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How about the Sun Belt?

WV_Celt

WV_Celt

Silver Buffalo
Jul 27, 2014
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C-USA is clearly garbage. The American has no interest. The MAC is either horrible for having weeknight games on NATIONAL TV or won't have MU.

What about going to the Sun Belt? Not so Texas-centric and far away. Decent schools to play like Troy and App State. Replace the Florida Directional schools with Louisiana Whatever schools.

I'm not even remotely serious about this, as I'm in the Back To The MAC club. Just trying to get a conversation going that doesn't revolve around JohnDoc.
 
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WV_Celt said:
C-USA is clearly garbage. The American has no interest. The MAC is either horrible for having weeknight games on NATIONAL TV or won't have MU.

What about going to the Sun Belt? Not so Texas-centric and far away. Decent schools to play like Troy and App State. Replace the Florida Directional schools with Louisiana Whatever schools.

I'm not even remotely serious about this, as I'm in the Back To The MAC club. Just trying to get a conversation going that doesn't revolve around JohnDoc.
Click to expand...
I think it’s interesting that there’s a large portion of fans that lament playing MAC schools and a large portion that would like to go back to the MAC
 
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WV_Celt said:
C-USA is clearly garbage. The American has no interest. The MAC is either horrible for having weeknight games on NATIONAL TV or won't have MU.

What about going to the Sun Belt? Not so Texas-centric and far away. Decent schools to play like Troy and App State. Replace the Florida Directional schools with Louisiana Whatever schools.

I'm not even remotely serious about this, as I'm in the Back To The MAC club. Just trying to get a conversation going that doesn't revolve around JohnDoc.
Click to expand...

Problem is we have a coach who is content at playing down to the competition. Moving to a different conf. is not going to resolve this.
 
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Among the CUSA and Belt schools there is a pretty good conference to be made. Better football and more geographic sense. Likely won't ever happen, but it should. There are a dozen schools that seem to have fans that care out of those 24 teams. Those schools also tend to be from smaller markets with a lot in common.
 
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banker6796 said:
Among the CUSA and Belt schools there is a pretty good conference to be made. Better football and more geographic sense. Likely won't ever happen, but it should. There are a dozen schools that seem to have fans that care out of those 24 teams. Those schools also tend to be from smaller markets with a lot in common.
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The sad thing is that Conference USA had a chance at those schools but chose incompetent athletic departments in large markets instead
 
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Agreed with above... The best we can hope for at this point is some new hybrid league where the 6-7 CUSA schools that actually give a damn about football (Marshall, Western Kentucky, MTSU, UAB, Southern Miss, FAU, La. Tech) combine with the 6-7 schools that actually care about football in the Sun Belt. (App State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Troy, Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana Monroe).

That league is better than where we are currently, gets rid of the Texas outliers UTEP, North Texas, Rice, UTSA, and would immediately be far beyond whatever is left of CUSA, the Sun Belt and the MAC.
 
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I say join the Ivy League. That way, all the bitchers and moaners can run on the field during the game and protest something.

For me, I want to protest how bad the cheese is on a Papa John's pizza.
 
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ThunderDrunk304 said:
I think it’s interesting that there’s a large portion of fans that lament playing MAC schools and a large portion that would like to go back to the MAC
Click to expand...

They just want to pretend they'll care MU plays Eastern Michigan more than ODU.
Seems when MU plays a MAC school, they complain, but yet also want MU to go back to the MAC.

As for the Sunbelt?
Not sure they get any more respect than CUSA,
their champion and top 25 ranked team is playing a 9-4 runner-up of CUSA.
CUSA's champion is getting a home game against a 10-2 SMU team.
 
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What if.... and hear me out on this.... we better our program to the point where the American DOES have interest?

I realize a lot of Marshall fans have accepted mediocre, non exciting sports programs, and we are just “getting comfortable” now. And after all, if we were to do this we would have to change some things...

But I would just rather get into the clearly superior American conference than go down to the sun belt.
 
