(02-18-2012 04:05 PM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  I too don't think the alliance will last very long. 4 years max. The main reason this all started was to get AQ status, and I highly doubt that has any chance at all. They are also hoping to get a bigger contract, but with the amount of teams, I doubt once divided up will be any better. Then you got an increase in travel expenses, plus they lost some of their top members.

If we stick together and make the Belt stronger, in a couple years we might be able to cherry pick who we want to expand with. If we fill up on FCS teams, then we wont have room to get a USM, Tulsa, or whoever.

I agree 100%. Rep points to you sir.

(02-17-2012 10:45 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  

(02-17-2012 10:43 PM)Usajags Wrote:  

(02-17-2012 10:41 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  I'm not being ugly, I am simply pointing out that this is OUR board and our membership normally posts from a perspective that is friendly to our Conference rather than other peoples' Conferences. You shouldn't be so quick to judge people Usajags.

I wasn't judging, just saying welcome the alternate viewpoint. If he is in California, he could give us the mood on the left coast to this Mega Merger.

you are in fact passing judgement, because you are scolding me unjustly. He came to our board proclaiming our viewpoint to be "homerism," I simply reminded him of that fact. I understand text does not translate tone, so just read twice next time before you decide who is right and who is wrong.

I never told Fresno he was not welcome here, I just told him if he didn't like a Sun Belt perspective on the Sun Belt board that there were alternative places to post.

My god quit arguing w/ everyone over every little thing. You think you can steal from the Alliance if/when it breaks up. I say the 8 on the east side will take 4 from you. Hell they could take 1 or 2 in a couple of months.

You may not have said it but the way it reads, it looks like you implied it. As you saw on the expansion board, your view was in the minority. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. Maybe neither of us should talk about this and let the Big 6 decide how the rest of us work, since they run things.

Thin skin will get you no where on a message board. I enjoy a little banter back and forth, makes for a good conversation. It's the same conversation any of us would have over a beer at any bar, but since it is on a message board everyone wants to get bent out of shape and start banning people, warning people, if you don't like the comments and you got nothing else to add other then F U, then just move along to the next thread.

I don't get it sometimes.

Like I said before all this alliance talk started, SBC is in a good place, now, even that WAC knows the SBC could take any school they want from the WAC and they have Georgia St., App St., Liberty, Jacksonville St., Lamar, in the area that they can pick up if they want or need them down the road.

PS Alliance was not made for AQ, they have no shot at it, there probably won't be one soon, so that they don't have to send a BE team every year either. It was important for both the MWC and CUSA to disband so that ESPN can't continue w/ the lawsuit they had against CUSA for bailing on them and for the MWC to get out of their MT Network which ended up being a bad deal. The travel won't be much different than it is now w/ only 1 cross over in fb and 2-4 in basketball, half being at home. Will this last long term? Who knows. But there is a nice set up of 8 on each side, soon to be 9 or more(so they say) that if they split there will still be 2 solid regional leagues.

(02-19-2012 12:22 AM)Usajags Wrote:  Thin skin will get you no where on a message board. I enjoy a little banter back and forth, makes for a good conversation. It's the same conversation any of us would have over a beer at any bar, but since it is on a message board everyone wants to get bent out of shape and start banning people, warning people, if you don't like the comments and you got nothing else to add other then F U, then just move along to the next thread.

I don't get it sometimes.

I don't even think he's mad at all, I think most people are just prone to reading something that is the opposite view in an angry tone.

I've had good battles w/ Ark St. fan in here. I like you guys in the south, you actually care about college football. It shows on the the field too. I hope you guys get App St. too, that's a good team that will be good when they move up just like Troy is most years. I remember in D-II(basketball when Troy St. beat DeVry(Ga) 258-141. That record will never be broken. Lincoln(PA) got 201 a few years ago, that was the closest.

(02-18-2012 04:05 PM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  The main reason this all started was to get AQ status, and I highly doubt that has any chance at all.

Exactly the opposite. It's premised on the belief that there will be no AQ for anyone.
That will stop the artificial elevation of certain other conferences, which will give everyone the chance to compete. They think they can make more money negotiating as one and offering a joint product, rather than in 2 separate leagues.

Someone explain to me how this nationwide conference will make a better conference and make teams better??? I just don't get it. There is no senseable reason why Hawaii and ECU need to be in the same conference, I don't care if they don't play but every 50 years. Like I have said before, if you aren't going to play them, why be in the same conference and limit your chances of progressing to the postseason?.?.?.?...

(02-19-2012 12:39 AM)Usajags Wrote:  Someone explain to me how this nationwide conference will make a better conference and make teams better??? I just don't get it. There is no senseable reason why Hawaii and ECU need to be in the same conference, I don't care if they don't play but every 50 years. Like I have said before, if you aren't going to play them, why be in the same conference and limit your chances of progressing to the postseason?.?.?.?...

Money, it drives everything. I'm stoked to be in a conf. w/ Tulsa, ECU and S.Miss. I respect the hell out of them. If didn't merge, then the MWC would had to add Utah St, SJSU, Idaho, NMSU, and hope that UTEP slid over to our side because their top 2 rivals left and they are out on an island. SBC doesn't even want any of those other than UTEP. I guess we could have hit up UTSA over 1 of those but CUSA would have added 4 from you guys or 3 and La Tech or UTSA. So this alliance is the best thing for the SBC anyway. At least now they didn't swoop in and take FIU, FAU, MTSU, UNT. While we took the western WAC.

Show me the money, so far no one has said how much money there is.

