He is looking for a life line out of CUSA. So Tailgas is wrong again:


"On Saturday, Upham expressed concern about the state of Conference USA and discussed the possibility of TU membership in the Mountain West or Big East.

"I don't anticipate things moving terribly quickly, and right now, it's not clear what the best course of action is," Upham said. "We want to be in a conference where our coaches have the ability to recruit five-star athletes and to be able to say we're going to play in Dallas and Houston, and we're on the big screen. That's what talented football and basketball players are looking for.

"I also want to be in a conference that we can be proud of academically. Losing two of the private schools (SMU and Tulane) in Conference USA is damaging to me, in the way I think about the conference. Whether that forces us to take an action, I can't speculate. For one thing, it's not our call. We have to have an invitation (to move from C-USA to another league)."

TU's investments in facilities, along with the Golden Hurricane's sustained football success, have positioned the university to attract the consideration of Mountain West officials. Boise State and San Diego State accepted invitations to join the Big East, but in the wake of that conference's continued unraveling, both schools reportedly may decide to stay in the Mountain West. That would make the Mountain West possibility particularly attractive for TU.

"Rumor has it that the Mountain West might take two additional members," Upham said. "The question is, would they take a Tulsa? Or would they take a media a market like Dallas or a media market like Houston? That's been our problem going forward.

"But let me say to you that we're having the necessary conversations, and people know what our intentions are and what our aspirations are. People can see what our record has been."

Six Conference USA schools - SMU, Tulane, East Carolina, Central Florida, Houston and Memphis - have accepted Big East membership invitations. But the luster of a Big East move has been dulled by decisions by Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame (all sports except for football), Louisville and Rutgers to leave the league. Recently, it was announced that seven basketball members - including Georgetown and St. John's - also are planning to split from the Big East.

If the Big East's current television contracts are nullified, membership in the Big East might be no more lucrative than membership in C-USA.

Ultimately, any movement within the Big East or Mountain West could affect TU.

"What's going to happen to the Big East?" Upham said. "Are they going to try to reform or are they done? If they try to reform, there may be opportunities in the Mountain West or the Big East. It may be that some of the schools that left Conference USA want back. I don't know."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/TU...UTLIN37122

Tulsa would be a great addition for either the MWC or the Big East (or whatever it will be called). I hope TU ends up in the Big East (or whatever it will be called) along with Southern Miss.

Does Tulsa have any interest in increasing enrollment? They would be really attractive if they can get at least 10K students.

(01-06-2013 03:46 PM)PirateMarv Wrote:  He is looking for a life line out of CUSA. So Tailgas is wrong again:


"On Saturday, Upham expressed concern about the state of Conference USA and discussed the possibility of TU membership in the Mountain West or Big East.

"I don't anticipate things moving terribly quickly, and right now, it's not clear what the best course of action is," Upham said. "We want to be in a conference where our coaches have the ability to recruit five-star athletes and to be able to say we're going to play in Dallas and Houston, and we're on the big screen. That's what talented football and basketball players are looking for.

"I also want to be in a conference that we can be proud of academically. Losing two of the private schools (SMU and Tulane) in Conference USA is damaging to me, in the way I think about the conference. Whether that forces us to take an action, I can't speculate. For one thing, it's not our call. We have to have an invitation (to move from C-USA to another league)."

TU's investments in facilities, along with the Golden Hurricane's sustained football success, have positioned the university to attract the consideration of Mountain West officials. Boise State and San Diego State accepted invitations to join the Big East, but in the wake of that conference's continued unraveling, both schools reportedly may decide to stay in the Mountain West. That would make the Mountain West possibility particularly attractive for TU.

"Rumor has it that the Mountain West might take two additional members," Upham said. "The question is, would they take a Tulsa? Or would they take a media a market like Dallas or a media market like Houston? That's been our problem going forward.

"But let me say to you that we're having the necessary conversations, and people know what our intentions are and what our aspirations are. People can see what our record has been."

Six Conference USA schools - SMU, Tulane, East Carolina, Central Florida, Houston and Memphis - have accepted Big East membership invitations. But the luster of a Big East move has been dulled by decisions by Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame (all sports except for football), Louisville and Rutgers to leave the league. Recently, it was announced that seven basketball members - including Georgetown and St. John's - also are planning to split from the Big East.

If the Big East's current television contracts are nullified, membership in the Big East might be no more lucrative than membership in C-USA.

Ultimately, any movement within the Big East or Mountain West could affect TU.

