Boise State now ranked as the top G5 program

untjim1995 · November 26, 2014

I have stated for many years that the MWC as a league is the best G5 league--and it really isn't close in my opinion. The other 4 are below it, in some form or fashion. You really know its true when a 9-2 Boise State team gets ranked ahead of unbeaten Marshall for the top G5 spot.

In the old days, before it was obvious that the P5s will pull away on their own, I was a huge advocate of getting into this league if at all possible, even after TCU, BYU, and Utah left. I'd take Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, Air Force, Colorado State, SDSU, UNLV, New Mexco, and Utah State for conference mates in football and basketball over what we have now--but only if FBS football wasn't going to change. Since it will, these G5 conferences will have to consolidate regionally, which means Marshall, Old Dominion, F_U, Western Kentucky, and Charlotte will not be in a conference with us, UTEP, Rice, UTSA, or La Tech. Same will go for the AAC and the SBC, too. Travel and cost containment will matter way more than it does today when G5s and FCS schools merge into their own level of play. But I've always thought that a Texas school could duplicate TCUs methodology for becoming a big time program by playing and beating teams that are well known and recognized out west, whether it was us, UH, SMU, Rice, or UTSA.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jerry-palm/24840440/cfp-rankings-comittee-finally-weighs-in-on-group-of-five

Harry · November 26, 2014

You consider the far flung Mountain West with UNLV, Wyoming, San Jose St. and New Mexico to be the best G5 conference? When the AAC has last years national champion in basketball UCONN? I even think the MAC would have a word to say if you look at their top programs the last couple of years. I respect your knowledge and opinins Jim but this is a bit of a stretch no? Marshall has done a nice job of getting C-USA respect this season in my opinion.. Not to mention we would have zero Texas schools in the Mountain West to build rivalries with. C-USA is the best fit for us right now and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

oldguystudent · November 26, 2014

Also, Boise is successful at football at the expense of all other sports. Outside football, which I realize is king, they are awful.

Ben Gooding · November 26, 2014

From a perception standpoint the MWC is the best G5 conference in athletics. They have brand names in both football and basketball. Granted the AAC is solid, but what validity do they deserve? They are one blink of the eyes from being disbanded or at least cut in half bc of their basketball prowess. P5 will want to cut a piece of that AAC basketball pie very soon. Cincy and UCONN will be the first to go. They are too good and sit in a market that is too big for a P5 to not jump all over them. The ACC and big10 are probay salivating over it and have been since the realignment started. There is something delaying the inevitable, but it will happen. It will send the AAC into a scurry and I think that's when UNT should start vying for one of the open slots to create a geographical presence within the conference paired with Houston, Tulsa, Tulane and Memphis. I don't care about the in state games, I care about what is best for the university as a whole and making that move would be best.

untjim1995 · November 26, 2014

Also, Boise is successful at football at the expense of all other sports. Outside football, which I realize is king, they are awful.

Boise State has gone to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2013. I don't know how (or care) how they've done in non-revenue sports, but that's not bad to have two NCAA apperances in the last 6 seasons, as well as their football success.

Travis · November 26, 2014

In football, they had the lowest attendance this year in over 15 years. Their average attendance: 27,000+ this year. And that seems to be actual butts in the seats as I have witnessed.

You can expect BSU basketball to do fairly well. They have some pretty good recruits that have come in the past few years. They are a far superior program to ours. They are 4-1 with wins over Loyola and San Diego. Their only loss was to #3 Wisconsin.

Their program is quite superior overall. Solid Cross Country. Not as good soccer program as ours (they were 10-8 for the season). Decent softball. Great men's tennis. Ok in women's tennis. Ok in Volleyball. Pretty crappy in wrestling.

untjim1995 · November 26, 2014

You consider the far flung Mountain West with UNLV, Wyoming, San Jose St. and New Mexico to be the best G5 conference? When the AAC has last years national champion in basketball UCONN? I even think the MAC would have a word to say if you look at their top programs the last couple of years. I respect your knowledge and opinins Jim but this is a bit of a stretch no? Marshall has done a nice job of getting C-USA respect this season in my opinion.. Not to mention we would have zero Texas schools in the Mountain West to build rivalries with. C-USA is the best fit for us right now and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

It won't matter because the costs for being in a conference will make this all moot anyway in a few years.

