For better or worse, sports are about winning and perceived hierarchy It would be almost impossible for an AD or President from the Belt or Conf USA to turn down an invite to the AAC. Look, I think the schools in Conf USA are good ones, very good ones in fact. But the extra TV coverage for football and basketball in the AAC are in themselves enough reason for a move to the AAC. Exposure is going to be one of the most important ingredients moving forward in the G5 leagues. EVen the MWC tv contract is not as good as the AAC, nor do they make as much money, although no one is making any real money outside of the P5.

Because sports has a built upon a hierarchy, I just don't see a team getting called up to the P5 unless they are in the AAC or MWC. Anyway, the schools in Conf USA have lots of opportunities to form good rivalries and competitive games. The problem is going to be getting people to watch these match ups because of the current tv contract.

(04-20-2014 04:14 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  But the extra TV coverage for football and basketball in the AAC are in themselves enough reason for a move to the AAC. Exposure is going to be one of the most important ingredients moving forward in the G5 leagues. EVen the MWC tv contract is not as good as the AAC, nor do they make as much money, although no one is making any real money outside of the P5.

I don't know about TV exposure in general, but one of the pluses for me as a Memphis fan last bball season, was being able to see Memphis play almost every game on some ESPN channel.

Maybe with the exception of some early season cupcakes, I never had to search for some bootleg online feed to watch the games.

(04-20-2014 04:14 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  For better or worse, sports are about winning and perceived hierarchy It would be almost impossible for an AD or President from the Belt or Conf USA to turn down an invite to the AAC. Look, I think the schools in Conf USA are good ones, very good ones in fact. But the extra TV coverage for football and basketball in the AAC are in themselves enough reason for a move to the AAC. Exposure is going to be one of the most important ingredients moving forward in the G5 leagues. EVen the MWC tv contract is not as good as the AAC, nor do they make as much money, although no one is making any real money outside of the P5.

Because sports has a built upon a hierarchy, I just don't see a team getting called up to the P5 unless they are in the AAC or MWC. Anyway, the schools in Conf USA have lots of opportunities to form good rivalries and competitive games. The problem is going to be getting people to watch these match ups because of the current tv contract.

In basketball yes but we're talking football. Your first sentence would be correct if you would have stopped at "sports are about winning" because there is no "perceived hierarchy". Tell me which AAC program or programs the national media perceive as superior to all the rest of the G5.

If the AAC had a much bigger TV contract and much better exposure you might be right but they don't. Just because you keep telling yourself that doesn't make it so. This is about winning and every team in CUSA has the same chance at success as any team in the AAC. You are right as of today they would probably leave but tomorrow aint today. If some of these teams that are investing in their program and have jacked up fan bases do what I think they can do they will have no reason to leave.

If the AAC gets the Access bowl every year and your TV contract shoots up in a few years then you will be right. That is possible but not probable.
It's now all about winning football games and they don't give points for perception. Nobody in the G5 has any huge advantage over anybody else.

One last thing about that access bowl. There is a good chance in the next few years you guys are going notice that when you moved out of the house you left your pet bird behind because it had a broken wing. Well that wing is healing and he'll be back to full strength sooner than you think and he is madder than a MF"er. Don't be surprised if you end up watching him fly in that access bowl in a few years.

(04-20-2014 05:15 PM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 04:14 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  But the extra TV coverage for football and basketball in the AAC are in themselves enough reason for a move to the AAC. Exposure is going to be one of the most important ingredients moving forward in the G5 leagues. EVen the MWC tv contract is not as good as the AAC, nor do they make as much money, although no one is making any real money outside of the P5.

I don't know about TV exposure in general, but one of the pluses for me as a Memphis fan last bball season, was being able to see Memphis play almost every game on some ESPN channel.

Maybe with the exception of some early season cupcakes, I never had to search for some bootleg online feed to watch the games.

Here's the thing about basketball. All of us would like to be in a basketball conference with UCONN, UC, and Memphis. But UCONN and UC would never vote for most of the teams in CUSA to join. As a matter of fact I perform all over the state of Connecticut and their fans are sick to their stomach that they are in a conference with most of the new teams in the AAC. My point is while most of us would like to be in a basketball conference with them we have no chance of joining unless they leave and if they leave it's not a great basketball conference anymore.

(04-20-2014 05:44 PM)comiceagle Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 05:15 PM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 04:14 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  But the extra TV coverage for football and basketball in the AAC are in themselves enough reason for a move to the AAC. Exposure is going to be one of the most important ingredients moving forward in the G5 leagues. EVen the MWC tv contract is not as good as the AAC, nor do they make as much money, although no one is making any real money outside of the P5.

I don't know about TV exposure in general, but one of the pluses for me as a Memphis fan last bball season, was being able to see Memphis play almost every game on some ESPN channel.

