CUSA scheduling

[Charleston Pony]

How does everyone feel about CUSA's decision to play ony 14 games rather than the more traditional 16 game schedule for a 12 team conference (where we would play every team in our division twice and teams from the other division once).

I know CUSA did this primarily for Memphis' benefit and their RPI. They can draw 15,000 fans and want to play a schedule full of top teams. Their schedule is loaded with tourney teams from last year, but still has games with Lamar and Jackson State. Why not drop those in favor of more conference games?

I personally would prefer the traditional schedule which serves to promote conference rivalries and still allows plenty of freedom to schedule attractive non-conference games.

I'd like to see our non-conference schedule include TCU, Baylor and UNT every year. We need to continue scheduling Big XII and SEC schools that have big followings in Dallas and who are willing to give us home/home series (OSU, Arkansas, Missouri,etc...). I know our lack of fans makes it tough to schedule, but I'd like to see regional teams like La Tech, Ark St, or La-Lafayette rather than Hardin-Simmons and TX-Pan Am. I'm even O.K. with one Southland opponent per year, but not both La-Monroe and TX State in the same year. The Ivy league thing with Harvard and Penn in the past hasn't been too bad and why not try to get Army and/or Navy to venture out of the northeast once in a while?

That kind of schedule plus one holiday tourney would be so much better than all these low budget regional foes we have to schedule...just because we don't have enough fans to pay more attractive visitors.

Bottom line is that with the difficulties SMU has in scheduling, I'd prefer 16 conference games.

[EastStang]

Right now until CUSA redevelops its basketball identity, I want to keep Memphis happy. They're a top 10 team and give the conference some solid publicity. They creamed Cincy over the weekend. Memphis would pretty much do anything to get asked to join the Big East. The old WAC teams have a rivalry already (Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP). Rice, SMU ahd UH have history as well. Memphis, UAB, Tulane, UH, and USM have been together for a while.