"What's going to happen to the Big East?" Upham said. "Are they going to try to reform or are they done? If they try to reform, there may be opportunities in the Mountain West or the Big East. It may be that some of the schools that left Conference USA want back. I don't know."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/TU...UTLIN37122

I am sorry to hear him say this, but not surprised. Certainly things are moving too fast, but that is the hand you are dealt and you must play with it. Clearly he is interested in what is best for his school, and his candor is appreciated, if not the best move he could make, but I think he might not be adding in a major problem his school has to deal with and that is the investigation that is being done on them. I was at USM when we were being investigated and was at the Union the day the penalities were announced. A few days afterwards, I was drinking coffee in the Union with then head football coach Jim Carmody (real jerk of a guy, but at least he seemed to enjoy drinking coffee with me ever so often), and he scolded me for saying that I thought we wouldn't be too hurt by the probation. He said it would take more than 5 years to get back to where we were, and it would hurt recruiting and fund raising. True enough, it did hurt us and I am not sure we have advanced that much in fund raising. Sure we have had a lot of success since 82, but the ones of us who were close enough to the program and caliber of athlete we got then, can tell it was a good while before we got back to that level. If this president doesn't think the NCAA won't hit him hard, he better think again, because a lot of what USM got hit with was due in part to the bigger schools in the area wanting to clip our wings a bit, and they did.

I've seen tulsa's apr numbers. He does not need to bring up academics

PirateMarv is cute when he is mad. I feel sorry for ECU fans, they wanted in Big East for years and felt their program and attendance deserved it. I am in agreement with that presumption. However, BE thought otherwise. In fact, ECU was one of the last invited. Now that ECU is in Big East, it is crap. ECU can't seem to win for losing. That' life.

You can take TU Prez statement and give it to every college Prez, some optimism, some hope, some stating of positives of current situation. Yahn...

TU to Nbe is a lateral transfer accompanied with a truckload of instability.

The grass is always greener....

(01-06-2013 04:32 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  The grass is always greener....

That is what TU thought with the WAC invite...

SDSU will go back to the MWC in my opinion...that leaves the Big East with:

Cincy
UConn
East Carolina (football only)
Houston
Memphis
Navy (football only/2015)
SMU
Temple
Tulane
UCF
USF

1) offer ECU and Navy all-sports membership...but tell them if they want to be football only, that's fine too.

2) invite Tulsa for all-sports...if Navy backs out, invite Southern Miss.

(01-06-2013 04:32 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  The grass is always greener....

After the Big 5 made their moves most everything else has been getting survival numbers or placating fans who want change, any change, or at least being able to say we out did out neighbor by moving.

(01-06-2013 04:32 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  The grass is always greener....

But its still just grass.

Maybe we should just go ahead and hire Tallgrass as our AD... he would cut costs and save TU a lot of money by moving us down to D-II so we can play in the Lone Star Conference with institutions Tallgrass thinks are our equals - like northeastern state and the university of central Oklahoma. That way we can cut down on travel costs and just not even have to worry about that whole mess with the TV deals (who wants the headache of setting up so many cameras for such a "piss ant" school anyway right??). Then we can probably go ahead and change our name to something he decides is best for the university... something native or local to Oklahoma - maybe the opossums, catfish, deer or fatasses. That way the rest of the state will go ahead and embrace our new culture.

Yep... we'd be way better off with Tallgrass calling the shots for TU's athletic department!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seriously though... his disdain for an institution he claims to be a fan of is ridiculous. About as ridiculous as this post.

panicstricken has a mancrush on Tallgrass.

(01-06-2013 04:47 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(01-06-2013 04:32 PM)nastybunch Wrote:  The grass is always greener....

After the Big 5 made their moves most everything else has been getting survival numbers or placating fans who want change, any change, or at least being able to say we out did out neighbor by moving.

It is the story of mankind. And this is what Nbe has devolved into.

Congrats to ECU administrators who have not given formal notice of withdrawl from CUSA thus giving additional time to see if Nbe falls apart. Smart move, very smart.

(01-06-2013 05:02 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  Congrats to ECU administrators who have not given formal notice of withdrawl from CUSA thus giving additional time to see if Nbe falls apart. Smart move, very smart.

nope......that's not what our administrators are doing. nice troll effort though sir.

BTW, that article and the quotes from the TU prez are from the weekend of the CUSA championship game. I don't think his thoughts have changed any, he is still looking for the best place to position The University for the future. As I said in another thread I think TU would be happy to move to either the MWC or the BE but it would have to be an all-sports offer. Whether either destination would be a positive or negative move won't be known for several years.

(01-06-2013 04:32 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  However, BE thought otherwise. In fact, ECU was one of the last invited. Now that ECU is in Big East, it is crap.

This craps less stinky than the crap you are left in.

Quote:TU to Nbe is a lateral transfer accompanied with a truckload of instability.

Sure it is. That's why your pres wants out.

(01-06-2013 05:40 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  This craps less stinky than the crap you are left in.

in the beginning, there was . . .
"prestige! nirvana! we get the AQ and a gazillion dollars in magic TV money"

today, it is reduced to . . .
"our suck sucks slightly less than your suck".

. . . and even that isn't really convincing any more.

(01-06-2013 05:02 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  Congrats to ECU administrators who have not given formal notice of withdrawl from CUSA thus giving additional time to see if Nbe falls apart. Smart move, very smart.

Congrats on your doc trying to adjust your meds, but it seems a little premature.