http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/ma...user-share

Quote:So, how is scheduling going to change that? The most radical difference will be that when the conference schedule is released, built in will be dates for games, but with opponents to be determined. Those dates will be filled with league opponents after the conference seeds the teams following the first 14 games.

"We're going to play 13 games and your travel partner twice, which would be Western Kentucky for us," said D'Antoni. "Then they are going to seed the schools. If you finish in the top five, No. 1 through No. 5 will play each other for the next four games to get 18 games.

"Like, if you're No. 1 you will play No. 4. And you'll play, I think, No. 4 and No. 3 at home and then travel to No. 2. ... There are four games in that five-team slot. No. 1 will play No. 5 and No. 4, I think. And No. 2 and No. 3 will come to No. 1.

"Then, if you're No. 2 you will play No. 4. It just reverses all the way down until you get everybody in that top group playing each other once. That will give you 18 games."

"And then No. 6 through No. 10 will do the same type of thing. They can't fall out of six through 10. And then No. 11 through 14 play and the same thing goes there. They can't get any higher than No. 11 and, obviously, no lower than No. 14."

CUSA 3.0 seedings?
‘15 - (14) Birmingham
‘16 - (15) Middle Tennessee
‘17 - (12) Middle Tennessee
‘18 - (13) Marshall

But they’re 4-0. Middle Tennessee stunned a national championship favorite Michigan State in 2016 before demolishing Little Pitino the year after.

CUSA has some teams with rich mid-major history...Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Birmingham, Charlotte, Old Dominion, El Paso, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Marshall. But quite a few anchors.

IRRESPONSIBLE SPECULATION TIME! So CUSA totes needs a #5 to even out the pods, and they can't fit another football team in. So who?

VCU would hang up the phone, but they're laughing so hard it drops on the floor (it's an old-school phone with a cord).
Florida Gulf Coast?
Davidson?
Murray State?
GO!

(05-28-2018 07:11 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  IRRESPONSIBLE SPECULATION TIME! So CUSA totes needs a #5 to even out the pods, and they can't fit another football team in. So who?

VCU would hang up the phone, but they're laughing so hard it drops on the floor (it's an old-school phone with a cord).
Florida Gulf Coast?
Davidson?
Murray State?
GO!

Georgia State 1st choice. They would need a waiver to set up pods for Football.

I'm not sure C-USA wants a BB only.

No, UMass is the target. Give them a shot at a good conference schedule they think they lose if leaving A10. NMSU probably makes the conference better with hoops, but logistics and UTEP will stop that one.

This may open the door for Madison...ODU will push hard, I’m sure.

Would applaud Belmont, though.

(05-28-2018 09:22 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  No, UMass is the target. Give them a shot at a good conference schedule they think they lose if leaving A10. NMSU probably makes the conference better with hoops, but logistics and UTEP will stop that one.

This may open the door for Madison...ODU will push hard, I’m sure.

Would applaud Belmont, though.

Look at a map.

Ok, I get the jist of what they are trying to do for RPI purposes, but to give the top teams guaranteed losses seem like it would be counter productive.

FGCU would be a great fit if C-USA would take a non-football member. That’s a well-located school on top for its recent basketball success: a fast growing affluent market that’s currently underserved with sports spectator options. I’m very bullish on FGCU long-term.

I don’t see anyone from the A-10 (e.g. Davidson, UMass) going there, though. If UMass doesn’t want to go to the MAC as an all-sports member, C-USA isn’t enough of a basketball upgrade to leave the A-10 (where they have a lot of regional rivalries), either.

They don't need a 15th member for this. #11-14 would just each play an extra game against another within that group (e.g., 11 plays 12 twice, 13 plays 14 twice).

(05-28-2018 10:38 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  FGCU would be a great fit if C-USA would take a non-football member. That’s a well-located school on top for its recent basketball success: a fast growing affluent market that’s currently underserved with sports spectator options. I’m very bullish on FGCU long-term.

I don’t see anyone from the A-10 (e.g. Davidson, UMass) going there, though. If UMass doesn’t want to go to the MAC as an all-sports member, C-USA isn’t enough of a basketball upgrade to leave the A-10 (where they have a lot of regional rivalries), either.

Not a bad choice if you needed a olympic sports member.

(05-28-2018 10:42 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  They don't need a 15th member for this. #11-14 would just each play an extra game against another within that group (e.g., 11 plays 12 twice, 13 plays 14 twice).

This. Its no difference than scheduling the last 4 games in any given year. All your doing is stopping with 4 games left and recalibrating the schedule so the top 5 play one another more and eliminating any games the top 5 might play against the basement of the conference.

Sun Belt is heading to this system as well. Looks like it won't start till 2019-2020 though.

(05-28-2018 07:11 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  IRRESPONSIBLE SPECULATION TIME! So CUSA totes needs a #5 to even out the pods, and they can't fit another football team in. So who?

VCU would hang up the phone, but they're laughing so hard it drops on the floor (it's an old-school phone with a cord).
Florida Gulf Coast?
Davidson?
Murray State?
GO!

Why take Davidson when they already have a school in Charlotte?

I'll go wildcard and say Liberty buys their way in for everything but FB.

(05-28-2018 04:01 PM)spenser Wrote:  I'll go wildcard and say Liberty buys their way in for everything but FB.

Liberty is going D-1 in FB...they could do all sports

I see no reason why C-USA should expand. We can manage this new scheduling with our current 14 program line-up.

The only thing C-USA basketball needs to focus on right now is scheduling better OOC games. Everything else will take care of itself.

If they go with 2 non-football schools? Grab Grand Canyon U. for the west and grab FGCU or North Florida. Any of those three schools will not bring football at all. It would be a headache.

(05-28-2018 06:17 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  If they go with 2 non-football schools? Grab Grand Canyon U. for the west and grab FGCU or North Florida. Any of those three schools will not bring football at all. It would be a headache.

Why? People have been complaining for years that CUSA is spread too far and you want to stretch it even more by going to Phoenix. Please don't ever apply for a conference commissioner position.

I guess a question for me- if travel partners- who would play 2x anyways- if they are in the top 5 together- would they just play each other a 3rd time then?

(05-28-2018 06:17 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  If they go with 2 non-football schools? Grab Grand Canyon U. for the west and grab FGCU or North Florida. Any of those three schools will not bring football at all. It would be a headache.

Wouldn't you want a school to actually do something first? And then sustain it?

(05-29-2018 12:32 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I guess a question for me- if travel partners- who would play 2x anyways- if they are in the top 5 together- would they just play each other a 3rd time then?

I suppose so. Honestly, given the choice between playing a good team three times in the regular season or an average-to-poor one twice, it's an easy decision. But even so, there's only the one team on your schedule where that would be an issue. Basically, you're trading the other four home-and-homes established in the offseason for four home-and-homes with teams roughly as good as you.