Tulane Prez email

[Harry]

Good Morning:

In November I announced the exciting news that Tulane would be moving to the Big East Conference in 2014. Since that time there has been further realignment among the country's leading conferences, including this week's agreement that the basketball schools known as the Catholic 7 will form their own league using the Big East name. This move, which was apparently under discussion before Tulane accepted the invitation to join the Big East, has not diminished our commitment to or excitement for the future of Tulane athletics within the new conference. The new conference is made up of universities that share our academic mission and values. In this new league, our student-athletes will have the opportunity to play on a larger and more competitive national stage, which will better showcase their talent while also ensuring the financial stability of our athletics program through TV rights, increased ticket and merchandise sales and other revenue streams associated with Yulman Stadium.

We will also have the opportunity to select a name for the conference that will reflect the quality and personality of our member schools. Conference realignment in college sports can be a complex, confusing, frustrating and perilous undertaking that requires much forethought, planning and vision. With the guidance of our Athletics Director Rick Dickson, Tulane has been able to position our athletics program on an upward trajectory to be more successful athletically, academically and financially. Joining a new, more competitive conference comprised of well-respected universities from major metropolitan areas, coupled with the significant investments we have made in athletics facilities and academic programming for student-athletes, will ensure increased exposure and stability for all of our sports. It will also make Tulane even more attractive to the nation's most talented and academically qualified student-athletes.

Have a great weekend

President Scott Cowan

Read more: http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=624185

[North Texas Shep]

He must be crazy to think the Big East is a better move still. What a ding dong.

[greenjoe]

Too much time on Burbon Street.

[emmitt01]

He must be crazy to think the Big East is a better move still. What a ding dong.

At this point it's all about "selling" it.

We know a thing or two about this.

[ragpicker]

greenjoe, on 15 Mar 2013 - 17:08, said:

Too much time on Burbon Street.

I think it is Bourbon Street greenjoe, but I agree, and although I posted this elsewhere,the NFC (Nuclear Fission Conference} is most appropriate for a conference that is always splitting up.

[NM Green]

We need to use his city.

Look despite Tulane's departure we need to continue to use New Orleans as a destination city for our conference championship. I think the football championship could work because who doesn't want to go to New Orleans pre-bowl season. I also think our basketball tourney would flourish in this town.

Though abroad I am listening to a station out of Vegas getting ready for the mega semi-finals tonight:

Game 1 SDSU vs UNM

Game 2 CSU vs UNLV

UNM brought 10,000 fans to Vegas. They are practically in Flagstaff by Valentines Day. They descend on the city and will actually outnumber UNLV fans on their home court should they meet tomorrow night. Also, the Pac 12 has their championship game on Saturday night at MGM GRAND which is less than one mile from the Thomas & Mack. So within one mile of each other you will have 18,000 plus to watch UNM UNLV should they meet and 13,000 plus to watch Arizona and whoever should they meet. The announcers note that some programs drive the bus and in Vegas this week it is UNM, UNLV and Zona. The stars might align and that is just maximum use of a destination city.

Back to New Orleans. Let WKU drive the bus in basketball (should they find their way into CUSA). If Southern Miss or La Tech make, MTSU or UNT make the football championship I am sure we would take a good contingent to the Big Easy. Having the destination city in place and fans can make the plans months out for bball. Think about when we would hit New Orleans - during soft periods before Big Dance rounds and Bowl Games. Might the East suffer a bit having to travel farther, yes. But Boise fan has no problem finding their way to Vegas for football and now bball. San Antonio is another option but not nearly as sexy as New Orleans and too far west for our footprint.

Make it happen - Destination New Orleans Championship City for the New CUSA football and basketball.

GMG

[GrandGreen]

I believe in homer-ism, but do you that expressed the opinion really think Tulane make a mistake joining the BE (or conference to be named later)? Even with the West Coast defections it is still a much much stronger conference than CUSA.

NT would sign on in a heartbeat to be in a conference with UH, SMU, Memphis and Tulane. Remember back a few months, when the leftover Belt teams were all about how much better their league was going to be compared to CUSA. Well those thoughts were short lived, as MTSU and FAU defected and the others are in despair that they didn't get an offer.

There is going to have to be a lot more damage done to the football BE, before it isn't a lot more attractive than CUSA light.

[JesseMartin]

I think Tulane will fit well in pretty much any conference. They have great academics, lots of money, and plenty more going for them. Just because we wanted to play them and their move sours us a bit doesn't change the fact that they are a pretty stable school and their athletics program doesn't need the money as much as lots of public universities do in terms of conference dollars. Most (all?) FBS conferences have at least one really good private school in the mix; SEC has Vandy, PAC-12 has Stanford and Cal, B1G whatever has Northwestern and Penn State, etc. I think the point here is that if you're not Ivy League, a good conference affiliation can get you a bit more exposure and excitement in terms of the "campus experience" ideal to give you that edge to make you competitive with the NYU/Harvard/Yale/etc crowd. As we are a state school, we exist under a different paradigm and therefore have different areas on which to focus. We will have a great time in CUSA and Tulane will do fine in the Big East or America One or whatever. And hopefully, yes we will still get to hit New Orleans now and again, possibly for some OOC games in the future against the Tide.

