CSNbbs

I do remember. Now they are projected to get 1 lock bid with another one on the bubble. RIP CUSA basketball.

Yep, The Old Guard is spreadout through out the Country now.AAC, Big East, A10, ACC and CUSA

CUSA basketball hasn't been much since DePaul, Marquette, St. Louis, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida departed 10 years ago.

It was the Memphis show in CUSA for about a decade but now even its over.

I'm pretty sure CUSA could work its way back to 2 bid territory. They may need to make a couple more additions from CUSA to do it though. Once you have 16-18 schools in a conference it almost forces the issue of a second bid.

The original 12 members of C-USA and their conference affiliation as of July 1, 2014:

Charlotte (C-USA)
Southern Miss (C-USA)
UAB (C-USA)
Louisville (ACC)
Saint Louis (A-10)
DePaul (BE)
Marquette (BE)
Cincinnati (AAC)
Houston (AAC)
Memphis (AAC)
South Florida (AAC)
Tulane (AAC)

Those schools played MBB/Olympic sports in C-USA for a full decade (1995-2005). The league was taken very seriously by fans and by the national sports-media.

Charlotte vs. Cincinnati used to have some fun games IIRC.

(03-09-2014 10:32 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ]I'm pretty sure CUSA could work its way back to 2 bid territory. They may need to make a couple more additions from CUSA to do it though.

I'm thinking no matter how many times CUSA raids CUSA, the numbers on both side of the raid stay the same.

I understand the post, and agree with the OPs sentiments to a large extent. There are some powerful teams that once graced our conference.

But CUSA is what it is today, and given our make up we had a very fine basketball season, with 4 teams tied for first place with 13-3 conference records, and UTEP only one game out at 12-4. La Tech (26-5); Southern Miss (25-6) and Middle Tennessee (23-8) had fine seasons. No clue on who will win the tourney. But with WKU joining next season, and with ODU, UAB and Charlotte in the middle group, we'll be fine.

For the 9 years Tulsa was in CUSA, Memphis dominated and CUSA wasn't much in basketball.

The fact that in 2014, a year of substantial transition for CUSA, that CUSA has a second team in consideration for NCAA is a positive. New members like WKU, ODU, and Charlotte will give CUSA more quality teams than I witnessed in the 9 years Tulsa was in CUSA.

(03-09-2014 10:38 PM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]The original 12 members of C-USA and their conference affiliation as of July 1, 2014:

Charlotte (C-USA)
Southern Miss (C-USA)
UAB (C-USA)
Louisville (ACC)
Saint Louis (A-10)
DePaul (BE)
Marquette (BE)
Cincinnati (AAC)
Houston (AAC)
Memphis (AAC)
South Florida (AAC)
Tulane (AAC)

Those schools played MBB/Olympic sports in C-USA for a full decade (1995-2005). The league was taken very seriously by fans and by the national sports-media.

So, in other words, the CUSA is still a pretty good BBall conference, its just called The American Athletic Conference today.

(03-10-2014 11:34 AM)BruceMcF Wrote: [ -> ]So, in other words, the CUSA is still a pretty good BBall conference, its just called The American Athletic Conference today.

Not exactly, but there is some truth in that.

The expressions "C-USA 1.0" (1995-2005), "2.0" (2005-'13), and "3.0" (2013- ) are helpful. I would say that the AAC does bear some comparison with C-USA 1.0, with the following core-group being in both for all-sports:
Cincinnati
Houston
Memphis
South Florida
Tulane

And then basically trading:
Charlotte (non-football from 1995-05)
DePaul (non-football)
Louisville
Marquette (non-football)
Saint Louis (non-football)
Southern Miss
UAB (non-football from 1995-99)
TCU (2001-05)
Army (football-only)

in exchange for:
East Carolina
SMU
Tulsa
UCF
UConn
Navy (football-only)

Complete C-USA Version Guide:

C-USA 1.0 - No Football
1995
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida
Southern Miss
Tulane
UAB

C-USA 1.1 - Football Begins
1996
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
Houston
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida
Southern Miss
Tulane
UAB

C-USA 1.2
1997
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
East Carolina FB
Houston
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida
Southern Miss
Tulane
UAB

C-USA 1.3
1998
Army FB
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
East Carolina FB
Houston
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida
Southern Miss
Tulane
UAB

C-USA 1.4
1999
Army FB
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
East Carolina FB
Houston
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida
Southern Miss
Tulane
UAB Football Joins

C-USA 1.5
2001
Army FB
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
East Carolina All Sports Join
Houston
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida
Southern Miss
TCU
Tulane
UAB

C-USA 1.6
2003
Army FB
Charlotte
Cincinnati
DePaul
East Carolina
Houston
Louisville
Marquette
Memphis
St. Louis
South Florida Football Joins
Southern Miss
TCU
Tulane
UAB

