(10-18-2019 02:23 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 05:13 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:42 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm curious what happens to CUSA-East if let's say that the AAC does poach AFA from the MWC. Does the MWC reload with Rice? The CUSA try to reload with TxSt? What does CUSA-East feel about that situation.

If the MWC loses AFA, my guess is they pick up the 11-team scheduling waiver gauntlet from the AAC, which would no longer need it but might support it anyway to hedge their bets if it loses another school down the line.

The MWC would not pick up Rice as they are at best lousy in football and basketball. They would need someone good in at least one of those, possibly UTEP oR NMSU, or someone else. I do not see the MW losing AFA in the near future so this is all bloviating.

AFA is one of only 7 MWC baseball-playing schools. Rice has a prominent baseball program, while UTEP does not sponsor baseball. Rice also brings a strong women’s basketball program ranked in the pre-season Top 25.

Football is crawling back from lousy, and was the C-USA champion as recently as 2013. Rice also beat Air Force and Fresno State in bowl games this decade. Rice has home and home football series scheduled with Boise State and BYU. Rice had home P5 football games (Texas, Baylor, Wake Forest) that were all picked up in 2019 for CBS-SN national broadcasts under the C-USA media contract, and LSU, Northwestern, Army, BYU and Houston in the future.

I agree with Yosef that the MWC would take a look at Rice. Would Rice jump as the only Texas school in the MWC?

In a heartbeat

(10-18-2019 02:23 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 05:13 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:42 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm curious what happens to CUSA-East if let's say that the AAC does poach AFA from the MWC. Does the MWC reload with Rice? The CUSA try to reload with TxSt? What does CUSA-East feel about that situation.

If the MWC loses AFA, my guess is they pick up the 11-team scheduling waiver gauntlet from the AAC, which would no longer need it but might support it anyway to hedge their bets if it loses another school down the line.

The MWC would not pick up Rice as they are at best lousy in football and basketball. They would need someone good in at least one of those, possibly UTEP oR NMSU, or someone else. I do not see the MW losing AFA in the near future so this is all bloviating.

AFA is one of only 7 MWC baseball-playing schools. Rice has a prominent baseball program, while UTEP does not sponsor baseball. Rice also brings a strong women’s basketball program ranked in the pre-season Top 25.

Football is crawling back from lousy, and was the C-USA champion as recently as 2013. Rice also beat Air Force and Fresno State in bowl games this decade. Rice has home and home football series scheduled with Boise State and BYU. Rice had home P5 football games (Texas, Baylor, Wake Forest) that were all picked up in 2019 for CBS-SN national broadcasts under the C-USA media contract, and LSU, Northwestern, Army, BYU and Houston in the future.

I agree with Yosef that the MWC would take a look at Rice. Would Rice jump as the only Texas school in the MWC?

Why would the MWC want Rice? They suck in football and basketball, if they came baseball only, maybe.


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(10-18-2019 08:03 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 02:23 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 05:13 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:42 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm curious what happens to CUSA-East if let's say that the AAC does poach AFA from the MWC. Does the MWC reload with Rice? The CUSA try to reload with TxSt? What does CUSA-East feel about that situation.

If the MWC loses AFA, my guess is they pick up the 11-team scheduling waiver gauntlet from the AAC, which would no longer need it but might support it anyway to hedge their bets if it loses another school down the line.

The MWC would not pick up Rice as they are at best lousy in football and basketball. They would need someone good in at least one of those, possibly UTEP oR NMSU, or someone else. I do not see the MW losing AFA in the near future so this is all bloviating.

AFA is one of only 7 MWC baseball-playing schools. Rice has a prominent baseball program, while UTEP does not sponsor baseball. Rice also brings a strong women’s basketball program ranked in the pre-season Top 25.

Football is crawling back from lousy, and was the C-USA champion as recently as 2013. Rice also beat Air Force and Fresno State in bowl games this decade. Rice has home and home football series scheduled with Boise State and BYU. Rice had home P5 football games (Texas, Baylor, Wake Forest) that were all picked up in 2019 for CBS-SN national broadcasts under the C-USA media contract, and LSU, Northwestern, Army, BYU and Houston in the future.

I agree with Yosef that the MWC would take a look at Rice. Would Rice jump as the only Texas school in the MWC?

Why would the MWC want Rice? They suck in football and basketball, if they came baseball only, maybe.


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Presidents do the voting.

