(12-11-2015 03:01 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Who are the teams that make you go "who?"? The only ones that might do that for me are Utah State and Wyoming.. Other than that, I think they all have established names..

While I know who all of these schools are (just like in CUSA), in football I care VERY little about: SJSU, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming, SDSU, UNLV. So in that regard, it isn't much of a bump.

I care about: Air Force, Boise, Fresno State.

I'm ambivalent about Hawaii and Nevada

Not much better for our current conference with the F_Us, WKU, and MTSU, but at least there are other Texas teams, or teams from the same region (USM and La Tech) in CUSA.

I still say make the move, but in my very uneducated opinion, I don't think it's really putting us in that much better of a conference from the perspective of opponents of interest.

edit: I wonder if the name recognition at the G5 level is regional. Growing up in Florida, I am much more familiar with everyone in CUSA, except MTSU, from before my time at Rice.

(12-11-2015 03:01 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Who are the teams that make you go "who?"? The only ones that might do that for me are Utah State and Wyoming.. Other than that, I think they all have established names..

... and Utah State is probably now one of the best football program.

Weakest overall program is probably San Jose St.

(12-11-2015 03:00 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 02:59 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 02:53 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 02:38 PM)mrbig Wrote:  P5>>>>AAC>>MWC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sunbelt =CUSA

FIFY.

Didn't someone say that our conference was ranked second in G5s? I don't think the gap is so great, overall.

I think we take the offer, if made, because of the perceived reputations of the MWC schools and the inclusion of Boise State. But they have plenty of stinkers. Regionally, we work much better with our current CUSA-West placement as compared the the MWC, but I'd prefer the inclusion of Air Force, Boise State, and Nevada to that. But there are still plenty of schools in the MWC that make me scratch my head and say, who?

I think though that the AAC is the G5 we would ideally be a part of due to the other members, and after this year, the perception of strength.

This year, we are last. Atleast according to Sagarin.

IMO, perception is where there is the biggest gap. The MWC has more known state schools and less directional ones.

You're right that perception is the biggest gap, but I think it is only between the AAC and the other G5's. I think the MWC as a whole and CUSA are lumped together, and then the Sun Belt after that.

"There is a faction of league presidents that favor Rice because of its overall academic reputation, sources said."

So our academics are what might get us into a "better" conference after all. Good to see it still matters. How much does the Big 12 care about academics?

(12-11-2015 03:18 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  You're right that perception is the biggest gap, but I think it is only between the AAC and the other G5's. I think the MWC as a whole and CUSA are lumped together, and then the Sun Belt after that.

If two schools leave CUSA for the MWC, that would add to the perception that MWC>CUSA. Also, remember that the MWC somewhat recently renegotiated their media rights contract while the CUSA media rights contract(s) are up for renogotiation.

(12-11-2015 03:35 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  "There is a faction of league presidents that favor Rice because of its overall academic reputation, sources said."

So our academics are what might get us into a "better" conference after all. Good to see it still matters. How much does the Big 12 care about academics?

Enough to consider admitting UH but not Memphis? I have no idea how either school fares in the various rankings...

(12-11-2015 03:18 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 03:00 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 02:59 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 02:53 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 02:38 PM)mrbig Wrote:  P5>>>>AAC>>MWC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sunbelt =CUSA

FIFY.

Didn't someone say that our conference was ranked second in G5s? I don't think the gap is so great, overall.

I think we take the offer, if made, because of the perceived reputations of the MWC schools and the inclusion of Boise State. But they have plenty of stinkers. Regionally, we work much better with our current CUSA-West placement as compared the the MWC, but I'd prefer the inclusion of Air Force, Boise State, and Nevada to that. But there are still plenty of schools in the MWC that make me scratch my head and say, who?

I think though that the AAC is the G5 we would ideally be a part of due to the other members, and after this year, the perception of strength.

This year, we are last. Atleast according to Sagarin.

IMO, perception is where there is the biggest gap. The MWC has more known state schools and less directional ones.

You're right that perception is the biggest gap, but I think it is only between the AAC and the other G5's. I think the MWC as a whole and CUSA are lumped together, and then the Sun Belt after that.

Temple, Tulsa, Tulane, Memphis, SMU, Uconn, UCF, ECU, Navy, UH. Decent in basketball, but no great football programs; UH and ECU are the best ones! MWC has Boise, Fresno, Colorado St., Nevada, Air Force - all on par with the best football programs in AAC.

(12-11-2015 03:18 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  You're right that perception is the biggest gap, but I think it is only between the AAC and the other G5's. I think the MWC as a whole and CUSA are lumped together, and then the Sun Belt after that.

Actually don't agree with this.

The AAC is getting a lot of press this year - deservedly so - for the year they've had in football. In recent years, however, the MWC and AAC have been considered peer bridge conferences between CUSA/MAC/Sun Belt and the P5. Don't forget that Boise/Hawaii have each been recent BCS (or equivalent) bowl teams.

And again ... don't discount MWC basketball. Quite frankly, I have assumed that the current state of our basketball program would represent a veto to a potential invite (at least until our RPI improves - which we all think it will under Coach R).

