(12-06-2021 09:40 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why’d you put ODU in “wait & see”? In terms of gaining geographical and natural rivals there’s not many that improved more than us. Lesser basketball competition is the only downside argument

Wait and see for 2 main reasons. One is that the Sun Belt is a league of predominantly — not exclusively — rural campuses. I’m not sure how well an urban campus like ODU will fit in. The other reason is the one you mentioned about basketball competition being downgraded. That’s going to be a problem for us, too, but I think more so for ODU because basketball is a higher priority to ODU.

(12-06-2021 03:31 PM)Cardiff Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 09:40 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why’d you put ODU in “wait & see”? In terms of gaining geographical and natural rivals there’s not many that improved more than us. Lesser basketball competition is the only downside argument

Wait and see for 2 main reasons. One is that the Sun Belt is a league of predominantly — not exclusively — rural campuses. I’m not sure how well an urban campus like ODU will fit in. The other reason is the one you mentioned about basketball competition being downgraded. That’s going to be a problem for us, too, but I think more so for ODU because basketball is a higher priority to ODU.

Norfolk can’t be called a college town but it’s not Houston or Atlanta either. We wanted regional rivals with good fan bases and that’s what we got. I don’t think anyone at ODU is concerned about the urban/rural thing.

(12-06-2021 04:00 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 03:31 PM)Cardiff Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 09:40 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Why’d you put ODU in “wait & see”? In terms of gaining geographical and natural rivals there’s not many that improved more than us. Lesser basketball competition is the only downside argument

Wait and see for 2 main reasons. One is that the Sun Belt is a league of predominantly — not exclusively — rural campuses. I’m not sure how well an urban campus like ODU will fit in. The other reason is the one you mentioned about basketball competition being downgraded. That’s going to be a problem for us, too, but I think more so for ODU because basketball is a higher priority to ODU.

Norfolk can’t be called a college town but it’s not Houston or Atlanta either. We wanted regional rivals with good fan bases and that’s what we got. I don’t think anyone at ODU is concerned about the urban/rural thing.

yeah agreed. Georgia State is the only SBC that has a true Urban campus. ODU probably more concerned with Basketball, hopefully we can get it together and start pushing for another bid

(12-06-2021 02:12 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 10:08 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 09:30 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 10:19 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 09:41 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Pretty simple. Most of those against a realignment with the SB were from the SB and LT who have their own history.

Well, I read something on the Internet too.

I never read a post from a LT fan in favor of a regionalization merger.

Well, there ya go. Since no LT fan posted in favor of it, we must all have been a'gin it.

Makes perfect sense. Have a great day!

Should I pull up the video of your then AD’s comments regarding said realignment? It sounded pretty much the same derisive comments coming from Hog Dawg and Dawgxas on here. There may be some few LT fans that would have entertained it but to suggest that both LT’s administration and fans were squarely against it because they didn’t want to associate with some SB schools is just stupid and without anything to back it up.

I don't give a damn what you do with it, to be honest. Maybe you should, since it's only been posted 800 times. There's bound to be somebody who hasn't seen how bad it reflected on all of Conference USA. He dragged ALL OF US into the CUSA/SBC merger conversation when he said (quote) "Let me be very frank, and very direct: There is no conversation at Conference USA, nor is there any interest."

Notice, he didn't say there was "no conversation at LaTech, nor is there any interest". He said Conference USA...which would have included ODU...Tech...and the other 12 of us. He took the liberty to speak for everyone, which to me is about is crappy as it could get. Regardless, I wouldn't try to be too self-righteous about the whole thing. I don't remember ODU ever speaking out against the video, even back then. If ODU didn't agree with the remarks, they should have said so. Based on your logic above, that means your school was complicit.

If you're going to call out Tech and it's fans for this, at least take some ownership for your own school's silence.

(12-06-2021 05:31 PM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 02:12 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 10:08 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 09:30 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 10:19 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  Well, I read something on the Internet too.

I never read a post from a LT fan in favor of a regionalization merger.

Well, there ya go. Since no LT fan posted in favor of it, we must all have been a'gin it.

Makes perfect sense. Have a great day!

Should I pull up the video of your then AD’s comments regarding said realignment? It sounded pretty much the same derisive comments coming from Hog Dawg and Dawgxas on here. There may be some few LT fans that would have entertained it but to suggest that both LT’s administration and fans were squarely against it because they didn’t want to associate with some SB schools is just stupid and without anything to back it up.

I don't give a damn what you do with it, to be honest. Maybe you should, since it's only been posted 800 times. There's bound to be somebody who hasn't seen how bad it reflected on all of Conference USA. He dragged ALL OF US into the CUSA/SBC merger conversation when he said (quote) "Let me be very frank, and very direct: There is no conversation at Conference USA, nor is there any interest."

