DRC: Report -- C-USA's presidents to hear realignment proposal

akriesman · October 11, 2021

6 hours ago, Mike Jackson said:

Of the most attractive programs we are looking at in a poached MWC are Air Force, Fresno State, and Colorado State that is what we realistically we are looking at adding to our schedule. A better TV package for our away conference games maybe. And there is a possibility that anyone of those 3 are poached from the conference also. This isn't great for travel for the other sports and might include 8:00 pm CST kickoffs for some of our home games for the benefit for the west coast viewers. I am not sure that is all that positive of a net gain for the athletic department. AAC arrogance might take all of us G5 down a peg outside of the Mac and MWC.

The MWC does interest me. However, the late kickoffs are a concern. I still remember the Big West days.

GrayEagle · October 11, 2021

On 10/9/2021 at 3:27 PM, Mike Jackson said:

MWC would have made public overtures to add us if they really wanted us. But we need to win games and put buts in seats else we we always be just hoping a decent conference picks us.

They did make overtures to us several years ago. They wanted to be in the DFW TV Market. If they are still interested we might get together with either Rice or UTSA and see if there is still interest.

keith · October 11, 2021

16 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

MWC is in an interesting position. There is not an interesting FBS school within 300 miles of the current members.

Among FCS Cal-Davis, Portland State, and Sacramento State is about it. Montana is interesting but if they are called up to replace Boise State, they are 470 miles from the nearest MWC and as of this writing, Missoula is under a winter storm warning.

I think it’s going to be remarkably difficult for MWC to agree on an addition. It’s going to be really hard for anyone in the Central time zone to justify membership without there being at least two more going with them.

If you are forced to get on a plane anyway, an additional 30-60 minutes of flight time is not really a deal breaker.

wardly · October 11, 2021

On 10/9/2021 at 4:37 PM, UNTcrazy727 said:

AAC and Sun Belt have already said no? Then why is CUSA even taking the meeting?

To preach to the choir, and hope some of the CUSA presidents reach out to their counterparts in the SBC and AAC. I am assuming CUSA has a wish list of programs they would like to see it's conference, as well as those unacceptable, such as ULM and NMSU.

Arkstfan · October 11, 2021

2 hours ago, keith said:

If you are forced to get on a plane anyway, an additional 30-60 minutes of flight time is not really a deal breaker.

Do you do much business travel East and west. Going west tends to cost more with less desirable times.

Mike Jackson · October 12, 2021

5 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

Do you do much business travel East and west. Going west tends to cost more with less desirable times.

This is the truth. Now if people aren’t concerned about fans dedicated enough to get on a plane to watch an away game, I don’t know what to tell them. Charter travel is better for the athletes but the longer travel times still matter. Top recruits with serious aspirations to play professional it might not matter but if I am advising my son or daughter I make sure they take conference travel into consideration. For football it’s no big deal though unless it’s a week day game.

denton_days · October 12, 2021

5 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

Do you do much business travel East and west. Going west tends to cost more with less desirable times.

I fly boston-austin all the time. it's like a 30/45 minute difference, based on how fast the pilot is. We have to fly west anyways if we fly out to florida for a game in C-USA. We'd go east to get to florida, and west to get back.

El Paso Eagle · October 12, 2021

1 hour ago, Mike Jackson said:

This is the truth. Now if people aren’t concerned about fans dedicated enough to get on a plane to watch an away game, I don’t know what to tell them. Charter travel is better for the athletes but the longer travel times still matter. Top recruits with serious aspirations to play professional it might not matter but if I am advising my son or daughter I make sure they take conference travel into consideration. For football it’s no big deal though unless it’s a week day game.

Hawaii has 15 players from Texas. Guess they didn't worry about the traveling 😈😇

wardly · October 12, 2021

22 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

They did make overtures to us several years ago. They wanted to be in the DFW TV Market. If they are still interested we might get together with either Rice or UTSA and see if there is still interest.

I don't disagree with you, but I must of slept thru their overture. Do You have an approximate time line? Just curious.

keith · October 12, 2021

I think the presidents of C-USA hearing this "proposal" is hilarious and the click-bait DRC headline is misleading. C-USA isn't hearing a "proposal" from anyone. They are hearing their own realignment idea. Something I'm sure they paid big bucks for but could have gotten for free by reading any number of college football message boards including this one. C-USA floated this idea to the other requisite participants of this proposal and they have apparently already said no, so what's the point for the presidents of C-USA to hear their own proposal that is already dead in the water?

keith · October 12, 2021

14 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

Do you do much business travel East and west. Going west tends to cost more with less desirable times.

