CUSA to Invite Temple and FIU?

[GrayEagle]

Temple had announced that they were a football-only candidate for the Big East. They feel that moving basketball from the Atlantic 10 to CUSA would be less than a lateral move. I'm sure that they would move all sports to the Big East if asked but unofficially have stated that they would stay in the MAC if not admitted to the Big East. So yeah, they would be a worthy candidate but is it what they want?

FIU is in no way worthy of an advancement at this time. Florida International has only been playing FBS football for seven years and has an overall record of 29-56 (.341). The last two have been their only winning seasons. Their stadium only seats 23,500 and being a converted soccer stadium the majority of the seats are in the end zones. Their attendance average last year was their best...18,400. Their best attended home game was also last year when more than 22,000 saw Duke upend the Panthers. They also had a 20K+ home crowd against UCF. They are also joined at the hip with Florida Atlantic, who previously had the better record and attendance. To their credit, they are a very large university with good academics located in the #16 TV market.

[rcade]

Your previous point was that we didn't have the attendance to warrant a move up. My counter is that SMU, and for that matter FIU and Temple if they are picked, didn't/don't have the fan support to deserve a move. Yes, SMU did have years in the SWC and allies in a few schools, but that wasn't your point. They also had the death penalty.

If I was a CUSA executive, I would agree with your reasoning wholeheartedly. I think UNT's a better choice than SMU.

I'm just explaining how I think conferences see things, when looking at which schools to invite.

[UNTcrazy727]

Really bringing up the death penalty, that was 25 years ago... We all know you hate SMU but you keep on saying the same things over and over. Who cares how they count there attendence, thats not the reason why they are upgrading conferences... THEY WIN FOOTBALL GAMES and more are national recognized than a lot of other schools.

The way we will upgrade to a better conference is by winning football games... If we dont win games we wont move.. You dont get a promotion by doing poorly...

Two 7-5 seasons does not equate to "winning football games." The only reason SMU is moving up is because they are perceived as a somewhat storied program and have A LOT of money!

[NT91]

UNT is out in the cold?

[Green Otaku]

I think if a western slot opens up, the folks in Logan, Utah are going to get it. There is no presence in that state anymore and the Mountain Network needs that state. I doubt San Jose State will get anymore consideration than we do.

The hardest thing to accept about this all to me is that absolutely no one in college football above our level thinks we bring anything to their conference. Location, enrollment, alumni size, improved results, great facilities, etc...I guess it means nothing to CUSA or the MWC folks. The real question here is WHY NOT? Why can't we get anyone to see this all and say that we are a school that should be added? Is it just because of football's poor record during the latter Dickey years and the Dodge era? Because if it is, that seems amazingly short-sighted. As a matter of fact, I don't buy that as an excuse. Anyone with half a brain could look at the attendance bump we have enjoyed since Dodge came here and now with Coach Mac and the new stadium and see that if we got to play teams from a better-known league that we could draw even better. I just don't get it. I will say it again, but the more I look at our situation, the more the reality sets in with me that Apogee Stadium probably saved our football program, but it won't save us from staying at this level of football, whether that continues as FBS in the future or not.

It can't be that hard to see, is it?

Potential is just that. Potential. You can potentially succeed, or fail miserably. The posters here may not like it but potential means nothing if you can't make something of it. Look at the teams that get talked about for consideration, they stand on their own merits not on what could be. Their success lives outside of the conference they are in, meaning they don't rely on their conference to succeed. If we have so many students and alumni, why is the stadium not full? We don't have excuses to make, games should all be sold out and the university isn't doing enough to exploit our potential.

Show that you can stand on your own two feet and we will get somewhere bigger and better.