(03-14-2019 07:37 AM)ImfromClayton Wrote:  If you guys are season ticket holders at your school (basketball), what do you think about the thursday/saturday thing?

I think it's a good idea in theory, but in practice it's awful for attendance. People pick one or the other to go to, as two games in 3 days is a lot for people, and no offense to anyone, but the basketball in this league isn't "can't miss." Years ago, we averaged about one home game per week.

I get that it saves us money on travel, but I wonder how much it's costing us in other areas. It's also hard for us to watch other teams in CUSA, as we are all playing at the same time. I'd normally try to watch all the CUSA games I could, but you can't with this schedule, unless you record them.

Put me in the camp that likes Thu/Sat. Keeps things predictable. Imagine having a different schedule each week... that would suck. With this I simply keep my Thu nights free so I make it each game. Missing Saturdays are more likely to happen with weekend trips and the less predictable tipoff times.

(03-14-2019 07:15 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(03-13-2019 09:53 PM)winston70 Wrote:  Replace Judy

Good first step.

We need school officials to realize this and make some noise.

Here's an idea. Don't have the men play during the middle of the day on a friday.

(03-14-2019 08:31 AM)inutech Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 05:01 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 02:56 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 01:42 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  Annex the Texas schools. East forms own conference, add Georgia St. and Georgia Southern. Have conf. tournament alternate between Atlanta and Nashville. Top two teams get double byes into semifinals.

Not bad. Or we could have the east form its own conference but trade FIU/FAU to the SB for Ga. St, App. St. Its time we realized CUSA isn't much better than the SB anyway. At least we'd get one program that cares about basketball and two teams that are much better geographical fits.

Agree. The two divisions should split. Each side could then pull new members from the Sun Belt. Geographically compact conferences are the only way to go for programs outside the power structure.

Bus leagues save money, and compelling rivalries against nearby schools sell tickets.

Is that why the MAC is so much more successful than the other G5 conferences?

I think we could stand to be a little tighter geographically. And I do think 14 teams is way too many for a conference. But there are some decent reasons that FBS conferences aren't simply organized by the tightest geographical fit possible.

I don't know much about what's going on in the MAC. I do know that those schools play an inordinate number of games during the week for national TV exposure. That helps recruiting, but it kills attendance.

The MAC also resides in one of the coldest regions of the country. Not many fans will go to a game when it's freezing outside and the wind is blowing 20MPH. The damp fog roles in off the Great Lakes as well. My guess is that attendance drops off dramatically by mid-October.

CUSA and the Sun Belt don't have these issues. We play our games on Saturdays, and it's usually hot as hell until early December.

(03-14-2019 10:44 AM)ODU2011 Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 07:15 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(03-13-2019 09:53 PM)winston70 Wrote:  Replace Judy

Good first step.

We need school officials to realize this and make some noise.

But even Banowski was run off after adding too many schools and dropping the ball during ensuing television negotiations. He found out the hard way that adding small FCS schools in large markets meant nothing to TV executives. There's not a good history of leadership at the top of CUSA since Slive was in charge. I honestly doubt that anyone could come in do anything better with this mess.

(03-14-2019 10:59 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  Here's an idea. Don't have the men play during the middle of the day on a friday.

CBSSN, not CBS tells us to play semifinals during day Friday, its been like that for a long time even before WKU joined. I guess if we played semi's at night we could get Bein to carry games..

(03-14-2019 10:59 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  Here's an idea. Don't have the men play during the middle of the day on a friday.

For freaking real. How am I going to see that one while sitting at work?

(03-12-2019 11:17 AM)MU ATO Wrote:  Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day.

I'm actually good with that, except IMO the line needs to be moved eastward just enough to include USM and UAB. That leaves the following:

LA Tech
USM
UAB
UNT
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

That's 7 schools from only 4 contiguous states (AL, MS, LA & TX). From there, "CUSA 4.0" can add 2 or 3 other high quality schools that already sit within that pretty tight footprint. But no more than 9 members (optimum for football) or 10 members (probably best for all other sports), tops.

