Dr. Maggard never even came close to saying he wanted to be a part of CUSA, much less that that would be a step up, lol. All he said was that schools should start putting egos aside and start scheduling scheduling games closer to home. Wise words indeed.

(05-29-2020 02:34 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  Very difficult (if not impossible to kick out members). Great theory, though.

When CUSA was formed, wasn't it basically the Metro conference kicking out VT and VCU?

(06-02-2020 12:28 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(05-29-2020 02:34 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  Very difficult (if not impossible to kick out members). Great theory, though.

When CUSA was formed, wasn't it basically the Metro conference kicking out VT and VCU?

Metro and Great Midwest merged.

(06-01-2020 10:52 AM)Tech80 Wrote:  

(06-01-2020 09:50 AM)Ourland Wrote:  SSJ, you aren't the arbiter of the G5 realignment narrative. Realignment is far from over, and you stating it's over, as if it's fact, only shows how hopeful you are that you're right. Realignment discussions are only ramping up, not dying off. You bring a lot of unecessary grief upon yourself by acting as if you're an authority, and by constantly pimping UNT's athletics riches and burgeoning infrastructure projects. Humble yourself my man, and count your blessings, because the majority of us are struggling. Stop rubbing our noses in your university's current, but very tenuous, position as our conference's richest pauper. Take a step back, find some perspective, and adjust, because you're wearing us thin.

Just curious, Ourland, what is your school?

LOL! Good luck with that. Ourland will never give you a straight answer, but I think he is a ULM supporter. That's why he won't announce it.....even HE is embarrassed to be a ULM fan. Sorry, but it's true.

(05-31-2020 08:37 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  Common Joe. Plan "A" is do nothing different, i.e. Status Quo. ODU's plan "B" is the same as all the other school"s in the conference - yes including your own North Texas. That's why representatives from at least 7 C-USA schools met for 6 weeks or more - while representing the entire conference - to develop that plan "B" (see my prior post which contained both a portion of the article as well as a link to the full article).

As for your question about Harry Minium being hired by ODU ... well he wasn't hired to be the Athletic Director or the President of the University. As far as I am aware he isn't in a position to be dictating school policy. If he has an opinion about where ODU should or should not be, that's fine. This is America where we are allowed to have our own opinions. I'd bet money that you have some of those yourself every once in a while. He's a good writer, he covered ODU sports for a long time, he has opinions on things. Big deal. ODU previously hired Ted Alexander to be an Associate Athletic Director. He was previously the sports commentator for the local CBS News affiliate. They hired him to be in charge of their media, and he has been doing both the football and basketball play-by-play for several years now. I doubt that he is actually involved in the running of the Athletic Department other than doing the media portions of it. You're trying to make a silk purse out of a souse's ear on Minimum. He's neither going to make ODU or stop ODU do anything as far as their Conference affiliation goes, and both ODU and he knew that when they hired him.

Joe is right. And he knows I don't say that very often about his posts. But he's absolutely right about ODU's rocky relationship with CUSA, the high cost to leave, the hiring of the mouthy sports writer, etc.... ALL of it! Oh, I get the fact that he's throwing ODU's own feces back in your face and you guys don't like the taste. But even ODU fans have to admit that ODU's leadership has been whiny, mouthy, grumpy, always running to the press with every problem, etc...

I won't be surprised at all to eventually learn that LA Tech AD Tommy McClelland spoke out last week simply to kill all the rumors and misinformation that ODU (and maybe a couple of others) were spreading regarding merger discussions between CUSA and the Sunbelt. I guarantee you T-Mac did that to put a stake in the heart of those rumors, and force ODU's leadership into the dummy corner for a while. Now ODU can't leak misinformation to the media anymore, at least not on that subject, because T-Mac told the truth.

ODU is the one school in CUSA that I wish would just make the hard decision and leave. No, I don't dislike your school at all, but I can't stand ODU's AD. This whole "bus league' idea is stupid and small time, and so were the leaked rumors of merger talks between CUSA and the Sunbelt. Hey.....if you guys really want that, then just LEAVE. I PROMISE you, the rest of us will survive just fine. We've got 2 too many teams in CUSA anyway.

