(05-07-2018 11:16 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(05-03-2018 04:40 PM)Kayjay Wrote:  I would want my AD to be the vocal leader among the AD's pushing the conference to improve ...

Most of the stated dissatisfaction with the conference seems to less about the other schools' programs and more that they are simply schools we would rather not be associated with. It's hard to see how that point would get much traction as a rallying cry for the other members.

Twenty years ago many schools probably said the same thing about Gonzaga as a fellow conference mate. Starting in 1999 they began to become a force in College Basketball and now few would complain if Rice was competing with the Zags in a solid conference. The long-term view is that CUSA needs to have highly competitive teams. If Marshall, Southern Miss and FIU became forces in Football, La Tech, UTEP, Western Ky and Middle Tennessee became regular NCAA hoops tournament contenders while Rice, Florida Atlantic and UTSA regularly make the baseball tournament, the dynamics of CUSA change and desire to disassociate with these schools diminishes, or should diminish.

I get the desire to be in a power 5 conference and Rice AD leadership should be working hard to try to find such an affiliation, but to not be leading the charge to push CUSA forward to becoming more competitive would be a strategic mistake for the athletic director.