I see some people continue to suggest that AAC even thinking towards inviting UAB and/or FAU are doing it out of the desire to take markets. But UAB and FAU also bring good results on the field.

Regardless, we still do not know who will be invited by AAC and who will accept, although any C-USA program invited by AAC will agree immediately and would be stupid not to.

Sour grapes isn’t really what I see here. UAB and FAU do not have long standing histories of winning. It is what it is. Sure you’ve been pulling your weight but this conference is extremely watered down. I see potential but I think potential ruins conferences. Liberty is similar but their abundance of cash really levels the fear. The have always been middle of the pack at every level with recent success. Worst case scenario you get a middle of the road team with tons of money that can make small shots at really high levels of success. The difference between those schools and Liberty is the money.

(09-17-2021 10:53 AM)Ewglenn Wrote:  Sour grapes isn’t really what I see here. UAB and FAU do not have long standing histories of winning. It is what it is. Sure you’ve been pulling your weight but this conference is extremely watered down. I see potential but I think potential ruins conferences. Liberty is similar but their abundance of cash really levels the fear. The have always been middle of the pack at every level with recent success. Worst case scenario you get a middle of the road team with tons of money that can make small shots at really high levels of success. The difference between those schools and Liberty is the money.

I do not know about UAB but FAU has been investing a lot of money into athletic and facilities.

(09-17-2021 09:44 AM)MUther Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 09:33 AM)Ragu Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 09:29 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 07:05 AM)Ragu Wrote:  Marshall would go to the AAC in a second.

Also if they do take UAB and FAU, that's the 2 teams who have combined for the last 4 conference titles. Those aren't just market adds.

We don't even know the fourth team either if utsa is the third. How do you know it's ODU? Could very well be la tech or marshall for all you know.

And that's if anyone but UAB goes. I think they are the only sure thing from cusa to the aac. Could take Rice and UAB and stop for all we know

You didn't even include UAB which is just trying to enhance your biased post. They are the first cusa team to go. And the rumors have ODU tied to marshal ..

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This is what I've never understood about realignments and the decisions they make. Just focusing on simply the last couple of years is as short sided as only focusing on markets. Wouldn't sustained commitment and performance be a more meaningful measuring stick than who has won the league the last couple of years??

Which is why I find UAB's candidacy in any move interesting. Not a knock. I really appreciate and enjoy being in a league with UAB. And while I get the facility upgrades help, the reality is prior to 2017 UAB had three winning seasons in 20 years. Once Clark moves on, they are one bad hire away from dumpster fire again. Just look at MT basketball as an example about what a bad hire can do.

Any G5 is one bad hire from being a dumpster fire. It's very volatile. But to act like UAB and FAU aren't trending up is ignorant. Both have been pumping a lot of money into football with facilities and other things and showing commitment

I've already said if we and UAB go to the AAC I'd be pulling for teams like Marshall, Louisiana tech or utsa to get in. North Texas wouldn't be bad too. These schools aren't just about market despite some branding them that way on here. We are competing and winning too

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Don't take this the wrong way, but you haven't won dick since Kiffen left. Let's see what happens in a full season without him before we anoint thee.

Don't take this the wrong way...but Marshall hasn't done jack crap in a depressed C-USA. You should have been feasting and collecting championship trophies, but you didn't, you collected a trophy. And to be fair Huff hasn't done crap yet, he beat the worse Navy team in 20 years and an FCS team. Long season and we don't know if Huff is that "one bad hire away" yet. Time will tell.

UAB has had a few good years but most of us remember them as a terrible program for DECADES. I don’t care one bit if we lose UAB as they are just winning at the right time. They will be back to mediocre (at best) in no time.... FAU is a program I would miss. Not only trending up but they have actual long term potential and didn’t suck for decades without trying.

UTSA has potential and the most potential out of the Texas teams. If we were going to be with a Texas team I would choose them.... but I don’t want to be in a conference with any G5 Texas teams based on geography alone.

(09-17-2021 10:25 AM)rileylives Wrote:  Here would be my ideal setup. Let's say UAB and FAU join the American, now is your chance to tighten up these conferences.

Make the Sun Belt the "new" Southwest conference, it would be Sun Belt in name only, with a base in the south central.

