(02-09-2019 08:30 PM)whittx Wrote: UTEP would have joined, but doubt Rice and La Tech came along. La Tech left the WAC to go to C-USA because of the travel.
From how it was presented at the time, La Tech didn't want to be in the Sun Belt, but had a Tulane problem blocking entry into CUSA. WAC, at least what it was then pre-raid, was probably at or slightly better than CUSA's level (if just because Boise and Hawaii made it to BCS bowls and the WAC could sneak multiple bids when only Memphis could punch tickets in CUSA). MWC gets sacked, WAC gets gutted, and CUSA takes some hits, too.
But, after everything settled, and Boise and SDSU come back...is La Tech one to walk that one back, if, say, there's a spot out there?
Don't get me wrong, at the time, La Tech to CUSA was such an easy move for folks, and I think CUSA is stocked with very similar schools (minus the F*Us, and we're still waiting on Charlotte), and La Tech looks just as commonplace among that crew (with UTEP), but back at that time, they could have been on a higher trajectory.
Rice? Yeah, they'd bolt. They're more like the Mountain West schools than what became of CUSA, especially after the remaining SWC members left with Tulane and Tulsa. They tend to associate more with western schools than eastern ones, being part of that mega WAC, then staying in a more western-heavy CUSA, then tossing their hats into the ring for both the Big XII and MWC.