herdfan1rh

Memphis is ranked number 11 in the opening Ap Poll. Marshall and So. Miss. are among the teams listed as receiving votes... Also, agree with UAB, for as hideous as their football is, they are always somewhere in the postseason in hoops. Nit, Cbi, somewhere.

Any moron also knows, if your business loses money for 15 straight years. You dont take out a 75 million dollar loan... You try to get back in the black first.

I dont think UAB will drop to FCS, but I do think that the Blazers are right where the Tide want them... At the bottom of whatever league they are in. The only way Uab will get a chance to grow there program is by winning. If they can even win five or six games per year and gain some interest they might be able to justify 75 million.

I know that the few hardcore blazer fans are pretty dejected right now. The problem is, there arent many hardcore fans. Ive been to Uab to watch marshall twice. The first time, 2009, there might have been 15k in the stands. The second time, llast year, I think all of them could have come on about five buses. Basically the BOT did the fiscally responsible thing and said no to 75 million that Uab could never ever get back in its current state. If Uab becomes even a respectible program I think they will revisit the stadium issue.

On the Marshall board we put together a list of eight that we think are options. In no particular order.... Temple, Ohio, MTSU, FAU, LaTech, North Texas, Toledo, Appalachian State (they are planning on going DI in two years). Again, nothing official, just a list some of us came up with.

Cusa not an upgrade over the Sun Belt?... If that is what your leadership thinks, its time for new leadership. Lol.

Have to disagree here, the alliance was started to challeng for an AQ spot in 2014. The ncaa has said it would "likely allow" a 14th game in the plus one conference championship format. Also it allows the leagues to work together on a tv deal (22 teams in 15 states). And for the same reason, it gives the two leagues combined political pull. (Legislators from Wv, Ky, Oh, Cn and Nc have all been working publicly to get their teams in the best possible conference). I think the dream is that the Bcs adds a game in 2014 (jerry jones is pushing for it to be the cotton bowl in his house) and thus adds two more Bcs bids. One for the Alliance champ and an at-large (basically a third sec team).

Like I mentioned above, I think there are going to be two rounds of Alliance expansion. NT will be a candidate at some point. If not for 2012, possibly for 2013-14, whenever the Alliance decides to kill the Wac and go to 24 teams.

The CUSA/MWC deal is an "Alliance" not a merger. Each league will play its own schedule and determine a conference champion. The two league champs will then play each other. If the MWC loses two, they need to add two to have 10 members. If CUSA loses three, they only need to add one to get to 10 members. My guess would be that the two 10-team leagues would keep the alliance beginning next season. Then possibly look to expand again in 2013 to get to 24 teams. If that happens and both leagues go to 12 teams, the WAC will cease to exist.

Rudy, there is still a floating bar on the Ohio. It was called Holderby's Landing last I knew. I moved a couple hours away from Huntington after graduating in 2006. I get back for all the home football games and probably about half the hoops games (gotta make the season tickets worth it, lol). Im heading back for the ECU game the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I will be sure to stock up on Snyders on my trip.

Sounds great, I will bring the Jolly Pirate donuts. Ive never been to North Texas, but if you get in to Cusa I promise I will make the trip.

Definitely didnt mean to sound arrogant. I think down the line NT could compete with the top of CUSA, but I was talking about the next year or two. Its a bigger step up than people think. Marshall won more games from 1991-2001 than any team on the planet, including 7 mac titles and a couple 1aa national championships. This is year six in Cusa for us, and our best year was 7-6. We are finally back to competitve this year, but it took a while to get to that level.

Im all for you guys in cusa, and im sure the new stadium is nice. But Marshall has a relativly new stadium that seats 40k. ECUs stadium is new, beautiful and seats 58k and So. Miss stadium is also incredibly nice and has a much bigger capacity... I think youd be competitive against the lower level cusa teams. Lower level Cusa teams = Good sbc teams.

On a side note, I think NT could be competitive right now with UAB, Tulane, Rice, etc in football. Also, it would be a great move in hoops. Memphis is always a power and Marshall, So. Miss, Utep and Uab all have good programs. Add NT and its another quality basketball team.

Hey guys, Marshall alum, booster and fan here. I floated the idea of adding North Texas as one of the three teams to replace the teams we are losing on our board. I think most Herd fans would be fine with you all taking SMUs place in the west division... Maybe add FIU and Ohio in the east and shift So. Miss to the west. That would get CUSA back to 12 teams and add three quality markets/fan bases. How does this sound to you all?... Cusa East... ECU, Marshall, UAB, Memphis, FIU, Ohio Cusa West... North Texas, So. Miss, Rice, Utep, Tulane, Tulsa And yes, the alliance still happens. The Wac loses Boise, but adds Utah State to have 10 teams. Conference champs still play each other.