https://forms.gle/agC9Gw9QCD4zgAP4A


Final results will appear here: https://csnbbs.com/thread-897646.html

Thanks for posting, I filled it out. Will be interesting to see the results

Done. Wish there was less spacing between the rows and columns so we could see all the options and/or slide the bar in a single screen.

you need a none of the above option on question 2.

(04-08-2020 12:51 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  you need a none of the above option on question 2.

You're more diplomatic than me. I was looking for this as an option:

Live pivot tables up for Rice ... see the Rice sheet at the bottom: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

(04-08-2020 02:28 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  

(04-08-2020 12:51 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  you need a none of the above option on question 2.

You're more diplomatic than me. I was looking for this as an option:

Yes, not ideal, but at this point, Rice would be lucky if these schools agree to include Rice in any conference reshaping. Until Rice proves it belongs in a different neighborhood, it needs to focus on dominating the neighborhood it is in.

I think that UAB would be the best of the schools outside of Texas/Louisiana to have in a re-formed conference. There's easy access, because it's in an actual city, and they have the premier indoor track and field facility.

But, looking over the responses from UAB fans, it seems as if Rice is invisible to them. I have a feeling that will be the case with all but the Texas schools, plus perhaps Louisiana Tech and the University of Louisiana.

(04-09-2020 11:02 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  I think that UAB would be the best of the schools outside of Texas/Louisiana to have in a re-formed conference. There's easy access, because it's in an actual city, and they have the premier indoor track and field facility.

It's also the closest thing to an academic peer in either CUSA or SunBelt, because of the medical school.

My vote, given the limited selection of schools...

Louisiana Tech
Southern Mississippi
Louisiana-Lafayette
North Texas
UTEP
Texas State
UTSA
Arkansas State
ULM
Rice

I'd rather we never go east of the Mississippi River to play any G5 school unless it's Army or Navy.

I know it doesn’t really help our travel situation but if I were just picking schools I’d like us to play against, I’d much rather play App State and Georgia Southern than Charlotte and ODU. Of course, Charlotte and ODU would probably say the same thing about us.

(04-10-2020 08:13 PM)Ourland Wrote:  My vote, given the limited selection of schools...

Louisiana Tech
Southern Mississippi
Louisiana-Lafayette
North Texas
UTEP
Texas State
UTSA
Arkansas State
ULM
Rice

I'd rather we never go east of the Mississippi River to play any G5 school unless it's Army or Navy.

Except for Arkansas State, this could be the LA-TEX conference. And that's not stretching the truth!

(04-11-2020 12:16 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  

(04-10-2020 08:13 PM)Ourland Wrote:  My vote, given the limited selection of schools...
Louisiana Tech
Southern Mississippi
Louisiana-Lafayette
North Texas
UTEP
Texas State
UTSA
Arkansas State
ULM
Rice
I'd rather we never go east of the Mississippi River to play any G5 school unless it's Army or Navy.

Except for Arkansas State, this could be the LA-TEX conference. And that's not stretching the truth!

Or the Ark-La-Tex., except you also have USM.

If you don't want to borrow a term already in use with a different meaning, how about Southwest Conference?

My idea adds UAB (which is the closest thing to an academic peer because of the med school), NMSU (rival and travel partner for UTEP and strong basketball) , and the two Florida schools (because I think both of them want to go places athletically, plus they bring at least some part of the Miami TV market), plus AT-Arlington and UALR for basketball, and splits into two divisions with La Tech staying in the west.

(04-11-2020 03:14 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 12:16 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  

(04-10-2020 08:13 PM)Ourland Wrote:  My vote, given the limited selection of schools...
Louisiana Tech
Southern Mississippi
Louisiana-Lafayette
North Texas
UTEP
Texas State
UTSA
Arkansas State
ULM
Rice
I'd rather we never go east of the Mississippi River to play any G5 school unless it's Army or Navy.

Except for Arkansas State, this could be the LA-TEX conference. And that's not stretching the truth!

Or the Ark-La-Tex., except you also have USM.

