Tulsa World - Cusa Rumored To Lose Ecu, Memphis

[MeanGreen61]

As a matter of convenience, TU along with Texas schools like SMU, Rice and UTEP hung with the WAC until C-USA came calling.

To be honest, C-USA wasn't a perfect solution, especially with such isolated eastern schools like Marshall, East Carolina and Central Florida.

That's why there remains speculation that the Big East and C-USA could be the most likely places a shift would come when league affiliation became a factor.

It will happen. When and who it will impact is the debate.

Tulsa World - CUSA rumored to lose ECU, Memphis

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.a...B1_pncase202533

[UNT_playmaker]

Our Athletic Director should be watching closely. Also the UNT Admins

[Eagle1855]

UNT to the Big East. Naturally.

[Mean Green Matt]

UNT to the Big East. Naturally.

Would not complain...except for travel costs...but we could afford it then.

[untphd]

What do you think about the last sentence, "The new Southwest Conference."

[Guest 97and03]

Our Athletic Director should be watching closely. Also the UNT Admins

I can assure you this is on his radar.

[Green Mean]

I personally dont want a new Southwest Conference. If its the Belt or the new SWC then I will take SWC but if there are other conferences with better opportunity, I would go for that. Speaking of the Big East....Why doesnt North Texas lobby for the Big East? I know its pretty out of the way and travel costs would be high but its the Big East and its a great conference for both football and basketball. If we lobby for the Big East it can maybe jumpstart this stadium thing and we can take it to the next level.

[BleedGreen64]

UNT, Memphis, Cinncinati, Louisville, and South Florida amke up a doog western division - greatly populted area, highly rated TV area and wester and southern exposure would allow for great TV contracts.

[Guest 97and03]

I personally dont want a new Southwest Conference. If its the Belt or the new SWC then I will take SWC but if there are other conferences with better opportunity, I would go for that. Speaking of the Big East....Why doesnt North Texas lobby for the Big East? I know its pretty out of the way and travel costs would be high but its the Big East and its a great conference for both football and basketball. If we lobby for the Big East it can maybe jumpstart this stadium thing and we can take it to the next level.

So it is 50K stadium or nothing and Big East or bust with you, eh?

I think that regional alignments are probably going to be what we end up seeing. I mean that is pretty much how football started out isn't it? Big East, Pac(ific) 10, Southeastern Conference, Southwest Conference...It makes sense to me.

The idea of a new Southwest Conference is much more interesting to me than joining some other far-flung conference, like CUSA or WAC. If that is the only option, of course that is fine. Even staying in the Belt is fine, as long as we win it each year. In the long term, however, a regional conference with 3 or more bowl tie-ins would really make the most sense. Fort Worth Bowl, Texas Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Independence Bowl, and New Orleans Bowl all a decent drive from the member schools would make the attendence figures go up. The more fans that attend the bowl game, the more profit the schools in the conference receive. So many times having to pay for unused tickets eats into the payout. Regional alignments improve that. Obviously also helps home attendance, since regional rivalries create fan interest and allow for travel to away games, as everyone here has pointed out.

[NT80]

What do you think about the last sentence, "The new Southwest Conference."

"The Golden Hurricane must be ready to move and shore up its league affiliation when the time comes. The new Southwest Conference? Perhaps. It is an idea for TU's future that may be more than wishful thinking."

Southwest Conference in this context is reference geography only. I would greatly welcome any new conference formation that gets us a conference rival closer than 300 miles away. It would depend on who leaves for the Big East, and who's left in CUSA...but I believe Big East football will split from the basketball only schools. Tighter geography in times of high fuel (travel) costs would make great sense for schools and fans.

Perhaps:

Tulsa

UNT

SMUt

Rice

Houston

Tulane

USM

La Tech

UTEP

[untphd]

" I would greatly welcome any new conference formation that gets us a conference rival closer than 300 miles away. It would depend on who leaves for the Big East, and who's left in CUSA...but I believe Big East football will split from the basketball only schools. Tighter geography in times of high fuel (travel) costs would make great sense for schools and fans.

Perhaps:

Tulsa

UNT

SMUt

Rice

Houston

Tulane

USM

La Tech

UTEP

I would defininitely like to see closer conference rivals.

[Green Mean]

So people are saying that you would rather in the new SWC than the Big East? Holy smokes, no wonder why NT is where they are right now.

[Guest 97and03]

So people are saying that you would rather in the new SWC than the Big East? Holy smokes, no wonder why NT is where they are right now.

No genius, it just isn't going to happen. So we would rather spend the energy thinking of things that make sense for us.

Besides if we were going to dream about a BCS conference, why on earth would be go for the Big East? The Big 12 would make a hell of a lot more sense.

