(05-18-2021 11:35 AM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  Thanks guys! I’m still trying to digest it. And we really weren’t inferior. We were ranked 10th in the country. In the tournament, we beat an undefeated Fordham, #1 Clemson, defending national champion Georgetown, UNC, and 8 time champion #3 Indiana.

And now back on topic... if the MWC poached UTEP if Boise bolts for the AAC, then I hope that opens up a spot for you guys. I know all of the eastern teams will not want a western addition

Would love to be in a conference with you guys, and I think the soccer games would have some great atmosphere! Tell the Western teams to take a hike! Drinks are on me at the first MU vs JMU tailgate.

(05-18-2021 12:28 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(05-18-2021 11:35 AM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  Thanks guys! I’m still trying to digest it. And we really weren’t inferior. We were ranked 10th in the country. In the tournament, we beat an undefeated Fordham, #1 Clemson, defending national champion Georgetown, UNC, and 8 time champion #3 Indiana.

And now back on topic... if the MWC poached UTEP if Boise bolts for the AAC, then I hope that opens up a spot for you guys. I know all of the eastern teams will not want a western addition

Would love to be in a conference with you guys, and I think the soccer games would have some great atmosphere! Tell the Western teams to take a hike! Drinks are on me at the first MU vs JMU tailgate.

Deal!

Congrats Thunder! I'm not a huge soccer fan, but I know I'd be real excited if JMU won the title. Enjoy the moment.

It was a great game to watch- congrats Marshall!

Much thanks again guys. You can imagine how nuts my house was as I played soccer in high school and in college.

On a conference note, if UTEP gets poached by the MWC, then CUSA will either try to convince the members to go after NMSU or try to lure TXST. I doubt the east will allow that. We only need one team, and I doubt we could lure a SBC team alone (other than perhaps TXST). JMU falls right in line with the eastern schools of CUSA. So the east would be:

JMU
ODU
Marshall
Charlotte
WKU/MTSU (one of them will have to bounce to the west)
FAU
FIU

(05-18-2021 06:03 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  Much thanks again guys. You can imagine how nuts my house was as I played soccer in high school and in college.

On a conference note, if UTEP gets poached by the MWC, then CUSA will either try to convince the members to go after NMSU or try to lure TXST. I doubt the east will allow that. We only need one team, and I doubt we could lure a SBC team alone (other than perhaps TXST). JMU falls right in line with the eastern schools of CUSA. So the east would be:

JMU
ODU
Marshall
Charlotte
WKU/MTSU (one of them will have to bounce to the west)
FAU
FIU

That potential division looks pretty nice to me, particularly the top 4 schools listed.

Only real dud in there is FIU. And I think everyone can just get over it because trips to Miami are fun.

(05-18-2021 10:06 AM)PGJMU2 Wrote:  

(05-18-2021 06:46 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  The time has come for JMU to move to the next level of football but doing so as an independent should never be considered. If Covid-19 doesn’t make university administrators take a hard look at the losses they are experiencing from athletics, then the only thing left is bankruptcy. The current CUSA conference configuration isn’t financially feasible from an expense standpoint and revenues are no better than JMUs current situation. It takes money to play at the highest level of football not pie in the sky analysis from fans that want it.

I don’t see UMass and UConn football surviving as an independent. They certainly will not be playing winning football there unless they schedule like Army does by playing every low level FBS team they can. If this is what our fanbase aspires to, I see an end to the popularity of JMU football and a return to the days when Parents Weekend and Homecoming are the only decent crowds. I know I won’t be buying season tickets for four cupcake games while JMU goes on the road for seven away games.

I am ready for a move. FCS football doesn’t excite me the way it use to do. The CAA regular season has become boring. The playoffs are the only exception. I still get juiced for playoff games. If we went independent, football at JMU would be destroyed. Sorry guys, I don’t see it working on any level for JMU.

exactly right. we all want bigger and better things, but too much risk going independent and not a lot of upside. Liberty is not a comp for many reasons. $$$ and they really have nothing to lose being indy.

Really?

So, "not a lot of upside" going indy? How about a Top 25 FBS ranking? Is that an upside? How about playing an awesome schedule and making money doing it? I know you think Liberty is just throwing cash around to play P5s, but actually, they are making money playing P5s. The only ones they pay are those they pay to play in Lynchburg.

I am really sick and tired of the argument that "Oh, no, we can never be Liberty. They are rich and we are broke-ass bastards. They can pay anyone any amount they want to play them and probably even pay them to throw the game."

