Here is the dream:

CUSA Picks up G Southern, App State, and ULL.
16 team conference.
Marshall and ASU are old rivals as are ULL and Louisiana Tech. Also UNCC and App could become rivals and GSU and OD have rivalries.


Divisons would be:
East:
App
UNCC
GSU
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
FAU
FIU


West:
LTU
NTU
RICE
SOUTHERNMISS
ULL
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

Everyone would play a 7 game division schedule and 2 members of the other division making a 9 game conference schedule and 3OOC games.




Sunbelt could add the top FCS schools

no

I don't want to be in the west. If Appalachian joins it should be on the condition that they go to the west.

This'll go over like a turd in the punchbowl.

WKU doesnt want to go to the West.

(12-04-2014 02:46 PM)Ragu Wrote:  WKU doesnt want to go to the West.

Then switch MTSU for WKU.

(12-04-2014 02:47 PM)APPFAN94 Wrote:  

(12-04-2014 02:46 PM)Ragu Wrote:  WKU doesnt want to go to the West.

Then switch MTSU for WKU.

I don't claim to speak for MTSU fans but I kind of doubt they want to be in the west either.

The idea is sound, put historic and potential rivals in a position to have at it, but the execution is all wrong here.

That said, the best chance the Belt and CUSA have to grow and establish themselves further is to seriously play up some of these rivalries. People love that sort of thing; the more intense the rivalry in question is the more popular it tends to become.

There are plenty of great avenues for that between the Belt and CUSA.

(12-04-2014 02:38 PM)APPFAN94 Wrote:  Here is the dream:

CUSA Picks up G Southern, App State, and ULL.
16 team conference.
Marshall and ASU are old rivals as are ULL and Louisiana Tech. Also UNCC and App could become rivals and GSU and OD have rivalries.


Divisons would be:
East:
App
UNCC
GSU
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
FAU
FIU


West:
LTU
NTU
RICE
SOUTHERNMISS
ULL
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

Everyone would play a 7 game division schedule and 2 members of the other division making a 9 game conference schedule and 3OOC games.




Sunbelt could add the top FCS schools

No more FCS schools. That proposal probably hurts both CUSA and Sun Belt as the FCS schools add to competition for recruits.

IMO, a major obstacle in having the SBC and C-USA align rationally is that C-USA believes the SBC to be inferior to it, and is determined to win any dick measuring contest rather than cooperate. This belief is presumably based on the fact that most of their members moved up from the FCS sooner than those in the SBC. As a result, both conferences will be less than they could be.

(12-04-2014 02:50 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  The idea is sound, put historic and potential rivals in a position to have at it, but the execution is all wrong here.

That said, the best chance the Belt and CUSA have to grow and establish themselves further is to seriously play up some of these rivalries. People love that sort of thing; the more intense the rivalry in question is the more popular it tends to become.

There are plenty of great avenues for that between the Belt and CUSA.

The fact that SBC and CUSA teams never play has been the biggest surprise to me this year. I think the conferences played twice this year? The only OOC series GSU has been able to schedule thus far are with MAC teams. Nothing against the MAC, but there is some history between our program and several of the CUSA schools. I want to play MTSU, WKU, Marshall, and ODU (who we have already built a mini-rivalry with.

(12-04-2014 02:57 PM)ken d Wrote:  IMO, a major obstacle in having the SBC and C-USA align rationally is that C-USA believes the SBC to be inferior to it, and is determined to win any dick measuring contest rather than cooperate. This belief is presumably based on the fact that most of their members moved up from the FCS sooner than those in the SBC. As a result, both conferences will be less than they could be.

Try telling that to our players that did not get a bowl game at 7-4 last year but will get one at 7-4 this year.

(12-04-2014 02:59 PM)bullitt_60 Wrote:  

(12-04-2014 02:50 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  The idea is sound, put historic and potential rivals in a position to have at it, but the execution is all wrong here.

That said, the best chance the Belt and CUSA have to grow and establish themselves further is to seriously play up some of these rivalries. People love that sort of thing; the more intense the rivalry in question is the more popular it tends to become.

There are plenty of great avenues for that between the Belt and CUSA.

The fact that SBC and CUSA teams never play has been the biggest surprise to me this year. I think the conferences played twice this year? The only OOC series GSU has been able to schedule thus far are with MAC teams. Nothing against the MAC, but there is some history between our program and several of the CUSA schools. I want to play MTSU, WKU, Marshall, and ODU (who we have already built a mini-rivalry with.

