If the goal is to have the best football conference we can, let's look at how things ended up last year in the Sagarin rankings.

AAC west - 67.31
AAC east - 66.38
MW mountain - 64.73
MAC west - 63.04
MW west - 58.76
CUSA east - 57.06
MAC east - 56.62
Belt - 55.04
CUSA west - 53.81

If CUSA were to adopt this lineup:

East
WKU
Middle
Marshall
Appy
Ga Southern

West
La Tech
USM
Rice
Arkansas St
UAB

The Sagarin ratings look like this (assume UAB at a conservative rating of 60, which would put them a little over 100 in the rankings):

CUSA east - 71.01
AAC west - 67.31
AAC east - 66.38
MW mountain - 64.73
CUSA west - 63.22

Bonus is that average conference attendance would jump to over 22,000 with Middle at 17,210 being the low. I believe attendance would increase for every one with this line up.

I would be more than open to revisit adding ODU and Charlotte back when they get more seasoned and can get into the Sagarin top 100 in rankings. You could then shift WKU and Middle to the west and it would still work.

I LOVE that lineup. But, if you have a title game with 10 teams, it has to be a round-robin schedule (9 conference games) per NCAA rules. So, add 2 more for only 8 conference games. I say add ULL and USA. Move UAB to the East.

(06-14-2016 08:42 PM)banker Wrote:  If the goal is to have the best football conference we can, let's look at how things ended up last year in the Sagarin rankings.

AAC west - 67.31
AAC east - 66.38
MW mountain - 64.73
MAC west - 63.04
MW west - 58.76
CUSA east - 57.06
MAC east - 56.62
Belt - 55.04
CUSA west - 53.81

If CUSA were to adopt this lineup:

East
WKU
Middle
Marshall
Appy
Ga Southern

West
La Tech
USM
Rice
Arkansas St
UAB

The Sagarin ratings look like this (assume UAB at a conservative rating of 60, which would put them a little over 100 in the rankings):

CUSA east - 71.01
AAC west - 67.31
AAC east - 66.38
MW mountain - 64.73
CUSA west - 63.22

Bonus is that average conference attendance would jump to over 22,000 with Middle at 17,210 being the low. I believe attendance would increase for every one with this line up.

I would be more than open to revisit adding ODU and Charlotte back when they get more seasoned and can get into the Sagarin top 100 in rankings. You could then shift WKU and Middle to the west and it would still work.

Definitely would be a better competitive league top to bottom. Problem - it would require forming a new league with no ncaa autobid + not sure about CFP share for a new g5. That league with more competitive teams might get you more tv $$$.

How hard is it to get an autobid? Can't imagine it's that hard.

There are 7 CUSA teams right there. Would need 2 more to get the conference to 12.

How many votes are needed to dissolve the conference?


Bring UTEP to the West, and FAU to the East and lets get this thing rolling.

Vote to dissolve CUSA. Then our new conference applies to get the money on the table from CUSA.

Don't see how you figure we would be out on the auto bid. I'm not talking about forming a new conference, just cleansing and reloading ours.

(06-14-2016 09:23 PM)banker Wrote:  Don't see how you figure we would be out on the auto bid. I'm not talking about forming a new conference, just cleansing and reloading ours.

If that was possible, the even better.

Sad part, we could have had this lineup in the last go around of expansion.

(06-14-2016 08:42 PM)banker Wrote:  If the goal is to have the best football conference we can, let's look at how things ended up last year in the Sagarin rankings.

AAC west - 67.31
AAC east - 66.38
MW mountain - 64.73
MAC west - 63.04
MW west - 58.76
CUSA east - 57.06
MAC east - 56.62
Belt - 55.04
CUSA west - 53.81

If CUSA were to adopt this lineup:

East
WKU
Middle
Marshall
Appy
Ga Southern

West
La Tech
USM
Rice
Arkansas St
UAB

The Sagarin ratings look like this (assume UAB at a conservative rating of 60, which would put them a little over 100 in the rankings):

CUSA east - 71.01
AAC west - 67.31
AAC east - 66.38
MW mountain - 64.73
CUSA west - 63.22

Bonus is that average conference attendance would jump to over 22,000 with Middle at 17,210 being the low. I believe attendance would increase for every one with this line up.