These 7 schools (plus the new members) would all have access to at least 10 driveable bowl games throughout the states of Texas (Frisco Bowl, HOD/First Responders Bowl, Texas Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl & NM Bowl) Louisiana (New Orleans Bowl & Indy Bowl), and Alabama (Camellia Bowl, Dollar General Bowl & Birmingham Bowl), as well as some of the country's greatest cities (Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans & Birmingham) to host basketball & baseball tournaments, etc... And without the baggage in the east, we'll have a whole lot less beeching too.

(03-14-2019 11:40 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 11:17 AM)MU ATO Wrote:  Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day.

I'm actually good with that, except IMO the line needs to be moved eastward just enough to include USM and UAB. That leaves the following:

LA Tech
USM
UAB
UNT
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

That's 7 schools from only 4 contiguous states (AL, MS, LA & TX). From there, "CUSA 4.0" can add 2 or three 3 other high quality schools that already sit within that pretty tight footprint. But no more than 9 members (optimum for football) or 10 members (probably best for all other sports), tops. And without the baggage in the east, we'll have a whole lot less beeching too.

...like Texas State, New Mexico State, ULL, and Arkansas State. I could handle that.

(03-14-2019 11:38 AM)MonarchManiac Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 10:59 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  Here's an idea. Don't have the men play during the middle of the day on a friday.

For freaking real. How am I going to see that one while sitting at work?

Hopefully, we'll make sure that isn't a problem for you.

(03-14-2019 12:11 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:38 AM)MonarchManiac Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 10:59 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  Here's an idea. Don't have the men play during the middle of the day on a friday.

For freaking real. How am I going to see that one while sitting at work?

Hopefully, we'll make sure that isn't a problem for you.

(03-14-2019 09:43 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 07:37 AM)ImfromClayton Wrote:  If you guys are season ticket holders at your school (basketball), what do you think about the thursday/saturday thing?

I think it's a good idea in theory, but in practice it's awful for attendance. People pick one or the other to go to, as two games in 3 days is a lot for people, and no offense to anyone, but the basketball in this league isn't "can't miss." Years ago, we averaged about one home game per week.

I get that it saves us money on travel, but I wonder how much it's costing us in other areas. It's also hard for us to watch other teams in CUSA, as we are all playing at the same time. I'd normally try to watch all the CUSA games I could, but you can't with this schedule, unless you record them.

Put me in the camp that likes Thu/Sat. Keeps things predictable. Imagine having a different schedule each week... that would suck. With this I simply keep my Thu nights free so I make it each game. Missing Saturdays are more likely to happen with weekend trips and the less predictable tipoff times.

I can't speak for ODU, but Charlotte has never been in a league that was this regimented scheduling wise. I've never even considered an inconsistent schedule being an issue, because it's reality for 300+ other programs.

Also, kindly, you just described the exact problem I'm pointing out. People are much more likely to pick a game a week to attend instead of try to go to all of them with this scheduling format. I caught myself in that mentality this year. If I made the Thursday, I didn't care as much about going Saturday. If I missed Thursday, I made sure to catch Saturday. Years ago, I attended every game religiously. Admittedly, if we didn't suck for the last 15 years, I'd still be much more religious about going.

(03-14-2019 11:51 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:40 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 11:17 AM)MU ATO Wrote:  Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day.

I'm actually good with that, except IMO the line needs to be moved eastward just enough to include USM and UAB. That leaves the following:

LA Tech
USM
UAB
UNT
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

That's 7 schools from only 4 contiguous states (AL, MS, LA & TX). From there, "CUSA 4.0" can add 2 or three 3 other high quality schools that already sit within that pretty tight footprint. But no more than 9 members (optimum for football) or 10 members (probably best for all other sports), tops. And without the baggage in the east, we'll have a whole lot less beeching too.

...like Texas State, Troy, New Mexico State, ULL, and Arkansas State. I could handle that.

FIFY....

