(03-09-2013 01:09 PM)Poliicious Wrote:  

(03-08-2013 05:40 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(03-08-2013 05:17 PM)BullsFanatic Wrote:  If we needed schools that sponsor football, and assuming Tulsa already has an invite in hand, I would have to rate them as follows:

1. Southern Miss
2. Old Dominion
3. UMass
4. Ohio
5. Marshall

I feel like my top two candidates are much stronger than any other candidate out there. If the A12/Metro can avoid defections for 5 years, I think the list of strong candidates should grow. By then, UMass football should have grown, UNC-Charlotte football should have a few seasons under its belt, teams like Middle Tennessee and UTSA will have grown in CUSA, and certain FCS schools could be good adds if they have made the move to FBS.

Why do you rate UMass ahead of UTSA.

UMass - pitiful attendance
UTSA - 35K attendance average, semi rabid fan base
UMass - small market/poor stadium
UTSA - Large market/great stadium
UMass - No recruits
UTSA - boatloads of recruits within a car trip of SA
UTSA - No competition in market other than Spurs

UMASS is playing in a 70K stadium nearly rent free for as long as they want as long as Robert Kraft owns the Patriots and I doubt he's going to be selling anytime soon. UMASS played in 3 FCS title games (78, 98 won handily over Ga Southern and 06) only a handful of current FCS programs have more finals appearances than UMASS.