<a href='http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/confusa/invision/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=11959' target='_blank'>Marshall AD Unhappy with CUSA Alignment</a>

They're making friends in their usual way already.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

A rather "short-sighted" view of the divisional set-up by Marcum IMHO.

Over the long haul, the various schools will "ebb and flow" with regards to their prominence in football, so it makes more sense to avoid obsessing with the short-term view, and go ahead and set up the divisions with the best geographical fit.

Objection. Relevance?

This is simply delicious. Almost too good to be true.

Quote:The entire West Division has a combined total of only six bowl appearances.

"Who has the most bowl appearances?" said Marcum with obvious frustration. "Southern Miss and Marshall."

Yet, there they are in the same division with rapidly improving Memphis, traditionally successful East Carolina and deep-pocketed Central Florida.

2003 Records
ECU 1-11
UCF 3-9
oohh, scary
Mempis 9-4.

Quote:It's as if Conference USA officials pulled an atlas of the United States out of the trunk of their car and allowed geography to determine the divisions.

Quote of the Year Nomination

I would think Marshall fans would rather play Southern Miss, East Carolina, UCF and Memphis than Rice, Tulsa, Houston and UTEP.

Isn't that why they are leaving the MAC because the fans identify more with the southern schools?

I am not sure Tulsa sells more tickets than Akron.

Most MAC fans already discussed that many of the new C-USA football programs are not very good - and in fact, in their west division. This is nothing new. Many Marshall fans on the Grapevine and here have always talked about those schools "potential" and "market attractiveness" to justify why teams like UTEP are better than Kent State, and other comparable 'like' schools in terms of football success. I mean, SMU is worse than Buffalo and Tulsa would be about #9 in the MAC right now. Houston & Rice are bad, just like Ohio and CMU right now for us. Over time, all four of these schools will get better, but certainly it will be cyclical in accordance to their coaching staffs.

The fact of the matter is that from top to bottom, the new C-USA is at best on par with the remaining MAC schools in terms of football, and probably two notches better for basketball. Marcum has been doing a lot of complaining of late to the Herd media; perhaps he is retiring soon and laying the footwork for his replacement?

Why do we talk about these guys anyway on this forum? They have lost nine straight to us head-to-head. Until they win nine straight to tie the score, why talk about an inferior league? Next thing here is we will analyze the Sun Belt Conference. C-mon people, let's set our sites higher than C-USA.

Vandelay Wrote:Most MAC fans already discussed that many of the new C-USA football programs are not very good - and in fact, in their west division. This is nothing new. Many Marshall fans on the Grapevine and here have always talked about those schools "potential" and "market attractiveness" to justify why teams like UTEP are better than Kent State, and other comparable 'like' schools in terms of football success. I mean, SMU is worse than Buffalo and Tulsa would be about #9 in the MAC right now. Houston & Rice are bad, just like Ohio and CMU right now for us. Over time, all four of these schools will get better, but certainly it will be cyclical in accordance to their coaching staffs.

The fact of the matter is that from top to bottom, the new C-USA is at best on par with the remaining MAC schools in terms of football, and probably two notches better for basketball. Marcum has been doing a lot of complaining of late to the Herd media; perhaps he is retiring soon and laying the footwork for his replacement?

Why do we talk about these guys anyway on this forum? They have lost nine straight to us head-to-head. Until they win nine straight to tie the score, why talk about an inferior league? Next thing here is we will analyze the Sun Belt Conference. C-mon people, let's set our sites higher than C-USA.

Nick, you continue to misreport the facts, and it's quite bothersome. Perhaps you should analyze how many of those "head to head" wins were Marshall's victories- and guess what, they're leaving.

As for Tulsa being 9th in the MAC, that's just laughable, but not totally crazy coming from your mouth. They went to a bowl and won 8 games last year.

SMU and UTEP are currently bad- but so are Buffalo, Kent, and EMU. What's the difference? UTEP and SMU DO have an upside that could change their records. UTEP has great fan support, great boosters, and now they have a GREAT coach. There is no doubt that their struggles will end soon. SMU is still recovering from the death penalty, but they have a brand new stadium, some of the richest (and most generous) alumni in the nation, and considerably good fan support considering their lack of winning recently.

I'd expect better from you, Vanedlay, but I guess you're just another homer with an attitude

I love the writer's quote: "It's as if the conference got out an atlas and let geography decide the divisions."

That's called "sanity," buddy.

Marshall is stepping up to a real powerhouse of a conference!!!

[QUOTE]In 2003, three East Division members compiled better records than anyone in the West. The cumulative records were East 35-39 (.473) and West 27-48 (.360).[QUOTE]

:wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave:

[quote="Sleepy"] Marshall is stepping up to a real powerhouse of a conference!!!