(06-03-2020 11:59 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-31-2020 08:37 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  Common Joe. Plan "A" is do nothing different, i.e. Status Quo. ODU's plan "B" is the same as all the other school"s in the conference - yes including your own North Texas. That's why representatives from at least 7 C-USA schools met for 6 weeks or more - while representing the entire conference - to develop that plan "B" (see my prior post which contained both a portion of the article as well as a link to the full article).

As for your question about Harry Minium being hired by ODU ... well he wasn't hired to be the Athletic Director or the President of the University. As far as I am aware he isn't in a position to be dictating school policy. If he has an opinion about where ODU should or should not be, that's fine. This is America where we are allowed to have our own opinions. I'd bet money that you have some of those yourself every once in a while. He's a good writer, he covered ODU sports for a long time, he has opinions on things. Big deal. ODU previously hired Ted Alexander to be an Associate Athletic Director. He was previously the sports commentator for the local CBS News affiliate. They hired him to be in charge of their media, and he has been doing both the football and basketball play-by-play for several years now. I doubt that he is actually involved in the running of the Athletic Department other than doing the media portions of it. You're trying to make a silk purse out of a souse's ear on Minimum. He's neither going to make ODU or stop ODU do anything as far as their Conference affiliation goes, and both ODU and he knew that when they hired him.

Joe is right. And he knows I don't say that very often about his posts. But he's absolutely right about ODU's rocky relationship with CUSA, the high cost to leave, the hiring of the mouthy sports writer, etc.... ALL of it! Oh, I get the fact that he's throwing ODU's own feces back in your face and you guys don't like the taste. But even ODU fans have to admit that ODU's leadership has been whiny, mouthy, grumpy, always running to the press with every problem, etc...

I won't be surprised at all to eventually learn that LA Tech AD Tommy McClelland spoke out last week simply to kill all the rumors and misinformation that ODU (and maybe a couple of others) were spreading regarding merger discussions between CUSA and the Sunbelt. I guarantee you T-Mac did that to put a stake in the heart of those rumors, and force ODU's leadership into the dummy corner for a while. Now ODU can't leak misinformation to the media anymore, at least not on that subject, because T-Mac told the truth.

ODU is the one school in CUSA that I wish would just make the hard decision and leave. No, I don't dislike your school at all, but I can't stand ODU's AD. This whole "bus league' idea is stupid and small time, and so were the leaked rumors of merger talks between CUSA and the Sunbelt. Hey.....if you guys really want that, then just LEAVE. I PROMISE you, the rest of us will survive just fine. We've got 2 too many teams in CUSA anyway.

clt says odu is Charlotte’s BFF and will stick with us

(06-03-2020 11:59 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-31-2020 08:37 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  Common Joe. Plan "A" is do nothing different, i.e. Status Quo. ODU's plan "B" is the same as all the other school"s in the conference - yes including your own North Texas. That's why representatives from at least 7 C-USA schools met for 6 weeks or more - while representing the entire conference - to develop that plan "B" (see my prior post which contained both a portion of the article as well as a link to the full article).

As for your question about Harry Minium being hired by ODU ... well he wasn't hired to be the Athletic Director or the President of the University. As far as I am aware he isn't in a position to be dictating school policy. If he has an opinion about where ODU should or should not be, that's fine. This is America where we are allowed to have our own opinions. I'd bet money that you have some of those yourself every once in a while. He's a good writer, he covered ODU sports for a long time, he has opinions on things. Big deal. ODU previously hired Ted Alexander to be an Associate Athletic Director. He was previously the sports commentator for the local CBS News affiliate. They hired him to be in charge of their media, and he has been doing both the football and basketball play-by-play for several years now. I doubt that he is actually involved in the running of the Athletic Department other than doing the media portions of it. You're trying to make a silk purse out of a souse's ear on Minimum. He's neither going to make ODU or stop ODU do anything as far as their Conference affiliation goes, and both ODU and he knew that when they hired him.

