Topic: NHR: Boise State coach urged leadership to leave MWC, emails show

[GreenDaddy]

Every new league that gets drawn up looks like the what the Sun Belt already is +Marshall and JMU. We may as well hope they decide to go to 12 at this point and just join up with them. From everything I’ve read, starting a new league is to much trouble and not feasible.

[herdorbust]

So you like our current league better than the one lined out in the post above? That's hard to fathom. And the AAC ain't happening, people need to put down the crack pipe on that one.

This conference IMO just doesn’t fit for football. First it is just plain awful. And second there just isn’t any true rivals. The 2 Florida schools are just not good except the 3 years Kiffin gave FAU. ODU is a train wreck. MTSU is regressing and WKU has nosedived since Brohm left. Charlotte is still trying to be more than a start up. Then in the west it makes zero sense even being in this conference with a bunch of Texas schools. This league is bad for football and the Sunbelt would be horrible for basketball. That is why I would like to see a merger of the 2. And then put the 2 east together and 2 west together.

[MidlandKnight]

This conference IMO just doesn’t fit for football. First it is just plain awful. And second there just isn’t any true rivals. The 2 Florida schools are just not good except the 3 years Kiffin gave FAU. ODU is a train wreck. MTSU is regressing and WKU has nosedived since Brohm left. Charlotte is still trying to be more than a start up. Then in the west it makes zero sense even being in this conference with a bunch of Texas schools. This league is bad for football and the Sunbelt would be horrible for basketball. That is why I would like to see a merger of the 2. And then put the 2 east together and 2 west together.

That is why I chose the schools I did. Let's look at some examples:
In football you would have:

Appy State- in and out of the top 25
Coastal- Top 25 (Beat BYU And Kanas)
Liberty (in and out of the top 25 (beat two ACC schools this year)
Marshall  (in and out of the top 25)
James Madison - perineal top FCS, great facilities, fan base and nice budget.
GA State- Beat Tenn last year and ECU this year.
GA Southern- Solid football program
UAB- Solid program under Clarke and will get better once new stadium is complete.

That would be 8 solid programs, and by having James Madison/Liberty plus Appy State in the same conference with UNCC/ODU would force these schools to get their acts together or they are going to hear about it from their alumni.

In basketball you would have:
WKU- Beat Northern Iowa and Memphis this year. Despite Stansbury sucking as a coach they are always a contender.
ODU- Nice facility and 2019 NCAA participant.
Liberty- Already beat Miss State and South Carolina this year.
UAB- Is solid and made a great hire.
Marshall
Ga State- Beat GA Tech this year.

This league would be our best hope. There is no reason to join the sunbelt. The benefit does not outweigh the cost. You basically are trading one set of Texas/Louisiana schools for other Texas, Louisiana and adding Arkansas schools.

[MUsince96]

That is why I chose the schools I did. Let's look at some examples:
In football you would have:

Appy State- in and out of the top 25
Coastal- Top 25 (Beat BYU And Kanas)
Liberty (in and out of the top 25 (beat two ACC schools this year)
Marshall  (in and out of the top 25)
James Madison - perineal top FCS, great facilities, fan base and nice budget.
GA State- Beat Tenn last year and ECU this year.
GA Southern- Solid football program
UAB- Solid program under Clarke and will get better once new stadium is complete.

That would be 8 solid programs, and by having James Madison/Liberty plus Appy State in the same conference with UNCC/ODU would force these schools to get their acts together or they are going to hear about it from their alumni.

In basketball you would have:
WKU- Beat Northern Iowa and Memphis this year. Despite Stansbury sucking as a coach they are always a contender.
ODU- Nice facility and 2019 NCAA participant.
Liberty- Already beat Miss State and South Carolina this year.
UAB- Is solid and made a great hire.
Marshall
Ga State- Beat GA Tech this year.

This league would be our best hope. There is no reason to join the sunbelt. The benefit does not outweigh the cost. You basically are trading one set of Texas/Louisiana schools for other Texas, Louisiana and adding Arkansas schools.

Think about how fun a conference hoops tourney would be in a central location like Roanoke or Charlotte too. I imagine you'd have some big crowds.

[Herdmeister]

That is why I chose the schools I did. Let's look at some examples:
In football you would have:

Appy State- in and out of the top 25
Coastal- Top 25 (Beat BYU And Kanas)
Liberty (in and out of the top 25 (beat two ACC schools this year)
Marshall  (in and out of the top 25)
James Madison - perineal top FCS, great facilities, fan base and nice budget.
GA State- Beat Tenn last year and ECU this year.
GA Southern- Solid football program
UAB- Solid program under Clarke and will get better once new stadium is complete.

That would be 8 solid programs, and by having James Madison/Liberty plus Appy State in the same conference with UNCC/ODU would force these schools to get their acts together or they are going to hear about it from their alumni.

In basketball you would have:
WKU- Beat Northern Iowa and Memphis this year. Despite Stansbury sucking as a coach they are always a contender.
ODU- Nice facility and 2019 NCAA participant.
Liberty- Already beat Miss State and South Carolina this year.
UAB- Is solid and made a great hire.
Marshall
Ga State- Beat GA Tech this year.

This league would be our best hope. There is no reason to join the sunbelt. The benefit does not outweigh the cost. You basically are trading one set of Texas/Louisiana schools for other Texas, Louisiana and adding Arkansas schools.

