(01-03-2018 01:57 PM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 12:27 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I would like to see App State, Marshall, and Georgia Southern back in the same conference again. This would bring in huge crowds at all three schools for those games. It would mean each year you could have one at home and one away. This would help yearly attendance averages bump up too.

Agree

It's very unlikely they'd all be in the same division, though. Ga. Southern would be in a South division, Marshall in a North, and App could go either way depending on which other schools are in the league. So there would not likely be an annual round robin among those three.

(01-03-2018 02:23 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 01:57 PM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 12:27 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I would like to see App State, Marshall, and Georgia Southern back in the same conference again. This would bring in huge crowds at all three schools for those games. It would mean each year you could have one at home and one away. This would help yearly attendance averages bump up too.

Agree

It's very unlikely they'd all be in the same division, though. Ga. Southern would be in a South division, Marshall in a North, and App could go either way depending on which other schools are in the league. So there would not likely be an annual round robin among those three.

Depends, could be a East/West alignment. Then they definitely would.

Something like this?

ODU, Marshall, App, GS, FAU, FIU
MTSU, WKU, Troy, UAB, USM, USA

The problem is that its not very practical. WKU and MTSU would be far closer for us than teams in our own division. I think IF it ever happens, you'll see VA, WV, KY, NC, and TN in one division and GA, SC, AL, and FL in the other. The other conference would have TX and LaTech in one division, and the rest of LA, AR, MS, and AL in the other

(01-03-2018 12:45 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 12:52 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(01-02-2018 09:15 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(01-02-2018 06:46 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-31-2017 04:43 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  *I like UTEP for their basketball history, but considering their lone addition would double the spread of the conference and increase travel for all the other sports, it just doesn't seem worth it.

*Texas State would only add a mouth to feed. They are a mess. My idea behind this conference was to bring together the G5 programs that were actually in the SWC and add regional programs that are winning and showing real commitment to continue winning. Programs that are not winning would only bring a mouth to feed. I'd like it to be a conference where every program is committed to elevating their athletics. I think that is how a conference gets stronger.

*Tulsa has historically been able to field competitive teams, but the problem is they are small with limited growth potential and I don't see two other programs worth adding with them to get the conference to 12.

Like I said right now these 9 regional programs appear to be headed in a common direction with respect to success and growth. If these teams were an actual conference their combined record would have been 61-50 this season, and that's with Rice's 1-11 season. That would be the best over record of any G5 this season. If there were an airport meeting, this group would made sense.

But, like I said, I'm very happy in C-USA. This is just an off-season hypothetical discussion.

With all due respect, so what if Texas St is another mouth to feed? These configurations are about ticket sales and cheap travel costs--not TV. The only way the AAC schools would consider it is if TV isnt a factor. The best visiting crowd Ive seen in the last 5 years was Texas St. Look---Texas St football is going to be a successful eventually--its just a matter of getting the right administration and coach. They are spending the money and have quality facilities.

I see Texas St as the 4th largest student body in Texas. They are a traditional college town (not a commuter school), they are located less than an hour from a pair of major cities, they are located within easy driving distance of every Texas school, and they have a really marketable name. They probably have the most potential of all the CUSA/Sunbelt schools in Texas.

Honestly, any G5 SWC probably should have all the Texas G5's except UTEP (just too dang far) and Arky St. Sprinkle in Memphis, S Miss, LaTech, and ULL and you may not have a super conference--but you have a ton of potential rivalries with lots of alums rubbing shoulder along with easy cheap travel. lol...those schools will all absolutely hate each other within 3 or 4 years.

Strangely Srky St fans think they would not like that configuration--but the truth is that would be the best confernece they have ever been in and, frankly, its the same configuration that the Razorback enjoyed their most successful years. No reason Arky St wouldnt excel in a similar configuration.

I'm a North Texas fan. I know exactly how long it can take to get the right administration and coach. Texas State is a mess right now, and have been down for 3 straight years. From what I have heard, they are close to maxing out their student fee, so I have doubts about their financial situation when it comes to their ability to buy their way out of some bad coaches. I think they are in a bad geographical situation. I think they are too close to UT, which owns the Austin market (& and a big part of Texas), and UTSA, which is the only game in San Antonio. At best, they have the weakest claim to a percentage of either market. With two large public universities setting in the markets they need, they will probably struggle for relevance among those markets. Also, they had some sad attendance numbers this season. Their facilities are nice. I will give you that. Nothing against Texas State, I just have doubts about their future.

I have not heard any Arkansas State fans complaining about this line-up. I know some had bemoaned that they were building for a big AAC invitation, but I bet they would find this configuration agreeable, if every G5 were to take a similar hair cut to the one C-USA got.

I don't see a 12 team combo that would make the conference work. 9 is a good number. 10 at the most, for championship game purposes. But if that were the case, I'd prefer Tulsa over Texas State to my original line-up.

