A logical person could assume the most likely candidates for a merger would be CUSA/SBC, really not a stretch. The stretch would be believing CUSA would merge with another conference, say the AAC, whose hubris knows no bounds.

MAC doesn't make sense, there really only is one option for a large scale swap of teams.

Playing on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and being regelated to ESPN+\3 is big time!

Don’t forget all the awesome bowls the Sunbelt plays in. Lowest TV rated Bowls with no P5 bowl opponents, Big Time!

Of course Sunbelt schools want to move up to CUSA. The ones that got left behind after WKU, NT, FIU moved up to CUSA feel jaded, just look at all the anger the Sunbelt posters spew but but but we had a team that went 9-0 in the Conference! And got to play UAB in a low rated bowl as a reward!

You really don't know understand how bad your tv deal (or lack there of) is compared to ours.

Google is your friend: https://sunbeltsports.org/schedule.aspx?schedule=864

2019 Reality:

App TV schedule

@ UNC-CH - ACC Network Sat.
@ ULL ESPN2 Wednesday
@ USA ESPNU Sat.
GS ESPNU Thursday
@ South Car. ESPN2 Sat.
@ GA St. ESPNU Sat.
ULL ESPN Sat.
UAB ESPN Sat.

8 of 14 games on national TV, 6 on Saturday.

(05-29-2020 01:32 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  You really don't know understand how bad your tv deal (or lack there of) is compared to ours.

Google is your friend: https://sunbeltsports.org/schedule.aspx?schedule=864

2019 Reality:

App TV schedule

@ UNC-CH - ACC Network Sat.
@ ULL ESPN2 Wednesday
@ USA ESPNU Sat.
GS ESPNU Thursday
@ South Car. ESPN2 Sat.
@ GA St. ESPNU Sat.
ULL ESPN Sat.
UAB ESPN Sat.

8 of 14 games on national TV, 6 on Saturday.

You might get the call up to CUSA one day. You don't have to try and convince us. Run back to the Sunbelt board.

Sure man playing Tuesdays and Wednesdays on ESPN3 and + are big time!

Your reward at the end of the year was one of the lowest rated bowls vs UAB

clt says the appy travel times are fake news.

from October to April the minimal roads are covered with ice, Hardee’s burger wrappers and cig butts.

When it does thaw, you have to avoid tractors, grocery store electric carts and beat up awd rav4’s

Truly an awful place

Looking at the Nielsen ratings for CUSA and Sunbelt last Bowl season. Three CUSA teams had a rating of 1.2 or higher with the highest Sunbelt game coming in at .9. I know Tech played Miami and ended up with a 1.4, but FAU got a 1.3 against SMU and USM got a 1.2 against Tulane. ULL would have finished tied for fourth with that .9 rating. Our TV package may suck, but its not because of the teams in this conference. Its because we have crappy management.

(05-24-2020 12:56 PM)SouthernMiss3613 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 12:36 PM)FAU Connoisseur! Wrote:  

(05-21-2020 07:18 PM)DogsWin1 Wrote:  ULM is an FCS caliber program. Would you want to be in an even weaker conference with a noncontributor every year like that? They (and the other Sunbelt teams) only travel a fraction of the # of fans we take to road games against them. We simply don't want to be on the same level as ULM, UL-Laf, and Arkansas St. That is it in a nutshell, regardless of what they would like you to believe.

Don't forget Troy.

Most USM fans wouldn't have any problem being in a conference with ULM, UL, Troy or Arkansas State. Those are easy locations for us bbn to travel and for them to travel to us. Do you think the national media really cares if we are playing against UNT/UTEP or ULM/UL. The local media would certainly prefer UL/ULM.

If this is really true, NOW I understand why all the CUSA 1.0 schools (Houston, Memphis, ECU, Louisville, TCU, etc...) left USM behind. I never really understood the reason until now. But if your fan base doesn't have any interest in GROWING its' program, and isn't interested in the quality of opponents it plays, then I completely understand why USM was left behind.

Well played, SouthernMiss3613.

(05-29-2020 08:16 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 12:56 PM)SouthernMiss3613 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 12:36 PM)FAU Connoisseur! Wrote:  

(05-21-2020 07:18 PM)DogsWin1 Wrote:  ULM is an FCS caliber program. Would you want to be in an even weaker conference with a noncontributor every year like that? They (and the other Sunbelt teams) only travel a fraction of the # of fans we take to road games against them. We simply don't want to be on the same level as ULM, UL-Laf, and Arkansas St. That is it in a nutshell, regardless of what they would like you to believe.

