(05-01-2012 08:06 AM)ark30inf Wrote:  UNT had no choice. The stars are aligned perfectly for them this time. They are not leaving over pie in the sky, they are leaving for solid scheduling and attendance reasons. One of the few rational moves in this whole thing.
FIU is invited for all the wrong reasons and jumping for all the wrong reasons. But it's not that big of a deal since they hadn't really melded into the conference that well anyway.
You are right that this is all crazy. But UNT's decisions is not one of the crazy ones.

"All the wrong reasons"? What might those be?.... Access to more bowl games? More recognizable universities? Affiliation with stronger academic institutions? greater access to media coverage? more t.v. dollars? Are those the 'wrong reasons' you're referring to?

Do me a favor; stop tilting at windwills and focus on your own university and the Sun Belt as a whole. You're like a knat on the back of a water buffalo; annoying but little more.

I get NT. The new CUSA is rather Texas-centric. Good for them, they are a good fit and will enjoy playing Rice, UTEP, Tulsa, UTSA, etc. I will miss them and the battles we had early in the conference.

FIU is a little harder to figure out. They're joining a conference that makes them an outlier at the same time the Sunbelt appears to be moving east (added GSU, rumored to be adding GaSouthern/Appy).

If ECU leaves (which is highly possible - they're not happy there), FIU will be left in CUSA "east" with Marshall, USM, Tulane, UAB, and heck someone like ODU or James Madison or something like that. It's a good move now, but FIU might find themselves in 4 or 5 years looking around wondering what they heck they were thinking.

FWIW, I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other to FIU leaving. FAU/FIU are sort of interchangable, and as long as we keep one of them, i'm good. I don't know if we needed 2 Miami area schools anyway.

(05-01-2012 08:40 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  FWIW, I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other to FIU leaving. FAU/FIU are sort of interchangable, and as long as we keep one of them, i'm good. I don't know if we needed 2 Miami area schools anyway.

You did when our good buddies USU, NMSU and Idaho left for those greener pastures of the WAC. Don't forget that our legacy here in the Sun Belt will always be one of keeping Sun Belt football alive.

(05-01-2012 08:13 AM)cajunhawk Wrote:  Attendance reasons? No one goes now and no one will go 5 years from now. As if CUSA is some magical pill that will all of a sudden make people care about UNT athletics.

And this is is why no one ever understood why UNT fans were unhappy in the Belt. There is nothing against the Sun Belt but Texas teams want to play Texas teams. It is just that simple. Thinking that adding Texas teams will not change the culture around the program implies that you really know nothing about the state and people of Texas.

The greatest mistake the Sun Belt ever made was leaving UNT all alone in Texas. No Texas teams, no local buy-in. When the closest conference game you have is 330 miles away, and not in your state (which is huge coming from the local culture of Texas) then fan apathy will be rampant. It is what it is.

That is the same reason why I feel for TSU. At least this time over they have UTA and they might eventually start football, but their will be some in state rivalry and comradery.

Troy and UNT were the last 2 stand alone geographic outliers. Troy now has GSU and SA and UNT is gone and the outliers have been replaced by FAU and TSU.

i hate losing unt. mainly because i know some of their folks but i don't blame them or fiu for leaving. they are simply doing what's best for them in their minds.

unt hoops has been pretty good so i'll miss that.
baseball....can't remember anything in that.
football....owned us until we beat them like stepchildren last year.
any other sport.....i could care less.

fiu hoops.....heyzeus on a unicycle....isiah thompson. really....anything else need to be said?
baseball....generally good.
football.....i think they can be a very good football team just due to location.
any other sport....i could care less.

as for fiu panther fan....you live in a third world country. it might as well be tegucigalpa or managua. don't worry about hilltops and we won't worry about guys standing on street corners with iguanas hanging over their shoulders ready for supper.

(05-01-2012 08:45 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:40 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  FWIW, I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other to FIU leaving. FAU/FIU are sort of interchangable, and as long as we keep one of them, i'm good. I don't know if we needed 2 Miami area schools anyway.

You did when our good buddies USU, NMSU and Idaho left for those greener pastures of the WAC. Don't forget that our legacy here in the Sun Belt will always be one of keeping Sun Belt football alive.

Thanks for that. But that doesn't change the fact that having one F_U makes having the other F_U redundant.

(05-01-2012 08:49 AM)laxtonto Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:13 AM)cajunhawk Wrote:  Attendance reasons? No one goes now and no one will go 5 years from now. As if CUSA is some magical pill that will all of a sudden make people care about UNT athletics.

