Sun Sentinal - UNT Exit from Sunbelt - Classy / FIU ?

[UNTDude]

Sun Sentinal not happy with the way FIU left the belt....would like to have seen them exit like UNT

Link:http://weblogs.sun-s...le_spin_fi.html

[UNTflyer]

Sour grapes? What was it that FIU did, other than the new splash page on their website?

[JulesFIU07]

Sour grapes? What was it that FIU did, other than the new splash page on their website?

Ted Hutton, the FAU beat writer, has hated FIU for years. The man has taken shots whenever he can at FIU, this is just sour grapes on his part.

[NT91]

I think Ga. State would be a better fit than OD for CUSA

[Mark Gommesen]

Sunbelt is a tough conference with great competitors and deserves respect. I suspect the conference will only continue to improve. The biggest slam with the Sunbelt was the lack of media exposure. I think Texas State is in for a big surprise when they big to compete in the SB in "big boy" sports.

The Sunbelt was a great place for UNT to mature and go through it's growing pains (both figuratively and literally). I am confident that is feelings of most FIU fans.

[HerdZone]

I think Ga. State would be a better fit than OD for CUSA

ODU is light years a head of GA State in terms of competition and facilities. There is no comparison. The only thing ODU will have to do is expand their football stadium. GA State plays in the GA Dome but it doesn't belong to them and the Falcons have approached the city of Atlanta about replacing the GA Dome with an outdoor stadium closer to Gwenette. The GA Dome is 2 blocks from GA State campus.

ODU avgs over 7,000 a game for mens basketball and had 3 womens national championships.

Just take a look at ODUs facilities. They are on par with CUSA facilities:

http://www.odusports...facilities.html

[Green Mean]

ODU is light years a head of GA State in terms of competition and facilities. There is no comparison. The only thing ODU will have to do is expand their football stadium. GA State plays in the GA Dome but it doesn't belong to them and the Falcons have approached the city of Atlanta about replacing the GA Dome with an outdoor stadium closer to Gwenette. The GA Dome is 2 blocks from GA State campus.

ODU avgs over 7,000 a game for mens basketball and had 3 womens national championships.

Just take a look at ODUs facilities. They are on par with CUSA facilities:

http://www.odusports...facilities.html

Pretty much the reason why I was okay with the ODU invite from CUSA. I think they'd be a heck of a conference mate if they came to the conference.

[HerdZone]

Pretty much the reason why I was okay with the ODU invite from CUSA. I think they'd be a heck of a conference mate if they came to the conference.

This was a tweet from the beat writer for ODU:

Rich Radford ‏ @Rich_Radford

June 14, 2012, will be a day that lives forever in the hearts of #odu fans. That's my guess as the day the Monarchs join Conference USA.

June 14th is their next BOT meeting. If they wait till then it will allow them to play in the playoffs next year and it would put them on the same schedule as Charlotte as a tranition school. Im pretty sure it was Terry Holland (ECU AD) and Mike Hamrick (Marshall AD) that pushed for ODU and most likely Charlotte.

I would have loved to have had MTSU, Ive always liked the school. But to be truthfully honest both ODU and Charlotte have so much more potential than MTSU.

The only add Im somewhat worried about is UTSA. They seem to even be behind GA State in terms of facilities. I hope in 5 years that Im wrong but this may be the school that CUSA bombed on.

[JulesFIU07]

This was a tweet from the beat writer for ODU:

June 14th is their next BOT meeting. If they wait till then it will allow them to play in the playoffs next year and it would put them on the same schedule as Charlotte as a tranition school. Im pretty sure it was Terry Holland (ECU AD) and Mike Hamrick (Marshall AD) that pushed for ODU and most likely Charlotte.

I would have loved to have had MTSU, Ive always liked the school. But to be truthfully honest both ODU and Charlotte have so much more potential than MTSU.

The only add Im somewhat worried about is UTSA. They seem to even be behind GA State in terms of facilities. I hope in 5 years that Im wrong but this may be the school that CUSA bombed on.

Can you and ECU put some pressure on C-USA to invite VCU and GMU? While it does nothing for football, it greatly boosts basketball, non-revenue sports, media foot print, and decreases travel costs for non-revenue sports in the east.

[Harry]

I saw a video from the FIU president and it sure seemed like he was complimentary to the Belt... I don't think either school has any bad feelings about the Belt and vice versa.

[Mark Gommesen]

I think Ga. State would be a better fit than OD for CUSA

Old Dominion University is located in the Norfolk, Va. metropolitian area of 1,672,319 43rd Largest Media Market and has no other major University. That's a larger media market than Louisville, Memphis or New Orleans.

Old Dominion has made a massive investment in sports facilities. http://www.odusports...facilities.html

Old Dominion University athletic teams have captured 28 team national championships and four individual titles.

The school's best-known sports team is the Lady Monarchs basketball team, which has won three national championships in 1979 (AIAW), 1980 (AIAW) and 1985 (NCAA). The Lady Monarchs also made it to the 1997 Women's NCAA Championship Game, losing to Tennessee. ODU athletic teams have won a further 28 national championships including 15 in men's and women's sailing and 9 in women's field hockey. The Lady Monarchs' nine national titles in field hockey are unprecedented in NCAA record books for most titles in that sport by the same school.

