(04-28-2022 04:56 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  

(04-28-2022 04:44 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(04-28-2022 04:34 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  If Tx St is our best option then CUSA needs to stay at 9.
And no they are not an option because CUSA hasnt and will not invite them.

Good. It's mutual. TXST would not accept an invitation, anyway.

Again, what school that would actually be willing to accept an invitation would be better than TXST?

I can imagine maybe UMass FB only. Maybe even Missouri State (although Matt Brown said they had no interest). I'm trying to figure this out. Who would add more?

The league office will need to figure that question out at some point. Staying at nine is perfectly fine. But there needs to be a contingency plan in the event WKU, or MTSU, or La. Tech, or someone else leaves.

What’s the rush to expand? Nine is perfect. Just leave it like that. And where are those schools going? I just don’t see any movement until the ACC GOR is up in the mid 2030’s.

For the conference sake, I hope they don’t expand and just focus on what they have moving forward. What the Sun Belt or any other G5 conference does or doesn’t do should not be any of our concern.

I'm enjoying this discussion, UTEPDallas. Too many times, people try to be message board tough guys. I don't get that vibe from you at all.

I think you must have misunderstood me due to my being unclear. I agree with you that nine is best right now. I was just talking about contingency scenarios in which C-USA needs to backfill. For example, Memphis goes to the Big 12 (along with Boise). AAC backfills with MTSU. C-USA needs a plan. Or, say,, the Sun Belt [stupidly] adds Missouri State and WKU. C-USA needs a backup plan.. But I agree with you: don't add new schools now. Nine is good. See what happens.

Regarding the Sun Belt at 10 vs. 14.

I agree that the Belt had a good thing going at 10 members. The past several seasons have been the highest level of performance in football in the league's history.

I agree, we have yet to find out if the SBC can do well at more than 12 members.

Let's look at the WAC-16. BYU went 14-1 in 1996, finished in the Top 5, won the Cotton Bowl over K-State, and certainly would have been in today's NY6 if not CFP. It was probably BYU's second best season ever, behind only the 1984 national championship. That made it clear that large G5-equivalent conferences can produce dominant teams. The league broke in two, so the experiment failed. However, the Sun Belt can't just break in two. The NCAA/P5 aren't going to allow a 33rd automatic bid.

Additionally, the WAC-16 broke up rivalries. The old-line WAC schools were separated from each other, and they hated it. The SBC14 does the opposite. It has brought rivalries together, and their fans love it.

C-USA14 didn't produce any NY6 contenders. I don't know why that was exactly. But the way the conference was run and set up may have played a role.

C-USA14 can't be faulted for losing schools to the AAC. That was always the better conference. But losing schools to a league it once raided was a failure. It failed for many reasons: poor leadership, perceived favoritism towards Texas schools, terrible multimedia deals, a bad basketball tournament setup, and few regional, historic rivalries. There was a lack of commonality. The divisions were really widespread and very difficult for most fans to drive to for most road games.. The SBC14 largely has been satisfied with Benson and now Gill. The tournament was moved more towards the middle of the league. The multimedia deal with ESPN is simple, easy to understand, and provides ample exposure opportunities. The rivalries in both divisions are great. The divisions are compact, driveable, and primed for rivalries.

Time will tell whether the SBC14 can start getting some teams in the NY6. It's a level playing field once Cincy, Houston, and UCF are gone. No excuses not to get some teams a few times in the NY6 at that point. We'll see. Maybe you'll be right and parity will drag the league down.