But for arguments sake, the MWC sent its champion or a current member who is now in the MWC to a BCS Bowl game in 2005 (Utah won), 2007 (Boise State won), 2008 (Hawaii lost), 2009 (Utah won), 2009 (Boise State beat TCU), and 2010 (TCU won). Since then, the MAC sent NIU in 2012 (lost) and the AAC got their only automatic bid they will ever have in 2013 and won when UCF beat Baylor. So, in earning non-guaranteed bids, the MWC contingent of old and current teams got 7 bids. The MAC got the one that was guaranteed to a G5 if it finished in the top 16 and ahead of another AQ conference winner in the polls. AAC, CUSA, or the SBC have never gotten one. And it appears that in the first season of having a G5 champion being included in a big money bowl game, a two-loss MWC team in Boise State will earn the bid over the others, including Marshall who will probably go 13-0 before their bowl game in The Bahamas or Boca Raton or Hawaii...

As for hoops, which is completely different because everyone is included and you can get hot in a flash, UConn rode two hot guards all the way to a championship. And speaking of UConn, they may be stuck in the AAC right now, but they are a Big East team, which is completely different from being an old CUSA team, such as UH, SMU, ECU, Tulane, Tulsa, etc...UConn, because of their Big East basketball program, is about 10 rungs above most of the other AAC teams right now. Although the MWC champion has only made it as far as the Sweet 16 in the last 10 years or so, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Colorado State, Utah State, and Nevada all ahve wins in the NCAAs, plus their league always rates higher than the old CUSA did. If it weren't for Memphis under Calipari and just after he left, that league would have been a one-and-done league often in the NCAAs. I cannot remember anything special from the MAC in hoops in the tournament recently, and aside from Western Kentucky's run in 2008 and 2009, the SBC didn't win anything in the NCAAs either. All I know is that the Pit in Albuquerque, as well as the venues in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Logan, Utah are all regarded as very hostile places to play in the country, especially The Pit.

Its all moot, though. We are in a very fine conference setup for us right now in CUSA, which I totally agree with you on. And travel costs will continue to get more manageable as the G5s and the better FCS schools come together to form their own division down the road. Its feasible to have a conference setup in the near future that will look like this for us:

UNT, SMU, UH, Rice, Tulane, ULL, La Tech, ULM, UTSA, Texas State, NMSU, UTEP, SHSU, SFA, Tulsa, and Arkansas State

Each school would be a travel mate for conference games in hoops and other non-revenue sports. Those schools that look down on others near them (SMU, UTEP, La Tech, and Tulane) will have to deal with this new reality or they will have worse options to consider.

Cougar King · November 26, 2014

UNT, SMU, UH, Rice, Tulane, ULL, La Tech, ULM, UTSA, Texas State, NMSU, UTEP, SHSU, SFA, Tulsa, and Arkansas State

We would drop football before we end up in a conference with most of those teams who are honestly glorified FCS schools outside of SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and probably Rice.

Ben Gooding · November 26, 2014

We would drop football before we end up in a conference with most of those teams who are honestly glorified FCS schools outside of SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and probably Rice.

GTFO.

Let me make this clear for you cougar. You are G5 for life and that group of schools listed above are your actual competitors. Any other thought process is just a dream.

Travis · November 26, 2014

We would drop football before we end up in a conference with most of those teams who are honestly glorified FCS schools outside of SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and probably Rice.

That UTSA game must really suck then. What does that say about you?

MeanGreenTexan · November 26, 2014

GTFO.
Let me make this clear for you cougar. You are G5 for life and that group of schools listed above are your actual competitors. Any other thought process is just a dream.

