Mandated by state legislation has now turned into 'well they received pressure'. Just state 'fact' and then say prove me wrong. Then when proven wrong, change what you meant to say and state prove me wrong again
AAC waiting for the call...
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Mandated by state legislation has now turned into 'well they received pressure'. Just state 'fact' and then say prove me wrong. Then when proven wrong, change what you meant to say and state prove me wrong again
Anyways enough of the USPAM stuff. Back on topic. Seems Toledo is the lowest % of subsidy in the MAC itself, even NIU hits around 65%. Sam, I believe you are onto something. Given that, half of CUSA is in serious trouble too though. One team that impresses me with budget vs. subsidy is one you wouldn't guess considering the rest of their conference averages around 70%, Arkansas State at 48% with a 29 Million budget. Not bad.
And Arkansas State is investing a ton in Athletics. Might have the best facilities in the Sun Belt
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No it doesn't. How can someone prove that something doesn't exist? You are claiming that these mandates exist; it is up to YOU to support that claim with evidence. So far, you have failed miserably to prove your point.
Yes I agree and would be near the top in CUSA too. That is one big mistake not bringing them in.
Guys enough of the WV crap, I am done arguing with you all. Stop hijacking our threads please, and thank you.
No Herd Dat your the one who is a stupid fake. I asked the mods to remove you from this board and I think others have as well. However, the mods want to give you the benefit of the doubt but you want to hide behind a guide of somehow having your right to privacy violated. So how about this Herd Dat, on campus tomorrow (Thursday) I will be on campus and wear a name badge saying "bbneutralfan" and you wear "Herd Dat" meet at the student center between 11 and noon and prove your authenticity.
Dude, just try Tinder or something. You will find your hook ups much easier.
I'll be on campus tomorrow, and will wear a name tag if it helps lol
I would have taken in Arkansas State, ULL, Georgia Southern, and Appy over ODU, UNCC, North Texas, and UTSA any day of the week
Whatever, unless you are involved in the conversations of the politicians involved in such discussions, you wouldn't know it exists period, the act of schedule home and homes implies that it does. Or did you forget what Manchin did already? Why would Colorado go visit Colorado St.? Why would Kentucky go visit UL before they built their newer stadium? UNC and NC State refused, so guess what, it got wrote into mandate. Like I said, I am done arguing with you all, this is off topic and doesn't belong here
Thanks.
The difference, IMHO, between CUSA and the Belt, and the MAC, is the difference between the rust belt and the sun belt. 30 or 40 years ago, Ohio and Michigan were prosperous places, there were only a couple of games on TV and people went to local games, and, even then, the AAU level schools were so selective that it left these MACers so large in enrollment that they all just sort of automatically were "big" schools. Today, every game is on TV and people watch what they want, and Ohio and Michigan are bleeding people by the truckloads. They are not prosperous states. More and more of the students at these colleges are "non-traditional" often people for whom there is not longer a job in the old economy. And more and more are female. The towns and the townies that used to support local sports are dying off or moving away. Asking a student to go another $5K into debt so the future phys ed teachers of Ohio can play the future phys ed teachers of Michigan on a random Tuesday in October on ESPN against playoff baseball on Fox is a big ask and it gets bigger each year. Eventually, and EMU will be first, people are going to say "enough".
Meanwhile the world is moving south. I know there is a lot of parallel between what I just said and MU and WV, but I would much rather be tied to Florida and Texas and North Carolina than Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.
I agree on ULL and Ark. St. North Texas had a little merit with facilities, but I guess the same could be said of FAU as well minus a decent basketball arena, the rest...............well I never wanted CUSA to be a breeder league for anyone, I preferred that App, ODU etc earn their stripes in the belt first. But that's just me. I say that because we had to earn ours in the MAC, and doing what we (CUSA) did makes us appear more similar to the belt than I like. CUSA was in a position to rob the belt, get back to 12. We only took 2 of their good programs.........mind blowing today really. I was fooled a little about ODU, was sure they'd be up to par quick and already have that stadium built. I was wrong...So it should have been Ark St., ULL, WKY, MTSU, NT, LT and last one could have gone to App or GSU cause I don't think one FCS move up would have hurt our image that bad.
The thing is Appy and Georgia Southern proved themselves for a long time at the 1AA level. ODU didn't and UNCC was a terrible choice. They should be in the A-10 as a basketball school.
