NCAAbbs

Knowing that Temple was kicked out of the Big East, is there a school in cusa that you believe would make a good difference to the league if they left? And why do you think that? It could be for any reason, distance, pitiful attendance, pitiful facilities, no fan support for out of town games, mediocre fan support in their own facilities, etc. Just curious.

UTEP. You don't deliver a bowl game and you haven't earned any NCAA BB money for CUSA. You also seem to pay pitiful salaries to your football and basketball coaches. That's why you can't hold on to them. That and you are a really long trip for everyone else. CUSA could get about as much or more production in football and hoops if it replaced UTEP with Western Kentucky or South Alabama and those schools are much more centrally located.

You.

Dump Tulane, SMU and Rice. It's one thing to have one small school in a conference like TCU, but at least the frogs are competative in football. But to have those 3 I mentioned plus Tulsa is way to much.

CUSA9
UTEP
Tulsa
Houston
S. Miss
Memphis
ECU
UCF
Marshall
UAB

+1

SMU is spending the money to be a major player. When New Mexico can afford to pay 2 million per year for a football coach then you can talk.

Ha, ha, ha, I thought I'd get those replies, lol. Another thing I forgot to ask: Who would you vote to include in the conference after those you just eliminated?

I like strawberry pop tarts.

I'm a brown sugar cinnamon fan myself.

Here, here. Brown sugar, unfrosted and soaked in melted butter.

stupid thread. C-USA is happy and healthy with 12 all-sports members. The 4 private schools are grouped out west and it gives them a chance to be competitive versus similar, smaller athletic programs. In turn, UTEP and Houston SHOULD whip-up on the private schools pretty regularly thus giving them both a chance to consistently win at football. I said SHOULD.

Nobody is a burden in C-USA. Everyone is pulling their weight. Just so you know though, we'd kick-out Temple too!

Notre Dame, only if they do all sports.

UAB. Sorry.

I'm not basing this on performance but rather administrative support to having a top notch athletic program.

Even Rice has bulldozers at work.

USF and UCONN have shown how fast transition for a young program can be.
UCF has shown that you can f$#@ it all up for 20 years and still get back on track rather quickly.

Sorry UAB, but unless your state BOT goes away, you're off the island.

end hypothetical.

That's my reasoning for tossing UTEP out. They have the stupidest fan base. The people of El Paso, including the UTEP fans, act towards UTEP football and men's basketball in the same way that UAB's BOT does with regards to UAB athletics(namely football). Administrators and coaches can be removed but when the fan base and community is the problem that can't be fixed.

Let's build C-USA with what we have...Give it some time....

Didn't we just have this conversation in 2003??

As I said, I'd kick out USF and add UCF!!!

I have to agree...with Blueberry a close second.

LowBlow: Tulsa is a small school and also private, They have a helluva football program (better than your school or mine at the present time) and a basketball program of recent note that will be making noise real soon. Question, why would you kick out the schools you named that are in major markets, have more history of success than your school and more potential (and money most likely)?

Thanks, but no thanks for the advice.

I'm shocked at this response!

Oh, so I guess building a new weightroom, training facility, and renovating the student-athlete academic center doesn't count?

I honestly like our conference just the way it is. My only improvement might be to figure out a way to get Tulane and Southern Miss in the same division in football.

I love this conference other than always worrying about who's going to leave it.

Said to see a Memphis fan like this is among such a great fanbase.....

HMMM... interesting topic... I agree with Charles... let's boot UTEP and then what though? Charles please give us the clear picture because we seem to be blinded to your reality...

I'm sorry to say this, but if anyone was to be "voted out" if might just be SMU. I hardly ever even see any SMU fans on this board and the fan support sadly is just not there in Dallas. At almost every home game for them in football or men's basketball against UTEP it's like a home game for the Miners. And while that may be good for UTEP, it's embarassing for them. Sorry guys.

We're here, we just don't say much...

