fwiw...

SPECIAL REPORT: CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT MT emails make The Case for CUSA

Good read, great effort. Sorry it didn't work out.

Very interesting behind-the scenes actions by MTSU leaders in this situation of trying hard to make a case to C-USA executives. Very seldom do we read (well, are told by a writer what he read) and see this much information from its origin.

I wonder if any other university other than MTSU (FAU maybe?) made any overtures as well. It would be interesting to read from FIU's position as well.

EDIT: Decided not to hijack this thread. Also, here is a link that works. The DNJ has a habit of deleting their articles, unless I'm always clicking on invalid links, right...

http://www.lohud.com/article/D4/20120520...nav%7Chead

(05-20-2012 09:00 AM)FIUFanatic Wrote:  I wonder if any other university other than MTSU (FAU maybe?) made any overtures as well. It would be interesting to read from FIU's position as well.

Probably all.

If MTSU had Troy's success in football over the past 7 years, then I think they would have received an invite. MTSU has a good market so it is a little puzzling why they fell so far down the list. My guess is that there are concerns whether MTSU could become a very good football program given that they have not been extremely successful in the SB, and Tennessee does not produce a lot of football talent which makes recruiting difficult. Although FIU has not been good until recently, they are located in a recruiting hot bed which gives them high marks in the "potential" category. Same for ODU. It seems MTSU is a case where performance on the field and "potential" to elevate the football program may be factoring in. Just a thought. I may be completely wrong.

(05-20-2012 09:50 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  My guess is that there are concerns whether MTSU could become a very good football program given that they have not been extremely successful in the SB.

I may be completely wrong.

Not completely, but I guess by those standards, only Troy and UNT have been extremely successful in the sunbelt. MTSU, is second in the sunbelt over the last 5 years with the most conference wins. It's Troy, then MTSU.

(05-20-2012 09:56 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(05-20-2012 09:50 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  My guess is that there are concerns whether MTSU could become a very good football program given that they have not been extremely successful in the SB.

I may be completely wrong.

Not completely, but I guess by those standards, only Troy and UNT have been extremely successful in the sunbelt. MTSU, is second in the sunbelt over the last 5 years with the most conference wins. It's Troy, then MTSU.

They have done relatively well, so maybe I am wrong. Something seems to be holding them back though. I know UT Vols have struggled the last 10 years and a big part of that is the difficulty of recruiting out of state which is mandatory for programs in Tennessee to be successful. When Fulmer was winning, it was with players from GA, NC, AL and all over the nation. Once Richt came on board at UGA, UT's recruiting started to suffer. With Saban on board it has become tougher. When Fulmer was at his peak, UT could pull in top players all over the country and would consistenly finish in the top 5 in recruiting every year.

(05-20-2012 10:07 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(05-20-2012 09:56 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(05-20-2012 09:50 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  My guess is that there are concerns whether MTSU could become a very good football program given that they have not been extremely successful in the SB.

I may be completely wrong.

Not completely, but I guess by those standards, only Troy and UNT have been extremely successful in the sunbelt. MTSU, is second in the sunbelt over the last 5 years with the most conference wins. It's Troy, then MTSU.

They have done relatively well, so maybe I am wrong. Something seems to be holding them back though. I know UT Vols have struggled the last 10 years and a big part of that is the difficulty of recruiting out of state which is mandatory for programs in Tennessee to be successful. When Fulmer was winning, it was with players from GA, NC, AL and all over the nation. Once Richt came on board at UGA, UT's recruiting started to suffer. With Saban on board it has become tougher. When Fulmer was at his peak, UT could pull in top players all over the country and would consistenly finish in the top 5 in recruiting every year.

There were many years where MTSU was on the brink of something special. 2009 sas a special year for them, but even then, they were one step short of the conference title. I'm not sure any one thing is holding them back, it just hasn't all come together yet. One or two pieces missing every year, but different ones each time.

In recent years MTSU hasn't lacked in speed, but have lacked in size, and that size in the trenches especially has always been whats kept them from beating Troy, and probably other sunbelt teams as well.

I'd love to know the conversations in the CUSA board room with the decision re: MT vs some of the others.

ODU - Nice market, brings a new state to CUSA, great basketball, attendance, close to ECU. Nice budget. I could see it.
FIU/NT - market driven. Not bad programs either. I could buy that.
UTSA - lost some Texas schools, they have to replace one. I could buy that one too.

UNCC - They don't have a football program, will take them a while to get off the ground. Dubious athletic support for football. facilities? They already have a foothold in North Carolina. I would have thought MT the better choice from an expansion of the market, an overall athletic program, etc.

LaTech - completely baffling.