[Green Mean]

Besides if we were going to dream about a BCS conference, why on earth would be go for the Big East? The Big 12 would make a hell of a lot more sense.

Beggars aren't choosers. Big 12 is not going to happen. If the opportunity is there you take it. I would rather take the Big East over any other dream non BCS conference. If there is a chance NT can gets its ducks in order and try to lobby for the Big East, NT would seriously be completely stupid not to atleast TRY.

[ShopMeanGreen]

"The Golden Hurricane must be ready to move and shore up its league affiliation when the time comes. The new Southwest Conference? Perhaps. It is an idea for TU's future that may be more than wishful thinking."

Southwest Conference in this context is reference geography only. I would greatly welcome any new conference formation that gets us a conference rival closer than 300 miles away. It would depend on who leaves for the Big East, and who's left in CUSA...but I believe Big East football will split from the basketball only schools. Tighter geography in times of high fuel (travel) costs would make great sense for schools and fans.

Perhaps:

Tulsa

UNT

SMUt

Rice

Houston

Tulane

USM

La Tech

UTEP

Does this get us a whole lot more than we have now? Yes there are some slightly bigger names but without strong conference leadership to get more bowl games, TV time etc what would we really have. Taking existing bowl games is fine but trying to add more won't be a good situation. Unless C-USA goes away to form a new conference I don't think it will be any different than the Sun Belt.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

Beggars aren't choosers. Big 12 is not going to happen. If the opportunity is there you take it. I would rather take the Big East over any other dream non BCS conference. If there is a chance NT can gets its ducks in order and try to lobby for the Big East, NT would seriously be completely stupid not to atleast TRY.

There is no way that NT can get their ducks in a row in less than five years, and that's if we far exceed our best growth curve. What do we have to offer the Big East? It's definitely not location. We're more than 700 miles from the nearest conference school. It certainly isn't attendance. Both Memphis and ECU average around 40,000 for football; more than twice what we've been able to muster. Also, we average about 3,000 in basketball trying to get in a league where most of the participants average 10,000 and up. It certainly isn't strength of our teams. We'd be dead last in power rating of football strength and near the bottom in basketball. It certainly isn't facilities. We, along with Akron, have the worst FBS football stadiums in the USA and Akron is getting a new stadium soon. It certainly isn't athletic budget where again we'd be dead last. In fact, it's hard for me to think of a category where we could surpass Memphis, East Carolina, Central Florida or Marshall who would likely be the top four candidates if the Big East got rid of those basketball only schools. In addition, our competition could also possibly include Temple, Navy, Army, and Notre Dame. Which of those would we have an advantage over?

How many of us could travel to Rutgers, Connecticut, Syracuse, or West Virginia? Every university on NT80's list would outdraw any Big East team unless they were contenders for a national championship. I think that's our future, a "new southwest" conference.

Money isn't everything. The Big East would gain us more revenue but also a helluva lot more expenses.

Edited June 5, 2008 by GrayEagleOne

[MeanGreen61]

"The Golden Hurricane must be ready to move and shore up its league affiliation when the time comes. The new Southwest Conference? Perhaps. It is an idea for TU's future that may be more than wishful thinking."

Southwest Conference in this context is reference geography only. I would greatly welcome any new conference formation that gets us a conference rival closer than 300 miles away. It would depend on who leaves for the Big East, and who's left in CUSA...but I believe Big East football will split from the basketball only schools. Tighter geography in times of high fuel (travel) costs would make great sense for schools and fans.

Perhaps:

Tulsa

UNT

SMUt

Rice

Houston

Tulane

USM

La Tech

UTEP

4 of 9 are private schools ? One should be enough. Substitute ULL, Arkansas State and New Mexico State.

Tulsa

UNT

Houston

USM

La Tech

UTEP

NMSU

ULL

Arkansas State

[Green Mean]

There is no way that NT can get their ducks in a row in less than five years, and that's if we far exceed our best growth curve. What do we have to offer the Big East? It's definitely not location. We're more than 700 miles from the nearest conference school. It certainly isn't attendance. Both Memphis and ECU average around 40,000 for football; more than twice what we've been able to muster. Also, we average about 3,000 in basketball trying to get in a league where most of the participants average 10,000 and up. It certainly isn't strength of our teams. We'd be dead last in power rating of football strength and near the bottom in basketball. It certainly isn't facilities. We, along with Akron, have the worst FBS football stadiums in the USA and Akron is getting a new stadium soon. It certainly isn't athletic budget where again we'd be dead last. In fact, it's hard for me to think of a category where we could surpass Memphis, East Carolina, Central Florida or Marshall who would like be the top four candidates if the Big East got rid of those basketball only schools. In addition, our competition could also possibly include Temple, Navy, Army, and Notre Dame. Which of those would we have an advantage over?

