CUSA vs MWC

[Charleston Pony]

Not sure what the conferences head-to-head records might be, or what their records against BCS schools or Top 25 schools might be...but in terms of fan interest (attendance) , it would be tough to argue that the MWC isn't slightly ahead of CUSA

We all know about SMU's lack of fan support, but this past weekend Rice drew 9,162 for Tulane while Houston drew 15,119 for USM. UAB (most experts' pre-season favorite to win CUSA) drew only 12,199. Tulsa drew an almost respectable 21,995. Good thing we have UTEP, who drew 42,789 for Texas Southern.

Over in the MWC this past weekend, CSU drew 25,411 (down for them), Utah drew 36,746 and TCU drew 28,035 (that crowd would look great in Ford). The MWC's attendance slug, Wyoming, drew 15,889. Of course, the MWC has BYU who traditionally draws 50-60,000 to offset our UTEP and Memphis.

CUSA really needs SMU to get it's act together and for Houston to continue improving. We need to field teams at least as strong as TCU and we need to fill our little 30,000 seat stadiums.

Of course, for all the talk comparing CUSA and the MWC, I'm not so sure that Fresno doesn't have the best non-BCS football team this year. Only loss was a 3 pt loss to Oregon on the road. That's 9-1 (ranked #10) Oregon, a little more respectable loss than TCU's loss to SMU.

[covok48]

"Wyoming, drew 15,889."

Well there is a reason for that "slump". Being from Wyoming, I can attest to that. The state only has 500,000 people, and fans have to drive an average of 150+ miles to go to a home game. This becomes extremely difficult when snow hits the ground, and hurt attendance. However, say Wyoming has a better team and plays for the MWC title it can get over 30,000 (out of 500,000) that's six percent of the entire state's population at a football game, not bad. I remember back in 1998 when Wyoming played Air Force for a share of the WAC title, we drove 7 hours (400 miles) during snow season to watch the game.

To put that in perspective: Drive to Tulsa and back twice. That was how long our trip was both ways.

Sorry just thought ya'll would like that tidbit of information...back to topic
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I'm a diehard Mustang fan but I think the MWC (a little bias here) is flat out better than C-USA for a number of reasons:

1) First Non-BCS team to make a BCS Bowl (Utah)

2) Consistantly higer attendance (as shown above) & better travel attendance despite longer distances

3) More stable conference, looking to add mid-major power teams ( Boise State & UTEP in the future?) C-USA just looking to stay together (Tulane)/requests form East Teams to move to Big East.

4) Better Recruiting due to "Talent in State Stays in State", and fewer competing universities. I believe this helps attendance as well.

5) More competetive conference, even teams in the cellar of the MWC can put up an impressive game, I doubt Rice can put up a match against of say Memphis like SDSU put up against TCU.

Anyway that's just my two cents. I may not have many fans of my notions but hey I'm biased like I said.

[el_guapissimo]

"Wyoming, drew 15,889."

Well there is a reason for that "slump". Being from Wyoming, I can attest to that. The state only has 500,000 people, and fans have to drive an average of 150+ miles to go to a home game. This becomes extremely difficult when snow hits the ground, and hurt attendance. However, say Wyoming has a better team and plays for the MWC title it can get over 30,000 (out of 500,000) that's six percent of the entire state's population at a football game, not bad. I remember back in 1998 when Wyoming played Air Force for a share of the WAC title, we drove 7 hours (400 miles) during snow season to watch the game.

To put that in perspective: Drive to Tulsa and back twice. That was how long our trip was both ways.

Sorry just thought ya'll would like that tidbit of information...back to topic
----------------------

I'm a diehard Mustang fan but I think the MWC (a little bias here) is flat out better than C-USA for a number of reasons:

1) First Non-BCS team to make a BCS Bowl (Utah)

2) Consistantly higer attendance (as shown above) & better travel attendance despite longer distances

3) More stable conference, looking to add mid-major power teams ( Boise State & UTEP in the future?) C-USA just looking to stay together (Tulane)/requests form East Teams to move to Big East.

4) Better Recruiting due to "Talent in State Stays in State", and fewer competing universities. I believe this helps attendance as well.

5) More competetive conference, even teams in the cellar of the MWC can put up an impressive game, I doubt Rice can put up a match against of say Memphis like SDSU put up against TCU.

Anyway that's just my two cents. I may not have many fans of my notions but hey I'm biased like I said.

Didn't SMU beat the MWC champion? The farthest I will entertain an argument about the comparisons of MWC to CUSA is they are on par with each other. For the exception of TCU, MWC has been relatively average or slightly above this year. Life was grand last year when UTAH got into the BCS, but where are they now? A true litmus to determine the overall health of the conference is determined over time. MWC peaked last year, and they are looking pretty bad this year. Both conferences have their shares of perennial losers. Next year will be a telling one for MWC. Do the teams continue slide as they did from last year to this one, or do they rebound? Their bowl scenario leaves a lot of room for improvement as well.

[EastStang]

In truth the conference has competitively slipped a bit in the past two or three years. Utah ran the table (partly because the rest of the conference was pretty weak). TCU exposed them badly by running the conference table this year. TCU has a good team and deserves everything they've earned this year. I agree that next year is a big year for the MWC to show if they can move up. OOC games will be a key for them as will having some parity. If one team runs the table for a third year in a row, that will be a negative for the conference in my view. Their bad teams are really bad and their good team is really good. We don't have that in CUSA this year, we have a lot of parity which I see as a really great asset for our conference. With parity every game is exciting and meaningful. The BE has no great teams this year and three good ones (WV, UL, USF). The WAC has one great team (FSU) and some really bad ones and some in the middle (BSU, LTU).

[Stallion]

there is almost ZERO Division 1A talent in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada-so the "stay at home theory" is what drags the MWC down not makes it great. There is more talent within a :30 minute driving distance from the Hilltop than there is in the entire wesztern states listed above-No exaggeration-not even close-probably multiple times more in the DFW area.

[el_guapissimo]

there is almost ZERO Division 1A talent in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada-so the "stay at home theory" is what drags the MWC down not makes it great. There is more talent within a :30 minute driving distance from the Hilltop than there is in the entire wesztern states listed above-No exaggeration-not even close-probably multiple times more in the DFW area.

too bad SMU can't garner that talent... Highland Park pumps out regulars... and they are down the street... oye vey!!!

[NTXCoog]

I think the 2 conferences are almost identical. I think TCU & UTEP are equal despite the difference in rankings. TCU has the perceived big win over OU, but it has the perceived big loss. UTEP's loss came against Memphis with Deangelo. If Memphis has DeAngelo, they beat Tennessee. But UTEP doesn't have a marquee win.

I think C-USA has more parity & stronger teams this year on average with some very weak teams.

As for Utah being the 1st non-BCS school to make a BCS bowl, that is only because the rules have changed. Tulane makes a BCS bowl in 1998 under the current system. I think Louisville was better the Utah last year, but because they lost by 3 to Miami, they didn't get the chance to make the BCS bowl.

Historically CUSA always has at least one really bad team that brings the conference reputation down. Most of the time it was Army. UH has had that role. Rice has it this year. The MWC doesn't usually have that really bad team.

I'd love to say CUSA is better, but I can't. But I also can't really say that the MWC is better.