Don't forget Troy.

Most USM fans wouldn't have any problem being in a conference with ULM, UL, Troy or Arkansas State. Those are easy locations for us bbn to travel and for them to travel to us. Do you think the national media really cares if we are playing against UNT/UTEP or ULM/UL. The local media would certainly prefer UL/ULM.

If this is really true, NOW I understand why all the CUSA 1.0 schools (Houston, Memphis, ECU, Louisville, TCU, etc...) left USM behind. I never really understood the reason until now. But if your fan base doesn't have any interest in GROWING its' program, and isn't interested in the quality of opponents it plays, then I completely understand why USM was left behind.

Well played, SouthernMiss3613.

Yes. Southern Miss fans have pretty low standards. Win 9 games and almost beat an SEC team then reminisce being a "giant killer" in the 70s and 80s.

They never invested in their program and always assumed CUSA would do all the work for them.

(05-25-2020 12:14 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 11:27 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 10:03 PM)deb025 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 09:57 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 12:56 PM)SouthernMiss3613 Wrote:  Most USM fans wouldn't have any problem being in a conference with ULM, UL, Troy or Arkansas State. Those are easy locations for us bbn to travel and for them to travel to us. Do you think the national media really cares if we are playing against UNT/UTEP or ULM/UL. The local media would certainly prefer UL/ULM.

Absolutely right. Games at ULM would be easy travel for Louisiana Tech fans. And who really gives a damn who we play anyway? At least they're FBS.

The fact is that ULM would beat LTU on occasion, and they want to save themselves the embarrassment.

No Tech fan cares about easy travel to Monroe. You've obsessed about Tech being in a conference with the UL twins for a while now on this message board.

Because you need to be in a conference with the "UL twins." Why talk down at ULM, and then turn around and schedule FCS competition instead? Grambling, Northwestern State, and Prairie View are not more attractive opponents than an FBS program that's only 40 miles away.

You need to be drug tested. Why the heck would we join a Junior College Conference? This isn’t LHSAA football! This is is about developing a brand and entertaining our fans. I have no problem playing ULM occasionally but being in the conference with them would completely derail all we worked for.

Great post. It really is about building a great athletic brand and offering quality entertainment to our fans.

I'm still amazed at how much "high school" thinking and mentality I read from CUSA & Sunbelt fans here on the CUSA board. It's exactly opposite of what I used to see on the WAC board when LA Tech shared the WAC with Boise St, Fresno St, Nevada, Hawaii and even Utah St. Those schools had strategic plans, and were real big on building a Brand for their athletic programs. Many of these CUSA (and Sunbelt) schools are only interested in playing local and playing cheap, with no thought given to brand building. I guess that's why those old WAC schools have the big TV contracts today in the Mountain West, and CUSA doesn't.

(05-27-2020 03:23 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  Is there a more delusional fanbase in CUSA than LA Tech (at least the vocal minority here)?

There is no program in the SBC or CUSA that should be looking so far down their nose at another FBS program given the situation.

It's always the "newbies" that say that. And I guess that's the way it should be. Most newbies to FBS football just don't have the history that some of the "storied" G5's have like a Marshall, or Southern Miss or a Louisiana Tech.

Quick: Can you name a famous former player from any of those three G5 programs? Of course you can. Randy Moss, Brett Favre and Terry Bradshaw come to mind immediately. And there's more. But not so for Appy St. I'm a serious college football fan, and I can't name a single player who's ever played at Appy.

I also seriously doubt Appy's ever had a #1 overall NFL draft choice like Tech's Bradshaw, a man who won 4 NFL Superbowl rings and 2 Super bowl MVP Awards. And I'm guessing Appy doesn't have 3 NFL Hall of Famers like LA Tech, and hasn't had 16 players drafted by NFL since 2010 like LA Tech has. (I checked. Appy has 11, which is good. But it ain't 16.) https://www.footballdb.com/draft/college...siana+Tech

And I don't think Appy has won 6 Bowl games in a row, including two over P5 opponents, and another over Navy.

All this to say, I got now problem with Appy fans having a chip on their shoulder. That's as it should be. But at least be respectful of other schools accomplishments when they really have 'em.

You guys were great in 1970. Happy?

(05-29-2020 10:29 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  You guys were great in 1970. Happy?

What do you have to offer in basketball? And overall athletic budget? And overall market? Those are your Achilles heals fool. Our state high school basketball champions could beat you in basketball. Understand?

