(05-24-2016 11:05 AM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  

(05-24-2016 09:58 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  With the Aggies in the SEC they have no need for the Cougars. They get more than enough of the Houston market.

Of course they don't. Just like the Big 12 doesn't need them (or us).

As has been discussed on here literally dozens of times, this is predominantly about TV markets. Even giving UH the benefit of the doubt that they are capturing more eyes/fan interest in the local area in recent years, Texas already captures the Houston MSA for the Big 12 just as A&M does for the SEC.

There is a reason why schools in smaller markets - like Memphis and Cincinnati - are seen as more likely candidates than UH ... they bring new TV markets into the equation. And, quite frankly, I get UH's (and Tillman's) frustration given the investment they have made. I also give them props for recognizing the current landscape and making a concerted effort to compete.

The two schools that probably offer the most benefit to the Big 12 right now are BYU (national fan base) and UConn (brings some viewers in the Northeast Corridor). However, each of these bring their own set of issues (Sunday scheduling with BYU and geographic outlier with UConn).

I'm actually not so sure that the Big 12 expands right now ... in fact, everything I've read recently suggests that they might pass at least for now. But if they do, I would go with BYU and one of UConn/Memphis/Cincinnati (West Virginia also needs a travel partner).

I agree. I'd be very surprised if it isn't BYU and Cincy that they choose. No candidate is perfect. And I just want to throw in that Tillman Fertita is a pric. My dad taught him at Galveston O'Connell High School in the late 60's. He's a great businessman, but his empire was built on his daddy's filthy mob money. The Ferittas are linked to the old illegal gambling days of Galveston back in the 40's and 50's. He was a terrible student and a cutup. My dad asked him what he was going to do with his life. He quipped back, ' I don't need to do anything. My dad is rich.'

can someone explain the infactuation at what is now the Daily Cougar, formerly the Houston Chronicle? Is fertitta writing a check to make sure that CH gets all of this publicity. I am almost barfed when I got to the sports section....

(05-29-2016 02:00 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  can someone explain the infactuation at what is now the Daily Cougar, formerly the Houston Chronicle? Is fertitta writing a check to make sure that CH gets all of this publicity. I am almost barfed when I got to the sports section....

That's my impression and why he is chairman of the BOT. Not to mention the advertising from his various business interests makes a difference with the Chronicle.

For those that don't get the hard copy of the paper....



What's interesting is that the $240M improvement in athletic facilities is just under 30% of what their endowment is ($790M).

(05-29-2016 03:23 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(05-29-2016 02:00 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  can someone explain the infactuation at what is now the Daily Cougar, formerly the Houston Chronicle? Is fertitta writing a check to make sure that CH gets all of this publicity. I am almost barfed when I got to the sports section....

That's my impression and why he is chairman of the BOT. Not to mention the advertising from his various business interests makes a difference with the Chronicle.

For those that don't get the hard copy of the paper....



What's interesting is that the $240M improvement in athletic facilities is just under 30% of what their endowment is ($790M).

No problem! The students are paying for it.

(05-29-2016 03:37 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(05-29-2016 03:23 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(05-29-2016 02:00 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  can someone explain the infactuation at what is now the Daily Cougar, formerly the Houston Chronicle? Is fertitta writing a check to make sure that CH gets all of this publicity. I am almost barfed when I got to the sports section....

That's my impression and why he is chairman of the BOT. Not to mention the advertising from his various business interests makes a difference with the Chronicle.

For those that don't get the hard copy of the paper....



What's interesting is that the $240M improvement in athletic facilities is just under 30% of what their endowment is ($790M).

No problem! The students are paying for it.

And professors are complaining of A/C, lighting, and other infrastructure problems in the academic buildings. I still think that the transferring of funds from academic to athletic interests will bite them in the butt at some point.

The future?

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

But, but, but...no H-town takeover?

It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

I absolutely agree with this.

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

But you want Rice to be part of that "farce."

(05-31-2016 08:21 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

But you want Rice to be part of that "farce."

The sheer quantity of stupid baffles me. Which part of most somehow translates into all in your home?

(05-31-2016 08:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 08:21 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

But you want Rice to be part of that "farce."

The sheer quantity of stupid baffles me. Which part of most somehow translates into all in your home?

