Official: Tulsa to Big East, ECU Full member - ESPN

[Harry]

Tulsa will join the soon-to-be-renamed Big East Conference in 2014, while East Carolina will be added as a full member, sources told ESPN.

The league's presidents are expected to vote on adding the Golden Hurricane by next week, sources told ESPN's Andy Katz.

A source told ESPN that the addition of Tulsa is "imminent." Adding the Golden Hurricane would give the league 12 schools when Navy joins in 2015.

East Carolina and the Big East initially announced it was joining the league as a football-only member. However, because of the recent defections, the Pirates will join as a full member in 2014, sources said.

League commissioner Mike Aresco has not named expansion candidates, but said on Tuesday's teleconference announcing the league's media rights extension with CBS that the league expected to have "something relatively soon" on a new member.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9100852/tulsa-golden-hurricane-join-big-east-according-sources

[Arkstfan]

Ha, I had just texted that to you.

[Harry]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 8m

Tulsa will join old Big East & East Carolina will be added as full member in 2014, sources told @ESPN

[foutsrouts]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 8m

Tulsa will join old Big East & East Carolina will be added as full member in 2014, sources told @ESPN

Definitely sux. The closest and easiest drive of them all.

[Arkstfan]

Maybe we should stop thinking in terms of "realignment" and view the process as fine-tuning.

The Former Big East is now going to be 12 schools. One (UConn) was a charter Big East school that later upgraded football. One (Temple) was a charter Big East football member that had to find itself after time in the MAC. One (Navy) has no ties to the group. And nine passed through CUSA to get there.

Four of the nine were charter members of CUSA football, one was a charter member that didn't have football (USF), one (Tulsa) declined that opportunity to go to the WAC, one was rejected as a charter member then forced on them by their bowl partner (ECU). SMU and UCF are the only CUSA adds that weren't part of the initial CUSA possible list.

They've refined and cut charter member (but non-football) UAB, and charter member (but small market) USM.

They've ditched later adds Marshall (small market, limited success in CUSA), Large market, small following Rice, and stuck in the Mountain Time Zone UTEP.

It's not bad because its CUSA, it will be quite likely the wealthiest of the gang of 5 by "fine tuning" CUSA and correcting the early mistakes of CUSA (ie. being forced by numbers to add UTEP, being forced by Tulane to add Rice to avoid Tulane defecting) and arguably the fact that Marshall had won 77.4% of their games in the MAC but only 41.2% since coming to CUSA means they haven't lived up to the potential the group saw.

If you view it all through a refinery lens, I think you have to conclude CUSA is designed to be unstable because so much of the membership is a bet on the future. Two teams that have never played a down of FBS, one that has never played a down of football.

Out of 14 schools only three have posted 3 or more seasons of .500 or better ball at the FBS level in the past five years and that's giving MTSU credit for their 6-6 bowl season that ended with a loss. Some of those bets will pay off and some aren't going to and the refining process will happen again.

You can even argue the CUSA is undergoing a Sun Belt refining process. Who believes ULM or Troy will be in the next five or six schools called up as the refining process goes on unless there is a big change in their programs and schools?

[UNT90]

New unnamed conference = old CUSA

New CUSA = old Sun Belt

[UNTLifer]

The Conference to Be Named Later will continue to "fine tune" as they get raided of UConn and a few others from the ACC. I honestly no longer care just as long as we win.

[Greenrex]

AMF

[Eagle1855]

Can we just get the old gang from the '68 MVC back together?

[ragpicker]

Can we just get the old gang from the '68 MVC back together?

Now you are talking. The biggest mistake we ever made was leaving the old Missouri Valley. Hayden Fry apparently thought we could force our way into the SWC by going independent as Houston had done. He was wrong and it cost us our D1 status and almost cost us our football program. That is all behind us now, however, and we just need to win. Victories over Tulsa this year and SMU next year would do wonders for our self esteem. Hey, it is possible.

[Green Otaku]

I laugh at all the SBC fans from Troy, ULL, Ark. St, and USA who were saying that all they had to do was stick together and they could poach CUSA. Its delusional that they would take teams away, the conference realignment train only goes one direction. When CUSA says jump SB teams "how high?." We did the same when they called.