(10-18-2019 08:03 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 02:23 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 05:13 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:42 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm curious what happens to CUSA-East if let's say that the AAC does poach AFA from the MWC. Does the MWC reload with Rice? The CUSA try to reload with TxSt? What does CUSA-East feel about that situation.

If the MWC loses AFA, my guess is they pick up the 11-team scheduling waiver gauntlet from the AAC, which would no longer need it but might support it anyway to hedge their bets if it loses another school down the line.

The MWC would not pick up Rice as they are at best lousy in football and basketball. They would need someone good in at least one of those, possibly UTEP oR NMSU, or someone else. I do not see the MW losing AFA in the near future so this is all bloviating.

AFA is one of only 7 MWC baseball-playing schools. Rice has a prominent baseball program, while UTEP does not sponsor baseball. Rice also brings a strong women’s basketball program ranked in the pre-season Top 25.

Football is crawling back from lousy, and was the C-USA champion as recently as 2013. Rice also beat Air Force and Fresno State in bowl games this decade. Rice has home and home football series scheduled with Boise State and BYU. Rice had home P5 football games (Texas, Baylor, Wake Forest) that were all picked up in 2019 for CBS-SN national broadcasts under the C-USA media contract, and LSU, Northwestern, Army, BYU and Houston in the future.

I agree with Yosef that the MWC would take a look at Rice. Would Rice jump as the only Texas school in the MWC?

Why would the MWC want Rice? They suck in football and basketball, if they came baseball only, maybe.


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One word. Academics.

Presidents do the voting not athletic directors and coaches.

It’s the reason why Liberty had no other choice than to buy its path to independence once the Sun Belt and C-USA made it clear they were not interested. It’s the reason why Grand Canyon will never be in the WCC, Big West and MWC. Academics.

(10-19-2019 02:20 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 08:03 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 02:23 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 05:13 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 11:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  If the MWC loses AFA, my guess is they pick up the 11-team scheduling waiver gauntlet from the AAC, which would no longer need it but might support it anyway to hedge their bets if it loses another school down the line.

The MWC would not pick up Rice as they are at best lousy in football and basketball. They would need someone good in at least one of those, possibly UTEP oR NMSU, or someone else. I do not see the MW losing AFA in the near future so this is all bloviating.

AFA is one of only 7 MWC baseball-playing schools. Rice has a prominent baseball program, while UTEP does not sponsor baseball. Rice also brings a strong women’s basketball program ranked in the pre-season Top 25.

Football is crawling back from lousy, and was the C-USA champion as recently as 2013. Rice also beat Air Force and Fresno State in bowl games this decade. Rice has home and home football series scheduled with Boise State and BYU. Rice had home P5 football games (Texas, Baylor, Wake Forest) that were all picked up in 2019 for CBS-SN national broadcasts under the C-USA media contract, and LSU, Northwestern, Army, BYU and Houston in the future.

I agree with Yosef that the MWC would take a look at Rice. Would Rice jump as the only Texas school in the MWC?

Why would the MWC want Rice? They suck in football and basketball, if they came baseball only, maybe.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

One word. Academics.

Presidents do the voting not athletic directors and coaches.

It’s the reason why Liberty had no other choice than to buy its path to independence once the Sun Belt and C-USA made it clear they were not interested. It’s the reason why Grand Canyon will never be in the WCC, Big West and MWC. Academics.

I hear the academic stuff all the time and it is used mostly as an excuse to deny someone. The key word now is money. Rice brings such poor hoops and football they do not bring money.

If Rice’s academics were so vital, they would not be in CUSA presently.


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Or UAB and Southern Miss?
Better more regional league
The Belch is better
ESPN gives the Belch good coverage

(12-06-2020 10:16 AM)billybobby777 Wrote:  Or UAB and Southern Miss?
Better more regional league
The Belch is better
ESPN gives the Belch good coverage

I believe a the day is coming. 2 out of Rice, USM, UAB, or Marshall. The timing is not right just yet. Sun Belt is working while we waiting.

If the SBC snags that $15 extra mil from making the NY6 then that'll help the schools recoup the lost money from COVID and the separation from CUSA will get even greater.

(12-06-2020 11:29 AM)balanced_view Wrote:  

(12-06-2020 10:16 AM)billybobby777 Wrote:  Or UAB and Southern Miss?
Better more regional league
The Belch is better
ESPN gives the Belch good coverage

I believe a the day is coming. 2 out of Rice, USM, UAB, or Marshall. The timing is not right just yet. Sun Belt is working while we waiting.