Appalachian St.
Arkansas St.
FAU
Georgia Southern
Louisiana Tech
James Madison
Marshall
MTSU
Southern Miss
Troy
UAB
WKU

add two more teams to get to 14 and be done
 
redsfan5590 said:
What if.... and hear me out on this.... we better our program to the point where the American DOES have interest?
Click to expand...

NEWSFLASH: Marshall is NEVER going to be in the AAC. The AAC is based on big cities. Orlando, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Philly, New Orleans, Tulsa. And ECU, which claims (falsely) currency in the Triangle, Triad, and Metrolina. Their whole marketing plan is “look at these big cities we play in”. (And please ignore the fact that 99% of folks in them don’t care.). MU simply does not fit in. It never will.

They don’t want us. They never did. If the “great realignment” had happened when MU was at its BP high, rather than when it did when The Liar and Suntan Man had us at our lowest point since 11/14/70, we still would not have gotten a look for the AAC. We do not fit in. It has NOTHING to do with on-field performance. Nothing.

MU is in CUSA. Watch CUSA grow. Cheer for its teams when they play out-of-conference. Be proud of its accomplishments. Hope that our conference partners each overcomes the obstacles and challenges they have.

Because there is probably another “great realignment” coming when the TV deals all expire. And the most likely result is a geographically logical rejiggering between the MAC (which will see several teams leave the Division) CUSA and the SBC. The AAC will stand pat and continue to spew its P6 nonsense.

ΜU football is CUSA football, and if CUSA football is not for you, MU football is not for you.
 
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Marshall would need an infusion of $14 million annually to be the best funded team in our terrible conference. That's equal to the amount of institutional subsidy Marshall requires to fund the program in its current state.

Someone who wasn't a fan and was missing the context of the last 20 years would probably look at our situation and say our best bet would be to drop back down to FCS in football, and just try to do basketball in D-I. Of course, after the last 20 years or so, its impossible to do that without killing off your fanbase who now expects Marshall to play on a much larger stage. This is the dilemma facing most of the former FCS schools, but probably not something the institutions themselves will want to deal with for another 10 years or so.
 
The Real SamC said:
NEWSFLASH: Marshall is NEVER going to be in the AAC. The AAC is based on big cities. Orlando, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Philly, New Orleans, Tulsa. And ECU, which claims (falsely) currency in the Triangle, Triad, and Metrolina. Their whole marketing plan is “look at these big cities we play in”. (And please ignore the fact that 99% of folks in them don’t care.). MU simply does not fit in. It never will.

They don’t want us. They never did. If the “great realignment” had happened when MU was at its BP high, rather than when it did when The Liar and Suntan Man had us at our lowest point since 11/14/70, we still would not have gotten a look for the AAC. We do not fit in. It has NOTHING to do with on-field performance. Nothing.

MU is in CUSA. Watch CUSA grow. Cheer for its teams when they play out-of-conference. Be proud of its accomplishments. Hope that our conference partners each overcomes the obstacles and challenges they have.

Because there is probably another “great realignment” coming when the TV deals all expire. And the most likely result is a geographically logical rejiggering between the MAC (which will see several teams leave the Division) CUSA and the SBC. The AAC will stand pat and continue to spew its P6 nonsense.

ΜU football is CUSA football, and if CUSA football is not for you, MU football is not for you.
Click to expand...


let’s just go back to FCS then. If it’s impossible for us to EVER reach a respectable conference, then let’s pack it in. Because continuing to raise ticket prices, while giving us less and less of a decent product is going to choke our program. We’re not headed for mediocrity we are mired in it. In every sense of the word. And yet a segment our fan base is totally ok with that because to demand more of the program would demand change and demand excellence.

listen, I’m not saying your wrong. We may never have the opportunity to jump to the American. and I will accept that when we do everything we can to make our program marketable and we are doing all we can on our end. Until that time, we are just content.
 
redsfan5590 said:
If it’s impossible for us to EVER reach a respectable conference, then let’s pack it in.
Click to expand...