The problem there is you wouldn't get an automatic bid tithe dance. I believe you have to have at least 6 teams in the league that had been together previously

[IslandHerd1]

Just a few things:

The MAC would take us back, easy, and I’d puke if we went there.

The AAC is a strong possibility for us still.

A regional league for us CAN be strong, and one scenario I believe works best for us while also being realistic is:

Appalachian State
Arkansas State
Coastal Carolina
FAU
Georgia Southern
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
Southern Miss
Troy
UAB

Add 3 to the above from:

Army
WKU
Liberty
James Madison
Charlotte
Old Dominion
MTSU

[Herdmeister]

Just a few things:

The MAC would take us back, easy, and I’d puke if we went there.

The AAC is a strong possibility for us still.

A regional league for us CAN be strong, and one scenario I believe works best for us while also being realistic is:

Appalachian State
Arkansas State
Coastal Carolina
FAU
Georgia Southern
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
Southern Miss
Troy
UAB

Add 3 to the above from:

Army
WKU
Liberty
James Madison
Charlotte
Old Dominion
MTSU

Absolutely no chance of AAC. Anyone in the athletic department will tell you we don't have the money and they don't want us. They didn't want us when they formed and nothing has changed since then. We are still in Huntington WV and air travel is worse now to HTS than it was then. That almost kept ECU out. 50,000 for football games at the time saved them

[svherd]

You guys and your AAC dreams. It would be nice but it’s a damn dream. The only way that would ever happen is if a P5 raided that league for 3-4 teams, then we might get in. A long shot even then.

[MidlandKnight]

The problem there is you wouldn't get an automatic bid tithe dance. I believe you have to have at least 6 teams in the league that had been together previously

Read my original post. I mentioned 9 teams  Marshall, Appy, Coastal, GA State, GA Southern, UAB, WKU, ODU, and UNCC. Then pick 3 from  MTSU, James Madison, Liberty, and FAU. That would at least get you six schools that had been together.

[Herdmeister]

You guys and your AAC dreams. It would be nice but it’s a damn dream. The only way that would ever happen is if a P5 raided that league for 3-4 teams, then we might get in. A long shot even then.

Exactly. Similarly to the way we got into CUSA

[MUsince96]

If Boise State did leave the MWC I see two teams that could replace them. North Dakota State as a football only (football only due to geography) or UTEP.

If it were NDSU that doesn't affect C-USA. If it were UTEP then we have the question of who replaces them in C-USA?

I can't see any Sun Belt teams making the jump unless App State just really wanted to play Marshall and Charlotte every year. Barring them I think the only options are James Madison or Liberty.

Then you have the issue of what C-USA East team moves to the West division.

It will be interesting to see what Boise State does and the dominoes that follow.

[elginherd]

No thank you. The strays and misfits no one wants aka The Humane Society Conference.

Big City, that pretty much describes all but two or three of the current CUSA.

Midland's collection has fewer strays & misfits. However, his conference is unfortunately less likely to form than Marshall rejoining the MAC or somehow being invited to join the SB. 

[GreenBison]

The easiest thing would just have CUSA HQ remove the mandate that you have to play schools in the West Division. Make that optional in all sports for both Divisions. This will open up the schedule for regional OOC games and if a school can't fill a hole they can always reach out to a West Division foe for help if need be. This way we can still schedule Southern Miss, UAB and La Tech every year and never step foot in Texas unless we need to. We also get our East Coast conference and openings to schedule Appy State, Georgia Southern and ECU.

[MUsince96]

The easiest thing would just have CUSA HQ remove the mandate that you have to play schools in the West Division. Make that optional in all sports for both Divisions. This will open up the schedule for regional OOC games and if a school can't fill a hole they can always reach out to a West Division foe for help if need be. This way we can still schedule Southern Miss, UAB and La Tech every year and never step foot in Texas unless we need to. We also get our East Coast conference and openings to schedule Appy State, Georgia Southern and ECU.

Yeah I love that idea. We could have 6 conference games and 6 OOC games.

It would almost feel like being an Independent but we'd still get to play for a conference championship. Best of both worlds.

[ThunderValley]

Nothing will change in this conf. The texas schools have a foothold and also cusa hq.
I don’t believe they care what anyone thinks because no President of any east schools have the nerve to stand up against them.

[herd2win]

I would join the Sunbelt in a heartbeat.  I like the southern teams way better than Texas.

[Herdmeister]

I would join the Sunbelt in a heartbeat.  I like the southern teams way better than Texas.

Keep in mind in its current state, the SBC has teams in Texas,  Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana.

[GreenDaddy]

Keep in mind in its current state, the SBC has teams in Texas,  Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana.

Well it certainly wouldn’t help travel cost. I believe the thought is it would be better to align with schools that obviously prioritize football and be back with Appalachian State and Georgia Southern. It also wouldn’t hurt to take part in their media deal. The negative would be basketball. While both are one bid leagues, IMO Conference USA has a higher ceiling with WKU, ODU, and Charlotte. There are obviously pros and cons for both, but I would be lying if I hadn’t thought for a while now (well before the SBC’s success this season) that we would be better off with old friends App State and ESPN. At least that is one other regional football school that has shown sustained success and a solid fanbase. I can’t say that about any of the CUSAE schools.

[herd2win]

I like App St, Georgia Southern, Coastal seems like a cocky bunch that would be easy to hate, Louisiana is good, I would not be surprised if they add Liberty.