What is the next level?

[KRAM1]

23 hours ago, UNTFan23 said:

A big problem is everyone is focused on just Football. All of our sports will have to travel to California/Idaho/Colorado/Nevada for away games and thusly, be situated with less than ideal start times.

And, all the team travel costs will be much higher with such differences.

[greenminer]

23 hours ago, UNTFan23 said:

A big problem is everyone is focused on just Football. All of our sports will have to travel to California/Idaho/Colorado/Nevada for away games and thusly, be situated with less than ideal start times.

Some have made it abundantly clear that they know that and think the TV/money would be worth it.

[Cerebus]

MWC TV money is about 1.1M, and is about to go down because they have decided to trade schedule control for less money.  Even the larger number is not worth the travel costs, lack of media coverage, loss of close travel games for fans, etc.

AAC would be worth it for the NCAA Tournament distribution alone.  As long as the membership kept the basketball schools.  

[UNTFan23]

1 minute ago, greenminer said:

Some have made it abundantly clear that they know that and think the TV/money would be worth it.

Members of the MWC have indicated they'd rather sacrifice TV revenue in an effort to get more games that fans will attend to drive up ticket/gate revenues for games.

4 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

MWC TV money is about 1.1M, and is about to go down because they have decided to trade schedule control for less money.  Even the larger number is not worth the travel costs, lack of media coverage, loss of close travel games for fans, etc.

AAC would be worth it for the NCAA Tournament distribution alone.  As long as the membership kept the basketball schools.  

What Cerebus said.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Again with the fear of travel costs and being unable to attend argument against MWC...

Let's compare an example MWC schedule against this year's C-USA schedule again, shall we?

Throwing out the 4 non-conference games as those would be scheduled outside of conference anyway, and we can choose whomever\wherever we want to play.

Current State - CUSA: (Play all West Division teams & 2 East Division teams, home/away)
4 Home games: LATech, SoMiss, Rice, FAU
4 Away games: UTEP, UAB, ODU, UTSA    (Y'all DRIVING to any of these outside of UTSA? If you're going to fly to any of the other 3, your argument is moot as you could fly anywhere).

Hypothetical State - MWC: (Play all of the "Mountain" division teams & 2 "West" division teams, home/away)
4 Home games: Air Force, Wyoming, Nevada, Boise St.  <- (FRIGGIN BOISE ST!  You think the fan base wouldn't get up for this!?!?)
4 Away games: UNM, COSt, SDSU, UTSt

So there we have it...   we'd be trading in 1 driveable away game (UTSA) for a chance to play Boise St. at home.  A tradeoff I would make every time.

 

...Let's not even get into basketball, as there's really not any kind of argument to be made.   MWC basketball is WAY BETTER than C-USA.

And if we're concerned about funding the Olympic sports travel west, then we're much more cash-strapped than I thought.

 

Anyone also want to try the old "late TV games!!!!!!1!1!" argument as well?

[Cerebus]

LaTech, UTEP, and UTSA will bring more fans than any MWC team.  We'll take more people to any  CUSA West team than any MWC team.  Most importantly, we'll run into more alumni around the office.  

@MeanGreenTexan you keep arguing why the cons of the MWC aren't cons.  What are the benefits?  Money?  Not really.  Exposure?  No.  Conference respect?  No, G5 is G5.   So why would we give up having a bunch of close conference mates for the MWC?

The AAC is a different beast.  Money? Yes, as long as the basketball schools stay and keep earning tourney credits.  

[UNTFan23]

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

And if we're concerned about funding the Olympic sports travel west, then we're much more cash-strapped than I thought.

It could be moving to the MWC ends up being a zero sum game where the additional revenue makes up for the increase in travel costs, but is the lack of a nearby opponent worth it? I remember how our fans opined about having a nearby team (in Texas) in the same conference as us. Part of our recruiting pitch is that we play teams that parents of recruits can travel to (Houston, San Antonio, and Ruston, LA) to watch their kids play games. Today we have that and now we want our nearest opponent to be in New Mexico more than 8 hours away.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

11 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

It could be moving to the MWC ends up being a zero sum game where the additional revenue makes up for the increase in travel costs, but is the lack of a nearby opponent worth it? I remember how our fans opined about having a nearby team (in Texas) in the same conference as us. Part of our recruiting pitch is that we play teams that parents of recruits can travel to (Houston, San Antonio, and Ruston, LA) to watch their kids play games. Today we have that and now we want our nearest opponent to be in New Mexico more than 8 hours away.

We lost two nearby opponents (Tulsa and Tulane) and picked up ODU and Charlotte.  

