(09-03-2014 09:26 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote: (09-03-2014 09:14 PM)AstroCajun Wrote: Meh. Their wounds are largely self inflicted.
They deserve it if you ask me. They blocked USA when C-USA formed and has blocked them ever since. They never wanted USA to develop football because Mobile was their lifeline, for the most part, and they knew a good USA program isn't good for them.
USA starting football has hurt them. I did an analysis on Mobile and FL panhandle players going to USM before and after USA football started a while back and it's pretty compelling. It's funny they have worked so hard to block us because being in the same league with them would help them so much. Our fans would travel there and they'd make money. And they would be able to maintain a presence in Mobile by being able to play in Mobile. It's ironic actually.
USM has made so many mistakes, both on and off the field. USM's natural market area should have included Mobile and the Mississippi Coast. They wasted their superior position and allowed others to move into that space.
If USM played one home game every two years at Ladd, would USA bother with starting a football team? If USM had actually provided courses and marketed those courses on the Mississippi Coast, would USA have such a strong presence in Mississippi (Mississippi residents taking classes at USA in Mobile > Alabama residents taking classes at USM by a factor of 10). USA is considering opening up a branch campus in USM's footprint. The second largest feeder institution to USA is an institution in Mississippi. If USA hasn't passed USM in total enrollment yet, it will do so within the next 2 or 3 years.
So they ignored Mobile, so USA now has a football team. They ignored the Mississippi Coast, where USA is now entrenched.
And then they got screwed by the AAC. Now they are left in a conference not much (if any) better than the Sun Belt, USA is playing football, and USA now draws as many (if not more) students from the Coast as USM does.
Smart schools look upward and downward. USA competes with USM but will also take steps to ensure that other rivals don't emerge in their market. For example, USA cannot stop UWF from starting football or offering in state tuition to Baldwin County residents (a USA extension in Foley would be a logical response to that move) , but they certainly will watch those programs like a hawk in order to ensure that what USA has built, doesn't get swiped away by a smaller rival. USM never did that with USA.