Losing Southern Miss helps tremendously in basketball.

(02-28-2022 09:22 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  Losing Southern Miss helps tremendously in basketball.

We wont miss your consistent pecker measuring either

(02-28-2022 08:55 PM)Thegoldstandard Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 06:20 PM)AssKickingChicken Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 04:59 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  If you want to know the "ins and outs" of basketball talk/listen to WKU, UTEP, and other BB school fans.

Most S. MISS, UTSA, etc. fans don't know and don't care about the roundball. Unless you mean baseball for S. MISS.

Our basketball got better when we fired a guy who had been at Southern Miss and hired a guy from WKU.

And you took James after we fired him

A UAB fan said we made a mistake firing him. I think he is at some juco now.

(02-28-2022 06:07 PM)whupemall Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 04:47 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  WKUYG has it right.

The next version of C-USA basketball WILL be stronger-- no doubt.

"Bu.. but you are still a one bid league" some will say. This is the "chorus line" of departing members who are mostly "FB only" fans and do not understand NCAA basketball.

You have to look at the WHOLE picture:

Better league = Better NCAA seed= Better chance of winning more tourney games = more BB credit money divided by only nine teams= more money for each school

Better league = "somewhat" better chance to snag a second bid

Better league = a little more national media attention; more wins over P5's; better recruits; better attendance at regular and post season games

Also...

Teams who win against a strong schedule rise in the rankings.

A strong team in a weak conference hits its approximate ceiling once conference play begins.

When multiple strong teams play together in the same conference, they each have multiple opportunities to increase their rankings throughout the entire season. The ceiling is higher, opening the door for better seeding and multiple bids.

And since these teams are used to playing stronger opponents throughout the regular season, they tend to perform better in postseason tournaments.

Postseason performance feeds into the same attention/recruiting/attendance dynamics you mentioned, eventually solidifying the conference's reputation among other mid-majors. This results in higher preseason rankings and an even higher ceiling as long as the member schools can maintain the same level of success.

This is precisely why the new look AAC will still produce multiple bids. You have 5-6 Quad 1 opportunities a season IN CONFERENCE. Even if you have mediocre OOC strength of schedule, you can still have several Q1 opportunities in conference. That’s about as many Q1 opportunities as most PAC 12 schools now. As it stands, new CUSA has zero. It’s all Q2 or worse. You will have to schedule strong OOC and win them to even get looked at, like this version of CUSA (which is losing its only two Q1 wins from this season and last season). I really hope the new CUSA can become a two bid league, as JSU is my second favorite team in D1, but I just struggle to see it.

(02-28-2022 10:01 PM)Engblazr Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 06:07 PM)whupemall Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 04:47 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  WKUYG has it right.

The next version of C-USA basketball WILL be stronger-- no doubt.

"Bu.. but you are still a one bid league" some will say. This is the "chorus line" of departing members who are mostly "FB only" fans and do not understand NCAA basketball.

You have to look at the WHOLE picture:

Better league = Better NCAA seed= Better chance of winning more tourney games = more BB credit money divided by only nine teams= more money for each school

Better league = "somewhat" better chance to snag a second bid

Better league = a little more national media attention; more wins over P5's; better recruits; better attendance at regular and post season games

Also...

Teams who win against a strong schedule rise in the rankings.

A strong team in a weak conference hits its approximate ceiling once conference play begins.

When multiple strong teams play together in the same conference, they each have multiple opportunities to increase their rankings throughout the entire season. The ceiling is higher, opening the door for better seeding and multiple bids.

And since these teams are used to playing stronger opponents throughout the regular season, they tend to perform better in postseason tournaments.

Postseason performance feeds into the same attention/recruiting/attendance dynamics you mentioned, eventually solidifying the conference's reputation among other mid-majors. This results in higher preseason rankings and an even higher ceiling as long as the member schools can maintain the same level of success.

