(10-19-2021 03:17 PM)gdunn Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 11:46 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 11:34 AM)Golden Fogg Wrote:  I think the 6 teams leaving is the best case scenario. UAB is the only one i care about. If we go to the 'belt with Marshall that would be great. i hope they stay at 12. I don't care for JMU or Liberty or any other upstart.

Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTSA going to the AAC per CBS sports. Meanwhile USM is sitting on its hands doing nothing as usual. Doesn't matter anyway since the football team is absolutely garbage anyway.

I thought I understood it as they were sending applications for consideration.. Maybe I'm wrong.

I popped over here because of a mention of the Southern Miss board over on the JMU board, but yeah it's a done deal. When there are applications or invitations it's a done deal, those aren't sent until it's known that they're being accepted.

With us joining the SunBelt it means we now have an "extra" OOC opening for 2024 as Troy will be a conference game so what are the chances we try and add a home and home with the likes of UAB and/or La Tech?

Good question 99. i would think La Tech would like to keep an ongoing series. They will have nobody near them.

My first hope is The Sunbelt stays at 12, but if they were to expand i wish they would get WKY and MTS. I'm just focusing on regionality and looking at maps. I

(10-19-2021 02:43 PM)Footballeagle Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 01:54 PM)sksmith1026 Wrote:  

(09-15-2021 11:10 PM)EagNBran Wrote:  Yeah, playing ULM every year is going to excite the fanbase. Can’t wait to go to Texas State. Y’all really think anyone would prefer to play USA over Tulane and Memphis?

Like it or not, Sun Belt is seen by our fanbase as lateral at best or downward at worse (most older fans who have left see it downward because CUSA has historically been above them, even if they aren’t currently). The AAC, even after losing members, is a move up. We’d be clinically insane to not go AAC if offered the opportunity.

I don't see the Sun Belt as a downward or lateral move, if anything it's a giant step up from cusa. if you asked me that 20 years ago I would have said the same thing you said (SB being a step down) However the piss poor leadership or lack or leadership is why cusa is the worst conference to be a part of. Rats on a ship jump while you can because this ship is going to implode.

Giannni And Martha cost USM an invite to the AAC when they said USM will be fine we don't need to pursue the AAC move. At the time we were a team everyone knew and had a long history of winning. When the second round of expansion happened USM was a crap show from the ellis johnson fiasco etc. At that point it was already obvious that the SUNbelt would be better because of the regional feel of the conference. However as it stands now CUSA is absolutely the worst conference but the Sun Belt is barely a step up.

Your timeline is a bit off. Invites went out to the Big East during our 12-2 season. We weren’t invited then or the next moment when they got Tulane because those schools did not want to be associated with our small market and small budget. While Martha wasn’t perfect, she cared about Athletics. Giannini was awful and believed we’d reached our peak in the early 2000s. If we moved, he believed it’d be due to riding Memphis’ coattails. The true condemning moment was neither of those people building any relationships with other ADs or Presidents at conference schools or Big East schools, something Aubrey Lucas did well (and is why we got into the Metro in the first place).

(10-21-2021 11:31 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 02:43 PM)Footballeagle Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 01:54 PM)sksmith1026 Wrote:  

(09-15-2021 11:10 PM)EagNBran Wrote:  Yeah, playing ULM every year is going to excite the fanbase. Can’t wait to go to Texas State. Y’all really think anyone would prefer to play USA over Tulane and Memphis?

Like it or not, Sun Belt is seen by our fanbase as lateral at best or downward at worse (most older fans who have left see it downward because CUSA has historically been above them, even if they aren’t currently). The AAC, even after losing members, is a move up. We’d be clinically insane to not go AAC if offered the opportunity.

I don't see the Sun Belt as a downward or lateral move, if anything it's a giant step up from cusa. if you asked me that 20 years ago I would have said the same thing you said (SB being a step down) However the piss poor leadership or lack or leadership is why cusa is the worst conference to be a part of. Rats on a ship jump while you can because this ship is going to implode.

Giannni And Martha cost USM an invite to the AAC when they said USM will be fine we don't need to pursue the AAC move. At the time we were a team everyone knew and had a long history of winning. When the second round of expansion happened USM was a crap show from the ellis johnson fiasco etc. At that point it was already obvious that the SUNbelt would be better because of the regional feel of the conference. However as it stands now CUSA is absolutely the worst conference but the Sun Belt is barely a step up.

