Topic: What are your 5 immediate things to improve C-USA?

[whf]

Really bored without MU sports, so let's take a wack at "what would I do right away to improve C-USA"? And what is your logic for the moves? I'm not encouraging discussion about everyone's ideas as much as I am encouraging folks to share what they think or would do.

1. Drop UTEP -  too far away from east coast, mid-states opponents, and really a west coast program. Pay them their average payouts for two years if necessary.
2. Work with FIU to see immediate improvement in their football program - we need a solid program in the Miami area, and FAU isn't Miami.
3. Work with USM to return their program to historical status - we need USM to be a solid football program, and also to have significant improvement in basketball. They are a historical C-USA program with good rivalries, but have fallen off the edge in recent years.
4. Assist ODU in returning to FCS football - its a great location but for some reason football just isn't working down there and we need a strong football program in the mid-coast area. Pay them their share of average payouts for two years if necessary.
5.  Immediately install a rule that members are ejected if they do not put 18,000 average fans actually in the seats at football games, and 4,000 in basketball arenas by the end of the 2020 season - money is needed and it won't be coming from TV contracts or media streaming outlets IMHO. Fans need to support their teams or schools need to admit they can't support programs at this level.

[herdorbust]

Call up the sunbelt and merge. Then form an all East and all west division. Only play within your division until conference championship games. That would save travel money and form much better rivalries. This should be a no brainer for both conferences imo. For example we give up the Texas schools for Appy St, Georgia Southern, Coastal etc.

[MUsince96]

I don't think there would be a C-USA if #5 were implemented.

[herd1986]

1.   Get back on ESPN;
2.   Get back on ESPN;
3.   Get back on ESPN;
4.   Get back on ESPN;
5.   Get back on ESPN;


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[Herdmeister]

Really bored without MU sports, so let's take a wack at "what would I do right away to improve C-USA"? And what is your logic for the moves? I'm not encouraging discussion about everyone's ideas as much as I am encouraging folks to share what they think or would do.

1. Drop UTEP -  too far away from east coast, mid-states opponents, and really a west coast program. Pay them their average payouts for two years if necessary.
2. Work with FIU to see immediate improvement in their football program - we need a solid program in the Miami area, and FAU isn't Miami.
3. Work with USM to return their program to historical status - we need USM to be a solid football program, and also to have significant improvement in basketball. They are a historical C-USA program with good rivalries, but have fallen off the edge in recent years.
4. Assist ODU in returning to FCS football - its a great location but for some reason football just isn't working down there and we need a strong football program in the mid-coast area. Pay them their share of average payouts for two years if necessary.
5.  Immediately install a rule that members are ejected if they do not put 18,000 average fans actually in the seats at football games, and 4,000 in basketball arenas by the end of the 2020 season - money is needed and it won't be coming from TV contracts or media streaming outlets IMHO. Fans need to support their teams or schools need to admit they can't support programs at this level.

I'm not sure either Florida school seats 4000 in their gyms

[elginherd]

I don't think there would be a C-USA if #5 were implemented.

Sadly, funny & true at the same time.

[elginherd]

wfh,
I have to disagree with your #4. ODU hasn't been a disaster in FB & their MBB team is probably the most solid one in the CUSA.

[Herdmeister]

wfh,
I have to disagree with your #4. ODU hasn't been a disaster in FB & their MBB team is probably the most solid one in the CUSA.

I agree. in fact their FB only dropped off the past couple of years. They do have the most complete basketball program in the league.

[whf]

I agree. in fact their FB only dropped off the past couple of years. They do have the most complete basketball program in the league.

Would love to see both of your five....  what do you think?

[Herdmeister]

Would love to see both of your five....  what do you think?

I don't know how you assist another school to be better. El Paso has millions of potential customers and when they are winning are a real asset. You most likely were there for at least one of our football games there. The first one was a sell out.in basketball the first few years in the league averaged over 10,000 a game. Topped only by Memphis.  The 2 times they hosted the tournament they bid over $1 million to get it. They had their money back before the first game tipped with pre tournament sales.
As for the Florida schools, having lived there many years it is not a sports state other than the Gators and FSU.  Miami doesn't draw and all the pro teams do terribly at the gate.
I don't have a list or a answer but just telling you what I know

[whf]

I agree. in fact their FB only dropped off the past couple of years. They do have the most complete basketball program in the league.

