(02-26-2024 03:02 PM)TealNation Wrote:  

(02-26-2024 02:57 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(02-26-2024 02:55 PM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  

(02-26-2024 02:50 PM)eaglewraith Wrote:  Delaware has been trying to move up haven't they?

Deleware has announced its intention of joining CUSA (there was scuttle CUSA wanted umass to be their 14th member).

I'm guessing Delaware renegs on CUSA and goes to the MAC with UMASS.

I could never envision Delaware joining a conference with Liberty but I guess it was desperate times. Their profile seems to mesh a lot better with the MAC.

...Why did they join CUSA again?

I know we are not going to get treated fairly by the P4 but the FCS is a wasteland and shell of what it used to be. As soon as the first playoff teams started to leave it has been a downward spiral. I feel for the NDSU's and the handful of programs that actually care about winning but at least in the G5 every single team is trying anything possible to win. In the FCS football takes a back seat to basketball in many cases and not every school even tries to win.

(02-28-2024 11:02 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-28-2024 09:59 AM)usmjournalism Wrote:  I’d image UCONN for football only makes the easiest sense. Do they necessarily need 14 members for basketball since that sport works better without divisions anyway?

Easiest sense in what degree? UMass gets a travel partner and the rest of the MAC has another opponent they have to fly to. Meanwhile WKU is a travel partner for a lot of other schools.
MAC is already a bad conference in football and UConn would only make them worse.
WKU on the other hand:

WKU:
2023: 8-5
2022: 9-5
2021: 9-5
2020: 5-7
2019: 9-4
2018: 3-9
2017: 6-7
2016: 11-3
2015: 12-2
2014: 8-5

UConn:
2023: 3-9
2022: 6-7
2021: 1-11 (L at home to FCS Holy Cross, W was vs Yale)
2020: Covid
2019: 2-10 (W to Wagner and UMass)
2018: 1-11
2017: 3-9
2016: 3-9
2015: 6-7
2014: 2-10

There is interest with the MAC and WKU already. WKU wants to be there. UConn on the other hand would only join if it were football only. Great move for UConn, but absolutely awful move for the MAC. Unless they were to force UConn's hand into going all sports, but UConn would have to be very desperate to make that move.

Probably at least 10 schools right now, probably 20ish, that should consider stop playing football altogether and or drop to the FCS. UCONN and UMASS are two of them. UMASS has not won more than four games in a season since moving up that is insane. Teams like UMASS drag what little respect the G5 gets down the toilet.

(03-02-2024 09:24 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  So many teams across the G5 with their eyes on the AAC? That’s laughable! Work at getting the conference YOU ARE IN to the top! Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Unless the damn Big12 or ACC comes calling, Louisiana is in the SBC for life! And that is damn fine by me!

By the time the ACC gets to calling any of us, we may as well stay here.

My concern with moving to the MAC, if I’m a Hilltopper fan, is what happens to my football recruiting. Here is where their 2024 class is from (not counting transfers):
Texas - 3
Georgia - 5
Alabama - 1
Mississippi- 3 (two are CC)
Florida - 5
Kansas - 1 (CC)

(03-02-2024 10:20 AM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  My concern with moving to the MAC, if I’m a Hilltopper fan, is what happens to my football recruiting. Here is where their 2024 class is from (not counting transfers):
Texas - 3
Georgia - 5
Alabama - 1
Mississippi- 3 (two are CC)
Florida - 5
Kansas - 1 (CC)

Schools like Toledo recruit the hell out of the South and they do just fine.

(03-01-2024 08:59 AM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(03-01-2024 08:28 AM)GSU-Blue Wrote:  UMass makes great sense.

Youngstown?? Only if it’s the mid-90s and Jim Donnan is still their coach.

WKU actually…I get that. I can see that. It makes a lot of sense to me for the MAC and for WKU. And I hope it happens for both of their sakes.

I like the MAC. I love seeing their teams occasionally rise up and make some noise.

Jim Donnan coached at Marshall

My bad. Yeah. I remembered that this morning.

It was around the same time wasn’t it?

(03-01-2024 08:38 AM)Porcine Wrote:  

(03-01-2024 08:28 AM)GSU-Blue Wrote:  UMass makes great sense.

Youngstown?? Only if it’s the mid-90s and Jim Donnan is still their coach.

WKU actually…I get that. I can see that. It makes a lot of sense to me for the MAC and for WKU. And I hope it happens for both of their sakes.

I like the MAC. I love seeing their teams occasionally rise up and make some noise.

That was Tressel and he is back as an administrator.

Yep, I whiffed.

(03-01-2024 11:24 PM)Turtle Power 98 Wrote:  …and going to the MAC means you are stuck there for life.

Marshall Thundering Herd says “what?”

(03-02-2024 09:51 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:40 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:24 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  So many teams across the G5 with their eyes on the AAC? That’s laughable! Work at getting the conference YOU ARE IN to the top! Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Unless the damn Big12 or ACC comes calling, Louisiana is in the SBC for life! And that is damn fine by me!

Could you blame them? I mean even the new members get like nearly double to quadruple what other the leagues this side of the Mississippi pays. Now do I think it’ll change by the 2030s? Yeah you can’t lose 4 of your best teams without consequences. Do they still have weekend games?

It didn’t concern me a few years ago when the SBC was at a significant disadvantage. The conference kept grinding and now we are on similar payouts to the new AAC additions from CUSA. I guess I could blame them. Just do better and the money will follow.

The sun belt schools are NOT getting 4 million per school

(02-28-2024 09:59 AM)usmjournalism Wrote:  I’d image UCONN for football only makes the easiest sense. Do they necessarily need 14 members for basketball since that sport works better without divisions anyway?

