https://www.wavy.com/news/national/odu-t...aving/amp/

The brand of C-USA must die and Judy Macleod must be terminated. But the group of

Old Dominion
Marshall
Western Kentucky
MTSU
La Tech
Southern Miss
FIU
UTEP
+ (we will see)
JMU
Liberty

is a very solid group of schools. One that I think App State and Coastal Carolina would want to be a part of over many schools in the Sunbelt. UTEP is the outlier for now but if east teams never had to travel out there especially for non-revenue sports. I wouldn't care if we were still in a conference with them.

(10-20-2021 07:45 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  The brand of C-USA must die and Judy Macleod must be terminated. But the group of

Old Dominion
Marshall
Western Kentucky
MTSU
La Tech
Southern Miss
FIU
UTEP
+ (we will see)
JMU
Liberty

is a very solid group of schools. One that I think App State and Coastal Carolina would want to be a part of over many schools in the Sunbelt. UTEP is the outlier for now but if east teams never had to travel out there especially for non-revenue sports. I wouldn't care if we were still in a conference with them.

That would be a good, solid league. This MTSU fan could get on board with it.

(10-20-2021 07:45 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  Judy Macleod must be terminated.

I’m sensing some anger. But justifiably so.

Quote:Old Dominion
Marshall
Western Kentucky
MTSU
La Tech
Southern Miss
FIU
UTEP
+ (we will see)
JMU
Liberty

Not great. But the truth is, *on the field*, it’s really not that much worse (if at all) than the Belt or the new AAC.

Suggestion: try to rope in NMSU for basketball. Those long flights out to El Paso become a lot more economical if you’re knocking out 2 road games instead of just 1. I bet the Aggies could be had in exchange for a scheduling agreement (UTEP + 3 other games a season?) in football.

(10-20-2021 07:45 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  The brand of C-USA must die and Judy Macleod must be terminated. But the group of

Old Dominion
Marshall
Western Kentucky
MTSU
La Tech
Southern Miss
FIU
UTEP
+ (we will see)
JMU
Liberty

is a very solid group of schools. One that I think App State and Coastal Carolina would want to be a part of over many schools in the Sunbelt. UTEP is the outlier for now but if east teams never had to travel out there especially for non-revenue sports. I wouldn't care if we were still in a conference with them.

I fear the American has made the same mistake C-USA made in 2013 and chased markets that don't seem to care about the teams that play in them. The remaining C-USA schools SHOULD rebrand, but they are absolutely no worse off than they were before, and they are left with some good football and basketball programs.

If CUSA were somehow able to grab 4-6 teams from the Sun Belt-East and other eastern options (Liberty, JMU); they'd have that dream Atlantic G5 conference (with a couple western tagalongs). UTEP may catch on with the WAC (with or without FBS football).

BUT, the Sun Belt may be unpoachable if they indeed have the rumored GOR. Honestly don't think Marshall/USM view the SB as more appetizing, now that they've lost the bulk of the Western dross.

(10-20-2021 08:36 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Suggestion: try to rope in NMSU for basketball. Those long flights out to El Paso become a lot more economical if you’re knocking out 2 road games instead of just 1. I bet the Aggies could be had in exchange for a scheduling agreement (UTEP + 3 other games a season?) in football.

If you are bringing in NMSU, you would have to do it in all sports.

The WAC is not going to give up NMSU men's and women's basketball while staging the other sports.

I do not think CUSA adds NMSU; the issue being that UTEP is on an island right now and trying to get out desperately. Why get stuck with another school on an island?

Cannot imagine CUSA looking "west" for schools unless they create a whole 'western division' with schools like Louisiana-Lafayette, NMSU and perhaps a Texas FCS or two. That wouldn't be in line with what ODU is suggesting.

I feel like this is where NoDak would enter the conversation and suggest a northern division.

CUSA (assuming the 6 leave) now has 5 2013-4 additions, 2 2005 additions (Marshall, UTEP) and one original member-Southern Miss.

Sun Belt has 1 2016 addition, 5 2013-4 additions, 2 2005-6 addditions (ULM, Troy), 3 1991 members (UALR, Ark. St., ULL) and one original 1976 member-South Alabama.

By contrast, the MAC has 2 97-98 members (NIU, Buffalo), 1 1992 member (Akron), 3 1971-3 members (Ball St., CMU, EMU) with the other 6 joining between 1946 and 1952. Ohio U. the lone 1946 member.

There's just not much that ties the CUSA and Sun Belt together.

(10-20-2021 10:19 AM)TexasTerror Wrote:  I do not think CUSA adds NMSU; the issue being that UTEP is on an island right now and trying to get out desperately. Why get stuck with another school on an island?

Assuming the six-to-AAC move happens, and if the SBC adds two CUSA teams, CUSA won’t have the luxury of being choosy. They will have only six remaining members in that case, and they need at least eight full members playing football in the conference to keep FBS-conference status.