(05-29-2020 11:02 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  

(05-29-2020 10:29 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  You guys were great in 1970. Happy?

What do you have to offer in basketball? And overall athletic budget? And overall market? Those are your Achilles heals fool. Our state high school basketball champions could beat you in basketball. Understand?

I don't think I've seen smack from ODU against App State before - feisty.. (I like it!!!)

Anyway, good luck against Wake to start the season, and please beat UVA. (Thanks in advance for winning both - would love to see it)

EDIT: Yes - we are a football school, and basketball isn't our thing...so you may be right on that one LOL...

(05-29-2020 08:47 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  I guess we are forgetting Marshall and ODU fans started this conversation on this board.

One conference has a tighter footprint, higher CFB payout, and better TV deal.

I look forward to the scheduling alliance, best of both worlds. We keep the higher payout and get regional OOC games fans can travel to.

It will lead to good banter leading up to games.

Without mentioning names of any schools... it would be amusing if two schools in 14-member CUSA, noting “12-member SBC has higher per-team CFP payout”, decide to switch leagues.

Just thinking the first CFP payout check in the 14-member SBC might drop off a little bit

(05-29-2020 08:31 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-25-2020 12:14 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 11:27 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 10:03 PM)deb025 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 09:57 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Absolutely right. Games at ULM would be easy travel for Louisiana Tech fans. And who really gives a damn who we play anyway? At least they're FBS.

The fact is that ULM would beat LTU on occasion, and they want to save themselves the embarrassment.

No Tech fan cares about easy travel to Monroe. You've obsessed about Tech being in a conference with the UL twins for a while now on this message board.

Because you need to be in a conference with the "UL twins." Why talk down at ULM, and then turn around and schedule FCS competition instead? Grambling, Northwestern State, and Prairie View are not more attractive opponents than an FBS program that's only 40 miles away.

You need to be drug tested. Why the heck would we join a Junior College Conference? This isn’t LHSAA football! This is is about developing a brand and entertaining our fans. I have no problem playing ULM occasionally but being in the conference with them would completely derail all we worked for.

Great post. It really is about building a great athletic brand and offering quality entertainment to our fans.

I'm still amazed at how much "high school" thinking and mentality I read from CUSA & Sunbelt fans here on the CUSA board. It's exactly opposite of what I used to see on the WAC board when LA Tech shared the WAC with Boise St, Fresno St, Nevada, Hawaii and even Utah St. Those schools had strategic plans, and were real big on building a Brand for their athletic programs. Many of these CUSA (and Sunbelt) schools are only interested in playing local and playing cheap, with no thought given to brand building. I guess that's why those old WAC schools have the big TV contracts today in the Mountain West, and CUSA doesn't.

Tech fans are great at talking without showing proof. based on all the winning and success tech has in its past, does the financial balance sheet show the great athletic brand you must have by now?
Everyone has heard of the bowl streak and the p5 games and cusa being a blessing. can you show increases in sponsorship dollars? increases in merchandise sales? increases in tickets sold?
fans can talk about great brands all day, but financial balance sheets will tell the truth about how great your brand is.

all words of the greatness were taken from tech fans post from different threads, so there should be no objections from tech fans about the questions i asked.

(05-29-2020 10:29 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  You guys were great in 1970. Happy?

The 6 consecutive bowl game win streak --a fete unmatched by any other FBS school-- didn't happen in 1970. It's happening right now. Check!

Also, 2 of LA Tech's 3 NFL Hall of Famers played well after 1970, and one played at LA Tech in the 1990's. Check!

And the 16 draft choices since 2010.....well, that's happening right now as well. Check!

So, I would ordinarily say "nice try" on your part......but, it's really not.

(05-30-2020 11:53 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-29-2020 10:29 PM)Saint3333 Wrote:  You guys were great in 1970. Happy?

The 6 consecutive bowl game win streak --a fete unmatched by any other FBS school-- didn't happen in 1970. It's happening right now. Check!

Also, 2 of LA Tech's 3 NFL Hall of Famers played well after 1970, and one played at LA Tech in the 1990's. Check!

And the 16 draft choices since 2010.....well, that's happening right now as well. Check!

So, I would ordinarily say "nice try" on your part......but, it's really not.

(05-30-2020 10:19 AM)balanced_view Wrote:  

(05-29-2020 08:31 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-25-2020 12:14 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 11:27 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 10:03 PM)deb025 Wrote:  No Tech fan cares about easy travel to Monroe. You've obsessed about Tech being in a conference with the UL twins for a while now on this message board.

