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Quote:Should Marshall leave Conference USA and join the American Athletic Conference if the opportunity arises?

My first reaction is an unequivocal yes.

Quote:The AAC and Mountain West are clearly at the top of the Group of Five conferences pecking order. To be honest, those two leagues actually appear to be pulling away from C-USA, the Mid-American Conference and the Sun Belt.

First, however, an opening has to be created.

Well, guess what?

That could happen in the next year because the topic of expansion has been raised again recently in the Big 12 by none other than Oklahoma's president, David Boren. He is an out-spoken advocate of increasing the league's membership from 10 to 12, so the Big 12 can play a conference championship game.

Quote:And everybody lives happily ever after.

Except, that is, for the AAC, which would have to fill Cincinnati's vacancy.

That's where Marshall joins the conversation.

Although other advocates are promoting UMass or Army for the opening, Marshall seems to be a better option given its recent football success.

But would it be the right move for Marshall?

At second guess, I'm not so sure.

I question the financial circumstances. And not just the seven-figure exit and entrance fees involved in changing leagues. I also doubt if Marshall can afford the day-to-day finances of competing in the AAC.

What good is being a Hyundai in a Cadillac league?

Besides the money, there is also the sticking point of taking academic non-qualifiers. Taking props has been important to Marshall's success, but the AAC doesn't allow it.

But, perhaps, the biggest question is: Could MU compete in the AAC?

The gut-reaction is yes. But let's not be fooled by MU's last two records. Sure, the Herd posted a 10-4 record in 2013 with a 7-1 conference mark. Then, it followed that up with a 13-1 overall record and a 7-1 C-USA record.

But, remember, that was without playing former C-USA members UCF, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa, who left to join the AAC.

So, let's look at how well Marshall competed against those seven when they were still in C-USA.

In eight years, Marshall posted only two winning records a pair of 7-6 finishes in 2009 and 2011.

The Herd was 40-57 overall and 29-34 in league play.

Its official!! Marshall has completely taken over for ECU in the "I don't want to be here Department"!!!

Wait, Rice doesn't want to be here either. Neither does LaTech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UAB (they really didn't want to be here, and won't in football for a couple of years), and , well almost everyone else (I guess Charlotte and ODU still want to be here, as they just got here. Perhaps the Florida schools as well?)

(07-01-2015 03:05 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wait, Rice doesn't want to be here either. Neither does LaTech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UAB (they really didn't want to be here, and won't in football for a couple of years), and , well almost everyone else (I guess Charlotte and ODU still want to be here, as they just got here. Perhaps the Florida schools as well?)

Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.

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Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.
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AAC is next to nowhere, but I'd rather be there than here.

(07-01-2015 03:10 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  

(07-01-2015 03:05 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wait, Rice doesn't want to be here either. Neither does LaTech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UAB (they really didn't want to be here, and won't in football for a couple of years), and , well almost everyone else (I guess Charlotte and ODU still want to be here, as they just got here. Perhaps the Florida schools as well?)

Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.

Didn't Chuck write this article before? It seems familiar. Either way he's still a dick

Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.
[/quote]

AAC is next to nowhere, but I'd rather be there than here.
[/quote]

Does that make the MAC the middle of nowhere??

Quote:h

(07-01-2015 03:18 PM)born in the burg Wrote:  

AAC is next to nowhere, but I'd rather be there than here.

Another 3 or less win season and I'm afraid the rest of us will be stuck with you...

forever

Which will be a shame because for most of the conference all any of us will every know is the 0,1,3 win S. Miss. Along with a basketball program riddled with problems. Which really isn't a great catch for any of us.

count this Herd Fan as happy where we are. I like the NQs. I don't want the exit or entrance fees. And I think the losses vs Rice, MT and WKU sorta point out that we get all the competition we want right here. We just need to schedule up in the OOC and keep our noses to the grind stone. Its true however that the won loss record he mentioned was largely during the Snyder yrs and maybe the first two under Doc. Cincy, UCF, ECU, Memphis etc nowhere to be found in last yrs AP poll. 10 and 4 the yr before including the butt reaming for ECU. So yes I think we could compete in the AAC or Mtn West. But CUSA is home sweet home for me.

Landon is a turd. Pretty much could use that to sum up any article he writes.