Just be consistent. All you do is run your mouth about Rice needing a P5 home to be "relevant," but now you refer to all of it as a "farce that most schools have going." So, do you want Rice to be part of the filthy, criminal gang that makes up the P5 farce, or to remain above it? Which do you want?

(05-31-2016 08:08 PM)Barney Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

(05-29-2016 05:34 PM)graceful Wrote:  The future?

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

I absolutely agree with this.

I'm already getting better each year at ignoring the big boys of CFB. This would make it even easier. (Of course, I may be done entirely with football by then. Or dead.)

We are currently getting the worst of both alternatives now in CUSA. Low revenue because most potential fans are not interested in our conference opponents and the bad television contracts and most of the expenses and troubles that we would have as a P5. We will be forced to a fork in the road where we go up or down in conferences. It is more likely to be down because the top teams want to hog almost all the revenue. Our problem is we are unable to isolate ourselves like the Ivy League because we do not have enough like schools nearby.

(05-31-2016 09:48 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 08:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 08:21 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 05:10 PM)75src Wrote:  It will be a nightmare for college football. Only 24 teams will matter in that format and it will be an NFL Lite which unfortunately the NFL will always be better at being the NFL. The other teams will not get much television or publicity.

This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

But you want Rice to be part of that "farce."

The sheer quantity of stupid baffles me. Which part of most somehow translates into all in your home?

Just be consistent. All you do is run your mouth about Rice needing a P5 home to be "relevant," but now you refer to all of it as a "farce that most schools have going." So, do you want Rice to be part of the filthy, criminal gang that makes up the P5 farce, or to remain above it? Which do you want?

Maybe Tillman could make the Big 12 an offer they cannot refuse.

(05-24-2016 11:41 AM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-24-2016 11:05 AM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  

(05-24-2016 09:58 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  With the Aggies in the SEC they have no need for the Cougars. They get more than enough of the Houston market.

Of course they don't. Just like the Big 12 doesn't need them (or us).

As has been discussed on here literally dozens of times, this is predominantly about TV markets. Even giving UH the benefit of the doubt that they are capturing more eyes/fan interest in the local area in recent years, Texas already captures the Houston MSA for the Big 12 just as A&M does for the SEC.

There is a reason why schools in smaller markets - like Memphis and Cincinnati - are seen as more likely candidates than UH ... they bring new TV markets into the equation. And, quite frankly, I get UH's (and Tillman's) frustration given the investment they have made. I also give them props for recognizing the current landscape and making a concerted effort to compete.

The two schools that probably offer the most benefit to the Big 12 right now are BYU (national fan base) and UConn (brings some viewers in the Northeast Corridor). However, each of these bring their own set of issues (Sunday scheduling with BYU and geographic outlier with UConn).

I'm actually not so sure that the Big 12 expands right now ... in fact, everything I've read recently suggests that they might pass at least for now. But if they do, I would go with BYU and one of UConn/Memphis/Cincinnati (West Virginia also needs a travel partner).

I agree. I'd be very surprised if it isn't BYU and Cincy that they choose. No candidate is perfect. And I just want to throw in that Tillman Fertita is a pric. My dad taught him at Galveston O'Connell High School in the late 60's. He's a great businessman, but his empire was built on his daddy's filthy mob money. The Ferittas are linked to the old illegal gambling days of Galveston back in the 40's and 50's. He was a terrible student and a cutup. My dad asked him what he was going to do with his life. He quipped back, ' I don't need to do anything. My dad is rich.'

I agree completely. CUSA East is an attendance killer. On top of that, the lower TV revenue and annual travel costs are killing our bottom line. We could possibly make this work out if the number of crossover games were decreased, and the two divisions functioned more like separate conferences. That way, we free up schedule space for opponents who people around here know about. If not, lets go to the MWC. Those schools are all far away, but most of them are flagship universities with name recognition. Everyone has heard of their teams. I think it would be a lot more exciting, and it's a step up in competition. It's one of the two best G5s.

(06-01-2016 01:55 PM)75src Wrote:  We are currently getting the worst of both alternatives now in CUSA. Low revenue because most potential fans are not interested in our conference opponents and the bad television contracts and most of the expenses and troubles that we would have as a P5. We will be forced to a fork in the road where we go up or down in conferences. It is more likely to be down because the top teams want to hog almost all the revenue. Our problem is we are unable to isolate ourselves like the Ivy League because we do not have enough like schools nearby.

