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Let the speculation about what this means for the ASUN begin.

Some schools will be in a Conference with No AQ.

I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

I'm excited too, and I get it. At the same time, we've been so close in past that I don't know if I can stomach another round of watching a bunch of our FCS peers do something that we can't.

I'm probably reaching here, and I kind of want to call myself ridiculous for even suggesting it, but does anything think some kind of unprecedented football partnership between the two conferences could somehow get the six of us where we want to go?

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

I will be surprised is CUSA doesn't call on a few ASun members..

Liberty might be their 1st call. While they only use the ASun for Olympic sports, losing them would destabilize the conference a little.

EKU has wanted to be FBS for awhile and was hoping for a Sunbelt invite a few years ago.

Jacksonville St has been hinting at FBS ambitions for years and might be a natural replacement for UAB in Alabama.

I am a Kennesaw State alum, so while I'm not sure they would accept at the moment, CUSA could eye the school size, location, potential and FCS success and see a future member in the making. I think FBS football at Kennesaw State could be very successful.

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

Over on the Jax State board, I broke down where CUSA's next moves will likely come from. I'll spare this forum the full recap (It was way overlong.) but I do think Liberty will get invited, and they'll accept.

After that, all bets are off.

CUSA will definitely need to look to FCS to fill out its ranks, but I'm with you -- as much as I'd love to be up in FBS with some of our old rivals, I wouldn't want us to leap blindly at an invitation without checking who our new conference mates would be.

Giving up a conference with UNA, KSU, EKU, and Peay to join a conference with La Tech, UTEP, and FIU would not exactly be a good trade, imho. It might be a more "prestigious" conference home, but it wouldn't necessarily be better.

(10-19-2021 11:33 AM)whupemall Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

Over on the Jax State board, I broke down where CUSA's next moves will likely come from. I'll spare this forum the full recap (It was way overlong.) but I do think Liberty will get invited, and they'll accept.

After that, all bets are off.

CUSA will definitely need to look to FCS to fill out its ranks, but I'm with you -- as much as I'd love to be up in FBS with some of our old rivals, I wouldn't want us to leap blindly at an invitation without checking who our new conference mates would be.

Giving up a conference with UNA, KSU, EKU, and Peay to join a conference with La Tech, UTEP, and FIU would not exactly be a good trade, imho. It might be a more "prestigious" conference home, but it wouldn't necessarily be better.

Maybe not better, but in longterm more profitable and higher profile.

CUSA has decisions to make. They are losing 6 to the AAC. It sounds like USM and Marshall are both headed to the Sunbelt.

That will leave CUSA at 6 schools, 1 of them being UTEP which is on an island nearly 900 miles away from the next closet member at La Tech..

They could add NMSU as a travel partner for UTEP, but I'm not sure if that helps or doubles the problem.

Liberty is the only eastern FBS that makes sense, but they come with baggage a lot of school presidents don't like. So, they may just have to ignore the chatter and decide good business overwhelms perceived problems.

After Liberty and NMSU, it's FCS or bust..

JMU would be the big FCS prize if they finally decide to move up.

(10-19-2021 11:29 AM)Tmac13 Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

I will be surprised is CUSA doesn't call on a few ASun members..

Liberty might be their 1st call. While they only use the ASun for Olympic sports, losing them would destabilize the conference a little.

EKU has wanted to be FBS for awhile and was hoping for a Sunbelt invite a few years ago.

Jacksonville St has been hinting at FBS ambitions for years and might be a natural replacement for UAB in Alabama.

I am a Kennesaw State alum, so while I'm not sure they would accept at the moment, CUSA could eye the school size, location, potential and FCS success and see a future member in the making. I think FBS football at Kennesaw State could be very successful.

I think Kennesaw at FBS could be successful one day. I don't think we're close. We'd need a large stadium expansion for it to even be possible for us to average the 15k fans required. I don't think we have the money to do that in the near future.

I think we're looking at 10 years or so more atleast at FCS to build fan interest and have alumni that went to school with football become donors. Hopefully get to a place where less of the revenue for athletics comes from student fees.

In the meantime I want a good competitive fcs home with some fairly close by games.

Yeah, C-USA tried last week to throw them a more logical scenario to make two more geographically-centered conferences. AAC is mad at their other schools leaving and wants to poach instead. FBS is a mess right now. And, of course, that mess will trickle down to FCS soon.

The one thing I'm pretty sure of is that Liberty's days are numbered in the ASUN. They could be courted by multiple conferences, soon, baggage and all.

(10-19-2021 01:35 PM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 11:29 AM)Tmac13 Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

I will be surprised is CUSA doesn't call on a few ASun members..

Liberty might be their 1st call. While they only use the ASun for Olympic sports, losing them would destabilize the conference a little.