Personal opinion only, but my perception is that a few years ago, the Big East was ahead of MWC & CUSA, who were ahead of Sun Belt and MAC. But the CUSA defections and creation of the AAC have changed that. Now the AAC is ahead of the MWC, who is ahead of CUSA, who is still ahead of Sun Belt & MAC. The real question is how big the gap is between AAC & MWC (my opinion is that it is big ... but would narrow with AAC defections) and the MWC & CUSA (my opinion is that it is medium ... but would widen with CUSA defections).

If there is a gap, it is negligible, and until very recently it was probably in the MWC's favor. East Coast bias is to blame for the perception that the AAC is better.

I've been consistently advocating for going to MWC for years on this board, probably as long as anyone. That is the G5 conference with the most upside, and Rice and UTEP would be the only Texas teams with a true western orientation if they accepted an invitation.

I mean, heck, being affiliated with Air Force and San Diego State alone would be worth it. Air Force is a peer of sorts for us, and San Diego State is an established power in basketball now and is at least decent at almost everything in athletics.

I'd much rather be in the Mountain West. Much. Houston, San Diego, Honolulu, Las Vegas... Yes please. We'd have to sort out the travel, but I think that is a problem worth having at this point.

(12-11-2015 03:35 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  How much does the Big 12 care about academics?

Not a whit.

(12-11-2015 04:19 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  I'd much rather be in the Mountain West. Much. Houston, San Diego, Honolulu, Las Vegas... Yes please. We'd have to sort out the travel, but I think that is a problem worth having at this point.

Agreed.

And from a fan perspective, this is great. Big cities and direct flights. While C-USA is closer, I'd rather get castrated than make a trip to Hattiesburg ever again.

(12-11-2015 01:43 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...-expansion

Clearly some geographic hurdles here but we have got to get out of this current dumpster fire of a conference. Excellent basketball as well.

I'm delighted we are getting a mention here. How depressed would we be if this story was about UTEP and UTSA? Or UTEP and Louisiana Tech?

(12-11-2015 04:27 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 04:19 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  I'd much rather be in the Mountain West. Much. Houston, San Diego, Honolulu, Las Vegas... Yes please. We'd have to sort out the travel, but I think that is a problem worth having at this point.

Agreed.

And from a fan perspective, this is great. Big cities and direct flights. While C-USA is closer, I'd rather get castrated than make a trip to Hattiesburg ever again.

Having done a decent amount of work in college towns across the south, is Hattiesburg that bad, in comparison to other towns?

While there is downside of losing drive-able games, it does make traveling to games further away a lot easier due to air port access.

(12-11-2015 04:27 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(12-11-2015 04:19 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  I'd much rather be in the Mountain West. Much. Houston, San Diego, Honolulu, Las Vegas... Yes please. We'd have to sort out the travel, but I think that is a problem worth having at this point.

Agreed.

And from a fan perspective, this is great. Big cities and direct flights. While C-USA is closer, I'd rather get castrated than make a trip to Hattiesburg ever again.

Just get a hotel in Biloxi.

(12-11-2015 04:30 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  I'm delighted we are getting a mention here. How depressed would we be if this story was about UTEP and UTSA? Or UTEP and Louisiana Tech?

We just need to make sure that the story stays about us.

At this point, we would have to be stark raving mad to turn down an invitation from the MWC. Even discouraging the notion by making eyes at the AAC would be incredibly foolish.

And besides, the simple fact that our academics actually matter to the MWC almost compels us hold them in higher esteem. Apparently, they share our values to at least some degree. I'm not sure how they would explain wanting UTEP, but that is probably market logic at work.

(12-11-2015 02:14 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Pretty decent drop in terms of baseball conferences though, but we'd still be able to host regionals, IMO, assuming we had a talented enough team. I think the Mountain West is a step up overall, in the sense that we will be competing against some flagship state schools, as well as Air Force.

Agreed on all counts. It is a drop off in baseball, but no worse than the WAC of the late 1990s and early 2000s

I don't know if moving to MWC would be so great. I like the MWC, but what are their bowl affiliations other than New Mexico and Tucson? Are any located within driving distance of Houston? Aren't CUSA's bowls better? What about the student-athletes? Is Rice going to be willing and able to send students all over the west coast? Is that fair to them? Does anyone even care about that? Are we ready to sever every tie with our regional rivals here in Texas, other than UTEP? In the end, it looks like a push. It's not an easy decision and the answer is far from obvious. I could stomach it better if BYU were still a member, or if they decided to include a couple more Texas schools in the package besides Rice and UTEP.

Guys, what if the MWC contacted JK and told him this move was only predicated on him not firing DB?????

DOES THAT EXPLAIN THE SILENCE??????

(12-11-2015 05:05 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Guys, what if the MWC contacted JK and told him this move was only predicated on him not firing DB?????

DOES THAT EXPLAIN THE SILENCE??????

Joking right?

Let's hope someone is on the phone and not watching the phone. I'm not all in, but I'd like to listen to anyone who wants to talk.