Southern Miss writer suggests blowing up C-USA

Coach Bill Lewis · June 11, 2016

SunHerald Article from today...

Ben Gooding · June 11, 2016

I agree with a lot of what he was saying.

mgfan · June 11, 2016

What unt needs to do is stay proactive. We need to make a package deal to get into the MWC with Texas-San Antonio, Rice, and UTEP ( maybe not utsa, but they do bring potential tv market). Of course the AAC would be ideal, but don't see that happening. Point is UNT needs to be ready for the next realignment.

eagle2014 · June 11, 2016

8 minutes ago, mgfan said:

What unt needs to do is stay proactive. We need to make a package deal to get into the MWC with Texas-San Antonio, Rice, and UTEP ( maybe not utsa, but they do bring potential tv market). Of course the AAC would be ideal, but don't see that happening. Point is UNT needs to be ready for the next realignment.

I would take UTSA over UTEP

Hunter Green · June 11, 2016

This is what I mean by saying we have squandered the past 10 years by pretending to be a 1-A program when we should have been the big dog in the conference. Thanks, RV, BOR.

RBP79 · June 11, 2016

Not a big fan of moving to the MWC but NT needs to be ready to go...CUSA seems to be going on the wrong direction. And your dreaming if you think the AAC would even look at NT. That is as long as SMU is still a member....guaranteed they would fight that till the bitter end! Best thing NT has going right now is its location...DFW.

Harry · June 11, 2016

AAC not an option as long as SMU there.

eagle2014 · June 11, 2016

I don't think smu has as much pull as y'all think. Plus if we start winning consistently it really won't matter what they want.

Ben Gooding · June 11, 2016

10 minutes ago, eagle2014 said:

I don't think smu has as much pull as y'all think. Plus if we start winning consistently it really won't matter what they want.

^.

F smug. Beat them and own CUSA-W. I don't understand how we can't terrorize this division. As far as consistent competition in the division there is La Tech and a bunch of nobodies. We should own the west year in and year out. We can decide our own fate.

Wag Tag · June 11, 2016

29 minutes ago, Harry said:

AAC not an option as long as SMU there.

When the big 12 moves it will ripple down as usual. I agree that there needs to be more regional competition to save bucks and attract fans from the competing school. Filling stadiums needs to be the model. Mac and MWC will have the same problem on their new contracts. I feel really strongly that there should be a playoff system with games being played at the schools. Another home game of 25,000 means big bucks. Maybe a champion out of the Mac, MWC and C- USA. The bowl system which costs the schools money should be turned down. There is money in playoffs!!

Arkstfan · June 11, 2016

I have a theory about why Texas has been so adamant blockading expansion.

If they expand, to truly make it worthwhile they need to renegotiate TV, if they renegotiate TV then they will look to extend the grant of rights.

I believe Texas is anti-expansion because they want to get closer to the end of the grant of rights and explore membership in the Big 10, Pac-12, and ACC. Not to say they will look at the situation and choose to leave but they don't want to lock in to Big XII any longer than they have to before taking that look.

Stix · June 12, 2016

Funny how the author included every CUSA and Sun Belt school except one - ULM.

greenb.o.g. · June 12, 2016

NorthTexan95 · June 12, 2016

It seems every year CUSA looks a little less appealing and I have little confidence in the new Commissioner being able to do more than just slow the decay. CUSA is dying and merging with the Sun Belt won't fix that. We need to get our own house in order on and off the field.

Ben Gooding · June 12, 2016

52 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

It seems every year CUSA looks a little less appealing and I have little confidence in the new Commissioner being able to do more than just slow the decay. CUSA is dying and merging with the Sun Belt won't fix that. We need to get our own house in order on and off the field.

^

Aquila_Viridis · June 12, 2016

Getting our house in order has a lot to do with who we are regularly playing. Our current slate of opponents, including the stupid games against P5 powerhouses, does not lend itself to getting our house in order. Some of the opponents are good for us, but those are the exceptions not the rule. Though as I've mentioned, finding opponents who are good for us - and again this is based on assumption of continuing our long-standing proportionally extraordinarily low level of institutional commitment - is very hard to do.

GrandGreen · June 12, 2016

Just now, Aquila_Viridis said:

Getting our house in order has a lot to do with who we are regularly playing. Our current slate of opponents, including the stupid games against P5 powerhouses, does not lend itself to getting our house in order. Some of the opponents are good for us, but those are the exceptions not the rule. Though as I've mentioned, finding opponents who are good for us - and again this is based on assumption of continuing our long-standing proportionally extraordinarily low level of institutional commitment - is very hard to do.

Huh, NT is not in the position they are because of scheduling. NT is in the position they are because they have been horrible in the 3 biggest sports for most of the decade.

Green Lantern · June 12, 2016

14 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Huh, NT is not in the position they are because of scheduling. NT is in the position they are because they have been horrible in the 3 biggest sports for most of the decade.