EKU has wanted to be FBS for awhile and was hoping for a Sunbelt invite a few years ago.

Jacksonville St has been hinting at FBS ambitions for years and might be a natural replacement for UAB in Alabama.

I am a Kennesaw State alum, so while I'm not sure they would accept at the moment, CUSA could eye the school size, location, potential and FCS success and see a future member in the making. I think FBS football at Kennesaw State could be very successful.

I think Kennesaw at FBS could be successful one day. I don't think we're close. We'd need a large stadium expansion for it to even be possible for us to average the 15k fans required. I don't think we have the money to do that in the near future.

I think we're looking at 10 years or so more atleast at FCS to build fan interest and have alumni that went to school with football become donors. Hopefully get to a place where less of the revenue for athletics comes from student fees.

In the meantime I want a good competitive fcs home with some fairly close by games.

I think donations would explode the minute Kennesaw State announced they were exploring FBS opportunities. Sad fact, 30 years ago when the SoCon was the premier FCS conference and there were only 2 FBS schools in state, people cared about FCS football. Now, outside of current or past KS people, nobody cares about FCS in the state of GA. Many KS alumni would donate to an FBS, but they won't as long as it's FCS..

To add, Cobb County invested 350 million dollars in taxpayer money in Truist Park. The park was specifically designed to accommodate a football field for possible mixed use. Cobb County would like nothing better than for KS to play a couple or 3 games a year at Truist until a real.on campus stadium could be built..So, I don't think we are actually that far away from it being possible.

(10-19-2021 01:59 PM)Tmac13 Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 01:35 PM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 11:29 AM)Tmac13 Wrote:  

(10-19-2021 10:58 AM)Hootyhoo Wrote:  I know this conference is trying to be a stepping stone to FBS, but I hope none of us get called up. I'm excited about ASUN football. It's a strong conference. I just left a conference that got super weak and weird because the best teams moved up.

I will be surprised is CUSA doesn't call on a few ASun members..

Liberty might be their 1st call. While they only use the ASun for Olympic sports, losing them would destabilize the conference a little.

EKU has wanted to be FBS for awhile and was hoping for a Sunbelt invite a few years ago.

Jacksonville St has been hinting at FBS ambitions for years and might be a natural replacement for UAB in Alabama.

I am a Kennesaw State alum, so while I'm not sure they would accept at the moment, CUSA could eye the school size, location, potential and FCS success and see a future member in the making. I think FBS football at Kennesaw State could be very successful.

I think Kennesaw at FBS could be successful one day. I don't think we're close. We'd need a large stadium expansion for it to even be possible for us to average the 15k fans required. I don't think we have the money to do that in the near future.

I think we're looking at 10 years or so more atleast at FCS to build fan interest and have alumni that went to school with football become donors. Hopefully get to a place where less of the revenue for athletics comes from student fees.

In the meantime I want a good competitive fcs home with some fairly close by games.

I think donations would explode the minute Kennesaw State announced they were exploring FBS opportunities. Sad fact, 30 years ago when the SoCon was the premier FCS conference and there were only 2 FBS schools in state, people cared about FCS football. Now, outside of current or past KS people, nobody cares about FCS in the state of GA. Many KS alumni would donate to an FBS, but they won't as long as it's FCS..

To add, Cobb County invested 350 million dollars in taxpayer money in Truist Park. The park was specifically designed to accommodate a football field for possible mixed use. Cobb County would like nothing better than for KS to play a couple or 3 games a year at Truist until a real.on campus stadium could be built..So, I don't think we are actually that far away from it being possible.

I might be totally wrong. You make a really good point about Truist Park being a solution to the bank being too small.

But, with such a large amount of our athletic revenue coming from student fees I don't feel comfortable forcing football to grow faster and increasing costs. I'd like FBS eventually, but I'd hate seeing us leave the bank for Truist Park. I'd hate to see us leave the bank for a new stadium at all really. It's such a nice little stadium and fairly new to replace. I love going there. I hope they can expand it over time. There is probably room for 3000-5000 seats where the stage is in the endzone. We can expand the stadium as the fanbase grows. And it's growing! We broke an attendance record just last weekend!

I don't think someone that graduated Kennesaw before football is going to stop being a Georgia/Bama fan because we move up to the G5. They'll still see it as too small.

Over time more alumni will have attended with fcs football, they'll go to games in college, they'll love it. Student section the last two games was pretty full! Donors will grow when we have more older alumni that experienced having football when they attended. That's when we can make the move up.

And frankly, I want a Natty in fcs before we move on to go 6-6 and play in the bad boy mowers gasperilla bowl in a good year. I love having a team that's able to compete for a championship regularly.

Now, CUSA is losing 9 members..Yikes

C-USA may be down to just FIU, UTEP, and Louisiana Tech if WKU and MTSU leave for the MAC.