[GL2Greatness]

I think Tulane will fit well in pretty much any conference. They have great academics, lots of money, and plenty more going for them. Just because we wanted to play them and their move sours us a bit doesn't change the fact that they are a pretty stable school and their athletics program doesn't need the money as much as lots of public universities do in terms of conference dollars. Most (all?) FBS conferences have at least one really good private school in the mix; SEC has Vandy, PAC-12 has Stanford and Cal, B1G whatever has Northwestern and Penn State, etc. I think the point here is that if you're not Ivy League, a good conference affiliation can get you a bit more exposure and excitement in terms of the "campus experience" ideal to give you that edge to make you competitive with the NYU/Harvard/Yale/etc crowd. As we are a state school, we exist under a different paradigm and therefore have different areas on which to focus. We will have a great time in CUSA and Tulane will do fine in the Big East or America One or whatever. And hopefully, yes we will still get to hit New Orleans now and again, possibly for some OOC games in the future against the Tide.

Cal is a public university and Penn State is considered a public university as well even though as of now it is "state related" which means it gets public tax dollars, is exempt from paying any type of taxes and at the same time it can also shield records request for various things like a private school

prior to being "state related" in status it was considered a public university and it is still the lang grant university for the state of PA

Stanford and USC are the private universities in the pac and Northwestern is the only true private university in the B1G

[GrayEagle]

I have no problem with Tulane playing wherever they please. Their leaving could lead to the addition of Southern Miss to the West Division or perhaps later Louisiana, Arkansas State or Texas State. Even New Mexico State would not be terrible.

What I object to is Scott Cowen's hypocritical attitude. When the CUSA-MWC merger fell through it was Dr. Cowen who preached that we should hang together and build a strong conference. At the time, there was no indication that Tulane would be invited anywhere. Then, at the first opportunity he bolts Tulane. So much for the 'stick together' attitude that we must maintain. Having violated your advice Dr.Cowen the best attitude is to keep your mouth shut. Rubbing salt in wounds is not good PR for your university.

[buff64]

Just a thought, now that the Big East consist of 7 basketball schools, some with no football programs, and no football programs at the FCS level, What will happen with the Big East's automatic BCS qualifier. Will it automatically go to the new conference, will it become non existent ? Will it be awarded to CUSA ?

[MeanGreenTexan]

Just a thought, now that the Big East consist of 7 basketball schools, some with no football programs, and no football programs at the FCS level, What will happen with the Big East's automatic BCS qualifier. Will it automatically go to the new conference, will it become non existent ? Will it be awarded to CUSA ?

None of these changes take effect until 2014, right? By that time, the auto-qualifier will no longer be in play.

[forevereagle]

None of these changes take effect until 2014, right? By that time, the auto-qualifier will no longer be in play.

I thought the basketball schools were leaving next season.

Edited March 18, 2013 by forevereagle

[SilverEagle]

Cal is a public university and Penn State is considered a public university as well even though as of now it is "state related" which means it gets public tax dollars, is exempt from paying any type of taxes and at the same time it can also shield records request for various things like a private school

prior to being "state related" in status it was considered a public university and it is still the lang grant university for the state of PA

Stanford and USC are the private universities in the pac and Northwestern is the only true private university in the B1G

If it gets public funds, is a land grant school, and calls itself "State" then it's a state University. If not, then it needs to drop "State" from it's name.

[SilverEagle]

Good Morning:

In November I announced the exciting news that Tulane would be moving to the Big East Conference in 2014. Since that time there has been further realignment among the country's leading conferences, including this week's agreement that the basketball schools known as the Catholic 7 will form their own league using the Big East name. This move, which was apparently under discussion before Tulane accepted the invitation to join the Big East, has not diminished our commitment to or excitement for the future of Tulane athletics within the new conference. The new conference is made up of universities that share our academic mission and values. In this new league, our student-athletes will have the opportunity to play on a larger and more competitive national stage, which will better showcase their talent while also ensuring the financial stability of our athletics program through TV rights, increased ticket and merchandise sales and other revenue streams associated with Yulman Stadium.

We will also have the opportunity to select a name for the conference that will reflect the quality and personality of our member schools. Conference realignment in college sports can be a complex, confusing, frustrating and perilous undertaking that requires much forethought, planning and vision. With the guidance of our Athletics Director Rick Dickson, Tulane has been able to position our athletics program on an upward trajectory to be more successful athletically, academically and financially. Joining a new, more competitive conference comprised of well-respected universities from major metropolitan areas, coupled with the significant investments we have made in athletics facilities and academic programming for student-athletes, will ensure increased exposure and stability for all of our sports. It will also make Tulane even more attractive to the nation's most talented and academically qualified student-athletes.

