For several years there has been two factions within C-USA. (1) Those that wanted C-USA to stay together, spend more money, and improve, and (2) those that wanted to realign with the Sun Belt into more regional conferences and save money. Generally speaking, the eastern members seemed aligned with the the second, and they hated the perceived Texas slant C-USA had taken. Neither faction actually got their way. Conference realignment has led to 6 members relocating to the American and 3 moving to the Sun Belt. And of course there are the 5 that will remain in C-USA.

I find it interesting that the majority of the members leaving for the American were against realignment with the Sun Belt, and all 3 of those moving to the Sun Belt were in favor of realigning with the Sun Belt. So, how do you feel about where your program is headed? And, do you blame/thank one side for the outcome. I'd like to read other fans' insights and perspectives on how we got where we are.

clt is happy

#P6

Who were/are the ones out of the 6 going to the AAC that were against merging with the sunbelt?

(12-04-2021 10:08 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:  For several years there has been two factions within C-USA. (1) Those that wanted C-USA to stay together, spend more money, and improve, and (2) those that wanted to realign with the Sun Belt into more regional conferences and save money. Generally speaking, the eastern members seemed aligned with the the second, and they hated the perceived Texas slant C-USA had taken. Neither faction actually got their way. Conference realignment has led to 6 members relocating to the American and 3 moving to the Sun Belt. And of course there are the 5 that will remain in C-USA.

I find it interesting that the majority of the members leaving for the American were against realignment with the Sun Belt, and all 3 of those moving to the Sun Belt were in favor of realigning with the Sun Belt. So, how do you feel about where your program is headed? And, do you blame/thank one side for the outcome. I'd like to read other fans' insights and perspectives on how we got where we are.

I hate it. All this realignment got us pushed to the curb

Classic Urban vs Rural debate

When Marshall and Southern Miss are playing well their following is more than the AAC 6 combined except for UTSA.

ESPN purely looked at TV Markets and told Aresco who to add.

The real winner in all of this is undoubtedly the MWC. There will be no question who the new P6 conference will be going forward

(12-04-2021 11:23 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  The real winner in all of this is undoubtedly the MWC. There will be no question who the new P6 conference will be going forward

The MWC could go to the next 5 NY6 bowls and they still wouldn't equal the number of NY6 checks the AAC has cashed.

The MWC's Thompson was interviewed while Utah State was whipping San Diego and looked lost.

IMO, the AAC will continue to do what they have been doing. Their budget strategy has won the day.

(12-04-2021 11:27 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:23 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  The real winner in all of this is undoubtedly the MWC. There will be no question who the new P6 conference will be going forward

The MWC could go to the next 5 NY6 bowls and they still wouldn't equal the number of NY6 checks the AAC has cashed.

The MWC's Thompson was interviewed while Utah State was whipping San Diego and looked lost.

IMO, the AAC will continue to do what they have been doing. Their budget strategy has won the day.

Except all the NY6 winners and NCAA credits are leaving. Once Memphis and SMU leave the AAC DOA

(12-04-2021 11:33 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:27 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:23 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  The real winner in all of this is undoubtedly the MWC. There will be no question who the new P6 conference will be going forward

The MWC could go to the next 5 NY6 bowls and they still wouldn't equal the number of NY6 checks the AAC has cashed.

The MWC's Thompson was interviewed while Utah State was whipping San Diego and looked lost.

IMO, the AAC will continue to do what they have been doing. Their budget strategy has won the day.

Except all the NY6 winners and NCAA credits are leaving. Once Memphis and SMU leave the AAC DOA

The budgets of the new programs should play a big factor in what AAC teams step up to fill those shoes.

I just don't see what the MWC is going to do. The same MWC teams that fell short for the last few years are going to do better? Utah State has 3 losses.

(12-04-2021 11:13 PM)rook360 Wrote:  Who were/are the ones out of the 6 going to the AAC that were against merging with the sunbelt?

UNT, Rice, UTSA, and I think FAU. But I would not be surprised if UAB's leadership was against it too.

The MWC will dominate Football and Basketball. The MWC has 6 teams in the Ken Pom top 100, the AAC will have 1 (UAB) when Memphis and SMU leave. The AAC is going to be a permanent 1 bid league

(12-04-2021 11:20 PM)RT98 Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 10:08 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:  For several years there has been two factions within C-USA. (1) Those that wanted C-USA to stay together, spend more money, and improve, and (2) those that wanted to realign with the Sun Belt into more regional conferences and save money. Generally speaking, the eastern members seemed aligned with the the second, and they hated the perceived Texas slant C-USA had taken. Neither faction actually got their way. Conference realignment has led to 6 members relocating to the American and 3 moving to the Sun Belt. And of course there are the 5 that will remain in C-USA.

I find it interesting that the majority of the members leaving for the American were against realignment with the Sun Belt, and all 3 of those moving to the Sun Belt were in favor of realigning with the Sun Belt. So, how do you feel about where your program is headed? And, do you blame/thank one side for the outcome. I'd like to read other fans' insights and perspectives on how we got where we are.

I hate it. All this realignment got us pushed to the curb

Yes, UTA and Little Rock seem to be getting the short end of the stick.

(12-04-2021 11:36 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:33 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:27 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:23 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  The real winner in all of this is undoubtedly the MWC. There will be no question who the new P6 conference will be going forward

The MWC could go to the next 5 NY6 bowls and they still wouldn't equal the number of NY6 checks the AAC has cashed.

The MWC's Thompson was interviewed while Utah State was whipping San Diego and looked lost.

IMO, the AAC will continue to do what they have been doing. Their budget strategy has won the day.

Except all the NY6 winners and NCAA credits are leaving. Once Memphis and SMU leave the AAC DOA

The budgets of the new programs should play a big factor in what AAC teams step up to fill those shoes.

