(11-15-2015 11:26 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 11:13 AM)usmbacker Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 11:07 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 09:59 AM)USM@FTL Wrote:  You're comparing attendance between a top-25 Houston and a mediocre Rice? And then you're saying it's C-USA versus AAC?

Thank you for calling us mediocre. That is the kindest word I have found on the internet this morning.

Is the Rice coach in any trouble this year? He has had some great success at Rice, so I doubt he is, but curious what Rice fans are saying.

Check out the Rice board and you will see that almost everyone has been calling for his ouster all season.

Start here for the Cliff's notes: http://csnbbs.com/thread-757764-post-126...id12647512

People need to understand the demographics for Rice's fanbase: Rice has a very small undergrad #.

Also if you put ALL of Rice's living graduates inside the stadium they still couldn't fill it up.

It's also hard when most of Rice grads move out of the city.

(11-15-2015 10:58 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 10:24 AM)Old Dominion Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 09:59 AM)USM@FTL Wrote:  You're comparing attendance between a top-25 Houston and a mediocre Rice? And then you're saying it's C-USA versus AAC?

Think about what you said. Your very sentence points out the problem. Baruna Falls is an a..hole, but he's right. AAC is light years ahead of us right now.

I did not start the thread nor make the statement you are accusing me of making.

Believe me I didn't say what I did based on this thread.

I love it when people use specific ,isolated examples to refute a huge body of evidence. I think in time the top tier of C-USA will be every bit as good as AAC, I also think, right now, with 3 teams in the top 25 to C-USA's none, they are a better conference in the eyes of the football world. I don't really care whose top is better or whose bottom is worse. AAC has teams with far more name recognition and far more accomplishments.

(11-15-2015 10:58 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 10:24 AM)Old Dominion Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 09:59 AM)USM@FTL Wrote:  You're comparing attendance between a top-25 Houston and a mediocre Rice? And then you're saying it's C-USA versus AAC?

Think about what you said. Your very sentence points out the problem. Baruna Falls is an a..hole, but he's right. AAC is light years ahead of us right now.

I did not start the thread nor make the statement you are accusing me of making.

They're gonna mess around and lose out on Miss Congeniality too.

(11-15-2015 09:49 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 09:15 AM)Franko Wrote:  No doubt the AAC is the better conference over all this season but looking back just to last season there is a lot of proof that CUSA had a better season.
The Houston-Memphis game had bigger ramifactions than USM-Rice, I would hope it was attract a larger audience.
It is a misnomer to state that there was gap to begin with when using only one season as the foundation for your assessment.
That should be saw not seen by the way.
Congrats to Houston on the comeback, Memphis basically handed them the game.

You really think there is no gap between the two? 4 ranked AAC teams , while not great, says much about perception and clout.

.
Where did I say there is no gap between the two? I said this season the AAC is a better league overall while last season CUSA was better when you consider all the teams. I guess it depends on the duration of the gap the OP was referring to.

Well, after this past weekend they will be down to one ranked team... So much for that.

(11-15-2015 11:02 AM)ah59396 Wrote:  The AAC is in a different class of G5 conferences. You guys may hate to hear that, but it's true.

From top to bottom it has better caliber teams with established fan bases. And it's top ranked teams actually make a splash in the top 25.

CUSA, Sunbelt, ect, are basically composed of a couple solid programs and then trash.

No doubt AAC is the best this year. But let's not get carried away with the top to bottom crap. Their bottom is just as bad as any other G5 bottom. SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa won't average 20k fans this year.

And I'll venture to say the AAC is having the best year they will probably ever have with 4 teams ranked. They will never ever consistently do that for a number of reasons. No G5 will, simply bc when someone consistently wins in these leagues, their coaches will get snatched up, and teams will have to regroup and rebuild.

Some of you are letting your pride get in the way of logic ...COMMON SENSE

of course the AAC is a head of CUSA ..in every way right now and it's not close. Was CUSA's football better last year? Sure it was but that's one sport and one year.

