How about the Sun Belt?

[ohio herd]

Granted C-USA is not an awesome conference. However, there are 24 division one conferences that play college football. I am aware that 14 play at the FCS level. To be annually ranked as the 9/10 th best conference is anything but terrible. I am not convinced that any of the FCS conferences are better. The best one, the MVC is 1-25 this season against FBS competition. I agree we can do better than we are.

 

[muthed]

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.



Gee you are dumb. There are 130 I-A schools. Half of 130 is 65. 44th is higher than 65th. Darn.

So, we're a G5 but we're up with the elite of P5. In fact we're better than about 1/3 of P5 teams. I had a guy tell me once " I may be crazy, but I ain't stupid." Applies here.

 

[Shark19]

The AAC will stand pat and continue to spew its P6 nonsense.

4 out of 5 Big 6 bowl berths shows P6 is a real thing.

 

[riflearm2]

Gee you are dumb. There are 130 I-A schools. Half of 130 is 65. 44th is higher than 65th. Darn.

Stupid, you have hand-selected the very high ranking for Marshall instead of looking at all of them. Nobody in their right mind puts Marshall that high.

Why don't we look at all of the legitimate rating systems out there that Massey compiles. I've noted the most well know. Here are Marshall's rankings from those:

73, 66, 75, 66, 68, 49, 77, 75, 74, 54, 64 42 48 69 44 60 52 55 68 73 78 59 81 43 79 77 46 64 40 53 45 60 76 61 48 48 48 81 62 53 46 53 48 38 47 47 47 60 79 83 83 34 42 59 72 38 37 45 35 33 73 72 63 60 71 88 35 79 80 82 89 65 79 77 31 52 84 86 30 60 78 30 90 32 82 90 70 80 41 90 37 39 79 38 60 80 57 56 92

It comes out as an average ranking of 61. That's not good. It's actually bad considering the schedule Marshall gets within its conference. Hell, they didn't even play a P5 team this year.

 

[raleighherdfan]

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.

But...But...But...CUSA is "respectable"! (Right Sammy?)

 

[sistersville]

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

Rice used to be in the old Southwest Conference along with TT, A&M, Texas, SMU, TCU, Baylor, and Arkansas before it imploded after the SMU football program was suspended for two years.

 

[19MU88]

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

yes, but would Doc be able to finish in the middle of the pack of one of those divisions? I don't want us to get in over our heads.

 

[bbneutralfan]

19MU88 we’re in over our heads now!

 

[2.0]

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.

ULM might drop football or drop down to FCS.

I would switch ULM with Georgia State.

 

[19MU88]

19MU88 we’re in over our heads now!

sounds like my sarcasm went right over your head.