This is precisely why the new look AAC will still produce multiple bids. You have 5-6 Quad 1 opportunities a season IN CONFERENCE. Even if you have mediocre OOC strength of schedule, you can still have several Q1 opportunities in conference. That’s about as many Q1 opportunities as most PAC 12 schools now. As it stands, new CUSA has zero. It’s all Q2 or worse. You will have to schedule strong OOC and win them to even get looked at, like this version of CUSA (which is losing its only two Q1 wins from this season and last season). I really hope the new CUSA can become a two bid league, as JSU is my second favorite team in D1, but I just struggle to see it.

Memphis is a q1 road win this year because they beat UH. Once y'all join Memphis won't have that conference opponent on their schedule and the opportunity to be ranked that high. Same logic applies to SMU. Other than those two it's just you and UNT.

(03-01-2022 05:55 AM)JCMiner Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 10:01 PM)Engblazr Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 06:07 PM)whupemall Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 04:47 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  WKUYG has it right.

The next version of C-USA basketball WILL be stronger-- no doubt.

"Bu.. but you are still a one bid league" some will say. This is the "chorus line" of departing members who are mostly "FB only" fans and do not understand NCAA basketball.

You have to look at the WHOLE picture:

Better league = Better NCAA seed= Better chance of winning more tourney games = more BB credit money divided by only nine teams= more money for each school

Better league = "somewhat" better chance to snag a second bid

Better league = a little more national media attention; more wins over P5's; better recruits; better attendance at regular and post season games

Also...

Teams who win against a strong schedule rise in the rankings.

A strong team in a weak conference hits its approximate ceiling once conference play begins.

When multiple strong teams play together in the same conference, they each have multiple opportunities to increase their rankings throughout the entire season. The ceiling is higher, opening the door for better seeding and multiple bids.

And since these teams are used to playing stronger opponents throughout the regular season, they tend to perform better in postseason tournaments.

Postseason performance feeds into the same attention/recruiting/attendance dynamics you mentioned, eventually solidifying the conference's reputation among other mid-majors. This results in higher preseason rankings and an even higher ceiling as long as the member schools can maintain the same level of success.

This is precisely why the new look AAC will still produce multiple bids. You have 5-6 Quad 1 opportunities a season IN CONFERENCE. Even if you have mediocre OOC strength of schedule, you can still have several Q1 opportunities in conference. That’s about as many Q1 opportunities as most PAC 12 schools now. As it stands, new CUSA has zero. It’s all Q2 or worse. You will have to schedule strong OOC and win them to even get looked at, like this version of CUSA (which is losing its only two Q1 wins from this season and last season). I really hope the new CUSA can become a two bid league, as JSU is my second favorite team in D1, but I just struggle to see it.

Memphis is a q1 road win this year because they beat UH. Once y'all join Memphis won't have that conference opponent on their schedule and the opportunity to be ranked that high. Same logic applies to SMU. Other than those two it's just you and UNT.

First off, UNT is as high as they are now without playing Houston. They were propelled largely by their win @UAB. UAB also never played Houston. Our best win was…. @UNT. And we are both Q1 road teams.

Memphis and SMU were both NET top 75 before ever even playing Houston. Neither Memphis or SMU have been out of the top 75 all season long. Wichita has teetered back and forth on the line. What you’re thinking of is them being *on the bubble* because that Houston win is what brought 9 loss Memphis (with bad losses @UGA particularly) back to the at-large conversation. They were never NOT a Q1.

For an AAC team, that’s the ability for Q1 road wins @UAB, @Memphis, @SMU, @UNT, and potentially @Wichita. UNT, Memphis, SMU, are all Q1 neutral site wins too, so tourney could produce more (UAB is teetering on that as well). UNT is also dangerously close to being Q1 playing the opposing team at their home court. New CUSA does have NMSU teetering on Q1 status, but that’s less than our current perpetual one-bid setup has

(02-28-2022 10:01 PM)Engblazr Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 06:07 PM)whupemall Wrote:  Teams who win against a strong schedule rise in the rankings.

