(02-17-2022 10:35 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(02-17-2022 10:25 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-17-2022 09:53 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(02-17-2022 07:18 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  It makes the CUSA look horrible too, like the crazy ex that insists you stay together when you've already moved on in the relationship. The other schools should step up and convince the Commish they're all going to look bad in the end and should just accept they're gone and move on.

You've got things backwards. The current schools don't need to convince the commissioner of anything. The commissioner takes instructions from the school presidents, not the other was around. Do you really think a conference commissioner is empowered to ignite a public feud with three universities and take clear steps toward litigation without the approval of the member university presidents? Absolutely not. Judy MacLeod would have been fired immediately if she went rogue and did something like this. These aren't decisions of "CUSA" -- they're decisions of the CUSA voting members (WKU, MT, LA Tech, UTEP, FIU).

A conference is nothing but a collection of schools. The ones who actually look horrible are the five CUSA schools that were left behind. Obviously they've destroyed the CUSA brand as well, but make no mistake about who's making the decisions.

I understand your point, but Marshall/ODU/So.Miss are not messaging those schools to request to be released. They are contacting the main office.
Yes, those schools can decide who leads their conference and also can fire her. But as we have learned from JMU and the CAA, not all the schools have to be on board. JMU was against the media deal and it still happened. Two CAA schools were actually in favor of us participating in the postseason (CoC and Hofstra I believe).
I just don't think its as easy as blaming all the CUSA for this. The media deal was agreed upon by the schools within the conference, but it doesn't mean ALL the schools were happy with it. WKU and MTSU were looking to bolt to the MAC and if MTSU hadn't chosen to stick around for the paycheck, they would both be leaving as well.
The CUSA schools are certainly not innocent in this and it does make them look bad. In my opinion, the more vocal schools are the ones that look REALLY bad. There is one in particular... La Tech. They have been in lock step with CUSA and been the most vocal supporter.
But in regards to the scheduling, lawsuit, ignoring the schools, etc... that's all Judy and the CUSA office.

I'm not saying that all five schools support the CUSA approach, but clearly the majority (3/5 at least) do support it. I also don't think you can write off a school like MT supporting the approach. They stuck with CUSA over the MAC because they needed to collect the exit fees. They're settling for five home games this fall to collect a $700k check from JMU. If a school like MT thinks they can extract some more cash from this approach, I could see them supporting it.

That last part is absolutely not driven by the conference. Those are decisions made way above the conference commissioner's level.

That's the only part I don't really agree with. There were reactions from the ADs of these schools wondering what the hell to do with this schedule they've been given with Marshall/ODU/So Miss on it. That makes me think the schools have little to do with conference scheduling. Otherwise they wouldn't have said a word about it as they would have been completely in the know what was about to happen.
The three schools leaving said they reached out with the CUSA office directly and were not given a response. Who is above the conference commissioner's level? I see the schools as part of the board, but the commissioner is the one ultimately making the choices. I don't see her calling La Tech and asking the president what she should do. (Maybe she is! I just don't believe that's the case) The schools trust in the commissioner to make decisions for the conference. I do believe they don't have a problem with what she is doing, but I don't believe she is asking them what to do, either. I see it as they have given her their blessing to do whatever she sees fit.

And as for MTSU, you are right. They shouldn't be let off the hook.