I suspect right now a lot of S Miss and Marshall fans would like the idea.

(10-19-2019 03:48 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-19-2019 02:20 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 08:03 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 02:23 PM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(10-15-2019 05:13 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  The MWC would not pick up Rice as they are at best lousy in football and basketball. They would need someone good in at least one of those, possibly UTEP oR NMSU, or someone else. I do not see the MW losing AFA in the near future so this is all bloviating.

AFA is one of only 7 MWC baseball-playing schools. Rice has a prominent baseball program, while UTEP does not sponsor baseball. Rice also brings a strong women’s basketball program ranked in the pre-season Top 25.

Football is crawling back from lousy, and was the C-USA champion as recently as 2013. Rice also beat Air Force and Fresno State in bowl games this decade. Rice has home and home football series scheduled with Boise State and BYU. Rice had home P5 football games (Texas, Baylor, Wake Forest) that were all picked up in 2019 for CBS-SN national broadcasts under the C-USA media contract, and LSU, Northwestern, Army, BYU and Houston in the future.

I agree with Yosef that the MWC would take a look at Rice. Would Rice jump as the only Texas school in the MWC?

Why would the MWC want Rice? They suck in football and basketball, if they came baseball only, maybe.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

One word. Academics.

Presidents do the voting not athletic directors and coaches.

It’s the reason why Liberty had no other choice than to buy its path to independence once the Sun Belt and C-USA made it clear they were not interested. It’s the reason why Grand Canyon will never be in the WCC, Big West and MWC. Academics.

I hear the academic stuff all the time and it is used mostly as an excuse to deny someone. The key word now is money. Rice brings such poor hoops and football they do not bring money.

If Rice’s academics were so vital, they would not be in CUSA presently.

I realize you posted this a couple months ago, before Rice shut out a ranked Marshall team. That said, Rice has actually not been as bad as you claim this past decade, at least on the football field.

Their lack of basketball success has been more puzzling. Why Rice doesn’t run a Princeton offense with a bunch of sharpshooters I’ll never know.

I don't think people really understand how academics enters the picture.

If you are choosing between well supported and well funded Houston vs. Rice, Houston wins because Houston has a pretty nice track record of success and drawing an audience. If the battle is UTSA or Texas State vs. Rice, Rice wins today because they are roughly equivalent athletically in the critical sports but Rice is who you want as a "peer".

I was involved when ULM and later Troy were brought to Sun Belt for football only. Both schools had admission standards (at least at the time, cannot speak to today) that were below the NCAA initial eligibility standards. Coaches and AD's assumed that marginal academic players could sit out as required under the standard of the day and easily become and stay eligible when some Sun Belt members wouldn't admit them or at least wouldn't without a juco diploma. The presidents didn't want to deem them peers. It took the NCAA mandating eight full members to force the league to admit them and even then there was the exploration of several options to try to avoid adding ULM, partially because the Cajuns didn't want them, partially because there was concern over their ability to be competitive in the various league sports (they typically battle UALR for last in the all-sports), and partially because there was resistance to treating them as a peer.

The Troy situation ended up working out very well, ULM as I noted typically isn't in the hunt for the all-sports trophy though they typically have a couple sports that are very competitive.

(12-06-2020 06:16 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  I don't think people really understand how academics enters the picture.

If you are choosing between well supported and well funded Houston vs. Rice, Houston wins because Houston has a pretty nice track record of success and drawing an audience. If the battle is UTSA or Texas State vs. Rice, Rice wins today because they are roughly equivalent athletically in the critical sports but Rice is who you want as a "peer".

I was involved when ULM and later Troy were brought to Sun Belt for football only. Both schools had admission standards (at least at the time, cannot speak to today) that were below the NCAA initial eligibility standards. Coaches and AD's assumed that marginal academic players could sit out as required under the standard of the day and easily become and stay eligible when some Sun Belt members wouldn't admit them or at least wouldn't without a juco diploma. The presidents didn't want to deem them peers. It took the NCAA mandating eight full members to force the league to admit them and even then there was the exploration of several options to try to avoid adding ULM, partially because the Cajuns didn't want them, partially because there was concern over their ability to be competitive in the various league sports (they typically battle UALR for last in the all-sports), and partially because there was resistance to treating them as a peer.