New Sun Belt:
UTEP
UTSA
Rice
UNT
Texas State
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Monroe
Southern Miss
Troy
stAte
USA

New CUSA:
Marshall
WKU
MTSU
Charlotte
ODU
FIU
Liberty
JMU
App State
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Coastal Carolina

That makes to much sense… so it would never happen

(09-17-2021 10:25 AM)rileylives Wrote:  Here would be my ideal setup. Let's say UAB and FAU join the American, now is your chance to tighten up these conferences.

Make the Sun Belt the "new" Southwest conference, it would be Sun Belt in name only, with a base in the south central.

New Sun Belt:
UTEP
UTSA
Rice
UNT
Texas State
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Monroe
Southern Miss
Troy
stAte
USA

New CUSA:
Marshall
WKU
MTSU
Charlotte
ODU
FIU
Liberty
JMU
App State
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Coastal Carolina

Liberty would be in for this. I think Liberty would join any combination of Sun Belt/Conference USA but it's gotta have at least 2 or 3 of Marshall, App. State, Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, Charlotte....having JMU or Old Dominion works as well since they are local. Especially Coastal and App. State, as Liberty has history with both.

"Hey there Mr. AAC Man! Come over here and check out my sexy market! Look at these twins here! My enrollment growth on the right and my research status on the left. And just wait till you see my round potential!"

As for the question in the OP. There’s no reason for us to join the SBC when we can just poach the top SBC programs. They would join too. More money and can play on Saturdays. Louisiana would leave to join La Tech and separate from ULM. That’s what would start it all. App St and Coastal would leave to have more regional opponents. Ga St would leave to be with more like minded institutions and better basketball. Ga So would leave to stay with App and to join Marshall.

If we lose teams we will just take the top teams from the SBC. To say otherwise is just as silly as the AAC teams thinking they would poach the Big 12.

(09-17-2021 10:53 AM)Ewglenn Wrote:  Sour grapes isn’t really what I see here. UAB and FAU do not have long standing histories of winning. It is what it is. Sure you’ve been pulling your weight but this conference is extremely watered down. I see potential but I think potential ruins conferences. Liberty is similar but their abundance of cash really levels the fear. The have always been middle of the pack at every level with recent success. Worst case scenario you get a middle of the road team with tons of money that can make small shots at really high levels of success. The difference between those schools and Liberty is the money.

This goes to potential. Which I don't really believe in, but it is what it is. So how much more can Marshall or any school with "history" do? What is their upside? Have they peaked? Or are they just sitting in the weeds ready to bloom and go to a new level? I personally think with the investment we have done in football (which it really doesn't seem like people are aware of, which is ok), the investment in athletics that have been happening for several years ($4.25 million in donations in the last month) and our recruiting territory, FAU could be ready to blow-up. I think this is the case whether we get called up or we stay at C-USA...I am ok with each no matter the scenario of teams leaving and coming.

(09-17-2021 10:49 AM)goliath74 Wrote:  I see some people continue to suggest that AAC even thinking towards inviting UAB and/or FAU are doing it out of the desire to take markets. But UAB and FAU also bring good results on the field.

Regardless, we still do not know who will be invited by AAC and who will accept, although any C-USA program invited by AAC will agree immediately and would be stupid not to.

FAU sucked and sucked big time until you brought in Kiffen who is no longer there. FAU isn't going to be the next UCF and neither is North Texas or UAB. One day Bill Clark will get an offer where he tells UAB SEE YA and then they the Alabama board can hire them the next Neil Calloway.

Just doing a quick scan of everything FAU has an avg of 4th place in the East.

FAU also avged 17,565 in the stands the 2 most proudest years of your life. Marshall hasn't avged that little since playing in Fairfiled Stadium in 1990. Even then we avged 19K in a 17.5K stadium.

As a wku fan, I would hate to join the aac without Memphis being in it. From a basketball perspective the sunbelt sucks and would hate to go there as well. I would miss playing la tech, and unt from the west if we ended up ever splitting the conferences

No SBC team is going to CUSA. Period

(09-17-2021 11:11 AM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  No SBC team is going to CUSA. Period

Keep thinking that if you want.

