In one full swoop, the eradication of the Pac12 has eliminated any shot of our University ever getting inclusion in the Big12 or ACC. It’s done. It’s over.

What do we do? Accept it and stay in a spread out AAC that will be worse than the old CUSA? Go Indy in football and join the BigEast in everything else?

I’ll say this and I’ve been predicting it for a decade now. When the power structure breaks off they will be taking the BigEast with them because they need those teams and markets for basketball. It’s time for Memphis to get in the BigEast and either go independent in football or seriously consider dropping football altogether. Or maybe put it in the sunbelt.

Some of y’all may laugh or hurl insults. I’m as hurt for our university as anyone. It’s just time to accept it and move on.

I have no interest for college football anymore.

(09-01-2023 09:34 PM)BIGDTiger Wrote:  In one full swoop, the eradication of the Pac12 has eliminated any shot of our University ever getting inclusion in the Big12 or ACC. It’s done. It’s over.

What do we do? Accept it and stay in a spread out AAC that will be worse than the old CUSA? Go Indy in football and join the BigEast in everything else?

I’ll say this and I’ve been predicting it for a decade now. When the power structure breaks off they will be taking the BigEast with them because they need those teams and markets for basketball. It’s time for Memphis to get in the BigEast and either go independent in football or seriously consider dropping football altogether. Or maybe put it in the sunbelt.

Some of y’all may laugh or hurl insults. I’m as hurt for our university as anyone. It’s just time to accept it and move on.

I have no interest for college football anymore.

Stop the nonsense. The Big East has zero interest in us joining their conference.

We won our Super Bowl by making the Cotton Bowl. Im at peace...as far as football. However, basketball is another story. Memphis basketball will be fine regardless, and we still have work to do and I have no doubt we will climb the mountain top.

We aren’t getting into the Big East either.

After 2016 we had no shot. Our best supporters did everything they could do, and it wasn't enough. The school could not overcome the city.

Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

Agree, but you’re talking to some folks that would e surrendered the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

(09-01-2023 10:24 PM)TigerBill Wrote:  After 2016 we had no shot. Our best supporters did everything they could do, and it wasn't enough. The school could not overcome the city.

It’s hard to accept but it’s the truth.

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

All those schools have one thing in common with us. They are blocked out just like us. No chance at all.

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

We’ve done that to. To no avail.

(09-01-2023 10:24 PM)TigerBill Wrote:  After 2016 we had no shot. Our best supporters did everything they could do, and it wasn't enough. The school could not overcome the city.

That's somewhat true, as I've said all along we are fall short on market size and economics in an era where media rights are dictating conference makeup.

But it's not just the City of Memphis that's a problem here. With all of its problems, we might not have been left behind if our metro area had 2 million people or was at least growing by about 7-10% per decade instead of no growth. The surrounding suburbs and counties are not drawing many new people to the region very quickly. Remember that most of the population growth you see in Middle TN is not in Nashville-Davidson, it in all the suburban counties like Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner and Wilson. We're getting nothing like that here.

(09-01-2023 10:43 PM)ItsDude Wrote:  We will compete for our conference championship and it will be good football. There are 2 conference QBs that are better than our very good one…….Tiger hoops will be good and we play plenty of power 5’s…..it’s going to be a fun year.

Agree.

(09-01-2023 10:37 PM)BERT56 Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

Agree, but you’re talking to some folks that would e surrendered the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

That's terrible analogy and you know it. This isn't one event - one bad break. This is decades of being s h i t on and left behind over and over and over again.

If you really think your analogy is accurate then you just don't understand analogies. At all.

(09-01-2023 10:45 PM)BIGDTiger Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

We’ve done that to. To no avail.

Not consistently. One outright conference championship in football, one conference tournament in hoops with a couple of NCAA first-weekend exits...that is not quite domination.

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

This was my thought after hearing of the ACC's vote. Coach Silverfield needs to change his approach and stop with the "sit on the lead and bleed the clock" tactics and go scorched earth on everyone we line up against from here on out. Penny needs to follow suit and take no prisoners. If they won't let us in their club, at least make them hate to play us in the post season, and then we can call them all chickenshit when they won't schedule us in the regular season for OOC games.

Well my hope is college football will fall on it's face. Which there is a good possibility due to political issues coming down the pipeline for all of us not sports related.

(09-01-2023 10:45 PM)BIGDTiger Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

We’ve done that to. To no avail.

None of it helped. 13-12 the last two years. Lots of questionable coaching going on.

Louisville, Cincinnati, UCF, Houston all got tickets to the show. SMU figured it out.

It's not geography and it's not the airport - it's lack of leadership.

(09-01-2023 10:46 PM)bluebacker Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:37 PM)BERT56 Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

Agree, but you’re talking to some folks that would e surrendered the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

That's terrible analogy and you know it. This isn't one event - one bad break. This is decades of being s h i t on and left behind over and over and over again.

If you really think your analogy is accurate then you just don't understand analogies. At all.

Blah blah blah. B!tch’s gonna b!tch. Fold up or move forward. If y’all think realignment is done y’all are nuts. There are way more moves coming and we just need to keep pushing and grindin. But half of y’all wanna just give up and go 100% basketball. No thanks.

There is still hope. When teams leave the ACC we will be one of the schools being considered. We are not one of the next two in though, so our leaders need to actually try leading for a change.

(09-01-2023 10:51 PM)BERT56 Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:46 PM)bluebacker Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:37 PM)BERT56 Wrote:  

(09-01-2023 10:31 PM)CRM114 Wrote:  Understandable to feel that way but our enjoyment of college sports doesn't have to be dictated by what conference we are in. We have other schools to play and games to win. If our boosters, fan base and community provide the same or better support that it has during the past several years there's no reason we couldn't rule the AAC in basketball and football. Might not be as impressive as ruling a conference with the four programs that left, but it would make us a staple of the top 25 and give our school as good or better exposure than we've ever had. Think of the attention we got in basketball after being left behind in the watered-down CUSA in 2005?

Take a look at all the non P5, non-AAC teams that have finished in the top 25 in recent years. Don't forget, the best final ranking we've had was 17 in 2019 and some of these schools did better than that in their "crap" conferences...

2022 - Troy (19), Fresno (24)
2021 - Louisiana (16), SDSU (25)
2020 - Coastal Carolina (14), Louisiana (15), Liberty (17), Ball State (23), San Jose State (24), Buffalo (25)
2019 - Appalachian State (19), Air Force (22), Boise (23)
2018 - Fresno State (18), Army (19), Utah State (22), Boise State (23)
2017 - Boise State (22)
2016 - Western Michigan (15), San Diego State (25)
2015 - Western Kentucky (24)

The best way to show we really belong in a power conference is to start blowing everyone in the conference off the field and court.

Agree, but you’re talking to some folks that would e surrendered the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

That's terrible analogy and you know it. This isn't one event - one bad break. This is decades of being s h i t on and left behind over and over and over again.

If you really think your analogy is accurate then you just don't understand analogies. At all.

Blah blah blah. B!tch’s gonna b!tch. Fold up or move forward. If y’all think realignment is done y’all are nuts. There are way more moves coming and we just need to keep pushing and grindin. But half of y’all wanna just give up and go 100% basketball. No thanks.

I'd rather push for putting together a best of the rest G5 conference with the understanding that everyone wants to move up - full transparency. Why stay in CUSA 4.0 if there's a better plan to push?

Except for the B1G and the SEC taking the brands they want from the ACC alignment is pretty much over.

MW should reverse merge with the PAC2 but that's not earth shattering.

What else is coming down the pike outside of the ACC's big brands moving on in 5-7 years?