<a href='http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=cnnsi-thenewlookconfe&prov=cnnsi&type=lgns' target='_blank'>http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=cn...cnnsi&type=lgns</a>
"With little fanfare, college football's national landscape shifted dramatically last Friday. On July 1, 18 Division I-A football teams officially changed conferences"
"Conference USA
Added: Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UCF, UTEP Lost: Army, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, TCU
State of the league: Significantly worse
Breakdown: In Cincinnati, Louisville and TCU, the league loses three teams that had made a combined 13 bowl appearances over the past five seasons. Of the incoming programs, only Marshall has had similar success, and even the Thundering Herd have slipped the past couple seasons and recently lost coach Bob Pruett. UTEP had a breakthrough season last year under Mike Price but he may not be there much longer. Rice, SMU and Tulsa have been predominately horrible. UCF, though it went 0-11 last season, actually may have the most potential with accomplished coach George O'Leary and a tremendous recruiting base. The West division figures to be wide open most years, while Southern Miss should be the favorite in the East more often than not, facing competition this year from UAB and Memphis."
"MAC
Added: None Lost: Marshall, UCF
State of the league: About the same"
I like what is unsaid here regarding the Sun Belt.
Quote:Of the three teams it lost, Idaho and Utah State at least had some, limited precedent for success, and New Mexico State, which recently hired former Kentucky head coach Hal Mumme, probably had the most promise.
Left unsaid...
Idaho and Utah State tied for LAST in the Sun Belt.
New Mexico State did better in football but made up for it by finishing last in basketball.
UL is the only big hit we took.
Cincy? Come on. Marshall all but makes up for them.
TCU is easilly replaced by UTEP. They had a great year last year, return nearly their entire team, have a TREMENDOUS fan base, and they have Mike Price. TCU is on the way down.
This writer also says the WAC is "significantly worse" without Rice, SMU, and Tulsa.........yet he bashes them in the CUSA review. That makes sense how?
He also says that Cincy was a huge loss for CUSA, yet says it will be seen if they bring ANYTHING to the Big East.
Either he's a moron or just a very sloppy writer.
Cincy's football program is in pretty shape I'd say.....they seemed to have improved the quality of their football recruiting with the move to the nBE, and of course overall they are far superior to Marshall's men's sports when all programs and facilities are compared (not to mention they're in the middle of a $80MM upgrade to their facilities, and just built a new baseball stadium. (and remember that they have already upgraded Nippert Stadium and have a relatively new state-of-the-art hoops arena.
Now that the Herd has their "props machine" back in full gear, I suspect their program will eventually rebound from the so-called "down"years of 2003 and 2004 when the NCAA sanctions might've hurt them by not being able to bring in under-qualified student/athletes as is their custom.
One could add (for the future):
The MAC's addition of Temple.
State of League:
A little bit worse.
IMHO.
The Knight Time Wrote:UL is the only big hit we took.
Cincy? Come on. Marshall all but makes up for them.
You should look a last year's Ft Worth Bowl.
Quote:TCU is easilly replaced by UTEP. They had a great year last year, return nearly their entire team, have a TREMENDOUS fan base, and they have Mike Price. TCU is on the way down.
While I'm not TCU fan, you may want to check out UTEP's historical performance (hint: look toward the bottom)
<a href='http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/calc-wp.pl?start=1914&end=2004&rpct=30&min=5&se=on&c1a=on&by=Win+Pct' target='_blank'>http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/record...a=on&by=Win+Pct</a>
<a href='http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/wac/texas_el_paso/rankings.php' target='_blank'>http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_i...so/rankings.php</a>
While no guarantee of future results, you can believe that Price will leave in short order.
Quote:He also says that Cincy was a huge loss for CUSA, yet says it will be seen if they bring ANYTHING to the Big East.
Either he's a moron or just a very sloppy writer.
No, he is saying that CUSA sucked so bad they can't afford to lose a team like Cincy, whereas the BE was previously a decent conference and will not be helped by a bad team like Cincy. In short, CUSA's best is not worth squat.
MacLord Wrote:One could add (for the future):
The MAC's addition of Temple.
State of League:
A little bit worse.
IMHO.
Probably. But they aren't in as of this year, and things could change.
As for Marshall vs. Cincy, Forth Whatever Bowl nothwithstanding, Marshall has been a better program than the Bearcats by far. Unless you think the Herd will never again reach the rarefied heights of their early MAC years, I would give the Herd the edge. But it's like comparing rotten apples and rotten oranges!
Until we all have BCS attached to our names, we need the MAC, WAC, Sun Belt, CUSA, and MWC to win and win against BCS teams.
