We may struggle simply due to playing teams we don't have the proper match ups with, eg more size or speed. I doubt there is much of a difference overall but I bet one or two teams whips us the first year or two. Same goes for other former Belt teams. Overall, I wouldn't say that the current Conf USA is that much better than the Belt we just left. It isn't out of disrespect that I say that but my opinion based on what I've seen...of course, I am often wrong.

(01-19-2013 01:42 PM)BlueRaiderFan. Wrote:  We may struggle simply due to playing teams we don't have the proper match ups with, eg more size or speed. I doubt there is much of a difference overall but I bet one or two teams whips us the first year or two. Same goes for other former Belt teams. Overall, I wouldn't say that the current Conf USA is that much better than the Belt we just left. It isn't out of disrespect that I say that but my opinion based on what I've seen...of course, I am often wrong.

Please, you're right on, don't doubt yourself. Norther Ill. played FSU tough for 3 quarters and they just got by Kent St. to get to the BCS game. Guess who Kent St. lost to in their Bowl game?

This year the Sun Belt had 4 teams with 8 or more wins and three of them lost twice in the Sun Belt. Now only MTSU is moving to C-USA, however, everyone has the potential to be a successful program (except FAU ).

(01-19-2013 12:22 AM)Blazer88 Wrote:  

(01-18-2013 09:44 PM)Timo99 Wrote:  It might take a while to get our football program running, but after seeing our basketball team this year lead by freshman and sophomores, I expect Charlotte to own C-USA in basketball for the next few years.

Easy there big guy

"Own CUSA" is an interesting phrase based on recent results. He will have an opportunity to gloat or be embarrassed. Not sure why people set themselves up for that, but......

(01-19-2013 01:03 PM)papa_dawg Wrote:  Sooo......

CUSA=Sunbelt?
ECU=ULL?
Marshall=A-State/WKU?
And MTSU>1 titles in non-FB sports?


You're entitled to your opinion but I have a feeling that this post makes almost no one happy.

Yeah, I would venture to guess that on the field, there's not much difference recently between ECU and ULL.

And ASU and WKU have been pretty good recently, comparable with Marshall.

I don't know if MT will win any titles next year, but considering we continually win the SBC all sports trophy, and there's not much difference between the two leagues in many of the sports - I don't think it's a stretch to believe that MT will be in the mix in those non-FB sports.

(01-19-2013 02:52 PM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 01:03 PM)papa_dawg Wrote:  Sooo......

CUSA=Sunbelt?
ECU=ULL?
Marshall=A-State/WKU?
And MTSU>1 titles in non-FB sports?


You're entitled to your opinion but I have a feeling that this post makes almost no one happy.

Yeah, I would venture to guess that on the field, there's not much difference recently between ECU and ULL.

And ASU and WKU have been pretty good recently, comparable with Marshall.

I don't know if MT will win any titles next year, but considering we continually win the SBC all sports trophy, and there's not much difference between the two leagues in many of the sports - I don't think it's a stretch to believe that MT will be in the mix in those non-FB sports.

as for all the other things in the posts I don't know about all that, but as far as MTSU goes, I do expect them to be a worthy foe not to be dismissed. I don't like to compare programs like is stated since all programs have their unique brand, but in my opinion MTSU is one I respect very much.

(01-19-2013 02:52 PM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 01:03 PM)papa_dawg Wrote:  Sooo......

CUSA=Sunbelt?
ECU=ULL?
Marshall=A-State/WKU?
And MTSU>1 titles in non-FB sports?


You're entitled to your opinion but I have a feeling that this post makes almost no one happy.

Yeah, I would venture to guess that on the field, there's not much difference recently between ECU and ULL.

And ASU and WKU have been pretty good recently, comparable with Marshall.

I don't know if MT will win any titles next year, but considering we continually win the SBC all sports trophy, and there's not much difference between the two leagues in many of the sports - I don't think it's a stretch to believe that MT will be in the mix in those non-FB sports.

MT is a good all sports program. They were the second best team in the SBC at winning SBC champioinships so I think MT fans are correct that they could challenge in some of the non-major sports.

(01-19-2013 01:03 PM)papa_dawg Wrote:  Sooo......

CUSA=Sunbelt?
ECU=ULL?
Marshall=A-State/WKU?
And MTSU>1 titles in non-FB sports?


You're entitled to your opinion but I have a feeling that this post makes almost no one happy.

Can't comment on the football comparisons, but I'd expect WBB to be favorites, and Volleyball/Baseball/T&F/Golf/Tennis to be competitive.

(01-19-2013 01:21 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  I'll rank football in three tiers to start the nC-USA league:

Tier 1
Tulsa
La Tech
USM

Tier 2
Marshall
UTEP
MTSU

Tier 3
Rice
FIU
UAB
UNT
FAU
UTSA

Surprises are bound to happen (and can historically strong USM make the leap from the bottom of the country back to top tier in one year remains to be seen) but here's how I'd rank the programs 'coming into to the nC-USA.

For now I would move Rice up a tier for 2012 and move them to the top tier for 2013. MTSU will likely be in that top tier too. As much as I hate to say it, move UTEP to the bottom tier untill our team can prove otherwise. They've usually been competitive but lost too many close games over the years.

This past season was the worst in CUSA football history. Lots of coaching changes and teams on a down talent cycle. I expect the '13 season will be a little more representative of CUSA performance from the 'old' programs. ECU should not fall off the 8 win plateau given about 20 plus starters returning, plus a real defensive coordinator. La Tech and FIU are going through coaching transitions. Sometimes its hard to go through a new league the first time around. Of course the new teams will be new to the older teams too, particularly on the road, so that can cut both ways. I think the new additions are solid programs that will improve the league overall. I'm glad we get to play some at least once on the way out. Charlotte will definitely do well in hoops. They look a lot like Memphis right now.

any c-usa program that doesn't take the sunbelt seriously hasn't been paying attention to the New Orleans bowl*. We haven't beaten the sunbelt since 2008, and that was a blocked FG in OT. You have to go back to '03-'05 to get to a time when we last owned the sunbelt.

we've been getting our ass kicked ever since.

