Huge blow for C-USA in football after already losing high profile programs such as UCF and Houston. Setting the stage for the MAC to end up being a much better conference than C-USA as they continue to shore up their ranks with IAA programs. Man, the C-USA board is in meltdown stage over there...emotions running very high from those left behind. By the way, probably make sense for ECU to put its other sports in CAA.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/wr...t=cf_t2_a4
Very happy for East Carolina.
CUSA already added Charlotte and ODU to cover the same TV markets ECU provided and LaTech backfills CUSA in Louisiana. The departures shouldn't hurt CUSA too much but there are some interesting points to be had here.
1) Southern Miss and UAB are the only 2 of the 11 founding members of CUSA that still play in the conference for 2014. That's not too great for a conference that prides itself as a destination conference. 2014 will be the 20th anniversary of CUSA.
2) CUSA only has 6 schools that have played together for a minimum of 2 years (UTEP, Tulsa, Rice, So Miss, UAB, Marshall) which is the minimum required for a conference to retain its Oly autobids. The conference is getting dangerously close to losing those autobids.
3) The merger between the MWC and CUSA as another coast-to-coast conference behind the BE has become easier now that the two leagues are down to 22 schools. If they could get down to 20 combined then they could break into a 10 team division conference.
The MWC is almost in the same boat as CUSA with regard to the Oly autobids. This year they have 7 continuous members (SDSU, Boise St, UNLV, Wyoming, Colorado St, Air Force, New Mexico). In 2013 they will also only have 7 (Fresno St, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming, Colorado St, Air Force, New Mexico). The Big East is talking about expanding to 16 teams in football and if they grab both Fresno and UNLV they are pretty close to being toast.
(11-28-2012 07:29 AM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ]The Big East is talking about expanding to 16 teams in football and if they grab both Fresno and UNLV they are pretty close to being toast.
The Big East is down to one member in football that was there ten years ago and that's Temple.
(11-28-2012 07:29 AM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ]1) Southern Miss and UAB are the only 2 of the 11 founding members of CUSA that still play in the conference for 2014. That's not too great for a conference that prides itself as a destination conference. 2014 will be the 20th anniversary of CUSA.
Technically, founding member Charlotte will be in the league in all sports except football for 2013 and 2014 before re-joining in all-sports in 2015.
(11-28-2012 07:23 PM)Chappy Wrote: [ -> ] (11-28-2012 07:29 AM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ]1) Southern Miss and UAB are the only 2 of the 11 founding members of CUSA that still play in the conference for 2014. That's not too great for a conference that prides itself as a destination conference. 2014 will be the 20th anniversary of CUSA.
Technically, founding member Charlotte will be in the league in all sports except football for 2013 and 2014 before re-joining in all-sports in 2015.
Then you're looking at the following numbers.
2013 (12 FB/14 BB)-ODU/Charlotte basketball only
2014 (13 FB/14 BB)-ODU joins for football
2015 (14 FB/14 BB)-Charlotte joins for football.
ODU is an 11 hour drive from Middle Tennessee.
ODU to Akron is 9 hours
ODU to Ohio is 8 hours.
ODU to Charlotte is 6 hours
Charlotte to Akron is 8 hours
Charlotte to MTSU is 7 hours
Charlotte to Ohio is 6 hours
Charlotte and ODU are both closer to Ohio than what they are to MTSU. If you throw James Madison into the mix....
Akron to JMU is 6 hours
Charlotte to JMU is 5 hours
Ohio to JMU is 5 hours
ODU to JMU is 4 hours
The distance between the Akron, Kent and Ohio of the MAC to JMU, Charlotte and Old Dominion is much less than what those schools are looking at with most of the trips in CUSA East.
Here is something to consider, the effect on the amount of 7+ win teams with the new conference lineups....The Big East lost 1 bowl certification while the SBS lost 1/2 a certification. CUSA and MAC no change.
Before the latest changes (2013 lineups):
Big East (Avg=7.75)
2012 (6)
2011 (8)
2010 (8)
2009 (9)
MAC (Avg=4.5)
2012 (6)
2011 (4)
2010 (4)
2009 (4)
CUSA (Avg=3.5)
2012 (3)
2011 (5)
2010 (3)
2009 (3)
SBC (Avg=2.75)
2012 (5)
2011 (3)
2010 (1)
2009 (2)
After the latest changes (2014 lineups):
Big East (Avg=6.75)
2012 (5)
2011 (6)
2010 (7)
2009 (9)
MAC (Avg=4.5)
2012 (6)
2011 (4)
2010 (4)
2009 (4)
CUSA (Avg=3.5)
2012 (3)
2011 (5)
2010 (3)
2009 (3)
SBC (Avg=2.25)
2012 (4)
2011 (3)
2010 (1)
2009 (1)
The Big East actually did its bowl lineup a favor by taking ECU and Tulane because that all but assures that the conference will have the Belk and New Orleans Bowl.
BE Bowl lineup 2014
1) Liberty (vs. SEC #6)
2) Belk (vs. ACC #6)
3) Poinsettia (vs. PAC #6)
4) BBVA (vs. SEC #8)
5) Washington, DC (vs. ACC #8)
6) Boise (vs. MAC #3)
7) New Orleans (vs. SBC #2)
After the Top 2 picks, the Big East will go regional for its bowl games. Note that almost every game is tailor picked for a particular school.
CUSA is going to be down to like 3 tie-ins (Ft. Worth, Shreveport and Tampa). CUSA ensured that they'll keep a bowl in Tampa by having both FAU and FIU in the same conference. Its a pretty crappy lineup for a 14 team conference, IMO.
Sun Belt will have to remain at 2 games until they can build more quality. The MAC likely picks up a 4th game such as the Hawaii against the MWC that none of the Big 5 conferences want.