Pete Thamel confirms the MAC is considering adding MTSU and WKU.

https://mobile.twitter.com/PeteThamel/st...41092?s=20

Let’s dissolve CUSA and get this party started in 2022

I think if 11 of the current 14 members leave the conference, they would have a legal leg to stand on that the conference has essentially dissolved and shouldn’t have to pay exit fees. Then there will be a settlement and the departing schools will pay a fraction of their exit fees to the remaining 3 schools.

I honestly want Marshall to pay the full exit fee.

If 11 teams leave a conference in the span of two weeks, and three teams are still there, and are able to somehow add five full time members, they deserve the bag.

They will need that cash to stay solvent.

It's the horrible side to all this.

Add any of the five from the following and call it a day.

New Mexico State
Sam Houston
Missouri State
Jacksonville State
Liberty
North Dakota State
South Dakota State
Montana

With
UTEP
La Tech
FIU

And/or UMASS and UCONN football only.

(10-29-2021 09:19 PM)rileylives Wrote:  I honestly want Marshall to pay the full exit fee.

If 11 teams leave a conference in the span of two weeks, and three teams are still there, and are able to somehow add five full time members, they deserve the bag.

They will need that cash to stay solvent.

It's the horrible side to all this.

Add any of the five from the following and call it a day.

New Mexico State
Sam Houston
Missouri State
Jacksonville State
Liberty
North Dakota State
South Dakota State
Montana

With
UTEP
La Tech
FIU

And/or UMASS and UCONN football only.

No offense to the individual teams, but that's an ugly conference. FIU & Montana?

(10-29-2021 09:32 PM)Block-A Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:19 PM)rileylives Wrote:  I honestly want Marshall to pay the full exit fee.

If 11 teams leave a conference in the span of two weeks, and three teams are still there, and are able to somehow add five full time members, they deserve the bag.

They will need that cash to stay solvent.

It's the horrible side to all this.

Add any of the five from the following and call it a day.

New Mexico State
Sam Houston
Missouri State
Jacksonville State
Liberty
North Dakota State
South Dakota State
Montana

With
UTEP
La Tech
FIU

And/or UMASS and UCONN football only.

No offense to the individual teams, but that's an ugly conference. FIU & Montana?

I know, it's not ideal at all.

But it's what they are left with.

If CUSA keeps the 3, they’ll have to add a combo of all sports except football for travel partners, and a couple football only members. With FIU, I’d hit up FGCU for a travel partner. NMSU is an easy one for UTEP. UALR with LaTech, UTA with SHSU. 2 football only members and you’re at 8.

(10-29-2021 09:39 PM)Usajags Wrote:  If CUSA keeps the 3, they’ll have to add a combo of all sports except football for travel partners, and a couple football only members. With FIU, I’d hit up FGCU for a travel partner. NMSU is an easy one for UTEP. UALR with LaTech, UTA with SHSU. 2 football only members and you’re at 8.

I think you need 8 full time members.

I doubt CUSA could survive that.

All through this realignment I haven't heard a thing from or about FIU. I think all of the others have at least made a pitch at getting in the AAC or SBC, or banding together in the CUSA. But I haven't seen anything from FIU. What is and was their angle in this?

(10-29-2021 09:40 PM)rileylives Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:39 PM)Usajags Wrote:  If CUSA keeps the 3, they’ll have to add a combo of all sports except football for travel partners, and a couple football only members. With FIU, I’d hit up FGCU for a travel partner. NMSU is an easy one for UTEP. UALR with LaTech, UTA with SHSU. 2 football only members and you’re at 8.

I think you need 8 full time members.

Put an add in the paper for any “school willing to do anything for FBS football”

(10-29-2021 09:43 PM)HCJag Wrote:  All through this realignment I haven't heard a thing from or about FIU. I think all of the others have at least made a pitch at getting in the AAC or SBC, or banding together in the CUSA. But I haven't seen anything from FIU. What is and was their angle in this?

That's typical FIU.

A top five national enrollment with no fans.

Go figure.

(10-29-2021 09:43 PM)Usajags Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:40 PM)rileylives Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:39 PM)Usajags Wrote:  If CUSA keeps the 3, they’ll have to add a combo of all sports except football for travel partners, and a couple football only members. With FIU, I’d hit up FGCU for a travel partner. NMSU is an easy one for UTEP. UALR with LaTech, UTA with SHSU. 2 football only members and you’re at 8.

I think you need 8 full time members.

Put an add in the paper for any “school willing to do anything for FBS football”

I think that was Judy's plan with Tarleton State. Get a body out there!

(10-29-2021 09:43 PM)HCJag Wrote:  All through this realignment I haven't heard a thing from or about FIU. I think all of the others have at least made a pitch at getting in the AAC or SBC, or banding together in the CUSA. But I haven't seen anything from FIU. What is and was their angle in this?