Joe is right. And he knows I don't say that very often about his posts. But he's absolutely right about ODU's rocky relationship with CUSA, the high cost to leave, the hiring of the mouthy sports writer, etc.... ALL of it! Oh, I get the fact that he's throwing ODU's own feces back in your face and you guys don't like the taste. But even ODU fans have to admit that ODU's leadership has been whiny, mouthy, grumpy, always running to the press with every problem, etc...

I won't be surprised at all to eventually learn that LA Tech AD Tommy McClelland spoke out last week simply to kill all the rumors and misinformation that ODU (and maybe a couple of others) were spreading regarding merger discussions between CUSA and the Sunbelt. I guarantee you T-Mac did that to put a stake in the heart of those rumors, and force ODU's leadership into the dummy corner for a while. Now ODU can't leak misinformation to the media anymore, at least not on that subject, because T-Mac told the truth.

ODU is the one school in CUSA that I wish would just make the hard decision and leave. No, I don't dislike your school at all, but I can't stand ODU's AD. This whole "bus league' idea is stupid and small time, and so were the leaked rumors of merger talks between CUSA and the Sunbelt. Hey.....if you guys really want that, then just LEAVE. I PROMISE you, the rest of us will survive just fine. We've got 2 too many teams in CUSA anyway.

LOL.

(06-03-2020 11:59 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-31-2020 08:37 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  Common Joe. Plan "A" is do nothing different, i.e. Status Quo. ODU's plan "B" is the same as all the other school"s in the conference - yes including your own North Texas. That's why representatives from at least 7 C-USA schools met for 6 weeks or more - while representing the entire conference - to develop that plan "B" (see my prior post which contained both a portion of the article as well as a link to the full article).

As for your question about Harry Minium being hired by ODU ... well he wasn't hired to be the Athletic Director or the President of the University. As far as I am aware he isn't in a position to be dictating school policy. If he has an opinion about where ODU should or should not be, that's fine. This is America where we are allowed to have our own opinions. I'd bet money that you have some of those yourself every once in a while. He's a good writer, he covered ODU sports for a long time, he has opinions on things. Big deal. ODU previously hired Ted Alexander to be an Associate Athletic Director. He was previously the sports commentator for the local CBS News affiliate. They hired him to be in charge of their media, and he has been doing both the football and basketball play-by-play for several years now. I doubt that he is actually involved in the running of the Athletic Department other than doing the media portions of it. You're trying to make a silk purse out of a souse's ear on Minimum. He's neither going to make ODU or stop ODU do anything as far as their Conference affiliation goes, and both ODU and he knew that when they hired him.

Joe is right. And he knows I don't say that very often about his posts. But he's absolutely right about ODU's rocky relationship with CUSA, the high cost to leave, the hiring of the mouthy sports writer, etc.... ALL of it! Oh, I get the fact that he's throwing ODU's own feces back in your face and you guys don't like the taste. But even ODU fans have to admit that ODU's leadership has been whiny, mouthy, grumpy, always running to the press with every problem, etc...

I won't be surprised at all to eventually learn that LA Tech AD Tommy McClelland spoke out last week simply to kill all the rumors and misinformation that ODU (and maybe a couple of others) were spreading regarding merger discussions between CUSA and the Sunbelt. I guarantee you T-Mac did that to put a stake in the heart of those rumors, and force ODU's leadership into the dummy corner for a while. Now ODU can't leak misinformation to the media anymore, at least not on that subject, because T-Mac told the truth.

ODU is the one school in CUSA that I wish would just make the hard decision and leave. No, I don't dislike your school at all, but I can't stand ODU's AD. This whole "bus league' idea is stupid and small time, and so were the leaked rumors of merger talks between CUSA and the Sunbelt. Hey.....if you guys really want that, then just LEAVE. I PROMISE you, the rest of us will survive just fine. We've got 2 too many teams in CUSA anyway.