Yes. Win. Football. Men's Basketball. Women's Basketball. That's all. The rest of the nonsense takes care of itself.

untjim1995 · June 12, 2016

3 hours ago, Aquila_Viridis said:

Getting our house in order has a lot to do with who we are regularly playing. Our current slate of opponents, including the stupid games against P5 powerhouses, does not lend itself to getting our house in order. Some of the opponents are good for us, but those are the exceptions not the rule. Though as I've mentioned, finding opponents who are good for us - and again this is based on assumption of continuing our long-standing proportionally extraordinarily low level of institutional commitment - is very hard to do.

I think the reality is that what we have seen happen here for the last 5 seasons in basketball, the last decade in football, and the accepted leadership of the program by the administration and BOR is finally being attended to. The results are yet to be determined, but what I fear the most is that the brand of North Texas is so badly thought of athletically by our own fans and alumni, the media, and HS coaches and is not going to be fixed before the next realignment occurs.

As this column strongly suggests, the reality is that CUSA is unsustainable with this kind of geography. Aside from maybe Marshall, La Tech, and USM, nobody really attracts attention when they play a football game. And has been mentioned before, schools like these three and WKU are never going anywhere else because they provide no media market. This is probably it for them.

For the rest of CUSA, including us, the reality is that we may provide the markets, but we aren't good enough to really attract attention in those markets without beating some big names. And the AAC above us is just a more successful and recognized version of what we want CUSA to be again. Just like with CUSA 2.0 before us, we aren't getting in there with SMU already there, just from a market standpoint. And the MWC knows that realignment will bring them the Texas ties they want when the Big XII falls apart. That's when the potential arises that Tech, Baylor, TCU, Rice, UTEP, and UTSA will be available ahead of us for choosing.

wardly · June 12, 2016

New Mexico State,UTEP,UTSA,Rice,Texas State,UNT,ULL,La.Tech,Arkansas State,and ULM[ if other Louisiana schools would agree to play War Hawks ] could be a nice Regional Conference, but will not happen because it appears to be logical.I don't see So. Miss. or any Alabama schools wanting to play in a "Western Conference", but could be wrong.

wardly · June 12, 2016

Having just posted the above, lets get real. UTEP will keep NMSU out, ULL and La. Tech will do the same to ULM, and when the Big 12 takes Houston Rice will move to the AAC.That leaves us with 7 schools, and the only way to expand that number is if So. Miss.UAB,Troy,USA,etc. come our direction instead of moving East. I just can't see how we better ourselves.

southsideguy · June 12, 2016

NMSU has no money and the enrollment is declining. We don't want them in the conference. The citizens of New Mexico go to the University Near Mom (UNM) or to Texas Tech-gives break to NM students on tuition.

Edited June 12, 2016 by southsideguy

Arkstfan · June 12, 2016

11 hours ago, greenb.o.g. said:

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Maybe

This year the UTEP equipment trailer has to make a 27 hour drive (assuming no stops for fuel, food, bathroom or changing drivers who cannot drive more than 11 hours without a 10 hour break). A couple years ago UTEP could shrug and say it was a cost needed to get $1 million in TV money. Post realignment, the cost of whatever the real figure was after the payment dropped. Now it is the cost of getting $200,000 in TV money. UTEP can get that same TV money in a conference that goes no further than Mobile or Birmingham or maybe not even that far and can produce more money for UTEP with the CFP money split only 10 or 12 ways instead of 14.

Rice cares about baseball, swapping Sun Belt west schools for CUSA east schools is at worst a push for the baseball RPI and generally an upgrade into a better league that eliminates flying to Norfolk, Huntington and Charlotte.

The Rice, UTEP, USM leadership can do the math, they know the numbers or are looking at them and the only thing holding them back is fear of the fans. Before CUSA blew up, UAB had extended talks with the Sun Belt. The football coach and AD both endorsed the move to deal with the travel pressure, the president balked fearing the fans, shortly thereafter they got a new president who addressed the Board imposed financial concerns by dropping football.

mgfan · June 12, 2016

2 hours ago, wardly said:

Having just posted the above, lets get real. UTEP will keep NMSU out, ULL and La. Tech will do the same to ULM, and when the Big 12 takes Houston Rice will move to the AAC.That leaves us with 7 schools, and the only way to expand that number is if So. Miss.UAB,Troy,USA,etc. come our direction instead of moving East. I just can't see how we better ourselves.

We will have to do everything we can to get into the MWC.

UNTexas · June 12, 2016

19 hours ago, eagle2014 said:

I would take UTSA over UTEP

I 100 percent agree. San Antonio is a far better destination to go watch games. After attending our last game at UTEP I can assure you I'll never attend another game at the Sun Bowl. UTSA fans are at least cool.

Not to mention UTSA appears to be building a decent program.

Edited June 12, 2016 by UNTexas