Seriously.
If there's ever been a time we needed to be producing, it's now.
Basketball is a horror show.
Football is very bottom-heavy.
Will baseball be any better?

I guess the question is this:
How far do you think your school can progress in each sport?
How far do you think your school WILL progress in the next 4 years?
Can C-USA seriously hope to be the best G5 conference?
What are the major hurdles in the way, for each individual school, and for the conference as a whole?

Don't worry about being politically correct.
Honest answers only.
This is not a smack post, so please don't move it off the board.

(12-12-2015 10:50 AM)Noodles Wrote:  Seriously.
If there's ever been a time we needed to be producing, it's now.
Basketball is a horror show.
Football is very bottom-heavy.
Will baseball be any better?

I guess the question is this:
How far do you think your school can progress in each sport?
How far do you think your school WILL progress in the next 4 years?
Can C-USA seriously hope to be the best G5 conference?
What are the major hurdles in the way, for each individual school, and for the conference as a whole?

Don't worry about being politically correct.
Honest answers only.
This is not a smack post, so please don't move it off the board.

For USM:
We have proven in the past that we can flirt with a Top 15 ranking in football. Our fans will support basketball if there's a good product on the floor. We made the CWS in baseball a few seasons ago.
Next 4 years: I expect USM football to be back to winning 8-10 games a year. Basketball is in a deep, deep hole, but if we are patient, Doc Sadler is good enough to get us back to a "competitive" level in conference. Baseball is a mystery. Our recruiting is supposedly top-notch, but we aren't producing. Our fan support has always been Top 20 for baseball, but it seems to be declining.
Obstacles: P5 can pay our assistants more than we pay our head coach.
Our basketball arena is a relic. There is little hope that we find the funds to pull off the renovations we desperately need. We also can't recruit because of this NCAA investigation hanging over our heads. Baseball: No obstacles that I can see. We just aren't producing.
Conference: Fan bases have to buy in much more. Somehow basketball has to become competitive. We are missing the boat in a sport where we could shine.
The biggest obstacle, I'm afraid, is the TV contract is about to explode in our faces. If it's low, we are in much more trouble.
What a time to suck.

Fan support is everything, the schools that don't have it will always struggle.

No order

Marshall
UTEP
MT
La Tech
USM
WKU
ODU
UAB

These schools seem to have a solid hardcore base of fans that get it which to build off of.

Charlotte adding football is getting there

(12-12-2015 11:11 AM)wkuhilltopperfan Wrote:  Fan support is everything, the schools that don't have it will always struggle.

No order

Marshall
UTEP
MT
La Tech
USM
WKU
ODU
UAB

These schools seem to have a solid hardcore base of fans that get it which to build off of.

Charlotte adding football is getting there

I'm not sure what you're basing this off of. If by having 16k in attendance for hosting a championship game is the qualifier, we have that too.

There are so many newbie programs in C-USA that the average fan doesn't care about. Promotion is the key. Starts with the students themselves showing up to give support. Apathy kills. Go to away games. Drunkenly desecrate opposing venues. Get arrested. Declare it the best night of your life. Those kind of things.

No offense, most of the teams we added were average or bad in the Sun Belt. Did we expect them to magically improve by joining? We loaded ourselves down with this dead weight.

Football is up and down. Remember, last year CUSA had a better season than the AAC. This year wasn't great, even with Southern Miss returning to relevancy, but it wasn't a complete toilet fire either.

Basketball is having problems, of course, but I still say there's a core of programs with good support/resources/history that in time should help make the conference respectable. I think there's always going to be a pool of teams that aren't going to be good barring a miracle or a sea change in their athletic departments, but CUSA was building a football league, not a basketball league, so this is one of the consequences.

As for the questions posed:

How far do you think your school can progress in each sport?

Presuming that ODU gets a new stadium in the next few years, I see no reason why they can't be bowl contenders regularly and conference title contenders occasionally. The biggest challenge is making sure the fans understand that just because ODU ripped through an FCS independent schedule and did surprisingly good in its two CAA seasons doesn't mean that it's a reasonable standard to meet in FBS. The past two seasons are going to be more typical, and fans will have to accept that 8-9 wins and favorable postseason destinations are not going to be a given right now, and perhaps not for a time to come.

Basketball should always be in the top six of the conference and always contending for a title while generally being in the at-large conversation. Obviously, the hiccup there is the wide gap between home play and road play. Recruiting and performance against prominent OOC opponents will be key; next year's Battle 4 Atlantis could be program-defining.

Baseball seems to be great and mediocre at random, and I suspect that'll continue. There's pretty good high school baseball talent to be had in Tidewater, but the best of them are generally going to the draft, so it's hard to capitalize on.

How far do you think your school WILL progress in the next 4 years?

