USM and Marshall to Sun Belt?

[MCMLXXX]

The SBC Message Board including folks posting from USM have said they are joining Sun Belt. This has also been mentioned. 

This is...interesting (csnbbs.com)

[Tom McKrackin]

Please stop posting this.  It clearly is not happening.  The AAC has been turned down by Boise.  The AAC has been spurned  by SDSU.  This is like moving up to the Belch.

[Arkstfan]

2 hours ago, Tom McKrackin said:

Please stop posting this.  It clearly is not happening.  The AAC has been turned down by Boise.  The AAC has been spurned  by SDSU.  This is like moving up to the Belch.

It clearly isn’t happening?
 

You base this on some inside knowledge?

I will admit I don’t know what’s about to happen but a person who I trust says WKU has provided Sun Belt members with information supporting their admission which is interesting in and of itself given they aren’t the focus of the rumors. 
 

One can scowl and say it clearly isn’t happening or one can make contingency plans just in case. 

[PlummMeanGreen]

7 hours ago, MCMLXXX said:

The SBC Message Board including folks posting from USM have said they are joining Sun Belt. This has also been mentioned. 

This is...interesting (csnbbs.com)

In the G5 no one seems to want to be where they are.
 Just wait until the transfer portal exodus really opens up—it ain’t going to be pretty.
The present NCAA is being run like the present group who are running the USA.  Anyone else enjoying all this planned chaos from both groups?  
 

🦅

Edited September 29, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

[untbowler]

USM and Marshall want to move to a better FB Conference seems pretty straight forward. The Sun Belt has owned CUSA the past couple years. Unlike some of the snobs at UNT with regards to the Belt, USM, WKU, and Marshall see their upward trajectory while CUSA is downward or static. Maybe Sun Belt trades ULM for USM, knowing Judge Judy she would take that trade. 

[DeepGreen]

3 minutes ago, untbowler said:

USM and Marshall want to move to a better FB Conference seems pretty straight forward. The Sun Belt has owned CUSA the past couple years. Unlike some of the snobs at UNT with regards to the Belt, USM, WKU, and Marshall see their upward trajectory while CUSA is downward or static. Maybe Sun Belt trades ULM for USM, knowing Judge Judy she would take that trade. 

Who is this Judge Judy you speak of?

🤪

[Rudy]

5 minutes ago, untbowler said:

USM and Marshall want to move to a better FB Conference seems pretty straight forward. The Sun Belt has owned CUSA the past couple years. Unlike some of the snobs at UNT with regards to the Belt, USM, WKU, and Marshall see their upward trajectory while CUSA is downward or static. Maybe Sun Belt trades ULM for USM, knowing Judge Judy she would take that trade. 

CUSA is static at BEST.  The Sun Belt is better than CUSA, it just doesn't get the FB pants moving.  I'm not sure I'd even want to go to the MWC is CSU and AFA move to the AAC.

[PlummMeanGreen]

3 minutes ago, Rudy said:

CUSA is static at BEST.  The Sun Belt is better than CUSA, it just doesn't get the FB pants moving.  I'm not sure I'd even want to go to the MWC is CSU and AFA move to the AAC.

“Loosing”  too frequently has caused us to become 2’nd Hand Rose.  Our timing has rarely been good, except we finally 💡 “got it”💡with the NCAA venues arms race.  That may be our ace in the hole if not this re-alignment go around but for certain the next one. 

 If SMU doesn’t get in the Big 12 I want UNT to put a billboard inside their campus near Dallas Hall that says:   “EAGLE UP!  He who laughs last—laughs best!” 🐎🦅

••• You do have to admire SMooo’s pro-active ways, though.  Wish we would have done more of that thru the years.  

❇️

[RBP79]

I just have to hope that the silence on the future conference affiliation of UNT is on purpose.....if not.......we are so screwed. Maybe a invite to the Mid-American??? LOL....(joke people).

[untbowler]

24 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

I just have to hope that the silence on the future conference affiliation of UNT is on purpose.....if not.......we are so screwed. Maybe a invite to the Mid-American??? LOL....(joke people).

I hear the Southland is looking to add a few Texas Schools.

[MCMLXXX]

With the exception of Georgia State, and the basketball only schools, the SBC expansion has been in smaller communities that do not have nearby professional or other FBS schools to compete with. This appears to be appealing to Marshall, USM, and WKU. The CUSA model has mostly, not exclusively, been driven by market size. 

[untjim1995]

If we lose USM, WKU, Marshall, and MUTS to the Belt, and the AAC ends up adding in UAB, UTSA, and FAU, assuming nobody leaves the MWC, which is seeming more likely as time goes on, we are gonna be left in a conference with UTEP, Rice, La Tech, Charlotte, Old Dominion, and Florida International. 

Think about that for a second...

[Rudy]

1 minute ago, untjim1995 said:

If we lose USM, WKU, Marshall, and MUTS to the Belt, and the AAC ends up adding in UAB, UTSA, and FAU, assuming nobody leaves the MWC, which is seeming more likely as time goes on, we are gonna be left in a conference with UTEP, Rice, La Tech, Charlotte, Old Dominion, and Florida International. 

Think about that for a second...

I'd rather not...

[Arkstfan]

1 hour ago, untbowler said:

USM and Marshall want to move to a better FB Conference seems pretty straight forward. The Sun Belt has owned CUSA the past couple years. Unlike some of the snobs at UNT with regards to the Belt, USM, WKU, and Marshall see their upward trajectory while CUSA is downward or static. Maybe Sun Belt trades ULM for USM, knowing Judge Judy she would take that trade. 

