HOW BYU COULD SHAKE UP THE G5 LANDSCAPE

[MDH]

Fresno State? Seriously? People in the Metroplex aren't going to line up for Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, ect. I think we would compete just fine and proved that on January 1st. If any CUSA is headed to the MWC it's UTEP.

Anyway you slice it, non P5 conferences will always be on the outside looking in. MWC was talking a merger of sorts with CUSA like 5 minutes ago. It's not some massive step up. Heck, if we were, and we aren't conference shopping, the AAC would be better for us in my opinion. Not that it's even and option.

At the end of the day, in the current landscape there is nothing wrong with CUSA for us. We should, I don't know, maybe win a conference championship before everyone thinks our britches are all big?

Fresno St is ECU of the west but more successful. I've run into a couple of alum in DFW area - I bet they'd out-travel a ton of some more-regional CUSA or old SBC brethren.

[MDH]

ACC or bust. Beat Texas, get into the top 25, win CUSA and sell North Texas like Jones does Jerryworld and leap into the big boy conferences. Miami, Florida State and Va Tech and Clemson would not mind a bit dragging their programs into the lucrative athletic market of DFW every year.

GMG

ACC won't ever take UCF/USF because of academics, keep that in mind. Louisville was even a stretch for them and they crap on NC State all day long. Rice and SMU would be leaps and bounds ahead of us for ACC.

[VideoEagle]

I'm still hesitant about going into a western time zone based conference. If I remember correctly, TCU got a special deal from the MWC to minmize late start times in football. I just glanced in from 08 through 10, they had 3 games that started at 7 Western over 3 seasons. TV and to a lesser extent radio ratings drop significantly for 7pm Western or later starts in DFW. It happens to the Rangers, Mavericks and the Stars. It happened to TCU and SMU while in the WAC and that's why TCU demanded a special deal to join the MWC. I think, but I'm not sure their average ratings dropped on those late games. By the way, I'm told just a little adjustments really helped the ratings - starting at 6:30 instead of 7 Western reduces the drop on DFW but doesn't eliminate it. If the MWC will make the same special deal for us, which I don't believe they will, that makes a huge difference.

TCU also spent a LOT on promotions to get fans to come out for TCU regardless of whom they were playing. They knew the other teams from the MWC weren't going to bring significant fans and that locals in Ft Worth really didn't care about Wyoming or Colorado State. I really believe we should take this attitude as well, but that's another discussion.

I'm not sure why people think today casual fans will turn out to see San Diego State in Denton. They didn't when SDSU went to SMU. They didn't when SDSU went to TCU. In DFW, they don't tune in to watch SDSU games on Fox sports. The Southland games get equal roughly equal - decimal points difference - rating to most MWC games we get. Why do you think more people will drive and pay to watch teams they don't watch for free at home?

I honestly think the casual Big 12 fan is more likely to drive to Denton to watch Rice at NT than any MWC team accept Boisie. And I'm not that sure about them coming for Boisie after the last couple of seasons either. Yes, the MWC is much better than the Big West was. That still doesn't mean it is a good fit for NT nor we a good fit for it.

Didn't a group of fans here complain about playing UNLV in a bowl game? They weren't well known and wouldn't travel well? Casual fans wouldn't watch on TV as much? Why is being in a conference of UNLVs better?

Win and build a fan base. I still don't think the sky is falling - the top of the P5 conferences will continue to have a huge advantage over the rest of us as they have since the 1930s.

[untjim1995]

I, too, think CUSA is a great setup for us right now. We play more in state teams as conference mates in a FBS conference than ever before. We also play La Tech and Southern Miss, both of whom have solid reputations in college football for non-AQ programs.

I just go back to TCU. If they could build a winner int he fashion they did, while playing in the MWC, then I am convinced any Texas team could do the same if they hire the right guy and fund the program the right way. Gary Patterson is a great defensive coach and he had Texas HS talent to go up against the teams out west--bingo, you have a team that consistently gets ranked, gets invited to BCS Bowl games, and ends up winning a Rose Bowl to finish #2 in the final poll. I realize TCU has a lot of major advantages ($$$, Ft. Worth support, name recongition) that we don't. But I think, long-term, we need to either be in the MWC or AAC down the road or we aren't going to be moving upward as far as a non-AQ can. The MWC will get back into Texas. Its just a matter of how they will do it. If BYU ever comes back, I see them adding 3 other Texas teams. To me, they go hard after UTEP, UH, and SMU. IF either of the last two won't go, then you go next to Rice, UNT, and UTSA. If we got to go play in the MWC with UTEP and Rice, for example, who wouldn't be in favor of that? You get two teams in Texas, replace La Tech with UNM, and then move up for better football and MUCH better basketball. That is what I think is the dream scenario for UNT in about 5 years or so.

We gotta win in both sports to have a chance for this to occur, but its probably the best non-AQ situation we could possibly get.

[NorthTexan95]

Fresno State? Seriously? People in the Metroplex aren't going to line up for Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, ect. I think we would compete just fine and proved that on January 1st. If any CUSA is headed to the MWC it's UTEP.

Anyway you slice it, non P5 conferences will always be on the outside looking in. MWC was talking a merger of sorts with CUSA like 5 minutes ago. It's not some massive step up. Heck, if we were, and we aren't conference shopping, the AAC would be better for us in my opinion. Not that it's even and option.

At the end of the day, in the current landscape there is nothing wrong with CUSA for us. We should, I don't know, maybe win a conference championship before everyone thinks our britches are all big?

Exactly what I was thinking. Utah State ... SDSU .... New Mexico ... ugh! Give me the Texas schools any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

[drex]

Write your congressman.

[Mean Green 93-98]

USA Today's final 2013 rankings:

#28 Fresno State - Mountain West

#33 Marshall - C-USA

#37 Utah State - Mountain West

#38 BYU - Former and possibly future member of Mountain West?

#45 Boise State - Mountain West

#48 Rice - C-USA

#55 North Texas

#58 San Diego State - Mountain West

#60 Western KY - C-USA

#61 MTSU - C-USA

#64 Colorado State - Mountain West

#66 UTSA - C-USA

#69 UNLV - Mountain West

#72 San Jose State - Mountain West

#89 FAU - C-USA

#91 Nevada - Mountain West

#92 Wyoming - Mountain West

#99 LaTech - C-USA

#104 New Mexico - Mountain West

#111 UTEP - C-USA

#113 Air Force - Mountain West

#114 Hawaii - Mountain West

#118 UAB - C-USA

#119 FIU - C-USA

#121 Southern Miss - C-USA

FCS moveup Old Dominion - C-USA

Startup program Charlotte - C-USA