We already are in a respectable conference.

USA Today has us 44th. 44th. Marshall. In Huntington, WV. 44th. That is great. If anybody had told me during my time at the school that MU would someday be Div I-A, let along in the upper half of it, I would have told them they were crazy. It is awesome.

The people that hate on CUSA cannot see that. They have let their hate for CUSA destroy their love for MU. CUSA is fine conference. And it is ours. MU football is CUSA football.
 
Sam, I hear you. I really do. Can you understand that a portion of the Herd fan base is frustrated because they believe we are capable of more, and not reaching for our potential in football? And inevitably that angst ends up focusing on the Head coach?
 
Frustrated with the results of any season? Sure. The goal, every year, should be to win every game, and we, like most teams, fall short of that.

Frustrated with being in CUSA? That I don’t get. Sorry, I just don’t. The segment you speak of has a flatly wrong perception of CUSA, and of the AAC, and some of them even of the MAC. When a person gets to the point that they believe that winning CUSA should be this automatic thing and no real accomplishment, they have gone into a delusional and unhealthy world.

The only people that criticized the lowly MAC and I-AA, back in the day, were petty jealous WVU fans.
 
Need to get Coastal in there, too. Cut the four Texas schools loose to the Mountain West, raid the best of the Sun Belt, get a new commish, move the headquarters and basketball tournament to a central location that everybody can get to.
 
We will never be in the AAC, even if there is a realignment. We don’t have the resources. We have been programmed to accept our current plight or move on - we don’t need you as a fan.

We can’t even win CUSA on a regular basis, going to the AAC or better league would have us 6-6 or worse every year.

Our best bet is to win our OOC games, win CUSA every 2-3 years, and get votes or land in the Top 25 on occasion.

I was looking the other day and CUSA was the only D1 league who didn’t have one team ranked or at least getting votes in both football, men’s basketball or women’s basketball polls.
 
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The Real SamC said:
NEWSFLASH: Marshall is NEVER going to be in the AAC. The AAC is based on big cities. Orlando, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Philly, New Orleans, Tulsa. And ECU, which claims (falsely) currency in the Triangle, Triad, and Metrolina. Their whole marketing plan is “look at these big cities we play in”. (And please ignore the fact that 99% of folks in them don’t care.). MU simply does not fit in. It never will.

They don’t want us. They never did. If the “great realignment” had happened when MU was at its BP high, rather than when it did when The Liar and Suntan Man had us at our lowest point since 11/14/70, we still would not have gotten a look for the AAC. We do not fit in. It has NOTHING to do with on-field performance. Nothing.

MU is in CUSA. Watch CUSA grow. Cheer for its teams when they play out-of-conference. Be proud of its accomplishments. Hope that our conference partners each overcomes the obstacles and challenges they have.

Because there is probably another “great realignment” coming when the TV deals all expire. And the most likely result is a geographically logical rejiggering between the MAC (which will see several teams leave the Division) CUSA and the SBC. The AAC will stand pat and continue to spew its P6 nonsense.

ΜU football is CUSA football, and if CUSA football is not for you, MU football is not for you.
Click to expand...
Wait a minute. Our conference partners have obstacles and challenges?
 
The Real SamC said:
We already are in a respectable conference.

USA Today has us 44th. 44th. Marshall. In Huntington, WV. 44th. That is great. If anybody had told me during my time at the school that MU would someday be Div I-A, let along in the upper half of it, I would have told them they were crazy. It is awesome.

The people that hate on CUSA cannot see that. They have let their hate for CUSA destroy their love for MU. CUSA is fine conference. And it is ours. MU football is CUSA football.
Click to expand...
Which is it? CUSA is a fine conference or its members have obstacles and challenges?

And as far as being in the top half of 1-A, at #44, no less....did you fail math, or just don't understand? There are five P5 conferences. With an average of 12 per conference that makes 60. Are we up in that echelon? We might be #44. But we would be #44 in the bottom half of 1-A.
 