Till we can make that case or close the gap every year in football there really should be be no argument. Can the top of CUSA compete with the top of ACC this year in football? I think we can but our middle and bottom are just AWFUL this year. I think CUSA has 5 schools that can compete with the ACC top 5 because muts have showed they're only a couple mistakes away from being a good football team. Three weeks ago I would have said no to S. Miss...today I think they have closed the gap with Tech.

Western
Tech
Marshall
S. Miss
Muts

I think each of those 5 are just as good as the top 5 in the AAC but the media looks at both conferences in a different light because of the names and what we did OCC.

To me there is no doubt the media looks at Houston, Memphis, USF,UCF, cINY, cONN, being a lot closer to the "state" school in their state than any CUSA school. It's like a step ladder with those schools being on the 2nd from the top rung and CUSA schools being on the 3rd..

PERCEPTION

But not only perception but also on the field, this year and on the basketball court, and in bank statements, and in fan support. Till the day comes that one of our schools turns down a AAC invite...

they are ahead of CUSA

We need to work in closing the gap, like last year, but one year will not get the job done. It especially wont when CUSA is so far behind the AAC in basketball.

It's not about can some of our schools compete with the AAC ....it's overall, top to bottom where they widen the gap...do it with money, fans, wins. Use common sense folks.

^ +1.

I don't know what the "even more" part is supposed to mean.

That was a league that wasn't even the third best conference just a year ago.

They undeniably are having a great year, but they have a bunch of teams with senior laden squads that are outperforming where most thought they would be.

Will be interesting to see if they are able to sustain anything as a league going into next year particularly since some of their coaches are likely to be moving on.

(11-15-2015 02:15 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  Well, after this past weekend they will be down to one ranked team... So much for that.

Coaches Poll:

Houston 14
Navy 19
Memphis 27
Temple 32

AP Poll:

Houston 13
Navy 19
Memphis 28
Temple32

that's 2 ranked teams, and Memphis could jump right back in by beating Temple on Sat.

Yes it is, only two this week.....

(11-15-2015 03:37 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  Yes it is, only two this week.....

The gap is already closing.

(11-15-2015 03:53 PM)T_Won1 Wrote:  

(11-15-2015 03:37 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  Yes it is, only two this week.....

The gap is already closing.

lol I have been telling you guys for awhile - eager eagle is an Ull fan - not a USM fan.
It is hard to believe a USM would start this kind of thread bashing his/her school conference after his/her school biggest road win in the last 3 years.

We have alot of "fans" that like to bash their own school.....

(11-15-2015 10:45 AM)monarchman Wrote:  They're far ahead in football with more money to spend, and significantly ahead in basketball. It's just a better league.

....and exactly what do you gain from saying that?

(11-15-2015 10:49 AM)topper1296 Wrote:  WKU beat Navy last year and year before last.

And LA Tech beat Houston the last time we played 'em (in 2012, at Houston), Tulsa too (2013), SMU (2004?), etc....

I think only comparing top teams is a fallacy. For instance, USM, would have struggled the last few years against any AAC team. This year they could solidly beat 4-6 of them, toss-up between 2-4, and probably lose to top 4 AAC teams. While UCF would likely not win a game in CUSA, unless they played us of course

It's cyclical and coaching changes, rebuilding, etc will make some teams rise and others fall. Just as the AAC was pretty terrible last year they are pretty damn good this year. And their parity is starting to show. They will eliminate themselves from being too great just as CUSA has historically done.

I think the evolution of the AAC parity actually makes the gap a little more narrow then wide. CUSA wasn't good OOC this year. But even if we had been, we would have banged each other up except for a few teams at the very top and would have been written off as a bad conference. That was the AAC last year. It can flipflop again. And there will likely be some coaching changes, etc, again because just like us their coaches want to reach the pinnacle of college ball. And much as they don't want to admit it, the AAC is not near the pinnacle.