(05-20-2012 10:24 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(05-20-2012 10:07 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(05-20-2012 09:56 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(05-20-2012 09:50 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  My guess is that there are concerns whether MTSU could become a very good football program given that they have not been extremely successful in the SB.

I may be completely wrong.

Not completely, but I guess by those standards, only Troy and UNT have been extremely successful in the sunbelt. MTSU, is second in the sunbelt over the last 5 years with the most conference wins. It's Troy, then MTSU.

They have done relatively well, so maybe I am wrong. Something seems to be holding them back though. I know UT Vols have struggled the last 10 years and a big part of that is the difficulty of recruiting out of state which is mandatory for programs in Tennessee to be successful. When Fulmer was winning, it was with players from GA, NC, AL and all over the nation. Once Richt came on board at UGA, UT's recruiting started to suffer. With Saban on board it has become tougher. When Fulmer was at his peak, UT could pull in top players all over the country and would consistenly finish in the top 5 in recruiting every year.

There were many years where MTSU was on the brink of something special. 2009 sas a special year for them, but even then, they were one step short of the conference title. I'm not sure any one thing is holding them back, it just hasn't all come together yet. One or two pieces missing every year, but different ones each time.

In recent years MTSU hasn't lacked in speed, but have lacked in size, and that size in the trenches especially has always been whats kept them from beating Troy, and probably other sunbelt teams as well.

Since the SBC football formed, I would think only Troy and NT had a more successful football program overall (and while NT had a nice run, they've been in the dumps for the past few years and MT has been relatively consistent).

Yeah, we had a rough year last year. But who in this conference hasn't had one of those?

And considering the number of Bubba Cups we've won, I don't think anyone else in the SBC has a more successful all around athletic program.

If that doesn't meet your definition of successful, I don't know what does.

Conf USA is going to wait until there is no reason for MT, or any other team, to leave the Sun Belt.

(05-20-2012 08:58 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Good read, great effort. Sorry it didn't work out.

The timeline of some of these emails and actions is interesting considering what was going on with cusa expansion speculation at the time.

(05-20-2012 11:08 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  I'd love to know the conversations in the CUSA board room with the decision re: MT vs some of the others.

ODU - Nice market, brings a new state to CUSA, great basketball, attendance, close to ECU. Nice budget. I could see it.
FIU/NT - market driven. Not bad programs either. I could buy that.
UTSA - lost some Texas schools, they have to replace one. I could buy that one too.

UNCC - They don't have a football program, will take them a while to get off the ground. Dubious athletic support for football. facilities? They already have a foothold in North Carolina. I would have thought MT the better choice from an expansion of the market, an overall athletic program, etc.

LaTech - completely baffling.

MTSU probably should have gotten in over UNCC, but old relationships made that happen. All the others make plenty of sense for what CUSA is.

(05-20-2012 02:29 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  MTSU probably should have gotten in over UNCC, but old relationships made that happen. All the others make plenty of sense for what CUSA is.

With you being a CUSA fan, i'd love to hear your rationale re: LaTech vs MT.

Market: MT by a longshot. MT actually brings a new state to the table

Budget: MT by about 10 million

Recent football success: About the same, but MT has a higher win % over the past 6 years.

Attendance: Virtually the same
I could keep going.....

Im sorry MTSU fans had to remain in a conference as terrible as the Sun Belt.

End Sarcasm.

(05-20-2012 07:57 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  Im sorry MTSU fans had to remain in a conference as terrible as the Sun Belt.

End Sarcasm.

I would like to see the teams stay...some of the fans could make a new home in CUSA though.

(05-20-2012 11:08 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  I'd love to know the conversations in the CUSA board room with the decision re: MT vs some of the others.

ODU - Nice market, brings a new state to CUSA, great basketball, attendance, close to ECU. Nice budget. I could see it.
FIU/NT - market driven. Not bad programs either. I could buy that.
UTSA - lost some Texas schools, they have to replace one. I could buy that one too.

UNCC - They don't have a football program, will take them a while to get off the ground. Dubious athletic support for football. facilities? They already have a foothold in North Carolina. I would have thought MT the better choice from an expansion of the market, an overall athletic program, etc.

LaTech - completely baffling.


MTSU

(05-20-2012 11:08 AM)RaiderDoug Wrote:  UNCC - They don't have a football program, will take them a while to get off the ground. Dubious athletic support for football. facilities? They already have a foothold in North Carolina. I would have thought MT the better choice from an expansion of the market, an overall athletic program, etc.

LaTech - completely baffling.

Charlotte got in because of the history it had with CUSA. And the relationships with the Admin at different schools.

You can look at different threads on the CUSA and SB boards to see my thoughts on LA Tech.

Video - CUSA Commissioner on MTSU