C-USA 2.0
2005
East Carolina
Houston
Marshall
Memphis
Rice
SMU
Southern Miss
Tulane
Tulsa
UAB
UCF
UTEP

C-USA 3.0
2013
Charlotte No Football
East Carolina
FAU
FIU
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
MTSU
North Texas
Old Dominion No Football
Rice
Southern Miss
Tulane
Tulsa
UAB
UTEP
UTSA

C-USA 3.1
2014
Charlotte
FAU
FIU
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
MTSU
North Texas
Old Dominion Football Joins
Rice
Southern Miss
UAB
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

C-USA 3.2
2015
Charlotte Football Joins
FAU
FIU
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
MTSU
North Texas
Old Dominion
Rice
Southern Miss
UAB
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

(03-10-2014 08:44 AM)Cnelson203 Wrote: [ -> ]I understand the post, and agree with the OPs sentiments to a large extent. There are some powerful teams that once graced our conference.

But CUSA is what it is today, and given our make up we had a very fine basketball season, with 4 teams tied for first place with 13-3 conference records, and UTEP only one game out at 12-4. La Tech (26-5); Southern Miss (25-6) and Middle Tennessee (23-8) had fine seasons. No clue on who will win the tourney. But with WKU joining next season, and with ODU, UAB and Charlotte in the middle group, we'll be fine.

Yes, CUSA still has some good teams. But it no longer has the GREAT teams that made it a prominent conference.

I think the upper band CUSA teams might wish to consider upping their OOC scheduling. That would help get the four CUSA programs just outside the tournament in. You can't rely on the conference schedule to help you out anymore.

The Atlantic 10 knows that they can't always rely on their conference schedule, so their teams go out any play tough OOC schedules. Sometimes it burns them. This year, not so much (six NCAA bids are a possibility, with 5 a lock).

(03-10-2014 01:39 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-10-2014 08:44 AM)Cnelson203 Wrote: [ -> ]I understand the post, and agree with the OPs sentiments to a large extent. There are some powerful teams that once graced our conference.

But CUSA is what it is today, and given our make up we had a very fine basketball season, with 4 teams tied for first place with 13-3 conference records, and UTEP only one game out at 12-4. La Tech (26-5); Southern Miss (25-6) and Middle Tennessee (23-8) had fine seasons. No clue on who will win the tourney. But with WKU joining next season, and with ODU, UAB and Charlotte in the middle group, we'll be fine.

Yes, CUSA still has some good teams. But it no longer has the GREAT teams that made it a prominent conference.

I think the upper band CUSA teams might wish to consider upping their OOC scheduling. That would help get the four CUSA programs just outside the tournament in. You can't rely on the conference schedule to help you out anymore.

The Atlantic 10 knows that they can't always rely on their conference schedule, so their teams go out any play tough OOC schedules. Sometimes it burns them. This year, not so much (six NCAA bids are a possibility, with 5 a lock).

CUSA needs to look at the policies the A10 adopted and mimic those.

When Charlotte first arrived in the A10, it was not a conference that was consistently getting AT LEAST 3 teams in. Now 3 is pretty much the norm and up to 6 is possible this year despite the losses of XU and Temple.

I don't expect 6 to be normal, but obviously the A10 has done things well. I also don't expect CUSA to be on the A10's level, but with the right policies and incentives in place, I don't see why 2 bids couldn't be normal for CUSA.

The worst thing about 3.2 is that there are no dominant football teams similar to what the Sun Belt has struggled with all these years. You look at that schedule and anyone from Rice, UTSA, to WKU can win the conference any given year and it looks bad when USM/FIU/UAB type teams beat the supposed top teams after getting blown out in OOC games.

(03-09-2014 11:24 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote: [ -> ]Charlotte vs. Cincinnati used to have some fun games IIRC.

Oh how I hated Charlotte. I still remember the game that the Charlotte fans pelted our players with trash as they left the stadium.

And the game the next year when our radio announcer got kicked out by the refs. That was hilarious.

(03-10-2014 11:25 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote: [ -> ]If it was me, FIU and FAU would be gone from CUSA tomorrow. They should have been left in the Sun Belt.

This is what CUSA should have done:

MTSU, UAB, Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, WKU
USM, Rice, UTEP, UTSA, La Tech, UNT

C-USA definitely does NOT need additional teams beyond the ones it already has (incl. WKU).

Not sure yet about FAU/FIU. FAU seems to have brought C-USA into a new bowl game. Competitively they were weak this past season but have had some success in the past.

(03-10-2014 12:05 PM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-10-2014 11:34 AM)BruceMcF Wrote: [ -> ]So, in other words, the CUSA is still a pretty good BBall conference, its just called The American Athletic Conference today.

Not exactly, but there is some truth in that.

Its sacrificing some precision for brevity. But there's a kernel of truth there.