Because you need to be in a conference with the "UL twins." Why talk down at ULM, and then turn around and schedule FCS competition instead? Grambling, Northwestern State, and Prairie View are not more attractive opponents than an FBS program that's only 40 miles away.

You need to be drug tested. Why the heck would we join a Junior College Conference? This isn’t LHSAA football! This is is about developing a brand and entertaining our fans. I have no problem playing ULM occasionally but being in the conference with them would completely derail all we worked for.

Great post. It really is about building a great athletic brand and offering quality entertainment to our fans.

I'm still amazed at how much "high school" thinking and mentality I read from CUSA & Sunbelt fans here on the CUSA board. It's exactly opposite of what I used to see on the WAC board when LA Tech shared the WAC with Boise St, Fresno St, Nevada, Hawaii and even Utah St. Those schools had strategic plans, and were real big on building a Brand for their athletic programs. Many of these CUSA (and Sunbelt) schools are only interested in playing local and playing cheap, with no thought given to brand building. I guess that's why those old WAC schools have the big TV contracts today in the Mountain West, and CUSA doesn't.

Tech fans are great at talking without showing proof. based on all the winning and success tech has in its past, does the financial balance sheet show the great athletic brand you must have by now?
Everyone has heard of the bowl streak and the p5 games and cusa being a blessing. can you show increases in sponsorship dollars? increases in merchandise sales? increases in tickets sold?
fans can talk about great brands all day, but financial balance sheets will tell the truth about how great your brand is.

all words of the greatness were taken from tech fans post from different threads, so there should be no objections from tech fans about the questions i asked.

Aahhh....so when you can't compete with LA Tech on the field/court, you change the subject to finances.

Fine. LA Tech has seen massive improvement in it's athletic finances over the past decade. Especially with alumni and former students giving support. LTAC is very strong and is probably the best college athletic giving corp in Louisiana, behind the purple & gold pukes, of course. LA Tech has spent approximately $45 million on football stadium upgrades in last 6 years....first the DAC End Zone facility, followed soon after by the new Press Box facility. All of this was done with very little debt on our books. I think Tech owes around $4 to $5 million of debt on this $45 Million expenditure. (You can look this stuff up, because I'll make you do it. LOL!)

And we're not done yet. By this time next year, LA Tech will have spent another $50 million on a brand new baseball stadium, a brand new women's softball stadium and a brand new soccer facility. All of this is already under construction!! Again...DEBT FREE, mostly courtesy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a response the the F3 tornado's we experienced.

So, that will be approximately $100 Million of athletic facility upgrades in the last 6 to 7 years.

You have to remember, LA Tech is a smaller public school (only 12K enrollment) research university that offers students a big time Tier 1 "private school" educational experience. Our academics are very high (highest public school in the state) and our tuition rates are very low. These low tuition rates typically translate into a lower overall scholarship budget number when evaluating LA Tech's athletic budget vs another schools budget. No one disputes that LA Tech's athletic budget is small, but the low cost of athletic scholarships for tuition only exacerbates the difference, and makes LA Tech's budget look even smaller than it really is by comparison.

Again, all of this and relatively NO DEBT. This is why we can afford to do these things and others can't.

(05-25-2020 12:35 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(05-25-2020 12:28 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-25-2020 12:14 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 11:27 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-24-2020 10:03 PM)deb025 Wrote:  No Tech fan cares about easy travel to Monroe. You've obsessed about Tech being in a conference with the UL twins for a while now on this message board.

Because you need to be in a conference with the "UL twins." Why talk down at ULM, and then turn around and schedule FCS competition instead? Grambling, Northwestern State, and Prairie View are not more attractive opponents than an FBS program that's only 40 miles away.

You need to be drug tested. Why the heck would we join a Junior College Conference? This isn’t LHSAA football! This is is about developing a brand and entertaining our fans. I have no problem playing ULM occasionally but being in the conference with them would completely derail all we worked for.

LOL! Get over yourself. Junior College Conference? CUSA was ranked behind the Sunbelt last year. If they are a Junior college conference, how do you describe us? Foolish pride.

Listen Junior, I ain’t talking about Sunbelt. I’m talkin about that bus league you mentioned. No one and I mean no one at Tech wants to be in the same conference with ULM and if we did, there would be a massive loss of donations from our alumni. Why bother donating money to a program that ended up next to a program on the equivalent on FBS welfare. It’s the ultimate lose lose situation for us. You have been to on Bowl in 25 years and I had more people at my Bar Mitzva than you average in attendance.

Nicely done, pilot. That's funny right there.