Quote:In 2003, three East Division members compiled better records than anyone in the West. The cumulative records were East 35-39 (.473) and West 27-48 (.360).[QUOTE]

:wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave:

MAC last year

East- 31-42
West- 44-43

Wow, big difference there. :rolleyes:

The Knight Time Wrote:I'd expect better from you, Vanedlay, but I guess you're just another homer with an attitude&nbsp;

Three salient differences between you and Nick:

(1) Nick is a decent writer and spends time thinking about the viewpoints of teams other than the one for which he roots.

(2) Nick isn't a <a href='http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/confusa/invision/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=12023' target='_blank'>tattletale</a>.

(3) We do NOT "expect better" from you.

Sleepy Wrote:Marshall is stepping up to a real powerhouse of a conference!!!

C-USA may be, competitively, better or worse than the MAC...BUT! There will be more than 13K fans in the stands (for away games), more revenue, more national exposure, and more bowl opportunities.

This means that the C-USA will become stronger as a whole and well surpass the MAC...maybe not in it's first or second year, but the tracks are laid and the fans are on board.

Vandelay Wrote:Tulsa would be about #9 in the MAC right now. Houston & Rice are bad

Tulsa and Houston both went to bowls last year.

Take a good look at those comparative numbers, TKT. There IS a big difference.

As for Marcum's comments... I understand his position, but I think it's premature in a very big way. NCUSA has to first establish itself as a viable conference for the long term. Travel expenses are a huge issue for nearly every school in that conference, and especially for their fans if they hope to have any travelling. Certainly Marshall may have a goal of getting to a BCS league, but the conference has an obligation to all it's members to make the LEAGUE a success first and it can't do that if it's broke from travelling. If Marcum's biggest concern was getting to a BCS bowl in the next year or two, perhaps he shouldn't have been in such a hurry to jump conferences.

Karl Wrote:Take a good look at those comparative numbers, TKT. There IS a big difference.

As for Marcum's comments... I understand his position, but I think it's premature in a very big way. NCUSA has to first establish itself as a viable conference for the long term. Travel expenses are a huge issue for nearly every school in that conference, and especially for their fans if they hope to have any travelling. Certainly Marshall may have a goal of getting to a BCS league, but the conference has an obligation to all it's members to make the LEAGUE a success first and it can't do that if it's broke from travelling. If Marcum's biggest concern was getting to a BCS bowl in the next year or two, perhaps he shouldn't have been in such a hurry to jump conferences.

I think his big concern is knowing Marshall wont even make it to the conference champioship game most years.

Looks pretty balanced to me. The "absolutely loaded" east features two teams, UCF and UAB that have NEVER gone to a bowl game.

MacLord Wrote:Looks pretty balanced to me. The "absolutely loaded" east features two teams, UCF and UAB that have NEVER gone to a bowl game.

Well, Mac, it's very convenient of you to leave out some minor details.

UCF has been D1 since 1996. We joined our first conference 2 years ago with the MAC. Now, I see you're blindly ignorant about how incredibly difficult it is to get to a bowl game as an independent, unless you've got Notre Dame on your jersey.

UCF had numerous seasons where we went 9-2, 8-4, 8-3, or 7-5. All of which would have given us a bowl bid in CUSA. I rest my case.

Going back to Vandelay's comments. He rips on Houston and Tulsa, yet both went to bowl games last year. I noticed Nick is a Toledo fan. Tell me, Nick, which bowl did Toledo go to last year?

Exactly.

The Knight Time Wrote:Nick, you continue to misreport the facts, and it's quite bothersome. Perhaps you should analyze how many of those "head to head" wins were Marshall's victories- and guess what, they're leaving.

Get a clue buddy!

Of the nine straight head to head wins Marshall accounts for very few considering the they only played 2 CUSA teams since 2001 and none in 2003!

The last defeat was BGSU Nov 16, 2002 at South Florida.

Wake up and realize the CUSA has got nothing on the MAC in football competition wise.

Who's really misrepresenting facts?

Karl Wrote:Take a good look at those comparative numbers, TKT. There IS a big difference.

As for Marcum's comments... I understand his position, but I think it's premature in a very big way. NCUSA has to first establish itself as a viable conference for the long term. Travel expenses are a huge issue for nearly every school in that conference, and especially for their fans if they hope to have any travelling. Certainly Marshall may have a goal of getting to a BCS league, but the conference has an obligation to all it's members to make the LEAGUE a success first and it can't do that if it's broke from travelling. If Marcum's biggest concern was getting to a BCS bowl in the next year or two, perhaps he shouldn't have been in such a hurry to jump conferences.

Nice points Karl.

If you are CUSA commissioner you can't drain the members budgets with over-the-top in-division travel expense.