I think some often confuse the ODU basketball success with their competitive local school, VCU in Richmond; they are the one with perennial basketball success.

[Herdfan73]

1-5. Burn it with fire.

[elginherd]

I think some often confuse the ODU basketball success with their competitive local school, VCU in Richmond; they are the one with perennial basketball success.

To answer your question about my 5 list, I think you have 3 out of 5 correct. Your attendance requirements would eliminate half of the CUSA, as '96 stated. (Of course, that might your hidden agenda ;D)
So for my #4, Hire a new league office. Move the HQ the hell out of Texas to Charlotte or Nashville or Birmingham.

AFA ODU BB, HM & I are not confusing VCU (a high mid-major MBB program) with ODU. ODU has the best facilties, nearly always the near the top in attendance & is usually a perennial threat to finish the regular season at or near the top.
My #5...HM loves the CUSA BB tourney set-up, because he likes the trip. But to the rest of the world, it is a bush-league image. Why can't Charlotte be the host, using the university's facility for MBB? Hold the WBB tourney at FIU or FAU...their gyms have more than enough seating capacity for them & the girls get a chance to enjoy some South Florida.

[herdloyal]

Get rid of Texas headquarters and move it to Charlotte, NC but not under control of the 49ers!

Reform into 4 division National conference regions with THE BEST 40-64 teams max of 16 teams per division. Take in the Mac AAC Sunbelt CUSA MOUNTAIN WEST AND THE Atlantic BB. Coverage Market the whole Continental US. Make the table open to All Sports media to bid 3-5 year contracts. One hell of a Power conference to compete with the big boys!

[IM4DHERD]

#2 - FAU covers So FL.  No need for FIU.  FAU has campuses in Boca, Jupiter (Belle Glade), and Ft. Lauderdale.  Recruiting-wise, you have West Palm Beach, and Delray Beach (HUGE).

[Herdmeister]

I think some often confuse the ODU basketball success with their competitive local school, VCU in Richmond; they are the one with perennial basketball success.

The over 6k fans every game in the best arena in the league don't confuse the two

[Herdmeister]

To answer your question about my 5 list, I think you have 3 out of 5 correct. Your attendance requirements would eliminate half of the CUSA, as '96 stated. (Of course, that might your hidden agenda ;D)
So for my #4, Hire a new league office. Move the HQ the hell out of Texas to Charlotte or Nashville or Birmingham.

AFA ODU BB, HM & I are not confusing VCU (a high mid-major MBB program) with ODU. ODU has the best facilties, nearly always the near the top in attendance & is usually a perennial threat to finish the regular season at or near the top.
My #5...HM loves the CUSA BB tourney set-up, because he likes the trip. But to the rest of the world, it is a bush-league image. Why can't Charlotte be the host, using the university's facility for MBB? Hold the WBB tourney at FIU or FAU...their gyms have more than enough seating capacity for them & the girls get a chance to enjoy some South Florida.

If they separate the men from women they would need a different week. They want them in the same city so that cheerleaders and ban can be there.
As for the tournament in Frisco. I could care less where it is. I go everywhere. I hate the setup at Frisco because there are 2 games at once. I and those I go with always want to see 11 games in 4 days. With this setup we can't do that. If they were to play the women on one floor and the men on another then, I would have nothing against in plating at The Star.
Of current CUSA cities that have hosted El Paso was far and away the best for atmosphere and basketball logistics. The men and women played across the sidewalk from one another. Very convenient.

[puma]

How does the conference work with a program to be better? When C-USA 3.0 was formed, it's pretty clear it was setup for Southern Miss and Marshall to be the respective anchors of their divisions. That didn't exactly work out.

There are arguments to be made, mainly in "they used to be good" or "they're basketball first" for every team. The problem is that C-USA has no business being 14 teams. It's ridiculous.

[svherd]

1 Fire Judy
2 negotiate with ESPN to get back on that network
3. Begin talks with the SB for an even trade - take the SB East and they get the CUSA west. Add or delete programs to get an even number
4. Hire a marketing firm to position the league well in the southeast.
5. Move the league b’ball tourney to Nashville at all cost.

[GreenDaddy]

I can’t come up with 5 things to immediately help the conference, but there are a couple that have been mentioned above.

