DRC: C-USA officials, coaches keeping eye on realignment

[UNT 90 Grad]

18 hours ago, Harry said:

A business decision was made in regards to Benford.  He will coach this season and be given a chance to show something.  He has stated this is his best team since arriving.  We shall see.

Let's put to bed the "how soon will Wren can Benford talk" as it is not going to happen prior to the season.  It could very well happen quickly this season if things don't start well.  I expect that Wren will be watching every game and evaluating his basketball coach as any good AD would.

In parallel, I hope he will be watching and evaluating basketball coach replacements.  He should have ample time to put together a solid short list if he's giving Benford some rope. 

[Harry]

1 hour ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

In parallel, I hope he will be watching and evaluating basketball coach replacements.  He should have ample time to put together a solid short list if he's giving Benford some rope. 

I am sure he already has a short list, who knows perhaps someone he personally knows from Missouri or even Memphis.  I would think he would have a great list of candidates.

Benford will get to coach our team this season.  He and everybody knows that he needs to show some good things or it is time to move on.

[Army of Dad]

4 minutes ago, Harry said:

I am sure he already has a short list, who knows perhaps someone he personally knows from Missouri or even Memphis.  I would think he would have a great list of candidates.

Benford will get to coach our team this season.  He and everybody knows that he needs to show some good things or it is time to move on.

Yes, because two 20 loss seasons out of four isn't showing enough...

[untjim1995]

On July 31, 2016 at 7:48 PM, wardly said:

What conference, with our small fan base and poor record [with one exception] over the past decade, would fit us the best? We haven't been competitive in either the Sun Belt or CUSA since Dickey left. Our budget might be o.k. for CUSA, but not for AAC. I am not asking what conference we wish to be in[Big 12], but where we would be a good fit moving forward[.Let's try to deal with reality instead of fantasy  when we approach this question. ] Please no "sleeping giants" or past mistakes by administration.

At this point, I think we have to realize that things will probably get worse here, conference wise, for us very soon. Rice, our connection point to the old SWC and the Gulf Coast of Texas for alumni and recruiting, is about to go to the AAC to replace UH and join with their private buddies in SMU, Tulsa, and Tulane. If we lose UTEP, as well, to replace any MWC team that jumps to the Big XII, the SBC we left to finally move up to the best conference affiliation we have bad in 50 years will be gone. And if you lose MUTS to replace Memphis and Marshall somehow gets taken to replace Cincy, you are looking at CUSA replacing 4 schools, probably with SBC teams that aren't anywhere close to here.

We made our bed. It's what we have to lie  in and just accept. It doesn't mean we cant follow our alma mater anymore, but it does mean we have to understand that there is a very real probability that we won't be moving upward while others around us in CUSA will be. Winning could change that, but it's basically got to happen like 2013 in football and 2011 in basketball. And neither of those have realistic chances of occurring anytime soon, probably 2018 at the earliest, and even then, most conferences would want to see if we could keep it sustainable for at least 5 years. Well, by that time, it's probably when the Big XII leftovers, the MWC, and the AAC all merge into two big conferences that are allowed to continue being FBS schools, just not power leagues. The rest of the G5 will be demoted to the new I-aa of our day and merged with the bigger FCS programs to be a new level of play, one that is permanently lower than the leagues in FBS.

[TreeFiddy]

Man, I feel sorry for Jim's dog.

[untjim1995]

1 minute ago, TreeFiddy said:

Man, I feel sorry for Jim's dog.

You shouldn't...he never has let us down, nor has he had to endure our family short changing him or having to watch other dogs in the neighborhood enjoy a better existence than he gets. He has it great because he is supported fully for being a great dog. 

He also doesn't have to worry about a cat getting all the attention and support around our home because the cat lovers hate dogs and have basically tried everything possible to allow dogs to even have a chance to thrive.

And he hasn't ever had to watch me use a different username to troll a message board, either...so he has that also going for him.

[Rudy]

Wren REALLY needs to start making calls to the MWC ad AAC yesterday.    

[UNT90]

18 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

At this point, I think we have to realize that things will probably get worse here, conference wise, for us very soon. Rice, our connection point to the old SWC and the Gulf Coast of Texas for alumni and recruiting, is about to go to the AAC to replace UH and join with their private buddies in SMU, Tulsa, and Tulane. If we lose UTEP, as well, to replace any MWC team that jumps to the Big XII, the SBC we left to finally move up to the best conference affiliation we have bad in 50 years will be gone. And if you lose MUTS to replace Memphis and Marshall somehow gets taken to replace Cincy, you are looking at CUSA replacing 4 schools, probably with SBC teams that aren't anywhere close to here.