A strong team in a weak conference hits its approximate ceiling once conference play begins.

When multiple strong teams play together in the same conference, they each have multiple opportunities to increase their rankings throughout the entire season. The ceiling is higher, opening the door for better seeding and multiple bids.

And since these teams are used to playing stronger opponents throughout the regular season, they tend to perform better in postseason tournaments.

Postseason performance feeds into the same attention/recruiting/attendance dynamics you mentioned, eventually solidifying the conference's reputation among other mid-majors. This results in higher preseason rankings and an even higher ceiling as long as the member schools can maintain the same level of success.

This is precisely why the new look AAC will still produce multiple bids. You have 5-6 Quad 1 opportunities a season IN CONFERENCE. Even if you have mediocre OOC strength of schedule, you can still have several Q1 opportunities in conference. That’s about as many Q1 opportunities as most PAC 12 schools now. As it stands, new CUSA has zero. It’s all Q2 or worse. You will have to schedule strong OOC and win them to even get looked at, like this version of CUSA (which is losing its only two Q1 wins from this season and last season). I really hope the new CUSA can become a two bid league, as JSU is my second favorite team in D1, but I just struggle to see it.

The AAC will still be strong, no doubt. The conference's average ranking may be dropping, but the top of the conference is still very strong.

CUSA (probably) won't be a two-bid league from the start, but it's in a good position to improve. That improvement won't be automatic... as I said, the member schools will have to maintain AT LEAST their same level of play for several seasons before they'll realize any benefits.

The OOC portion of everyone's schedule will still be extremely important. I wasn't trying to discount that. Each team in CUSA 4.0 will have to schedule strong and perform well in those games if they want to rise as a conference.

Assuming we all take care of business out of conference, we'll be in a good place once the conference portion of the schedule kicks into high gear. There's no benefit to winning games against low-tier teams. But with most of the conference (sans FIU) ranked in the 100s or better, we'll continue to get a nudge with each conference win. Not as much as those AAC teams playing the other top-tier AAC teams. And certainly not as much as the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big East, etc.

But improvement is possible. And over time, that improvement can lift the conference as a whole. The better teams will have a chance to creep into that Q1 category.

Conferences in which everyone except a team or two is ranked in the 200s or worse see no benefits at all once they've completed the OOC portion of their schedules. And the champions from those conferences become lambs led to slaughter in the NCAA tourney. Rankings aside, a team doesn't develop physical and mental toughness by beating up on cupcakes. They pay for that in the postseason.

Based on recent seasons, CUSA 4.0 teams shouldn't see too many cupcakes. Parity may hurt at first... the conference champ might be lucky to win 20 games. But that team will be hardened and battle tested. They wont be an easy out in the Dance. A couple seasons of postseason wins, and additional bids will follow for others in the conference. It's a process.

C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

(03-01-2022 07:00 AM)Engblazr Wrote:  

(03-01-2022 05:55 AM)JCMiner Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 10:01 PM)Engblazr Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 06:07 PM)whupemall Wrote:  

(02-28-2022 04:47 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  WKUYG has it right.

The next version of C-USA basketball WILL be stronger-- no doubt.

"Bu.. but you are still a one bid league" some will say. This is the "chorus line" of departing members who are mostly "FB only" fans and do not understand NCAA basketball.

You have to look at the WHOLE picture:

Better league = Better NCAA seed= Better chance of winning more tourney games = more BB credit money divided by only nine teams= more money for each school

Better league = "somewhat" better chance to snag a second bid

Better league = a little more national media attention; more wins over P5's; better recruits; better attendance at regular and post season games

Also...

Teams who win against a strong schedule rise in the rankings.

A strong team in a weak conference hits its approximate ceiling once conference play begins.