If you don't want to borrow a term already in use with a different meaning, how about Southwest Conference?

My idea adds UAB (which is the closest thing to an academic peer because of the med school), NMSU (rival and travel partner for UTEP and strong basketball) , and the two Florida schools (because I think both of them want to go places athletically, plus they bring at least some part of the Miami TV market), plus AT-Arlington and UALR for basketball, and splits into two divisions with La Tech staying in the west.

UAB and NMSU wouldn't be terrible additions, if the goal is a regional superconference. Both have good basketball programs. From a geographic standpoint, UAB might prefer an "eastern" conference.
UALR and UT-Arlington would be good for basketball and olympic sports.

(04-11-2020 12:14 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 03:14 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 12:16 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  

(04-10-2020 08:13 PM)Ourland Wrote:  My vote, given the limited selection of schools...
Louisiana Tech
Southern Mississippi
Louisiana-Lafayette
North Texas
UTEP
Texas State
UTSA
Arkansas State
ULM
Rice
I'd rather we never go east of the Mississippi River to play any G5 school unless it's Army or Navy.

Except for Arkansas State, this could be the LA-TEX conference. And that's not stretching the truth!

Or the Ark-La-Tex., except you also have USM.
If you don't want to borrow a term already in use with a different meaning, how about Southwest Conference?
My idea adds UAB (which is the closest thing to an academic peer because of the med school), NMSU (rival and travel partner for UTEP and strong basketball) , and the two Florida schools (because I think both of them want to go places athletically, plus they bring at least some part of the Miami TV market), plus AT-Arlington and UALR for basketball, and splits into two divisions with La Tech staying in the west.

UAB and NMSU wouldn't be terrible additions, if the goal is a regional superconference. Both have good basketball programs. From a geographic standpoint, UAB might prefer an "eastern" conference.
UALR and UT-Arlington would be good for basketball and olympic sports.

I would do UAB, USM, Arkansas State, ULaLa, ULM, and the Florida schools in the East, plus UALR for everything but football, and a west division of Rice, La Tech, UTSA, Texas State, UNT, UTEP, and NMSU, with UT-Arlington for non-football. I’d like to keep UAB because with their Med school they are the closest thing to an intellectual peer. The Florida schools don't really fit with either CUSA or SunBelt geographically, but I would take them because I think they belong in the aggressively seeking upgrading more than most, and it would be good to associate with upward mobility, and because they deliver at least a foothold in the Miami TV market.

My real hope is that there's one more big wave of realignment, and we end up in the AAC West division with Louisiana Tech, USM, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. If it doesn't happen, CUSA and the Sun Belt will realign along geographic lines sometime in the near future. We must get out, or we'll be stuck.

(04-13-2020 11:08 AM)Ourland Wrote:  My real hope is that there's one more big wave of realignment, and we end up in the AAC West division with Louisiana Tech, USM, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. If it doesn't happen, CUSA and the Sun Belt will realign along geographic lines sometime in the near future. We must get out, or we'll be stuck.

We have to dominate CUSA across the board to attract any interest by anyone that would be an upward move. We aren't close to that now and the witching hour is 2024 when the XII TV contact expires. I expect OU and Okie State to the SEC, and Kansas and TexasU to go somewhere (B1G?). So we have a 3-4 year window, and we will probably lose a big hunk of year one in that time frame.

I think we need to be Navy in football (the record, not necessarily the scheme, although that scheme may be the best way to get that record), Gonzaga in basketball (although maybe not go as far as they have in the last couple of years), and return to being Rice in baseball (meaning back to Omaha on a regular basis). And we need to get there in 3 years. Is it doable? Yes, but probably barely. Will we do it?????

If not, then we need to focus on dominating whatever is left of CUSA. If there is ever a way out, that is one essential step on the way.

(04-13-2020 11:32 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(04-13-2020 11:08 AM)Ourland Wrote:  My real hope is that there's one more big wave of realignment, and we end up in the AAC West division with Louisiana Tech, USM, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. If it doesn't happen, CUSA and the Sun Belt will realign along geographic lines sometime in the near future. We must get out, or we'll be stuck.

