(11-13-2021 02:54 PM)statefanatic Wrote:  WKU sat in a room and told all the other Sun Belt schools they were committed to the Belt. They then accepted the CUSA invite and jumped ship. I believe there AD was president of the league at that time also. This is called karma.

Excellent point. What happened between the SBC and WKU was a very similar circumstance and timeline to what happened with CUSA and the AAC except WKU was on the other side this time. WKU would know all about not being able to trust the word of others because they were the ones breaking that trust the last time.

(11-13-2021 11:27 AM)HarborPointe Wrote:  My biggest takeaway was a WKU official confirming:

1) They absolutely wanted to move to the MAC
2) MT hosed them and kept that from happening
3) They’ll be on the first bus out if the opportunity presents itself again

None of that is breaking news, but an administrator just laying it all out on the record like that is interesting. Usually when things don’t pan out, you get the “We eventually decided it was in our best interest to do it this way instead” b.s.

Same thing I got out of that article . . WKU is gone to the MAC. C-USA is just a safe space until they can move on.

(11-13-2021 02:34 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  Yep ECU and UAB could make more money in the SunBelt with reduced costs. That would be and awesome line up.

That would be a formidable SBC line up.

Together We Rise !!

It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

(11-13-2021 06:40 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

What's the harm now? There is no kumbaya and comradery C-USA . Our administration wanted our fans to know that we were not complacent or happy about the hand conference realignment dealt us.

Back to the other narrative that we left SBC in the lurch with no warning, I will again post this.

https://journalnow.com/sports/college/we...f6878.html

Sounds like we really pulled one over on the SBC when we left. Totally blindsided. /s

Two things stand out.

We owe Southern Miss a great deal of gratitude and WKU needs to stand out over the next few years. We would love to have them in the Sun Belt. Hilltoppers need to get after it and join us.

WKU does not know what Marshall wanted. He admits to meeting with administrators the night before moves were announced and he knew nothing of their intentions. It stands to reason he knew nothing of anyone's intentions.

Marshall and USM had been talking with the Sun Belt since at least August. App State AD Doug Gillin had been in communication with ODU and Marshall about the formation of an eastern based FBS conference since at least 2016. JMU was the Sun Belt's first choice in 2014 but they turned an invite down so the Sun Belt went to Coastal. I can imagine the Coastal addition was at App's behest and then Coastal was in on the eastern league talk.

Marshall knew App wasn't going to leave a growing Sun Belt for C-USA and that the easiest way to get your eastern based league while having a consolidation of power with the gulf schools was to move to the Sun Belt. A far more budget conscious and friendly conference with higher payouts, higher ranking in football (and higher payouts), the ability to form a formidable soccer league, and a league not very far behind C-USA in basketball. Then you have FAR more exposure through ESPN along with the increased viewership the Sun Belt has experienced since 2019.

It was never in question. I highly doubt Marshall wanted to be in a conference with Liberty otherwise they would've stayed and so would ODU have. JMU would've been the glue that held it all together but I can imagine administrator's of the Virginia schools had no interest in sharing an athletics conference with Liberty, hence the move once Liberty's name was thrown around.

I can tell you with the upmost confidence... Marshall has great respect for USM, but they were not the leading force in their decision. We wanted to get back to where most of our alumni are..... Virginia, Carolinas, and Georgia, i.e. an eastern based conference.

(11-13-2021 06:54 PM)freshtop Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:40 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

What's the harm now? There is no kumbaya and comradery C-USA . Our administration wanted our fans to know that we were not complacent or happy about the hand conference realignment dealt us.

Back to the other narrative that we left SBC in the lurch with no warning, I will again post this.

https://journalnow.com/sports/college/we...f6878.html

Sounds like we really pulled one over on the SBC when we left. Totally blindsided. /s

Yep, the only ones butthurt over us leaving the Sun Belt is not surprisingly Ark st and Cajun fans. Tons of schools left the Sun Belt while WKU remained even with just a few schools with us. WKU was a solid member for years, so just stop the bs about WKU jilting the Sun Belt. At the time was the right move based on basketball alone. Also all WKU fans are praying we are not in this new cluster CUSA more than 3 more years..

(11-13-2021 07:13 PM)ericsaid Wrote:  WKU does not know what Marshall wanted. He admits to meeting with administrators the night before moves were announced and he knew nothing of their intentions. It stands to reason he knew nothing of anyone's intentions.

Marshall and USM had been talking with the Sun Belt since at least August. App State AD Doug Gillin had been in communication with ODU and Marshall about the formation of an eastern based FBS conference since at least 2016. JMU was the Sun Belt's first choice in 2014 but they turned an invite down so the Sun Belt went to Coastal. I can imagine the Coastal addition was at App's behest and then Coastal was in on the eastern league talk.