When multiple strong teams play together in the same conference, they each have multiple opportunities to increase their rankings throughout the entire season. The ceiling is higher, opening the door for better seeding and multiple bids.

And since these teams are used to playing stronger opponents throughout the regular season, they tend to perform better in postseason tournaments.

Postseason performance feeds into the same attention/recruiting/attendance dynamics you mentioned, eventually solidifying the conference's reputation among other mid-majors. This results in higher preseason rankings and an even higher ceiling as long as the member schools can maintain the same level of success.

This is precisely why the new look AAC will still produce multiple bids. You have 5-6 Quad 1 opportunities a season IN CONFERENCE. Even if you have mediocre OOC strength of schedule, you can still have several Q1 opportunities in conference. That’s about as many Q1 opportunities as most PAC 12 schools now. As it stands, new CUSA has zero. It’s all Q2 or worse. You will have to schedule strong OOC and win them to even get looked at, like this version of CUSA (which is losing its only two Q1 wins from this season and last season). I really hope the new CUSA can become a two bid league, as JSU is my second favorite team in D1, but I just struggle to see it.

Memphis is a q1 road win this year because they beat UH. Once y'all join Memphis won't have that conference opponent on their schedule and the opportunity to be ranked that high. Same logic applies to SMU. Other than those two it's just you and UNT.

First off, UNT is as high as they are now without playing Houston. They were propelled largely by their win @UAB. UAB also never played Houston. Our best win was…. @UNT. And we are both Q1 road teams.

Memphis and SMU were both NET top 75 before ever even playing Houston. Neither Memphis or SMU have been out of the top 75 all season long. Wichita has teetered back and forth on the line. What you’re thinking of is them being *on the bubble* because that Houston win is what brought 9 loss Memphis (with bad losses @UGA particularly) back to the at-large conversation. They were never NOT a Q1.

For an AAC team, that’s the ability for Q1 road wins @UAB, @Memphis, @SMU, @UNT, and potentially @Wichita. UNT, Memphis, SMU, are all Q1 neutral site wins too, so tourney could produce more (UAB is teetering on that as well). UNT is also dangerously close to being Q1 playing the opposing team at their home court. New CUSA does have NMSU teetering on Q1 status, but that’s less than our current perpetual one-bid setup has

You are not really thinking this through....

The AAC bottom just got a lot larger with the new adds. Like 4 extra bottom feeders and that is going to be a huge blow to the top of the AAC. Once you add in the LARGE bottom into a 18 game schedule.....

there's not going to be a strong top when it comes to the NET and Q1 wins

(03-04-2022 08:28 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

Tech is most likely the top school in CUSA3.0 in wins. I'm going on my memory but I believe its 23 wins a season over the 9 in CUSA. The only part Tech has not got passed is making the NCAA Tourney. Other than that they been at the top of CUSA most years...if not the top in wins

(03-04-2022 08:40 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(03-04-2022 08:28 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

Tech is most likely the top school in CUSA3.0 in wins. I'm going on my memory but I believe its 23 wins a season over the 9 in CUSA. The only part Tech has not got passed is making the NCAA Tourney. Other than that they been at the top of CUSA most years...if not the top in wins

Agree 100% LaTech is definitely Tier 1.

(03-04-2022 08:28 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

I’d just like to add that tier 3 team has put it to liberty this year and has beaten Belmont several years in a row.
I wouldn’t count on us being in the bottom.

(03-04-2022 08:40 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(03-04-2022 08:28 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

Tech is most likely the top school in CUSA3.0 in wins. I'm going on my memory but I believe its 23 wins a season over the 9 in CUSA. The only part Tech has not got passed is making the NCAA Tourney. Other than that they been at the top of CUSA most years...if not the top in wins

We've had only one season during our time in CUSA with fewer than 20 wins..

We're usually pretty good, just can't seem to put it together enough in one season to either get an at large or win a conference tournament (something I hope ends this season). We should be able to hold our own.