Also Appy and Georgia Southern are 2 of the better schools in the Sun Belt.
Also Appy and Georgia Southern are 2 of the better schools in the Sun Belt.
The last commissioner turned CUSA to shit before he walked out the door.
I'll be on campus tomorrow, and will wear a name tag if it helps lol[/QUOTEH\
Heck, Celt, I'll try the name tag thing, too, if you all think it will help me meet a few members of the Herd Volleyball Squad!!!!
I would not be surprised to see ODU as the first school taken if the AAC expands. Their location is great from Temple, Navy and ECU. They have money and a solid fan base in both football and basketball.
ODU has been a disappointment to date. I fully expected improvements all the way around from them by now. If the AAC wants them, let them have em. They may turn into a force, definitely in the right area and money floating around, but color me unimpressed with their progress as a program.
Except that they sell 14,000 season football tickets, have sold out every game and lead CUSA in basketball attendance.
Fan support is good for them, that's not what I was referring to. I was referring to it being year 3 of ODU playing FBS and they are just now coming up with a stadium design that still will not seat more than 22K. Their fans deserve more than that, and in their case if they build it, the fans will come. They will not know how much support they can get until they accommodate their fans. I expected at least groundbreaking to be going on by now. Between them and FIU, its fairly embarrassing to say we share a conference with a school that has a stadium "like that". ODU basketball is a different story, they have properly supported that sport for a long time, it was their only "big sport" for the longest of times.
I want to add that Georgia Southern and App. both began preparations as soon as they knew they were going FBS, with stadium expansions and all the works. That's how you make a proper transition........not the way ODU has done it.
does anybody know what Marshall's buyout would be to CUSA and the entrance fee that the AAC would need?
I'm with you on Britton taking a walk, Fever. I understand he's a social gadfly in Dallas. And the woman is weak. If this thing (C-USA) survives and with us still in it, we need to move the headquarters from Texas to about Nashville. I just don't know what to think anymore.
i watched a little bit of BeIn sports Saturday to get an idea of how it was going to do. they interviewed MacLeod and i was completely underwhelmed with her. she almost seemed ashamed to be talking about the conference. she had the energy of Hillary Clinton speaking at an AARP rally...
ECU is not supportive of ODU. The fan base and boosters were very unhappy when Terry Holland advocated for ODU to join CUSA.
At the time Holland was afraid ECU would be left out of the Big East, so he began to envision local rivalries in in which schools could bus their teams and play. ODU was a move of desperation for ECU. It turns out that ECU did get out of CUSA and the lasting gift to CUSA from ECU and Holland is ODU.
As a side note, the ODU fans who came to Dowdy Ficklen stadium when they played ECU three years ago were cocky and arrogant. They talked more trash than any fan base I can remember and were bragging how they were going to bring the 757 zip code with them in terms of recruiting.
Personally, I would like the AAC invite Marshall to the conference. Marshall football would start competing right away and bring a good fan base a national name with them. I think the non qualifier piece is going to get in the way though.
With Marshall in the AAC, we would have a group of schools that bring both name and winning to the table. The market stuff is dead in the water for most G5 schools.
I do not see what Southern Miss, La Tech, ODU or WKU bring to the table with the AAC. Marshall is a no brainer imo.
I fear that if Marshall stays in CUSA the program is going to start suffering. As an ECU fan who follows ECU sports closely I can tell you that being in the AAC and CUSA are like night and day. I know that our recruiting has gotten easier because of the coverage we receive from ESPN. This is especially true with basketball where I believe we are about to turn a corner because of the kids we are not able to bring to the program.
Mike Aresco is a professional through and through. He has a vision and believes in the conference. From what little I have seen of the new CUSA Commish, I am not impressed. In fact I am shocked that she is the face of the conference. Can you imagine her negotiating tv deals for the conference?
I am sure the Marshall brass are doing everything they can to get out CUSA. WIthout Marshall , USM, and Rice CUSA was be the worst conference in sports.
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AAC would have to decrease our entrance fee if they want us. I don't know if it would benefit us with our history of taking nonqualifiers, unless the AAC came off their high horse regarding that. I would like to be in the AAC and back to a respectable conference, just don't know if its possible. There just isn't enough of a step up to say we can equal our recruiting without taking a few nonqualifiers each year to compete with P5 programs. ALL G5 conferences should allow nonqualifiers to level the playing field.