Maybe with the exception of some early season cupcakes, I never had to search for some bootleg online feed to watch the games.

Here's the thing about basketball. All of us would like to be in a basketball conference with UCONN, UC, and Memphis. But UCONN and UC would never vote for most of the teams in CUSA to join. As a matter of fact I perform all over the state of Connecticut and their fans are sick to their stomach that they are in a conference with most of the new teams in the AAC. My point is while most of us would like to be in a basketball conference with them we have no chance of joining unless they leave and if they leave it's not a great basketball conference anymore.

Off topic, but what do you "perform"?

Why would the fans of these giant powerhouse AAC schools disgrace themselves on the CUSA board? Me think thou doth protest too much. Please gloat about your power status and proper superior hierarchy on your board. Besides the fact you are only feeding your own delusions of grandeur, you are doing it on the wrong board.

(04-20-2014 06:47 PM)WEARE Wrote:  Why would the fans of these giant powerhouse AAC schools disgrace themselves on the CUSA board? Me think thou doth protest too much. Please gloat about your power status and proper superior hierarchy on your board. Besides the fact you are only feeding your own delusions of grandeur, you are doing it on the wrong board.

A question was posed on this board. ECU is still n Conf USA. I have been respectful to the teams in Conf USA and those in this thread. Sports message boards are places where people post their ideas and thoughts even if the differ from each each other.

It's not just ECU posting. This is the problem with narcissism; you are not the only school in your new or old conference.

I've heard "build the conference" for years. I thought that was what we were doing before the last bolt by other schools. In a few years there will be another bolt and then the "new" schools coming in will all say "we must be patient and build." The fact is most of the schools in this crap are ranked at over 100 for preseason football. Our champion last year got man-handled by MSTake or I mean MS State.

I would like to be answered this question, what positives are there for being in this conference? A new logo? New teams? Wait I got it, new TV! With ummmm....hold on...oh yeah cbs and fox. Wait, we also get some online streaming! Dude we are moving up! Yes, I'm being sarcastic I have watched CUSA since 2001 and witnessed three rollovers. Every time we start "building" there's a bolt. Some might say I am not a USM fan but in the 13 years I've been a fan we started with two season ticket holders in my family to 6 season ticket holders each year. I support my university. But so what, my school is losing in football. Oh well. If this thread is about perception then here it is: CUSA is a stepping stone conference known just like the sunbelt as the "homecoming" conference. I wish we didn't pull from the sunbelt because everyone in this sec country calls it and CUSA that. Please don't get mad at me for this statement but that is what fans like in the sec say.

CUSA has little hope of developing into a national brand solidified by committed schools to see it grow and become respected because schools will bolt at the first chance available. People will tell me I'm wrong about us being a homecoming conference so we try to challenge schools I remember about four years ago our conference slogan was "competition lives here" to try and fight that perception of being a homecoming conference. I would say we started being somewhat successful but guess what... A chance to bolt occurs and now we have new schools at below 100 and once again we rollback to a "homecoming" conference. I think now our conference stresses sportsmanship so I guess now that means lose with class. I know AAC schools are happy I am frustrated in that they got invited because more people live in their city than ours but that's fine, traffic is lighter here and I know many of them don't want to play USM because we have been in time past a thorn in their flesh and I do take consolation in that fact regardless of their happiness we are stuck here.

I've been watching this conference for 13 years and the circumstances stay the same.

SMTTT

(04-20-2014 06:47 PM)WEARE Wrote:  Why would the fans of these giant powerhouse AAC schools disgrace themselves on the CUSA board? Me think thou doth protest too much. Please gloat about your power status and proper superior hierarchy on your board. Besides the fact you are only feeding your own delusions of grandeur, you are doing it on the wrong board.

I was wondering the same thing. There sure are a lot of AAC guys still lurking around this board. Problem is, fewer and fewer people on this board care about anything they have to say.

They lurk here because they are happy to say "haha we got in and you didn't."

SMTTT

(04-21-2014 12:54 AM)SethManKA1 Wrote:  They lurk here because they are happy to say "haha we got in and you didn't."

SMTTT

Exactly. If they had jumped to one of the power conferences, I could get the hubris. It would still be unflattering, but they would actually have a reason to brag. As it stands, the argument is mute. We are all in the same boat, so congratulations???

(04-20-2014 03:38 PM)comiceagle Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 02:54 PM)AlwaysSunny Wrote:  The AAC has a national champion in basketball and a Fiesta Bowl winner...higher attendance, more money and a better chance at the access bowl game. No president in CUSA is turning down an invite if one comes. There may be no AQ, but if it comes down to a slot in the access bowl, who's more likely to get it, an 11-1 UCF, an 11-1 Boise State, an 11-1 North Texas or an 11-1 App State? Even without AQ there's still gonna be a pecking order...like in the P5 the SEC will still get preference over the Pac 12 even though they're on the same level.