That's all well and good but El Paso has plenty more money than that. I know because I've seen first hand how they've wasted it on other crap. If El Paso was serious like Memphis is serious the Sun Bowl would have been expanded to 70K seats and with luxury boxes. Also an indoor practice facility for football would AT LEAST be in the plans and for sure they'd have given UTEP enough money to build a new 18K seat arena for hoops with all modern amenities. To say nothing of the fact that we still have that annoying little detail with regards to the Sun Bowl committee...namely the fact they have been black-balling UTEP for decades and UTEP fans are content with it. Then we have the pitiful wages that UTEP pays coaches and administrators because their community won't provide them the funds to pay well enough to keep mid-major schools like UMass from trying to steal UTEP coaches. They could lose a coach to the A-10 or even the Sun Belt and just gloss over it as if it happens to everybody. I could go on and on but basically you get the point. They think small with regards to UTEP athletics. They will never have an NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, or even MLS team. They have UTEP and that's all they will ever have. Instead of nurturing it they treat it like a bastard stepchild. They are content with mediocrity as long as it comes cheap. Well, I'm not and I've had enough of it to last me a lifetime.

I've always liked the SMU fans. They may be small in numbers and quiet but they aren't afraid to let their money and their actions talk. I think SMU is on the verge of big things with the people they have hired and the financial committment of their fan base towards the program.

Nah, SMU ever since the death penalty has obviously not been the same. Before that, their program was well on its way to be reckoned with among the best in Collegiate Sports

They're fine and I enjoy having them in the league

Replace SMU with TCU. We keep the Dallas television market, and we exchange a lousy football team for a good one, as well as picking up another decent baseball team.

This thread is just moronic. We're trying to build a good sense of the conference and good relationships/rivalries within the conference and instead we've got dickwads creating a thread that might as well be titled "Which school do you think sucks most?" STFU.

i couldn't disagree more...UTEP has a solid football and basketball program...Mike Price is a great coach, and Tony Barbee hasn't really had time to get all of his players in there yet.

the Sun Bowl is great...i've seen it packed out on TV several times...the Don is the second best basketball facility in the conference.

really, i like the current C-USA set-up...i only wish UAB and Houston would step up the level of play in basketball.

Go Tigers!!!
Drew

I agree. UAB Football has regressed instead of progress the last 3 years. Others upstarts has passed us by now. It is what it is.

Has Memphis ever missed the Dance? I mean I'm just asking. And why don't you wish that everyone step up their level in play? And not just only in basketball but in football, baseball and every other sport in Div I?

I know this is the saying every year for Coogs...but our recruiting class this year is badass.

The state BOT has been f***ing us for 30 years, starting in 2008. Unfortunately, we've only made the postseason in basketball 76% of the time

UAB is the scourge of C-USA. Troy has so much more to offer over UAB! UAB only has 1,000,000+ living within 30 miles of campus. They're only the 3rd largest research University in the South--they can't even beat Duke and UNC! Their football program only has 1 bowl appearance in a decade of being Division 1...and the basketball! Don't even get me started! TWO LOSING SEASONS since they started athletics in 1978 is appaling!

And for the love! The golf team just won their FIRST C-USA Championship! Those guys should have about ten, right?

UAB is definitely worth keeping. So are Houston and Tulsa. Like I said, if anyone deserves to be shown the door it is UTEP.

Sounds like every C-DOA team has a case. LOL!

But that would leave us the Mountain West.

Memphis has been shown the door, but Mike Tranghese is doing his best to keep it locked.

I think that there are only two ways teams leave the conference in the next 10 years:
1. They get picked up by other conferences (Big East/Mountain West)
2. They are forced to drop football.

Those two scenarios alone include about half the conference. There are at least two teams that will soon consider dropping football and at least five teams that could receive invites to other conferences. CUSA might very well be the same conference 10 years down the road, but I'll bet you see at least 2 teams leave the conference in one fashion or another.

I'd love to know who you think is going to drop football and why. No one has dropped 1-A/FBS football since the Big West teams in the early 90s.
- Tulane survived the most dangerous period and seems to have the commitment to keep their football program now.
- UAB gets screwed on its ability to be real competitive, but their financials are ok. Unless they win a bowl and then knock off UA-T and Bear Bryant Jr. goes nuts, I don't see why they'd be forced to drop their program.