I am not really surprised, like Ken D just said, CUSA sees itself as somehow vastly superior to the Belt.

That way of thinking is going to hinder growth of both conferences.

There is a lot of opportunity if they would collectively attempt to take advantage of it. A scheduling agreement would be a great start. It would pit certain schools against one another every year and also make for a general conference rivalry. CUSA would probably be against that though for the same reason mentioned earlier.

(12-04-2014 02:38 PM)APPFAN94 Wrote:  Here is the dream:

CUSA Picks up G Southern, App State, and ULL.
16 team conference.
Marshall and ASU are old rivals as are ULL and Louisiana Tech. Also UNCC and App could become rivals and GSU and OD have rivalries.


Divisons would be:
East:
App
UNCC
GSU
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
FAU
FIU


West:
LTU
NTU
RICE
SOUTHERNMISS
ULL
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

Everyone would play a 7 game division schedule and 2 members of the other division making a 9 game conference schedule and 3OOC games.




Sunbelt could add the top FCS schools

Doesn't it make more sense for Arkansas St to be included and go to the West.

If you take the Sagarins for the years 2008-2012... and awhile back I did just that one Sunday afternoon... schools comprising CUSA 3.0 are more similar in their ratings/rankings to the MAC than they are to SBC.

That probably shouldn't surprise anyone.

In the grand scheme, those numbers predicted that AAC should over time prove to be the SEC of non-con5... MWC should prove to be the Big XII... and then, there's a drop off to something between the ACC and the old Big East, which equates to where MAC and CUSA should end up... and SBC equates to something between old Big East and the MWC.

I see CUSA and MAC as more likely allies because they do not compete for the same footprint and because... at least until this year's disaster in the MAC East... they historically would seem to be competitive equals.

If CUSA goes to 16 it will be with 2 in the west and 1 in the east. As has been mentioned, neither MT or WKU want to be in the west nor in separate divisions.

C-USA is not going to 16.

If we changed the name of this thread to "My Proposal for the future of CUSA and the AAC" I wonder how it would go..................

CUSA expansion has been blatantly driven by TV market size, and the higher-ups haven't minded admitting that. (Even Western had the benefit of being an hour out of Nashville, and being tied to that market, not to mention they get plenty of play in Louisville.)

With the Fox contract ending after next season, I don't know why we would think we aren't in for just more of the same.

Here's a link to the top 100 markets: http://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets

There is one school that fits into the west and is at least somewhere close to Birmingham's #40 slot.

(12-04-2014 03:06 PM)MJG Wrote:  

(12-04-2014 02:38 PM)APPFAN94 Wrote:  Here is the dream:

CUSA Picks up G Southern, App State, and ULL.
16 team conference.
Marshall and ASU are old rivals as are ULL and Louisiana Tech. Also UNCC and App could become rivals and GSU and OD have rivalries.


Divisons would be:
East:
App
UNCC
GSU
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
FAU
FIU


West:
LTU
NTU
RICE
SOUTHERNMISS
ULL
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

Everyone would play a 7 game division schedule and 2 members of the other division making a 9 game conference schedule and 3OOC games.




Sunbelt could add the top FCS schools

Doesn't it make more sense for Arkansas St to be included and go to the West.

And APP St makes no sense at all. They would add Georgia Southern way before App in the East.

(12-04-2014 03:06 PM)MJG Wrote:  

(12-04-2014 02:38 PM)APPFAN94 Wrote:  Here is the dream:

CUSA Picks up G Southern, App State, and ULL.
16 team conference.
Marshall and ASU are old rivals as are ULL and Louisiana Tech. Also UNCC and App could become rivals and GSU and OD have rivalries.


Divisons would be:
East:
App
UNCC
GSU
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
FAU
FIU


West:
LTU
NTU
RICE
SOUTHERNMISS
ULL
UTEP
UTSA
WKU

Everyone would play a 7 game division schedule and 2 members of the other division making a 9 game conference schedule and 3OOC games.




Sunbelt could add the top FCS schools

Doesn't it make more sense for Arkansas St to be included and go to the West.

Not to an APPFAN. lol

My suggestion is to let CUSA decide who they want, IF they want anyone at all.