I dont want anyone to take this wrong but now is the time CUSA should consider splitting. Especially with this new ruling that you dont have to have 12 to have a championship game. Let the east division pick up two teams to form its own 9 team conference and allow the west side to do the same. Maybe the two can operate seperate but have some scheduling agreements in place. Thoughts?

What about the basketball auto-bid?

I wouldn't hate it, but it'll never happen.

Playoff payout structure stops this cold currently. If that rule was modified, then it's not impossible.

Split the CUSA and then each resulting conference raids the Sun Belt to zero teams.

Conference 1:
Georgia Southern
MTSU
App State
Marshall
Arkansas State
Troy
ULL
ULM
WKU
Southern Miss
ODU

Conference 2:
FIU
FAU
Lousiana Tech
Georgia State
Charlotte
UTEP
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
UAB

let the 'debate games' begin....again.....

sigh.......

(01-14-2016 10:55 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  Split the CUSA and then each resulting conference raids the Sun Belt to zero teams.

Conference 1:
Georgia Southern
MTSU
App State
Marshall
Arkansas State
Troy
ULL
ULM
WKU
Southern Miss
ODU

Conference 2:
FIU
FAU
Lousiana Tech
Georgia State
Charlotte
UTEP
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
UAB

No more than 9 teams in a conference is needed. Each side would need to add two teams and then split.

The next several months will be interesting. This ruling could mean that we see some movement at the G5 level before July 1st.

(01-14-2016 10:49 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  What about the basketball auto-bid?

There are two issues. The basketball bids and CFP payoff. The basketball bid issue is fixable. As long as 6 teams forming a conference have played Olympic sports together in a league over the previous 6 years, they get an automatic bid with no waiting period. So in 4 more years CUSA could split and have bids immediately.

The bigger issue is the CFP money and access bowl. The new conference would not be a signee to the CFP agreement and would have no access to a share of the CFP money or a guaranteed path to the access bowl.

The only way to become a more regional conference with better travel and do it now---without losing NCAA auto bids or CFP access is to sit down with the Sunbelt and work out a reorganization where exit fees are suspended. Probably wouldn't hurt if the Sunbelt brought in ESPN and made a deal to have the new conference receive a raise that paid it close to what CUSA was making. At that point, moving from one to the other to cut travel costs wouldn't hurt anyone financially and help everyone's expenses. Good luck getting that many parties to all agree, but it could be possible assuming everyone is interested in doing something with no waiting.

(01-14-2016 11:23 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-14-2016 10:49 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  What about the basketball auto-bid?

There are two issues. The basketball bids and CFP payoff. The basketball bid issue is fixable. As long as 6 teams forming a conference have played Olympic sports together in a league over the previous 6 years, they get an automatic bid with no wishing period. So in 4 more years CUSA could split and have bids immediately.

The bigger issue is the CFP money and access bowl. The new conference would not be a signee to the CFP agreement and would have no access to a share of the CFP money or a guaranteed path to the access bowl.

The only way to become a more regional conference with better travel and do it now---without losing NCAA auto bids or CFP access is to sit down with the Sunbelt and work out a reorganization where exit fees are suspended. Probably wouldn't hurt if the Sunbelt brought in ESPN and made a deal to have the new conference receive a raise that paid it close to what CUSA was making. At that point, moving from one to the other to cut travel costs wouldn't hurt anyone financially and help everyone's expenses. Good luck getting that many parties to all agree, but it could be possible assuming everyone is interested in doing something with no waiting.

This would make a LOT of sense for both memberships.

(01-14-2016 10:49 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  What about the basketball auto-bid?

The new requirement is 7 full D1 members for an autobid.

At 14 members now CUSA could split in half with each division of 7 adding 2 members each.

East: Georgia State, Georgia Southern
West: Arkansas State, Louisiana

Could very easily be done. SBC then down to 7 and adds Lamar and EKU to get back to 9 schools with NMSU getting an all sport invite.