We made our bed. It's what we have to lie  in and just accept. It doesn't mean we cant follow our alma mater anymore, but it does mean we have to understand that there is a very real probability that we won't be moving upward while others around us in CUSA will be. Winning could change that, but it's basically got to happen like 2013 in football and 2011 in basketball. And neither of those have realistic chances of occurring anytime soon, probably 2018 at the earliest, and even then, most conferences would want to see if we could keep it sustainable for at least 5 years. Well, by that time, it's probably when the Big XII leftovers, the MWC, and the AAC all merge into two big conferences that are allowed to continue being FBS schools, just not power leagues. The rest of the G5 will be demoted to the new I-aa of our day and merged with the bigger FCS programs to be a new level of play, one that is permanently lower than the leagues in FBS.

We don't have to lie in anything. Job one for Baker should be to contact the MWC and let them know we want in if they need to backfill. We are in a market they don't have.

The "whoa is me" days are attending USM games this fall. Let's get out of that line of thinking. 

[James]

54 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

We don't have to lie in anything. Job one for Baker should be to contact the MWC and let them know we want in if they need to backfill. We are in a market they don't have.

The "whoa is me" days are attending USM games this fall. Let's get out of that line of thinking. 

The thing that excites me about the football and athletic dept. hires are that they appear to refuse laying aside. They actually work for a paycheck.

[untjim1995]

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

We don't have to lie in anything. Job one for Baker should be to contact the MWC and let them know we want in if they need to backfill. We are in a market they don't have.

The "whoa is me" days are attending USM games this fall. Let's get out of that line of thinking. 

You are high as a banner if you think the MWC wants anything to do with us right now. When the Big XII implodes, Baylor, TCU, Tech, and UH will be immediately invited to the MWC. Beyond that, UTEP and Rice are already mentioned as interested in the MWC. I figure we are in competition for 7th in Texas for the MWC to consider with UTSA, who has a destination city, bowl game, and big media market to tap into without local competition.

That ship sailed long ago, when TCU left and the MWC decided Utah State and San Jose State were better replacements than anyone in Texas that was available at that time. Now, the MWC is just rubbing their hands at getting Big XII schools to join their league in the near future. They would be colossally stupid not to wait out the Big XII's implosion to add schools from Texas much higher up the totem pole in FBS than we have ever been. And that's not including teams like KSU, ISU, and even possibly OSU that will be available, as well.

Only way we jump the other Texas schools in CUSA to get into the MWC would require about 4-5 straight CUSA division and conference championships in football, as well as winning CUSA hoops titles and wins in postseason tournaments. Unfortunately, we have about a 2-3 year rebuild ahead of us in football at a bare minimum, and hoops has to endure another Benford year before a new coach can try and rebuild, meaning you are looking 2-3 years from now. By the time you could have finally built up a winner to get their attention, the Big XII should be imploding.

[Aquila_Viridis]

Now when I say that some of y'all are being too pessimistic and overreacting, that is coming from an experienced practitioner of the same. Even if there is a 'new AA' and we are in it, that is fine as long as the university leadership is committed to winning a vast majority of the games and working hard to get people in the stadium and support the teams. I would rather see NT win a lot of games against less visible opponents than lose a lot of games against more visible opponents.

[Ben Gooding]

56 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

You are high as a banner if you think the MWC wants anything to do with us right now. When the Big XII implodes, Baylor, TCU, Tech, and UH will be immediately invited to the MWC. Beyond that, UTEP and Rice are already mentioned as interested in the MWC. I figure we are in competition for 7th in Texas for the MWC to consider with UTSA, who has a destination city, bowl game, and big media market to tap into without local competition.

That ship sailed long ago, when TCU left and the MWC decided Utah State and San Jose State were better replacements than anyone in Texas that was available at that time. Now, the MWC is just rubbing their hands at getting Big XII schools to join their league in the near future. They would be colossally stupid not to wait out the Big XII's implosion to add schools from Texas much higher up the totem pole in FBS than we have ever been. And that's not including teams like KSU, ISU, and even possibly OSU that will be available, as well.

Only way we jump the other Texas schools in CUSA to get into the MWC would require about 4-5 straight CUSA division and conference championships in football, as well as winning CUSA hoops titles and wins in postseason tournaments. Unfortunately, we have about a 2-3 year rebuild ahead of us in football at a bare minimum, and hoops has to endure another Benford year before a new coach can try and rebuild, meaning you are looking 2-3 years from now. By the time you could have finally built up a winner to get their attention, the Big XII should be imploding.

