ODU may not be done: MTSU could be replacement?

[Aquila_Viridis]

Interest of a few in attending away games is not going to make a difference how NT is perceived. And right, either one is going to have some junk, but the New CUSA has a large proportion of junk. But even Utah State, I have seen their stadium full on TV in recent years. The MWC did well for TCU, though certainly TCU did a great job of leveraging the opportunities there. If you list the teams that will be in either conference, the MWC is a better-looking list to be on. And if it's of any interest to you, when I read about how CUSA responded to the UT System's reaction to poor ol UTSA's plight, for some reason I got the same feeling I did when they announced Todd Dodge and I was DAMN right about that.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

PLEASE ... not Mountain West... as stated no Texas schools and no increased interest in the Texas media and doubt it would increase attendence all that much over now... It may or may not contain better teams but it is not a good deal for us. I like the exposure in the deep South over the in Mountain Time Zone plus there are a lot more people in the South. CUSA contains a lot of teams that will attract fans and I would rather play against and see..

As for Old Dominion... it is not an unknown university and has a good basketball history and I think well respected, academics and athletics... other than that I have no oppinion... we don't live near there and really don't know what locals think about it.

As for MTSU, I have met people from Tenn. that have more academic respect for it than the Univ of Tenn. WKU... I know nothing about it except it has a very competitive basketball history. We aren't CUSA yet and don't get any vote either.

UTSA... it could be a ka-ching or a ka-splatt. But it is in a huge starved market..... no NFL, no MLB, no other D-I college. It has done rather well with its basketball program, football is still an infant. It is also rather large ... over 30,000 students and a lot of future alums. .

Edited May 2, 2012 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[forevereagle]

Think of it this way, utsa could come in and be the next south Florida. Mtsu or any other belt school could come in and and continue their recent history of being nothing special. If utsa is successful, good for everybody in cusa, if they are awful, we're in the same position as if we had added another belt school. I guess I'm just a hater....

Another way to think of it, MTSU or any other Belt school could get into CUSA and begin a meteoric rise. The odds are just as much in favor of that as they are for UTSA to be come the next USF.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Another way to think of it, MTSU or any other Belt school could get into CUSA and begin a meteoric rise. The odds are just as much in favor of that as they are for UTSA to be come the next USF.

They don't have the above... a million folks nearby [ S.A. is in the top 10 cities in population, and with no NFL or other D-1 college in the close neighborhood ]

[forevereagle]

They don't have the above... a million folks nearby [ S.A. is in the top 10 cities in population, and with no NFL or other D-1 college in the close neighborhood ]

Not sure what population and presence of pro teams really has to do with on the field success. USF has to compete with the Buccaneers and is not in a top 10 population city or top 50, for that matter.

[Aquila_Viridis]

MWC

Air Force

Colorado State

Wyoming

Nevada

UNLV

Fresno State

New Mexico

Utah State

San Jose State

Hawaii

CUSA

Rice

Louisiana Tech

Tulane

Tulsa

Southern Miss

UTSA

UAB

ECU

UTEP

FIU

I agree there are some particular desirables on the CUSA list, but overall the MW is a better list.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

On the field success..?? maybe /maybe not.... go look where the most succesful college teams and large crowds are... they usually are not competing with an NFL team in the neighborhood.... Also run down the list of NFL teams.... very few have a notable college football team nearby. Tampa may not be huge but USF is huge.. 47,000 .. UT/A&M huge.

2010 stats: USF -- 40,700 avg attendence. TxTech --57,000 much smaller town, about 30,000 students.

SA is four-five times larger than Lubbock. even then USF may be a bit unusal, lots of retirees in neighborhood with time and money. . Same with Un. Miami.... 52,000. .. as for on-field success at Miami.... give me the money....hahaha

Look at 2010 list... of 30 largest avg attendence... I don't see a one with a close NFL team. ( 2011 not posted )

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/pdfs/2011/2010+national+college+football+attendance

.

[VideoEagle]

MWC

Air Force

Colorado State

Wyoming

Nevada

UNLV

Fresno State

New Mexico

Utah State

San Jose State

Hawaii

CUSA

Rice

Louisiana Tech

Tulane

Tulsa

Southern Miss

UTSA

UAB

ECU

UTEP

FIU

I agree there are some particular desirables on the CUSA list, but overall the MW is a better list.

Really? Looks a lot like the old WAC to me.

[kalebschumann]

I think each team was brought in for other aspects than the quality of the program:

UNT- Replace a DFW school

UTSA- Tap into a huge untapped market

ODU- Basketball

LT- Needed another LA school

The schools they are adding are clearly not based on the success of the program.

[Aquila_Viridis]

Really? Looks a lot like the old WAC to me.

Not even true but so what if it was? If you rank each program by general recognizability and respectability (on a scale 1-5 with 5 the best) I see it as 25-19 in favor of MW. Sounds close but that's over 30% difference. Plus CUSA would have 'Florida International'. What does that even mean? They may as well have named it Florida Whimsical.

[Rudy]

Why do you have such a boner for the Mountain West? They are running out of teams over there and have no schools in Texas? Seriously what's your angle?

Heheheh...Harry said boner.

[JulesFIU07]

Not even true but so what if it was? If you rank each program by general recognizability and respectability (on a scale 1-5 with 5 the best) I see it as 25-19 in favor of MW. Sounds close but that's over 30% difference. Plus CUSA would have 'Florida International'. What does that even mean? They may as well have named it Florida Whimsical.