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ThunderDrunk304 said:
Just said it’s interesting that Marshall’s fans are so divided on the MAC. Though I do think there’s a few schools in C-USA that would beat this years MAC champions
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There are MANY more reasons why being in the MAC would be a good thing than there are reasons not to. The ONLY reason not to would be conference prestige for recruiting/exposure, money, or geography... and clearly none of those are happening better than what would be in the MAC. At one time the CUSA was better than the MAC, now it's not. So add in those factors that are always going to be better in the MAC such as geography, local rivalries, oh and national TV games (who cares what day they are, its better than playing games on MySpace) and I really can't figure out why anyone would think being in CUSA is a better situation than the MAC.
 
The Real SamC said:
It has NOTHING to do with on-field performance. Nothing.
Click to expand...

Yes Nothing at all... thats why teams like Rice, FIU, and Old Dominion are in the AAC. They have major markets and therefore they are in the AAC. And teams like East Carolina, Uconn and Wichita State are not in the AAC. Their markets are too small and they have no history of success anywhere...

Dude- stop
 
muthed said:
Which is it? CUSA is a fine conference or its members have obstacles and challenges?
Click to expand...

EVERY member of every conference has obstacles and challenges.

You don’t think Kentucky (where basketball is king) football has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Purdue (where you have to be super smart to get in) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Pitt football (playing in an off campus stadium in a dying town) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Kansas State (trying to recruit to a cow college in the middle of a wheat field) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Washington State (ever been there) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Cincinnati (surrounded by UK, OSU, and the Reds) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Louisiana (playing in the giant shadow of LSU) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Wyoming (playing in the smallest state, and darn near the whitest) has obstacles and challenges?
You don’t think Eastern Michigan (same exit as Michigan) has obstacles and challenges?

Every school has obstacles and challenges. Some more than others. I want all of our conference mates to improve. You should too.

And as far as being in the top half of 1-A, at #44, no less....did you fail math, or just don't understand? There are five P5 conferences. With an average of 12 per conference that makes 60. Are we up in that echelon? We might be #44. But we would be #44 in the bottom half of 1-A.
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Gee you are dumb. There are 130 I-A schools. Half of 130 is 65. 44th is higher than 65th. Darn.
 
YouGotMossed said:
Yes Nothing at all... thats why teams like Rice, FIU, and Old Dominion are in the AAC. They have major markets and therefore they are in the AAC. And teams like East Carolina, Uconn and Wichita State are not in the AAC.
Click to expand...

FIU - Even master snake oil salesman Arseco cannot sell FIU as = Miami.
Rice - You do know that Houston is in the AAC, right?
Old Dominion - Norfolk, et al, is the #42 DMA. Hardly a large market.

ECU - Explained in the original post.
UCONN - Paying MILLIONS to LEAVE the money pit that is the AAC, because, in one of the wealthiest states the school named for the state LOST MILLIONS in the AAC.
Wichita State - When does their football team play? Added on for basketball because, only 18 months after the snake oil salesman said he would never take basketball only members, they needed it to shore up their mid-major basketball league.
 
The Real SamC said:
FIU - Even master snake oil salesman Arseco cannot sell FIU as = Miami.
Rice - You do know that Houston is in the AAC, right?
Old Dominion - Norfolk, et al, is the #42 DMA. Hardly a large market.

ECU - Explained in the original post.
UCONN - Paying MILLIONS to LEAVE the money pit that is the AAC, because, in one of the wealthiest states the school named for the state LOST MILLIONS in the AAC.
Wichita State - When does their football team play? Added on for basketball because, only 18 months after the snake oil salesman said he would never take basketball only members, they needed it to shore up their mid-major basketball league.
Click to expand...

You have all of these explanations to justify everyone of those, just you say it's nothing but geography as to why these teams are there. Yes Houston is in the AAC... Rice is ALSO in a large market. What does that have to do with each other? FIU IS in Miami genius. Is Norfolk larger than bumphuck, NC? Just wondering
 
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