Notice, he didn't say there was "no conversation at LaTech, nor is there any interest". He said Conference USA...which would have included ODU...Tech...and the other 12 of us. He took the liberty to speak for everyone, which to me is about is crappy as it could get. Regardless, I wouldn't try to be too self-righteous about the whole thing. I don't remember ODU ever speaking out against the video, even back then. If ODU didn't agree with the remarks, they should have said so. Based on your logic above, that means your school was complicit.

If you're going to call out Tech and it's fans for this, at least take some ownership for your own school's silence.

We’re simply discussing which schools were for and against a break up of CUSA and regionalization with the SB. LT was obviously against and ODU was obviously for it based on plenty of public comments. For the most part the fans followed these lines. Are you trying to deny that? I’m not saying what he said was wrong. It’s ironic in hindsight maybe but you and your school can have an opinion nothing wrong with that. He’s wrong in that there was no interest from any of the CUSA schools, not enough obviously. But our admin made it very clear where we stood. It’s not our place to condemn his statements

(12-06-2021 08:21 AM)Tech80 Wrote:  We like throwing rocks from our glass houses...sheeesh!

This applies to several fanbases, and certainly we at Tech are smack in the middle of it. But, also true are those now thumping their chests like their schools' athletic programs have accomplished something great on their own merits. Nah, your school just happens to have millions of people living close by. That's it.

I think everyone needs to take a step back and take an honest look in the mirror.

As for Tech, I have posted "it is what it is." The university, and its athletic programs, did not create the local population situation. Actually, state legislatures did that 100+ years ago when they decided young men would fair better in college far away from distractions. Lots of people don't know just how close LSU came to being located at Fort Jessup in remote/rural western Louisiana. For our discussion here, none of the former CUSA schools are the big, land grant state universities, rather a "branch" and/or part of a system, or a private school.

Location aside, the leadership at Tech has made some poor decisions re: athletics, but mostly set it on cruise control and just hoped things would work out. As for the soon-to-be conference situation, it really doesn't matter. In basketball the best conference Tech has been in was the 1980's version of the Southland Conference. That little ole league had four Top 40 ranked programs from 1983-85. In 1985 Tech had the best men's/women's combination in the nation. Men finished ranked 7th, the women 3rd in the polls, with a combined 59-7 record. No one was complaining about the conference affiliation or making excuses...we had great coaches and they just won, period.

The next version of CUSA offers that same opportunity.

That's not true. UNT is an independent state university, We are our own university system, not a branch of any other state system.

I wish the 8 team C-USA and the 10 team would have done a membership shuffle:

Sunbelt: NMSU, UTEP, Texas St, Ark St, ULL, ULM, LA Tech, USM, USA, Troy

C-USA: ODU, JMU, Marshall, App St, WKU, MTSU, CCU, GA St, GA So, FIU

(12-06-2021 06:01 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 05:31 PM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 02:12 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 10:08 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 09:30 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  I never read a post from a LT fan in favor of a regionalization merger.

Well, there ya go. Since no LT fan posted in favor of it, we must all have been a'gin it.

Makes perfect sense. Have a great day!

Should I pull up the video of your then AD’s comments regarding said realignment? It sounded pretty much the same derisive comments coming from Hog Dawg and Dawgxas on here. There may be some few LT fans that would have entertained it but to suggest that both LT’s administration and fans were squarely against it because they didn’t want to associate with some SB schools is just stupid and without anything to back it up.

I don't give a damn what you do with it, to be honest. Maybe you should, since it's only been posted 800 times. There's bound to be somebody who hasn't seen how bad it reflected on all of Conference USA. He dragged ALL OF US into the CUSA/SBC merger conversation when he said (quote) "Let me be very frank, and very direct: There is no conversation at Conference USA, nor is there any interest."

Notice, he didn't say there was "no conversation at LaTech, nor is there any interest". He said Conference USA...which would have included ODU...Tech...and the other 12 of us. He took the liberty to speak for everyone, which to me is about is crappy as it could get. Regardless, I wouldn't try to be too self-righteous about the whole thing. I don't remember ODU ever speaking out against the video, even back then. If ODU didn't agree with the remarks, they should have said so. Based on your logic above, that means your school was complicit.

If you're going to call out Tech and it's fans for this, at least take some ownership for your own school's silence.