(05-31-2016 09:48 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 08:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 08:21 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(05-31-2016 07:23 PM)Antarius Wrote:  This is good for us.

Let the top 24 split off. The rest will be left with very little $$$, which will make college athletics like it should be. STUDENT-athletes, not this farce that most schools have going.

But you want Rice to be part of that "farce."

The sheer quantity of stupid baffles me. Which part of most somehow translates into all in your home?

Just be consistent. All you do is run your mouth about Rice needing a P5 home to be "relevant," but now you refer to all of it as a "farce that most schools have going." So, do you want Rice to be part of the filthy, criminal gang that makes up the P5 farce, or to remain above it? Which do you want?

CUSA and Sunbelt should reorganize. CUSA-East and Sunbelt-East in one conference, CUSA-West and Sunbelt-West in another.

You would have:

East (12 members, 7 former CUSA, 5 former Sunbelt)
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Marshall
Middle Tennessee
NC-Charlotte
Old Dominion
Troy
Western Kentucky
Put the 2 Florida schools, the 2 Georgia schools, Troy, and Middle Tennessee in the south, and the 3 North Carolina schools, Western Kentucky, Marshall, and ODU in the north.

West (14 members, 7 former CUSA, 7 former Sunbelt)
Alabama-Birmingham
Arkansas-Little Rock
Arkansas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
South Alabama
Southern Miss
Texas State
UT-Arlington
UT-El Paso
UT-San Antonio
Put the 6 Texas schools and La Tech in the west, put the 2 Alabama, 2 Arkansas, 1 Mississippi, and other 2 Louisiana schools in the east.

You get regional rivalries, less travel, and potentially more attendance.

In the eastern league, you'd play the other 5 teams in your division and 3 in the other division for an 8-game conference schedule. In the western league you'd play the other 6 teams in your division and 2 in the other division for an 8-game conference schedule.

For Rice, I would then try to schedule UH home-and-home, two P5 schools (first choice would be LSU and aTm if they would do 2-for-1's with Reliant for our home games), and another academic school.

(06-01-2016 09:10 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  CUSA and Sunbelt should reorganize. CUSA-East and Sunbelt-East in one conference, CUSA-West and Sunbelt-West in another.

You would have:

East (12 members, 7 former CUSA, 5 former Sunbelt)
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Marshall
Middle Tennessee
NC-Charlotte
Old Dominion
Troy
Western Kentucky
Put the 2 Florida schools, the 2 Georgia schools, Troy, and Middle Tennessee in the south, and the 3 North Carolina schools, Western Kentucky, Marshall, and ODU in the north.

West (14 members, 7 former CUSA, 7 former Sunbelt)
Alabama-Birmingham
Arkansas-Little Rock
Arkansas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
South Alabama
Southern Miss
Texas State
UT-Arlington
UT-El Paso
UT-San Antonio
Put the 6 Texas schools and La Tech in the west, put the 2 Alabama, 2 Arkansas, 1 Mississippi, and other 2 Louisiana schools in the east.

You get regional rivalries, less travel, and potentially more attendance.

In the eastern league, you'd play the other 5 teams in your division and 3 in the other division for an 8-game conference schedule. In the western league you'd play the other 6 teams in your division and 2 in the other division for an 8-game conference schedule.

For Rice, I would then try to schedule UH home-and-home, two P5 schools (first choice would be LSU and aTm if they would do 2-for-1's with Reliant for our home games), and another academic school.

I agree with this too. Our furthest crossover game would only be about 300 miles away, still within our region.

I think this plan makes a lot of sense if our options fail to materialize. It is so sensible I suspect that most of the schools listed would see value in it (and Owl69/../.. could be the commissioner ). Also the West would remain a good baseball conference. I wonder if it would also be saleable to a collection of regional TV networks/internet sports streamers (seems it would fit nicely in the ESPN3 plans). You could actually market the West/East separately to give potential advertisers a more targeted market. You could have regional advertisers who would see value in not having ads going to areas they aren't doing business in. The trick would be to try and even out team revenues if one side winds up more valuable.