I do actually and I worked for a major airline for 15 years. My point is, once you have gone through the hassle of getting on a plane in order to get to your destination, adding 30 to 60 minutes of flight time (in the air) isn't that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things. So, once a bus ride is out of the question, there's not much difference between a 2 hour flight or a 2 and a half or 3 hour flight. You'll probably spend more time getting to/from the airport, loading/unloading, etc. on both ends of the journey.

Edited October 12, 2021 by keith

Greenrex · October 12, 2021

18 minutes ago, keith said:

I think the presidents of C-USA hearing this "proposal" is hilarious and the click-bait DRC headline is misleading. C-USA isn't hearing a "proposal" from anyone. They are hearing their own realignment idea. Something I'm sure they paid big bucks for but could have gotten for free by reading any number of college football message boards including this one. C-USA floated this idea to the other requisite participants of this proposal and they have apparently already said no, so what's the point for the presidents of C-USA to hear their own proposal that is already dead in the water?

Judy's soliloquy

DeepGreen · October 12, 2021

1 hour ago, keith said:

they paid big bucks for but could have gotten for free by reading any number of college football message boards

Say it isn't so!

MeanGreenTexan · October 12, 2021

On 10/10/2021 at 10:50 PM, akriesman said:

The MWC does interest me. However, the late kickoffs are a concern. I still remember the Big West days.

Ugh,
Any time I see "late kickoffs" & "Big West", I'm just going to link to this post from now on.

If NT goes to the MWC, we're likely going as a package deal with UTSA/Rice/LATech, or maybe UTEP. Outside of UTEP (who I don't think the MWC wants), all of them are Central teams, so we'd be kicking at the same times we already do. Obviously, our home games will kickoff at the same times they currently do, so that's 5 out of 8 games already.

We would play in a division with the following teams:
NT, (Current C-USA partner), New Mexico, Air Force, CO St., Wyoming, and probably UTSt.

Let's just look at home game kickoff times for those 5 existing MWC teams, OK? (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)
New Mexico: 7:00, 6:00, 5:30, 6:00, 6:00, Noon
Air Force: 1:00, 6:30, 7:00, 6:00, 6:00, 10:30AM, 2:30
COSt: 8:00, 9:00, 2:30, 6:00, 6:00, 8:00
Wyoming: 3:00, 3:00, 2:30, 2:30, 2:30, 2:00
UTSt: 8:00, 8:00, 11:00AM, 8:30, 2:00, 7:00

The latest time is 9:00PM Central. Granted, that is later than I'd like, but most of these games kick off at the same time ours do currently (between noon - 6:00).

In this scenario, NT would only play 1 crossover game with Hawaii or Pacific Time Zone teams per year. And who knows? Those Pacific games may kick off at 2:00 Pacific time or something. Also, that crossover game would be a home game every other year. Non-conference games can be scheduled with regional teams.
So you're essentially saying maybe 1 game every other year is going to start too late. It's not a dealbreaker.

And please, don't make me break down how far the MWC schools that used to play with us in the Big West have come over the last 20-30 years (Let's just say UTSt spent more time in the top 25 in 2018 than NT has in our entire football existence). I think we'd all trade places (football-success-wise) with Boise St.

Edited October 12, 2021 by MeanGreenTexan

Wag Tag · October 12, 2021

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Ugh,
Any time I see "late kickoffs" & "Big West", I'm just going to link to this post from now on.

If NT goes to the MWC, we're likely going as a package deal with UTSA/Rice/LATech, or maybe UTEP. Outside of UTEP (who I don't think the MWC wants), all of them are Central teams, so we'd be kicking at the same times we already do. Obviously, our home games will kickoff at the same times they currently do, so that's 5 out of 8 games already.

We would play in a division with the following teams:
NT, (Current C-USA partner), New Mexico, Air Force, CO St., Wyoming, and probably UTSt.

Let's just look at home game kickoff times for those 5 existing MWC teams, OK? (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)
New Mexico: 7:00, 6:00, 5:30, 6:00, 6:00, Noon
Air Force: 1:00, 6:30, 7:00, 6:00, 6:00, 10:30AM, 2:30
COSt: 8:00, 9:00, 2:30, 6:00, 6:00, 8:00
Wyoming: 3:00, 3:00, 2:30, 2:30, 2:30, 2:00
UTSt: 8:00, 8:00, 11:00AM, 8:30, 2:00, 7:00

The latest time is 9:00PM Central. Granted, that is later than I'd like, but most of these games kick off at the same time ours do currently (between noon - 6:00).

