(09-16-2017 09:03 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  Frankly, I will not be surprised to see the Airport Meeting happen this year. I have no clue how it will turn out, but the writing on the wall seems pretty clear. Though they will not say it publicly at this time, the coaches, ADs and presidents cannot possibly see this issue much differently than the vast majority of the posters on this forum.

Something will have to change, with the goals likely being simply to form an overall stronger conference for both football and basketball with reduced travel distance/costs and more natural, regional rivalries. I think Herdzoned had a pretty good stab at that kind of solution with this lineup with only one school from each state, and this is a conference I personally could live with.

Southern Mississippi - Mississippi
UAB - Alabama
Middle Tennessee - Tennessee
Western Kentucky - Kentuky
Marshall - West Virginia
Old Dominion - Virginia
Appalachian State - North Carolina
Georgia Southern - Georgia
Louisiana Tech - Louisiana

How will our various administrations see it? I don't know. Whatever they do, some fans are going to be upset, but I truly believe change is near.

I hope this works & happens. Get the ball rolling.only teams I would like to keep would be ODU, Marshall, La Tech. Outside of that I'd be happy with the change.

(09-16-2017 03:11 AM)blazr Wrote:  The one factor that the USM fans overlook, and they should know better, is that UAB will not go thru the effort to break off a new conference to join Troy, and USM admin, and most of the fans, feel the same about USA. Troy is a black hole for basketball and has an absolute - concrete, titanium, and carbon-fiber - ceiling on athletics (and academics) in general. I'll venture to say that UAB would bank on the Fs-r-Us improving over the long run than cast in with Troy, but I don't think that's a choice that will confront them (there are plenty of schools in the proper South to avoid all 3 of those teams...Georgia State has a giant upside compared with Troy).

USA is a bit different - decent basketball, old Sunbelt school from the good days, room for some growth - but I just think that would be too hard a pill for USM to swallow. Same with La Tech and ULL/M. Ultimately, there are too many hurdles for a CUSA/Sunbelt swap fair and no schools are going to have an airport meeting and be signing new contracts with the Big 12 implosion looming (which is going to be a super-volcano east of the Mississippi with huge tremors spreading out to the west coast).

I'm sorry, what??

You just had your football program shut down by Daddy Bama, who will always have a say in your athletics and academics. But Troy has a "ceiling" on it's athletics and academics???

I know since your a UAB fan, you're clearly going to have bias toward Troy. But give me a break. Troy's chancellor and AD were even pulling for you guys when Watts was shuttering your football...

Troy had a great basketball history leading up to 2005 when Maestri began to run the program aground. It's back on the up finally.

Troy men's basketball has won two SBC titles in the past decade compared to USA's one. Both Troy and USA have been to the NCAA, NIT, and CIT/CBI in the past decade. Even Troy women's basketball has won two-straight SBC titles the last two years, has gone to the NCAA Tourney twice the last two years, and has had three-straight 20+ win seasons. USA hasn't done any of that the last 10 years.

Besides, Trojan Arena would arguably be one of the top arenas among all SBC/CUSA programs. That investment alone shows Troy's committment to basketball.

As for academics, Troy is a US News ranked regional university just like Appalachian State, WKU, Marshall, James Madison and Arkansas State, just to name a few. If you'd like to present some accurate facts to show Troy is a poor academic institution, I'd like to see them. Heck, even four NASA astronauts are Troy alumni, which speaks volumes about Troy's science program.

There could be a realignment within C-USA and the Sun Belt, and both conferences could keep their bowl ties and tournament bid. But before it could occur, both conferences would have to trim the fat and kick out the programs that won't be included in the restructured line-ups.

Two 9 team conferences would be more regional, competitive, and divide the money among fewer programs.

(09-16-2017 09:47 AM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  Heck, even four NASA astronauts are Troy alumni, which speaks volumes about Troy's science program.

That is good. Who are they?

(09-16-2017 09:21 AM)Hood-rich Wrote:  Yet Troy has outperforms UAB in football and isn't under Alabama's thumb. There is a concrete ceiling for UAB football as well - probably more so than Troy.

Sent from my SM-J700T using CSNbbs mobile app

Yet those with degrees from UAB know how to work the damn Reply button or don't have spotty internet from living in Pike County...

(09-16-2017 09:49 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  There could be a realignment within C-USA and the Sun Belt, and both conferences could keep their bowl ties and tournament bid. But before it could occur, both conferences would have to trim the fat and kick out the programs that won't be included in the restructured line-ups.

Two 9 team conferences would be more regional, competitive, and divide the money among fewer programs.

At 9 teams each conference would be leaving $ on the table. To get the full amount each conference would need 10 teams. Otherwise, that 1 million goes into the performance pool.