The conference has made some bad additions. I imagine the powers-that-be regret doing that. And now, it's impossible to just cut programs from the conference so.....yeah

(01-14-2016 11:40 AM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  The conference has made some bad additions. I imagine the powers-that-be regret doing that. And now, it's impossible to just cut programs from the conference so.....yeah

dude....they didn't have an option....

it's herd mentality pal.....that's all we have seen to date.....

(01-14-2016 11:15 AM)MUHERD76 Wrote:  The next several months will be interesting. This ruling could mean that we see some movement at the G5 level before July 1st.

The new conferences would have to be assured a seat at the CFP table. The CFP current cycle runs 2014-2019.

Therefore, I think a CUSA split would be decided in 2018 (2 years) so the new conferences would have a seat the table for the next 6 year bowl cycle.

The last year of BYU's contract is in 2018. They may decide by next year to join the MWC or ACC and take a school with them. Schools like Rice with a chance for both the MWC or AAC are going to hold out to see what BYU does.

The only movement I expect before July 1st this year is potential movement in the SBC over Idaho/NMSU. Next year maybe BYU/Army and after that possible CUSA shakeup.

One thing to consider is if CUSA splits, it dissolves and the exit/entrance fees no longer apply. That may be the best option and it allows CUSA to retest the waters for a TV deal.

(01-14-2016 11:43 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(01-14-2016 11:40 AM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  The conference has made some bad additions. I imagine the powers-that-be regret doing that. And now, it's impossible to just cut programs from the conference so.....yeah

dude....they didn't have an option....

it's herd mentality pal.....that's all we have seen to date.....

They had a few options, not many. They picked the wrong ones. We reap what we sow.

How would splitting up help anything? Travel costs? I say we just get better and become a conference people want to see. Splitting up wouldn't help that, would it?

It's an interesting idea. Creating geographically friendly conferences now makes more sense, but the end result is no one is gaining any additional revenue as a result. The same number of teams will still exist and have to be spread across more conferences.

So, it comes down to whether or not the savings in travel costs net enough to do this? Regardless of what some MAC folks think you're not going to save a million plus on travel expenses. There simply aren't enough busable programs between each other to make that a plausible option. So, it's an idea and a question without a good answer right now.

At first blush it would seem obvious for the better programs in the Sun Belt to merge with C-USA and the MWC would add some west of the Mississippi schools. The premise being that even though you have more mouths to feed it is offset by having one less conference. The remnants of the Sun Belt wouldn't have enough to continue adding I-AA schools. The only problem with this theory is that the Sun Belt is already making so little I don't necessarily think this allows a breakeven much less a net increase to either C-USA or MWC. I haven't done the math yet to know for sure, but my initial presumption is I don't think it works.

Going back to splitting up to create nine team leagues may not benefit us either. Ostensibly you would end up with more Division I-A leagues that the power conferences would be all to happy to tell us just split that money even more ways.

At the end of the day, I would venture to say putting the Sun Belt out of business is in the best interest of all of us, because they just keep adding I-A wannabes every time they lose a member creating more teams to have to split the pie with. The AAC is very lucky they aren't having to renegotiate their TV deal right now in the midst of this purgatory between TV and streaming. At this time, there are, unfortunately, no solutions that are obvious to benefit some of us much less most of us.

I'd love to be in a conference that was much more regional than this current climate. We are totally out of our element in the west.

I'd prefer playing Tech (I know we currently do), ULaLa, Rice, and UAB over UTEP, UTSA, ODU, and the F schools.

If we are going to change, I would rather give this a try before joining with Sun Belt or MAC.

La Tech
Southern Miss
Rice
UAB
UTSA

Marshall
WKU
MT
ODU
Charlotte

But I'm fine without change. We just need to get better in football and men's basketball.

If the teams of the CUSA and Sun Belt with actual fan bases (i.e. not fictional media market appeal) band together we would have a league that would be attractive for a TV deal.

If the TV money spigot is truly going off (I don't buy that it is), then the SBC and CUSA need to dissolve and form two new conference based on geography.