GrayEagle

If we are going to continue to play an "opportunity" game as Rick suggested then we'll have to schedule down. We have Georgia, Texas, an maybe Tennessee on our future schedule post CUSA entry and I'd bet that none will schedule a home and home with us. That means that we'll likely have to schedule a FCS to replace the second home part of the money game. It's doubtful that we could get a SBC or MAC team to Apogee without reciprocating. Gotta disagree with you on exclusivity, Jim. We've tried that (except for the Southland years) since the MVC days and I don't think that it worked. You can see the difference in attendance when there are no Texas teams on your home schedule. It might've worked for TCU but I don't see it working for us.

It depends on the amount of refrigerator space. My wife has lactose problems and I probably wouldn't use a gallon before it spoiled so I could see where I'd pick up the half gallon at the same price.

First, FAU and FIU do not share a media market although there would obviously be some overlap. Florida Atlantic is in the West Palm Beach market while FIU is in the Miami media coverage area. The West Palm Beach TV market is 38th in size, two below San Antonio. Of course Georgia and Georgia Tech are the leaders in the Atlanta market but that doesn't mean that viewers would watch only them. Georgia State alumni and friends would watch if the Sun Belt was on TV there. They have more alums that Georgia Tech. There would even be some multiple viewers that just enjoy football or other sports so even a small percentage of viewers in the 11th largest market could amount to 100,000 hh, more than some single university markets. As long as the network can sell advertisers then they will telecast the SBC in that market.

I was of the opinion that the CUSA TV contract was with Fox (or maybe that's who they're negotiating with now).

Hey, guys ODU would be a good location by most of the criteria used to determine conference members. Norfolk is the hub of the Hampton Roads area of more than 1.5 million people. It does have a huge naval presence but not that many sailors. A lot are permanent resident civilians who work at naval installations in the area. ODU has about 25,000 students and they can't all be transients. They have fine facilities for all sports except their football stadium only holds just under 20,000 and would need to be enlarged. The good news is that they have filled it the last three seasons. They should average at least 25K with a FBS-sized stadium. They've have a successful basketball program which would be a plus for CUSA. A drawback is that they might not be able to compete for the football championship until 2015 but if we are willing to tolerate Charlotte doing that then I see no different standard for Old Dominion. Good market, facilities, academics, size, and budget. They should be a definite asset in time.

NMSU has not been considered for CUSA. The Aggies have a remote chance for the MWC at some future date. They are a possibility for the Sun Belt. The only possibility that has been publicly stated for CUSA should ODU decline is Middle Tennessee. They are qualified (even moreso than some that have been accepted) and would fill a hole geographically in the eastern division.

I don't know about dominating but I think that we'll do extremely well; especially in basketball. I base that mainly on the changes in coaches and recruiting in the past year. Better coaches attract better recruits. The sleeping giant will awake. Book it.

I echo what Grand said. If message boards picked conference members we'd be lucky to be in the Southland. Many posters are shallow and opinionated. They don't know about others and few make it a point to learn. We need to thankful that university presidents pick members based on facts. When I first learned that we were (all but) in CUSA I envisioned that we were middle-of-the-pack and might stay that way for at least several years. As I look at the coaching changes that I have taken place in the past year I believe that North Texas will be a sports power in CUSA. Jones and Hedlund were the only coaches that I really felt good about prior to a couple of years ago. Now, softball is the only coaching staff that I'm not comfortable with. I see great recruiting improvement in soccer, volleyball, especially men's and women's basketball, golf, tennis and swimming and diving with membership in the Sun Belt. It should be even better in all sports under CUSA. The culmination of the coaching improvement occurred today when Rob Evans, former coach at Ole Miss and Arizona State left his job at TCU to come be with Tony Benford on the men's basketball staff. When I see coaches like McCarney, Petersen, Benford and Evans accepting positions here when they could've likely had higher-paying jobs elsewhere, I think that the potential for special achievement radiates from our university. They see the opportunity. I hope our fans will.

Can someone clarify this for me. If ODU accepts they would go into the first of two years transition period and be eligible for the conference championship in 2014. The same is true for UTSA. Charlotte, as a startup program, would not be eligible for the football championship until 2015. Since the TV contract calls for 12 teams and a championship game in 2013, wouldn't it be prudent to accept MTSU (already a FBS member) and have the full complement of teams? That would give ODU time to evaluate their situation for next year when the conference will likely go to 16 teams. What am I missing?

I liked the touch of red with C-USA. The green and red remind me of Christmas, which today has become.

Just doin' their job. If you were not a member you would've received the information 2 hours and 5 minutes earlier.

Until we are able to get a recruiting class or two of C-USA level players I think that we will be middle-of-the-pack. We have a couple of nice players such as Zachary Orr and Marcus Trice but we aren't deep enough yet to challenge for the top. I think that we have some good offensive linemen and Wintrich will have them physically ready to meet the challenge. If we can get a top-notch quarterback then I see us making a run at Tulsa and Southern Miss but La Tech and ECU could also be troublesome and Marshall can't be counted out either. I'm also not too thrilled about red-shirting players. I think that the quality of recruits will improve so play your best players now. The future will take care of itself.

ODU seems comfortable with Colonial members such as VCU, William & Mary, James Madison U, etc. and does not seem willing to risk the a large amount of funding for a bunch of "strangers". They would be distant from ten of the thirteen other members and I don't believe that they've been in a conference with any nor have they played them much. If they were willing to commit they would have announced tomorrow as the others are. I'm hopeful that Middle gets the nod as the 14th member. They bring adequate or better market, budget, experience, and facilities and they bridge the missing gap between North Carolina and Texas.