My eyes glaze over when people start doing lists. From an AState perspective give us affiliation with USM and at least one Alabama team and we are probably happy though coaches would want a Georgia team doubt AD or chancellor would consider a Georgia team a deal breaker.
Chancellor would jump on a Texas heavy league because Texas is a serious exporter of college students. Athletics would be less enthusiastic because the rise of football has coincided with reducing recruiting in Texas and increasing Alabama and Georgia.
We know who wins when the AD and chancellor disagree and in this case the chancellor picked up his degrees in Texas and was a Oklahoma’s faculty athletic representative. He’s going to favor aligning with Texas schools.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No Alabama team in this model, but you would get Memphis, which is only about 70 miles away from Jonesboro. I'd think that would be enough to satisfy the A-State crowd.

Just skimmed, but assume this is the apocalyptic scenario. Might not be bad if it's a football association, but most likely wouldn't have enough support for all sports. Can't tell from the current state of the program, but Tiger bball is a money maker when decent. Have to think that'd be a big consideration if the AAC becomes defunct.

(01-03-2018 05:53 PM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  Just skimmed, but assume this is the apocalyptic scenario. Might not be bad if it's a football association, but most likely wouldn't have enough support for all sports. Can't tell from the current state of the program, but Tiger bball is a money maker when decent. Have to think that'd be a big consideration if the AAC becomes defunct.

Tiger hoops is a serious cash cow when not in a funk.

I've got some cousins in Memphis who are Hog fans first and foremost but they support Tiger basketball.

FIU
FAU
Georgia Southern
Appy State
Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU
Charlotte

UAB
USM
La Tech
ULaLa
Arky State
Rice
UNT
UTSA
UTEP

If you could get to this with its own 4-team playoff:

Appy State
Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU
Charlotte

FIU
FAU
Georgia Southern
UAB
USM
La Tech

ULaLa
Arky State
Rice
UNT
UTSA
UTEP

THAT would generate some excitement.

The core problem of basing a new conference out of CUSA West is the orientations of UTEP (western), UNT (texas) and USM (southern) are all very different.

In CUSA East ODU, Charlotte, FAU, FIU all have had programs for less than 15 years and are located in metro areas of the Southeast.

If they could go regional in an 8 team configuration I could see how it could be attractive.

Old Dominion
Charlotte
Appalachian St.
Coastal Carolina
Georgia St.
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
Florida Int.

I could see synergy with something like this in place.

(01-04-2018 12:45 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  The core problem of basing a new conference out of CUSA West is the orientations of UTEP (western), UNT (texas) and USM (southern) are all very different.

In CUSA East ODU, Charlotte, FAU, FIU all have had programs for less than 15 years and are located in metro areas of the Southeast.

If they could go regional in an 8 team configuration I could see how it could be attractive.

Old Dominion
Charlotte
Appalachian St.
Coastal Carolina
Georgia St.
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
Florida Int.

I could see synergy with something like this in place.

Rather stay in the Sun Belt 100 times over than go to that as a conference.

ODU and Charlotte are both easy enough to schedule OOC games with. No need to lose Troy and Ark State for those two. App fans also would rather the team play USA and UL, than FAU and FIU, too. Only way you'd get the majority of App fans to be okay with the conference listed above would be to add Marshall and one of WKU/MTSU.

(01-04-2018 11:11 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 12:45 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  The core problem of basing a new conference out of CUSA West is the orientations of UTEP (western), UNT (texas) and USM (southern) are all very different.

In CUSA East ODU, Charlotte, FAU, FIU all have had programs for less than 15 years and are located in metro areas of the Southeast.

If they could go regional in an 8 team configuration I could see how it could be attractive.

Old Dominion
Charlotte
Appalachian St.
Coastal Carolina
Georgia St.
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
Florida Int.

I could see synergy with something like this in place.

Rather stay in the Sun Belt 100 times over than go to that as a conference.

ODU and Charlotte are both easy enough to schedule OOC games with. No need to lose Troy and Ark State for those two. App fans also would rather the team play USA and UL, than FAU and FIU, too. Only way you'd get the majority of App fans to be okay with the conference listed above would be to add Marshall and one of WKU/MTSU.

You would want all three of us. Not only would it enhance football, but basketball as well. That, and I think MTSU and WKU would stick together.

(01-04-2018 02:00 PM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 11:11 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 12:45 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  The core problem of basing a new conference out of CUSA West is the orientations of UTEP (western), UNT (texas) and USM (southern) are all very different.

In CUSA East ODU, Charlotte, FAU, FIU all have had programs for less than 15 years and are located in metro areas of the Southeast.

If they could go regional in an 8 team configuration I could see how it could be attractive.

Old Dominion
Charlotte
Appalachian St.
Coastal Carolina
Georgia St.
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
Florida Int.

I could see synergy with something like this in place.

Rather stay in the Sun Belt 100 times over than go to that as a conference.

ODU and Charlotte are both easy enough to schedule OOC games with. No need to lose Troy and Ark State for those two. App fans also would rather the team play USA and UL, than FAU and FIU, too. Only way you'd get the majority of App fans to be okay with the conference listed above would be to add Marshall and one of WKU/MTSU.