If UAB is leaving, I could understand USM looking around and saying not one of these schools is what we signed up for when we founded the league. We’ve been an incubator for large market schools and we are fed up and want to align with similar institutions who value football. 
 

Or maybe they remember when CUSA was first fighting weeknight games and Louisville was saying we will play any day or time we can get a national telecast. The same strategy they employed in Big East and parlayed that national recognition and on-field success into ACC membership and simply want leverage to get the deal rethought. 

[SilverEagle]

7 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

One can scowl and say it clearly isn’t happening or one can make contingency plans just in case. 

The North Texas Administration making contingency plans for athletics?................Yeah, that'll happen.....😉

[akriesman]

This is all such a mess.   I don't think anyone has a clue what is going to happen next.

I would be fine with CUSA for now, except for Judy.    She is sinking the conference while others are moving forward.   Her silence on so many issues says it all.     

I understand that this could be a sensitive subject.   But, I am not sure how to put it in any other terms.    There may be hesitancy among the various schools in CUSA when it comes to firing Judy.    After all, she is the first female FBS commissioner.  I would hope that the person in charge would be judged solely on their achievements.    I am not saying there is anything to this.   But, I do find it strange that Judy has managed to hang around so long, when so many CUSA members seem to be silently looking to bolt.    If CUSA ends up losing members to the Sun Belt, that should raise a massively huge red flag when it comes to our commissioner.    CUSA used to be looked at as an upgrade over the Sun Belt, MAC (and WAC at the time).   It's not anymore.   And, it's not the universities in the Sun Belt that are a draw over CUSA.   So, there is something inherently wrong with CUSA leadership.

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by akriesman

[Arkstfan]

37 minutes ago, akriesman said:

This is all such a mess.   I don't think anyone has a clue what is going to happen next.

I would be fine with CUSA for now, except for Judy.    She is sinking the conference while others are moving forward.   Her silence on so many issues says it all.     

I understand that this could be a sensitive subject.   But, I am not sure how to put it in any other terms.    There may be hesitancy among the various schools in CUSA when it comes to firing Judy.    After all, she is the first female FBS commissioner.  I would hope that the person in charge would be judged solely on their achievements.    I am not saying there is anything to this.   But, I do find it strange that Judy has managed to hang around so long, when so many CUSA members seem to be silently looking to bolt.    If CUSA ends up losing members to the Sun Belt, that should raise a massively huge red flag when it comes to our commissioner.    CUSA used to be looked at as an upgrade over the Sun Belt, MAC (and WAC at the time).   It's not anymore.   And, it's not the universities in the Sun Belt that are a draw over CUSA.   So, there is something inherently wrong with CUSA leadership.

 

The conference leadership that MATTERS is on the campuses. Commissioner in college athletics is a weak position and most leagues require super majority votes of presidents and chancellors for significant issues. 
 

I believe CUSA’s situation was messed up by mistakes made prior to the appointment of the current commissioner. 
 

Mistake one. Expansion that was supposedly a debate between taking UNT or UNT and FIU became a six team expansion rumored to have been because ECU Marshall and UAB blocked demanding more eastern schools so three slots go to schools with no downs of FBS ball played and no established track record of football success. 
 

Then Tulane and ECU bolt and instead of oh we planned for that by going to 14, instead MTSU and FAU were added. 
 

Tulsa leaves and WKU pans out fine. 
 

Then Bankowsky recognizes UAB is being squeezed and looks to add the Cajuns and Red Wolves to shift UAB East and facilitate a future East/west fracture but the eastern schools balk demanding JMU have one of the spots defeating the purposes of adding two in the west. 
 

The stage was set for discontent while Bankowsky was on board and he soon sought out more rewarding work. 

[akriesman]

11 minutes ago, Arkstfan said:

The conference leadership that MATTERS is on the campuses. Commissioner in college athletics is a weak position and most leagues require super majority votes of presidents and chancellors for significant issues. 
 

I believe CUSA’s situation was messed up by mistakes made prior to the appointment of the current commissioner. 
 

Mistake one. Expansion that was supposedly a debate between taking UNT or UNT and FIU became a six team expansion rumored to have been because ECU Marshall and UAB blocked demanding more eastern schools so three slots go to schools with no downs of FBS ball played and no established track record of football success. 
 

Then Tulane and ECU bolt and instead of oh we planned for that by going to 14, instead MTSU and FAU were added. 
 

Tulsa leaves and WKU pans out fine. 
 

Then Bankowsky recognizes UAB is being squeezed and looks to add the Cajuns and Red Wolves to shift UAB East and facilitate a future East/west fracture but the eastern schools balk demanding JMU have one of the spots defeating the purposes of adding two in the west. 
 

The stage was set for discontent while Bankowsky was on board and he soon sought out more rewarding work. 

Thanks for the detailed explanation.    That is certainly interesting and I am sure you are correct when it comes to the schools being mostly at fault.     

I will say though, I think the commissioner, much like the president of the United States, is a figurehead and public perception does matter.   Judy is far too silent on important issues I believe   Her silence makes her seem weak and/or lazy, even if she is working hard behind the scenes.    Just MHO.

[Arkstfan]

13 minutes ago, akriesman said:

Thanks for the detailed explanation.    That is certainly interesting and I am sure you are correct when it comes to the schools being mostly at fault.     

I will say though, I think the commissioner, much like the president of the United States, is a figurehead and public perception does matter.   Judy is far too silent on important issues I believe   Her silence makes her seem weak and/or lazy, even if she is working hard behind the scenes.    Just MHO.

If your members don’t have consensus, nothing gained from doing anything other making a says nothing type comment. 
 

Remember a few years ago B1G’s Delaney poppped off about raising bowl eligibility and in short order walked it back after hearing from schools win B1G who don’t often make bowls.