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It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
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Cyniclone Offline
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Post: #41
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(05-31-2020 07:24 PM)bullet Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 03:10 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Another C-USA realignment thread......shocker 03-zzz03-yawn

Nothing is going to change. Schools like Southern Miss only have two choices: the MAC and Sun Belt. Neither one is appealing.

C-USA made two mistakes in 2011-12: catered to schools that whined about having a far flung conference (I’m looking at you East Carolina) and expanded too soon with schools that were transition from FCS or just started the football program. I hope the conference doesn’t make the same mistake in catering to schools that are not too happy because of how far flung the conference is (I’m looking at you Old Dominion) and said school will leave the conference as soon as it gets an offer from another conference and leave a mess behind. If any x school in C-USA is not happy, they can always leave. Nobody is going to stop them. They can join UConn, UMass, NMSU and Liberty as an indy and park other sports in the A-Sun or another conference. Good riddance and good luck.

Charlotte and ODU are the two biggest whiners. Should have taken Arkansas St. and ULL instead.

The ODU athletic director is chairing a CUSA committee to look at cost-cutting measures. I don't think either school is being especially whiny. I think ODU's people were disappointed and frustrated that East Carolina left, but ECU was trying to leave since the late 90s, so I don't think you can reasonably expect them to be long-term neighbors when the then-Big East was clearly looking at them. But I think they're also being good actors as CUSA members. It's just some of the fans get angsty on the boards here.
05-31-2020 09:44 PM
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ken d Online
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Post: #42
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(05-31-2020 01:43 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 12:49 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 12:42 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 12:34 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  These articles are tiresome. CUSA has high travel costs. So he picks 10 or so of his favorite neighbor schools for Southern Miss and meanwhile UTEP and UTSA and Texas State and ULM (and UT Arlington and UA Little Rock) can travel further? Drop athletics?

Thats what Im talking about. If the two conferences dont work together cooperatively, then groups of schools, who ARE interested in reorganizing regionally, will organically decide to to reshuffle in the manner that best suits them....and the consequences could be very bad for those that arent involved.

8 year wait for an autobid makes that a nonstarter. I don't think the NCAA is going to change rules to let what happened to Alaska and UA Huntsville hockey happen to UTEP, Hawaii, UTRGV, st Bonaventure etc.

This.

The MWC left an intact 8-member WAC -- awkward, but intact -- when they started the MWC, and the NCAA gave the MWC a waiver and an autobid after a one-year wait.

If someone starts a new conference that results in a few current members ending up out in the cold, the NCAA would be justified in denying a waiver or rule change.

The way to improve your chances for a waiver, if you're starting a new conference out of these two, is to leave at least 8 full members (not including the no-football schools) in each of CUSA and SBC. For example, 6 schools leaving CUSA and 2 leaving SBC.

A minor variation: If 7 schools from the east left CUSA, then CUSA could readily get back to the minimum of 8 FBS programs by adding NMSU.

Or, conversely, if 7 western schools left, CUSA could add Liberty and do the same thing.

Or, they could split 7-7, with the west adding NMSU and the east adding Liberty, leaving two separate conferences with 8 members each. One of those would presumably be entitled to claim the grandfathered autobid, while the other had to wait 8 years. However, I see nothing that would prevent the grandfathered conference from a mutual agreement to share the NCAAT distribution with the "new" conference, and the "new" conference to share with the old any tournament credits they might earn if they were to get an at large tournament bid. That agreement could expire after the 8 year waiting period. They could have the same agreement about CFP distributions.

Of course, the simpler thing to do would be to just add those two schools, divide by east and west, and don't play any crossover conference games except in those sports where there aren't enough schools that sponsor them to meet NCAA requirements.

Each division could enter into a scheduling agreement with the Sunbelt to play some number of games against the corresponding geographic division of that conference. And, nothing would stop them from scheduling members of the other CUSA division if needed.
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 08:54 AM by ken d.)
06-01-2020 08:26 AM
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CarlSmithCenter Offline
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Post: #43
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 08:26 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 01:43 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 12:49 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 12:42 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(05-31-2020 12:34 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  These articles are tiresome. CUSA has high travel costs. So he picks 10 or so of his favorite neighbor schools for Southern Miss and meanwhile UTEP and UTSA and Texas State and ULM (and UT Arlington and UA Little Rock) can travel further? Drop athletics?