In addition, Old Dominion's athletic teams have captured 49 championships in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Old Dominion University Monarchs (men's) basketball team have captured six CAA championship titles (1992, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2010, and 2011) since their conference admission in 1992, which is the most among all CAA schools. In 2007, they received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, when the team went 24-8 and finished 37th in RPI. That season included a notable 13-point win at 8th ranked Georgetown. Their most recent trip to the NCAA tournament was with an automatic bid after capturing the 2010 CAA title. During the NCAA tournament, the 11th seeded Monarchs managed a 1-point first-round upset over the 6th seeded Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

In 2002 ODU opened the Ted Constant Convocation Center for the 2002-2003 basketball season. "The Ted" has 8,600 fully cushioned seats, 16 luxury suites, and a state-of-the-art scoreboard. In addition to being used for home basketball games, the Constant Center hosts family-oriented events as well as concerts, lectures, and commencement ceremonies.

On June 14, 2005, the Board of Visitors approved with a 14-0 vote to create a new football team to compete at the NCAA Division I level, along with university's other sports teams, and to begin play in 2009. On February 9, 2007, Athletic Director Jim Jarrett announced that Bobby Wilder, then the associate head football coach at the University of Maine, would be the head coach, and the team signed its first recruiting class in 2008. As is the case with many new football programs, all players in 2008 were redshirted. These players, along with the recruiting class of 2009 and transfer players comprised the initial 2009 roster.

Old Dominion began play in 2009 as an independent team at the Division I FCS level (formerly I-AA), and joined the Colonial Athletic Association for the 2011 season.

In 2009, their first competitive season in 68 years, the Monarchs finished 9–2. That was the best winning record ever for a first-year program in college football's modern era. The Monarchs were outscored by a total of only eight points in their two losses.

Wilder's inaugural team finished the year ranked in the top ten in five FCS statistical categories, including second in sacks allowed, third in scoring offense, turnover margin and net punting. The 2009 Monarchs were ninth in rushing offense.

In its first three years of competition after its rebirth, Old Dominion compiled a 26-7 record and earned a berth in the 2011 FCS playoffs, hosting, and defeating, crosstown rival Norfolk State. Also in 2011, after playing 27 games in its "modern era", ODU received its first Top 25 ranking on October 3, coming in at No. 21 in The Sports Network poll. The Monarchs were ranked among the Top Ten after competing in 33 games.

ODU was fifth in FCS attendance in 2009, selling out all of their home games in the 19,782-seat Foreman Field. Season tickets for the Monarchs' inaugural season sold out quickly and the school had to refund 1,065 orders.

[Mark Gommesen]

Can you and ECU put some pressure on C-USA to invite VCU and GMU? While it does nothing for football, it greatly boosts basketball, non-revenue sports, media foot print, and decreases travel costs for non-revenue sports in the east.

Having Virginia Commonwealth and GMU for Basketball would be awesome.

[HerdZone]

Can you and ECU put some pressure on C-USA to invite VCU and GMU? While it does nothing for football, it greatly boosts basketball, non-revenue sports, media foot print, and decreases travel costs for non-revenue sports in the east.

I think both VCU and GMU are going to be heading to the A10. Without football the A10 will be a much better fit. Once all these moves are over with for this year everyone better happy where they are cause I look for another moritoum to be put in place for all school. Only I look for this one to be closer to 8-10 years just to stablize everything.

[JulesFIU07]

I think both VCU and GMU are going to be heading to the A10. Without football the A10 will be a much better fit. Once all these moves are over with for this year everyone better happy where they are cause I look for another moritoum to be put in place for all school. Only I look for this one to be closer to 8-10 years just to stablize everything.

They are headed to the A10, but ultimately they are better suited to C-USA. The A10 is losing two of its larger public universities, making it even more of a smaller private school conference, which means its overall culture and goals are a bit different than those of VCU and GMU. C-USA is a richer conference with a higher profile, and as such would benefit them more than the A10. Finally, for the sake of C-USA, their addition gives us an amazing foothold in two major markets and gives us two amazing basketball programs.

[HerdZone]

They are headed to the A10, but ultimately they are better suited to C-USA. The A10 is losing two of its larger public universities, making it even more of a smaller private school conference, which means its overall culture and goals are a bit different than those of VCU and GMU. C-USA is a richer conference with a higher profile, and as such would benefit them more than the A10. Finally, for the sake of C-USA, their addition gives us an amazing foothold in two major markets and gives us two amazing basketball programs.

I would love to have VCU and GMU. Ive had a few friends attend GMU and its a really pretty campus. They would def. help raise CUSA basketball program, those things I agree with you on. But without football they both fit the A10 better.

Ultimately I think ODU accepts the invite and we stop at 14. If the conferece decides to go to 16 though I think it will be MTSU and WKU that get the call.

[UNTflyer]

Why set such low expectations? We don't HAVE to get an FCS program.

Army is just sitting there ready for an invite back into the fold.

[HerdZone]

Army has already tried CUSA once. It failed miserably. Army was in CUSA from 1998 to 2004 and they won a total of 5 conferece games and 11 games total. I doubt they ever join another conferece.

[playoffpush]

Why set such low expectations? We don't HAVE to get an FCS program.

Army is just sitting there ready for an invite back into the fold.

Army turned the Big East down 6 months ago, I don't think they are going to have a change of heart. They got beat down regularly last time they were in CUSA and don't want it to happen again. They think it hurts their recruiting having America see their military's future stars getting beat down every week on TV.

Edited May 6, 2012 by playoffpush