(09-16-2017 10:05 AM)Cardiff Wrote:  

(09-16-2017 09:47 AM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  Heck, even four NASA astronauts are Troy alumni, which speaks volumes about Troy's science program.

That is good. Who are they?

Kevin Ford (commander of Expedition 33 and 34 spacecrafts that transported astronauts to the Space Station)
William Gregory (a pilot on the space shuttle Endeavor)
Kevin Kregel (was a crew member on the space shuttle Discovery, Columbia, and Endeavor)
Millie Hughes-Fulford (was a PI for BioRack experiments on the space shuttle Atlantis)

(09-16-2017 09:47 AM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  As for academics, Troy is a US News ranked regional university just like Appalachian State

Case closed.

(09-16-2017 10:17 AM)blazr Wrote:  Yet those with degrees from UAB know how to work the damn Reply button or don't have spotty internet from living in Pike County...

And... that has what to do with this conversation?

(09-16-2017 09:49 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  There could be a realignment within C-USA and the Sun Belt, and both conferences could keep their bowl ties and tournament bid. But before it could occur, both conferences would have to trim the fat and kick out the programs that won't be included in the restructured line-ups.

Two 9 team conferences would be more regional, competitive, and divide the money among fewer programs.

So which six are you kicking out????

Holy crap what an awful thread. Of course not! We founded this conference!

You can't uninvite. What's done is done. You can't create excitement with contraction. If we could rearrange geographically and politically with expansion, you create excitement, save money, and add TV markets.

The funny thing about the airport meeting is that those who felt they were too good for the others ended up in the same conference with those same schools they ran away from. How strong would the WAC be had they never split?
West
San Diego St
Hawaii
Fresno St
San Jose St
BYU
Utah
UNLV
Air Force

East
TCU
SMU
Tulsa
RICE
UTEP
UNM
Wyoming
Colorado St

(09-15-2017 06:14 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  OMG, this psycho turd didn't even GO TO USM? What in the hell is anybody listening to him for?

Not that I agree or disagree with his points or delivery, but why would it really matter if he went to USM or not? Can he not be a passionate fan without having graduated from the university? We complain about our state's flagship universities having all these wal-mart fans and them being the reason we have poor attendance, etc. But when a fan gets on our board that is passionate about a school and didn't go there, why is that hilarious? LSU casts a big shaddow in LA and I'm sure LaTech wouldn't mind 10k more people showing up for a FB game who hadn't went there, but wanted to see the university and athletic program do well.

(09-16-2017 10:50 AM)USM@FTL Wrote:  We founded this conference!

When you found it, was it in the recycling bin or the trash?

Quote:You can't uninvite.

Charlotte says hello. Temple, too.

Quote:You can't create excitement with contraction.

Give it a few more years. I promise you, survival will sound very exciting to most of us.

Quote:If we could rearrange geographically and politically with expansion, you create excitement, save money, and add TV markets.

Okay.

No idea what that means, but... Okay.

I went to Wheeling Jesuit University...live in Huntington... I have credits from Marshall via the WV state police academy and haven't missed a home game in 4 years...am I less of a fan?

(09-16-2017 11:16 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  I went to Wheeling Jesuit University...live in Huntington... I have credits calm Marshall via the WV state police academy and haven't missed a home game in 4 years...am I less of a fan?

If anything, I'd probably say your more a fan that most.

(09-16-2017 11:23 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(09-16-2017 11:16 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  I went to Wheeling Jesuit University...live in Huntington... I have credits calm Marshall via the WV state police academy and haven't missed a home game in 4 years...am I less of a fan?

If anything, I'd probably say your more a fan that most.

Why, thanks VA

Should SBC and C-USA be realigned into two 10 team conferences, what happens with the rest of the teams? Independents? There is no easily localized conferences for them. I suspect, the largest two would be among them.

(09-16-2017 11:26 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  

(09-16-2017 11:23 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(09-16-2017 11:16 AM)THUNDERGround Wrote:  I went to Wheeling Jesuit University...live in Huntington... I have credits calm Marshall via the WV state police academy and haven't missed a home game in 4 years...am I less of a fan?

If anything, I'd probably say your more a fan that most.

Why, thanks VA

A lot of people are fans because they have to be. Your a fan because you want to be. Your engaged in Marshall athletics, on this board and at the FB games.

FYI - If you are ever at a game and you see a guy with a USM hat on and a Marshall shirt on (for non USM games), that will likely be me:) I normally drive over for a game or two each season.

(09-16-2017 11:32 AM)goliath74 Wrote:  Should SBC and C-USA be realigned into two 10 team conferences, what happens with the rest of the teams? Independents? There is no easily localized conferences for them. I suspect, the largest two would be among them.

If they can't make the SBC : CUSA cut, then they go to FCS where they belong.