Why do people keep calling a southeastern based league a "bus league"? You can currently bus to more schools than ODU could under any proposal I've seen. And don't fool yourself. Your AD was clearly referencing ULL's AD's statements. The drama you guys have out west isn't there in the east. The east coast bias in the media is real and extends to sports. And let's be real, the eastern divisions of both conferences are stronger than the west in major sports. I can understand your consternation, you clearly need us more than we need you. You can get your panties in a bunch about it but there's nothing underhanded that ODU's admin is doing. The fact that there's been discussions amongst various AD's about realignment with the SB is pretty public knowledge and not rumors. A merger is dumb, short term scheduling agreements are fine but discussions about realignment will continue on the message boards and amongst administrators. Sorry about your butt hurting so badly but it's not whining, it's moving in a direction that makes sense.

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why do people keep calling a southeastern based league a "bus league"?

Maybe because those who are championing it talk about athletes travelling by bus?

Or maybe because those who are championing it talk about saving money by eliminating flights?

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  The fact that there's been discussions amongst various AD's about realignment with the SB is pretty public knowledge and not rumors.

Where and when did these publicly available realignment discussions occur?

(06-04-2020 10:17 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  The fact that there's been discussions amongst various AD's about realignment with the SB is pretty public knowledge and not rumors.

Where and when did these publicly available realignment discussions occur?

At last years Conference meetings in Destin. We can assume there have been other talks based on statements made but it was reported that informal discussions were had at the conference meeting which is truly remarkable in the world of realignment.

(06-04-2020 10:14 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why do people keep calling a southeastern based league a "bus league"?

Maybe because those who are championing it talk about athletes travelling by bus?

Or maybe because those who are championing it talk about saving money by eliminating flights?

Well then this conference is already a bus league for some then. What's the critical mass for number of teams you can bus to to be in a "bus league"? It's funny that most of the fans criticizing the idea of a regional split as a "bus league" are the ones already enjoying the benefits of being in a "bus league".

(06-04-2020 10:23 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:17 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  The fact that there's been discussions amongst various AD's about realignment with the SB is pretty public knowledge and not rumors.

Where and when did these publicly available realignment discussions occur?

At last years Conference meetings in Destin. We can assume there have been other talks based on statements made but it was reported that informal discussions were had at the conference meeting which is truly remarkable in the world of realignment.

I don't recall any news coming out of that meeting about realignment discussions. Can you be more specific, it is very likely that I missed that news.

(06-04-2020 10:28 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:14 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why do people keep calling a southeastern based league a "bus league"?

Maybe because those who are championing it talk about athletes travelling by bus?

Or maybe because those who are championing it talk about saving money by eliminating flights?

What's the critical mass for number of teams you can bus to to be in a "bus league"?

How many were in the CAA?

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  discussions about realignment will continue on the message boards

I'll give you this much.

But that's about it.

(06-04-2020 10:43 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:23 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:17 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  The fact that there's been discussions amongst various AD's about realignment with the SB is pretty public knowledge and not rumors.

Where and when did these publicly available realignment discussions occur?

At last years Conference meetings in Destin. We can assume there have been other talks based on statements made but it was reported that informal discussions were had at the conference meeting which is truly remarkable in the world of realignment.

I don't recall any news coming out of that meeting about realignment discussions. Can you be more specific, it is very likely that I missed that news.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co...r-leagues/

(06-04-2020 10:45 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:28 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:14 AM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 09:22 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why do people keep calling a southeastern based league a "bus league"?

Maybe because those who are championing it talk about athletes travelling by bus?

Or maybe because those who are championing it talk about saving money by eliminating flights?

What's the critical mass for number of teams you can bus to to be in a "bus league"?

How many were in the CAA?

For football or olympic? They were different leagues with some overlap. When we were there FB stretched from Maine to Georgia and olympic from Boston to Georgia. Obviously ODU had a pretty good geographic situation being near the center and the number of VA schools. That wouldn't be possible with an FBS league on the East Coast though.