I am just going to guess, just a guess, that the name is a reference to Miami being Florida's global gateway city.

With the exception of Nevada in football and UNLV in basketball, it isn't as if the current MWC brings a ton to the table. C-USA has a better line up top to bottom in the two main revenue sports than the MWC.

[Mean Green 93-98]

There is no indication that we have a MWC invite on the table. So if we get a chance at C-USA, we jump at it.

But if we do have a chance at the MWC, we would really have to consider it. Adding FBS startups is a sign of desperation, and I only see one of the two conferences doing that. The MWC is a much better basketball conference than C-USA even with Memphis. Other than Rice and Tulsa--and maybe UTEP--I don't see that many C-USA teams that are going to get people excited. Are students going to be that much more excited about watching UAB than Troy? But it seems to me that every Mountain West team, with the exception of San Jose State, ought to be able to generate pretty good interest.

TCU showed DFW teams a template for success, and they jumped out of C-USA as quickly as they could for the MWC. There is something to be said for that.

[JulesFIU07]

There is no indication that we have a MWC invite on the table. So if we get a chance at C-USA, we jump at it.

But if we do have a chance at the MWC, we would really have to consider it. Adding FBS startups is a sign of desperation, and I only see one of the two conferences doing that. The MWC is a much better basketball conference than C-USA even with Memphis. Other than Rice and Tulsa--and maybe UTEP--I don't see that many C-USA teams that are going to get people excited. Are students going to be that much more excited about watching UAB than Troy? But it seems to me that every Mountain West team, with the exception of San Jose State, ought to be able to generate pretty good interest.

TCU showed DFW teams a template for success, and they jumped out of C-USA as quickly as they could for the MWC. There is something to be said for that.

They made the move because, at the time, you had the defections of Cincy, Louisville and USF from C-USA to the Big East, so they were abandoning what was perceived as a sinking ship.

[VideoEagle]

They made the move because, at the time, you had the defections of Cincy, Louisville and USF from C-USA to the Big East, so they were abandoning what was perceived as a sinking ship.

Actually, they were running away from SMU as fast as they could.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I am just going to guess, just a guess, that the name is a reference to Miami being Florida's global gateway city.

With the exception of Nevada in football and UNLV in basketball, it isn't as if the current MWC brings a ton to the table. C-USA has a better line up top to bottom in the two main revenue sports than the MWC.

Says the guy that roots for a school that would have 0 chance (and really no business in) the MWC.

[JulesFIU07]

Says the guy that roots for a school that would have 0 chance (and really no business in) the MWC.

Not trying to pick fights here or anything, but haven't we beat you five years running in football? You're really not in a position to say which FBS teams (FIU and LaTech) merit inclusion to a better conference. The only reason TCU went to the MWC in 2005 is because the better programs in the conference at the time, Cincy, USF and Louisville, bolted for the Big East. With TCU and Boise State gone, what is really left in the MWC football wise? Nevada? You honestly cannot make an argument for them being historically better than SoMiss, Tulsa or ECU over the last decade.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Not trying to pick fights here or anything, but haven't we beat you five years running in football? You're really not in a position to say which FBS teams (FIU and LaTech) merit inclusion to a better conference. The only reason TCU went to the MWC in 2005 is because the better programs in the conference at the time, Cincy, USF and Louisville, bolted for the Big East. With TCU and Boise State gone, what is really left in the MWC football wise? Nevada? You honestly cannot make an argument for them being historically better than SoMiss, Tulsa or ECU over the last decade.

I'm pretty sure his point had to do with geography.

[JulesFIU07]

I'm pretty sure his point had to do with geography.

I'd hope so, but with SDSU now in the Big East you never know.

[Mark Gommesen]

The extension granted to Old Dominion is more of a formality than a major concern. MTSU is destined to remain in the Sun Belch Conference.

[letsgiveacheer]

There seems to be a lot of discussion in Norfolk about this. I bet they do not join tomorrow but you never know. I hope they do for selfish reasons!

Virginian-Pilot

[wardly]

Why do you have such a boner for the Mountain West? They are running out of teams over there and have no schools in Texas? Seriously what's your angle?

time zone and travel. closest MWC cities would be El Paso and Albuquerque, and most games start past my bedtime.

[TheTastyGreek]

Not trying to pick fights here or anything, but haven't we beat you five years running in football?

Not trying to start a fight either... But defeating Todd Dodge puts you guys in a very elite fraternity of college football programs known as F---ING EVERYBODY THAT EVER TOOK THE FIELD AGAINST HIM.

Throw in McCarney's first game to close out that 5 year run of wins, and I can't say I'm dazzled by that run of success. If you guys manage to do it again, though... That would actually be proving something.

[JulesFIU07]

Not trying to start a fight either... But defeating Todd Dodge puts you guys in a very elite fraternity of college football programs known as F---ING EVERYBODY THAT EVER TOOK THE FIELD AGAINST HIM.

Throw in McCarney's first game to close out that 5 year run of wins, and I can't say I'm dazzled by that run of success. If you guys manage to do it again, though... That would actually be proving something.

Not hanging my hat on it, I know that Dodge was a slightly less malignant version of Strock, just saying it doesn't really make sense to declare us "unworthy" of anything given where we are both coming from.

[greenminer]

Not hanging my hat on it, I know that Dodge was a slightly less malignant version of Strock, just saying it doesn't really make sense to declare us "unworthy" of anything given where we are both coming from.

You're talking like football didn't exist until 2002.