And this is is why no one ever understood why UNT fans were unhappy in the Belt. There is nothing against the Sun Belt but Texas teams want to play Texas teams. It is just that simple. Thinking that adding Texas teams will not change the culture around the program implies that you really know nothing about the state and people of Texas.

The greatest mistake the Sun Belt ever made was leaving UNT all alone in Texas. No Texas teams, no local buy-in. When the closest conference game you have is 330 miles away, and not in your state (which is huge coming from the local culture of Texas) then fan apathy will be rampant. It is what it is.

That is the same reason why I feel for TSU. At least this time over they have UTA and they might eventually start football, but their will be some in state rivalry and comradery.

Troy and UNT were the last 2 stand alone geographic outliers. Troy now has GSU and SA and UNT is gone and the outliers have been replaced by FAU and TSU.

Having regional teams to play can help but it doesn't matter unless you win. I don't think UL drew 29K a game last year because ULM was in the conference or they would have done it before.

Playing Memphis has always been good for ASU's attendance but they brought 1000 fans last year because they stunk.

Getting regional teams on the schedule is a very good bandaid but ultimately if you aren't winning then people are not going to show.

I am not upset that UNT is leaving. I liked that it was an easy trip from Little Rock and there were some epic football games over the years. I am ready to move on and make the Sun Belt even stronger. I will root for UNT once a year when you guys play LT.

(05-01-2012 09:06 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:45 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:40 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  FWIW, I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other to FIU leaving. FAU/FIU are sort of interchangable, and as long as we keep one of them, i'm good. I don't know if we needed 2 Miami area schools anyway.

You did when our good buddies USU, NMSU and Idaho left for those greener pastures of the WAC. Don't forget that our legacy here in the Sun Belt will always be one of keeping Sun Belt football alive.

Thanks for that. But that doesn't change the fact that having one F_U makes having the other F_U redundant.

Sorry if it was redundant of us to save SBC football.

(04-30-2012 05:38 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  I'm being selfish of course....but thank the lord it was you instead of WKU.

Actually ark39inf, you are being two faced. You come on this board pretending to be so much against any university who would even consider the possibility of switching conferences, screaming "Sun Belt or die"!

Then you go on the den with these quotes:

Quote:It makes me nervous to see nobody below us ready to rise up and knowing conference realignment is not going to be finished after this. We better get our hair fixed real pretty and put on lipstick and get the high heels on as fast as possible and maybe lift our dress a little......look out for ourselves....just to be safe.

So stAte should look out for itself, do whatever it takes, but everyone else shouldn't?

Quote:May be, but I don't think realignment is over and the next wave could hurt a lot more than this one. We better be prepared to be in a position to look attractive and look out for ourselves when it arrives.

Quote:Agreed. We also are one of only two FBS programs in our state. Whether we do anything with that advantage is the question. So far we haven't been able to really.

I thought you were in the 'belt for the long haul? So you are only here because you haven't figured out a way to leverage yourself? What happened to the loyalty to WKU, MTSU and the cajuns? Are you working on getting them out as well? Ohh, I guess you answered that in your earlier quote when you said you would be looking out for yourself.

And of course, this quote brought to you by Haterade, the preferred drink of haters.

Quote:I wish UNT luck, but it would serve CUSA right if FIU fell on their face and returned to the Bottom 10 for an extended run.

That really shows your indifference to FIU.

what a tool.

(05-01-2012 09:10 AM)Crump1 Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:49 AM)laxtonto Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:13 AM)cajunhawk Wrote:  Attendance reasons? No one goes now and no one will go 5 years from now. As if CUSA is some magical pill that will all of a sudden make people care about UNT athletics.

And this is is why no one ever understood why UNT fans were unhappy in the Belt. There is nothing against the Sun Belt but Texas teams want to play Texas teams. It is just that simple. Thinking that adding Texas teams will not change the culture around the program implies that you really know nothing about the state and people of Texas.

The greatest mistake the Sun Belt ever made was leaving UNT all alone in Texas. No Texas teams, no local buy-in. When the closest conference game you have is 330 miles away, and not in your state (which is huge coming from the local culture of Texas) then fan apathy will be rampant. It is what it is.

That is the same reason why I feel for TSU. At least this time over they have UTA and they might eventually start football, but their will be some in state rivalry and comradery.

Troy and UNT were the last 2 stand alone geographic outliers. Troy now has GSU and SA and UNT is gone and the outliers have been replaced by FAU and TSU.

Having regional teams to play can help but it doesn't matter unless you win. I don't think UL drew 29K a game last year because ULM was in the conference or they would have done it before.

Playing Memphis has always been good for ASU's attendance but they brought 1000 fans last year because they stunk.

