From WAC to CUSA - Lateral Move? (specialtion/question)

[TenTwo]

I took a quick glance at CUSA and I don't see much more than what the WAC has. Losing Boise State seems like it was the beginning of the end for the WAC, so jumping ship makes sense. Still, I can't help but get caught up in this program's rise and wish we had more to look forward to next season than what CUSA offers. It looks a lot like WAC part II to me.

So I guess my question to you all is:

If you wanted to build this program into something other than "one of those other Louisiana schools" and you could choose which conferece Tech played in, where would you put them?

New to the board so feel free to flame me if I missed a 10 page thread on this somewhere else.

[Dawgy Dog]

I know any of us would gladly trade our spot in CUSA for a spot in an AQ conference. However, even with the poor performance of CUSA this season, more local games and rivalries in the same time zone, which will result from joining CUSA, are going to be a huge plus for us. Out side of an AQ conference, for the time being, I think we are exactly where we need to be.

DAWGY

[EngDawg]

unless you are in an AQ, its all just fighting to see who the tallest midget is....

[bulldog555]

Specialtion

[exit84]

I took a quick glance at CUSA and I don't see much more than what the WAC has. Losing Boise State seems like it was the beginning of the end for the WAC, so jumping ship makes sense. Still, I can't help but get caught up in this program's rise and wish we had more to look forward to next season than what CUSA offers. It looks a lot like WAC part II to me.

So I guess my question to you all is:

If you wanted to build this program into something other than "one of those other Louisiana schools" and you could choose which conferece Tech played in, where would you put them?

New to the board so feel free to flame me if I missed a 10 page thread on this somewhere else.

What a dumba$$!!

[dawg1984]

I know any of us would gladly trade our spot in CUSA for a spot in an AQ conference. However, even with the poor performance of CUSA this season, more local games and rivalries in the same time zone, which will result from joining CUSA, are going to be a huge plus for us. Out side of an AQ conference, for the time being, I think we are exactly where we need to be.

DAWGY

Agree completely. Success this year will make our program more appealing in the next round of conference realignment. Once we're in CUSA, more games in driving distance for us and our opponents should - HAD BETTER - improve attendance at home and away games.

The LaTech/Army game thread briefly hit on students going to that game. We can't rely on students to support the team for away games. Alumni must take up the slack. Tech has a lot of alumni in area covered by CUSA so their attendance at away games will be crucial to making it into an AQ conference.

[ANODESSEY]

It is not a lateral move because there is no WAC conference, it is gone. As for competition being similar, it always has been, it is just a matter of a lack of respect. We are in the middle tier of conferences now respect wise. The AQ's, MW and CUSA, then Sunbelt and MAC. And no the Sunbelt is not comparable. Yes they have won a couple of games against AQ's, however they have lost mulitiple games to FCS teams. With the loss of Houston, Memphis, SMU and Central Florida, we are losing 3 weak CUSA teams.

[TenTwo]

Can a mode please fix my typo, meant to write "speculation" I blame the coffee

also, exit84

[inudesu]

I took a quick glance at CUSA and I don't see much more than what the WAC has. Losing Boise State seems like it was the beginning of the end for the WAC, so jumping ship makes sense. Still, I can't help but get caught up in this program's rise and wish we had more to look forward to next season than what CUSA offers. It looks a lot like WAC part II to me.

So I guess my question to you all is:

If you wanted to build this program into something other than "one of those other Louisiana schools" and you could choose which conferece Tech played in, where would you put them?

New to the board so feel free to flame me if I missed a 10 page thread on this somewhere else.

It is not a lateral move because there is no WAC conference, it is gone.

There is your answer.

The WAC will not play football next season.

[TenTwo]

See, I thought it was still up in the air. I knew several teams were leaving but I didn't know WAC Football was completely shutting down.

[SeekerHound]

Look at it this way, all non AQ conferences are jokes right now. They all only have a couple good teams, and honestly the WAC looks like the strongest one right now. MW has lost a lot of power as well as C-USA. Sun Belt is getting praise for some big wins, but a lot of them are weak, but under rated teams against over-rated teams. Right now I think Tech would win any non AQ conference.

[boxerdog]

See, I thought it was still up in the air. I knew several teams were leaving but I didn't know WAC Football was completely shutting down.

Ever since the central time zone teams left the WAC we needed to make a lateral move (bc the WAC had shifted back west). C-USA was clearly our best option because the institutions in this conference are far more prestigious than anything in the Sunbelt. That said, alot of attention has been given to the Sunbelt recently b/c of ULM's win against Arkansas and MTSU beating Georgia Tech. However, the most impressive non-aq conference up to this point is the WAC.

[StrayDawg]

Tech fans haven't been able to travel a reasonable distance to an away conference game since moving to Division 1-A in the late 80s. We have been independent twice, playing whomever we could schedule, and we have been in western conferences the rest of the time. The Big West in the early 90s and the WAC since 2001. In the early 2000s, we could travel to Rice, Tulsa, and SMU for away games, but that ended in '05.

Having only a few hundred (maybe) fans travel to away games doesn't do enough to support the team, and having teams like Hawaii, Fresno, and San Jose only bring a few hundred fans to our games doesn't do enough to support their teams. It's better for teams and fans to have regional rivalries, not to mention the ticket sales and attendance numbers for home teams.

Finally Tech fans will be able to drive to places like Houston (Rice), Hattiesburg, Dallas, Tulsa, and New Orleans for road games to watch our team play. That will be easier for fans, will benefit the team, and will create more rivalry games. And, remember we aren't just talking about football here. Fans also like to travel for other sports as well. I also think it will strenghten our program overall because fans will get used to watching Tech play. That might sound crazy, but there were years when we were independent and only had 3 home games, with the rest being in places like Boise and Hawaii. Fans can't routinely put in the time and money that it takes to travel that far to watch their teams play (are you listening Big East fans?), so they get used to NOT attending games. Once they get used to doing other things, they are less likely to attend home games, and it is hard to win them back. Have a couple of losing seasons, and it becomes exponentially harder.

Moving to C-USA is the right choice for Tech, even if the WAC were still going to be intact next season. Travel costs for all of our athletic teams should decrease significantly, resulting in a savings in the athletic budget. That money will hopefully be put to good use in other parts of the programs/facilities. Plus, teams don't stay down forever and competition in C-USA is bound to improve.

[dawgs1]

I took a quick glance at CUSA and I don't see much more than what the WAC has. Losing Boise State seems like it was the beginning of the end for the WAC, so jumping ship makes sense. Still, I can't help but get caught up in this program's rise and wish we had more to look forward to next season than what CUSA offers. It looks a lot like WAC part II to me.

So I guess my question to you all is:

If you wanted to build this program into something other than "one of those other Louisiana schools" and you could choose which conferece Tech played in, where would you put them?

New to the board so feel free to flame me if I missed a 10 page thread on this somewhere else.

I would put us in the $EC.

[Tech77]

Edit: I see your post in "Introductions."