They know they are really out of options.

(10-29-2021 09:19 PM)rileylives Wrote:  ......

Add any of the five from the following and call it a day.

New Mexico State Likely to join
Sam Houston Strong chance to join
Missouri State Matt Brown tweeted today that they're no longer making themselves a candidate
Jacksonville State Perfectly possible, but neither side has released anything showing either has interest.
Liberty Willingness to join appeared contingent on Marshall's willingness to stay.
North Dakota State It's one thing to leave for a steady, stable FCS league (both MVFC and Summit League) for the MAC or MW. It's quite another to leave for an unbelievably unstable and far flung conference that would be C-USA.
South Dakota State See NDSU.
Montana See NDSU and SDSU, except with their league being the Big Sky instead of MVFC/Summit.

With
UTEP
La Tech
FIU

And/or UMASS and UCONN football only.

Ooooo man, they're in trouble.

I honestly want C-USA to survive as an FBS conference. I want it to survive for the same reason I want Ga. Southern never to drop football. I want Ga. Southern to be there for App State to have the opportunity to beat. I want C-USA to keep on going so the SB has that league, hopefully along with several others, to outshine.

But I just don't see a viable path forward if WKU and MTSU bail out. Not for FBS, anyway.

Instead, I think the best path forward is to focus on surviving as a D1 league at all.

- Go ahead and reach out to all of the above schools. That's Plan A.

Then they have to go to Plan B: Being a non-football conference that has FBS members in it.

- Reach out to UTA and Little Rock.
- Look at OVC and Southland schools, who themselves are seeking new leagues.
- Gauge interest from ambitious basketball programs in the WAC and ASUN.

I don't doubt C-USA will survive as a D1 conference. They still have more to work with than the SLC, OVC, and MEAC. They still offer one of only 32 automatic NCAA bids for a Division 1 that has almost 360 members.

But I just don't see how they're gonna make it.

Looks like it's Sound Proof Curtains for CUSA.

(10-29-2021 09:45 PM)rileylives Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:43 PM)Usajags Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:40 PM)rileylives Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:39 PM)Usajags Wrote:  If CUSA keeps the 3, they’ll have to add a combo of all sports except football for travel partners, and a couple football only members. With FIU, I’d hit up FGCU for a travel partner. NMSU is an easy one for UTEP. UALR with LaTech, UTA with SHSU. 2 football only members and you’re at 8.

I think you need 8 full time members.

Put an add in the paper for any “school willing to do anything for FBS football”

I think that was Judy's plan with Tarleton State. Get a body out there!

McNeese St. too. Tarleton St. would not be even be able to help since they are 5 seasons away from even being able to join. The league would be long gone by then without help from others.

For CUSA to survive it is looking like a bunch of Texas and Louisiana FCS additions are inevitable since they are the only ones pushing to join.

(10-29-2021 09:19 PM)rileylives Wrote:  I honestly want Marshall to pay the full exit fee.

If 11 teams leave a conference in the span of two weeks, and three teams are still there, and are able to somehow add five full time members, they deserve the bag.

They will need that cash to stay solvent.

It's the horrible side to all this.

Add any of the five from the following and call it a day.

New Mexico State
Sam Houston
Missouri State
Jacksonville State
Liberty
North Dakota State
South Dakota State
Montana

With
UTEP
La Tech
FIU

And/or UMASS and UCONN football only.

Montana turned down chance to go I-A/FBS in the Big West and then in the WAC (reportedly twice), why would they change their mind for a eastern league?

Montana probably has the least to gain moving to FBS of just about anyone. The idea is FBS will bolster attendance but from where? A few years back I took the average attendance of all the Alabama schools divided it by the state population and did the same with Montana and Montana State, at the time Montana had a higher percentage of their population attending in-state games than Alabama did.

They are already at the attendance level of the supposedly most football crazy state in the country as a percentage of population, why blow that up by spending more and maybe even losing some fans when the records aren’t as gaudy?

(10-29-2021 09:40 PM)rileylives Wrote:  

(10-29-2021 09:39 PM)Usajags Wrote:  If CUSA keeps the 3, they’ll have to add a combo of all sports except football for travel partners, and a couple football only members. With FIU, I’d hit up FGCU for a travel partner. NMSU is an easy one for UTEP. UALR with LaTech, UTA with SHSU. 2 football only members and you’re at 8.

I think you need 8 full time members.

Need 8 full FBS members to be an FBS league.
Need 7 full Division I members to have auto bid for men’s hoops.
Need 6 members for auto bids in other sports.

Even if CUSA has issues getting to 8 full FBS, they can get to 7 full Division I schools and keep the hoops auto bid.

We know EKU wants to move up, they made a presentation to the Sun Belt.

If WKU and MTSU get raided out, NMSU gives them four and then if there is any merit to the Tarleton, McNeese, Sam talk, EKU would round it out.