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Monarch fans,

I like the proposal being talked about on the CUSA board about going to 16 teams in CUSA.
Looking at this map, I see a great opportunity to constrict the conference into 2 groups of 8, basically making it two bus leagues.
How do you feel about this? The added two mouths to the trough would be offset by reduced travel costs, as the conference treats each division like a mini conference.
I've heard about the 4 pods idea, but I think 2 divisions of 8 would work better.
Are you down with that? I really like how CUSA is developing and I think this Superconference idea could make it a unique conference and increase payouts and tournament invites.

Ghostbusters! Sorry I couldn't resist....


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VCU, GMU and JMU.. only problem is that none of these schools have Football.

Appy State, South Alabama, and (holding my nose) Georgia State.

If I had to appease the west, I could go with Ark State over USA.

Coastal Carolina and Georgia State from the Sun Belt. Then I try and get Towson and Delaware to move up from 1-AA. It helps fill the gap from UNC-C to the Florida twins down south and adds two up north that are not far from Norfolk so we are no longer on an island. Also it has the added benefit of keeping JMU out of 1-A.

(10-18-2016 07:34 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  Coastal Carolina and Georgia State from the Sun Belt. Then I try and get Towson and Delaware to move up from 1-AA. It helps fill the gap from UNC-C to the Florida twins down south and adds two up north that are not far from Norfolk so we are no longer on an island. Also it has the added benefit of keeping JMU out of 1-A.

Not gonna happen, but can you just imagine what the JMU boards would look like in this scenario? What would CAA football look like then?

(10-18-2016 07:39 PM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  

(10-18-2016 07:34 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  Coastal Carolina and Georgia State from the Sun Belt. Then I try and get Towson and Delaware to move up from 1-AA. It helps fill the gap from UNC-C to the Florida twins down south and adds two up north that are not far from Norfolk so we are no longer on an island. Also it has the added benefit of keeping JMU out of 1-A.

Not gonna happen, but can you just imagine what the JMU boards would look like in this scenario? What would CAA football look like then?

Oh I know. It would be amazing. JMU would eat their own. CAA Football would be done. We would be sitting here like:

Add UMass, App St. , Ga. State and Ark St.

I presume that any Conference USA expansion proposal would include Arkansas State and Texas State, or two similarly located schools. That way, UAB can move to the East, where it's most comfortable. I have no clue whether this will happen, but it does seem like the most obvious road to Rome.

I'd call the plumber

Georgia Southern; because two of the top five highest television ratings in FCS (non P5 opponent) history were the ODU - Georgia Southern playoff games.

Can i say no one? I don't see why CUSA would expand and dilute the already small amount of TV money each school is receiving.

(10-19-2016 07:45 AM)FTW ODU Wrote:  Can i say no one? I don't see why CUSA would expand and dilute the already small amount of TV money each school is receiving.

TV revenue and the CFP revenue is such a small part of our complete revenue stream, decreasing it wouldn't have that big of an impact. If we could decrease travel cost and increase ratings (and ticket sales) by making more intriguing matchups, it could actually result in a better bottom line.

We need to improve our ratings (or demand for our product) quickly, otherwise we will end up with an even worse TV deal in 2 years when the current deal expires.

(10-18-2016 07:51 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  

(10-18-2016 07:39 PM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  

(10-18-2016 07:34 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  Coastal Carolina and Georgia State from the Sun Belt. Then I try and get Towson and Delaware to move up from 1-AA. It helps fill the gap from UNC-C to the Florida twins down south and adds two up north that are not far from Norfolk so we are no longer on an island. Also it has the added benefit of keeping JMU out of 1-A.

Not gonna happen, but can you just imagine what the JMU boards would look like in this scenario? What would CAA football look like then?

Oh I know. It would be amazing. JMU would eat their own. CAA Football would be done. We would be sitting here like:

LOL , but are we not in that situation with the P5 vs G5 already?

(10-18-2016 06:31 PM)Petey Hodge Wrote:  VCU, GMU and JMU.. only problem is that none of these schools have Football.

East:
Old Dominion
Marshall
Charlotte
App State
Ga Southern
Ga State
FAU
FIU

West:
UAB
Southern Miss
La Tech
UTSA
North Texas
Rice
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennessee

*UTEP to MW, move WKU and MT to western division. Scour SB for two best football programs with name recognition and on field performance (App and Ga So). And Ga State for its decent BB program.

I kind of wish the powers-that-be would swallow their pride and create a more regional, relevant conference that would be more appealing to the fan bases. If we retained the Eastern base of CUSA and filled in the gaps with a few select schools, we could have a very competitive, more interesting 12-14 team conference. One that would be decent at both football and basketball. My proposal would include the following schools that we could REALISTICALLY expect to be interested (south to north):

1. FIU
2. FAU
3. GSU
4. gSU* (the one in Atlanta)
5. Southern Miss*
6. UAB*
7. MTSU*
8. WKU*
9. Charlotte*
10. App State
11. ODU*
12. Marshall*

* Historically decent/competent basketball schools.

If going to 14, or if Southern Miss declined (they may want to go with the Western CUSA schools). One or two of the following:

13. Liberty
14. JMU

Liberty and JMU would be controversial and/or speculative. JMU's admin may not have the desire to leave the comfy confines of the CAA. Liberty is a lightening rod for a lot of folks, but they have the money, the facilities and the commitment to grow. That coupled with their TV network and increased exposure makes them a nice addition. I also think it would be nice to have a more regional rival for our fan base.