Horesh!t. That isn't happening! Liberty stepped out and just did it! They calculated the cost, which isn't astronomical, nor is it rocket science. Then, they set out on a planned schedule to accomplish their goals. Then, they did it!

Our sh!t is weak! Our admin are not leaders. They are pu$$ies and followers. We need another Ron Carrier, a visionary and leader. Until then, we can enjoy pounding our chests while pounding the crap out of Morehead and Norfolk State annually as more and more former peers join FBS.

(05-18-2021 12:20 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  With Longhorn's analogy to jumping out of a plane with no parachute while being told someone halfway down will give you one, I feel like JMU football is more where that plane has no pilot and is running out of fuel while we've been looking everywhere for a parachute... If it's feasible to survive as an independent for a couple years and make ourselves more attractive to FBS conferences when things shake up then I don't think that'd be a bad gamble to take.

I don't know how feasible that is though, and I would imagine the reality is much closer to Longhorn's thinking of how impossible it is without Liberty's buckets of money than it is to Purple's thinking of how easily we could pull it off and schedule whoever we want. I very seriously doubt it's sustainable long term so if it's possible to pull off for a couple years then it would just be taking a gamble on the next realignment giving us a decent landing spot. I wouldn't be against taking that gamble, again if JMU could pull it off, but regardless of how possible it is I doubt it's happening.

There have been several posters here crunching the numbers, and going indy is not a financial gamble. We leave all other sports in the CAA until we are invited into an FBS conference. In the meantime, we schedule P5 paydays and compete well with G5s, getting bowl games and gaining a solid reputation as an FBS team to respect.... just like Liberty.

The blueprint is there. Build it!

(05-18-2021 06:03 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  Much thanks again guys. You can imagine how nuts my house was as I played soccer in high school and in college.

On a conference note, if UTEP gets poached by the MWC, then CUSA will either try to convince the members to go after NMSU or try to lure TXST. I doubt the east will allow that. We only need one team, and I doubt we could lure a SBC team alone (other than perhaps TXST). JMU falls right in line with the eastern schools of CUSA. So the east would be:

JMU
ODU
Marshall
Charlotte
WKU/MTSU (one of them will have to bounce to the west)
FAU
FIU

Why on earth would CUSA pick NMSU or Texas State over JMU? They both suck really, really bad!

(05-18-2021 06:27 PM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(05-18-2021 06:03 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  Much thanks again guys. You can imagine how nuts my house was as I played soccer in high school and in college.

On a conference note, if UTEP gets poached by the MWC, then CUSA will either try to convince the members to go after NMSU or try to lure TXST. I doubt the east will allow that. We only need one team, and I doubt we could lure a SBC team alone (other than perhaps TXST). JMU falls right in line with the eastern schools of CUSA. So the east would be:

JMU
ODU
Marshall
Charlotte
WKU/MTSU (one of them will have to bounce to the west)
FAU
FIU

That potential division looks pretty nice to me, particularly the top 4 schools listed.

I prefer having UAB in our division and letting the west have the Floridas.

(05-18-2021 07:53 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(05-18-2021 06:03 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  Much thanks again guys. You can imagine how nuts my house was as I played soccer in high school and in college.

On a conference note, if UTEP gets poached by the MWC, then CUSA will either try to convince the members to go after NMSU or try to lure TXST. I doubt the east will allow that. We only need one team, and I doubt we could lure a SBC team alone (other than perhaps TXST). JMU falls right in line with the eastern schools of CUSA. So the east would be:

JMU
ODU
Marshall
Charlotte
WKU/MTSU (one of them will have to bounce to the west)
FAU
FIU

Why on earth would CUSA pick NMSU or Texas State over JMU? They both suck really, really bad!

The western teams, mainly the Texas bloc, would want a western replacement. UAB and USM actually prefer to be in the east with Marshall, Middle, WKU, and the FL schools. LaTech probably prefers to stay in the west since the recruit heavily in TX and have a lot of alumni there. They’d fight against an eastern team, but I think they might not have enough votes to block the east wanting JMU if UTEP leaves.

Even leaving JMU out of the equation, it's tough to see any conference really wanting NMSU. I realize it's a land grant college, but they have a really, really bad football program (and it has been for a long time.)

(05-18-2021 09:04 PM)olddawg Wrote:  Even leaving JMU out of the equation, it's tough to see any conference really wanting NMSU. I realize it's a land grant college, but they have a really, really bad football program (and it has been for a long time.)

