Is CUSA the weakest conference in Football?

meangreenlax · December 16, 2018

20 minutes ago, meangreanmick said:

Maybe we should win our conference once or twice, before we think we are ready to jump ship to a better conference. Being the bottom dweller of anything is not a good place to be. We are on our way there, but we aren’t there yet.

Winning and being dominant is the quickest way to elevate, but it's only one piece of the puzzle. There are a lot of bad teams in better conferences.

RBP79 · December 16, 2018

There's no where to go for UNT. You would have to have a great sale job for NT to go MWC and from the bitching from us playing in New Mexico it would be a hard sale. AAC is out of the question as long as SMU is there. Mind our X's and O's and win........Especially Bowl games in front of a National Audience!

NorthTexasWeLove · December 16, 2018

14 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

There's no where to go for UNT. You would have to have a great sale job for NT to go MWC and from the bitching from us playing in New Mexico it would be a hard sale. AAC is out of the question as long as SMU is there. Mind our X's and O's and win........Especially Bowl games in front of a National Audience!

don't think that's possible unless we sneak into bowl season 6-6 and get to play another crappy 6-6 team. SL has proven he can't beat a better team or even an equal team. He feasts on the weak and bows to the strong. Wonder if we're going to extend and bump him....let's hope not.

Big Z · December 16, 2018

And we got Sun Belt refs..

Rudy · December 16, 2018

8 hours ago, NM Green said:

Judy does need to go. The conference is sliding backwards under her leadership.

Like byu we don’t want to go back to a strong conference that we have already been in.

Just weather the storm.

gmg

Yup

wardly · December 16, 2018

13 hours ago, Rudy said:

The fact that we are saying the Sun Belt is better is simply ridiculous.

Sargin rates CUSA West as worst division in D-1 football,behind the Belt and Missouri Valley Conference.

FirefightnRick · December 16, 2018

Let’s win the conference we’re bitching about first before we decide we’re too good for it.

Rick

PlummMeanGreen · December 17, 2018

Don’t the conference strengths at the G5 level oscillate from year to year?

GMG!

PS: Not a hint or suggestion by any means, but as I surfed the Dish this last week, all I’m seeing is MWC basketball games & a New Mexico Lobos Coach’s Show.

CUSA is no where in sight.

Edited December 17, 2018 by PlummMeanGreen

wardly · December 17, 2018

15 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Let’s win the conference we’re bitching about first before we decide we’re too good for it.

Rick

Well put!

GrandGreen · December 17, 2018

18 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Let’s win the conference we’re bitching about first before we decide we’re too good for it.

Rick

Never understand those that downgrade the conference NT is in no matter if it is the Belt, CUSA or Southland. NT hasn't dominated any of them other than a four year Dickey span in the the early Sun Belt.

As far as the AAC not likely to add NT because of SMU. No conference is going to add any team if they think it is not in their interest. I doubt any of the regional teams Tulsa, Tulane, UH or SMU want to elevate a team they are directly recruiting against. The other teams would not see any value of adding another team with little national recognition.

The only way to break that mindset is for NT to be so good that it would raise the perception and value of the conference. If NT continues to win in the major sports that could happen.

Edited December 17, 2018 by GrandGreen

Legend500 · December 17, 2018

Ah it's the usual everyone is out to get us worry. It hasn't been true for years - splitting the DFW and Houston markets has made more sense for ESPN and FOX than for the schools themselves. The fact that two of the teams mentioned are perfectly happy to spend a rare OOC slot to play us home and home also gives proof to the lie.

If you offered an equivalent payout, you'd have every non-P5 Texas team in the same conference. Unfortunately, that'd be terrible business for ESPN back during the last GoR period.

The G5 has 3 top-heavy conferences (MWC, AAC and SBC) and 2 parity conferences (CUSA and MAC). There's pluses and minuses to both approaches. Ultimately it dooms the teams in both from getting into a playoff - if UCF had played Boise, UAB or Appy their argument would be much stronger. But the AAC's design means that even undefeated teams won't have a chance because they spend half of the year beating up on children.

untjim1995 · December 18, 2018

On 12/16/2018 at 9:02 AM, RBP79 said:

There's no where to go for UNT. You would have to have a great sale job for NT to go MWC and from the bitching from us playing in New Mexico it would be a hard sale. AAC is out of the question as long as SMU is there. Mind our X's and O's and win........Especially Bowl games in front of a National Audience!

This.

Unless or until SMU leaves the AAC, that’s not an option. Hate to say it, but UTSA or UTEP will be an option before we are for anything in the AAC. And I doubt any of them are going that way anytime soon, unless the Big XII completely changes it’s course and invites a few of the current AAC teams in, which they have already shown that they won’t do.

The MWC is your only route upward, but we haven’t given the MWC to even consider us, obviously, or the invite would be there to get them back into the DFW markets. My guess is that they are completely content with waiting on the demise of the Big XII to poach some of the leftovers here in Texas.

The best hope we currently have, in terms of changing conferences, is to have the SBC and CUSA get reshaped into regional conferences. It would save everyone travel money, get more attendance, and develop more natural rivalries, like we have seen with UTSA and La Tech so far. I’d much rather us play Texas State, Arky State, and ULL than anyone in CUSA East.

southsideguy · December 18, 2018

I don't think UTEP goes to ACC before us. El Paso offers nothing to the conference but a long plane ride. It is not a hot spot for recruiting either.

