ODU AD says CUSA needs to add more southeastern presence

[Arkstfan]

Not surprised at all. The eastern wing wants to make the talk of going to 16 into a talk about being even more eastern and not about helping UAB's geography problem.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/04/odu-eyes-jmu-potential-future-conference-usa-invite

[UNTLifer]

JMU? No thank you.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Why would ODU hold that kind of pull in C-USA?

And if C-USA needs a presence in the southeast, it needs to be more south and less east than James Madison.

[Harry]

James Madison University Info if you're like me and don't have a clue about them...

[VideoEagle]

James Madison University Info if you're like me and don't have a clue about them...

They look like a great addition the the Sun Belt. And the ODU AD is showing the problem with conference expansion, pushing the extreme short term interests of an individual school over the long term interests of the entire conference. The only reason ODU is even IN CUSA was to answer a short term need of ECU.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Good for ODU to actually get out there and promote who they like. Too bad they hold even less sway than we do.

This would equate to UTSA getting their pom-poms out for TX St or something.

I wonder if UNT is doing this behind closed doors (since I havent seen anything in the media like this). Maybe our silence means we're happy with the current config and don't want any more?

[letsgiveacheer]

This gets worse everyday. Selig was the AD at Western Kentucky before he went to Old Dominion and I have a suspicion he was behind WKU getting in.

But James Madison??? They are a fine school but in the middle of nowhere. They have done very well at the FCS level and were one of the natural rivals for ODU while they were playing FCS football themsleves.

In my day, JMU was a girl's school primarily for teachers. Yeesh.

[Arkstfan]

Why would ODU hold that kind of pull in C-USA?

And if C-USA needs a presence in the southeast, it needs to be more south and less east than James Madison.

Who knows what the relationships are among the presidents to gauge pull. That's what a lot of it comes to, personal relationships.

[Eagle1855]

They look like a great addition the the Sun Belt. And the ODU AD is showing the problem with conference expansion, pushing the extreme short term interests of an individual school over the long term interests of the entire conference. The only reason ODU is even IN CUSA was to answer a short term need of ECU.

Yup. ODU's addition was comical. And them suggesting future members based on their geographical location is a riot.

[Stix]

A CUSA split into two conferences may be inevitable.

[untjim1995]

This gets worse everyday. Selig was the AD at Western Kentucky before he went to Old Dominion and I have a suspicion he was behind WKU getting in.

But James Madison??? They are a fine school but in the middle of nowhere. They have done very well at the FCS level and were one of the natural rivals for ODU while they were playing FCS football themsleves.

In my day, JMU was a girl's school primarily for teachers. Yeesh.

Imagine what a school primarily geared toward educating future teachers would be like in atheltics if they were located in Texas...oh wait!!

[Arkstfan]

A CUSA split into two conferences may be inevitable.

Depends.

If Big 10 adds two more as oft rumored, the AAC is going to get hit how hard depends on whether the SEC and Big XII join in the fun. But odds are with the AAC TV contract saying it is voidable if two of UConn, Cincy, Temple, Houston leave or one of them plus one other, I think you have a pretty good short list of who AAC might lose.

That would create some significant churn depending who is left, the AAC might or might not be salvageable if not probably see a new conference emerge of the better leftovers and regional CUSA and maybe SBC.

If Big 10 doesn't move, then CUSA's fate hinges on how passionate the members are about this 16 team idea. If they want it to help UAB but it gets derailed to add another eastern school and either fails to happen or does happen without fixing UAB's issue then it might get ugly.

Let's say Selig gets his deal and JMU comes in with Team W (W representing any team west of UAB) CUSA East is 8 members with UAB in the West. Come 2016 the CUSA TV deal is expiring and Charlotte and ODU are fully FBS. If the TV deal doesn't look that good, they can bolt the league with UAB in tow and have a 9 team conference. If USM thinks they are better served in the east (the bulk of their football roster comes from Mississippi and points east) they come along to make it 10 and now if they want to be 12 they have their choice of App State, GaSt, Georgia Southern, USA, and Troy or can even look over into Louisiana or Arkansas and make their pitch.

Or similar scenario Selig gets his deal and JMU comes in with Team W (W representing any team west of UAB). CUSA West is 8 teams but only 7 are arguably "west" and only six clearly "west". The TV deal expires in 2016 and someone at UNT, or Rice, or UTSA starts putting out feelers and comes to the conclusion that a "western" league can do just as good or better of a TV deal and not have to contend with the eastern schools dominating every league vote especially on things like tournament site selections and they bail out to start league and round out with Sun Belt schools.

Or maybe no consensus is reached to expand and there is peace and harmony or there ends up being a consensus and there is peace and harmony.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Imagine what a school primarily geared toward educating future teachers would be like in atheltics if they were located in Texas...oh wait!!

We're talking decades apart. And UNT was never a women's university. A better parallel might be TWU.