[MeanGreenTexan]

52 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

LaTech, UTEP, and UTSA will bring more fans than any MWC team.  We'll take more people to any  CUSA West team than any MWC team.  Most importantly, we'll run into more alumni around the office.  

@MeanGreenTexan you keep arguing why the cons of the MWC aren't cons.  What are the benefits?  Money?  Not really.  Exposure?  No.  Conference respect?  No, G5 is G5.   So why would we give up having a bunch of close conference mates for the MWC?

The AAC is a different beast.  Money? Yes, as long as the basketball schools stay and keep earning tourney credits.  

Money?   No, not a benefit after the extra cost of travel evens out the extra money we'd get.

Exposure/Conference Respect?   I beg to differ in a BIGLY way here.   The national media regards the MWC much higher than C-USA.  It may be general perception, but it's absolutely there.   What's the "next step" after gaining a lot of attention locally?  Gaining a lot of attention nationally!
Yes, G5 is G5, and a Chevy is a Chevy... unless we're comparing an Aveo to a Corvette.  There are perceptions as to how the G5 conferences break down.  If we could upgrade even slightly, it may possibly help our chances when the Big12 shakedown occurs. 

And, again... I'm only talking about Football.   MWC basketball is #9 in Conference RPI.   C-USA is #15.  That is a huge difference.

No way am I arguing for us to stay out there forever.   But if it can help us get to where we need to be eventually, I'm all for it.

And, of course, if there are 2 offers on the table, one to MWC, one to AAC... you take AAC.  No-brainer.
But if there's a MWC offer on the table, or stay in C-USA, for me, it's another no-brainer to take the MWC invite.

[UNTFan23]

1 minute ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

We lost two nearby opponents (Tulsa and Tulane) and picked up ODU and Charlotte.  

Tulsa and Tulane leaving wasn't something we had any control over. I'm sure when we first joined, having Tulsa and Tulane as conferencemates was another positive to switching conferences. I don't know if there were any vetos against ODU and Charlotte and NT certainly could have cast that vote so why throw dirt on something like that?

[MeanGreenTexan]

17 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

It could be moving to the MWC ends up being a zero sum game where the additional revenue makes up for the increase in travel costs, but is the lack of a nearby opponent worth it? I remember how our fans opined about having a nearby team (in Texas) in the same conference as us. Part of our recruiting pitch is that we play teams that parents of recruits can travel to (Houston, San Antonio, and Ruston, LA) to watch their kids play games. Today we have that and now we want our nearest opponent to be in New Mexico more than 8 hours away.

Keep up the SMU series, and you still have 7 games (at least) nearby every other year.  Houston series on the horizon.  Lubbock series also out there.   The chances to see Junior play are absolutely still there.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

1 minute ago, UNTFan23 said:

Tulsa and Tulane leaving wasn't something we had any control over. I'm sure when we first joined, having Tulsa and Tulane as conferencemates was another positive to switching conferences. I don't know if there were any vetos against ODU and Charlotte and NT certainly could have cast that vote so why throw dirt on something like that?

I am not throwing at dirt - not sure what that even means. 

I am saying the regionalness of CUSA went away when we lost two of the regional schools.  It is not too different than MWC.

But with all that said - the 'next level' is just having a string of winning seasons and bowl victories.   

[keith]

The next level?

Hosting College GameDay on Campus.

Ok, well maybe not *the* next level, but part of it.

[Cooke County Kid]

Take Rice, UTEP, and either La Tech or utsa along with UNT and join the Mountain West east Division along with Univ of NM, Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming.  Travel costs are reduced and we can compete and win and hope to later join Big 12 remake.

BEAT la tech!!!!!

GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!

Edited September 27, 2018 by Cooke County Kid
added tag line

[Danish43]

On 9/26/2018 at 9:10 AM, Wag Tag said:

Are we starting to see the monster? With the success and investment we are seeing in athletics what is the next step up in conference?

To me it would be the MWC or do we just sit tight for the realignment in 24-25?

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Take one game at a time.

[greenminer]

5 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Exposure/Conference Respect?   I beg to differ in a BIGLY way here.   The national media regards the MWC much higher than C-USA

Can't be that much.  95% of the national media and internet traffic gravitates towards P5.  You've got about 5% of wiggle room for the rest of us.  That's not an arbitrary number.  I'll see if I can dig up the article where I read it.

And if the MWC did indeed decide to sacrifice some money, the wiggle room just got smaller.

Further thought: The prestige of the MWC was established with Boise State and Fresno State being world beaters at the beginning of the BCS.  Since the creation of the BCS and the growth of the money gap, the spotlight on them IMO has worn off.  Thinking of the famous 2007 Fiesta Bowl, I decided to look up the Bronco schedules.  That OU win gave them some momentum for 4 more years (1 epic recruiting class?), then - starting in 2011 - they have lost at least 2 games every year since.