It’s probably also safe to assume that UConn and UMass have absolutely no interest in becoming full members of CUSA, and that no SBC teams are moving to CUSA.

That means CUSA’s only alternatives, in this scenario, are (1) Add both NMSU and Liberty as full members to get to eight; (2) Add programs that would transition from FCS to FBS, (3) Some combination of 1 and 2, or (4) Give up FBS-conference status. And, if the SBC for some reason adds four CUSA teams, then 2, 3, and 4 become CUSA’s only options.

(10-20-2021 10:21 AM)Eichorst Wrote:  I feel like this is where NoDak would enter the conversation and suggest a northern division.

That's a great idea! Man, I miss that guy. All his fantasies would have been wonderful for Idaho if there was a shred of truth to any of them.

So anyway, I'm in favor of the Great Northern Conference USA.

(10-20-2021 10:03 AM)Chappy Wrote:  

(10-20-2021 07:45 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  The brand of C-USA must die and Judy Macleod must be terminated. But the group of

Old Dominion
Marshall
Western Kentucky
MTSU
La Tech
Southern Miss
FIU
UTEP
+ (we will see)
JMU
Liberty

is a very solid group of schools. One that I think App State and Coastal Carolina would want to be a part of over many schools in the Sunbelt. UTEP is the outlier for now but if east teams never had to travel out there especially for non-revenue sports. I wouldn't care if we were still in a conference with them.

I fear the American has made the same mistake C-USA made in 2013 and chased markets that don't seem to care about the teams that play in them. The remaining C-USA schools SHOULD rebrand, but they are absolutely no worse off than they were before, and they are left with some good football and basketball programs.

I think the difference between the AAC move now and the CUSA move back then is that the AAC still has strong teams. Memphis has made a NY6, and others have won conference championships and been ranked multiple times.

Back in the last realignment, CUSA had lost 8 of their last 10 conference champions. In our short history, Memphis and Temple have football championships, and Tulsa and Navy have appearances.

Look at the Big 10. Their two adds in 2014 were Maryland and Rutgers. Neither were a "football success" add. They were market adds because the Big 10 already had good football teams.

I'm not saying it's an exact parallel. I do think that if the Big 10 had lost Ohio State and Michigan ahead of those moves, the teams added would have been different.

(10-20-2021 10:19 AM)TexasTerror Wrote:  

(10-20-2021 08:36 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Suggestion: try to rope in NMSU for basketball. Those long flights out to El Paso become a lot more economical if you’re knocking out 2 road games instead of just 1. I bet the Aggies could be had in exchange for a scheduling agreement (UTEP + 3 other games a season?) in football.

If you are bringing in NMSU, you would have to do it in all sports.

The WAC is not going to give up NMSU men's and women's basketball while staging the other sports.

I do not think CUSA adds NMSU; the issue being that UTEP is on an island right now and trying to get out desperately. Why get stuck with another school on an island?

Cannot imagine CUSA looking "west" for schools unless they create a whole 'western division' with schools like Louisiana-Lafayette, NMSU and perhaps a Texas FCS or two. That wouldn't be in line with what ODU is suggesting.

I agree that an NMSU addition is unlikely, because if the MWC loses Boise State to the Big 12 then it will probably have to backfill with UTEP, and then CUSA would be right back to having an outlier on the far western fringe of the conference.

I think the better solution for CUSA would be to keep UTEP as a football-only member. UTEP's non-football sports could move to the WAC, and to backfill CUSA could add either UTA or UALR. Both of those schools are reportedly being pushed out of the Sun Belt, and both are a close enough drive to Ruston (3-4 hours) to serve as a convenient travel partner for Louisiana Tech.

Of course this assumes that the strategy of adding Liberty and JMU succeeds so that the conference still meets the minimum requirement of having eight FBS schools as full members. If it turns out UTEP must remain a full member to ensure that requirement is met, another option is to add both UTA and UALR to serve as non-football sports travel partners for UTEP and Louisiana Tech respectively.

(10-19-2021 06:27 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  https://www.wavy.com/news/national/odu-t...aving/amp/

Take it from a Cincinnati fan who watched the Cincinnati administration try to salvage the BIG EAST. If given an opportunity, RUN!!

(10-20-2021 05:43 PM)True Bearcat Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 06:27 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  https://www.wavy.com/news/national/odu-t...aving/amp/

Take it from a Cincinnati fan who watched the Cincinnati administration try to salvage the BIG EAST. If given an opportunity, RUN!!

Evidently a correction is impending that will read “Trying to Savage CUSA.”

(10-20-2021 03:06 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(10-20-2021 10:21 AM)Eichorst Wrote:  I feel like this is where NoDak would enter the conversation and suggest a northern division.