In this scenario, NT would only play 1 crossover game with Hawaii or Pacific Time Zone teams per year. And who knows? Those Pacific games may kick off at 2:00 Pacific time or something. Also, that crossover game would be a home game every other year. Non-conference games can be scheduled with regional teams.
So you're essentially saying maybe 1 game every other year is going to start too late. It's not a dealbreaker.

And please, don't make me break down how far the MWC schools that used to play with us in the Big West have come over the last 20-30 years (Let's just say UTSt spent more time in the top 25 in 2018 than NT has in our entire football existence). I think we'd all trade places (football-success-wise) with Boise St.

Greatness! Thank you!

keith · October 12, 2021

https://www.si.com/college/2021/10/12/conference-usa-aac-realignment-football

This is what they heard....This would actually be great for UNT if it happened...that is until the P5 came raiding again. Then geography be damned.

Edited October 12, 2021 by keith

MeanGreenTexan · October 12, 2021

10 minutes ago, keith said:

https://www.si.com/college/2021/10/12/conference-usa-aac-realignment-football

This is what they heard....

Arresco & the AAC Presidents' reaction to this "invite":

No, Judy, it's not "insanity". It's schools proactively looking to put themselves in the absolute best positions to increase brand recognition, improve athletics, bring more money into their coffers, and drive up enrollment figures (either #'s or increasing standards).
As President Smatresk always says, "Athletics is the front porch of the University."
Well, Judy, you're trying to convince the C-USA presidents to decorate our front porches with whatever we have lying around, and not really try very hard at it.

Edited October 12, 2021 by MeanGreenTexan

ColoradoEagle · October 12, 2021

The letter...

UNTLifer · October 12, 2021

14 minutes ago, keith said:

https://www.si.com/college/2021/10/12/conference-usa-aac-realignment-football

This is what they heard....This would actually be great for UNT if it happened...that is until the P5 came raiding again. Then geography be damned.

This would be a great arrangement, but I don’t put much trust into this article. Do journalists do any real research today? Stating UAB opened a new stadium is inaccurate. The city opened a new stadium for UAB. Second, this makes a lot of sense for CUSA but not the AAC.

ColoradoEagle · October 12, 2021

1 minute ago, UNTLifer said:

Second, this makes a lot of sense for CUSA but not the AAC.

It makes sense for the AAC if they're unable to get new schools to join, which seems to be where we're at. As it stands, they are no longer an FBS conference after 2022-2023.

UNTLifer · October 12, 2021

1 minute ago, ColoradoEagle said:

It makes sense for the AAC if they're unable to get new schools to join, which seems to be where we're at. As it stands, they are no longer an FBS conference after 2022-2023.

True. Didn’t think of that. So, could we send Judy to the east and have Arresco over the western group?

MeanGreenTexan · October 12, 2021

3 minutes ago, ColoradoEagle said:

The letter...

At least Smatresk is looking to be proactive. This is likely his idea. Of course, his side of the new proposed conference is pretty optimal. I highly doubt SMU, Tulsa, Tulane and Memphis will like this idea at all and the existing AAC members will see this as a show of weakness by C-USA.

But hey! We'll see.

MeanGreenTexan · October 12, 2021

7 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

This would be a great arrangement, but I don’t put much trust into this article. Do journalists do any real research today? Stating UAB opened a new stadium is inaccurate. The city opened a new stadium for UAB. Second, this makes a lot of sense for CUSA but not the AAC.

Precisely.

MeanGreenTexan · October 12, 2021

7 minutes ago, ColoradoEagle said:

It makes sense for the AAC if they're unable to get new schools to join, which seems to be where we're at. As it stands, they are no longer an FBS conference after 2022-2023.

I guarantee the AAC could extend an invite to any C-USA school they want, and every one would jump immediately. Why bust the whole thing up when you could just take the cream of C-USA's crop? Or, *gasp*, SBC?

ColoradoEagle · October 12, 2021

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I guarantee the AAC could extend an invite to any C-USA school they want, and every one would jump immediately. Why bust the whole thing up when you could just take the cream of C-USA's crop? Or, *gasp*, SBC?

If it were just a matter of moving from one to the other, you're most likely right. The fact that there is $15 million involved ($5m CUSA exit fee, $10m AAC entrance) is what complicates everything. Even if the AAC were to waive its $10m entrance, there's still $5m exit that I'd wager most schools don't have just laying around. Especially after 2020.

Judy feels like she has leverage, and that's why you're seeing this. Whether she actually does or not...who knows.