(06-01-2020 10:52 AM)Tech80 Wrote:  

(06-01-2020 09:50 AM)Ourland Wrote:  SSJ, you aren't the arbiter of the G5 realignment narrative. Realignment is far from over, and you stating it's over, as if it's fact, only shows how hopeful you are that you're right. Realignment discussions are only ramping up, not dying off. You bring a lot of unecessary grief upon yourself by acting as if you're an authority, and by constantly pimping UNT's athletics riches and burgeoning infrastructure projects. Humble yourself my man, and count your blessings, because the majority of us are struggling. Stop rubbing our noses in your university's current, but very tenuous, position as our conference's richest pauper. Take a step back, find some perspective, and adjust, because you're wearing us thin.

Just curious, Ourland, what is your school?

Rice

(06-03-2020 11:59 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-31-2020 08:37 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  Common Joe. Plan "A" is do nothing different, i.e. Status Quo. ODU's plan "B" is the same as all the other school"s in the conference - yes including your own North Texas. That's why representatives from at least 7 C-USA schools met for 6 weeks or more - while representing the entire conference - to develop that plan "B" (see my prior post which contained both a portion of the article as well as a link to the full article).

As for your question about Harry Minium being hired by ODU ... well he wasn't hired to be the Athletic Director or the President of the University. As far as I am aware he isn't in a position to be dictating school policy. If he has an opinion about where ODU should or should not be, that's fine. This is America where we are allowed to have our own opinions. I'd bet money that you have some of those yourself every once in a while. He's a good writer, he covered ODU sports for a long time, he has opinions on things. Big deal. ODU previously hired Ted Alexander to be an Associate Athletic Director. He was previously the sports commentator for the local CBS News affiliate. They hired him to be in charge of their media, and he has been doing both the football and basketball play-by-play for several years now. I doubt that he is actually involved in the running of the Athletic Department other than doing the media portions of it. You're trying to make a silk purse out of a souse's ear on Minimum. He's neither going to make ODU or stop ODU do anything as far as their Conference affiliation goes, and both ODU and he knew that when they hired him.

Joe is right. And he knows I don't say that very often about his posts. But he's absolutely right about ODU's rocky relationship with CUSA, the high cost to leave, the hiring of the mouthy sports writer, etc.... ALL of it! Oh, I get the fact that he's throwing ODU's own feces back in your face and you guys don't like the taste. But even ODU fans have to admit that ODU's leadership has been whiny, mouthy, grumpy, always running to the press with every problem, etc...

I won't be surprised at all to eventually learn that LA Tech AD Tommy McClelland spoke out last week simply to kill all the rumors and misinformation that ODU (and maybe a couple of others) were spreading regarding merger discussions between CUSA and the Sunbelt. I guarantee you T-Mac did that to put a stake in the heart of those rumors, and force ODU's leadership into the dummy corner for a while. Now ODU can't leak misinformation to the media anymore, at least not on that subject, because T-Mac told the truth.

ODU is the one school in CUSA that I wish would just make the hard decision and leave. No, I don't dislike your school at all, but I can't stand ODU's AD. This whole "bus league' idea is stupid and small time, and so were the leaked rumors of merger talks between CUSA and the Sunbelt. Hey.....if you guys really want that, then just LEAVE. I PROMISE you, the rest of us will survive just fine. We've got 2 too many teams in CUSA anyway.

I think this might be a little shortsighted. "Bus leagues" can definitely have a "national" reach. You do that by playing as many P5 opponents as you possibly can in football and men's basketball. We accomplish this at Rice by scheduling opponents like LSU, Texas, Arkansas, Army, and Navy. These five schools, and others like them, are constantly given press time on all the major networks, and all of them are on national television regularly, so we "ride their coattails," so to speak. That's how you get exposure in a small G5 conference. And who's to say that two new, regionally divided G5 conferences can't use one another in a way that elevates all 24 programs involved? The relationship doesn't have to end. A scheduling alliance between the two conferences could have our best teams playing one another regularly in basketball and football. Theoretically, we could still face one another in a championship game in football, or in a bowl game for our champions, exactly like the MWC and CUSA used to do in the Liberty Bowl. Also, a late-season basketball pod of our top six teams could elevate RPI and create more postseason basketball tournament opportunities for our members. We've got to think outside the box on this. A geographical divide of our schools does not have to necessarily mean that we can't cooperate in a way that elevates us all on the national stage.