If the ASUN wants FBS, that may be the ticket.

I see one of two scenarios playing out if CUSA is left with FIU, UTEP, and La Tech:

1) CUSA backfills with whomever they can get. They may try to invite NMSU as a football-only affiliate, at least until the WAC has its FBS legs. I don't see them going after UMass and UConn as football affiliates, but one never knows. These are desperate times for ol' CUSA. Everyone else would have to come from FCS. Whether or not they pursue the current FBS indies, CUSA is left as an incredibly weakened conference for football and probably hoops. It's no wonder Liberty backed out.

2) FIU, UTEP, and La Tech survey the landscape and arrive at the same decision Liberty did: football independence is better than this. UTEP could go to the WAC for OLY sports, so it's an easy transition for them. FIU could ask to rejoin the ASUN as a non-football member. La Tech... (sigh)... La Tech chose poorly. They'll have some options; just not any good ones. They could be a far-eastern member of the WAC, or a far-western member of the ASUN, or a far-southern member of the OVC. I absolutely, positively do not see them joining the Southland in any capacity. This scenario would effectively end CUSA and the G5 would become the G4. And all the FCS schools talking to CUSA about moving up would be left in the desolate wasteland of the championship subdivision for at least a few more years.


EDIT: Gem's suggestion here opened up a possible 3rd scenario, involving a gentleman's arrangement between the WAC, ASUN, and CUSA. It'd be way more complicated than it sounds, but Gumbart is just psycho enough to make it happen. Not sure if this scenario would actually come to pass, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

(10-22-2021 06:38 PM)whupemall Wrote:  I see one of two scenarios playing out if CUSA is left with FIU, UTEP, and La Tech:

1) CUSA backfills with whomever they can get. They may try to invite NMSU as a football-only affiliate, at least until the WAC has its FBS legs. I don't see them going after UMass and UConn as football affiliates, but one never knows. These are desperate times for ol' CUSA. Everyone else would have to come from FCS. Whether or not they pursue the current FBS indies, CUSA is left as an incredibly weakened conference for football and probably hoops. It's no wonder Liberty backed out.

2) FIU, UTEP, and La Tech survey the landscape and arrive at the same decision Liberty did: football independence is better than this. UTEP could go to the WAC for OLY sports, so it's an easy transition for them. FIU could ask to rejoin the ASUN as a non-football member. La Tech... (sigh)... La Tech chose poorly. They'll have some options; just not any good ones. They could be a far-eastern member of the WAC, or a far-western member of the ASUN, or a far-southern member of the OVC. I absolutely, positively do not see them joining the Southland in any capacity. This scenario would effectively end CUSA and the G5 would become the G4. And all the FCS schools talking to CUSA about moving up would be left in the desolate wasteland of the championship subdivision for at least a few more years.


EDIT: Gem's suggestion here opened up a possible 3rd scenario, involving a gentleman's arrangement between the WAC, ASUN, and CUSA. It'd be way more complicated than it sounds, but Gumbart is just psycho enough to make it happen. Not sure if this scenario would actually come to pass, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

https://twitter.com/Brett_McMurphy/statu...81317?s=20

I wouldn’t be surprised if EKU, UTC, and Jacksonville St all landed in C-USA.

Potentially New C-USA:
UTEP
New Mexico State
Louisiana Tech
Central Arkansas
North Alabama

Jacksonville State
Austin Peay
Eastern Kentucky
Kennesaw State
Florida International

Would Missouri State or UT-Chattanooga be interested in going to FBS this way? I think they would really fill the footprint well. Would UMass and UConn consider football-only memberships? Could North Dakota State and some other of their friends move up as a group to C-USA? A lot of directions the conference could take but beggars can't be choosers. I think the ASUN moving up is their best play.

(10-23-2021 09:15 AM)GE and MTS Wrote:  Potentially New C-USA:
UTEP
New Mexico State
Louisiana Tech
Central Arkansas
North Alabama

Jacksonville State
Austin Peay
Eastern Kentucky
Kennesaw State
Florida International

Would Missouri State or UT-Chattanooga be interested in going to FBS this way? I think they would really fill the footprint well. Would UMass and UConn consider football-only memberships? Could North Dakota State and some other of their friends move up as a group to C-USA? A lot of directions the conference could take but beggars can't be choosers. I think the ASUN moving up is their best play.

Doesn't seem like the MAC wants to expand, so WKU and MTSU may end up staying..

Personally, I think CUSA needs to do everything possible to get Liberty to join and be the conference Flagship. Then focus on Liberty's ASun conference mates in Jacksonville St, EKU, and Kennesaw St..That would create a nice southern footprint with some good recruiting areas along with a big media market. Missouri State would also be a nice add..

The Dakotas are just too far , have no recruiting, and about 47 TV sets in both states combined..