* don't give me any crap about a lower seeded c-usa team vs a higher seeded unbelt team. if c-usa is all that much better than the sunbelt, then any bowl eligible c-usa team should have their way with them. but that hasn't happened. Not recently, at least

(01-19-2013 02:57 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 02:52 PM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 01:03 PM)papa_dawg Wrote:  Sooo......

CUSA=Sunbelt?
ECU=ULL?
Marshall=A-State/WKU?
And MTSU>1 titles in non-FB sports?


You're entitled to your opinion but I have a feeling that this post makes almost no one happy.

Yeah, I would venture to guess that on the field, there's not much difference recently between ECU and ULL.

And ASU and WKU have been pretty good recently, comparable with Marshall.

I don't know if MT will win any titles next year, but considering we continually win the SBC all sports trophy, and there's not much difference between the two leagues in many of the sports - I don't think it's a stretch to believe that MT will be in the mix in those non-FB sports.

MT is a good all sports program. They were the second best team in the SBC at winning SBC champioinships so I think MT fans are correct that they could challenge in some of the non-major sports.

OMG, graph boy has followed us to the C-USA board.

(01-19-2013 03:35 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  OMG, graph boy has followed us to the C-USA board.

(01-19-2013 03:35 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  OMG, graph boy has followed us to the C-USA board.

Thought you'd be happy I showed how impressive MT was in the Sun Belt. I'm puzzled whether you just don't like graphs or maybe there's something the graphs show that bothers you. Nevertheless, as I said, MT is a solid all-sports program and should be competitive in some of the non-major programs in the CUSA.

(01-19-2013 03:52 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 03:35 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  OMG, graph boy has followed us to the C-USA board.

Thought you'd be happy I showed how impressive MT was in the Sun Belt. I'm puzzled whether you just don't like graphs or maybe there's something the graphs show that bothers you. Nevertheless, as I said, MT is a solid all-sports program and should be competitive in some of the non-major programs in the CUSA.

And starting July 2, 2013 you should do very well with your graphs in the SBC. That'll be right after we win our final Bubas Cup.

(01-19-2013 04:24 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 03:52 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 03:35 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  OMG, graph boy has followed us to the C-USA board.

Thought you'd be happy I showed how impressive MT was in the Sun Belt. I'm puzzled whether you just don't like graphs or maybe there's something the graphs show that bothers you. Nevertheless, as I said, MT is a solid all-sports program and should be competitive in some of the non-major programs in the CUSA.

And starting July 2, 2013 you should do very well with your graphs in the SBC. That'll be right after we win our final Bubas Cup.

And I'll be a sport and congratulate you again for narrowly winning the all-sports point system again if you'll congratulate WKU for winning more championships again. Nah, I'll congratulate you regardless. Well deserved if you win it.

(01-19-2013 04:27 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 04:24 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 03:52 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(01-19-2013 03:35 PM)Blue Raider Dave Wrote:  OMG, graph boy has followed us to the C-USA board.

Thought you'd be happy I showed how impressive MT was in the Sun Belt. I'm puzzled whether you just don't like graphs or maybe there's something the graphs show that bothers you. Nevertheless, as I said, MT is a solid all-sports program and should be competitive in some of the non-major programs in the CUSA.

And starting July 2, 2013 you should do very well with your graphs in the SBC. That'll be right after we win our final Bubas Cup.

And I'll be a sport and congratulate you again for narrowly winning the all-sports point system again if you'll congratulate WKU for winning more championships again. Nah, I'll congratulate you regardless. Well deserved if you win it.

You are a-okay in my book, friend

As a Marshall fan I have had to sit humbliy by as we have suffered through our roughest stretch in 20+ years. Probation and a bad coaching hire hurt us badly on the football field.

With that said, you new schools - glad to have you, but you are coming in at the wrong time when it comes to playing Marshall. I fully expect us to be back next year, first time I've felt that way in 7 or 8 years. We are going to be hard to beat in 2013 and even harder to beat in 2014.

As far as overall, the Belt has some good teams but you get a lot more breaks in the schedule during conference season than you will in the new CUSA. With that said, I do expect La Tech and MTSU to be very competitive out of the gate.

I think the new additions should be able to compete right away for sure. I look forward to the new basketball rivalries that are sure to develop with UAB and Charlotte, ODU, and MTSU in basketball. If there are any further additions, I would probably prefer WKU or even Ohio.

I think the new CUSA could be a better basketball conference, top to bottom. Obviously CUSA will miss the strength of a basketball program like Memphis, but I think top to bottom the new CUSA will be much more competitive and present much better opportunities for at-large bids.

Contrary to what some think, I would say it is better to get 2-3 teams from CUSA in as a 5-9 seed in the NCAAs rather than 1 team from CUSA as a 1-2 seed. And the way that happens is with a bit more balance where there are at least 2-3 teams each year that emerge at the top of the pack in CUSA.

Probably the best summation is, the programs coming in will be more competitive than current members think.
Conversely, the new members will find C-USA is going to be a lot tougher conference overall than they are accustomed.

(01-20-2013 10:39 AM)AtlantaEagle Wrote:  Probably the best summation is, the programs coming in will be more competitive than current members think.
Conversely, the new members will find C-USA is going to be a lot tougher conference overall than they are accustomed.

I think you just nailed it, AE.