Slim to none but slim is nowhere to be seen.

It's true that UAB and South Florida did move to the FBS through CUSA but both were already basketball members of the conference establishing a football program but heretofore they hadn't taken any FCS outsiders. While it's true that Charlotte was once a Conference USA member they have been gone for seven years. C-USA has been an all-sports conference for some time now. They can get established FBS teams and don't have to rely on developing FCS programs such as they plan with UTSA and ODU. I'm sure that the three were chosen because or the large San Antonio, Charlotte and Norfolk markets but I don't believe that market alone is enough to sustain a program that is likely to get clobbered for several years while trying to get up to speed. Will their fandom stay the course through 1-11 seasons? I contend that if they start at a lower level that they will have a much better chance for success.

Somewhere in my reading someone did provide that estimate. It's less than $500,000.

Texas State has not passed us in size or academics but they are ahead of UTSA in both and yet UTSA has gained a level on them conference-wise. UTSA was chosen for two reasons...market and attendance. There is nothing that Texas State can do about the San Antonio market; it is what it is. They are one county too far north. The University of Texas dominates or leads in many markets in Texas but none moreso than the Austin area where Texas State is located. It is not their university or their administration but their location that failed them. Texas State will do very well in the Sun Belt Conference. It's where they should be with their FBS startup program. Unfortunatelty, it's where UTSA should be also. They feel hurt by it because they are more proven in nearly every way than the Roadrunners. TSU will have a much tougher level of competition than their former FCS brethren but I believe that they'll do very well early for two reasons: 1) the SBC has been weakened somewhat by defections to other conferences and 2) they have a much better coach, who has recruited well.

This article is pretty much spot on in its treatment of CUSA taking three FCS programs who have a combined 40 games in their recent history, NONE at the FBS level. This should NOT have been done and, I think, lowered the esteem of CUSA. It's not that these are unworthy institutions; they are simply not ready for this level of (football) play. It could be years before they are ready. There was no rush to admit them. Again, what was CUSA thinking? In the past Conference USA was not considered an entry level league but they've now outdone all but the SBC in the number of FCS teams admitted. The Sun Belt would've no doubt taken both UTSA and Charlotte and, if they became truly worthy, would've given them up to CUSA or the Big East later. ODU might have had to go the the MAC but they also could've been accepted later. There is also a possibility that ODU may not want to go to the FBS at this time. In addition to inexperience two of the three do not have FBS-level facilities. Old Dominion plays in a stadium that seats 19,818 (which to their credit they do sell out) and Charlotte will play in a 24,000 seat stadium. They are still a year away from playing a single down of football in their history. Conference USA should've admitted Middle Tennessee, who does meet the requirements of experience, facilities, market, attendance and budget. That would've given them 12 for now and still maintained their championship game. They could've added the others as they became ready. This black eye could take a while to heal.

sWhile it's to our advantage to have another instate rival this should not have happened. UTSA may be a great conference member someday but they are not ready for this level of play. My heart goes out to Middle who got royally screwed. I don't know who is to blame but they sure did their university a disservice. Watch future alumni donations drop like a rock. I'm glad that UTEP is apparently staying in CUSA. It shoulld still be the better football conference. I don't think that anyone in the MWC can top Southern Miss or Tulsa at this time.

In spite of our normal perspective I think that it's an excellent word by two definitions. They will be the upright, load-bearing posts of the framework of the team. They are also two jewels to stud this crown (team).

I'll admit my ignorance on settlement rewards but it seems to me that UTEP is throwing away their share of the CUSA settlement and will not be entitled to any of the distribution of the MWC money because they have not been recent members. Tulsa would give up the same if they moved to the MWC. Another question that I have is why would the remaining members want to waive the exit fee when it weakens their conference and their pockets by doing so? Each conference will be allied initially for only TV, marketing and scheduling so each needs to act in their own best interest in other matters unless and until a merger happens.

Why is the MWC considered superior to CUSA? Certainly not because of football. Last year was horrible for teams that will be in the MWC this coming year. Wyoming, at #50, was the best that they had last year. Southern Miss, Tulsa and Louisiana Tech all had a better ranking. They do not have the TV markets that CUSA will have. All-time ranking and average attendance are virtually equal. The Mountain West has the largest average revenue due to UNLV's outlandish $56M budget and Louisiana Tech's small budget of $15M; otherwise there is little difference. The MWC would be vastly superior if basketball drove the bus but we all know that while basketball is important, football rules the roost. The Mountain West may be viewed as better because they once had Brigham Young, TCU, Utah, Boise State and San Diego State but they are gone and there is parity between the two conferences now.

The consensus seems to be that CUSA is weaker (true) and that the MWC is much stronger than the realigned Conference USA (false). Based on all-time football rankings the two leagues are about the same but on just last year's rankings CUSA averages 67 while the MWC averages 80. Conference USA is far more populous with much better TV markets. MWC has a distinct advantage in basketball but that's their only advantage. Of course, neither conference can lose the caliber of teams that they did and expect to remain as strong but there is a nucleus of good teams to keep both conferences capable of building back to their former strength. These figures are based on ten team conferences with UTEP and Utah State added in the west and North Texas, FIU and Louisiana added in the east.

I agree...two 10 team conferences make the most sense for now. The biggest fly in the ointment is that CUSA's TV contract called for a 12-team conference with a championship playoff. That contract will have to be renegotiated anyway since four of the players are gone. A new contract should be settled for all 20 teams of the two conferences.