(03-10-2014 04:09 PM)Niner National Wrote: [ -> ]CUSA needs to look at the policies the A10 adopted and mimic those.

When Charlotte first arrived in the A10, it was not a conference that was consistently getting AT LEAST 3 teams in. Now 3 is pretty much the norm and up to 6 is possible this year despite the losses of XU and Temple.

I don't expect 6 to be normal, but obviously the A10 has done things well. I also don't expect CUSA to be on the A10's level, but with the right policies and incentives in place, I don't see why 2 bids couldn't be normal for CUSA.

What Charlotte experienced in the A10 was an aberration. Charlotte had the misfortune of joining the A10 during its worst year, 2005. From 1991 to 2004, the A10 averaged 3.3 tourney bids per season, with only 2 seasons below 3 bids. After getting 4 bids in 2004, the league only got its AQ winner into the tournament in 2005, and as a 12 seed at that. It was the only year the league had a losing non-conference record, post-1980s. Then Charlotte and Saint Louis arrived and the league endured two 2-bid seasons before getting back to ithe usual 3 bid average in 2008.

I don't think there's any formula there for CUSA to copy from the A10 though. These two conferences are almost opposites at this point, other than both being vaguely eastern. CUSA just needs two or three programs to get their acts together in basketball at the same time. They can't make it a conference-wide focus like the A10 because they have football to deal with. 2 bids makes a huge difference over 1 bid, which renders your regular season meaningless, and 3 bids is another jump in legitimacy because it means you didn't just sneak in a bid stealer as your AQ. Anything above 3 is gravy. 3 bids is where you need to get to in order to keep the media watching your basketball conference all season.

(03-10-2014 11:39 PM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-10-2014 11:25 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote: [ -> ]If it was me, FIU and FAU would be gone from CUSA tomorrow. They should have been left in the Sun Belt.

This is what CUSA should have done:

MTSU, UAB, Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, WKU
USM, Rice, UTEP, UTSA, La Tech, UNT

C-USA definitely does NOT need additional teams beyond the ones it already has (incl. WKU).

Not sure yet about FAU/FIU. FAU seems to have brought C-USA into a new bowl game. Competitively they were weak this past season but have had some success in the past.

We were sad when they took MTSU and WKU. Why they took FIU and FAU off our hands was a real head scratcher (and why they took FIU before either MTSU or WKU was really shocking). I wish them well, but many of us in the Belt were like "ok, bye". Miami has appalling attendance issues and they win national championships. South Florida just isn't much of a college sports market. It is, however, a recruiting market.

(03-11-2014 07:49 AM)LastMinuteman Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-10-2014 04:09 PM)Niner National Wrote: [ -> ]CUSA needs to look at the policies the A10 adopted and mimic those.

When Charlotte first arrived in the A10, it was not a conference that was consistently getting AT LEAST 3 teams in. Now 3 is pretty much the norm and up to 6 is possible this year despite the losses of XU and Temple.

I don't expect 6 to be normal, but obviously the A10 has done things well. I also don't expect CUSA to be on the A10's level, but with the right policies and incentives in place, I don't see why 2 bids couldn't be normal for CUSA.

What Charlotte experienced in the A10 was an aberration. Charlotte had the misfortune of joining the A10 during its worst year, 2005. From 1991 to 2004, the A10 averaged 3.3 tourney bids per season, with only 2 seasons below 3 bids. After getting 4 bids in 2004, the league only got its AQ winner into the tournament in 2005, and as a 12 seed at that. It was the only year the league had a losing non-conference record, post-1980s. Then Charlotte and Saint Louis arrived and the league endured two 2-bid seasons before getting back to ithe usual 3 bid average in 2008.

I don't think there's any formula there for CUSA to copy from the A10 though. These two conferences are almost opposites at this point, other than both being vaguely eastern. CUSA just needs two or three programs to get their acts together in basketball at the same time. They can't make it a conference-wide focus like the A10 because they have football to deal with. 2 bids makes a huge difference over 1 bid, which renders your regular season meaningless, and 3 bids is another jump in legitimacy because it means you didn't just sneak in a bid stealer as your AQ. Anything above 3 is gravy. 3 bids is where you need to get to in order to keep the media watching your basketball conference all season.

The A-10 has a set of rules that others don't copy.

1) The A-10 doesn't distribute revenue equally. You earn it, you keep more of it.

2) The A-10 schedules strong OOC schedules. Always has. You never see an A-10 team scheduling some NAIA or Div II squad.

The A-10 has its problem children (Duquesne and Fordham being those teams). Why we let Duquesne back in the conference after they left for a year in the early 90's escapes me. Why we bid for Fordham also escapes me. I'm worried about Davidson as well. Has anyone seen USM's schedule? Utterly ridiculous. If you have a team that could win 28 games and NOT qualify for an at large, theres an issue.