02-13-2004, 08:52 PM
02-15-2004, 04:34 PM
02-15-2004, 05:26 PM
02-16-2004, 02:06 PM
Schadenfreude Wrote:Actually, Kit Kat seems consistent to me about all of this. It all fits into his grand delusion that Ohio University is on the cusp of becoming a North Carolina, Michigan or Berkeley and that an invitation to the ACC will soon follow.Jeckyl-Hyde would be apt description of my behavior
I became seriously interested in the issue of OU moving up about 5 years ago after I began to understand the fustration of MAC basketball. I was inscenced about playing in a Mid-Major league while schools like Xavier and Dayton with similar facilities were playing in the A-10. Numerous move up solutions I've suggested involved either a move to the Big East, an expanded A-10 with football, or a MAC-A10 hybrid.
Then I began to realize the truth about OU basketball. How our location hurt us deeply, diminishing our TV appeal, recruiting appeal. Moving to the Big East in basketball would be a disaster.....we'd never be more than a second division team. My thoughts then turned to the A-10 or CUSA thinking maybe these leagues aren't so difficult...but provide enough profile to get things going in Athens. There is more hoops TV for the A-10 and CUSA, but which teams are getting the extra games....Xavier, Dayton, Temple, Tulsa, Memphis....while OU would be in a rural group with ECU and USM who don't have more than token TV exposure. So, I've concluded moving up in basketball would not be an asset to this program.
The football part of the plan for OU featured a move to the Big East, while at the same time the number of 1-A schools in Ohio would diminish because of the 1-A rule, giving the school a monopoly on MAC level talent in Ohio. Virginia Tech played football games at Richmond as late as the mid 80's, and was a benefactor of the 1-A/1-AA split as much as anyone. Virginia Tech had a couple of other advantages that would not be available to OU. There was no Ohio State in Virginia......UVa was pulling crowds in the 20's a 15 years ago.....the door was wide open for VT to become the Ohio State of Virginia. Also VT was located in ACC country, an area with a weak football tradition, making it easier to pitch the Big East throughout the region. It would be more difficult for OU trying to sell the Big East in Ohio. If OU moved to the Big East, it would be nothing more generally than a mid level team going to a minor bowl......Ohio State's stranglehold on the top talent in Ohio will always remain. The Big East football would give us additional money, for sure....but that would be eaten up by higher salaries........more TV opportunties but also more competitive top to bottom in the MAC.....making it very tough to build a consistant bowl game type program.
Therefore, I perfer to stay in the MAC. The MAC isn't a BCS conference or a three bid basketball league, but it has some nice perks for OU.
1.Dirt low salary costs compared with the "high major" conferences.
2.Very low travel costs and travel times for a division 1 league.
3.Ohio based conference with instate rivals.
4.Great instate basketball conference tournement (Gund).
5.Regional Bowl games.
6.Shared academic identity in the MAC as a public school conference.
The MAC has competitive programs in basketball that will keep your RPI respectable if you have a good team.
The bottom feeders in MAC football allow Toledo, Miamiu, BG, NIU to stay on top, making it an easier path to the top 25 than the Big East. The Big East and Mountain West have got in wrong. The MWC has better sagarins yet consistantly doesn't have as many teams as the MAC in the top 25. There is a reason why the OklahomaSt's and the Oregon St's of the world play in BCS conferences.......Its because the Oklahoma's and Oregon's have someone to beat up on. In a Big 8 with Oklahoma, Texas, TAMU, Nebraska, KansasSt, Colorado, Missoui, and IowaSt....some of these programs aren't going to be bowling.
As far as academics are concerned.....what conference you play in doesn't really matter. OU has already established itself as a major liberal arts school. We're not going to have the respect of a UVA or UNC because we don't have a monopoly on state money like those schools. Ohio State recieves the most money from the state because of its central location that makes it an ideal location for the majority of the state's professional programs. I see OU going in the direction of enhancing its role as major land grant college by increasing its enrollment for more state money, trying to build as many professional programs as the state will allow.
The reputation of the school is pretty much built. One area I think will be improved in the next few years is football, from winning percentage to fan base. There is no reason with school and college town that we have to expect less than a football team in the top 5 of the MAC, year in and out like Miami and Toledo. Growing the school will help the fan base as well, along with the completion of a limited access highway from Columbus to West Virginia. Two more bypasses are scheduled to be completed for 2005, with the final leg by 2010. And OU football is right in the middle of the corridor......new growth to the region equals new fans.
My official OU position statement. I put out the CUSA site survey because I don't want to be left behind if Miamiu leaves for CUSA. I doubt Miamiu will leave for CUSA.....just in case they do....they should bring their biggest MAC rival with them. Afterall, they will still want to play us, just like Marshall. And OU has a lot more state wide appeal than Toledo....
02-16-2004, 02:38 PM
02-16-2004, 02:46 PM
02-16-2004, 03:01 PM
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02-17-2004, 08:35 AM