1) Change in conference leadership. Whatever they are doing in Texas isn’t working, and we as a conference always seem to be one step behind. Whether it be installing a Pod play system to boost RPI (only for RPI to go out the window), play our conference basketball tournament like an AAU event, or give the fans a very fragmented media deal that put games on Facebook. We just can’t seem to get it right. Maybe CUSA knew the stadium deal and was banking on getting linear via the Fox Sports Networks? That worked great for all of 2 weeks. Only to turn around and have those networks dropped from every streaming service out there, and now are being renamed Bally’s after a Casino lol. Goodness, that’s so CUSA it hurts.

2) Rework the media deal to something like the Sun Belt has. They either play on ESPN linear or on ESPN+. Their fans don’t have to go chasing down websites to find the games.

[Big City]

5 things to improve cusa.

1. Immediately install new leadership from the top down. Later Judy.

2. Reorg- look at current membership and make some tough decisions; team like utep, rice, utsa, Charlotte, middle and fiu - it’s been real but it ain’t been fun. You haven’t cut the mustard and you’re not all of a sudden gonna make it happen. Best of luck in the future.

3. Immediately begin working on App State, coastal, Ga So, ragin Cajuns as new members and start a nationwide marketing campaign promoting the new look athletic and academic conf.

4. Negotiate a more reasonable television package. If that means a few Thursday night, prime time games: GREAT

5. Identify a neutral site for conference basketball tournament in Charlotte or Nashville in an attempt to encourage more fans to attend and participate.

[puma]

I'd like to know what the Sunbelt did to get to where they are now.

They used to be at the very bottom of the G5 pecking order and then their best teams joined C-USA in 2013, knocking them down even further. How did they rebuild so quickly? And how did they develop such a strong brand identity while starting at the absolute, rock bottom of FBS?

[GreenDaddy]

I'd like to know what the Sunbelt did to get to where they are now.

They used to be at the very bottom of the G5 pecking order and then their best teams joined C-USA in 2013, knocking them down even further. How did they rebuild so quickly? And how did they develop such a strong brand identity while starting at the absolute, rock bottom of FBS?

His name is Karl Benson, or at least he gets a lot of the credit from what I’ve studied on it. After CUSA raided them last go around, they made excellent choices in regards of membership. He flat out said in an interview that he was happy the Flordia schools left so they could shore up the conference footprint. Also, it was a great decision to stay at 10 teams. The part where really scratch my head is, how in the world do they end up with a better media deal than us?

[gochneaur645]

Add me to the list of people wondering what's wrong with ODU football compared to other C-USA schools? I guess you can criticize them for not playing this year, but why are they worse than any other program in the East?

They're only a few years removed from beating our ass on the way to a 10-3 season. They beat VT in 2018. I have no idea how fudged their attendance numbers are (if at all), but it can't be worse than what you see at MTSU, the Floridas, or Charlotte/WKU most of the time.

[GreenBison]

Really bored without MU sports, so let's take a wack at "what would I do right away to improve C-USA"? And what is your logic for the moves? I'm not encouraging discussion about everyone's ideas as much as I am encouraging folks to share what they think or would do.

1. Drop UTEP -  too far away from east coast, mid-states opponents, and really a west coast program. Pay them their average payouts for two years if necessary.
2. Work with FIU to see immediate improvement in their football program - we need a solid program in the Miami area, and FAU isn't Miami.
3. Work with USM to return their program to historical status - we need USM to be a solid football program, and also to have significant improvement in basketball. They are a historical C-USA program with good rivalries, but have fallen off the edge in recent years.
4. Assist ODU in returning to FCS football - its a great location but for some reason football just isn't working down there and we need a strong football program in the mid-coast area. Pay them their share of average payouts for two years if necessary.
5.  Immediately install a rule that members are ejected if they do not put 18,000 average fans actually in the seats at football games, and 4,000 in basketball arenas by the end of the 2020 season - money is needed and it won't be coming from TV contracts or media streaming outlets IMHO. Fans need to support their teams or schools need to admit they can't support programs at this level.

1. Move CUSA HQ to a central geographic location in the conference footprint.
2. Get rid of UTEP and UTSA (no need to add anyone else, we will be fine at 12 teams).
3. Renegotiate a deal with ESPN.
4. Schedule regional OOC games with schools that are not in the MAC. (Appy State, Georgia Southern, Troy, VaTech, Pitt, UK).
5. Remove requirements for teams to play cross divisional schools unless the schools want to schedule those games on their own.