(02-19-2012 01:02 AM)Usajags Wrote:  Show me the money, so far no one has said how much money there is.

none of us know yet. In the MWC they were making 1.16 mill per school. C-USA was 1.3 mill or something like that per school. So it should be more than that, if not, then the only reason to do this would be the "safety in numbers" theory. Mr.Peanut wants you guys to go to 12, you should. The SBC will have depth and will never end up how the WAC is now if you guys go to 12 soon.

Safety in numbers, your not a herd of gazelles waiting to be eating by lions. No one is going to eat you. If you're in a conference that gets a team or two picked up by a greater conference or one that just fits them better, so be it, you pick up a team and the life cycle continues.

As far as C-USA picking through the SBC instead of merging with the MWC, so be it, that makes sense, that is how this process works. If my team gets left out, it gets left out. Guess what, the SBC would find more teams to fill those spots and we would continue.

Tell me how this "Alliance" is better for the fans and the players.

(02-19-2012 01:13 AM)Usajags Wrote:  Safety in numbers, your not a herd of gazelles waiting to be eating by lions. No one is going to eat you. If you're in a conference that gets a team or two picked up by a greater conference or one that just fits them better, so be it, you pick up a team and the life cycle continues.

As far as C-USA picking through the SBC instead of merging with the MWC, so be it, that makes sense, that is how this process works. If my team gets left out, it gets left out. Guess what, the SBC would find more teams to fill those spots and we would continue.

Tell me how this "Alliance" is better for the fans and the players.

I can't speak for the players but as a fan I'm glad that my school isn't still in the WAC where we'd be worrying about how to fill a schedule. Out west there are only 2 schools that are in driving range for us, UNLV (6hrs), Nevada (5hrs). I'll be happier playing against my old WAC mates(the real one from the early 90's over playing Idaho, NMSU, USU. We aren't like the south, we don't have anyone close by. CSUB and Pacific are the closest schools to us in D-I(2hrs) but they don't have fb.

It's easy to fill 1 spot the problem was CUSA lost 4 and we lost 2. If we both only lost 1 or 2, then we would have just added from the WAC them from the SBC. WAC lost 4, so far and only has Lamar in their region willing to move up. They don't even have enough to count as an FBS fb conf., basketball is safe for now.

Then the MWC eats the WAC and you have yourself a conference. Then C-USA takes from the SBC and the MAC if they like. The SBC moves a couple teams up that want to move up and we keep running. Our schools, the ones not in a major conference, need to actually all work together better. After all, these institutions are for higher learning, not sports agents.

(02-19-2012 01:30 AM)Usajags Wrote:  Then the MWC eats the WAC and you have yourself a conference. Then C-USA takes from the SBC and the MAC if they like. The SBC moves a couple teams up that want to move up and we keep running. Our schools, the ones not in a major conference, need to actually all work together better. After all, these institutions are for higher learning, not sports agents.

higher learning? yes for us not playing football and basketball. We are not a major conf. and MWC and CUSA worked together in a way they thought was best. If it doesn't work, they can fall back on your plan you posted. If all the Big 6 go to 16. Then you'll see the left out from the BE merge w/ the best of the alliance and the rest w/ the SBC.

I just don't understand the alliance. It now seems like it's a group of school who want to be like the Big East. On every thread about it the defining factor seems to be "to separate ourselves from the rest of the other Non AQ schools" whatever that means.

There is not a single team in this alliance that did anything like Boise has done. And there was not a single moment that Boise had to rely on TV money, a strong conference, or perception to win. Every time they faced someone the media claimed would destroy them they just shut everyone up and won. That is the kind of team that I respect not these merger teams like UAB who have no BCS wins and claim AQ dominance.

And the most stupid thing I find about the merger is this idea of perception. To the AQ leagues an undefeated Fresno St is not going to be any better than an undefeated Troy unless you played a strong OOC schedule and have the stats to back it up. The teams who are actually winning BCS games like USC, Alabama, and Texas look at teams in their own conferences with little respect a merger of leftover AQ teams is going to be even less important to them.

But I guess your excited about this because it's much better than being in the WAC for Fresno.

(02-19-2012 01:13 AM)Usajags Wrote:  Tell me how this "Alliance" is better for the fans and the players.

About the same way any conference shift in the last 10 years has been better for the fans and players.

I've done a lot of complaining on this board lately, writing about how I think Benson's expansion of the Belt will hurt the conference for all of the current members. This is what I think the confernece could look like after the dust settles, and it aint pretty.

East

FAU
MTSU
WKU
Troy
USA
ULM
Appy St.
Jacksonville St.


West

ASU
ULL
LA Tech
NMSU
Utah State
Texas State
Idaho
Lamar

The East is not that bad, but the West is horrible, and no one will want to be in it. This is not a combination that will lead to prosperity or stability. A MAC alliance would be better, but Benson is a WAC guy.

I think FIU, UNT, San Jose St., and maybe UTSA get into the alliance.

Joe, Jacksonville State is not getting in bud. We don't need three Belt teams in Alabama, Troy will veto that one and lobby others to do the same.

(02-19-2012 03:57 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  Joe, Jacksonville State is not getting in bud. We don't need three Belt teams in Alabama, Troy will veto that one and lobby others to do the same.

I agree, but there are no WAC teams out that way, so Benson will have to find some FCS programs somewhere. In all honesty, you could pretty much plug any random FCS team in that spot. Jacksonville State was more of a example of the caliber of program that could fill the opening.

(02-19-2012 05:22 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(02-19-2012 03:57 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  Joe, Jacksonville State is not getting in bud. We don't need three Belt teams in Alabama, Troy will veto that one and lobby others to do the same.

I agree, but there are no WAC teams out that way, so Benson will have to find some FCS programs somewhere. In all honesty, you could pretty much plug any random FCS team in that spot. Jacksonville State was more of a example of the caliber of program that could fill the opening.

Unless we lose more than 4 teams we will not take any FCS teams.