That's what I was thinking too. Every year we have to scramble to find bowl games for the schools in the east. No offense to the east, but we just don't need 'em. They are unnecessary baggage for those in the west. The CUSA East schools add little value to CUSA (I don't mean competitively, I mean strategically). The East adds no desirable bowl games, no tournament sites (e.g., literally no city in the east bid to host the CUSA Basketball tournament for 2020 & 2021) and they are a very tough "sell" back home to most fans in western CUSA. Nobody in Ruston or Denton or Hattiesburg gets excited about ODU, or Charlotte or the F_U's coming to town.

And yes, I know the reverse is true as well. All the more reason we should seriously agree to consider parting company.

The point is, these 7 specific schools that could make up "CUSA 4.0" in the west already have access to everything needed to be successful as a newer, smaller (in membership numbers) conference. Excluding the major bowl games --such as the Sugar, Cotton, etc.-- I counted at least 10 Bowl games in TX (5), LA (2) & Ala (3) that could easily involve these western schools at any time. There's just no need for this group to be carrying the eastern teams who probably should have never been added in the first place.

So, I say...just add 2 or 3 new members (maximum) to these 7 "CUSA 4.0" schools I mentioned, and market the crap out of this NEW conference throughout the 4 (or what could possibly be a 5-state) region. Become a household name. Schedule most OOC games against Big XII, SEC & AAC teams first and foremost, in this footprint. Hold the conference baseball tournaments in such Big Time venues as Frisco's Dr Pepper Park. Rotate the conference football championship between such big media markets as Dallas-Ft Worth (including Frisco), San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans. The CUSA West schools already have EVERYTHING we need within a half day's drive for most of us in this footprint.

(03-14-2019 12:53 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:51 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:40 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 11:17 AM)MU ATO Wrote:  Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day.

I'm actually good with that, except IMO the line needs to be moved eastward just enough to include USM and UAB. That leaves the following:

LA Tech
USM
UAB
UNT
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

That's 7 schools from only 4 contiguous states (AL, MS, LA & TX). From there, "CUSA 4.0" can add 2 or three 3 other high quality schools that already sit within that pretty tight footprint. But no more than 9 members (optimum for football) or 10 members (probably best for all other sports), tops. And without the baggage in the east, we'll have a whole lot less beeching too.

...like Texas State, Troy, New Mexico State, ULL, and Arkansas State. I could handle that.

FIFY....

That's what I was thinking too. Every year we have to scramble to find bowl games for the schools in the east. No offense to the east, but we just don't need 'em. They are unnecessary baggage for those in the west. The CUSA East schools add little value to CUSA. No bowl games, no tournament sites (e.g., literally no city in the east bid to host the CUSA Basketball tournament for 2020 & 2021) and they are a very tough "sell" back home to most fans in western CUSA. Nobody in Ruston or Denton or Hattiesburg gets excited about ODU, or Charlotte or the F_U's coming to town.

And yes, I know the reverse is true as well. All the more reason we should seriously agree to consider parting company.

The point is, these 7 specific schools that I mentioned in the west already have access to everything needed to be successful as a newer, smaller (in membership numbers) conference. Excluding the major bowl games -such as the Sugar, Cotton, etc.-- I counted at least 10 Bowl games in TX (5), LA (2) & Ala (3) that could easily involve these western schools at any time. There's just no need for this group to be carrying the eastern teams who probably should have never been added in the first place.

So, I say...just add 2 or 3 new members (maximum) to these 7 schools I mentioned, and market the crap out of this NEW conference throughout the 4 (or what could possibly be a 5-state) region. Become a household name. Schedule most OOC games against Big XII, SEC & AAC teams first and foremost, in this footprint. Hold the conference baseball tournaments in such Big Time venues as Frisco's Dr Pepper Park. Rotate the conference football championship between such big media markets as Dallas-Ft Worth (including Frisco), San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans. The CUSA West schools already have EVERYTHING we need within a half day's drive for most of us in this footprint.

When it comes to actually winning games on field, court the eastern schools you are saying you do not need has carried the conference...When was the last time we had a western school in NCAA tournament? For that matter when is the last time a western school even made CUSA finals? Awful lot of bravado for schools who have done nothing since 2014....