I couldn't even tell you what Fresno State has been up to the last 10 years.  I honestly have no idea.  Maybe it means nothing, or maybe it means it's getting harder for them and the rest of the G5 to keep up with the P5s.

[PlummMeanGreen]

20 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Can't be that much.  95% of the national media and internet traffic gravitates towards P5.  You've got about 5% of wiggle room for the rest of us.  That's not an arbitrary number.  I'll see if I can dig up the article where I read it.

And if the MWC did indeed decide to sacrifice some money, the wiggle room just got smaller.

Further thought: The prestige of the MWC was established with Boise State and Fresno State being world beaters at the beginning of the BCS.  Since the creation of the BCS and the growth of the money gap, the spotlight on them IMO has worn off.  Thinking of the famous 2007 Fiesta Bowl, I decided to look up the Bronco schedules.  That OU win gave them some momentum for 4 more years (1 epic recruiting class?), then - starting in 2011 - they have lost at least 2 games every year since.

I couldn't even tell you what Fresno State has been up to the last 10 years.  I honestly have no idea.  Maybe it means nothing, or maybe it means it's getting harder for them and the rest of the G5 to keep up with the P5s.

Yet Boise State has still been a regular in the Top 25 and were this season until an early loss took them out of it.   Indy' Brigham Young U is an interesting situation.  Their fans do not want in the MWC. Apparently,  BYU seems to  think being a successful Independent is their quickest route to a P5 future.

MWC schools (except for 2 or 3) have larger stadiums and larger home attendance than CUSA.  Not a reason to jump ship now, but how many of you don't think UTSA or UTEP would jump at the chance to separate themselves from all of CUSA West (as TCU did when they went west & left their Texas ties behind) & every bit of that to gain a perceived advantage?   Perception is reality is what Joseph P. Kennedy told his sons John F. and Robert F.

Edited September 28, 2018 by PlummMeanGreen

[GrandGreen]

The problem remains NT would have to be invited to join another conference.   

It is highly doubted the MWC make the same mistake as the WAC and try to expand to the East.   I don't see any votes among the AAC either to invite NT into that conference.   

All NT can do is to be the best they can in CUSA in all sports and attempt to dominate the league.  

CUSA has some good programs, but also a lot of down teams in the major sports.  NT was one of those down programs, so things can change.  

 

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Can't be that much.  95% of the national media and internet traffic gravitates towards P5.  You've got about 5% of wiggle room for the rest of us.  That's not an arbitrary number.  I'll see if I can dig up the article where I read it.

And if the MWC did indeed decide to sacrifice some money, the wiggle room just got smaller.

Further thought: The prestige of the MWC was established with Boise State and Fresno State being world beaters at the beginning of the BCS.  Since the creation of the BCS and the growth of the money gap, the spotlight on them IMO has worn off.  Thinking of the famous 2007 Fiesta Bowl, I decided to look up the Bronco schedules.  That OU win gave them some momentum for 4 more years (1 epic recruiting class?), then - starting in 2011 - they have lost at least 2 games every year since.

I couldn't even tell you what Fresno State has been up to the last 10 years.  I honestly have no idea.  Maybe it means nothing, or maybe it means it's getting harder for them and the rest of the G5 to keep up with the P5s.

Fresno St picked up Coach Tedford off the scrap heap & are now kicking a** again.  Another great team to bring to Apogee every once in a while, if it happened.

[OurRankingisFINE]

On 9/26/2018 at 10:00 AM, Wag Tag said:

Houston Facilities with the Success of Boise! That should be the goal!

You mean you don't want blue turf? (ugliest field in the world IMO) 

[Silent Eagle]

On 9/26/2018 at 7:26 AM, oldguystudent said:

We need to get on this before they pass us by and steal our recruits! 

Do they have a coach that runs the triple option or might be of interest to Texas state? We better get him so we have SL’s coach in waiting. 

[UNTLifer]

2 hours ago, OurRankingisFINE said:

You mean you don't want blue turf? (ugliest field in the world IMO) 

Have you seen Eastern Washington's red field?

 

[Rudy]

32 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Have you seen Eastern Washington's red field?

 

Yeah, that's brutal.  

[davidjren]

I want to see us take care of LaTech very weeks

[OurRankingisFINE]

On 9/28/2018 at 12:08 AM, UNTLifer said:

Have you seen Eastern Washington's red field?

 

Hahaha yeah I stand corrected. Boise has the second ugliest field. 😂🤷🏻‍♀️