I would be more than open to revisit adding ODU and Charlotte back when they get more seasoned and can get into the Sagarin top 100 in rankings. You could then shift WKU and Middle to the west and it would still work.

Every season some C-USA teams come out of nowhere and post solid winning records, and others have disappointing seasons that no one saw coming. These Saragin ratings can and will change from year to year. No C-USA universities are going to splinter off and form a new conference. There just isn't a realistic option with all the current contracts and agreements. Plus, by this time next season, half the teams in your dream conference lineup will change based on next seasons records. We got what we got. Lets focus on building it better.

Nope. Half the teams in this conference contribute little to nothing. Some of us want better.

(06-14-2016 09:53 PM)Beagleagle23 Wrote:  Nope. Half the teams in this conference contribute little to nothing. Some of us want better.

How many years did USM go without winning a game? UAB ******* dropped football for a couple of years and weren't kicked out of the league. Eager Eagle just proposed a league nobody here would even qualify for. This ***** getting ridiculous. I'm pretty sure you'd need at least 11 members to vote on membership changes. So get comfy boys.

(06-14-2016 09:53 PM)Beagleagle23 Wrote:  Nope. Half the teams in this conference contribute little to nothing. Some of us want better.

We all want better. We just ran off our long time AD because we want better. In North Texas' first season in C-USA, Southern Miss went 1-11. I don't remember anyone calling for a split so we could drop the dead weight. In fact, Southern Miss has a record of 13-25 since the new line up started, while North Texas is 14-23 in C-USA. When realignment hit, we all knew there would be some growing pains.

Now, I do believe our presidents should vote to place a certain standard of support for their athletic programs. If certain universities are not willing to invest in their programs at an acceptable level, then those could be shown the door. I think that would be a much better way of dealing with our issues.

I will go ahead and bet anyone that the group of WKU, Middle, Marshall, USM, La Tech and Rice will be 6 of the top 8 teams in the conference this year and Appy, Ga Southern and Ark St will be 3 of the top 4 in the Belt.

Even if some of those schools are down from time to time, none are going to have years where they finish out of the top 150 in Sagarin, baring a complete cluster like USM went through. The difference is those schools have enough successful history that they can rebound.

UNT hasn't had more than 3 consecutive winning seasons in over 25 years. They've only had 5 winning seasons in the last 25 years. FAU has two winning seasons in 11 years of fbs with none in the last 7 of those. Same for FIU, two winning seasons in 11 years. Charlotte got to fbs way too soon. Five years from now they may be good, that's why I'm open to look at them in the future. ODU is close and I think they could be ready in a few more years to consistently be in the top 80-90 in Sagarin and have the potential to someday be a top 50 type program. UTSA also has an opportunity, again, just moved up too soon.

UNT, FAU and FIU have had long enough at the fbs level to get it together and show progress.

(06-14-2016 10:27 PM)banker Wrote:  I will go ahead and bet anyone that the group of WKU, Middle, Marshall, USM, La Tech and Rice will be 6 of the top 8 teams in the conference this year and Appy, Ga Southern and Ark St will be 3 of the top 4 in the Belt.

Even if some of those schools are down from time to time, none are going to have years where they finish out of the top 150 in Sagarin, baring a complete cluster like USM went through. The difference is those schools have enough successful history that they can rebound.

UNT hasn't had more than 3 consecutive winning seasons in over 25 years. They've only had 5 winning seasons in the last 25 years. FAU has two winning seasons in 11 years of fbs with none in the last 7 of those. Same for FIU, two winning seasons in 11 years. Charlotte got to fbs way too soon. Five years from now they may be good, that's why I'm open to look at them in the future. ODU is close and I think they could be ready in a few more years to consistently be in the top 80-90 in Sagarin and have the potential to someday be a top 50 type program. UTSA also has an opportunity, again, just moved up too soon.

UNT, FAU and FIU have had long enough at the fbs level to get it together and show progress.