(03-14-2019 01:12 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 12:53 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:51 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:40 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 11:17 AM)MU ATO Wrote:  Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day.

I'm actually good with that, except IMO the line needs to be moved eastward just enough to include USM and UAB. That leaves the following:

LA Tech
USM
UAB
UNT
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

That's 7 schools from only 4 contiguous states (AL, MS, LA & TX). From there, "CUSA 4.0" can add 2 or three 3 other high quality schools that already sit within that pretty tight footprint. But no more than 9 members (optimum for football) or 10 members (probably best for all other sports), tops. And without the baggage in the east, we'll have a whole lot less beeching too.

...like Texas State, Troy, New Mexico State, ULL, and Arkansas State. I could handle that.

FIFY....

That's what I was thinking too. Every year we have to scramble to find bowl games for the schools in the east. No offense to the east, but we just don't need 'em. They are unnecessary baggage for those in the west. The CUSA East schools add little value to CUSA. No bowl games, no tournament sites (e.g., literally no city in the east bid to host the CUSA Basketball tournament for 2020 & 2021) and they are a very tough "sell" back home to most fans in western CUSA. Nobody in Ruston or Denton or Hattiesburg gets excited about ODU, or Charlotte or the F_U's coming to town.

And yes, I know the reverse is true as well. All the more reason we should seriously agree to consider parting company.

The point is, these 7 specific schools that I mentioned in the west already have access to everything needed to be successful as a newer, smaller (in membership numbers) conference. Excluding the major bowl games -such as the Sugar, Cotton, etc.-- I counted at least 10 Bowl games in TX (5), LA (2) & Ala (3) that could easily involve these western schools at any time. There's just no need for this group to be carrying the eastern teams who probably should have never been added in the first place.

So, I say...just add 2 or 3 new members (maximum) to these 7 schools I mentioned, and market the crap out of this NEW conference throughout the 4 (or what could possibly be a 5-state) region. Become a household name. Schedule most OOC games against Big XII, SEC & AAC teams first and foremost, in this footprint. Hold the conference baseball tournaments in such Big Time venues as Frisco's Dr Pepper Park. Rotate the conference football championship between such big media markets as Dallas-Ft Worth (including Frisco), San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans. The CUSA West schools already have EVERYTHING we need within a half day's drive for most of us in this footprint.

When it comes to actually winning games on field, court the eastern schools you are saying you do not need has carried the conference...When was the last time we had a western school in NCAA tournament? For that matter when is the last time a western school even made CUSA finals? Awful lot of bravado for schools who have done nothing since 2014....

This isn't about the competitiveness. It's about the conferences STRATEGY for success, and what CUSA needs to to do to improve. But since you asked, its pretty well known that LA Tech was CUSA's 2014 & 2015 regular season mens BB champions, before fading in the CUSA tournaments (as we have been know to do). Tech also finished 2nd in 2017 and 3rd in 2016. Furthermore, the LA Tech football team is pretty widely recognized as the most consistent performer in CUSA, as exemplified by being one of only 2 schools in America (Wisconsin is the other) to win 5 straight bowl games. I saw an article on LA Tech's consistency last week: https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...ule-roster

All that said, some of you people are just weird. My post was a response to a Marshall fan who posted "Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day." Okay. So, I essentially AGREED with him, stated why I think its a good idea for us westerners to bolt, and now some of you guys still beeech. For the love of God, make up your mind!

If things have reached the point where upward movement is no longer possible, I am A-okay with HogDawg's plan. That sounds like a great conference to me.

(03-14-2019 12:53 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:51 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 11:40 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(03-12-2019 11:17 AM)MU ATO Wrote:  Remove all teams West of the Mississippi and call it a day.

I'm actually good with that, except IMO the line needs to be moved eastward just enough to include USM and UAB. That leaves the following:

LA Tech
USM
UAB
UNT
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

That's 7 schools from only 4 contiguous states (AL, MS, LA & TX). From there, "CUSA 4.0" can add 2 or three 3 other high quality schools that already sit within that pretty tight footprint. But no more than 9 members (optimum for football) or 10 members (probably best for all other sports), tops. And without the baggage in the east, we'll have a whole lot less beeching too.