Getting regional teams on the schedule is a very good bandaid but ultimately if you aren't winning then people are not going to show.

I am not upset that UNT is leaving. I liked that it was an easy trip from Little Rock and there were some epic football games over the years. I am ready to move on and make the Sun Belt even stronger. I will root for UNT once a year when you guys play LT.

You do realize that UNT won the Belt 4 years running an attendance was still down?

Prior to last year, these were the top crowds ever to play in Denton. I am not going to post the offsite ones because that is pretty much cheating.


Attend. Opponent Date
1. 29,437 Baylor Sept. 6, 2003
2. 28,315 Baylor Aug. 31, 2000
3. 26,012 Navy Nov. 10, 2007
4. 25,231 SMU Sept. 9, 2006
5. 23,647 Army Nov. 21, 2009
6. 23,112 Tulsa Sept. 17, 2005
7. 22,837 TCU Sept. 1, 2001
8. 22,785 Tulsa Sept. 22, 2008
9. 22,750 SMU Oct. 6, 1990
10. 22,346 Middle Tennessee Sept. 26, 2009

Unfortunately MTSU is the lone Sun Belt opponent on that list and it is dominated by Texas schools and service academies (which draw well here in DFW).

Average attendance over that same span was:
Year Games Attendance Avg.
2009 .............6 ..................109,367 ...................... 18,228
2008 .............5 ..................84,778 ........................ 16,956
2007 .............5 ..................88,672 ........................ 17,734
2006 .............5 ..................78,249 ........................ 15,685
2005 .............5 ..................82,232 ........................ 16,446
2004 .............5 ..................75,921 ........................ 15,184
2003 .............5 ..................93,469 ........................ 18,694
2002 .............5 ..................76,302 ........................ 15,260
2001 .............5 ..................73,844 ........................ 14,769
2000 .............5 ..................70,900 ........................ 14,180

The difference between the average and actual of those games is right around 10k, not even talking about how these pull up the overall season average. Every Texas team that has played in Denton since 2000 is on that list.

Trust me, it is real important to have Texas teams come to town.

(05-01-2012 09:56 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(04-30-2012 05:38 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  I'm being selfish of course....but thank the lord it was you instead of WKU.

Actually ark39inf, you are being two faced. You come on this board pretending to be so much against any university who would even consider the possibility of switching conferences, screaming "Sun Belt or die"!

Then you go on the den with these quotes:

Quote:It makes me nervous to see nobody below us ready to rise up and knowing conference realignment is not going to be finished after this. We better get our hair fixed real pretty and put on lipstick and get the high heels on as fast as possible and maybe lift our dress a little......look out for ourselves....just to be safe.

So stAte should look out for itself, do whatever it takes, but everyone else shouldn't?

Quote:May be, but I don't think realignment is over and the next wave could hurt a lot more than this one. We better be prepared to be in a position to look attractive and look out for ourselves when it arrives.

Quote:Agreed. We also are one of only two FBS programs in our state. Whether we do anything with that advantage is the question. So far we haven't been able to really.

I thought you were in the 'belt for the long haul? So you are only here because you haven't figured out a way to leverage yourself? What happened to the loyalty to WKU, MTSU and the cajuns? Are you working on getting them out as well? Ohh, I guess you answered that in your earlier quote when you said you would be looking out for yourself.

And of course, this quote brought to you by Haterade, the preferred drink of haters.

Quote:I wish UNT luck, but it would serve CUSA right if FIU fell on their face and returned to the Bottom 10 for an extended run.

That really shows your indifference to FIU.

Not aimed at FIU, aimed at CUSA. Notice it said "would serve CUSA right". You are very sensitive.

That was a knockout, FIU4Ever....

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...y/18923863

"Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Texas San Antonio, Charlotte and Old Dominion will join C-USA giving the league 14 members."

So Sun Belt needs two of NMSU, App State, or GS.

(05-01-2012 08:45 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(05-01-2012 08:40 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  FWIW, I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other to FIU leaving. FAU/FIU are sort of interchangable, and as long as we keep one of them, i'm good. I don't know if we needed 2 Miami area schools anyway.

You did when our good buddies USU, NMSU and Idaho left for those greener pastures of the WAC. Don't forget that our legacy here in the Sun Belt will always be one of keeping Sun Belt football alive.

WELL F'ING SAID!!!!!!!!!

i remember NT turning down the WAC back then ...... only to see USU, NMSU, and Idaho leave the Sunbelt.... FAU and FIU definitley saved the sunbelt no doubt..... i still harbor bad feeling toward NMSU, USU, and Idaho..... let them rot