Marshall knew App wasn't going to leave a growing Sun Belt for C-USA and that the easiest way to get your eastern based league while having a consolidation of power with the gulf schools was to move to the Sun Belt. A far more budget conscious and friendly conference with higher payouts, higher ranking in football (and higher payouts), the ability to form a formidable soccer league, and a league not very far behind C-USA in basketball. Then you have FAR more exposure through ESPN along with the increased viewership the Sun Belt has experienced since 2019.

It was never in question. I highly doubt Marshall wanted to be in a conference with Liberty otherwise they would've stayed and so would ODU have. JMU would've been the glue that held it all together but I can imagine administrator's of the Virginia schools had no interest in sharing an athletics conference with Liberty, hence the move once Liberty's name was thrown around.

If Marshall, ODU, App and a few other schools could have pulled off the eastern based conference they wanted it would have hurt the Sun Belt and CUSA enough they would have probably had to have worked together to piece a new conference together.

Something like this is what I would say those schools were trying to put together. There will be no eastern AAC schools here because of their current ESPN contract and buyout:

Mythical East Coast Conference
ODU
JMU
GA State
GA Southern
WKU
MTSU
Coastal
FAU
App State
Marshall

Those 10 schools would have had a good mix of football and basketball centric schools. There was probably a few big egos that got in the way of something like this coming to fruition.

Warning: I didn't leave anyone out because I just don't like you. This was solely based on what could have been as an east coast conference. The only 2 schools that would have been in the central time zone would have been WKU and MTSU.

Is this what we are going to deal with for the rest of our conference lives in Marshall and the other Appalachia schools constantly threatening to create their own eastern conference???

Not from GS.

(11-13-2021 10:34 PM)HerdZoned Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 07:13 PM)ericsaid Wrote:  WKU does not know what Marshall wanted. He admits to meeting with administrators the night before moves were announced and he knew nothing of their intentions. It stands to reason he knew nothing of anyone's intentions.

Marshall and USM had been talking with the Sun Belt since at least August. App State AD Doug Gillin had been in communication with ODU and Marshall about the formation of an eastern based FBS conference since at least 2016. JMU was the Sun Belt's first choice in 2014 but they turned an invite down so the Sun Belt went to Coastal. I can imagine the Coastal addition was at App's behest and then Coastal was in on the eastern league talk.

Marshall knew App wasn't going to leave a growing Sun Belt for C-USA and that the easiest way to get your eastern based league while having a consolidation of power with the gulf schools was to move to the Sun Belt. A far more budget conscious and friendly conference with higher payouts, higher ranking in football (and higher payouts), the ability to form a formidable soccer league, and a league not very far behind C-USA in basketball. Then you have FAR more exposure through ESPN along with the increased viewership the Sun Belt has experienced since 2019.

It was never in question. I highly doubt Marshall wanted to be in a conference with Liberty otherwise they would've stayed and so would ODU have. JMU would've been the glue that held it all together but I can imagine administrator's of the Virginia schools had no interest in sharing an athletics conference with Liberty, hence the move once Liberty's name was thrown around.

If Marshall, ODU, App and a few other schools could have pulled off the eastern based conference they wanted it would have hurt the Sun Belt and CUSA enough they would have probably had to have worked together to piece a new conference together.

Something like this is what I would say those schools were trying to put together. There will be no eastern AAC schools here because of their current ESPN contract and buyout:

Mythical East Coast Conference
ODU
JMU
GA State
GA Southern
WKU
MTSU
Coastal
FAU
App State
Marshall

Those 10 schools would have had a good mix of football and basketball centric schools. There was probably a few big egos that got in the way of something like this coming to fruition.

Warning: I didn't leave anyone out because I just don't like you. This was solely based on what could have been as an east coast conference. The only 2 schools that would have been in the central time zone would have been WKU and MTSU.

Do you mean FIU? I just notice that you didn't include UAB or Charlotte who are AAC but you included FAU.

If you didn't mean FIU that would leave the following 10 that would have been forced to work together

FIU, Troy, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, LT, UTEP, and NMSU.

I would not have been in shambles sharing a conference with UTEP, LT, and NMSU but I'm glad things worked out the way they did instead.

(11-13-2021 11:28 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  There’s a general understanding that Southern Miss moving would lead to the other 2 CUSA teams leaving. I’m not sure I believe in the confidence all 10 would stay together. USM had been talking to the SBC for a while at that point.

The idea Marshall “wanted to make it work” seems suspect given that Marshall reached out to the Sun Belt over the summer, it wasn’t Sun Belt calling them.

(11-13-2021 06:54 PM)freshtop Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:40 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

What's the harm now? There is no kumbaya and comradery C-USA . Our administration wanted our fans to know that we were not complacent or happy about the hand conference realignment dealt us.