No disrespect to the AAC and I love some of the Western teams there, but I along with almost all TECH fans are very happy to be in CUSA. That's not saying we wouldn't consider the move if the money was right. But even that has to do with being a preemptive to others leaving before us. We learned all about that while in the WAC.

Basketball, and a couple of million $ in extra revenue, make the AAC SLIGHTLY more attractive than C-USA.

If Cincy and UConn aren't around, any desire to jump disappears.

(07-01-2015 03:10 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  

(07-01-2015 03:05 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wait, Rice doesn't want to be here either. Neither does LaTech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UAB (they really didn't want to be here, and won't in football for a couple of years), and , well almost everyone else (I guess Charlotte and ODU still want to be here, as they just got here. Perhaps the Florida schools as well?)

Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.

you got that right!

(07-01-2015 04:14 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2015 03:10 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  

(07-01-2015 03:05 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wait, Rice doesn't want to be here either. Neither does LaTech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UAB (they really didn't want to be here, and won't in football for a couple of years), and , well almost everyone else (I guess Charlotte and ODU still want to be here, as they just got here. Perhaps the Florida schools as well?)

Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.

you got that right!

It's almost like he found the internet in Oct 2013 then found the CUSA boards and now he's afraid to turn his PC off or go to sleep...

if you read the guys early post he knew nothing of the SBC..didn't know the schools in the conference or anything about them. Other than UL-L...thought Troy and ULM was moving to a new conference. But three things have been constant from the go.

UL-L
attacking Tech
Attacking UNT

No make it 4 things....
loves CUSA or at least this board and trying to turn every topic he post in into a UL-L or against Tech/UNT.

(07-01-2015 03:10 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  

(07-01-2015 03:05 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wait, Rice doesn't want to be here either. Neither does LaTech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UAB (they really didn't want to be here, and won't in football for a couple of years), and , well almost everyone else (I guess Charlotte and ODU still want to be here, as they just got here. Perhaps the Florida schools as well?)

Screw it, everybody knows this is nowhere. The only one who really wants to be here is Cajun Fanatico.

People not looking at changing conferences.
Members of the Big 10
Members of the SEC
Members of Pac-12.

Everyone else moves if the deal is right.

Yeah, if you're not in a P5 conference the benefits of moving to another G5 conference are minimal.

(07-01-2015 04:33 PM)T_Won1 Wrote:  Yeah, if you're not in a P5 conference the benefits of moving to another G5 conference are minimal.

Tell that to UMass, any member in the SBC, or the vast majority of C-USA fans, some of whom posted prior to you lauding the benefits of such moves.

The only lateral moves would be AAC to MWC or vice versa.

(07-01-2015 04:26 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  if you read the guys early post he knew nothing of the SBC..didn't know the schools in the conference or anything about them. Other than UL-L...thought Troy and ASU was moving to a new conference.

LOL. Now you're researching my posts all the way back to the beginning? We both know what that means.

Here's some more material for your research, for the record:

1) Respect LaTech and what they've been able to accomplish based out of Dogpatch.....what I call teasing, you call attacking though I will admit I love yanking BRTransplant's chain about Ruston Metro.

2) Respect WKU's basketball tradition and more recently, football, wish WKU was still in the Belt.

3) Believe C-USA and the SunBelt are very similar conferences with C-USA having a definite edge in quality of basketball.....not much else beyond that really.

4) My disdain of the UNTs stems from fans of theirs claiming the Belt somehow held them back all those years. The Belt may be a humble conference, but we gave them a home and bowl games to showcase their program.

5) Think you're a great fan of WKU, perhaps their most opinionated, but a great fan nonetheless.....and probably a decent guy to share a boat with.

You may now continue your quest researching me. I'm honored.

(07-01-2015 04:40 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(07-01-2015 04:33 PM)T_Won1 Wrote:  Yeah, if you're not in a P5 conference the benefits of moving to another G5 conference are minimal.

Tell that to UMass, any member in the SBC, or the vast majority of C-USA fans, some of whom posted prior to you lauding the benefits of such moves.

The only lateral moves would be AAC to MWC or vice versa.

But if Boise leaves the MWC, that conference is less attractive. If the AAC loses members (leaving an opening for another G5 school), it's probably less attractive too.

It's just a tallest midget competition.