You're right I was thinking of Tulane and UAB. I took care to use the word "forced" because I know neither wants to drop their program. I hope that neither program has to, they both have solid athletic programs.

Tulane is a possibility because they talked about dropping football BEFORE Katrina. They have kept things going for now, but they still need to reinstate sports and some PhD programs. I think they should be ok, but if there is a shortage of money look for the debate to heat up again.

UAB is a possibility because the overall program is weak and the BOT would be happy to shut down football or downgrade them to I-AA. While they may not have financial issues right now, teams with their attendance typically get them at one point or another. They also have the problem of finding a stadium, as there is no way Legion Field survives much longer in its current state. In addition, there was some older data that suggested they had issues with Title IX, they might have fixed the problem since then, but if not, that is just more ammunition for the BOT. I don't think they'll talk about dropping the sport this year, but I think the future of their program is at least uneasy.

You have little knowledge of the subject in which you speak of.

I personally would have to go with a team from the West division. I like Tulsa and Houston because they are competitive in both major sports. If I wanted to do it soley based on travel I would say UTEP, but they make up for that with attendance. If I based it on performance then I would have to go with Tulane, SMU, or Rice. I like having a team from NO so Tulane is safe. That only leaves SMU or Rice. Well SMU hired Doh a few years ago and have yet to see anything good out of it, however Rice just got rid of Wilson and replaced him with Braun, oh yeah and they have a new facility opening, round 1 goes to Rice. For football Rice has been anywhere from mediocre to really bad, while SMU has done the same over the last few years. However, with the new hire of June Jones then I would have to give round 2 to SMU. Lastly, Rice is a Top 10 team every year in baseball, while SMU doesn't have a baseball program, so Round 3 goes to Rice. So Rice stays and SMU goes.

Don't get me wrong I like SMU, but if I had to pick it would be the Mustangs. You could find several schools that would be an upgrade from SMU and be instantly competitive in all major sports. The top 3 schools that I would look at would be TCU for their strong football program and the Dallas/Ft. Worth market, Ohio for pure selfish reasons, they are within 3 hours of Huntington, but they do have a good basketball and baseball team and they have Frank Solich for football, not to mention a top 25 volleyball program, and lastly Troy because they are a closer distance than SMU, they have had recent success in football and have been strong in baseball for a long time.

Personally, I like our conference and wouldn't kick any team out, even ECU who seems to be lifting their skirt awful high every time the words "Big East" are mentioned. They think they're BOD material when in reality they're MILF. Obviously, if any BCS conference offered any school in CUSA it would jump. As to those mental defectives who wish to have SMU banished, they can hop on the little yellow bus with Robert. No other school in CUSA has a National Championship in football and we have two. Nuf said. We've now paid our penance for cheating and are ready to get back in the game.

I see that you had great records in '35, '81, and '82, but nobody actually lists you as national champions in '81 or '82 other than SMU related websites. The only thing that I can find on '35 is that Minnesota was the Helms national champ, while SMU was the Dickinson national champ. However, SMU lost their bowl game, while Minnesota went undefeated. As for 1981 and 1982 Clemson and Penn St. were actually "Consensus National Champions".

Yes '81 and '82 known as the Joe Pa Pity Championship. We were undefeated and won the Cotton Bowl. They had a loss. We were National Champions in at least one poll so we get to claim it. For 1935, we beat TCU in the game of the century and beat Fordham and the Seven blocks of Granite in NYC, and were declared National Champions. Bowl games didn't count back then, and we appeared in the Rose Bowl and lost to Stanford. TCU also claims that National Championship even though we beat them. It was one of those years with split National Champions. Let me even go further, no other team in CUSA has even been ranked second in football in Division 1 (except perhaps UH and Rice). No other team in CUSA has as many top 10 finishes in football as SMU. No other team in CUSA has as many top 20 finishes in football as SMU.

Dude, you are bragging about rankings from the 80s. That just great! Do i need to remind you that smu cheated? You claim that smu won the game of the century. What did that get you? TCU still owns the all time series vs. smu.

Smu should never brag about football. Smu football has become a bunch of nobodys.

Dump the scum suckers at Rice, they really are a D-II school when it comes to support, and bring in a school like Troy.