Thats what Im talking about. If the two conferences dont work together cooperatively, then groups of schools, who ARE interested in reorganizing regionally, will organically decide to to reshuffle in the manner that best suits them....and the consequences could be very bad for those that arent involved.

8 year wait for an autobid makes that a nonstarter. I don't think the NCAA is going to change rules to let what happened to Alaska and UA Huntsville hockey happen to UTEP, Hawaii, UTRGV, st Bonaventure etc.

This.

The MWC left an intact 8-member WAC -- awkward, but intact -- when they started the MWC, and the NCAA gave the MWC a waiver and an autobid after a one-year wait.

If someone starts a new conference that results in a few current members ending up out in the cold, the NCAA would be justified in denying a waiver or rule change.

The way to improve your chances for a waiver, if you're starting a new conference out of these two, is to leave at least 8 full members (not including the no-football schools) in each of CUSA and SBC. For example, 6 schools leaving CUSA and 2 leaving SBC.

A minor variation: If 7 schools from the east left CUSA, then CUSA could readily get back to the minimum of 8 FBS programs by adding NMSU.

Or, conversely, if 7 western schools left, CUSA could add Liberty and do the same thing.

Or, they could split 7-7, with the west adding NMSU and the east adding Liberty, leaving two separate conferences with 8 members each. One of those would presumably be entitled to claim the grandfathered autobid, while the other had to wait 8 years. However, I see nothing that would prevent the grandfathered conference from a mutual agreement to share the NCAAT distribution with the "new" conference, and the "new" conference to share with the old any tournament credits they might earn if they were to get an at large tournament bid. That agreement could expire after the 8 year waiting period.

That’s true, and each league could get an autobid for MBB, but how many credits does CUSA have to split up? This also presuppose there isn’t a P5 breakaway that ends the $$$ spigot from the tournament. Moreover, there is a 0% chance that there would be an increase in the total pot of G5 CFB money or that the other 4 G5 leagues would agree to divide the existing pot 6 ways, so the money would be far worse for the two CUSA successors (presumably they each get 1/2 of the CUSA’s existing share)
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 08:51 AM by CarlSmithCenter.)
06-01-2020 08:49 AM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #44
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
Bottom line is that the only "radical change" that would help CUSA would be if the P5 decided to promote them to Power status and ESPN threw a $40 million a year per school media deal at them, both of which ain't happening.

Would it be better if CUSA and the SBC swapped some members so as to be geographically tighter? I guess. Is it silly that schools like UL-Monroe and LA-Tech are in different conferences? Sure. But it's basically arguing over positions in a Soup Line.
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 09:00 AM by quo vadis.)
06-01-2020 08:57 AM
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ken d Online
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Post: #45
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 08:49 AM)CarlSmithCenter Wrote:  That’s true, and each league could get an autobid for MBB, but how many credits does CUSA have to split up? This also presuppose there isn’t a P5 breakaway that ends the $$$ spigot from the tournament. Moreover, there is a 0% chance that there would be an increase in the total pot of G5 CFB money or that the other 4 G5 leagues would agree to divide the existing pot 6 ways, so the money would be far worse for the two CUSA successors (presumably they each get 1/2 of the CUSA’s existing share)

In the last six year cycle, the period over which NCAAT credits are spread, CUSA earned a total of ten credits: six autobids plus four tournament wins. At the current rate of about $280K per credit, that equals $2.8 million spread among 14 members (assuming no extra share to the participant) or $200K per year.

But how many of us would bet that there will be no changes within the NCAA, or the composition of the NCAAT, or the renewal of the CFP contract when it expires?
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 09:18 AM by ken d.)
06-01-2020 09:17 AM
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MUsince96 Offline
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Post: #46
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 10:01 AM by MUsince96.)
06-01-2020 09:55 AM
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ken d Online
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Post: #47
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?
06-01-2020 10:56 AM
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MUsince96 Offline
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Post: #48
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

Not sure about total number of conference games for FBS but I found Bylaw 31.3.4.1 Section D saying "In championship subdivision football, football-playing conferences that subdivide into 5 or more teams are required to conduct a single round robin competition within each division..."