That's this year. It can change in one season. Boise was dominating a couple of years ago and nobody was begging to get in the WAC. The only pecking order is the one created in heads of AAC fans.

This year people would probably go but this thread is about what has a good chance of happening in the future. UCF wasn't where they are now when they joined CUSA. Most CUSA fans looked at them the same way people may look at the ones coming in. They were a D2 move up just like some of our newbies. The point is, when some of new teams develop like they did there will be no reason to leave unless the P5 call.

Acutally UCF moved up from FCS to the MAC a FBS conference for a few years and then moved over with Marshall to CUSA. They did not enter CUSA directly from FCS. UCF is a different breed of university. The student population number is growing faster than any other U in the country and they are the largest U in the country; plus market and I am sure a UCF fan can fill in the rest. I am not sure I could give much credit to CUSA except for slightly more TV exposure in the southeast.

(04-20-2014 05:50 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 05:44 PM)comiceagle Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 05:15 PM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 04:14 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  But the extra TV coverage for football and basketball in the AAC are in themselves enough reason for a move to the AAC. Exposure is going to be one of the most important ingredients moving forward in the G5 leagues. EVen the MWC tv contract is not as good as the AAC, nor do they make as much money, although no one is making any real money outside of the P5.

I don't know about TV exposure in general, but one of the pluses for me as a Memphis fan last bball season, was being able to see Memphis play almost every game on some ESPN channel.

Maybe with the exception of some early season cupcakes, I never had to search for some bootleg online feed to watch the games.

Here's the thing about basketball. All of us would like to be in a basketball conference with UCONN, UC, and Memphis. But UCONN and UC would never vote for most of the teams in CUSA to join. As a matter of fact I perform all over the state of Connecticut and their fans are sick to their stomach that they are in a conference with most of the new teams in the AAC. My point is while most of us would like to be in a basketball conference with them we have no chance of joining unless they leave and if they leave it's not a great basketball conference anymore.

Off topic, but what do you "perform"?

Hey Baruna, I'm a comedian. Hence the name "comiceagle". I've done a number shows in NC. One place I've done a couple of times is the OBX comedy club on the Outer Banks. I would always give a shout out to Pirate fans during my set. The club was in a hotel on the beach so after the show I would go hang out with ECU fans at the cabana. I made some buddies and found out that ECU fans are great people and very similar to USM fans. We've both been at this a long time and had to deal with silver spooners in our state. Despite that we both have a long list of notches on
our belts of beatdowns we put on P5 schools. If there is one punch in the gut to all this is that we wont be playing ECU.

Here's link to my website with my info and there's a video if you want to check it out http://www.patmccool.com

(04-20-2014 12:50 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 09:34 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  the Top of CUSA was chopped off

Memphis football and Tulane beg to argue your point.

Memphis was taken for BB, in BB it was the flagship of CUSA2.0.
Tulane is about market and potential. B12 looked at them, that should tell you something.

(04-21-2014 08:20 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 12:50 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 09:34 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  the Top of CUSA was chopped off

Memphis football and Tulane beg to argue your point.

Memphis was taken for BB, in BB it was the flagship of CUSA2.0.
Tulane is about market and potential. B12 looked at them, that should tell you something.

Tells me the B12 was smart.

Anyway, it is what it is. I wish luck to all the departed but won't follow them now that they are gone. It's CUSA 3.0 or bust! CUSA has a chance to disprove all the nonbelievers, now it's time to go out and do just that.

(04-20-2014 12:40 PM)comiceagle Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 09:51 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

Once these teams reach their potential they will have no reason to leave unless a P5 calls.

They will leave if AAC calls, just like ECU, Tulane, and Tulsa are doing now. The old BE was #6 in the pecking order and still is. The difference between the new AAC and CUSA is smaller, but it is still there.

If you want a shot at P5, you want to be in the AAC, or maybe the MWC. They are the P5 feeder leagues.

As for UCF, We were 1a independents for a few years before joining the MAC for 3 years. We had been div 1 for a while before joining CUSA.

(04-20-2014 12:50 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 09:34 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  the Top of CUSA was chopped off

Memphis football and Tulane beg to argue your point.

Funny when the new teams came to town Tulane was magically bowl eligible.

(04-21-2014 10:00 AM)JDTulane Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 12:50 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 09:34 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  the Top of CUSA was chopped off

Memphis football and Tulane beg to argue your point.

Funny when A FEW OF the new teams came to town Tulane was magically bowl eligible.

FIFY
It wasn't because of UTSA...

Perception? It's a better conference. Because LA Tech is in it. I don't mean that as an insult to the previous CUSA members, but rather I'm just very happy LA Tech found a conference home with very HIGH QUALITY peers.