(06-24-2019 05:23 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 01:07 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 11:37 AM)Middle Ages Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 08:02 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 11:06 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  Yes - one of the biggest problems with being in CUSA (assuming we actually do want to move up, which unfortunately is not at all clear) is that it shackles us to 8 games a year against teams we will never get Rice folks interested in. Any change we can make that reduces that number would be an improvement. We already know we can schedule 3-4 name opponents a year if we want; we could easily do 1-2 more, and then if we are playing 5-6 other quasi-independents, 2 of which are Army and BYU, then we would be down to just 4 games a year against "who?" opponents. And if UMass and UConn were 2 of those, I mean, at least those are flagship state schools that our alumni in Boston and NY could easily get to.

If... if... if...
If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its butt when it jumped. There are a lot of grandiose and unrealistic ideas about what we could do if only.
The bottom line--there is one and only one way to improve our conference situation, and that is to improve our program.

Where did he say we didn't need to improve our program? We need OUT. Yes- we 100% need an improved program- but we also need to be looking at all options to get out. I'm with Illiniowl

But unless and until we improve, the options to get OUT don't exist. The proposal above is a great idea. We just have to do two things: 1) Commit to doing it, 2) Convince the other parties to go along. 2) is a lot harder than 1) in our present state, and so far we haven't shown much inclination to do the things necessary for one.

How many of those people listed are going to commit to coming to Houston every other year to play before 5,000?

It seems highly likely to me that if Rice organized an airport meeting between the presidents/ADs of Army, UConn, UMass, NMSU, BYU & Liberty, there would be plenty of interest in mutual home-and-home deals. All these schools would be in the same boat of needing to fill 12 dates a year. They don't have the luxury of being all that picky. It would be to everybody's mutual advantage to fill up about half their schedules from this group, and then the other half according to what the individual school wants.

Bloomgren appears to be doing a really good job recruiting to even the dead-end conference situation we're in . . . well, what if instead of having to recruit to future schedules of 3 name opponents and 9 nobodies, we gave him future schedules of 8 name opponents and 4 nobodies? You think he might be able to recruit at an even higher level then? Plus, more meaningful games/opponents = more interest from Rice students, alumni and fans. Better recruits + more support = more wins and more quality wins. More quality wins + more support = eventual interest from a top conference. I've always looked at independence as a means to get back to the P5, not as an end in itself.

I also think it's a more viable path than trying to turn heads just by whatever we can accomplish in CUSA. We can't even turn our own folks' heads toward CUSA games, win or lose, and without the Rice community buying in to the concept that CUSA games are important, which they never will, we will never see lasting success in CUSA.

Viable for what? And, again, going independent in football puts all our other men's and women's sports in jeopardy. I also think the viability of being able to complete a 12-game schedule as an independent, with at least 5 home games, is very wishful thinking. It's never going to happen. It would also eliminate any local, let alone national, TV coverage.