Your timeline is a bit off. Invites went out to the Big East during our 12-2 season. We weren’t invited then or the next moment when they got Tulane because those schools did not want to be associated with our small market and small budget. While Martha wasn’t perfect, she cared about Athletics. Giannini was awful and believed we’d reached our peak in the early 2000s. If we moved, he believed it’d be due to riding Memphis’ coattails. The true condemning moment was neither of those people building any relationships with other ADs or Presidents at conference schools or Big East schools, something Aubrey Lucas did well (and is why we got into the Metro in the first place).

Yes times were off a bit but you got the meat of it. Our Administration didn't do enough to get us in the AAC when we were clearly a better choice than others. The AAC is still chasing the big market however.

Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

(10-21-2021 03:33 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

all I see is a regionally aligned upgrade...

let's get real....conference affiliation won't mean dick in a few years...

the nfl minor league will consist of 4 geo divisions with 16 teams ea....there will be a 8/12 team playoff with - MAYBE - 1 g5 team as an auto-bid...

the rest will simply geographically realign....

the sooner the better...

all this bs ruckus reminds me of how great the BE was until the hoopsters told 'em to fk off - then came a few football magnets that repelled....

yep, same bs, different day...

(10-21-2021 03:33 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

Honestly, I'm not very excited about going to the Sun Belt. I long for the days of early to mid 2000s C-USA (never thought I would say that), but the reality is the band isn't getting back together. The good thing about the Sun Belt is that it offers a possible return to playing more regional teams in our time zone, something I didn't know I missed until it was gone.
We're sucking a big one lately, which is the main driver behind the apathetic attitude towards the program, but playing new teams every few years that no one's heard of doesn't help either. Hopefully the SBC is more stable and the teams develop rivalries that fans actually are interested in. What's sad is something like that is at least another 10 years away.

(10-21-2021 05:30 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 03:33 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

all I see is a regionally aligned upgrade...

let's get real....conference affiliation won't mean dick in a few years...

the nfl minor league will consist of 4 geo divisions with 16 teams ea....there will be a 8/12 team playoff with - MAYBE - 1 g5 team as an auto-bid...

the rest will simply geographically realign....

the sooner the better...

all this bs ruckus reminds me of how great the BE was until the hoopsters told 'em to fk off - then came a few football magnets that repelled....

yep, same bs, different day...

I agree with this take. At the end of the day it will be the top 60+ teams in one big super league that isn't even affiliated with the NCAA.

(10-22-2021 09:31 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 05:30 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 03:33 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

all I see is a regionally aligned upgrade...

let's get real....conference affiliation won't mean dick in a few years...

the nfl minor league will consist of 4 geo divisions with 16 teams ea....there will be a 8/12 team playoff with - MAYBE - 1 g5 team as an auto-bid...

the rest will simply geographically realign....

the sooner the better...

all this bs ruckus reminds me of how great the BE was until the hoopsters told 'em to fk off - then came a few football magnets that repelled....

yep, same bs, different day...

I agree with this take. At the end of the day it will be the top 60+ teams in one big super league that isn't even affiliated with the NCAA.

there’s too much $$$ involved + ncaa doesn’t have a legal leg to combat it … ref: caving on paying athletes and transfer rules … they know their time in football has come and gone…

(10-21-2021 09:15 AM)Golden Fogg Wrote:  Good question 99. i would think La Tech would like to keep an ongoing series. They will have nobody near them.

Tech will definitely like to keep this series going. It won't be hard to get Tech on the schedule I'm sure.

I'm just glad we were able to get in on the last lifeboat off the Judytanic.

Greetings Golden Eagle fans and welcome to the SBC. I can understand some of your longing for the CUSA 20 years ago. Since you'll be in the West, ULL and Arkansas St will be your main competition year-to-year and Troy will be back if they ever get their coaching situation figured out. Georgia Southern fans can relate to USM currently being down. We're not used to it either and are not happy. Besides football, this a great baseball conference too. Marshall you already know, but you may not know they were in the SoCon with us and App St. before they moved to FBS. App and Ga Southern have rabid fan bases in small college towns like USM. James Madison is a nice add as they already have a larger budget than many SBC teams, a strong fan base, and are winners. Coastal Carolina's recent success are do primarily to a great QB and a really good coach. They may lose both soon and we'll see if they can recover. Ga State is a Transfer U in downtown Atlanta, but they put a competitive team on the field despite having only 4,000 in actual attendance.

GS fans like to travel and I look forward to visiting Hattiesburg. Our school is a little less than an hours drive from Savannah which would be the place to stay should you ever make the trip. Eagle tailgataters will welcome you on game day.