Ben's right.

Houston failed to capitalize when they let the momentum gained by Sumlin completely disintegrate over the past 2 seasons.

Welcome back to the pack Cougars!!

The Fake Lonnie Finch · November 26, 2014

Houston might be okay if you were trying to dry a cat. But, the truth is, the only thing people really remember about Houston is that they used to have a decent basketball program - decades ago. Besides that, there's really nothing to them. Texas A&M owns the Houston area.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · November 26, 2014

And, LSU as well.

untjim1995 · November 26, 2014

We would drop football before we end up in a conference with most of those teams who are honestly glorified FCS schools outside of SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and probably Rice.

Yeah, all of those teams are new FCS schools in the scheme of things, including UH-Third Ward...

You got owned by Ben Gooding...you might want to consider quitting the internet forever.

You don't have any fanbase at all

UNT90 · November 27, 2014

Also, Boise is successful at football at the expense of all other sports. Outside football, which I realize is king, they are awful.

Yet better than us in men's basketball and women's basketball.

And football.

So...

Christopher Walker · November 27, 2014

Also, Boise is successful at football at the expense of all other sports. Outside football, which I realize is king, they are awful.

More like at the expense of everything else.

We joke about UTSA equating to a glorified community college, but that literally is the case for Boise State.

wardly · November 27, 2014

If I am Marshall I am doing every thing I can to get out of CUSA and in AAC.

Ben Gooding · November 27, 2014

If I am Marshall I am doing every thing I can to get out of CUSA and in AAC.

This. Hopefully our administrators have the same thought process. The AAC will be looking for 2 universities in the very near future, jus saying.

NM Green · November 27, 2014

The AAC is not much better with all the privates. I love the makeup of CUSA with western middle Marshall ODU southern miss la tech us rice Utes and San antonio. If UTSA and Marshall leave you call up LaLa and Texas state. Still a solid league and one that will rival the AAC for years to come.

GMG

Ben Gooding · November 27, 2014

No, we don't want to be left behind again. Getting to the AAC would be the best thing to happen to this university athletically, ever. If there are slots that open (which there will be) UNT best be vying for one. It would open up a can of legitimate potential that this university has never even sniffed before. The idea of settling into CUSA and getting cozy (complacent) sickens me. If slots open up Prez, BOR, and the AD better at minimum make an honest effort into joining.

FirefightnRick · November 28, 2014

I have stated for many years that the MWC as a league is the best G5 league--and it really isn't close in my opinion. The other 4 are below it, in some form or fashion. You really know its true when a 9-2 Boise State team gets ranked ahead of unbeaten Marshall for the top G5 spot.

In the old days, before it was obvious that the P5s will pull away on their own, I was a huge advocate of getting into this league if at all possible, even after TCU, BYU, and Utah left. I'd take Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, Air Force, Colorado State, SDSU, UNLV, New Mexco, and Utah State for conference mates in football and basketball over what we have now--but only if FBS football wasn't going to change. Since it will, these G5 conferences will have to consolidate regionally, which means Marshall, Old Dominion, F_U, Western Kentucky, and Charlotte will not be in a conference with us, UTEP, Rice, UTSA, or La Tech. Same will go for the AAC and the SBC, too. Travel and cost containment will matter way more than it does today when G5s and FCS schools merge into their own level of play. But I've always thought that a Texas school could duplicate TCUs methodology for becoming a big time program by playing and beating teams that are well known and recognized out west, whether it was us, UH, SMU, Rice, or UTSA.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jerry-palm/24840440/cfp-rankings-comittee-finally-weighs-in-on-group-of-five

TCU's methodology was utilizing their EXTREME wealth they have at their fingertips. There's only 4 other Texas schools that could come close to matching what they have and use it to overcome the insane obstacles membership in the MTN imposes on a program.

It's fun to dream but you might as well discuss flying pigs if your fantasizing North Texas following TCU's footsteps in any way form or fashion.

Rick

Edited November 28, 2014 by FirefightnRick