regional Univ. battles, you're one of the few.
06-26-2015 08:25 AM
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Antarius Offline
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Post: #74
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
What would the MWC do to our game times? One of the worst aspects of CUSA recently has been the dreaded 11 AM and 2:30 AM start times that kill fan interest. I can barely sell my fellow Rice fans on a 7 PM game, let alone an 11 AM one in the heat.

If the MWC gives us a late start for the West Coast, then I'm all for it.
06-26-2015 02:02 PM
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Post: #75
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-26-2015 02:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  What would the MWC do to our game times? One of the worst aspects of CUSA recently has been the dreaded 11 AM and 2:30 AM start times that kill fan interest. I can barely sell my fellow Rice fans on a 7 PM game, let alone an 11 AM one in the heat.

If the MWC gives us a late start for the West Coast, then I'm all for it.

The Saturday games don't start earlier than 1:30pm MT, at least of the ones with assigned times so far.
source: http://www.mwcconnection.com/2015-mounta...-announced

There are also 11 Friday night games (between ESPN and CBSSports).
source: http://www.mwcconnection.com/2015-mounta...v-schedule

Looking at this lineup, it does surprise a little (though it makes sense) that there are no teams in the MWC that are east of the Mountain Time Zone. Just for those to note that there aren't natural partners in the Central Time Zone yet.
06-26-2015 03:41 PM
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Hambone10 Offline
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Post: #76
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 07:42 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Given the political environment in Texas today, coupled with the CUSA conference affiliation, I very much doubt I would have chosen Rice if I had to make the decision today. In fact, I know I wouldn't.

Can you imagine that there is someone somewhere who wouldn't have come to Rice in 1974 as you did, but WOULD in 2015? Everyone has unique reasons why they choose a place... and some (especially someone from say the conservative central valley or even SoCal) would find Stanford and the bay area to be just as 'stuffy' as you found Princeton. Also I suspect your priorities for where you live at our age are different than they were when we were 20. I doubt that many 18yr olds care much about the political climate... unless it directly affects them.

The REAL issue is that we're talking about the MWC, who doesn't win many recruiting battles against Stanford and Cal and USC and UCLA either....

but like Texas, there is a WHOLE lot of fertile recruiting land here.

More significantly for us, and I'm not going to go to the trouble of actually looking up the numbers... But like CUSA, I suspect that there isn't one top 50, (much less top 25) Academic school in the MWC and probably not one (other than Air Force) top 100.... While Stanford and Cal and USC and UCLA are probably ALL in the top 50 and most in the top 25.

So if you're from Cali but you don't get offered a p5 schollie, and your offers are Boise and Fresno and San Jose and Utah State and UNLV and while you LOVE your sport, you value the difference between a top 100 school and a top 20 one, Rice should have a shot at you. MAYBE we still lose the battle in football to Boise, and of course we can lose ANY battle for a variety of reasons... but we are almost without peer in that sector (top 50 academics and non-p5) so why should we limit ourselves geographically?

Cali has a lot of talent... and we should be able to recruit just as well against UTSA and UH and all the schools that recruit Texas as we do against Fresno and San Jose and all the schools that recruit Cali.

Look at all the Cali Jr College baseball players on HBU's squad. If HBU can get those kids to go there from Cali, Rice should have no trouble getting even better ones.
06-26-2015 03:44 PM
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Hambone10 Offline
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Post: #77
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-26-2015 02:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  What would the MWC do to our game times? One of the worst aspects of CUSA recently has been the dreaded 11 AM and 2:30 AM start times that kill fan interest. I can barely sell my fellow Rice fans on a 7 PM game, let alone an 11 AM one in the heat.

If the MWC gives us a late start for the West Coast, then I'm all for it.

generally speaking it would move us later. 11am cst is 9am on the west. Nobody starts then... the 230 would be 1230, so we still might have that slot, but we'd also have the 7pm west coast which is 9pm central which would be 'all alone'.

It's not as ideal as one with everything in CST and us getting preference, but that isn't happening anyway.
06-26-2015 03:47 PM
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Post: #78
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 06:10 PM)RiceBull Wrote:  I am a father of a current female athlete from Ca. I wouldn't think our case is unique though it may be unusual. For her, academics and div. 1 were the determining factors. She applied at all the schools, with the exception of USC, that you mentioned and did not get accepted to any. She finished with a 3.5+ gpa. in Bio Eng. Not sure why she didn't get accepted other than Bio Eng is an impacted major in Ca. She did get accepted to UCSD. She was devastated though because she wanted div 1. So we did some research into top Bio Eng. schools. You all know where Rice comes in on that list. We contacted the coach and he was able to pull some strings and got her in. She is not on an athletic scholarship. Rice however, is quite generous, at least for us, in regards to discounting tuition based on need. The cost between UCSD and Rice was nearly the same. Once we learned that it was a no brainer.