I'm also ambivalent about the Florida schools. Their lack of commitment to improving basketball is an anchor on the conference and their football programs seem to be in constant flux. That, coupled with their disinterested fan bases and great distance makes them a questionable inclusion. I know Marshall fans think it's important to have a Florida presence for recruiting. I guess I would invite them with the stipulation that they improve their basketball programs/facilities.

This conference would be very competitive in both basketball and football, and have a much tighter geographic footprint. It would also have a greater number of established rivalries (WKU/MTSU; Appy/GSU; ODU/JMU) and potential rivalries, and be significantly more culturally homogeneous.

The bottom line is that the current iteration of CUSA doesn't really work that well. Travel is terrible, the East and the West don't care about each other and we're on an island. Something akin to what I propose would provide a nice, stable home that I would be happy to support as an ODU fan.

(10-19-2016 07:54 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(10-19-2016 07:45 AM)FTW ODU Wrote:  Can i say no one? I don't see why CUSA would expand and dilute the already small amount of TV money each school is receiving.

TV revenue and the CFP revenue is such a small part of our complete revenue stream, decreasing it wouldn't have that big of an impact. If we could decrease travel cost and increase ratings (and ticket sales) by making more intriguing matchups, it could actually result in a better bottom line.

We need to improve our ratings (or demand for our product) quickly, otherwise we will end up with an even worse TV deal in 2 years when the current deal expires.

Which of these teams is going to increase ratings? All of the schools "available" are in conferences with less value than CUSA. ODU already sells out every game and is designing the new stadium with the understanding that no visiting team is going to drive ticket sales.

While TV and CFP revenue may be a small percentage of overall budget at some point all those pennies add up to real money. The other revenue stream completely ignored by most in this conference is basketball. Adding more teams and none of them can even identify a basketball--only further dilutes the competitiveness and revenue. At 16, why not split? CUSA needs to subtract 4 teams not add two more.

(10-19-2016 08:53 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  East:
Old Dominion
Marshall
Charlotte
App State
Ga Southern
Ga State
FAU
FIU

West:
UAB
Southern Miss
La Tech
UTSA
North Texas
Rice
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennessee

*UTEP to MW, move WKU and MT to western division. Scour SB for two best football programs with name recognition and on field performance (App and Ga So). And Ga State for its decent BB program.

Replace Georgia Southern with Georgia State and I am good with this. We need someone who can play basketball and the ATL market doesn't hurt either.

(10-19-2016 09:19 AM)Maryland Monarch Wrote:  I kind of wish the powers-that-be would swallow their pride and create a more regional, relevant conference that would be more appealing to the fan bases. If we retained the Eastern base of CUSA and filled in the gaps with a few select schools, we could have a very competitive, more interesting 12-14 team conference. One that would be decent at both football and basketball. My proposal would include the following schools that we could REALISTICALLY expect to be interested (south to north):

1. FIU
2. FAU
3. GSU
4. gSU* (the one in Atlanta)
5. Southern Miss*
6. UAB*
7. MTSU*
8. WKU*
9. Charlotte*
10. App State
11. ODU*
12. Marshall*

* Historically decent/competent basketball schools.

If going to 14, or if Southern Miss declined (they may want to go with the Western CUSA schools). One or two of the following:

13. Liberty
14. JMU

Liberty and JMU would be controversial and/or speculative. JMU's admin may not have the desire to leave the comfy confines of the CAA. Liberty is a lightening rod for a lot of folks, but they have the money, the facilities and the commitment to grow. That coupled with their TV network and increased exposure makes them a nice addition. I also think it would be nice to have a more regional rival for our fan base.

I'm also ambivalent about the Florida schools. Their lack of commitment to improving basketball is an anchor on the conference and their football programs seem to be in constant flux. That, coupled with their disinterested fan bases and great distance makes them a questionable inclusion. I know Marshall fans think it's important to have a Florida presence for recruiting. I guess I would invite them with the stipulation that they improve their basketball programs/facilities.

This conference would be very competitive in both basketball and football, and have a much tighter geographic footprint. It would also have a greater number of established rivalries (WKU/MTSU; Appy/GSU; ODU/JMU) and potential rivalries, and be significantly more culturally homogeneous.

The bottom line is that the current iteration of CUSA doesn't really work that well. Travel is terrible, the East and the West don't care about each other and we're on an island. Something akin to what I propose would provide a nice, stable home that I would be happy to support as an ODU fan.

That conference would blow in basketball just like the current version of CUSA. There is tons of dead weight (over half the conference).

12 teams is too many (unnecessary now that championship games have been deregulated).

9-10 would be far superior.

The best way would be to keep a core of CUSA that cares (i.e. decent budgets/attendance): MT, WKU, Marshall, UAB, Charlotte & ODU.

But the issue is after those I'm not sure which schools remaining fit. App St-pros: football/fans cons: basketball, redundant geography
Georgia Southern: pros: football/fans/geography? cons: basketball/budget?
Georgia State: pros: geography/budget/basketball? cons: fans/football
JMU pros: budget/fans cons: basketball/geography

Those would probably be the 4 I would think are the best contenders. Maybe South Alabama, but I don't really know enough about them.