You would want all three of us. Not only would it enhance football, but basketball as well. That, and I think MTSU and WKU would stick together.

Yep. WKU/MTSU are almost tied at the hip as much as App/GaSo. Those four plus Marshall should should be in the same conference. Full stop.

(01-04-2018 02:45 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 02:00 PM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 11:11 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(01-04-2018 12:45 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  The core problem of basing a new conference out of CUSA West is the orientations of UTEP (western), UNT (texas) and USM (southern) are all very different.

In CUSA East ODU, Charlotte, FAU, FIU all have had programs for less than 15 years and are located in metro areas of the Southeast.

If they could go regional in an 8 team configuration I could see how it could be attractive.

Old Dominion
Charlotte
Appalachian St.
Coastal Carolina
Georgia St.
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
Florida Int.

I could see synergy with something like this in place.

Rather stay in the Sun Belt 100 times over than go to that as a conference.

ODU and Charlotte are both easy enough to schedule OOC games with. No need to lose Troy and Ark State for those two. App fans also would rather the team play USA and UL, than FAU and FIU, too. Only way you'd get the majority of App fans to be okay with the conference listed above would be to add Marshall and one of WKU/MTSU.

You would want all three of us. Not only would it enhance football, but basketball as well. That, and I think MTSU and WKU would stick together.

Yep. WKU/MTSU are almost tied at the hip as much as App/GaSo. Those four plus Marshall should should be in the same conference. Full stop.

Agree 100%

East:
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
WKU
App
Georgia Southern

West:
Georgia State
FAU
UAB
Troy
USM
Arkansas State

A conference like that could surpass the MWC

(01-04-2018 04:19 PM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  East:
Marshall
ODU
MTSU
WKU
App
Georgia Southern

West:
Georgia State
FAU
UAB
Troy
USM
Arkansas State

A conference like that would surpass the MWC

Fixed

I like a conference of:

Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU
Charlotte
App St
GA St
GA Southern
FIU
FAU

You guys need to think simpler. You need six teams that have been together for seven years (I think, I might have those numbers wrong) in order to keep the automatic post-season bid.

So the East division teams are going to need to stay together. They split in 2021 and add App State, Georgia Southern and one of Coastal Carolina, Georgia State or James Madison.

(01-05-2018 04:31 PM)zibby Wrote:  You guys need to think simpler. You need six teams that have been together for seven years (I think, I might have those numbers wrong) in order to keep the automatic post-season bid.

So the East division teams are going to need to stay together. They split in 2021 and add App State, Georgia Southern and one of Coastal Carolina, Georgia State or James Madison.

Exactly, and that's why my proposals use C-USA East as its core. My preferred adds would be the two Georgia schools and Appalachian St for a nice compact 10 team league.

If ODU has to have JMU then I think you go to 12 with the last spot going to UAB if they want it or, gasp Liberty. I think they have more upside than Coastal Carolina and it avoids having the stigma of having two FCS schools the way Delaware would be. Troy is about the only other option.

(01-05-2018 04:31 PM)zibby Wrote:  You guys need to think simpler. You need six teams that have been together for seven years (I think, I might have those numbers wrong) in order to keep the automatic post-season bid.

That’s no longer an option, as the continuity rules were dropped to save the WAC. The new Big East was given a pass since the split was setup under the old rules, and probably more importantly, the original Big East was consistently pulling down multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament.

There’s nothing stopping 8 existing FBS teams from joining another conference.

(01-06-2018 01:48 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  

(01-05-2018 04:31 PM)zibby Wrote:  You guys need to think simpler. You need six teams that have been together for seven years (I think, I might have those numbers wrong) in order to keep the automatic post-season bid.

That’s no longer an option, as the continuity rules were dropped to save the WAC. The new Big East was given a pass since the split was setup under the old rules, and probably more importantly, the original Big East was consistently pulling down multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament.

There’s nothing stopping 8 existing FBS teams from joining another conference.

This is the right realignment with a better geographic fit for each conference with the ability for divisional team's fans to actually travel to games, and the creation of natural rivalries while controlling travel costs and increasing attendance, thereby making each conference better.

Sun Belt (Western based conference) - change name to SWC

East Division

Louisiana Tech
Arkansas State
UAB
Louisiana
S. Miss
USA

West Division

UTEP
NMSU
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
N. Texas


CUSA - (Eastern based conference)

North Division

Marshall
ODU
Charlotte
App State
WKU
MTSU


South Division

GA State
GA Southern
Coastal Carolina
FIU
FAU
Troy

(12-31-2017 10:01 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  The reason this will never happen is because CUSA and the Belt would have to agree on the teams. Both new conferences must be a 12-12 split with equal TV money and an NCAA autobid while being aligned geographically.... Thats a tall order.

Schools are free to go anywhere they please as long as they can dish out the exit and entrance fees.