Tough to say in football, because at the end of that period, they may or may not have a football stadium and may or may not be close to having one. Next season could be a bowl season if QB play stabilizes, but this time last year a lot of us thought they wouldn't miss a beat, and they did, so who knows? I expect slow but steady improvement in basketball, with hopes that they can successfully recruit four-star-level players (Matt Coleman is the shooting-star wish but pretty unlikely) and get better OOC competition, with no more schedules that feature half the MEAC. If Virginia Beach's arena opens in 2019, that could help draw top opponents. Baseball, I'd hope to be closer to the top than the bottom, but I really can't speak eloquently to that sport. Men's soccer is usually pretty good, so maybe a nice run in the NCAAs?

Can C-USA seriously hope to be the best G5 conference?

Every year? Probably not. The AAC has significant resource advantages that will load the dice in their favor. But there's no reason that CUSA can't put together a strong season and be the top conference in any given year.

What are the major hurdles in the way, for each individual school, and for the conference as a whole?

Everyone knows their hurdles, whether it's football performance, basketball performance, community support, resources, whatever. No point in rehashing that, especially since as an outsider, all I can do is rehash the rehash.

As for the conference as a whole, I think it's mainly a perception issue. If three teams in CUSA basketball were to win 25 games and one of them made the Sweet 16, people would quickly forget the incredibly poor start. The AAC can have half the league ranked in football, but if Western Kentucky ran the table and got the access bowl (or a playoff spot), casual fans wouldn't give a crap who was technically the top league. CUSA has a reputation as being a way station that brings Sun Belt programs in and nurtures them while mature and successful programs get "promoted" to the AAC — in a way, CUSA is like middle school. But if the new programs develop, there's no reason that, somewhere down the line, CUSA could be a strong conference on its own merits, and not just the best port in a storm. But that's going to take some patience, and who the hell has time for that?

We'll put 50-60 on them until they get better. We built-up the original 6 in C-USA. We'l build-up this rabble too. ;*)

(12-12-2015 11:46 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  No offense, most of the teams we added were average or bad in the Sun Belt. Did we expect them to magically improve by joining? We loaded ourselves down with this dead weight.

Not true at all

FIU was coming off back to back bowl (8-5 7-5) along with a SBC championship year before they got the invite. Along with a 18 win season on basketball. Other than that one good year in basketball FIU was awful

But still as far as football FIU was coming off back to back bowl games in a conference that only had 2 bowl tie-ins..along with 1 SBC championship

FAU yeah, other than 1 season where they won the SBC in basketball (regular season) they were down in both sports. FAU was a after thought a travel partner for FIU. FAU were with in a couple weeks of still being in the SBC. Western was the choice till FIU pushed really hard for FAU to get the invite with MUTS.

MUTS was coming off a 8-4 season in football tied for 2nd in the SBC. Back to back SBC regular season champs in basketball with 27 and 28 wins

UNT's football had hit rock bottom when they got their CUSA invite but basketball was coming off four 20+ win seasons along with one 18 win season

Western while having a few down years in basketball (for us..16 and 20 wins) Western still made the NCAA Tourney 2 out of the last 3 years in the SBC. Football ..7,7 and 8 wins . Added to the 8 and 11 (and counting) the two years in CUSA

UNT and FAU are the only two schools that come close to fitting what you described. UNT's basketball only tanked after they were invited.

(12-12-2015 11:46 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  No offense, most of the teams we added were average or bad in the Sun Belt. Did we expect them to magically improve by joining? We loaded ourselves down with this dead weight.

WKU and MTSU have been two of the most all around best athletic programs since joining C-USA.

(12-12-2015 11:46 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  No offense, most of the teams we added were average or bad in the Sun Belt. Did we expect them to magically improve by joining? We loaded ourselves down with this dead weight.

Just to be clear, only WKU, MTSU, NT, FIU, and FAU came from the SBC

UTSA and LaTech came from the WAC

ODU came from the CAA

Charlotte came from the A-10.

USM, Marshall, UTEP, Rice, UAB were leftovers from CUSA.

In football:
In the East, SBC Teams finished 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. The CAA team finished 6th and the A-10 school finished 7th. The old CUSA team finished tied for 2nd.

In the West, the old CUSA finished 1st. The WAC teams finished 2nd and 3rd. The old CUSA's finished 4th and 5th. SBC team finished 6th.

Conference Champion was from the SBC.

In basketball so far this season:
Based on rpi
2 SBC, 2 old CUSA, and 1 WAC team in the top 150.
1 A-10, 1 CAA, 2 SBC, and 1 old CUSA from 150 -300
2 old CUSA, 1 SBC, 1 WAC worse than 300 rpi.

Based on the above, I'd say that the SBC teams have done as well as or better than the older CUSA teams. In fact, an argument could be made that the old CUSA teams are pulling the conference down. Just sayin'.

We REALLY need to win our bowls!

(12-12-2015 11:45 AM)USM@FTL Wrote:  There are so many newbie programs in C-USA that the average fan doesn't care about. Promotion is the key. Starts with the students themselves showing up to give support. Apathy kills. Go to away games. Drunkenly desecrate opposing venues. Get arrested. Declare it the best night of your life. Those kind of things.