How many of us could travel to Rutgers, Connecticut, Syracuse, or West Virginia? Every university on NT80's list would outdraw any Big East team unless they were contenders for a national championship. I think that's our future, a "new southwest" conference.

Money isn't everything. The Big East would gain us more revenue but also a helluva lot more expenses.

Maybe in the beggining we would not be traveling to other schools but I bet you our home attendance would up up SIGNIFICANTLY. Our 17K per game home football attendance immediately go to 25K if not a near sellout. There would SO much more interest in the program and I think you would get some of the just good college fb fans that have no affiliation to NT. Our basketball home attendance would certainly increase because if you have the likes of Georgetown come to the Super Pit, believe me it would go from about 3K to about 5K-6K per game. Its all about teams you know. No one knows or cares about ULL, ULM and even MTSU and Troy. While I agree you can benefit from playing UH, SMU etc every year, its a clear advantage to be in the Big East. Obviously this is all hypotheticals but if I am NT I would at the very least TRY. Oh and I forgot you would consistently be playing top 25 teams in each of the main sports. Now you are seeing why I am a person that would leave it all out there and atleast try to lobby for the Big East.

[Shof]

4 of 9 are private schools ? One should be enough. Substitute ULL, Arkansas State and New Mexico State.

Tulsa

UNT

Houston

USM

La Tech

UTEP

NMSU

ULL

Arkansas State

Seems like most of us are always looking for a better gig. I'm no different. The main point I agree with WRT the Tulsa AD's remarks is that its not a matter of "if" there is another shake-up; but rather "when". All our schools need to be preparing for this "when" it happens. As such, we can't waste time dilly dallying around. We need to do better with facilities and with our performances to be attractive to a "better" conference alignment when it happens. I'd love to see a conference with a south central arrangement (TX, OK, LA, AR, MS). That would be a nice geographical fit for both our schools. That means some schools get in and others don't; so pick your poison. I'm hoping that with a new University President that my Cajuns can finally get rolling.

Shof

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Maybe in the beggining we would not be traveling to other schools but I bet you our home attendance would up up SIGNIFICANTLY. Our 17K per game home football attendance immediately go to 25K if not a near sellout. There would SO much more interest in the program and I think you would get some of the just good college fb fans that have no affiliation to NT. Our basketball home attendance would certainly increase because if you have the likes of Georgetown come to the Super Pit, believe me it would go from about 3K to about 5K-6K per game. Its all about teams you know. No one knows or cares about ULL, ULM and even MTSU and Troy. While I agree you can benefit from playing UH, SMU etc every year, its a clear advantage to be in the Big East. Obviously this is all hypotheticals but if I am NT I would at the very least TRY. Oh and I forgot you would consistently be playing top 25 teams in each of the main sports. Now you are seeing why I am a person that would leave it all out there and atleast try to lobby for the Big East.

I would JUMP on the Big East.....that would a dream though to me - the one SWC original that NT80 mentioned sounds good too. You would definately come very close if not selling out our new stadium for sure at 30,000 with teams that people know and recognize. You might start getting a lot more for the bball games too.

[greenjoe]

61-

You, if you could choose, would drop SMU, Rice, and Tulane for ULL, Arkansas State, and NMSU ?

More travel and less sizzle.

[untjim1995]

Beggars aren't choosers. Big 12 is not going to happen. If the opportunity is there you take it. I would rather take the Big East over any other dream non BCS conference. If there is a chance NT can gets its ducks in order and try to lobby for the Big East, NT would seriously be completely stupid not to atleast TRY.

wow

[MeanGreen61]

61-

You, if you could choose, would drop SMU, Rice, and Tulane for ULL, Arkansas State, and NMSU ?

More travel and less sizzle.

Yep, in a heartbeat.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

61-

You, if you could choose, would drop SMU, Rice, and Tulane for ULL, Arkansas State, and NMSU ?

More travel and less sizzle.

I might drop Tulane for Arkansas State, but I would gladly take SMU and Rice over ULL and NMSU, if for nothing more than name.

[emmitt01]

I just love these threads. We aren't even mentioned anywhere in any of the CUSA expansion articles or on any of the CUSA boards, we still are no closer to a new stadium than we were last time realignment came around (so we have a color brochure now, and?), our attendance still isn't blowing the doors off of anyone....yet somehow here we are trying to call our shot.

Let's go Big East. No, let's form a new SWC. Our attendance will go through the roof. We just have to start thinking big.

What, pray tell, prevents the Big East IF they expand from taking UCF, Memphis and ECU...and CUSA from filling in the gaps with Troy, WKU, or someone else not named North Texas? Our potential? Has it not dawned on anyone that our "45,000 students by whatever date" or "billions of alums in the North Texas region" just screams to other conferences "they've got all the resources to get it done...and they just aint gettin it done."?