As for the 2 more games a year, 1 could always be FCS and that leaves just 1 more FBS game to schedule. C-USA East-West teams that are closer together could always schedule OOC games against eachother as well. As the ACC has done in the past.
06-01-2020 11:13 AM
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DavidSt Offline
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Post: #49
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
Would the NCAA give a waiver to allow new conferences because of the COVID-19 pandemic for the next five years for them to rearrange? The southern schools that went to CAA or A10 could go back to a southern more conferences. We could see some call ups to cover gaps in the maps as well.
06-01-2020 11:49 AM
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MinerInWisconsin Offline
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RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 11:13 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA mmooembers to be looking for two more games a year?

Not sure about total number of conference games for FBS but I found Bylaw 31.3.4.1 Section D saying "In championship subdivision football, football-playing conferences that subdivide into 5 or more teams are required to conduct a single round robin competition within each division..."

As for the 2 more games a year, 1 could always be FCS and that leaves just 1 more FBS game to schedule. C-USA East-West teams that are closer together could always schedule OOC games against eachother as well. As the ACC has done in the past.

Judy, the cusa commish, said in an interview that scheduling exactly as you suggest was discussed. A committee of AD's and presidents has finished weeks of on line meetings on the subject of saving money so we should have decisions soon. UTEP is a good example of ooc regional fb scheduling this season with only the @Nevada game being particulary long distance.
06-01-2020 11:56 AM
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MUsince96 Offline
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Post: #51
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 11:56 AM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 11:13 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA mmooembers to be looking for two more games a year?

Not sure about total number of conference games for FBS but I found Bylaw 31.3.4.1 Section D saying "In championship subdivision football, football-playing conferences that subdivide into 5 or more teams are required to conduct a single round robin competition within each division..."

As for the 2 more games a year, 1 could always be FCS and that leaves just 1 more FBS game to schedule. C-USA East-West teams that are closer together could always schedule OOC games against eachother as well. As the ACC has done in the past.

Judy, the cusa commish, said in an interview that scheduling exactly as you suggest was discussed. A committee of AD's and presidents has finished weeks of on line meetings on the subject of saving money so we should have decisions soon. UTEP is a good example of ooc regional fb scheduling this season with only the @Nevada game being particulary long distance.


Thanks for the update, Miner. I hope this can materialize. Schedule almost like an Indy with the perk of being eligible for the NY6 by being in a conference.
06-01-2020 12:05 PM
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Wedge Offline
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Post: #52
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

That would be the hitch. Athletic directors would have to schedule 6 non-con football games a year instead of 4, and they probably don't want the extra hassle. Some (probably most) of those additional "new" home non-con games would be no more attractive than whichever conference opponents you don't really care about. Obviously it's not impossible to do it; indy teams manage to schedule 12 every year. But a lot of ADs and football coaches would not see the reduction in conference games as an improvement.
06-01-2020 12:15 PM
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MUsince96 Offline
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Post: #53
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 12:15 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

That would be the hitch. Athletic directors would have to schedule 6 non-con football games a year instead of 4, and they probably don't want the extra hassle. Some (probably most) of those additional "new" home non-con games would be no more attractive than whichever conference opponents you don't really care about. Obviously it's not impossible to do it; indy teams manage to schedule 12 every year. But a lot of ADs and football coaches would not see the reduction in conference games as an improvement.

It would only be 1 more FBS game if you schedule an FCS. And you could schedule a team from the opposite division to play as an OOC game. But it frees up the schedule for schools who want to make their schedule as good as possible.
06-01-2020 12:21 PM
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Post: #54
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 12:21 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 12:15 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

That would be the hitch. Athletic directors would have to schedule 6 non-con football games a year instead of 4, and they probably don't want the extra hassle. Some (probably most) of those additional "new" home non-con games would be no more attractive than whichever conference opponents you don't really care about. Obviously it's not impossible to do it; indy teams manage to schedule 12 every year. But a lot of ADs and football coaches would not see the reduction in conference games as an improvement.

It would only be 1 more FBS game if you schedule an FCS. And you could schedule a team from the opposite division to play as an OOC game. But it frees up the schedule for schools who want to make their schedule as good as possible.

It would be great for UAB and Charlotte and maybe FIU and FAU.