Back to the other narrative that we left SBC in the lurch with no warning, I will again post this.

https://journalnow.com/sports/college/we...f6878.html

Sounds like we really pulled one over on the SBC when we left. Totally blindsided. /s

I think Todd did the right thing.

Fans invest in the program with their money, time, and interest. Transparency is a good thing and frankly needed for WKU because you don’t want fans pissed at you for choosing to be in the great rebuild over a move the fans wanted.

Marshall was coming to the Belt earlier than is commonly believed

(11-13-2021 08:13 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:54 PM)freshtop Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:40 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

What's the harm now? There is no kumbaya and comradery C-USA . Our administration wanted our fans to know that we were not complacent or happy about the hand conference realignment dealt us.

Back to the other narrative that we left SBC in the lurch with no warning, I will again post this.

https://journalnow.com/sports/college/we...f6878.html

Sounds like we really pulled one over on the SBC when we left. Totally blindsided. /s

Yep, the only ones butthurt over us leaving the Sun Belt is not surprisingly Ark st and Cajun fans. Tons of schools left the Sun Belt while WKU remained even with just a few schools with us. WKU was a solid member for years, so just stop the bs about WKU jilting the Sun Belt. At the time was the right move based on basketball alone. Also all WKU fans are praying we are not in this new cluster CUSA more than 3 more years..

All I’m hearing is “ wah wah” like normal for the floppers

(11-13-2021 08:13 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:54 PM)freshtop Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:40 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

What's the harm now? There is no kumbaya and comradery C-USA . Our administration wanted our fans to know that we were not complacent or happy about the hand conference realignment dealt us.

Back to the other narrative that we left SBC in the lurch with no warning, I will again post this.

https://journalnow.com/sports/college/we...f6878.html

Sounds like we really pulled one over on the SBC when we left. Totally blindsided. /s

Yep, the only ones butthurt over us leaving the Sun Belt is not surprisingly Ark st and Cajun fans. Tons of schools left the Sun Belt while WKU remained even with just a few schools with us. WKU was a solid member for years, so just stop the bs about WKU jilting the Sun Belt. At the time was the right move based on basketball alone. Also all WKU fans are praying we are not in this new cluster CUSA more than 3 more years..

Gee go back and look through the posts. I talked with AState’s president before any moves were announced and said I’d like to see USM, Marshall, JMU and WKU. I wanted WKU back (despite some of the fans) because the Toppers have had success and would tighten up the overall geography and is closer than any of the schools added.

I didn’t want MTSU and that doesn’t have a damn thing to do with their departure. It’s a stagnant program.

(11-13-2021 11:03 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 08:13 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:54 PM)freshtop Wrote:  

(11-13-2021 06:40 PM)Soaring Eagle Wrote:  It is stunning that WKU would air all that out in the media.

What's the harm now? There is no kumbaya and comradery C-USA . Our administration wanted our fans to know that we were not complacent or happy about the hand conference realignment dealt us.

Back to the other narrative that we left SBC in the lurch with no warning, I will again post this.

https://journalnow.com/sports/college/we...f6878.html

Sounds like we really pulled one over on the SBC when we left. Totally blindsided. /s

Yep, the only ones butthurt over us leaving the Sun Belt is not surprisingly Ark st and Cajun fans. Tons of schools left the Sun Belt while WKU remained even with just a few schools with us. WKU was a solid member for years, so just stop the bs about WKU jilting the Sun Belt. At the time was the right move based on basketball alone. Also all WKU fans are praying we are not in this new cluster CUSA more than 3 more years..

Gee go back and look through the posts. I talked with AState’s president before any moves were announced and said I’d like to see USM, Marshall, JMU and WKU. I wanted WKU back (despite some of the fans) because the Toppers have had success and would tighten up the overall geography and is closer than any of the schools added.

I didn’t want MTSU and that doesn’t have a damn thing to do with their departure. It’s a stagnant program.

Obviously our AD having come from Troy, he had many SBC connections he was maintaining for a while, but I did hear that the Arkansas State group was as helpful as any in bringing us home to the SBC. All were cool and gracious, but I was surprised to hear Arkansas State was such a friend of our university. I look forward to many, many great local rivalries, but will make sure to travel to games at your school annually to show appreciation. BTW, new fam, even with a rebuild time such as this, we travel for a small school. I hope y’all are cool hosts, cause we’re coming to your towns.

(11-13-2021 10:41 PM)Usajags Wrote:  Is this what we are going to deal with for the rest of our conference lives in Marshall and the other Appalachia schools constantly threatening to create their own eastern conference???

Based on what I know Marshall is very happy.... Marshall was looking for several things: More regional games that were fan friendly, better tv exposure, and out of a Texas centric based conference. The Sun Belt provides all of the above.

In fact, the SBC pro activeness with their TV negotiations, expansion moves, and adding Soccer is something we have not seen in the last ten years in CUSA.