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I was a bit surprised that WKU came up with the Sun Belt rather than the MAC. I thought they were a good fit for the latter and if I were them that's the direction I would have preferred to go. I think, though, that the MAC is primarily interested in establishing an east coast presence.
University of Houston '01. Any references to "we" or "us" likely refer to UH. Cheers!
Correct answer: Anybody but ULL or ULM.
I expect 3-6 more C-USA invitations within the next two years...
At the plate...
1. NM State
2. WKU
On deck...
3. Georgia State
4. Texas State
In the hole...
Arkansas State/South Alabama/La-Lafayette
Not interested...
MAC schools
No chance...
Idaho/Troy/La-Monroe
I prefer the above, but if the Big East expands to stay viable, I am hoping that Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss. are part of that and don't have to worry about this. That way, CUSA and the Belch can just merge after we leave.Originally Posted by Dawg06
Harvard.
None that would join....
But if forced to pick three realistic schools:
1) App State - great facilities, great fan support, definitely a rising school
2) Texas State - more long term potential than UTSA
3) NMSU - best of the remaining "realistic" choices
No more SBC, please!
Hookdown I'm curious why you think Tx.St. has more longterm potential than UTSA?
Much more history, even though it was at a lower level, to build upon. A president that seems to get it. They are spending a lot to improve facilities. I just see more commitment to athletics there than at UTSA. Bring in a new president and all of that could change, I understand (for either school). But I think if things keep going as it, in 20 years, Texas State has the overall better program.
Guys, this is depressing to go from 12 months ago getting into CUSA with all the hype and excitment to now loking at which one of the Sunbelt teams, we want to add!!!!
I sure hope that Dr.Guice and the core donators aren't thinking like this!!!!!!
Same here....... My question is when we are going to live up to our potential and start leading, instead of chasing.
APPY State????????????? Really????????????
I dunno about all that. Living down here, I can tell you that UTSA is QUITE committed at the moment. There's a HECK of a lot more money and population behind UTSA than there is behind Texas State. Simply having a team for longer doesn't necessarily mean Texas State has a big advantage. If that were the case, we'd be major world-beaters every year, since we've been around for so long with a football program...
History both on the field and off. They have a lot more alumni to mobilize and if they can, they should really take off. Like I said, they have potential, we will see if they can achieve it to the fullest.
I would hope to be going with Tulsa, Southern Miss, etc. or even over to MWC versus remain in depleted CUSA. We just may be too little too late in having things done with expanding and adding athletic facilities. We have to remember that expanding field house or putting in a video board in TAC is not the end of 2020....we need to be planning next 2 big items now, fund raising about 6-12 months into actual construction of the Field House expansion so ready to go. We have 20 years to make up for and will take some time, but hopefully not another 20 years.
I know you saw this coming at least by the time I did, which was about when we were added to C-USA. It is better to have some control over who is added than being in an altogether tenuous position like some others. Its a solid landing spot for now.
No non-aq (or whatever you want to call aq vs. non-aq now) conference is a solid landing point. Some are better than others, though. In order, I would say that CUSA is better than the belt, but not as good as MWC. It is a shame that MWC and CUSA were close to equal footing just a few months ago - even talk of merging and/or collaboration. Now, MWC is much further ahead. My apologies to Paralex, but I blame Houston and SMU for going to a conference that was CLEARLY unstable and falling apart with aq status soon to be a thing of the past with the playoff sytem. The BE was not going to get a auto play-off spot and there was already a big split growing with the bball schools there. When they left CUSA for that, it left CUSA in a bind for NO reason. The tv deal and bowl tie-ins would have been better in the old CUSA than the new Big East. If they would come back, it would still be better in CUSA.
Problem is now N. Texas for SMU and Houston. They don't want to be in the conference with them. I get it, but is that worse than being in a conference on the East Coast as a Southern school? Maybe it is...... Similar to us and the WAC to get away from the ULX's.
Now, we are faced with some serious issues. Do we sit back and be happy that we are in the conference still known by, but formerly CUSA? Do we try for the Big East and risk it falling apart more?
I believe we have NO choice but to play some politics and team up with Houston, SMU, Tulsa, Southern Miss, and even ECU. I am not joking when I say that we form a new conference and be the LEADER for once. Call an Airport meeting! Invite 11 programs that are having choices to make right now - including the ones above and several more (Tulane, etc..). Forget the aq in the NCAA bball tournament. It is not that big of a deal to miss out on that for a couple of years. Several will qualify, anyway, most likely.
If we would stop chasing and strart leading and pulling people together, we might could solve a lot of the problems we face together with some other programs. Leave the Commish's out of the meeting until we figure out the direction we want to go. Take charge of our own destiny. AND, for those that think we don't have that power, you are living in a shell. We DO have power, but have chosen to act like victims. That goes for our fans and our administration.
First, LG needs to head this up. Get every big doner and big name we have to play the politics with us. LG needs to get Karl and Terry on our side and hire an AD that is POWERFUL. No more playing around. Like it or not, we need an AD with a Dooley personality, but with more political clout. FOR ONCE, pay what we need to pay to hire an AD. Get the donors to help with the cost of even a 3 year contract for a high paid consult instead of a full time permanent one, if needed. The consulting AD needs to have strings and be someone that people respect and will follow - connections!
Work WITH ESPN and Fox Sports to see which one is going to pull the money from the Big East and CUSA and give it to this conference that is new and stable - one with market AND stability.
I am tired of having all this potential and constantly seeing us trying to climb the wall to the deep end of the pool and falling. JUMP OFF THE HIGH DIVING BOARD!
Champ,
There is some pretty flawed logic in your post. You can't blame Houston and SMU. Find me one school that wouldn't have accepted a Big East invite. We would have accepted in a heart beat.
The Big East will get BC$ money and a BC$ auto bid next year. The Big East is swimming in NCAA MBB units and exit fee money. Those units last more than just a couple years. Those units roll over for 6 years! With backing from ESPN and NBC Sports, the new Big East will still command a larger TV contract than the old C-USA. SMU and Houston also get to promote that they are moving up, which boosts alumni support. Houston and SMU get to choose which C-USA schools to leave behind and which schools they want to join them in the Big East. For all those reasons, the Big East was never going to die like I have been preaching.
Had Houston and SMU stayed in C-USA, there would have been no openings for us in C-USA, and we would have been headed for the Belch next season with ULM and ULL as conference mates. We should be thanking SMU and Houston for bolting.
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