Well, its a good thing you have zero say in anything related to the direction of the conference. I look forward to our game on October 8th, so you can get a good look at our new North Texas team. If you can't make it to Denton, I hope you get to watch it on the ASN.

this is a fools gold conference that will cost millions just to get you nowhere..
what i accuse c-usa teams of is dramatically more an issue in the sunbelt= empty wins...someone has to win and someone has to lose...a slightly mediocre team will look great playing all bad teams .. if we are honest app state would have been a middling c-usa/mac team..and wouldn't have had that high a sagarins rating playing in c-usa

realignment only makes sense if you are making a conference of teams who can beat p5/major OOC and at the current moment thats no one in either league (arguably except Marshall but their weak ooc schedules doesnt give them a chance to prove it)

the result of this is millions in exit fees but the standings/ratings of this conference will look identical to c-usa now (someone has to win someone has to lose)
and the left-over conference will have some mediocre team rise to looking great because someone has to win someone has to lose
nothing will have changed

if you are looking for a legitimate suggestion that could really boost your teams/conference. a Super scheduling alliance between c-usa, sunbelt and a new 10 team fbs conference in the west from the elite fcs west teams (like ndst , sam houston etc..)..i explained it in detail in the future of c-usa thread
its the results you think you are getting from your plan but with real life plausibility

a basketball/football scheduling alliance, where you play as separate conferences for the first 2/3rds of the season, the last 1/3rd all the good teams from each conference by a certain point play each other. in football maybe a mega conference tournament championship or round robin..and in basketball get all the great rpi teams together to play each other to increase their chances of an atlarge (but still separate conference tournaments)

its a great plan because app state/GSU still "look great" because of the empty wins, same for c-usa and the west conference..so those end of the year games look like its a battle of heavy weights to the human eyes but especially in the computers eyes ..and something like a mega conference champion 1 champion for 3 conferences and a round robin of great basketball rpi teams will definitely draw tv interest/money..and your good teams get improved sos, guaranteed good rpi games and credibility
thinking outside the box :-)

If anyone knows empty wins, it would be the fan of a school that had the 90th ranked schedule last year. You had the easiest schedule in the AAC last year and only played one top 30 team. Appy played a top 10 team and Ga Southern played 2 top 30 teams.

Oh, and Appy beat ODU, a CUSA middling team, 49-0 last year, so there's that.

(06-14-2016 10:51 PM)pesik Wrote:  this is a fools gold conference that will cost millions just to get you nowhere..
what i accuse c-usa teams of is dramatically more an issue in the sunbelt= empty wins...someone has to win and someone has to lose...a slightly mediocre team will look great playing all bad teams .. [b]if we are honest app state would have been a middling c-usa/mac team..[/b]and wouldn't have had that high a sagarins rating playing in c-usa

realignment only makes sense if you are making a conference of teams who can beat p5/major OOC and at the current moment thats no one in either league (arguably except Marshall but their weak ooc schedules doesnt give them a chance to prove it)

the result of this is millions in exit fees but the standings/ratings of this conference will look identical to c-usa now (someone has to win someone has to lose)
and the left-over conference will have some mediocre team rise to looking great because someone has to win someone has to lose
nothing will have changed

if you are looking for a legitimate suggestion that could really boost your teams/conference. a Super scheduling alliance between c-usa, sunbelt and a new 10 team fbs conference in the west from the elite fcs west teams (like ndst , sam houston etc..)..i explained it in detail in the future of c-usa thread
its the results you think you are getting from your plan but with real life plausibility

a basketball/football scheduling alliance, where you play as separate conferences for the first 2/3rds of the season, the last 1/3rd all the good teams from each conference by a certain point play each other. in football maybe a mega conference tournament championship or round robin..and in basketball get all the great rpi teams together to play each other to increase their chances of an atlarge (but still separate conference tournaments)

its a great plan because app state/GSU still "look great" because of the empty wins, same for c-usa and the west conference..so those end of the year games look like its a battle of heavy weights to the human eyes but especially in the computers eyes ..and something like a mega conference champion 1 champion for 3 conferences and a round robin of great basketball rpi teams will definitely draw tv interest/money..and your good teams get improved sos, guaranteed good rpi games and credibility
thinking outside the box :-)

I posted this in another thread. We need interested fans and increasing markets with untapped potential.