We have to dominate CUSA across the board to attract any interest by anyone that would be an upward move. We aren't close to that now and the witching hour is 2024 when the XII TV contact expires. I expect OU and Okie State to the SEC, and Kansas and TexasU to go somewhere (B1G?). So we have a 3-4 year window, and we will probably lose a big hunk of year one in that time frame.

I think we need to be Navy in football (the record, not necessarily the scheme, although that scheme may be the best way to get that record), Gonzaga in basketball (although maybe not go as far as they have in the last couple of years), and return to being Rice in baseball (meaning back to Omaha on a regular basis). And we need to get there in 3 years. Is it doable? Yes, but probably barely. Will we do it?????

If not, then we need to focus on dominating whatever is left of CUSA. If there is ever a way out, that is one essential step on the way.

Agree with the record. As to the other....Nah.

For fun, I have been watching a few you tube videos about offensive and defensive football with my son. Watched one by Urban Meyer and another by Dan Mullen. Watched some on how to beat different coverages.
It is interesting the subtle differences but the overall theme is repeating specific patterns against specific coverages. It would be fun to go through those videos and then discuss the changes in thinking and interpretation that would make it more effective.
For example, it is amazing just how predetermined everyone is and how nobody accounts for the actual movement of defenders. The assumption is that all the coverages react and respond the same. They make some assumptions on things that can't be done by a defense that are actually possible. They teach athletic adjustments and narrowed reads for the QB. Offensive and defensive interactions are more fluid than they think and teach. To continue this line, Mullen talked about receivers running to their landmarks. This stresses the defense in a specific way. They don't account for ways a defense can adapt with more athletic players and instead attribute failures to Jimmy and Joes. However, they fail to see that by altering the routes away from going to landmarks and then adjusting the deeper aspects of those route to where the defenders are, to one that actually utilizes recognizing the responsibilities of defenders and altering the path of a route to increase the strain of the entire defense as well as individuals within a specific coverage. It actually increases the strain on defenders. Unfortunately, it takes a willingness to look at things differently yet at the same the incorporate the given inherent dynamics of football.
This is all philosophical but it really does make sense and is fun to discuss.

(04-13-2020 11:32 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(04-13-2020 11:08 AM)Ourland Wrote:  My real hope is that there's one more big wave of realignment, and we end up in the AAC West division with Louisiana Tech, USM, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. If it doesn't happen, CUSA and the Sun Belt will realign along geographic lines sometime in the near future. We must get out, or we'll be stuck.

We have to dominate CUSA across the board to attract any interest by anyone that would be an upward move. We aren't close to that now and the witching hour is 2024 when the XII TV contact expires. I expect OU and Okie State to the SEC, and Kansas and TexasU to go somewhere (B1G?). So we have a 3-4 year window, and we will probably lose a big hunk of year one in that time frame.

I think we need to be Navy in football (the record, not necessarily the scheme, although that scheme may be the best way to get that record), Gonzaga in basketball (although maybe not go as far as they have in the last couple of years), and return to being Rice in baseball (meaning back to Omaha on a regular basis). And we need to get there in 3 years. Is it doable? Yes, but probably barely. Will we do it?????

If not, then we need to focus on dominating whatever is left of CUSA. If there is ever a way out, that is one essential step on the way.

We have a history with the private schools, and we share a common thread as "like-minded" institutions. That, and their desire for a Houston representative would probably put us toward the top of their list. They would likely want to invite us if their conference were raided, but at the same time, you always want a school that can compete, and that can improve your conference's athletic profile.
I don't think we even have to have particularly great athletics programs to get there, but we sure as hell can't be terrible, because if we are, someone like North Texas, UTSA, or ULL gets the invite instead of us. We must have football, basketball, and baseball programs that are all in the top five of CUSA. I don't know how we do that in basketball right now, but something has to be figured out. There's not much hope for that sport as long as we are in CUSA, and the tragedy of it all is that Pera is likely a very good coach.