Big 12 implodes no earlier than 2024. Big12 has 2 options at this point. 1. Invite no one (which I think they will end up doing) in order to not water down the conference. By doing this they will need to be ultra competitive between now and 2024 and lock up a couple nattys in football as a conference. They will need to rival the SEC in terms of TV ratings, attendance, general buzz. If they can do that then they will be an attractive option for other current P5's. They will pluck the best 2 P5 teams in order to put more lipstick on the pig when TV negotiations come around in 2024, particularly with the LHN. This is a a gamble and maybe even a risky one. Option 2. They water down the conference now in order to secure another 100M in TV revenue, but in 2024 the conference will inevitably break apart due to tv negotiations and moreso UT and OU wanting to place themselves in a more attractive conference ($). Either option could happen at this point. Big12 has a big decision to make and not long to make it. Best scenario for UNT is option 2. Even better if UNT can turn a corner between now and 2024 and be a relatively perceived peer with Tech, Baylor, etc when the 2024 collapse happens. MWC is kind of idling and watching and waiting. There is no possible way to know the landscape of CFB when/if the big12 collapses. 

Edited August 4, 2016 by Ben Gooding

[untjim1995]

10 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

Big 12 implodes no earlier than 2024. Big12 has 2 options at this point. 1. Invite no one (which I think they will end up doing) in order to not water down the conference. By doing this they will need to be ultra competitive between now and 2024 and lock up a couple nattys in football as a conference. They will need to rival the SEC in terms of TV ratings, attendance, general buzz. If they can do that then they will be an attractive option for other current P5's. They will pluck the best 2 P5 teams in order to put more lipstick on the pig when TV negotiations come around in 2024, particularly with the LHN. This is a a gamble and maybe even a risky one. Option 2. They water down the conference now in order to secure another 100M in TV revenue, but in 2024 the conference will inevitably break apart due to tv negotiations and moreso UT and OU wanting to place themselves in a more attractive conference ($). Either option could happen at this point. Big12 has a big decision to make and not long to make it. Best scenario for UNT is option 2. Even better if UNT can turn a corner between now and 2024 and be a relatively perceived peer with Tech, Baylor, etc when the 2024 collapse happens. MWC is kind of idling and watching and waiting. There is no possible way to know the landscape of CFB when/if the big12 collapses. 

I agree with you completely.

The Big XII would be wise to expand, just to get to 12 and to be able to have a conference championship game. They are the  third best conference right now, behind the SEC and the B1G, and I think a championship game would solidify this. To me, the ONLY two schools that make any sense for the Big XII to get are BYU and Cincy. BYU gives them a national name with lots of eyeballs, while Cincy gives them a good school in sports, academics, and in a good market that gives them a foothold in Ohio, as well as a bridge to WVU. UH gives them nothing. No extra TV or recruiting market. No extra eyeballs. And a team that has been a couple of times recently, but doesn't offer as much as Cincy to the Big XII. If the ACC expanded, UH would be a good fit. Same with the Pac 12. But lots of teams are ahead of UH on both conferences wish list.

What needs to happen is what you said. the Big XII survives for a long time, like into the 2030s, without UH, who stays in the AAC with SMU. This causes the MWC to realize they need Texas schools again, and they offer UTEP, Rice, UTSA, and us to move over. That would keep us at the FBS level, even if it's at a non-power league. But at least it wouldn't be in CUSA, which will be on the outside looking in at the FBS level in the years to come. The SBC, CUSA, and the MAC are just full of teams that don't carry enough cachet to get fan or media attention.

[Ben Gooding]

1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

I agree with you completely.

The Big XII would be wise to expand, just to get to 12 and to be able to have a conference championship game. They are the  third best conference right now, behind the SEC and the B1G, and I think a championship game would solidify this. To me, the ONLY two schools that make any sense for the Big XII to get are BYU and Cincy. BYU gives them a national name with lots of eyeballs, while Cincy gives them a good school in sports, academics, and in a good market that gives them a foothold in Ohio, as well as a bridge to WVU. UH gives them nothing. No extra TV or recruiting market. No extra eyeballs. And a team that has been a couple of times recently, but doesn't offer as much as Cincy to the Big XII. If the ACC expanded, UH would be a good fit. Same with the Pac 12. But lots of teams are ahead of UH on both conferences wish list.

What needs to happen is what you said. the Big XII survives for a long time, like into the 2030s, without UH, who stays in the AAC with SMU. This causes the MWC to realize they need Texas schools again, and they offer UTEP, Rice, UTSA, and us to move over. That would keep us at the FBS level, even if it's at a non-power league. But at least it wouldn't be in CUSA, which will be on the outside looking in at the FBS level in the years to come. The SBC, CUSA, and the MAC are just full of teams that don't carry enough cachet to get fan or media attention.

Which in their case, it's weird. If the Big12 wants to survive long term it would acutally be in their best interest to not expand, kind of going against the grain. It leaves money on the table for the now but it secures them some hope for longevity. If they go this route Texas will have to become Texas of old. And right now with the amount of schools in Texas paired with the uptick in resources and expectations outsideof burnt orange, it's going to be difficult for them to ever be what they once were. If Big12 expands, this is political. As in behind the scene big12 administrators trying to line their pockets with an inevitably dead conference. Much like Wall Street suits before the housing market collapse. Interesting to keep an eye on. 

Edited August 4, 2016 by Ben Gooding