I would add that with program competiveness and facilities, we probably are a good bit above other CUSA schools with USM closely behind.
Honestly, I dont see how Marshall cannot afford to go if invited. The coverage from ESPN alone is worth whatever it costs for Marshall to join.
I was very skeptical when the AAC tv contract was signed. Did not believe we would get the coverage promised, but we have. 90 percent of ECU's games are on ESPN. Not ESPN 3, but ESPN, ESPN 2 or ESPN U.
We have had to play on Thursday's, but so what.
In terms of basketball, the fact they they put our horrible basketball team on ESPN on regular basis is shocking to me. It really has helped our recruiting.
Marshall would be an instant hit imo in terms of Tv ratings. Every one knows who Marshall is and Marshall playing a slate of AAC games would be good for everyone including the AAC.
IMO, Hamrick, Doc, and those with the power to make the decision realize we are a big fish in a small pond. i honestly think the reason they have not reached out to the AAC is that they have no desire to make the move. our attendance numbers have been relatively static since we moved to 1A/FBS in 1997. we have a core fan base of 20k that will be at every game regardless of the opponent or record. when we are winning that number pushes closer to 30k. adding our former CUSA brothers and a couple of new guys will not make any noticeable long term difference in attendance. the difference in TV money is not going to make or break the program either. we make more now than we did in the MAC. we will make more in the future. not much more but more. the increase in money from the AAC will not be enough to make a baseball field magically appear. it will not all the sudden start landing 4 and 5 star recruits on a regular basis. in fact, we will lose those recruits that we currently get because of the Prop rule. we are signing 1 for 1's with P5's that we never dreamed of 10 years ago. we have the resources to compete for a league championship every single year. we also have the resources and staff in place to compete for the Access Bowl 2 or 3 out of every 5 years. i loath our conference schedule (less USM and WKU) and would love to see it replaced with AAC teams, but i can also see the benefits of sticking around. as noted above, we are one of the poorest schools in one of the poorest states in the country. it's a god damned miracle what this program and this community has achieved. instead of chasing the ex-girlfriend that keeps dumping us, maybe we should just take care of business where we are...
The problem though is perception. Marshall being in the AAC would get the benefit of the doubt in terms of playing a competitive schedule vs a non competitive schedule. Marshall would have an easier route to the Access Bowl through the AAC. College football fans imo are the most brand bias in all of sports.
Look the AAC is not perfect, far from it. I just think if Doc and Hamrick are satisfied with CUSA that is a problem for Marshall fans. Right now because money is so low for all of the G5 schools, tv coverage and brand awareness are the two most important arrows we have to fire. Right now, Marshall could run the table with their schedule every year but will have that record called into question because of playing teams like Charlotte, ODU, UTSA, North Texas etc. Is it fair, no, but college football is a joke in terms of justice.
The rising tide theory in college football is something i believe exists in a big way. Not sure why Hamrick would rather have his boat in the water for the vast majority of CUSA teams vs AAC teams.
it's all about money. we don't have it. we bled our donors dry to build a state of the art IPF ("the best in the country"). we can't pay exit fees, entrance fees, and whatever else to slightly move up a little bit on the ladder. we gain some of that back with a better TV contract but again, not enough money to make a big difference in our daily operations. we lose Props which is a HUGE advantage for our program against the other AAC schools. Memphis has a budget nearly double our's. ECU's is over $10 mil more. the Prop program doesn't make or break our team, but it evens things out more when compared to the budgets. move to the AAC and we have no Prop advantage and easily the lowest budget in the conference. nobody likes to talk about it, but we never were anything more than a middle of the pack team in CUSA until the schools with twice the resources left. yes, we had a shitbag of a coach, but he also had the honor of playing our hardest rated schedules (by far) during his tenure. as a football fan i'm all in for the AAC. as a realist, i think our leaders have other plans...
good points portico.
if we aren't asked that's one thing, if we are invited and consider not going....I honestly don't see how we can afford not to go. I think the recruiting boost of AAC and espn would offset props. I can live with staying in CUSA depending on who we are left with....I really don't want to see So Miss move on without us or mtsu/wku.
if we aren't asked that's one thing, if we are invited and consider not going....I honestly don't see how we can afford not to go. I think the recruiting boost of AAC and espn would offset props. I can live with staying in CUSA depending on who we are left with....I really don't want to see So Miss move on without us or mtsu/wku.