It would suck for UTEP.
06-01-2020 12:46 PM
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chidave Offline
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Post: #55
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
What if CUSA went football only but split with all other sports? Would that maintain their share of the CFP money and allow each half to get an autobid? If so that would reduce travel costs and increase NCAA credit money. You would just need to invite a Liberty/JMU or NMSU.
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 12:53 PM by chidave.)
06-01-2020 12:53 PM
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esayem Offline
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RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 08:57 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  Would it be better if CUSA and the SBC swapped some members so as to be geographically tighter? I guess. Is it silly that schools like UL-Monroe and LA-Tech are in different conferences? Sure. But it's basically arguing over positions in a Soup Line.

I understand from another thread why LaTech doesn't want to be in a conference with UL and ULM. It's the optics, man. The optics.

Anyway, what's interesting is back when C-USA was looking for a replacement for TCU, LaTech was supposedly a shoe-in and then UTEP got the spot. Tulane did not want to share a conference with LaTech, I assume. In fact, they've only played twice since the 80's and once was during the C-USA season where they were both members. Meanwhile, Tulane has played Louisiana like 18 times in that same timeframe.
06-01-2020 01:10 PM
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Post: #57
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(05-31-2020 12:12 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  He lost me when he said, in essence, one of the reasons USM isn't in the AAC is because they're scared of losing to them again. Dubious.

(05-31-2020 12:34 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  These articles are tiresome. CUSA has high travel costs. So he picks 10 or so of his favorite neighbor schools for Southern Miss and meanwhile UTEP and UTSA and Texas State and ULM (and UT Arlington and UA Little Rock) can travel further? Drop athletics?

As a fan of a school on the fringe of the footprint, I agree. If the schools that comprise the middle make the move, then you're either looking at two compromised smaller leagues or one big one with a doughnut hole, neither of which are desirable. I think there's ways to make CUSA a more palatable conference in These Uncertain Times, like reducing cross-division travel or cutting conference schedules to allow more regional OOC opportunities, or even working a deal with the Sun Belt where games against them can count in their respective conference standings (understanding that the logistics would be difficult).

It's by a USM guy, so I get that things are going to be skewed in their favor, but there was plenty wrong with the narrative he was spinning. The truth of USM's woes were in there though. No money. It's a problem facing everyone in the G5, and USM is not faring any better than anyone else. The idea that USM would "lure" some programs like MTSU into a league centered around the gulf vs. one centered around MTSU, Marshall, ODU, Charlotte and WKU is pretty tone deaf.
06-01-2020 01:30 PM
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MinerInWisconsin Offline
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Post: #58
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 12:46 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 12:21 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 12:15 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only pdlayed in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

That would be the hitch. Athletic directors would have to schedule 6 non-con football games a year instead of 4, and they probably don't want the extra hassle. Some (probably most) of those additional "new" home non-con games would be no more attractive than whichever conference opponents you don't really care about. Obviously it's not impossible to do it; indy teams manage to schedule 12 every year. But a lot of ADs and football coaches would not see the reduction in conference games as an improvement.

It would only be 1 more FBS game if you schedule an FCS. And you could schedule a team from the opposite division to play as an OOC game. But it frees up the schedule for schools who want to make their schedule as good as possible.

It would be great for UAB and Charlotte and maybe FIU and FAU.

It would suck for UTEP.

Regional options are definitely fewer but some do exist. Texas Tech is drivable for UTEP and they visit El Paso this season. UNM and Texas St and possibly SMU and Houston could be possibilities along with the Arizona schools. FCS opponents often come from the Southland. It could be done and the cusa commish stated that other G5 conferences are being cooperative in the effort. If schedules don't change then we will know that the cooperation evaporated.
06-01-2020 01:35 PM
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Wedge Offline
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Post: #59
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 12:21 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 12:15 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

That would be the hitch. Athletic directors would have to schedule 6 non-con football games a year instead of 4, and they probably don't want the extra hassle. Some (probably most) of those additional "new" home non-con games would be no more attractive than whichever conference opponents you don't really care about. Obviously it's not impossible to do it; indy teams manage to schedule 12 every year. But a lot of ADs and football coaches would not see the reduction in conference games as an improvement.

It would only be 1 more FBS game if you schedule an FCS. And you could schedule a team from the opposite division to play as an OOC game. But it frees up the schedule for schools who want to make their schedule as good as possible.