I won't root against other teams in the same situation as UCF.
MacLord Wrote:As for Marshall vs. Cincy, Forth Whatever Bowl nothwithstanding, Marshall has been a better program than the Bearcats by far. Unless you think the Herd will never again reach the rarefied heights of their early MAC years, I would give the Herd the edge.
I think the article was fair, and I think you make a good point here.
Quote:...it remains to be seen whether Cincinnati will bring anything more to the table than Rutgers.
Quote:In Cincinnati, Louisville and TCU, the league loses three teams that had made a combined 13 bowl appearances over the past five seasons.
So, Cincy may not being anything to the BE, but they were an awful loss for us? At least be consistent.
Loserville is going to be hard to replace...there's no doubt about that. Otherwise, I would say the additions are equal to the subtractions. Combine that with the emergence of some other programs in recent years (Memphis, UAB, and Houston), and I have a hard time believing that we're in as bad of shape as he "Stewie" would lead you to believe.
The Knight Time Wrote:TCU is easilly replaced by UTEP. They had a great year last year, return nearly their entire team, have a TREMENDOUS fan base, and they have Mike Price. TCU is on the way down.
This is just another crackpot CUSA theory. CUSA fans think a schools true value is equal to what they averaged in attendance last season.
TCU has out recruited the entire NCUSA for probably 5 or 6 years now. Look at the location, look at the public perception of TCU. The Mountain West had a slew of programs to choose from with better fan support yet they picked TCU because of recruiting potential. Just like South Florida picked up by the Big East over Marshall and ECU....think potential
UTEP if you are not aware is in the middle of a desert, recruiting no-man's land. Not a very big TV market either. CUSA had no choice to take UTEP or be stuck with a sun belt program with no market and no support in football or hoops.
CUSA FB losses rank.....
1.Louisville
2.Texas Christian
3.South Florida
4.Cinncy
CUSA FB additions rank....
1.Marshall
2.UTEP
3.Central Florida
4.Tulsa
5.SMU
6.Rice
Stacking them together
1.Louisville
2.Texas Christian
3.Marshall
4.South Florida
5.Cinncy
6.UTEP
7.Central Florida
8.Tulsa
9.SMU
10.Rice
With the exception of Marshall, all the teams leaving the Big East are better than the ones entering CUSA.
I'm loving it......
Quote:'West-oriented'
As far as the eroding of rivalries, Hyman simply shrugs off that notion.
"I'm not trying to be disrespectful to any schools, but nobody had ever heard of some of the schools like East Carolina and South Florida," Hyman said.
"But everybody is familiar with Utah, BYU and Air Force and all of the others."
He says that school officials studied home attendance records the past several years and found little difference when the MWC schools came to visit versus the C-USA programs and the Frogs' so-called natural rivals, including SMU.
"The mindset (at TCU) is West-oriented," Hyman said. "If you look at some of the attendance (of some C-USA opponents), it would surprise you. It's not what you thought it would be, and I've got 20 years of factual numbers.
Hyman said he hired an accountant to do the math on how much more travel would cost in the MWC than the old single-division version of C-USA, which could include trips to places such as South Florida, Charlotte, Louisville and East Carolina. The increased expense came to less than $200,000 annually.
"You would be surprised when you look at it," Hyman said. "The difference really wasn't that significant."
And MWC commissioner Craig Thompson vows that what difference there is should be more than made up for through increased revenues generated by conference members. This past year, Thompson said his league had a record-base distribution of $2.6 million to each member school.
<a href='http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3255853' target='_blank'>http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/s.../sports/3255853</a>
What is the one thing stupider than believing TCU was better off staying in CDOA?
Believing UTEP is a better replacement
OK...let's look at the fuzzy math at work here.
We replaced a bunch of teams out east and in the midwest with a few from the east and more from Texas & Oklahoma. But somehow, they convinced themselves that the old CUSA travel costs were a valid point of comparison when they were deciding whether or not to move. Simply retarded.
Then, they act as if the record MWC disbursement is indicative of a typical year and not related to a windfall from Utah's BCS appearance.
They're trying REAL hard to make the numbers fit their decision.