The Troy situation ended up working out very well, ULM as I noted typically isn't in the hunt for the all-sports trophy though they typically have a couple sports that are very competitive.

What is/was the perception of McNeese State? From what I understand only the Cowboys and the Cajuns of the Southland qualified for 1-A in the early 80's, but McNeese elected to remain in the conference at the 1-AA level. Had they moved up in the 80's or later, would they have been considered a viable candidate?

With the SBC main office's central focus of getting bball up to FB level of competition I don't see much effort in expanding.

I could only see the Sun Belt actually adding UConn & UMass as football-only members where they get to play both teams 4 times each year in basketball (If I was the SBC, I'd want Men's & Women's games against the conference.) like the UMass deal with the MAC but obviously without them having to join the SBC at some point. That would certainly help them in basketball. I do also think that Little Rock & UTA now have first right of refusal for full-membership if they start FBS programs.

The Presidents nixed that idea recently though the student support it and UTA hasn't shown much interest though again, the students have. The new wrinkle with UTA is that Globe Life Park sits empty and could go the Georgia State route of renovating an old baseball stadium. The XFL's Dallas Renegades played there. It's not imperative for the SBC to do anything as long as the 10 team conference championship rule is in play. I do believe though, if the CFB Playoff expands to 8 teams then you'll need at least 12 teams for a conference championship in the future.

Thankfully the BXII seems to want to stay at 10. That gives the SBC an 800lb gorilla on that side.

Personally I like our conference how it is.

(12-06-2020 02:52 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-06-2020 11:29 AM)balanced_view Wrote:  

(12-06-2020 10:16 AM)billybobby777 Wrote:  Or UAB and Southern Miss?
Better more regional league
The Belch is better
ESPN gives the Belch good coverage

I believe a the day is coming. 2 out of Rice, USM, UAB, or Marshall. The timing is not right just yet. Sun Belt is working while we waiting.

I suspect right now a lot of S Miss and Marshall fans would like the idea.

We would jump at the chance.

(12-06-2020 07:24 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Thankfully the BXII seems to want to stay at 10. That gives the SBC an 800lb gorilla on that side.

Personally I like our conference how it is.

I personally am not a fan of ULM,UALR, and UTA in the sunbelt. I completely understand why they work but UL could be travel partners with southern Miss or Rice just as easily. If I could have it my way I’d drop the three above and add USM, Marshall, Rice, or the other school in north Louisiana.

(12-06-2020 06:55 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  With the SBC main office's central focus of getting bball up to FB level of competition I don't see much effort in expanding.

UAB and Marshall both have decent basketball programs, especially UAB.

(12-06-2020 11:07 PM)Cajuns1252 Wrote:  

(12-06-2020 07:24 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Thankfully the BXII seems to want to stay at 10. That gives the SBC an 800lb gorilla on that side.

Personally I like our conference how it is.

I personally am not a fan of ULM,UALR, and UTA in the sunbelt. I completely understand why they work but UL could be travel partners with southern Miss or Rice just as easily. If I could have it my way I’d drop the three above and add USM, Marshall, Rice, or the other school in north Louisiana.

If ULM dropped out of the Sunbelt you might see a stampede of C-USA programs interested in the Sunbelt.

(12-07-2020 08:08 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(12-06-2020 11:07 PM)Cajuns1252 Wrote:  

(12-06-2020 07:24 PM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Thankfully the BXII seems to want to stay at 10. That gives the SBC an 800lb gorilla on that side.

Personally I like our conference how it is.

I personally am not a fan of ULM,UALR, and UTA in the sunbelt. I completely understand why they work but UL could be travel partners with southern Miss or Rice just as easily. If I could have it my way I’d drop the three above and add USM, Marshall, Rice, or the other school in north Louisiana.

If ULM dropped out of the Sunbelt you might see a stampede of C-USA programs interested in the Sunbelt.

ULM to FCS
Add Marshall

Texas State to CUSA - nothing against the Bobcats, they are just the geographic outlier and would be cozy in CUSA West with UNT, UTEP, UTSA, Rice.
Add La Tech

SunBelt West

La Tech
Louisiana
Southern Alabama
Arkansas State
Troy

SunBelt East

App State
Coastal Carolina
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Marshall

That’s a badass football conference with a tight footprint, where 8 teams could win it on any given year. Stay at 10 to keep the money flowing.