Edited December 18, 2018 by southsideguy

meangreenlax · December 18, 2018

19 minutes ago, southsideguy said:

I don't think UTEP goes to ACC before us. El Paso offers nothing to the conference but a long plane ride. It is not a hot spot for recruiting either.

UTEP, no way. UTSA is a big maybe, although they have no history and 4 letter schools are generally looked down upon. They'd be one of the worst schools in the conference, academically (or tied with Memphis and ECU).

Just realizing this, but Tulane really sticks out as an outlier in the AAC, but they're an AAU school with a huge endowment. So it elevates the conference.

Edited December 18, 2018 by meangreenlax

untjim1995 · December 18, 2018

They don’t share a market for TV like we do with SMU. The AAC is all about TV markets.

MrStrange18 · December 18, 2018

Yes, I would love to see a conference with these teams together:

UNT
UTEP
UTSA
TXST
ArkSt
ULL
ULM
La Tech
Rice

Who else could we add to round this out to a 10-12 team conference? I dont think anyone from the AAC would be on the table...

However, if you had a regional conference like this, there would be more butts in seats and more interest within the conference. Would be a nationally recognized powerhouse conference? No. It would be fun to watch though!

MeanGreenTexan · December 18, 2018

20 minutes ago, MrStrange18 said:

Yes, I would love to see a conference with these teams together:

UNT
UTEP
UTSA
TXST
ArkSt
ULL
ULM
La Tech
Rice

Who else could we add to round this out to a 10-12 team conference? I dont think anyone from the AAC would be on the table...

However, if you had a regional conference like this, there would be more butts in seats and more interest within the conference. Would be a nationally recognized powerhouse conference? No. It would be fun to watch though!

I wouldn't. Nothing would scream "WE'RE NOT SERIOUS" more than that.

Rudy · December 18, 2018

There would not be butts in seats, no interest, and no, it would not be fun to watch.

MrStrange18 · December 18, 2018

46 minutes ago, Rudy said:

There would not be butts in seats, no interest, and no, it would not be fun to watch.

59 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I wouldn't. Nothing would scream "WE'RE NOT SERIOUS" more than that.

Ok, gentlemen. Considering a Sun Belt/CUSA realignment would be the most likely thing to happen for us as it stands today... What would you rather see instead?

MeanGreenTexan · December 18, 2018

17 minutes ago, MrStrange18 said:

Ok, gentlemen. Considering a Sun Belt/CUSA realignment would be the most likely thing to happen for us as it stands today... What would you rather see instead?

If so, then my serious doubts about C-USA leadership would just be cemented, and NT would need to find a way to get out ASAP.... but no, I don't think that is the "most likely thing to happen".

MrStrange18 · December 18, 2018

11 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

If so, then my serious doubts about C-USA leadership would just be cemented, and NT would need to find a way to get out ASAP.... but no, I don't think that is the "most likely thing to happen".

Ok, then what do you think is most likely to happen?

Edited December 18, 2018 by MrStrange18

MeanGreenTexan · December 18, 2018

6 minutes ago, MrStrange18 said:

Ok, then what you think is most likely to happen?

There are a ton of variables. One of them is NT's commitment to being a top-notch Athletics program. This commitment is only recent. We still have a few more years before all of the current conference TV Deals (mainly Big12) expire. If NT can position ourselves as a successful program over the next 3 years (we're already on the way), I think joining up with the Big12 leftovers is a possibility. Or, if the big12 leftovers decide to take SMU, we would simply backfill their spot in the AAC. Both of those scenarios are "more likely" to me than creating some regional spare conference and joining in.

Salsa_Verde · December 18, 2018

1 hour ago, MrStrange18 said:

Yes, I would love to see a conference with these teams together:

UNT
UTEP
UTSA
TXST
ArkSt
ULL
ULM
La Tech
Rice

Who else could we add to round this out to a 10-12 team conference? I dont think anyone from the AAC would be on the table...

However, if you had a regional conference like this, there would be more butts in seats and more interest within the conference. Would be a nationally recognized powerhouse conference? No. It would be fun to watch though!

West Division

North Texas, Texas State, UTSA, Rice, La Tech, Ark State.

East Division

Marshall, App State, Georgia St., Southern Miss, UAB, Charlotte,

ehhh...why not hahaha 🤷🏽‍♂️

Edited December 18, 2018 by Salsa_Verde

MrStrange18 · December 18, 2018

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

There are a ton of variables. One of them is NT's commitment to being a top-notch Athletics program. This commitment is only recent. We still have a few more years before all of the current conference TV Deals (mainly Big12) expire. If NT can position ourselves as a successful program over the next 3 years (we're already on the way), I think joining up with the Big12 leftovers is a possibility. Or, if the big12 leftovers decide to take SMU, we would simply backfill their spot in the AAC. Both of those scenarios are "more likely" to me than creating some regional spare conference and joining in.

I can see that... Yes, you are correct, it will be a big IF we can position ourselves successfully can that happen.

I think we are a long way from being the next UCF...

MeanGreenTexan · December 18, 2018

Just now, MrStrange18 said:

I can see that... Yes, you are correct, it will be a big IF we can position ourselves successfully can that happen.

I think we are a long way from being the next UCF...

UCF is a gigantic school with a ton of resources.
NT is a gigantic school (not as big as UCF), with not as many resources... yet. We're getting there. We just have to accelerate the process. The IPF will be huge. I don't know when the new B-ball arena is supposed to be built, but that will also help.

And, of course, winning... Need to keep winning 9 games/yr (or more!) and continue building basketball success over the next 3-4 years, and it could happen!