(12-14-2017 09:54 AM)arkstfan Wrote: (12-13-2017 09:09 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote: (12-13-2017 12:20 AM)arkstfan Wrote: (12-12-2017 07:32 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote: (12-12-2017 06:04 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote: C-USA should just focus on improving football and basketball, that would be a good start instead of adding more schools that will create more problems than not. A conference that has UTEP, UAB, WKU, Charlotte, Old Dominion and MTSU has no excuse of being a one bid league. Marshall, USM, La Tech and Rice should pave the way in football. UTEP should be competitive in both sports as well. The rest are either too new in FBS (ODU, UTSA, Charlotte) or have little tradition in basketball (UTSA, the Florida schools, UNT) to expect much from them for the moment.
In basketball, it isn't about needing time to build up a program. A good basketball coach can and will overhaul a roster and field a competitive team in his first year with a program.
For the record, last season the North Texas men's team finished 8-22. This season under our first year coach, we are currently 6-5, and I expect us to finish at least .500. Our women's team is currently tied with UAB for 1st in C-USA with a 7-2 record.
Please expect more from North Texas. We do. It is one of the reasons I do not prescribe to the realignment theories being thrown around in this thread.
That is where you remain stubbornly ridiculous.
"expect more" what a freaking laugh. A complete fabrication of fantasy.
Arkansas State will have done more than $50 million in renovations just for football since the end of 2014 by the end of 2018.
Please smell the coffee and wake up to the fact that not only are there Sun Belt programs matching you dollar for dollar in investment your premise is rank silliness.
FAU is the only CUSA team rated ahead of the Sun Belt's top three programs but you don't want to affiliate with them because you have hahahaha higher standard.
I don't have a problem with the Sun Belt. It was a decent home for North Texas for several years. There are some good programs in the Sun Belt. I actually like Arkansas State and a few others. I just don't want to realign with the Sun Belt. Although ASU and a few others are seriously investing in their programs, I don't believe the majority of Sun Belt programs are as dedicated.
I'm very happy with the line up in C-USA West. C-USA finished with 10 bowl eligible teams this season. There is no good reason to even consider a realignment.
I really don't even understand why you care. Last I heard ASU wasn't interested in C-USA. I thought they had their sights set on the AAC.
AAC isn't likely to do anything any time soon and you don't want to be USU or NMSU who dreamed of getting in the WAC and when they got there is it had become a dump after the last tenants moved out.
Hey we used to want to be in CUSA but everyone we were interested in except USM left.
Why do I care.
I want my university to get better and it can improve more taking a little from column A and a little from column B out CUSA and Sun Belt than it can being in CUSA or Sun Belt.
There is 110 years of history in intercollegiate athletics that says conference affiliations are not stagnant in the overall picture.
You can be the guy who said the patent office should be shut down because everything useful has already been invented or you can stay alert for opportunities.
C-USA West is a solid G5 division. 5 (North Texas, Southern Miss, LA Tech, UAB, & UTSA) of the 7 teams in the division finished bowl eligible. And, ASU is situated nicely within it. So, I totally understand why you would be in favor of realignment. ASU is a solid program and has been for a while.
Personally, I don't want realignment because...
*I think when conferences become too regional, they lose relevance. No G5 conference can afford to lose any more relevance than we already have.
*Right now, I think stability within C-USA is more important then saving a few dollars in travel costs. After 5 seasons with our current line-up, C-USA finished with a record 10 bowl eligible teams. I believe if C-USA remains stable, our conference can develop more relevance within college football.
*I know the current membership of C-USA can be successful. Swapping out parts with the Sun Belt would almost certainly mean including programs we don't want or need.
There will be no "airport meeting". Right now contracts for bowl ties, playoff money, and pathetic media deals are all in place. No group within C-USA is going to break off and form a new conference. It would be suicide. Yes, some will moan about their financial struggles, and how travel is expensive, but that is all it will amount to, because those programs do not have enough votes to change any of it.