Months ago I saw this happening, and people here were asking "Why would Tulane, or Tulsa move? The BE isn't BCS anymore. And they are losing teams, and its unstable, etc." Because while the BE isn't really the BE anymore, its not the Sunbelt. Teams will move to keep that distance and perception that they are in a better conference. At the worst they will simply be in the same conference they were before. Any remaining CUSA school will jump. Our goal should be to be good enough so that when the next realignment happens we will move up to what the BE will be, its the natural pecking order.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Green Otaku

[GrandGreen]

Now you are talking. The biggest mistake we ever made was leaving the old Missouri Valley. Hayden Fry apparently thought we could force our way into the SWC by going independent as Houston had done. He was wrong and it cost us our D1 status and almost cost us our football program. That is all behind us now, however, and we just need to win. Victories over Tulsa this year and SMU next year would do wonders for our self esteem. Hey, it is possible.

The MVC as a football conference was down to about nothing when NT left, Louisville, Memphis, Cincy were all gone. A MVC membership certainly would not have saved NT from 1aa. Perhaps an administration that cared would have. To blame NT lack of football success on Fry, is plain crazy.

Many don't understand what Fry was up against at NT. He played with fewer coaches and players than were allowed at that time. Still he won, and instead of increased support from NT, he was criticized for spending too much money.

[Arkstfan]

I laugh at all the SBC fans from Troy, ULL, Ark. St, and USA who were saying that all they had to do was stick together and they could poach CUSA. Its delusional that they would take teams away, the conference realignment train only goes one direction. When CUSA says jump SB teams "how high?." We did the same when they called.

Months ago I saw this happening, and people here were asking "Why would Tulane, or Tulsa move? The BE isn't BCS anymore. And they are losing teams, and its unstable, etc." Because while the BE isn't really the BE anymore, its not the Sunbelt. Teams will move to keep that distance and perception that they are in a better conference. At the worst they will simply be in the same conference they were before. Any remaining CUSA school will jump. Our goal should be to be good enough so that when the next realignment happens we will move up to what the BE will be, its the natural pecking order.

If Karl hadn't add Georgia State we might have seen that theory tested. If Big East hadn't farted around adding Tulane and ECU, it would have been seriously tested.

[laxtonto]

First Photoshop in a while... Harder than I remember.. Be Gentle..

[ragpicker]

The MVC as a football conference was down to about nothing when NT left, Louisville, Memphis, Cincy were all gone. A MVC membership certainly would not have saved NT from 1aa. Perhaps an administration that cared would have. To blame NT lack of football success on Fry, is plain crazy.

Many don't understand what Fry was up against at NT. He played with fewer coaches and players than were allowed at that time. Still he won, and instead of increased support from NT, he was criticized for spending too much money.

My point, Grand Green, is that the MVC was still a D1 program and we could not have been moved to 1AA no matter how small our stadium or low our attendance if we had remained. SMU started playing in little Ownby a few years later with pathetic attendance, but were safe from being sent to the new 1AA by remaining with the SWC.

[Green Otaku]

If Karl hadn't add Georgia State we might have seen that theory tested. If Big East hadn't farted around adding Tulane and ECU, it would have been seriously tested.

No team would make a perceived downgrade to the SBC. Notice I said perceived, CUSA has a better reputation than the SBC thanks to its old schools having national recognition, UCF, Memphis (BB), ECU, USM, Houston, all have been ranked in the top 25 in the past few years, and although they are gone they left the conference with some national reputation. Right now any team in the SBC would say yes to CUSA in a heartbeat, just like any CUSA team would say yes to the BE, we all know how the remaining teams on both sides are unhappy. No one is moving in the other direction, all it took was a whisper of a rumor that CUSA was going to lose teams and needed replacements and the SBC schools jumped instantly. Everyone on the SBC board was talking about solidarity, holding together, and addition by subtraction. CUSA fans hoping that Houston, SMU, Memphis and UCF, are equally as delusional. Nothing against the SBC, I have no problem with the conference and it was a good home for us, I just couldn't believe that people were convinced it would hold together.

