How are we not competent in terms of results? We won more CUSA titles collectively than Memphis did while in CUSA. They had some great runs in men's BB (ONE SPORT) including the Calipari cheating era, but in Football and in most of their other sports, they sucked. They most certainly didn't move the needle much. The Liberty Bowl is in the literal hood. They found dead body remains like 2 blocks away from the stadium the day we played them in 07. The day of. My buddy who is in forensics worked it before the game. It was a murder of course. We talked about it while walking in the stadium.
Actually, if you remember, 3 SBC teams got invited to CUSA before us and all 3 did nothing in the SBC. They were the boat anchors at the time. All of us were losing our minds in 2011 early 12 when it happened. We were the last to get invited at the end of 2012. Memphis had not left yet but once it was a done deal, we got the call.
However, my point with Memphis is that it's not just them as I said in over the last 2 friggin posts. The conference DOES NOT WANT 2 TN TEAMS IN THEIR FOOTPRINT. THEREFORE, AS LONG AS MEMPHIS IS THERE, WE WON'T EVER BE. That's the point. Memphis would be against it naturally because it directly impacts their recruiting and saturation in competing markets. However, it's not just their call. The AAC doesn't need or want 2 TN teams. I just said it again in case you couldn't read all caps. Sheesh. The mere existence of Memphis guarantees that we will never be an AAC member as long as they are there. The second they leave, we will get a call because of the Nashville market. You don't have to believe me. I'm right so far. LOL.
The answer to your first question I will unfortunately answer with questions. First, are you serious? When was the last time MT won a conference title in football outright? What's our MBB record since Kermit left? How do our facilities compare with schools currently in the AAC? What is the status and growth (or lack thereof) of our fan base, ticket sales, merchandising, etc? How do our peers view our leadership and potential? Once you answer those questions for yourself, the competence answer becomes clear.
As for the portion above bolded, please source this for me. This statement is baseless. I do no believe there is any evidence to support this whatsoever. I could conceivably accept it if Memphis and Nashville shared the same DMA. Nashville DMA is top 30 and Memphis isn't even Top 50. AAC just added #22, #31, #39, and #45. To suggest they wouldn't want #29 because they already have #51 is beyond ludicrous lacking all rational thought. I'm sorry, but the AAC isn't making a decision based on Memphis' emotions.
Now, back to JT's inaccuracies. Let's actually start talking in facts here.
Fact #1: On February 8, 2012, it was announced that Memphis would be joining the Big East Conference. This obviously occurred before the Catholic 7 basketball schools split off (that occurred in March of 2013) taking the Big East name with them and forcing the remaining schools to form a new conference, which was to be called the American.
Fact #2: On May 4, 2012 news broke that C-USA was adding Louisiana Tech, FIU, UTSA, North Texas, and also announced Charlotte would be coming in and competing once it was officially FBS. At this point Memphis had already announced it would be playing in the Big East in 2013. Despite it being known Memphis was leaving and having no say or votes in the matter on future C-USA membership, MT was not invited. This was an epic failure on SM and MM's part. A lesson they clearly did not learn the first time.
Fact #3: Later that year in November, the Big East announced it would be adding East Carolina and Tulane. It was at that point that MT and FAU were invited to C-USA. MT paid the penalty to leave the Sun Belt early which is why MT played East Carolina at Floyd in 2013. Again, Memphis was already long gone.
These facts irrevocably refuted what you wrote above about the sequencing of events culminating in the italicized text, which is patently false.