Marshall is holding up their end of the bargain without question. Their football program is extremely good and have great support. I want teams in the conference that get at least 20-30k per game in football & are trying to improve. If you're below 20k and you're winning, that's not good. I see teams like UTEP, Marshall, UTSA, LT, USM, etc with good attendance and if their team has a good year then their attendance could skyrocket. Plus those schools also have an attraction, whether it's a large city, history, etc. The teams that are doing good but low attendance is not a good sign. We will have a good year, where we have a few good teams. It's going to happen, just hopefully soon. Baseball, basketball & other **** doesn't really matter unless you make it far during the NCAA tourney. Football is generating so much money all the focus should be there, or at least the majority of resources. We should start monitoring attendance over the next 5 years and if a team or teams are not hitting 20k mark they should be put on notice. We need momentum and interested fans, which in turn builds a market & leverage.

(06-14-2016 10:26 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(06-14-2016 09:53 PM)Beagleagle23 Wrote:  Nope. Half the teams in this conference contribute little to nothing. Some of us want better.

We all want better. We just ran off our long time AD because we want better. In North Texas' first season in C-USA, Southern Miss went 1-11. I don't remember anyone calling for a split so we could drop the dead weight. In fact, Southern Miss has a record of 13-25 since the new line up started, while North Texas is 14-23 in C-USA. When realignment hit, we all knew there would be some growing pains.

Now, I do believe our presidents should vote to place a certain standard of support for their athletic programs. If certain universities are not willing to invest in their programs at an acceptable level, then those could be shown the door. I think that would be a much better way of dealing with our issues.

Only the second time we've had back to back losing seasons.

The first time we had 3 consecutive losing seasons in our 100 plus year history.

Coming off those three years, we led the conference in attendance and played for the Championship.

Thanks for showing your ignorance newbie.

(06-15-2016 05:51 AM)GoBigGold Wrote:  

(06-14-2016 10:26 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(06-14-2016 09:53 PM)Beagleagle23 Wrote:  Nope. Half the teams in this conference contribute little to nothing. Some of us want better.

We all want better. We just ran off our long time AD because we want better. In North Texas' first season in C-USA, Southern Miss went 1-11. I don't remember anyone calling for a split so we could drop the dead weight. In fact, Southern Miss has a record of 13-25 since the new line up started, while North Texas is 14-23 in C-USA. When realignment hit, we all knew there would be some growing pains.

Now, I do believe our presidents should vote to place a certain standard of support for their athletic programs. If certain universities are not willing to invest in their programs at an acceptable level, then those could be shown the door. I think that would be a much better way of dealing with our issues.

Only the second time we've had back to back losing seasons.

The first time we had 3 consecutive losing seasons in our 100 plus year history.

Coming off those three years, we led the conference in attendance and played for the Championship.

Thanks for showing your ignorance newbie.

I am well aware of USM's history in football. I was talking about their play since the new C-USA line up started, and you know that. Let's see how your team does this season before we place y'all in the title game, newbie.

(06-15-2016 05:51 AM)GoBigGold Wrote:  

(06-14-2016 10:26 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(06-14-2016 09:53 PM)Beagleagle23 Wrote:  Nope. Half the teams in this conference contribute little to nothing. Some of us want better.

We all want better. We just ran off our long time AD because we want better. In North Texas' first season in C-USA, Southern Miss went 1-11. I don't remember anyone calling for a split so we could drop the dead weight. In fact, Southern Miss has a record of 13-25 since the new line up started, while North Texas is 14-23 in C-USA. When realignment hit, we all knew there would be some growing pains.

Now, I do believe our presidents should vote to place a certain standard of support for their athletic programs. If certain universities are not willing to invest in their programs at an acceptable level, then those could be shown the door. I think that would be a much better way of dealing with our issues.

Only the second time we've had back to back losing seasons.

The first time we had 3 consecutive losing seasons in our 100 plus year history.

Coming off those three years, we led the conference in attendance and played for the Championship.

Thanks for showing your ignorance newbie.

I concur. Southern Miss is most certainly not a problem. As a Marshall fan, I am thankful they are in this conference...Trust me.