For the teams that benefit from it, it would be only a marginal gain.

Hypothetically, let's say Marshall replaces a future home/home conference series vs. North Texas or UTSA with a home/home non-conference series vs. Ball State or EMU. (Everyone can hope the new home games wouldn't just be against MAC or SBC teams or UConn or UMass, but realistically that's the pool for 90% of these extra home games.) Comparing the road games in the series, it's really nice to make a fairly short bus trip to Indiana or Michigan instead of a long and more expensive road trip to Texas. Comparing the home games, it's probably a wash in terms of the interest level of Marshall fans. So there is some benefit, but not an enormous amount.

A much larger benefit would be implementing a conference schedule in all sports that is more local and maybe a bit smaller. Find a way to have fewer road games that require airline travel for every non-football team sport: Basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, etc. The goal should be something like eliminating two airline trips each year in each of those sports and replacing them with road games that only require a bus. That's a good start on significant travel cost reduction.
06-01-2020 01:38 PM
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MUsince96 Offline
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Post: #60
RE: It’s past time for radical change in Conference USA
(06-01-2020 01:38 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 12:21 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 12:15 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 10:56 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(06-01-2020 09:55 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  If we went to playing only our division in some sports it could be pretty cool, namely football.

For example, this year Marshall's OOC schedule is:

@ECU
Pitt
@Ohio
Boise State

And if we only played in our division we could have 2 more OOC games. An Army/App State/Wake Forest type home game and then a big money road game at a school like Florida State.

It could really be the best of both worlds between having NY6 access by being in a conference and building an Independent-type schedule that cuts travel and increases fan interest.

Is there any NCAA mandated minimum number of conference football games? This might work for Marshall, but how difficult would it be for all 14 CUSA members to be looking for two more games a year?

That would be the hitch. Athletic directors would have to schedule 6 non-con football games a year instead of 4, and they probably don't want the extra hassle. Some (probably most) of those additional "new" home non-con games would be no more attractive than whichever conference opponents you don't really care about. Obviously it's not impossible to do it; indy teams manage to schedule 12 every year. But a lot of ADs and football coaches would not see the reduction in conference games as an improvement.

It would only be 1 more FBS game if you schedule an FCS. And you could schedule a team from the opposite division to play as an OOC game. But it frees up the schedule for schools who want to make their schedule as good as possible.

For the teams that benefit from it, it would be only a marginal gain.

Hypothetically, let's say Marshall replaces a future home/home conference series vs. North Texas or UTSA with a home/home non-conference series vs. Ball State or EMU. (Everyone can hope the new home games wouldn't just be against MAC or SBC teams or UConn or UMass, but realistically that's the pool for 90% of these extra home games.) Comparing the road games in the series, it's really nice to make a fairly short bus trip to Indiana or Michigan instead of a long and more expensive road trip to Texas. Comparing the home games, it's probably a wash in terms of the interest level of Marshall fans. So there is some benefit, but not an enormous amount.

A much larger benefit would be implementing a conference schedule in all sports that is more local and maybe a bit smaller. Find a way to have fewer road games that require airline travel for every non-football team sport: Basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, etc. The goal should be something like eliminating two airline trips each year in each of those sports and replacing them with road games that only require a bus. That's a good start on significant travel cost reduction.

Your example only assumes the two teams to replace two CUSA-W teams would be MAC teams we don't care about. There are others we do care about (Ohio, Toledo, Miami). There's App State in the Sun Belt. AAC schools like Cinci, ECU, UCF. Power 5 schools who we have a decent track record of getting home and homes with. My example included an away money game vs a P5 and another home game:

@ECU (happening)
Pitt (happening)
@Ohio (happening)
Boise State (happening)
Wake Forest (hypothetical replacing Rice)
@Florida State for big $ (hypothetical replacing LT)

That would not be a wash in terms of Marshall fan interest. That would create a lot of excitement. We could split the difference and say a money game at FSU and a home game vs. Ball State. But I bet if you polled the Marshall fanbase they'd far prefer those two games than against Rice and @LT.

To your second part, a more local conference would be great. But the powers that be are saying that's not happening and they plan to tweak the conference schedule.
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2020 02:10 PM by MUsince96.)
06-01-2020 01:59 PM
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