(10-28-2021 08:47 AM)Eagles Cliff Wrote:  Greetings Golden Eagle fans and welcome to the SBC. I can understand some of your longing for the CUSA 20 years ago. Since you'll be in the West, ULL and Arkansas St will be your main competition year-to-year and Troy will be back if they ever get their coaching situation figured out. Georgia Southern fans can relate to USM currently being down. We're not used to it either and are not happy. Besides football, this a great baseball conference too. Marshall you already know, but you may not know they were in the SoCon with us and App St. before they moved to FBS. App and Ga Southern have rabid fan bases in small college towns like USM. James Madison is a nice add as they already have a larger budget than many SBC teams, a strong fan base, and are winners. Coastal Carolina's recent success are do primarily to a great QB and a really good coach. They may lose both soon and we'll see if they can recover. Ga State is a Transfer U in downtown Atlanta, but they put a competitive team on the field despite having only 4,000 in actual attendance.

GS fans like to travel and I look forward to visiting Hattiesburg. Our school is a little less than an hours drive from Savannah which would be the place to stay should you ever make the trip. Eagle tailgataters will welcome you on game day.

Thanks for the Cliff notes, and Savannah IS a neat place (even if if didn't have the Garden of Good and Evil!)

I hope that the Sun Belt is the cure to your athletic program's ills, just as it may be to mine. Cheers to what should be a rejuvenating "new beginning" in the Sun Belt!

This is an interesting thread...

From an SBC perspective, its hard to believe we're talking about the same Southern Miss that half of the Western Division used as a model in the mid to late 2000's Some of this you guys did to yourselves, but the rest was the result of a geographic situation that left it where Memphis and Tulane never wanted anything to do with you.

If it means anything, the SBC was willing to take you guys when you are at a law point in Athletics, and you were the leagues first choice ahead of Marshall/ODU/JMU. I guess someone sees what you are capable of

(10-31-2021 10:42 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  This is an interesting thread...

From an SBC perspective, its hard to believe we're talking about the same Southern Miss that half of the Western Division used as a model in the mid to late 2000's Some of this you guys did to yourselves, but the rest was the result of a geographic situation that left it where Memphis and Tulane never wanted anything to do with you.

If it means anything, the SBC was willing to take you guys when you are at a law point in Athletics, and you were the leagues first choice ahead of Marshall/ODU/JMU. I guess someone sees what you are capable of

We did do it to ourselves with some horrible hires. All on the backs of fear that the new coach could leave to greener pastures (which would have meant we were doing well -go figure.)

(10-22-2021 09:31 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 05:30 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 03:33 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

all I see is a regionally aligned upgrade...

let's get real....conference affiliation won't mean dick in a few years...

the nfl minor league will consist of 4 geo divisions with 16 teams ea....there will be a 8/12 team playoff with - MAYBE - 1 g5 team as an auto-bid...

the rest will simply geographically realign....

the sooner the better...

all this bs ruckus reminds me of how great the BE was until the hoopsters told 'em to fk off - then came a few football magnets that repelled....

yep, same bs, different day...

I agree with this take. At the end of the day it will be the top 60+ teams in one big super league that isn't even affiliated with the NCAA.

Will it even be 60? Once you get rid of all us G losers, the next 40-45 are the new G's. At that point only 10-12 can compete.

I kind of hope this happens. Why can't the current G's have their own division with playoffs. Then let the P5 break off. It would be fun watching all those lucky teams that happened to be in P5 conferences from way back turn into yearly whipping boys!

(10-22-2021 10:59 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(10-22-2021 09:31 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 05:30 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(10-21-2021 03:33 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Going to the SBC isn't the worst thing, it's not the best, but it's not the worst. There are decent teams there, some that have knocked off giants recently.

all I see is a regionally aligned upgrade...

let's get real....conference affiliation won't mean dick in a few years...

the nfl minor league will consist of 4 geo divisions with 16 teams ea....there will be a 8/12 team playoff with - MAYBE - 1 g5 team as an auto-bid...

the rest will simply geographically realign....

the sooner the better...

all this bs ruckus reminds me of how great the BE was until the hoopsters told 'em to fk off - then came a few football magnets that repelled....

yep, same bs, different day...

I agree with this take. At the end of the day it will be the top 60+ teams in one big super league that isn't even affiliated with the NCAA.

there’s too much $$$ involved + ncaa doesn’t have a legal leg to combat it … ref: caving on paying athletes and transfer rules … they know their time in football has come and gone…

College football is a business. Plain and simple. Don't believe me, the CEOs bowl games, a game that's only played once a year is 6 figures. If it wasn't a business we wouldn't need CEOs over a bowl game.