*Dear eldermars, here are my thoughts in return
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my thoughts...
if you add Notre Dame I will immediately respect your conference. Right now I don't. I don't think that you are as good as the MWC, let alone the Pac-10. You are currently a far cry from that. But Notre Dame has already started to deliberate for their own bowl spots, regardless of the nBE. If you split, they will stay with the basketball schools. They now get yearly BCS money and an auto-bid given certain circumstances. ND will stay Independent for a long, long time, but if they ever do join a conference it will be the Big Ten, which would then become the Dirty Dozen (for lack of a better name).
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I'm not asking for your respect. The BE is a much more solid conference than the MWC. IMO, the MWC only has 2 teams of consequence: BYU which has some tradition, and Utah which plays some good football.
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If you add Penn State, that brings a lot of prestige to your conference. I believe their football team would improve with you and be much better than they are now (they would actually have a shot at being nationally ranked). The problem is that they like the Big XI because of their high academic standards and research-based institutions, and also because they are such a good and nationally respected football conference. Penn State SHOULD come back after Paterno retires/dies, but they won't. They would be better off in a 9 or 10 team Big East (minus South Florida), but PSU is a proud school. They are too arrogant to come back.
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Why should we be concerned with Penn State doing better?
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Maryland belongs with you all, because that's where they are, as far as you can get in the north and the east. They belong, but who with a right mind leaves the SEC? Even if you are at the permanent bottom of the conference. And Maryland is. In football, they suck. Or as polite newscasters say after they get beat 10-27, "Maryland may not move the ball much, or get into too many scoring opportunities, but at least they are a good defensive team." That means their offense always scores less than the opposing one. Still, getting the Terpins would be a statement that the nation would see. Any of these 3 would.
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Maryland belongs in the acc because that's where they are.
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Meanwhile, back in the real world...
Memphis is your best opportunity. They are good in football, they are great in basketball, they have a lot of fans and good attendence, and they fit right in with the expansion footprint. You should add them the first season you get a chance.
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I like Memphis. However, I do question that you are really a BYU fan.
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Navy would also be a good add. Navy is a very respectable school, has lots of fans nation-wide, and runs very clean programs.
Army would be terrible, they would be the new Temple minus some. Why do you think only Air Force plays in the MWC? They were the only good school for a long time. Now Navy is good as well. Army is not. Adding one does not mean that you must add both. Army was in a conference by themselves for long enough that there is no way they could complain. Let them play each other regardless, but do not take Army in yourselves. It would be a big mistake.
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Navy will be terrible this year, but I still like them. Army is far better than Temple in terms of national appeal and attendance. The MWC took Air Force because, frankly, they're one of the few teams that could give it national appeal, and they're also better than most of your schools, both academically and athletically.
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Also, if you EVER add ECU or UCF, I will LMAO. They are terrible. They are Buffalo in my eyes. They are Maine in the eyes of the nation. If you are dead set as a conference on going the Florida route, to appease stinky USF, I predict that Florida Atlantic will soon prove to be much better... but they will still only have about 15,000 fans per game.
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Again, I question your origin.
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Lastly, Marshall/Southern Miss/Miami(OH)/Bowling Green/UAB/Northern Ill./Toledo/Troy/North Texas are all decent football schools and would all do fairly well on the field in your conference (though perhaps not top half),
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All of them would be top half in the MWC.
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but each has varying basketball levels, attendence issues, or non-proximity to your geographic "stamp" of the nation. Marshall, Miami Ohio, Bowling Green, and Toledo are your four best bets here, but all must expand their stadiums and expand their attendence. You would be able to help them out. Re-create them if you will, accept them in and then "expand from the inside out".
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Getting a little incoherent here, friend.
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As the old knight tells Indiana Jones concerning his choice of Holy Grail- "Choose Wisely".
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As the old guy responding to this post tells eldermars, "Who do you think you're fooling?"
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Good luck.
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[COLOR=purple]
Have one while the garments are washing.
/
If PSU,Maryland, or ND don't come soon