I just don't see what the MWC is going to do. The same MWC teams that fell short for the last few years are going to do better? Utah State has 3 losses.

Lol Budgets

Yeah man that really worked for CUSA

You can’t be serious? some people never learn, History repeats itself over and over again

(12-04-2021 10:08 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:  For several years there has been two factions within C-USA. (1) Those that wanted C-USA to stay together, spend more money, and improve, and (2) those that wanted to realign with the Sun Belt into more regional conferences and save money. Generally speaking, the eastern members seemed aligned with the the second, and they hated the perceived Texas slant C-USA had taken. Neither faction actually got their way. Conference realignment has led to 6 members relocating to the American and 3 moving to the Sun Belt. And of course there are the 5 that will remain in C-USA.

I find it interesting that the majority of the members leaving for the American were against realignment with the Sun Belt, and all 3 of those moving to the Sun Belt were in favor of realigning with the Sun Belt. So, how do you feel about where your program is headed? And, do you blame/thank one side for the outcome. I'd like to read other fans' insights and perspectives on how we got where we are.

Who were the teams for and against specifically. So the team’s that left the Sunbelt didn’t want to rejoin the Belt.

(12-04-2021 11:33 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:27 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 11:23 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  The real winner in all of this is undoubtedly the MWC. There will be no question who the new P6 conference will be going forward

The MWC could go to the next 5 NY6 bowls and they still wouldn't equal the number of NY6 checks the AAC has cashed.

The MWC's Thompson was interviewed while Utah State was whipping San Diego and looked lost.

IMO, the AAC will continue to do what they have been doing. Their budget strategy has won the day.

Except all the NY6 winners and NCAA credits are leaving. Once Memphis and SMU leave the AAC DOA

There is no evidence that any of the remaining AAC members have any shot at moving to a P5 conference. Just like there is no evidence that the MWC is a clear favorite to be the best G5 conference. That is just wishful thinking on your part.

Yeah CUSA has been waiting on these “budget” teams for 8 years.

Ans they still playing in Middle school gyms with 300 Ken Pom rating

I can only speak to UTSA but I feel like the antagonists to the merger idea were following the proven path. UTSA has outright stated that they modeled their program after a UCF or Memphis and want to emulate them and their path in FBS advancement as much as possible. Nothing against the Sunbelt here but those schools in smallish markets dont have a major growth expectancy. Again that is not a knock on the quality of the product just the overall growth from a school in a rural area. There is likely a larger growth expectancy some of the detractors see being in Dallas, San Antonio, Birmingham, Charlotte etc.

(12-04-2021 11:45 PM)Steel Dragon Wrote:  

(12-04-2021 10:08 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:  For several years there has been two factions within C-USA. (1) Those that wanted C-USA to stay together, spend more money, and improve, and (2) those that wanted to realign with the Sun Belt into more regional conferences and save money. Generally speaking, the eastern members seemed aligned with the the second, and they hated the perceived Texas slant C-USA had taken. Neither faction actually got their way. Conference realignment has led to 6 members relocating to the American and 3 moving to the Sun Belt. And of course there are the 5 that will remain in C-USA.

I find it interesting that the majority of the members leaving for the American were against realignment with the Sun Belt, and all 3 of those moving to the Sun Belt were in favor of realigning with the Sun Belt. So, how do you feel about where your program is headed? And, do you blame/thank one side for the outcome. I'd like to read other fans' insights and perspectives on how we got where we are.

Who were the teams for and against specifically. So the team’s that left the Sunbelt didn’t want to rejoin the Belt.

To the best of my knowledge the former Sun Belt programs (UNT, FAU, & UTSA) had no interest in realigning to a conference with the former Sun Belt members. Rice didn't like the idea either.

As a Marshall fan I’m not thrilled about the realignment, but I do think it’s going to be one of the better situations we’ve been in since joining FBS. Marshall has played with a lot of great teams in conference USA over the years, but it has longed for a regional league and CUSA will never be it with its desire to be in Texas, same goes for the AAC for the same reasons. The MAC was good to us, problem in going back is most of our alumni are south in the Carolinas or Florida, although we do have some alumni in Ohio. The Sunbelt east meets our desires for a regional southern league, Sunbelt west leaves me feeling a little uneasy. I think football will be better, basketball not so much. A lot of teams I look forward to playing in the Sunbelt, but I think we are still in a conference with out any true rivals (WVU, Ohio U, ECU). For that reason if the AAC happened to lose 2-4 more teams to the Big12 I would hope that would give us a chance to reunite with ECU. Heck at that point I would even go as far as to root for a AAC/Sunbelt trade in which Sunbelt east and west split with Sunbelt east adding ECU, Charlotte, Temple, USF and FAU. That said, I will miss all of our conference USA foes, we simply have different goals and that takes us on different paths, nothing wrong with that. Wish you all best of luck!

I'm thrilled Tech still has a home! A viable 9-school conference.

Many of our issues have either been beyond our control (the size of Ruston) or self-inflicted with subpar hires (or staying with a coach too long). Tech has not implemented some fiscal policies that other schools have, such as student fees to enhance athletics, and some other revenue streams. Those are decisions made by the university leadership and are independent of conference affiliation.

I would like to continue sharing a conference with the likes of USM, UAB, Rice, to name a few but that is not in the cards right now. So be it.

Carry on!

Rice was able to land in a conference with like-minded schools Tulane, SMU, Tulsa and Navy and have divisional large market schools UTSA and North Texas plus pick up Wichita State basketball. This was an amazing outcome. The only better scenario would have been the “merge C-USA with the remaining AAC” which would have also kept UTEP, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss in the fold.

Rice was always going to leap at any opportunity to join Tulane, SMU and Tulsa in a conference home.