(12-29-2012 10:34 AM)ninernation1989 Wrote: (12-29-2012 09:07 AM)VA49er Wrote: So, at first leaving was all about the $$$$. Now, since the $ is not what folks thought it was going to be it is all about playing familiar foes. Of course, these are the same familiar foes folks were so jumping at the bit to get away from for the $$$ in the first place. Funny how things work out.
You hit the nail on the hammer this ain't your grandpas big east
You guys can't really speak on this point until your school is actually playing football in CUSA. I am just a casual fan of college football and even I noticed that football is the largest revenue maker and largest expense that FBS schools have. Those schools have large facilities to maintain; scholarships to give out and employees to pay. We as fans may see it as a game, but the schools that left CUSA know that it is a business; and like any business you have to continue to seek greener pastures and to associate with groups that help you increase your revenue stream. The only programs that can do that are the ones that have made the investment to get better; whether it be from coaching, facilities and other infrastructure standpoint.
IMO, when Charlotte is up and running in a couple of years you are going to understand why those schools had to leave; and why schools like Tulsa and Southern Miss want to leave, because then your school will see why being in a league and playing against certain other schools is for whatever reason; an undersirable business arrangement. This is not an indictment about the other schools worth, because there are some very fine academic institutions in CUSA, especially Rice; however that has nothing to do with the business decision of who you want to partner with if you are just coldly looking at the business of college football. Just ignoring stuff like markets; if you look at something as simple as Tulane building a new football stadium; that may have made them more desirable to the new league, than say Rice. Mind you now Rice is the better school academicly and athletically, but Tulane's willingness to spend money on stuff like facilites probably made them a more attractive partner for a new league.
Finally, Charlotte is building a new stadium, which probably made you attractive for CUSA. Who knows if CUSA would have passed on Charlotte and taken a Western Kentucky; because from an athletic standpoint Western Kentucky would have probably been the better addition; but Charlotte's building of a shiny new stadium probably didn't hurt. From Charlotte's standpoint they could have probably stayed in the A10 for basketball and then made a play for the MAC in football just like UMass and Temple; however the Charlotte administration obviously thought that it was more attractive and desirable to try partner in CUSA with ECU and Marshall. That is a business decision that the Charlotte administration made and they are obviously hopeful that it will pay off; so it is kind of disingenuous for Charlotte fans to see ECU's move as folly but Charlotte's move as solid.
Finally, now let's take some shots at schools in CUSA that have been left behind: UAB fans can be as pissed as they want, but they have had a 22 year head start on Charlotte's football program and a 5 year head start on UCF in CUSA; but UAB still has not built a new football stadium. UAB was even in CUSA for football when CUSA was actually really good and had programs like TCU, Louisville, etc., but UAB still hasn't built an on campus football stadium. Marshall was a recent addition to CUSA and they have been a good foe, but they haven't done much in CUSA since they arrived from the MAC; and right now Marshall is far, far to dependent on non-qualifiers. It is debatable if Marshall could compete without taking those student-athletes; but the bigger question is whether that type of recruiting is sustainable over a long period of time and if it is not; then what does that mean for their ability to compete going forward? UTEP was just always too far away geographically to really develop any kind real rivalry against. Otherwise UTEP has great fans and that school has shown that it can be competitive; and in all honesty they are just one good football hire away from being the elite school in the conference, because they already have great facilities, a great fan base and a great basketball program and tradition. I feel pretty bad for UTEP, Rice, Tulsa and Southern Miss; because they have all been very good in various sports, but they are just in a tough spot right now.