We’re simply discussing which schools were for and against a break up of CUSA and regionalization with the SB. LT was obviously against and ODU was obviously for it based on plenty of public comments. For the most part the fans followed these lines. Are you trying to deny that? I’m not saying what he said was wrong. It’s ironic in hindsight maybe but you and your school can have an opinion nothing wrong with that. He’s wrong in that there was no interest from any of the CUSA schools, not enough obviously. But our admin made it very clear where we stood. It’s not our place to condemn his statements

Sorry for getting a little bristled up yesterday. That's really not my style at all. I got up this morning thinking about this, and the conclusion I reached was...

Merger/Re-shuffle, whatever it would have been...likely that it wouldn't have changed what ultimately happened "upstream" from us one bit, would it? The Metro-6 would have still been snatched up, and those of us remaining would have been looking for replacements.

(12-07-2021 07:42 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 06:01 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 05:31 PM)chuckk3 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 02:12 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(12-06-2021 10:08 AM)chuckk3 Wrote:  Well, there ya go. Since no LT fan posted in favor of it, we must all have been a'gin it.

Makes perfect sense. Have a great day!

Should I pull up the video of your then AD’s comments regarding said realignment? It sounded pretty much the same derisive comments coming from Hog Dawg and Dawgxas on here. There may be some few LT fans that would have entertained it but to suggest that both LT’s administration and fans were squarely against it because they didn’t want to associate with some SB schools is just stupid and without anything to back it up.

I don't give a damn what you do with it, to be honest. Maybe you should, since it's only been posted 800 times. There's bound to be somebody who hasn't seen how bad it reflected on all of Conference USA. He dragged ALL OF US into the CUSA/SBC merger conversation when he said (quote) "Let me be very frank, and very direct: There is no conversation at Conference USA, nor is there any interest."

Notice, he didn't say there was "no conversation at LaTech, nor is there any interest". He said Conference USA...which would have included ODU...Tech...and the other 12 of us. He took the liberty to speak for everyone, which to me is about is crappy as it could get. Regardless, I wouldn't try to be too self-righteous about the whole thing. I don't remember ODU ever speaking out against the video, even back then. If ODU didn't agree with the remarks, they should have said so. Based on your logic above, that means your school was complicit.

If you're going to call out Tech and it's fans for this, at least take some ownership for your own school's silence.

We’re simply discussing which schools were for and against a break up of CUSA and regionalization with the SB. LT was obviously against and ODU was obviously for it based on plenty of public comments. For the most part the fans followed these lines. Are you trying to deny that? I’m not saying what he said was wrong. It’s ironic in hindsight maybe but you and your school can have an opinion nothing wrong with that. He’s wrong in that there was no interest from any of the CUSA schools, not enough obviously. But our admin made it very clear where we stood. It’s not our place to condemn his statements

Sorry for getting a little bristled up yesterday. That's really not my style at all. I got up this morning thinking about this, and the conclusion I reached was...

Merger/Re-shuffle, whatever it would have been...likely that it wouldn't have changed what ultimately happened "upstream" from us one bit, would it? The Metro-6 would have still been snatched up, and those of us remaining would have been looking for replacements.

No worries. And you’re likely right about that. The reshuffle had very little chance of happening anyway, it’s just not how things are done in realignment. Had it happened though we’d both be reloading from our respective parts of the country. Done bun can’t be undone.

I thought C-USA 4.0 had good potential, but I kept getting disappointed. The level of play on-field dropped post-2013. QB talent disappeared. I will miss playing La Tech.

In order for bigger (16+) conferences to regain some scheduling flexibility, and I really just mean the SEC right now, they'll eventually want to split into 3-4 divisions, and hold a 4-team playoff to determine the champion. They would need a member vote to do this, which I don't think is a big reach. That makes 18-school conferences viable. THEN my guess is the SEC adds Kansas and WVU. I can't see Alabama only playing Texas or Oklahoma every 16 and 17 years? The networks won't like that. Plenty of $ to be made. Seems inevitable.

The Sunbelt has been better since the last realignment. Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina are legit players on the FBS scene in a very short period of time.

(12-04-2021 10:08 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:  For several years there has been two factions within C-USA. (1) Those that wanted C-USA to stay together, spend more money, and improve, and (2) those that wanted to realign with the Sun Belt into more regional conferences and save money. Generally speaking, the eastern members seemed aligned with the the second, and they hated the perceived Texas slant C-USA had taken. Neither faction actually got their way. Conference realignment has led to 6 members relocating to the American and 3 moving to the Sun Belt. And of course there are the 5 that will remain in C-USA.

I find it interesting that the majority of the members leaving for the American were against realignment with the Sun Belt, and all 3 of those moving to the Sun Belt were in favor of realigning with the Sun Belt. So, how do you feel about where your program is headed? And, do you blame/thank one side for the outcome. I'd like to read other fans' insights and perspectives on how we got where we are.