Thank you saying what I tried to say better. I wish your daughter well. She will love Rice. You also got me thinking a bit about D1 and CA.

I'll discuss football since it seems to be leading the show with regards to D1. CA has actually contracted the number of D1 slots over the past 20 years. Where are CA athletes supposed to go? CA has lost 5 D1 football schools (UOP, St. Mary's, Santa Clara, Long Beach St, Fullerton St.). Granted, 3 D2/3 have been moving up and are at FCS now(Cal Poly, Sac St., UC Davis). However, the net result is still a contraction and CA is in the top 3 of athletes given scholarships for football in the nation.

I'm sure many Californians dream of CA schools. I wanted to play D1 football. I wanted to play for Stanford. In fact, I was one famous play away from going to Stanford. Fortunately, I got to come to Rice and I can honestly say that given the choice now I would choose Rice over any CA school.

Even Rice in CUSA is still D1 and I would still come. I saw a list today of the 50 most underrated colleges in America. UH was in top 3 and LA Tech in top 15. Utah State was on the list and Tulsa was around 46. So, AAC had 2, MWC had 1 and CUSA had 1. Some do percieve value in some of the schools we are playing.

Playing Boise St. isn't an audition for the MWC. It is a defacto G5 playoff game. Rice has created a mini G5 playoff by playing UH in the Bayou Bucket (AAC) and Boise St. (MWC). You have a head to head comparison of a MWC, CUSA, and AAC contender on the field. It helps to quantify the access selection. Granted, the Sun Belt and MAC could have an exceptional team one year which could muddy the waters. But, you are getting a direct comparison between strong contenders for the access slot.
06-26-2015 03:51 PM
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Almadenmike Offline
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Post: #79
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-25-2015 05:35 PM)ruowls Wrote:  In my experience, Rice hasn't put much effort into recruiting CA. They just don't care. Brown recruited CA some and Rice had 3 CA offensive starters in 1985. I have given Rice the names of some pretty good CA talent over the years and not one of them ever got a response back from Rice. I'm pitching Rice hard to CA kids in an echo chamber. Having matured, I see that the institutional patterns of recruitment have become ingrained.

A number of years ago I called the Rice football recruiting coordinator after reading that the star, but under-sized, running back for the legendary De La Salle High School (Concord, Calif.), who also had good grades, Patrick Walsh, was not being recruited highly. I'd thought that after our success with Trevor Cobb that Walsh might be a good fit. The coach told me immediately that they didn't recruit in California and wouldn't even consider looking at him.

(He ended up going to San Jose State ... but transferring to Texas (!!) to play baseball his senior year.) Maybe he wouldn't have been interested in Rice, but it's a shame that it wasn't worth a coach's phone call to check him out.

As far as academic high-school students in the Bay Area, Rice has a good and growing reputation, especially in the medical fields. The Rice-Baylor Med program is quite a draw. Last year I interviewed eight applicants, all interested in biology/medicine-related majors. I thought seven of them were really, really good. Only one was accepted, and he chose to attend Northwestern, on the strength of its journalism program, which was his secondary interest.

Texas has a pretty scary/outlaw/reactionary reputation with Californians who have never been there. Many of the applicants I've interviewed have relatives in Houston, so it's not a deterrent to them.
(This post was last modified: 06-27-2015 03:27 AM by Almadenmike.)
06-27-2015 03:26 AM
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Hambone10 Offline
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Post: #80
RE: Grantland article on CUSA
(06-27-2015 03:26 AM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Texas has a pretty scary/outlaw/reactionary reputation with Californians who have never been there.

True, until you remind them that like California, Texas is far more than Houston... and that the Mayor of Houston is an openly gay Rice graduate.

It's funny that Texans often paint California as being 'one way' and Californians do the same with Texans... but when you ask a Californian about California, they all note that there are significant parts of the state that are 'different' from the meme. Same with Texas.

Houston is far too international a city to be 'one way'. Of course, oil and gas tend to dominate the conversations and the reasons people are there, but there is far more to politics than that.
06-29-2015 10:42 AM
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