(09-08-2017 12:42 PM)blazr Wrote:  

(09-08-2017 12:06 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(09-08-2017 09:29 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-07-2017 07:15 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  I think it was a huge mistake.

It's quite obvious it was out of fear of Liberty very quickly overshadowing them.

At the end of the day, they don't want to be associated with a school whose enrollment is 85% online. Same reason that Grand Canyon will struggle to find a real conference.

Liberty might end up overshadowing them in football, but this decision was not a football decision.

I've said the same thing about having concern over the online enrollment figures.

The only thing is that as a whole the institution is roughly on par with those in CUSA.

How do you figure? It's a private, religious school and not located in or near a major metro hub. All but Rice are public universities and Marshall is the only school remote enough that it takes some effort to travel to (and Marshall has a built-in fan base so it balances that out). Every CUSA school has a vast majority of undergrads located on or near campus - the ones who were commuter schools have transitioned to more traditional demographics with active campuses. NOT THAT THEY WOULD JOIN NOW (don't want to derail the thread) but CUSA has passed on Troy, South Alabama, Ark St, Appy St, and Georgia Southern in past realignments for reasons other than sports.

Arkansas State could count double for Little Rock and Jonesboro since both cities are close by by not far.
South Alabama fits in with C-USA because Mobile is a large town that fits into the rest of C-USA.
As it is, I do not think C_USA wants to make the same mistake like they did with the last grab for expansion that cost them a bigger tv contract. They need the best schools on the field to be in the conference.