Now That We Know the Fate of SDSU...
A few thoughts to ponder after SDSU declared yesterday:
Considering ANY bragging rights need to be won on the field, it seems to me -- if we are going to at all realistic about the current situation -- the following is where we are at the moment.
1. MWC "wins". They appear to have a very solid, stable conference, with our without BYU, or going to 14 or 16. It's hard to argue with their lineup, as it exists.
2. BE "wins" with a well-known caveat. They have the makings of a stable and competitive eastern league. Their western strategy actually made them more suspect, and now that that is gone, they should be able to stabilize and be very strong at 12 with one more addition (Army, anyone??). The caveat: they are at the mercy of what happens in the ACC.
3. The MWC and BE are in the best position to be a step ahead of the rest of the mid-majors in terms of competing with the Power 5, although there are no guarantees on who will be the annual winner of the BCS lottery. This matters most in recruiting and may help with TV revenue negotiations later...depending upon on-field performance.
4. C-USA "wins" by building the best conference available to it. No one is coming home, folks, and the additions we do have fit in very well. The conference is shaping up to be a very competitive mid-level conference, a step below the MWC and BE, and most seem to agree that there is tremendous up-side potential, but we need to earn respect. We are still vulnerable to losses, but have very credible teams waiting (WKU, ULL, NMSU, ArkSt) to back fill if that happens. No one needs to shed a tear for C-USA. Most of our members know where we are and what we need to do.
5. MAC "wins" by simply doing what it is doing. I think we all envy their stability, and every year, someone comes out of that conference to bite your butt.
6. Sunbelt has the toughest road to a "win". But they can get there by sticking to a Regionally compact strategy that judiciously serves as the proving ground for strong football and basketball call-ups. I"m not a huge fan of call-ups, but Marshall was a call-up in 1996, and I can't deny others the opportunity. The SBC has the potential to be a very solid, competitive conference, in its own right.
don't you think it's time we started acknowledging some of this?
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