I stole a huge stack of plastic cups from the Liberty Bowel after we played Utah. Didn't remember it (drunk) and had to get an explanation of our new kitchenware the next morning.

(12-12-2015 11:11 AM)wkuhilltopperfan Wrote:  Fan support is everything, the schools that don't have it will always struggle.

No order

Marshall
UTEP
MT
La Tech
USM
WKU
ODU
UAB

These schools seem to have a solid hardcore base of fans that get it which to build off of.

My list is about half the size of yours. (heck, you included one school where the board recently shut down football due to lack of financial support).

There are four schools in the current league that are less-than-half subsidized. They are Southern Miss, La Tech, Marshall, and UTEP (though UTEP appeared to have a bit of a slip). UTSA just barely on the outside of is cusp.

When the powers that be care more for markets than competitive programs (across the board) this happens.

Seen this on another board...

11 AAC WEST (A) = 67.70 67.08 ( 11) 6 67.43 ( 11)
12 AAC EAST (A) = 67.66 66.45 ( 12) 6 67.33 ( 12)
13 MWC-MOUNTAIN (A) = 64.63 63.88 ( 13) 6 64.26 ( 13)
14 MAC-WEST (A) = 63.69 62.34 ( 14) 6 63.40 ( 14)
15 MISSOURI VALLEY (AA)= 58.70 58.02 ( 16) 10 58.68 ( 15)
16 MWC-WEST (A) = 57.51 58.10 ( 15) 6 57.72 ( 16)
17 CONFERENCE USA-EAST (A) = 56.87 57.43 ( 18) 7 57.10 ( 18)
18 MAC-EAST (A) = 56.77 57.75 ( 17) 7 57.14 ( 17)
19 SUN BELT (A) = 54.77 55.73 ( 19) 11 55.31 ( 19)
20 CONFERENCE USA-WEST (A) = 53.50

(12-12-2015 12:29 PM)WKUApollo Wrote:  

(12-12-2015 11:46 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  No offense, most of the teams we added were average or bad in the Sun Belt. Did we expect them to magically improve by joining? We loaded ourselves down with this dead weight.

Just to be clear, only WKU, MTSU, NT, FIU, and FAU came from the SBC

UTSA and LaTech came from the WAC

ODU came from the CAA

Charlotte came from the A-10.

USM, Marshall, UTEP, Rice, UAB were leftovers from CUSA.

In football:
In the East, SBC Teams finished 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. The CAA team finished 6th and the A-10 school finished 7th. The old CUSA team finished tied for 2nd.

In the West, the old CUSA finished 1st. The WAC teams finished 2nd and 3rd. The old CUSA's finished 4th and 5th. SBC team finished 6th.

Conference Champion was from the SBC.

In basketball so far this season:
Based on rpi
2 SBC, 2 old CUSA, and 1 WAC team in the top 150.
1 A-10, 1 CAA, 2 SBC, and 1 old CUSA from 150 -300
2 old CUSA, 1 SBC, 1 WAC worse than 300 rpi.

Based on the above, I'd say that the SBC teams have done as well as or better than the older CUSA teams. In fact, an argument could be made that the old CUSA teams are pulling the conference down. Just sayin'.

While it is true that LA Tech and UTSA both came from the WAC, I think it is worth noting the difference between the two schools' WAC experience. LA Tech was in the WAC for 12 years, won two WAC football titles, and a regular season mens basketball title. UTSA was in the WAC for only 1 year (2012), and it was the drastically "watered down" version of the WAC that did not include Fresno St, Boise St., Hawaii or Nevada.

Charlotte is on the verge of both the Chancellor and AD retiring. Timetable is likely about 2-3 years. I wouldn't expect anything out of that program until they get new blood. Current AD and Chancellor are in lockstep approval for mediocrity and apathy. Fan base is growing very restless.

(12-12-2015 11:26 AM)MeanGreenFan123 Wrote:  

(12-12-2015 11:11 AM)wkuhilltopperfan Wrote:  Fan support is everything, the schools that don't have it will always struggle.

No order

Marshall
UTEP
MT
La Tech
USM
WKU
ODU
UAB

These schools seem to have a solid hardcore base of fans that get it which to build off of.

Charlotte adding football is getting there

I'm not sure what you're basing this off of. If by having 16k in attendance for hosting a championship game is the qualifier, we have that too.

I'm speaking of a core base of fans, the type of fans that will be there through the muck. The schools I listed seem to have that and not just fair weather (only when we are winning fans). As for the WKU attendance smack..... We have had more people than listed all season, we under listed every game and will continue to do so until we fix our scanning system. North Texas has more problems than worrying about WKU"s attendance

Did a UNT fan really show up to talk SMACK LOL

Hell I guess it's OK to show your faces again, since football season is over. Then again it's been over for UNT, for a while.