(09-17-2021 11:08 AM)HerdZoned Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 10:49 AM)goliath74 Wrote:  I see some people continue to suggest that AAC even thinking towards inviting UAB and/or FAU are doing it out of the desire to take markets. But UAB and FAU also bring good results on the field.

Regardless, we still do not know who will be invited by AAC and who will accept, although any C-USA program invited by AAC will agree immediately and would be stupid not to.

FAU sucked and sucked big time until you brought in Kiffen who is no longer there. FAU isn't going to be the next UCF and neither is North Texas or UAB. One day Bill Clark will get an offer where he tells UAB SEE YA and then they the Alabama board can hire them the next Neil Calloway.

Just doing a quick scan of everything FAU has an avg of 4th place in the East.

FAU also avged 17,565 in the stands the 2 most proudest years of your life. Marshall hasn't avged that little since playing in Fairfiled Stadium in 1990. Even then we avged 19K in a 17.5K stadium.

FAU and UAB are not the same. FAU is new and they have proven they are serious about football. They will be successful no matter where they go. UAB has proven they not only suck but they are fine with sucking. The last few years are an anomaly for them.

(09-17-2021 10:31 AM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  You can say every team in CUSA is one bad coaching hire away from sucking. And if you already suck in CUSA then you'll probably stay in suckage territory until the conference disbands.

Not about sucking, it's about keeping fans in stands through lean times. We've sucked on and off for decades but keep a pretty constant group of fans because we're immune to the effects of losing. Takes years and years for the boomerang effect to sink into a fanbase. UAB's diehard fans from pre-2015 are immune to losing, but there weren't many. All your new found friends may tend to be more fairweather if you go through some on the field turmoil for a few years, God forbid.

You guys aren't the only ones to lose a football team. But we took 15 years to build it back and the fans were accustomed to bad football and then they got 20 winning seasons in a row, then back to losing 5 years, then alternating years and then 5-6 winning seasons with a crappy 2016 mixed in the bunch. We've seen it all. It takes time.

(09-17-2021 11:08 AM)HerdZoned Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 10:49 AM)goliath74 Wrote:  I see some people continue to suggest that AAC even thinking towards inviting UAB and/or FAU are doing it out of the desire to take markets. But UAB and FAU also bring good results on the field.

Regardless, we still do not know who will be invited by AAC and who will accept, although any C-USA program invited by AAC will agree immediately and would be stupid not to.

FAU sucked and sucked big time until you brought in Kiffen who is no longer there. FAU isn't going to be the next UCF and neither is North Texas or UAB. One day Bill Clark will get an offer where he tells UAB SEE YA and then they the Alabama board can hire them the next Neil Calloway.

Just doing a quick scan of everything FAU has an avg of 4th place in the East.

FAU also avged 17,565 in the stands the 2 most proudest years of your life. Marshall hasn't avged that little since playing in Fairfiled Stadium in 1990. Even then we avged 19K in a 17.5K stadium.

People in the stands are not running with the ball and don't catch TD passes. And what will happen with FAU's program after Kiffin - you really do not know. FAU has been without Kiffin for a COVID-filled season. That's it. FAU continues to collect strong recruiting classes and get equally impressive transfers. We will see if Taggart continues FAU's successful trend.

(09-17-2021 11:01 AM)FAU Connoisseur! Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 09:44 AM)MUther Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 09:33 AM)Ragu Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 09:29 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 07:05 AM)Ragu Wrote:  Marshall would go to the AAC in a second.

Also if they do take UAB and FAU, that's the 2 teams who have combined for the last 4 conference titles. Those aren't just market adds.

We don't even know the fourth team either if utsa is the third. How do you know it's ODU? Could very well be la tech or marshall for all you know.

And that's if anyone but UAB goes. I think they are the only sure thing from cusa to the aac. Could take Rice and UAB and stop for all we know

You didn't even include UAB which is just trying to enhance your biased post. They are the first cusa team to go. And the rumors have ODU tied to marshal ..

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This is what I've never understood about realignments and the decisions they make. Just focusing on simply the last couple of years is as short sided as only focusing on markets. Wouldn't sustained commitment and performance be a more meaningful measuring stick than who has won the league the last couple of years??