Isn't Ark. St. trying to desperately get out? I don't blame you guys, being in a western division with Idaho and NMSU.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Green Otaku

[Arkstfan]

No team would make a perceived downgrade to the SBC. Notice I said perceived, CUSA has a better reputation than the SBC thanks to its old schools having national recognition, UCF, Memphis (BB), ECU, USM, Houston, all have been ranked in the top 25 in the past few years, and although they are gone they left the conference with some national reputation. Right now any team in the SBC would say yes to CUSA in a heartbeat, just like any CUSA team would say yes to the BE, we all know how the remaining teams on both sides are unhappy. No one is moving in the other direction, all it took was a whisper of a rumor that CUSA was going to lose teams and needed replacements and the SBC schools jumped instantly. Everyone on the SBC board was talking about solidarity, holding together, and addition by subtraction. CUSA fans hoping that Houston, SMU, Memphis and UCF, are equally as delusional. Nothing against the SBC, I have no problem with the conference and it was a good home for us, I just couldn't believe that people were convinced it would hold together.

Isn't Ark. St. trying to desperately get out? I don't blame you guys, being in a western division with Idaho and NMSU.

Wouldn't have been the Sun Belt. The theory was force a stalemate that gets resolved with the creation of "new" conferences one south/southeast oriented one south/southwest oriented.

The irony of it is a lot of the delay in CUSA expansion (over 200 days from SMU/Houston/UCF announcement) was the Marshall, ECU, UAB belief that CUSA was about the become a southwestern league, their blocking expansion while they scrambled to get ODU, Charlotte, FIU and then later MTSU/FAU has swung the balance to the southeast

[GrandGreen]

My point, Grand Green, is that the MVC was still a D1 program and we could not have been moved to 1AA no matter how small our stadium or low our attendance if we had remained. SMU started playing in little Ownby a few years later with pathetic attendance, but were safe from being sent to the new 1AA by remaining with the SWC.

NT left the MVC in 1978 and was put into 1aa in 1983. So NT would have to have stayed in the MVC for 5 years with NMSU, West Texas ST, Indiana St, S. Illinois and Wichita ST as football playing members. MVC football was collapsing when Fry went independent so I think some people greatly overstate the risk in moving out.

I am not sure if that was considered a 1a conference or not, however they stopped sponsoring football in 1985. So best case NT could have delayed the move down for a year or two.

[ragpicker]

My point, Grand Green, is that the MVC was still a D1 program and we could not have been moved to 1AA no matter how small our stadium or low our attendance if we had remained. SMU started playing in little Ownby a few years later with pathetic attendance, but were safe from being sent to the new 1AA by remaining with the SWC.

An addendum: Make no mistake,I have been a Hayden Fry admirer since he was at SMU and remained one through his time at Iowa. He did some great things here and could not have anticipated the creation of 1AA. It does not matter who was left in the MVC when we left, it was still a 1A conference and by leaving we no longer had the protection of a 1A conference and were, therefore, unceremoniously shuttled off to 1AA. It really was not Coach Fry's fault, he was doing what he thought best for North Texas. Just old UNT bad luck, thats all.

[ragpicker]

An addendum: Make no mistake,I have been a Hayden Fry admirer since he was at SMU and remained one through his time at Iowa. He did some great things here and could not have anticipated the creation of 1AA. It does not matter who was left in the MVC when we left, it was still a 1A conference and by leaving we no longer had the protection of a 1A conference and were, therefore, unceremoniously shuttled off to 1AA. It really was not Coach Fry's fault, he was doing what he thought best for North Texas. Just old UNT bad luck, thats all.

But the more I think about it you may be right, GrandGreen. Nothing probably could have saved us from 1AA. Its a relief in a way to realize that there was probably nothing we could have done to stave off the inevitable. Thanks for the insight.

[NT91]

The SB,CUSA and MAC should come together?

Add NMSU and Idaho to CUSA

[ragpicker]

Indeed, thinking back, if we had had a ghost of a chance of staying in D1 back then, it probably disappeared with the inexplicable and disastrous hiring of the coach who followed Jerry Moore and preceded Corky Nelson. His name mercifully escapes me.

[VideoEagle]

Indeed, thinking back, if we had had a ghost of a chance of staying in D1 back then, it probably disappeared with the inexplicable and disastrous hiring of the coach who followed Jerry Moore and preceded Corky Nelson. His name mercifully escapes me.

Bob Tyler. I'd take Dodge over him. Not by much, but a little.