I'm very happy with our outcome. People that I associate with in Huntington have been saying since the last realignment that we needed to be in an Eastern Conference. CUSA just felt like the island of misfit toys. There was never any sense of cohesion and everything felt disjointed. Fans weren't interested anymore, the media money dried up, conference leadership dried up. Honestly I think the CUSA HQ wanted the eastern teams to leave, at least that's how all of us felt. Anyway... best of luck everyone.

(12-05-2021 12:01 AM)Herdforlife Wrote:  As a Marshall fan I’m not thrilled about the realignment, but I do think it’s going to be one of the better situations we’ve been in since joining FBS. Marshall has played with a lot of great teams in conference USA over the years, but it has longed for a regional league and CUSA will never be it with its desire to be in Texas, same goes for the AAC for the same reasons. The MAC was good to us, problem in going back is most of our alumni are south in the Carolinas or Florida, although we do have some alumni in Ohio. The Sunbelt east meets our desires for a regional southern league, Sunbelt west leaves me feeling a little uneasy. I think football will be better, basketball not so much. A lot of teams I look forward to playing in the Sunbelt, but I think we are still in a conference with out any true rivals (WVU, Ohio U, ECU). For that reason if the AAC happened to lose 2-4 more teams to the Big12 I would hope that would give us a chance to reunite with ECU. Heck at that point I would even go as far as to root for a AAC/Sunbelt trade in which Sunbelt east and west split with Sunbelt east adding ECU, Charlotte, Temple, USF and FAU. That said, I will miss all of our conference USA foes, we simply have different goals and that takes us on different paths, nothing wrong with that. Wish you all best of luck!

App State is a true Rival. WVU will never play us again and Ohio is "meh".

Very happy with our situation going to the AAC

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(12-08-2021 01:39 PM)Ragu Wrote:  Very happy with our situation going to the AAC

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Are you happy that FIU will remain in C-USA? What's an FAU's fans take on FIU not being in the AAC?

My take is that WKU got *@#^!

Is it because we have bad teams? poor facilities? low following? terrible location?

Nope. None of those reasons (ones that should be what all conferences desire).

Bad decisions that these leagues will come to regret.

Four years from now WKU will STILL have a better athletic program than most of those teams.

(12-08-2021 07:24 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  My take is that WKU got *@#^!

Is it because we have bad teams? poor facilities? low following? terrible location?

Nope. None of those reasons (ones that should be what all conferences desire).

Bad decisions that these leagues will come to regret.

Four years from now WKU will STILL have a better athletic program than most of those teams.

Honest question: does WKU command any kind of media market presence that the AAC might covet?

If the answer is no, you might have your reason why WKU got left out of the conference realignment shuffle. Much of realignment is based on media dollars and whether a university's presence can improve media deals.

I stand by my statement that WKU has all the qualities that most G5 conferences would/should love to have in a top tier member------ yet have been rejected.

(12-08-2021 08:55 PM)rtist Wrote:  

(12-08-2021 07:24 PM)TOPSTRAIGHT Wrote:  My take is that WKU got *@#^!

Is it because we have bad teams? poor facilities? low following? terrible location?

Nope. None of those reasons (ones that should be what all conferences desire).

Bad decisions that these leagues will come to regret.

Four years from now WKU will STILL have a better athletic program than most of those teams.

Honest question: does WKU command any kind of media market presence that the AAC might covet?

If the answer is no, you might have your reason why WKU got left out of the conference realignment shuffle. Much of realignment is based on media dollars and whether a university's presence can improve media deals.

Probably generate as much media market as UAB, Charlotte, USM, Marshall, NT or whoever Im leaving out. None of the teams that will be playing in the AAC, MWC, CUSA, SBC or MAC demand any media draw. Might get a one off game to garner attention but not a lot of long term love for these teams.

I think it could be as simple as comparing season tickets sells and average attendance next year for all schools and compare them to this year. At the minimum you will see how the average fan perceives the change.

(12-09-2021 07:36 AM)Eagle in the gym Wrote:  I think it could be as simple as comparing season tickets sells and average attendance next year for all schools and compare them to this year. At the minimum you will see how the average fan perceives the change.

May want to give it a little more time than one year. Normally change brings some excitement then the change becomes normal. Also the schedule will be an influencer, giving Marshall App at home would be better than South. Give JSU MTSU at home vs FIU or NMSU (if JSU moved on to CUSA).

Also it would not be fair to gauge all teams making the conference change against Sam, JMU and JSU. These three should see the most long term change with the subdivision change.