(06-04-2020 01:12 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(06-03-2020 11:59 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(05-31-2020 08:37 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  Common Joe. Plan "A" is do nothing different, i.e. Status Quo. ODU's plan "B" is the same as all the other school"s in the conference - yes including your own North Texas. That's why representatives from at least 7 C-USA schools met for 6 weeks or more - while representing the entire conference - to develop that plan "B" (see my prior post which contained both a portion of the article as well as a link to the full article).

As for your question about Harry Minium being hired by ODU ... well he wasn't hired to be the Athletic Director or the President of the University. As far as I am aware he isn't in a position to be dictating school policy. If he has an opinion about where ODU should or should not be, that's fine. This is America where we are allowed to have our own opinions. I'd bet money that you have some of those yourself every once in a while. He's a good writer, he covered ODU sports for a long time, he has opinions on things. Big deal. ODU previously hired Ted Alexander to be an Associate Athletic Director. He was previously the sports commentator for the local CBS News affiliate. They hired him to be in charge of their media, and he has been doing both the football and basketball play-by-play for several years now. I doubt that he is actually involved in the running of the Athletic Department other than doing the media portions of it. You're trying to make a silk purse out of a souse's ear on Minimum. He's neither going to make ODU or stop ODU do anything as far as their Conference affiliation goes, and both ODU and he knew that when they hired him.

Joe is right. And he knows I don't say that very often about his posts. But he's absolutely right about ODU's rocky relationship with CUSA, the high cost to leave, the hiring of the mouthy sports writer, etc.... ALL of it! Oh, I get the fact that he's throwing ODU's own feces back in your face and you guys don't like the taste. But even ODU fans have to admit that ODU's leadership has been whiny, mouthy, grumpy, always running to the press with every problem, etc...

I won't be surprised at all to eventually learn that LA Tech AD Tommy McClelland spoke out last week simply to kill all the rumors and misinformation that ODU (and maybe a couple of others) were spreading regarding merger discussions between CUSA and the Sunbelt. I guarantee you T-Mac did that to put a stake in the heart of those rumors, and force ODU's leadership into the dummy corner for a while. Now ODU can't leak misinformation to the media anymore, at least not on that subject, because T-Mac told the truth.

ODU is the one school in CUSA that I wish would just make the hard decision and leave. No, I don't dislike your school at all, but I can't stand ODU's AD. This whole "bus league' idea is stupid and small time, and so were the leaked rumors of merger talks between CUSA and the Sunbelt. Hey.....if you guys really want that, then just LEAVE. I PROMISE you, the rest of us will survive just fine. We've got 2 too many teams in CUSA anyway.

I think this might be a little shortsighted. "Bus leagues" can definitely have a "national" reach. You do that by playing as many P5 opponents as you possibly can in football and men's basketball. We accomplish this at Rice by scheduling opponents like LSU, Texas, Arkansas, Army, and Navy. These five schools, and others like them, are constantly given press time on all the major networks, and all of them are on national television regularly, so we "ride their coattails," so to speak. That's how you get exposure in a small G5 conference. And who's to say that a two, regionally divided G5 conferences can't use one another in a way that elevates all 24 programs involved? A scheduling alliance between the two said conferences could have our best teams playing one another regularly in basketball and football. Theoretically, we could still face one another in a championship game in football, or in a bowl game for our champions, exactly like the MWC and CUSA used to do in the Liberty Bowl. Also, a late-season basketball pod of our top six teams could elevate RPI and create more postseason basketball tournament opportunities for our members. We've got to think outside the box on this. A geographical divide of our schools does not have to necessarily mean that we can't cooperate in a way that elevates us all on the national stage.

Didn't Rice learn the limits of a too small geographically conference with the SWC?

It's a little strange to me how a Rice fan would be so committed to a purely geographic conference structure (well, anyone - but a Rice fan in particular).

We really don't play all that many games across divisions. Do we?