Have a great weekend

President Scott Cowan

Read more: http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=624185

When you see e-mails/public statements like this you always have to ask yourself.....who are you trying to convince, them or you?

[FroggyStyle]

Just a thought, now that the Big East consist of 7 basketball schools, some with no football programs, and no football programs at the FCS level, What will happen with the Big East's automatic BCS qualifier. Will it automatically go to the new conference, will it become non existent ? Will it be awarded to CUSA ?

It will stay with the America 12? Conference which for the 2013-14 football/basketball seasons consists of Louisville, Rutgers, Houston, SMU, Cincy, UCONN, USF, UCF, Temple,and Memphis.

[JesseMartin]

Cal is a public university and Penn State is considered a public university as well even though as of now it is "state related" which means it gets public tax dollars, is exempt from paying any type of taxes and at the same time it can also shield records request for various things like a private school

prior to being "state related" in status it was considered a public university and it is still the lang grant university for the state of PA

Stanford and USC are the private universities in the pac and Northwestern is the only true private university in the B1G

Yeah, you know what, I think I was thinking "UPenn" instead of Penn State and USC instead of Cal. Though UPenn is Ivy League. Still, it does stand that there are some nice private schools in the mix in almost every conference.

[Arkstfan]

To quote a Memphis fan, "We're out $6 million to add Temple to our schedule" of course that presumes UConn and Cincy eventually find their way out.

I challenge people to look at the long-term of conference realignment. History says that for the bulk of the teams there is no such thing as "moving up". Over time a few will climb the ladder, more will shake out and a few newbies rise up but as a rule... gains tend to be temporary except for a few schools.

A12 America One or whatever it ends up being called will have 3 members that emerged from the Missouri Valley (4 if Tulsa goes) and 5 members that used to be in the old Metro and at least 8 from CUSA. CUSA will have 8 of 14 members from the Sun Belt. The MWC is 12 former WAC members, 7 former Big West, 4 former Skyline Conference schools.

Of the first 13 members of C-USA, 10 will either be Big East (C7) or A12/America One segregated football/non-football. Three will be CUSA (USM, UAB and returning Charlotte). So really what has happened is the old CUSA has split football/non-football and for at least the time being, culled UAB, USM, and Charlotte.

[untjim1995]

I really think Tulane made the right decision for their university. They are still playing most of the schools they have played with for most of the last two decades, plus they get the advantage of still playing with SMU and probably Tulsa. Their travel won't be all that different from the past, especially if UConn and Cincy leave soon, as expected. They will add Temple, another inner city private school, to their conference slate, but UCF, USF, Memphis, UH, SMU, ECU, and Cincy are all teams they have shared a conference with in the past. Assuming Tulsa heads that way, while having added in the Naval Academy, seems like a good move for Tulane.

I think CUSA is a nice step up for us. We get UTEP, La Tech, Rice, and UTSA as close conference mates. Assuming Southern Miss and UAB don't get poached away, it is an improvement over the SBC in any way you look at it. But I bet a lot of folks from Arky State, ULL, ULM, and WKU probably think that we aren't making a good move for going to CUSA 2.0, since it is more travel and a lot of startups in Charlotte, ODU, and UTSA. What's been good for us has been good for SMU and Tulane, as well.

[GL2Greatness]

Just a thought, now that the Big East consist of 7 basketball schools, some with no football programs, and no football programs at the FCS level, What will happen with the Big East's automatic BCS qualifier. Will it automatically go to the new conference, will it become non existent ? Will it be awarded to CUSA ?

even if the AQ was to remain after next year it was awarded based on factors dealing with on the field performance......so no there is not a chance in hell it would go to CUSA especially the "new" CUSA it would go to the MWC that was close to being eligible for an AQ qualification or even to the MAC before it would go to the CUSA

[Harry]

even if the AQ was to remain after next year it was awarded based on factors dealing with on the field performance......so no there is not a chance in hell it would go to CUSA especially the "new" CUSA it would go to the MWC that was close to being eligible for an AQ qualification or even to the MAC before it would go to the CUSA

that's beeswax, had C-USA's houston not lost to southern miss a couple of years ago in the C-USA championship game they would have earned the BCS bid. Past situations do not apply to the future since all of the "gang of five" will have equal access to the bcs bowl bid. It's entirely possible that a good team develop in any of the 5 as Northern Illinois proved last season. It's also possible that the tougher of the 5 conferences makes it harder for one great team with a great record to develop. It's a whole new formula so we really don't know how it will end up play out.