Which is why I find UAB's candidacy in any move interesting. Not a knock. I really appreciate and enjoy being in a league with UAB. And while I get the facility upgrades help, the reality is prior to 2017 UAB had three winning seasons in 20 years. Once Clark moves on, they are one bad hire away from dumpster fire again. Just look at MT basketball as an example about what a bad hire can do.

Any G5 is one bad hire from being a dumpster fire. It's very volatile. But to act like UAB and FAU aren't trending up is ignorant. Both have been pumping a lot of money into football with facilities and other things and showing commitment

I've already said if we and UAB go to the AAC I'd be pulling for teams like Marshall, Louisiana tech or utsa to get in. North Texas wouldn't be bad too. These schools aren't just about market despite some branding them that way on here. We are competing and winning too

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Don't take this the wrong way, but you haven't won dick since Kiffen left. Let's see what happens in a full season without him before we anoint thee.

Don't take this the wrong way...but Marshall hasn't done jack crap in a depressed C-USA. You should have been feasting and collecting championship trophies, but you didn't, you collected a trophy. And to be fair Huff hasn't done crap yet, he beat the worse Navy team in 20 years and an FCS team. Long season and we don't know if Huff is that "one bad hire away" yet. Time will tell.

Deflection... Your new coach has not proven he can continue to win at FAU so you have no idea if you're still a good program or not. That's a fact. But you're saying you're a good program and worthy of moving up. I simply suggested you have no idea what you have without Kiffen, yet. You were utter crap before him. We were at least winning more than losing.

And it has nothing to do with us. We fired our coach because he lost games he shouldn't have in conference and kept us out of the division title and CCG. You lost a coach because all he could do was win a couple CCGs but got no national attention for your team for doing it and his ego needs that. But you're still 1-7 vs Marshall and I don't imagine that will get any better for you this year.

We've had 5 conference championships in 6 years in FBS football before and then averaged 5-7 over 5 years against the same teams we beat in a bowls every year during the winning. We know what it's like to see it slip through your fingers. You don't because you never had it before. And Huff may be terrible, but we'll still have consistent crowds and a more exciting brand of football than we did under Doc. We'll be able to deal with the adversity. Will you be? I do know that I'll take a young Nick Saban protege over a failed retread with a questionable history every damn day.

(09-17-2021 11:02 AM)herdfan129 Wrote:  UAB has had a few good years but most of us remember them as a terrible program for DECADES. I don’t care one bit if we lose UAB as they are just winning at the right time. They will be back to mediocre (at best) in no time.... FAU is a program I would miss. Not only trending up but they have actual long term potential and didn’t suck for decades without trying.

UTSA has potential and the most potential out of the Texas teams. If we were going to be with a Texas team I would choose them.... but I don’t want to be in a conference with any G5 Texas teams based on geography alone.

Maybe. Maybe not

UAB is definitely benefiting from some recency bias. Plus, it’s true that if Clark leaves, the next hire will be critical. But that’s true for most all G5 (and plenty of P5) programs, so I’m not sure how much weight that argument should carry. I also don’t know if it’s totally fair to compare the program to it’s pretty-shutdown former self. The commitment to success is night and day. So we’ll see.

(09-17-2021 11:02 AM)herdfan129 Wrote:  UAB has had a few good years but most of us remember them as a terrible program for DECADES. I don’t care one bit if we lose UAB as they are just winning at the right time. They will be back to mediocre (at best) in no time.... FAU is a program I would miss. Not only trending up but they have actual long term potential and didn’t suck for decades without trying.

UTSA has potential and the most potential out of the Texas teams. If we were going to be with a Texas team I would choose them.... but I don’t want to be in a conference with any G5 Texas teams based on geography alone.

I'm not sure what UAB has done to you, but I apologize for whatever it is. I hope most Marshall fans don't feel that way about UAB, because it's the opposite of the way I feel about Marshall.

UAB invested in football facilities for the first time basically ever when the return came about. I think the world of Coach Clark, but I also think we are now an attractive job.(we were attractive enough for big name coaches to want to come here years ago, it just got nixed) The BOT is no longer an enemy hell bent on destroying the program, so I'm not as concerned about future coaches being forced upon us. I do agree that this is a definite concern for any conference looking to take UAB in though.