Kit-Cat Wrote:Stacking them together
1.Louisville
2.Texas Christian
3.Marshall
4.South Florida
5.Cinncy
6.UTEP
7.Central Florida
8.Tulsa
9.SMU
10.Rice
Hmmm...my rankings would look more like this:
1. Louisville
2. Marshall
3. TCU
4. UTEP
5. Cincy
6. Rice...yup, Rice
7. Tulsa
8./9. UCF/USF
10. SMU
99Tiger Wrote:Kit-Cat Wrote:Stacking them together
1.Louisville
2.Texas Christian
3.Marshall
4.South Florida
5.Cinncy
6.UTEP
7.Central Florida
8.Tulsa
9.SMU
10.Rice
Hmmm...my rankings would look more like this:
1. Louisville
2. Marshall
3. TCU
4. UTEP
5. Cincy
6. Rice...yup, Rice
7. Tulsa
8./9. UCF/USF
10. SMU
Here is the only ranking you need.....
MWC payout 2.6 million per team.
CUSA payout 450 thousand per team.
TCU is....
1.Making 2 million more a year in the MWC, less maybe 300k or so in added travel costs.
2. Joining a much stronger football conference top-to-bottom with BCS potential.
3.Joining a much stronger basketball conference top-to-bottom with final four potential.
4.In a more stable conference that could be only raided by the PAC-10 or Big XII as opposed to the Big East.
Kit-Cat Wrote:99Tiger Wrote:Kit-Cat Wrote:Stacking them together
1.Louisville
2.Texas Christian
3.Marshall
4.South Florida
5.Cinncy
6.UTEP
7.Central Florida
8.Tulsa
9.SMU
10.Rice
Hmmm...my rankings would look more like this:
1. Louisville
2. Marshall
3. TCU
4. UTEP
5. Cincy
6. Rice...yup, Rice
7. Tulsa
8./9. UCF/USF
10. SMU
Here is the only ranking you need.....
MWC payout 2.6 million per team.
CUSA payout 450 thousand per team.
TCU is....
1.Making 2 million more a year in the MWC, less maybe 300k or so in added travel costs.
2. Joining a much stronger football conference top-to-bottom with BCS potential.
3.Joining a much stronger basketball conference top-to-bottom with final four potential.
4.In a more stable conference that could be only raided by the PAC-10 or Big XII as opposed to the Big East.
Where are you getting that $450K figure? Or are you confusing C-USA revenue streams with MAC revenue streams?
A major point not discussed is basketball. I know football pays the bills; however, C-USA can't sugar coat losing Louisville, Cincinnati, Depaul, Marquette plus TCU, Charlotte, St.Louis and USF. Louisville and Cincinnati, DePaul, and Marquette are four of the more storied programs in the nation. You have to be on crack to think that C-USA is better without those four schools. UTEP is a good team; however, they aren't even in the same league as those four teams that left. Heck, Charlotte is better than UTEP. C-USA has Memphis as the only great program left. They will walk through C-USa every year at 23-7 or 24-6 and get in every year. UTEP and UAB may be regulars in the dance or NIT every year. After those three it looks like may be another nit bid at best(Houston) then 8 teams doing nothing every year. I don't see more than 3 bids from C-USa ever again to the NCAA tourneyment. The MAC, MVC, A-10, WCC, MWC, WAC, C-USa are each 2-3 bid leagues after the moves. Teams like UAB and UTEP better plan on improving those OOC schedules if they think a 20 win season makes them a lock for for the dance. Gone is the RPI power of C-USa. Even Memphis would be bubble if they don't win the Conference tourney. Welcome to life as a mid-major Memphis. Memphis is like Gonzaga and Utah. A power program in a mid-major league. Southern Illinois is having sucess lately, but is more like St. Joseph's or Xavier-top 25-30 every year but not a national power. The Horizon, Sun Belt and MAC elite change so often and teams like Kent State, Miami, Dayton, Butler, Hawaii, Western Kentucky that can't seem to reach the next level after some solid years and then start to drift back a bit. Some teams are one year wonders behind a rare player that is NBA material. Ohio with Trent, Loyola Marymount with Bo Kimble and the late Hank Gathers and Central Michigan with Chris Kaman. Reality will set in with C-USa. When the Big East gets 8 or 9 bids and the ACC 7 or 8 bids bids next March and the C-USa gets 2 just like the MAC and A-10. I do worry about 10 bids from the BE; however, Marshall rpi won't hurt the MAC next year so C-USA will get the shaft.
99Tiger Wrote:OK...let's look at the fuzzy math at work here.
We replaced a bunch of teams out east and in the midwest with a few from the east and more from Texas & Oklahoma. But somehow, they convinced themselves that the old CUSA travel costs were a valid point of comparison when they were deciding whether or not to move. Simply retarded.
Then, they act as if the record MWC disbursement is indicative of a typical year and not related to a windfall from Utah's BCS appearance.
They're trying REAL hard to make the numbers fit their decision.
Except CUSA's disbursement from boys basketball is likely to go down as well. So you'd be working the numbers either way.