It would interesting to see if the MAC would go for that now with UCONN.

A few years ago when UMASS was football only the MAC gave them the ultimatum to join in all sports or leave. They wanted to go to 14 all-sports teams and didnt want any one-offs. The thinking at that time was that had UMASS gone in for all sports JMU was slated to be the 14th MAC team.

UMASS said no because they wanted A-10 basketball and became an Independent in FB and the MAC decided to stay at 12.

Glad UMASS said no at the time or else JMU might have been in the MAC...

(03-02-2024 10:53 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:51 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:40 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:24 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  So many teams across the G5 with their eyes on the AAC? That’s laughable! Work at getting the conference YOU ARE IN to the top! Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Unless the damn Big12 or ACC comes calling, Louisiana is in the SBC for life! And that is damn fine by me!

Could you blame them? I mean even the new members get like nearly double to quadruple what other the leagues this side of the Mississippi pays. Now do I think it’ll change by the 2030s? Yeah you can’t lose 4 of your best teams without consequences. Do they still have weekend games?

It didn’t concern me a few years ago when the SBC was at a significant disadvantage. The conference kept grinding and now we are on similar payouts to the new AAC additions from CUSA. I guess I could blame them. Just do better and the money will follow.

The sun belt schools are NOT getting 4 million per school

Neither are the new AAC members.

(03-02-2024 12:04 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 10:53 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:51 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:40 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:24 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  So many teams across the G5 with their eyes on the AAC? That’s laughable! Work at getting the conference YOU ARE IN to the top! Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Unless the damn Big12 or ACC comes calling, Louisiana is in the SBC for life! And that is damn fine by me!

Could you blame them? I mean even the new members get like nearly double to quadruple what other the leagues this side of the Mississippi pays. Now do I think it’ll change by the 2030s? Yeah you can’t lose 4 of your best teams without consequences. Do they still have weekend games?

It didn’t concern me a few years ago when the SBC was at a significant disadvantage. The conference kept grinding and now we are on similar payouts to the new AAC additions from CUSA. I guess I could blame them. Just do better and the money will follow.

The sun belt schools are NOT getting 4 million per school

Neither are the new AAC members.

Yeah I think the payouts for new AAC and SBC were very comparable, within 500k, or the same, but no one can nail down exactly what we're getting. Most assume 2-2.5M and I believe new AAC was 2.5M. But they had big entrance fees, too, and we did not.

(03-02-2024 12:04 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 10:53 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:51 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:40 AM)Unknownghost Wrote:  

(03-02-2024 09:24 AM)Big Buds Wrote:  So many teams across the G5 with their eyes on the AAC? That’s laughable! Work at getting the conference YOU ARE IN to the top! Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Unless the damn Big12 or ACC comes calling, Louisiana is in the SBC for life! And that is damn fine by me!

Could you blame them? I mean even the new members get like nearly double to quadruple what other the leagues this side of the Mississippi pays. Now do I think it’ll change by the 2030s? Yeah you can’t lose 4 of your best teams without consequences. Do they still have weekend games?

It didn’t concern me a few years ago when the SBC was at a significant disadvantage. The conference kept grinding and now we are on similar payouts to the new AAC additions from CUSA. I guess I could blame them. Just do better and the money will follow.

The sun belt schools are NOT getting 4 million per school

Neither are the new AAC members.

Some people can’t read.

(03-01-2024 11:29 PM)Turtle Power 98 Wrote:  

(02-26-2024 05:07 PM)Yosef181 Wrote:  "WKU still held out hope for the MAC, but the conference wasn’t interested in an odd number of schools.

“If they had offered a spot, we would have accepted it,” WKU athletic director Todd Stewart said."

- December 29th, 2023, Chris Vannini for 'The Athletic'

Source: https://theathletic.com/5165372/2023/12/...-survival/

Yeah, but SOOOOO much has changed since that time. People didn't even know if CUSA could exist then. Now it is a viable conference.

That was two months ago

(03-02-2024 11:06 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(03-01-2024 11:29 PM)Turtle Power 98 Wrote:  

(02-26-2024 05:07 PM)Yosef181 Wrote:  "WKU still held out hope for the MAC, but the conference wasn’t interested in an odd number of schools.

“If they had offered a spot, we would have accepted it,” WKU athletic director Todd Stewart said."

- December 29th, 2023, Chris Vannini for 'The Athletic'

Source: https://theathletic.com/5165372/2023/12/...-survival/

Yeah, but SOOOOO much has changed since that time. People didn't even know if CUSA could exist then. Now it is a viable conference.

That was two months ago

The article was two months ago, but they were talking about 2 years ago.

(03-02-2024 10:41 AM)GSU-Blue Wrote:  

(03-01-2024 11:24 PM)Turtle Power 98 Wrote:  …and going to the MAC means you are stuck there for life.

Marshall Thundering Herd says “what?”

And UCF, and Temple.

I'm of the opinion that if a school is "stuck", that falls more on the failures and limitations of the university, not on the failures and limitations of the conference. I don't think the AAC has expansion meetings and says "C'mon, it's the MAC! No one in the MAC should ever merit consideration, because they're in the MAC."

That's probably the smartest move the Minutemen have made since deciding to not play their home games 2 hours away in Foxboro.

(02-28-2024 08:53 PM)MUHERD76 Wrote:  My contacts are telling me that three different schools are in serious conversations with the MAC. We are likely to hear more news over the next 6-7 days from what I'm told.

Negotiations often take longer than expected, I suppose.

(03-03-2024 06:29 PM)hotrod2001 Wrote:  That's probably the smartest move the Minutemen have made since deciding to not play their home games 2 hours away in Foxboro.

That's a low bar.