Conference USA was raided by the AAC last year, but with four — and possibly more — schools on the way, it has renewed confidence.
theathletic.com
Those of you with a sub to The Athletic might find this interesting. Some cliff's notes style paraphrasing for those who don't:
1. Kennesaw State. Sounds like it's happening, just waiting for the confirmation and them to get some ducks in a row with their stadium issue. Also, EKU and Tarleton State appear to be on deck, couple others behind them have some issues (McNeese and SFA). 12 is the max, but they could sit at 10.
2. Couple of quotes from our Stooges - Stockstill "I like the position we’re in right now".
Regarding us turning down the MAC:
MTSU officials pointed to the money to be gained by the exit fees of departing C-USA members (around $20 million in total to be split up), avoiding its own exit/entrance fees and the fact that its alumni base trends southward, as a school just outside of Nashville.
“We felt like, let’s take that money and apply it to our programs and make them better, and we’re in a position to do that,” said MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro, who noted new facilities plans in the works.
3. CUSA leaders acknowledge the issues surrounding the TV/media deals, they don't like streaming on places like facebook, stadium etc. They're looking for ways to make it easier to stream or find CUSA broadcasts, which leads us to:
4. Remember in the MAC threads when people were against the move because of mid-week games? Well, I hope you guys can get pumped for Tarleton State on a Tuesday!.
5. No one likes or wanted Liberty, but CUSA was flat out desperate and they have money, so here they are. They like SHSU and Jax, and NMSU basketball. I think they like Kennesaw.
6. Someone wants to create a G5 challenge, where the top teams from G5 play each other early in the year. I think this is a good idea. They're running into scheduling issues as the early games tend to be the money games G5 teams need to stay afloat and schedules are set for years in advance.