That's a great idea! Man, I miss that guy. All his fantasies would have been wonderful for Idaho if there was a shred of truth to any of them.

So anyway, I'm in favor of the Great Northern Conference USA.

Hell, if CUSA is down to 6 schools and especially if they don’t get JMU and Liberty, then why the heck not? Going to get more value out of them than EKU, Jax State, and whatever else is left in southern FCS ranks at this point. NDSU and SDSU as a pair would be better than digging deep into low budget FCS ranks that might be geographically friendlier but not as competitive.

(10-20-2021 05:38 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I agree that an NMSU addition is unlikely, because if the MWC loses Boise State to the Big 12 then it will probably have to backfill with UTEP, and then CUSA would be right back to having an outlier on the far western fringe of the conference.

I think the better solution for CUSA would be to keep UTEP as a football-only member. UTEP's non-football sports could move to the WAC, and to backfill CUSA could add either UTA or UALR. Both of those schools are reportedly being pushed out of the Sun Belt, and both are a close enough drive to Ruston (3-4 hours) to serve as a convenient travel partner for Louisiana Tech.

Of course this assumes that the strategy of adding Liberty and JMU succeeds so that the conference still meets the minimum requirement of having eight FBS schools as full members. If it turns out UTEP must remain a full member to ensure that requirement is met, another option is to add both UTA and UALR to serve as non-football sports travel partners for UTEP and Louisiana Tech respectively.

If I were UTEP I'd want to be very, very careful about a football-only setup. Giving up full conference membership would make them more vulnerable to getting kicked to the curb at any point.

(10-20-2021 07:11 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(10-20-2021 05:38 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I agree that an NMSU addition is unlikely, because if the MWC loses Boise State to the Big 12 then it will probably have to backfill with UTEP, and then CUSA would be right back to having an outlier on the far western fringe of the conference.

I think the better solution for CUSA would be to keep UTEP as a football-only member. UTEP's non-football sports could move to the WAC, and to backfill CUSA could add either UTA or UALR. Both of those schools are reportedly being pushed out of the Sun Belt, and both are a close enough drive to Ruston (3-4 hours) to serve as a convenient travel partner for Louisiana Tech.

Of course this assumes that the strategy of adding Liberty and JMU succeeds so that the conference still meets the minimum requirement of having eight FBS schools as full members. If it turns out UTEP must remain a full member to ensure that requirement is met, another option is to add both UTA and UALR to serve as non-football sports travel partners for UTEP and Louisiana Tech respectively.

If I were UTEP I'd want to be very, very careful about a football-only setup. Giving up full conference membership would make them more vulnerable to getting kicked to the curb at any point.

You can set up a deal where you are a member of the conference in the sport with full rights as any other member. It doesn't have to be an affiliation

(10-20-2021 07:14 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(10-20-2021 07:11 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(10-20-2021 05:38 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I agree that an NMSU addition is unlikely, because if the MWC loses Boise State to the Big 12 then it will probably have to backfill with UTEP, and then CUSA would be right back to having an outlier on the far western fringe of the conference.

I think the better solution for CUSA would be to keep UTEP as a football-only member. UTEP's non-football sports could move to the WAC, and to backfill CUSA could add either UTA or UALR. Both of those schools are reportedly being pushed out of the Sun Belt, and both are a close enough drive to Ruston (3-4 hours) to serve as a convenient travel partner for Louisiana Tech.

Of course this assumes that the strategy of adding Liberty and JMU succeeds so that the conference still meets the minimum requirement of having eight FBS schools as full members. If it turns out UTEP must remain a full member to ensure that requirement is met, another option is to add both UTA and UALR to serve as non-football sports travel partners for UTEP and Louisiana Tech respectively.

If I were UTEP I'd want to be very, very careful about a football-only setup. Giving up full conference membership would make them more vulnerable to getting kicked to the curb at any point.

You can set up a deal where you are a member of the conference in the sport with full rights as any other member. It doesn't have to be an affiliation

Are there any schools that are considered full members of 2 different D1 conferences?

(10-20-2021 05:38 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I agree that an NMSU addition is unlikely, because if the MWC loses Boise State to the Big 12 then it will probably have to backfill with UTEP, and then CUSA would be right back to having an outlier on the far western fringe of the conference.

I mean, if all that happened, then yeah.

But I’m skeptical that Boise will get into the Big XII. And I’m even more skeptical that the Mtn. would backfill with UTEP, except in a genuine emergency in which the league’s survival was at stake.

But I admit I’ve been surprised before. I didn’t think the Texas/Oklahoma thing was gonna happen — until it happened. I didn’t think the AAC would expand by 6 — until it happened. And separate from that, I still am kind of in shock over some of the teams that were chosen and some of the teams that were not chosen.

So, long story short, this is all one big crapshoot. Weird sh¡t happens and Nobody, really, can explain all of it.