I get it. It isn’t likely barring an entire CUSA SBC shakeup that CUSA can poach a belt team anytime soon. The west answer would leave them as the only option as they are a stone’s throw away from El Paso, therefore the conference geography would not change (which is what the TX schools would want). The east wants CUSA to gravitate back east.

The addition of JMU to CUSA would elevate the conference to Sun Belt parity.

If you believe that ODU and others are unhappy with the current geographic make up of CUSA and contemplating other moves adding JMU could placate them while enhancing the overall league.

(05-19-2021 05:53 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  If you believe that ODU and others are unhappy with the current geographic make up of CUSA and contemplating other moves adding JMU could placate them while enhancing the overall league.

IF... ODU entertains a move, it will be because basketball triggers it. They didn’t spend all of that money to move to FBs just to move back down to FCS. Their goal would be the A-10 in basketball and only sports and Indy in FB.

Charlotte seems to be relatively happy in CUSA as their FB program is starting to gain some traction. Basketball has been a disappointment though.

A couple of notes, the idea that Liberty has bought our way into our scheduling is a fallacy and Longhorn surely recognizes it. We built schedules using a limited supply of fellow Indies and a bunch of 2-for-1s with ACC schools to assure at least one marquee home game every season. We then added a bunch of home-and-aways with Sun Belt & CUSA schools. None of the above cost us a penny. We did buy a few home games with schools from the Belt & CUSA in addition to our P5 guarantees. The cost factor of moving up for us was primarily in scholarships and coaching staff.

Today there are more indies to schedule than when we moved up. You can actually put together a rather nice FBS schedule without much effort other than paying an FCS school to come to town once or twice a year. You already do that to beef up your home schedule.

And Thunder, you have to recognize the irony of your soccer team representing Conference USA becoming "National Champions". Am I right?

As for CUSA, it is highly likely that the Texan bloc is not as tight as you assume. No one in San Antonio wants Texas State joining their club. And for crying out loud, there is nothing local for Texas schools with NMSU once UTEP leaves. I would think that Missouri State would be a more likely option in the west. Otherwise the league would have to look east.

(05-19-2021 01:05 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  A couple of notes, the idea that Liberty has bought our way into our scheduling is a fallacy and Longhorn surely recognizes it. We built schedules using a limited supply of fellow Indies and a bunch of 2-for-1s with ACC schools to assure at least one marquee home game every season. We then added a bunch of home-and-aways with Sun Belt & CUSA schools. None of the above cost us a penny. We did buy a few home games with schools from the Belt & CUSA in addition to our P5 guarantees. The cost factor of moving up for us was primarily in scholarships and coaching staff.

Today there are more indies to schedule than when we moved up. You can actually put together a rather nice FBS schedule without much effort other than paying an FCS school to come to town once or twice a year. You already do that to beef up your home schedule.

And Thunder, you have to recognize the irony of your soccer team representing Conference USA becoming "National Champions". Am I right?

As for CUSA, it is highly likely that the Texan bloc is not as tight as you assume. No one in San Antonio wants Texas State joining their club. And for crying out loud, there is nothing local for Texas schools with NMSU once UTEP leaves. I would think that Missouri State would be a more likely option in the west. Otherwise the league would have to look east.

I see what you did there.

(05-18-2021 07:50 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(05-18-2021 12:20 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  With Longhorn's analogy to jumping out of a plane with no parachute while being told someone halfway down will give you one, I feel like JMU football is more where that plane has no pilot and is running out of fuel while we've been looking everywhere for a parachute... If it's feasible to survive as an independent for a couple years and make ourselves more attractive to FBS conferences when things shake up then I don't think that'd be a bad gamble to take.

I don't know how feasible that is though, and I would imagine the reality is much closer to Longhorn's thinking of how impossible it is without Liberty's buckets of money than it is to Purple's thinking of how easily we could pull it off and schedule whoever we want. I very seriously doubt it's sustainable long term so if it's possible to pull off for a couple years then it would just be taking a gamble on the next realignment giving us a decent landing spot. I wouldn't be against taking that gamble, again if JMU could pull it off, but regardless of how possible it is I doubt it's happening.

There have been several posters here crunching the numbers, and going indy is not a financial gamble. We leave all other sports in the CAA until we are invited into an FBS conference. In the meantime, we schedule P5 paydays and compete well with G5s, getting bowl games and gaining a solid reputation as an FBS team to respect.... just like Liberty.

The blueprint is there. Build it!

Do you mind providing a link to any of those? I haven't seen any hard numbers from anyone.