Putting MT at tier 1 might be premature. We've had one good season under our current coach against an incredibly weak schedule.

(03-04-2022 08:28 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

Why is JSU Tier 3? Won the conference shared with tier 1 Liberty.

(03-04-2022 11:20 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  

(03-04-2022 08:28 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  C-USA 4.0 has a chance to be the #12 conference nationally and actually has some solid programs. With only 9 members and 16 conference games, each school has 15 OOC games to work with. That should give the league plenty of opportunities for scalps.

In basketball terms, I would divide the league into tiers:

Tier 1:
New Mexico State
Western Kentucky
Liberty
Middle Tennessee

Tier 2:
Sam Houston State
UTEP
Louisiana Tech

Tier 3:
Jacksonville State
FIU

I don't think it would be a miracle to get 2 bids every once in a while.

Why is JSU Tier 3? Won the conference shared with tier 1 Liberty.

I wouldn't read much into their words. It's just a person's perception without looking at results or history.

The new C-USA 4.0 will on a par with Mtn. West and AAC for hoops. I really think we’ll put 3 x 9 teams into the major national tournaments. One in the Dance, one in the NIT, and one more on the edge between NCAA and NIT.

I’m really looking forward to this.

(03-05-2022 08:06 PM)Cardiff Wrote:  The new C-USA 4.0 will on a par with Mtn. West and AAC for hoops. I really think we’ll put 3 x 9 teams into the major national tournaments. One in the Dance, one in the NIT, and one more on the edge between NCAA and NIT.

I’m really looking forward to this.

I'm telling you... this new thing is not the disaster that some made it out to be. This could be fun.

I've been watching Liberty and Jax State in the Asun tournament tonight.

Two thoughts.

One. We really need to do the home court to higher seed. It's really great seeing these full and energized arenas. Really impressed with that. That is what MARCH IS ABOUT. And with no divisions and every team playing every other team home and home, there will be a true regular season champion decided on the court. Why shouldn't they host?

Two. The top of the ASUN is good, but just on the eyeball test I wonder how ready the ASUN teams will be to play in a real basketball conference? These teams do not look as big, as athletic or as physical as what I have come to expect from CUSA teams. There will not be any nights off in this new league. It will be an adjustment at first. Or maybe they will come in and win the league right away. Who knows?

(03-05-2022 08:06 PM)Cardiff Wrote:  The new C-USA 4.0 will on a par with Mtn. West and AAC for hoops. I really think we’ll put 3 x 9 teams into the major national tournaments. One in the Dance, one in the NIT, and one more on the edge between NCAA and NIT.

I’m really looking forward to this.

I'm looking forward to it as well. Very encouraged by our new coach.

I also think UNT and UAB will help AAC basketball. 2 very good programs.

(03-05-2022 08:49 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  

(03-05-2022 08:06 PM)Cardiff Wrote:  The new C-USA 4.0 will on a par with Mtn. West and AAC for hoops. I really think we’ll put 3 x 9 teams into the major national tournaments. One in the Dance, one in the NIT, and one more on the edge between NCAA and NIT.

I’m really looking forward to this.

I'm telling you... this new thing is not the disaster that some made it out to be. This could be fun.

I've been watching Liberty and Jax State in the Asun tournament tonight.

Two thoughts.

One. We really need to do the home court to higher seed. It's really great seeing these full and energized arenas. Really impressed with that. That is what MARCH IS ABOUT. And with no divisions and every team playing every other team home and home, there will be a true regular season champion decided on the court. Why shouldn't they host?

Two. The top of the ASUN is good, but just on the eyeball test I wonder how ready the ASUN teams will be to play in a real basketball conference? These teams do not look as big, as athletic or as physical as what I have come to expect from CUSA teams. There will not be any nights off in this new league. It will be an adjustment at first. Or maybe they will come in and win the league right away. Who knows?

If you watched tonight. I apologize Jax St is much better than we played tonight.