C-USA Coaches Have No Voice

FirefightnRick · June 14, 2019

https://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/marshall_sports/chuck-landon-coaches-have-no-voice-in-c-usa/article_70af2083-c3d8-5792-844c-c4ad6670e5c1.html

Quote

....So, yes, every major college conference has issues. And then there's Conference USA.

This league is sinking so fast it's as if league officials charted a course for the Bermuda Triangle.

It wasn't bad enough when Conference USA hitched its television rights to a wagon called "streaming." That has resulted in plummeting television revenue of about $200,000 per member school. That's a drop in the financial bucket compared to most FBS conferences.

Then, there was the half-baked idea of holding the Conference USA men's and women's basketball tournaments in the Dallas Cowboys' indoor practice facility - named "The Star," of course.

Why anyone who ever watched a basketball game would think a football indoor practice facility would make a Jim Dandy - or, in this case, a Jerry Jones - place for a college basketball tournament to be held, escapes me like a bad dream.

For all those who have had the good fortune of not experiencing a C-USA Tournament game in "The Star," permit me to applaud. They are much more fortunate than me.

It is, in a word, horrendous.

Yet, C-USA leaders have booked "The Star" for two more Conference USA tournaments. Yes, two more.

So, why did the C-USA basketball coaches sign off on this terrible site?

Ah, there's the rub. They didn't.

Despite the coaches' obvious vested interest, they had no say-so. None. This terrible venue is being forced on them. Which appears to be the way Conference USA's leadership is conducting business these days.

Remember how the Conference USA men's basketball coaches embraced the idea of pod scheduling and "bonus play" a year ago?

Well, they don't embrace it any longer. That's because it blew up in their faces during the 2018-19 season and did a lot more harm than good.

That's why most of C-USA's coaches, including Marshall University's Danny D'Antoni, planned on voting against the pod scheduling concept during the spring meetings in Destin, Florida. Bonus play simply didn't work.

But, then, the C-USA coaches found out they didn't have a vote on this issue, either. Again, league officials dictated to the coaches, telling them pod scheduling and bonus play would continue in 2019-20.

The coaches don't want it, but C-USA is forcing it on them....

Rick

Edited June 14, 2019 by FirefightnRick

Wag Tag · June 14, 2019

29 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

https://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/marshall_sports/chuck-landon-coaches-have-no-voice-in-c-usa/article_70af2083-c3d8-5792-844c-c4ad6670e5c1.html

Rick

Hillbilly! I have enjoyed the tournament with at a great facility with walking distance to bars and restaurants. I always thought ADs determine tournament locations along with the conference leadership.

RiseUNT · June 14, 2019

angry youtube GIF by Hyper RPG

dml7007 · June 14, 2019

If that is all true, it is the one thing that could make coaches hard to keep here, if we stay in Conference USA. Keep winning and recruiting we will have options.

FirefightnRick · June 14, 2019

As I and others have posted before,...Judy needs to go. But after reading that I’m starting to think that as a conference maybe we deserve what we have?

In the very least we know Marshall see’s the problem as well.

Rick

RiseUNT · June 14, 2019

5 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

As I and others have posted before,...Judy needs to go. But after reading that I’m starting to think that as a conference maybe we deserve what we have?

In the very least we know Marshall see’s the problem as well.

Rick

The presidents and ADs need to figure something out.

If everyone thinks that if they win enough they will get to a better conference then CUSA will fail!

UNTLifer · June 14, 2019

The Star sucks as a basketball venue. Great location, but that is not a basketball venue and it looks poor on television. Somebody lock Judy in there and let’s run far, far away from there.

ColoradoEagle · June 14, 2019

CUSA really dropped the ball on not snatching up Dickie's Arena for the next few years. And The Star is not a great location. It sucks for the same reason Toyota Stadium sucks (read: too far from the majority of DFW, only way in or out is toll roads/side roads, local population is more interested in Costco than sports, etc).

GrandGreen · June 15, 2019

Stop with the bitching about Frisco. The Eastern part of this conference would not be happy with any Texas location. Yet, they have been unable to find anything more to their liking.

I think NT is co-sponsor of the tournament in Frisco with the Star. The conference tournament is not a big draw and no location is likely to be anymore attended.

I did enjoy Hot Springs and there was near as much to do and the facilities were not upper class either.

meangreenJW · June 15, 2019

1 hour ago, GrandGreen said:

Stop with the bitching about Frisco. The Eastern part of this conference would not be happy with any Texas location. Yet, they have been unable to find anything more to their liking.

I think NT is co-sponsor of the tournament in Frisco with the Star. The conference tournament is not a big draw and no location is likely to be anymore attended.

I did enjoy Hot Springs and there was near as much to do and the facilities were not upper class either.

Agree with this. The ADs/Presidents vote on location. Grant and Jalie both said repeatedly at their radio show the Star was good for UNT. Of course Marshall wouldn't like it, it's a long ways away for them. I suppose UAB and UTEP don't either because they've hosted in the past. But if a majority of schools weren't for it, it wouldn't be there. I'm going to ask Grant or Jalie when I see them. I think this is more D'Antoni wining than truth. I have no idea what they're thinking on the pod schedules but if you switch scheduling models after one year, you screw a bunch of teams in terms of home/away. Almost everyone does two year schedules (or increments of two) so they get a home/away cycle in. I sit behind D'Antoni's bench two years ago, the man is a fool. Somehow wins games but his players couldn't be less engaged in what he is saying.

greenminer · June 15, 2019

Haven’t they held the NCAA championship games at football stadiums in the past?

If so, maybe the thought in CUSA offices was “we can do that too!”???

FirefightnRick · June 15, 2019

13 hours ago, RiseUNT said:

The presidents and ADs need to figure something out.

If everyone thinks that if they win enough they will get to a better conference then CUSA will fail!

That’s what I was hoping for when I first read the other day that Dr. Smatresk was placed on the executive board.

Rick