...like Texas State, Troy, New Mexico State, ULL, and Arkansas State. I could handle that.

FIFY....

That's what I was thinking too. Every year we have to scramble to find bowl games for the schools in the east. No offense to the east, but we just don't need 'em. They are unnecessary baggage for those in the west. The CUSA East schools add little value to CUSA (I don't mean competitively, I mean strategically). The East adds no desirable bowl games, no tournament sites (e.g., literally no city in the east bid to host the CUSA Basketball tournament for 2020 & 2021) and they are a very tough "sell" back home to most fans in western CUSA. Nobody in Ruston or Denton or Hattiesburg gets excited about ODU, or Charlotte or the F_U's coming to town.

And yes, I know the reverse is true as well. All the more reason we should seriously agree to consider parting company.

The point is, these 7 specific schools that could make up "CUSA 4.0" in the west already have access to everything needed to be successful as a newer, smaller (in membership numbers) conference. Excluding the major bowl games --such as the Sugar, Cotton, etc.-- I counted at least 10 Bowl games in TX (5), LA (2) & Ala (3) that could easily involve these western schools at any time. There's just no need for this group to be carrying the eastern teams who probably should have never been added in the first place.

So, I say...just add 2 or 3 new members (maximum) to these 7 "CUSA 4.0" schools I mentioned, and market the crap out of this NEW conference throughout the 4 (or what could possibly be a 5-state) region. Become a household name. Schedule most OOC games against Big XII, SEC & AAC teams first and foremost, in this footprint. Hold the conference baseball tournaments in such Big Time venues as Frisco's Dr Pepper Park. Rotate the conference football championship between such big media markets as Dallas-Ft Worth (including Frisco), San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans. The CUSA West schools already have EVERYTHING we need within a half day's drive for most of us in this footprint.

The short answer here is that (while I'd be totally fine with this) the NCAA isn't too quick to part with those basketball auto-bids. Because for every autobid, they have one less spot to give an at-large to a 10th place ACC or Big 10 team. It's stupid, but the MWC split was how we ended up with the silly play-in games to begin with (back when there was just one). And that was with strong programs in both the new conference (that they didn't want to give the auto-bid to) and the group left in the WAC.

If they'd be willing to just assign that spot these days (since we're already up to 4 extra teams anyway) then we could be on our way.

The other thing we always hear in these conversations (which I'm skeptical of but we'll never know) is that the other 2 or 3 or 5 teams (but N/A if NMSU is an option) loooooooove the current Sunbelt soooooooo much and would never want to leave their veeeeeeeery beeeeest friendsies to associate with lowly programs like UNT and Tech and travel to El Paso. But, you know. . .

Last (lesser) issue would be that regional OOC games would get harder to come by if the Belt and CUSA re-shuffled too much along geographic lines. In theory the AAC and any leftovers would be good options. Or maybe we'd all be so satisfied with tighter conference geography that we'd be more forgiving of playing our (newly) former conference mates in OOC games (or the MAC or MWC).

Yeah, it's not that the East is less competitive. It's that we don't need one another. We aren't rivals and we travel too far. Our cultures are different. It's a waste of time to continue as we do. Each division has what it needs to survive on its own, particularly with the new schools that each side would inevitably add after the breakup.

The East could continue to prioritize football and basketball, and the West could continue to prioritize football and baseball.

Merge. Get a waiver for conferences larger than 15 to have a 4-team playoff. Then:
Marshall
WKU
MTSU
ODU
Charlotte
Appy State

Coastal Carolina
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
South Alabama
Troy
ULaMo

FIU
FAU
UAB
USM
La Tech
ULaLa

Ark State
Rice
UNT
UTSA
UTEP
Texas State

Plausible, but that doesn't really solve the travel problem. There would be crossover games from Texas to Florida.