Maybe we just make CUSA better

[JohnDavidBlue]

Sun Belt got rocked this bowl season. I think CUSA has a lot of potential with recent adds and not so sure if going back would be a good move.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/...ning-2023-24-college-football-bowl-season?amp

 

[RaiderDoug]

I’d go back in a second.

They are light years ahead of our programs and I’m not sure outside of us and Liberty, we have programs with potential either.

I think we’d fit in very well with JMU, Marshall, Troy, App State, Coastal, GSU, etc. Especially if WKU came with us.

 

[MT01]

Twelve teams in bowl games is pretty impressive.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to know where the best place should be. If there is a re-divisioning I don't think it's going to matter. And depending on the GOR situation in the ACC that could significantly alter the SBC in a few years.

No question, if conference membership situations were stable, the SBC would be the better place to be right now. Competitive conference with like-minded institutions and a lot tighter geographically. Those three qualities would help us on the fan engagement side if we could start actually being competitive in a league like that ourselves.

Botton line here is we need to worry about our own house and make it as good as it can be. That will put us in a position to be in the conference we need to be the next time musical chairs start again. In a sea of bad decisions by this leadership three good ones might have finally flipped the script for us. Turning down the MAC, finding the workaround in funding to finally break ground on facilities, and the Stockstill/Mason decisions give us hope for what feels like the first time in a decade to be in that kind of position. I just hope the last two weren't too little too late.

 

[blueraiderJT]

We just had a team get the NY6 spot. We're just fine.

 

[RaiderDoug]

We just had a team get the NY6 spot. We're just fine.

“We” are not. Liberty and their conference breaking budget are, but the rest of us are screwed.

Not only are we stuck in the worst FBS conference filled with anonymous start ups, we’re stuck in it with an 800lb gorilla with the resources of a small SEC team.

The goal still has to be the Sunbelt with WKU.

 

[MidTennFootball]

“We” are not. Liberty and their conference breaking budget are, but the rest of us are screwed.

Not only are we stuck in the worst FBS conference filled with anonymous start ups, we’re stuck in it with an 800lb gorilla with the resources of a small SEC team.

The goal still has to be the Sunbelt with WKU.

Glad someone said it. For all of the missteps taken by the Athletic Dept., the greatest was the small mindset they had for so many years. I know moving to the MAC would have put them in position for a move to the AAC, probably an unpopular opinion but one I really believe. Without Liberty, C-USA might as well be a FCS conference

 

[MT01]

Glad someone said it. For all of the missteps taken by the Athletic Dept., the greatest was the small mindset they had for so many years. I know moving to the MAC would have put them in position for a move to the AAC, probably an unpopular opinion but one I really believe. Without Liberty, C-USA might as well be a FCS conference

How would you get out to go to the AAC? We would have been required to give away our rights for 20 years to join the MAC. Also, Rick doesn’t get fired if we went to the MAC.

Pick your poison. There were only bad options because of 10 to 15 years of mismanagement and bad leadership. But it was probably the best of the bad options.

 

[RaiderDoug]

How would you get out to go to the AAC? We would have been required to give away our rights for 20 years to join the MAC. Also, Rick doesn’t get fired if we went to the MAC.

Pick your poison. There were only bad options because of 10 to 15 years of mismanagement and bad leadership. But it was probably the best of the bad options.

I was as big a proponent of moving to the MAC as anyone, but it’s clear as day to me that they stayed in CUSA with the intention of using that money to buy out Stuck, and I’m 100% ok with that.

Bygones being bygones, I’m ready to move forward with this new era.

The focus now from the AD needs to be to get into the belt. We fit budget wise, we have rivals, we have perfect geographical location, it’s a long and short term fit.

CUSA is nothing but a halfway house for reject programs that have no place to go and others that are trying to get out as fast as they can.

 

[BRaiderDave]

I still contend that there’s gonna be a split in FBS and for all of us not in the P2 or 3 leagues there needs to be a consolidation and reshuffling along geographic regions. In the end we are all just midget have-nots and conferences really don’t mean much.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

We are currently a reject program. Until we improve that, we are in a deserved spot in CUSA. As stated earlier, we better get our house in order.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

So far, OOC, the Blue Raiders have lost to member schools of six different conferences. I predict soon to be 7.

Southern Conference - Western Carolina, Wofford
Missouri Valley - UIC, Belmont
MAC - Ohio
AAC - UAB
West Coast Conf - St. Mary’s
Western Athletic Conf - Southern Utah

Upcoming - Murray St - OVC
Rheinhardt - NAIA (Another Milligan)
Why we are still playing NAIA schools is just plain…………Pitiful.

Playing MTSU (or even worse losing to them) only makes an opponent’s overall strength of schedule ranking worse.

 

[BRaiderDave]

So far, OOC, the Blue Raiders have lost to member schools of six different conferences. I predict soon to be 7.

Southern Conference - Western Carolina, Wofford
Missouri Valley - UIC, Belmont
MAC - Ohio
AAC - UAB
West Coast Conf - St. Mary’s
Western Athletic Conf - Southern Utah

Upcoming - Murray St - OVC
Rheinhardt - NAIA (Another Milligan)
Why we are still playing NAIA schools is just plain…………Pitiful.

Playing MTSU (or even worse losing to them) only makes an opponent’s overall strength of schedule ranking worse.

Way to spread Christmas cheer, Scrooge 🤣

 

[blueraiderJT]

“We” are not. Liberty and their conference breaking budget are, but the rest of us are screwed.

Not only are we stuck in the worst FBS conference filled with anonymous start ups, we’re stuck in it with an 800lb gorilla with the resources of a small SEC team.

The goal still has to be the Sunbelt with WKU.

The SBC will never take us back and we played to within 7 of that NY6 team so we are fine. The SBC ate dirt in the bowl games.

 

[BRaiderDave]

The SBC will never take us back and we played to within 7 of that NY6 team so we are fine. The SBC ate dirt in the bowl games.

I actually like the Delaware add and suspect they’ll add UMass in the spring. That would be two flagship R1 universities in major media markets.

Also, basketball is a mere afterthought in the SBC. That’s where schools at our level can separate from the strictly football focused schools.

 

[BRaiderDave]

And this is the reason that we need to IMMEDIATELY move on from McDevitt and get back to being a ranked basketball team.

 

[Brew_Raider]

Take bowl results with a grain of salt.

So many teams have lost coaches, lost players to the portal or opting out, and lack motivation in bowls, it’s nothing more than a glorified exhibition. Half the teams in bowl games are completely different in bowl games. Just hard to look at bowl results in aggregate for a conference and really determine anything meaningful.

 

[sWiley]

Take bowl results with a grain of salt.

So many teams have lost coaches, lost players to the portal or opting out, and lack motivation in bowls, it’s nothing more than a glorified exhibition. Half the teams in bowl games are completely different in bowl games. Just hard to look at bowl results in aggregate for a conference and really determine anything meaningful.

100%. Bowls are even more watered down now than before. They are essentially meaningless exhibitions unless it’s playoffs.