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Conference reallignment

Postby jrj84105 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 3:47 pm

There is really only room for one midmajor conference in the Western US. Currently the WAC, MWC, and CUSA are splitting TV markets, quality teams, and recruiting hotbeds (Texas and California). There really should be a consolidation into two 12 team conferences with what is left now. Hopefully that can result in one good conference and one bad conference rather than the two mediocre conferences (current CUSA and 2012 MWC) and one terrible conference (2012 WAC).

In this pool of Western teams, there is little prospect of getting raided by an AQ conference. Houston has a small chance at getting invited to the Big East (I think UCF is the most likely CUSA team to get pulled into the The Big East maybe followed by Memphis and ECU as TCU has always opposed having other Texas teams in conference). BYU is definitely Big12 ready but there is no partner team (Boise is years away in terms of academics and other requirements; Air Force may be a closer fit; there is probably no chance for another Texas team).

The closest thing to a dominant Western non-AQ is SMU and Houston joining the MWC. If the MWC could also be pressured to drop an underperformer(s) and add a third(fourth) CUSA team (UTEP and/or Tulsa maybe?) this would be even better, If the MWC dropped a few original founding members, the conference could be dissolved and a new one formed. This would get rid of the major achilles hill of the MWC, it's TV contract.

Proposed Western Conference
West Division
Hawaii*
Fresno
San Diego St
UNLV
Nevada
Boise
*Also add a major market basketball program to fill Hawaii's spot
Eastern Division
SMU
Houston
Air Force
any 3 of NM, CoSt, Wyo, UTEP, Tulsa


The eastern division is pretty geographically concentrated and would not have to worry about super late televised games. The CUSA West is essentially swapping Rice and Tulane for Air Force and either NM, CoSt, or Wyo (slight improvement). The MWC west is much better than CUSA east (I think any team other than UNLV would have won CUSA East this year).

The leftovers (UtSt, SJSt, Idaho, NMSt, Rice, Tulane, LaTech, So Miss, UAB, Marshall) could form their crap conference and serve as a reserve if AQ conferences come poaching.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Sammy 11 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:11 pm

I'd rather see the CUSA-MWC title game get a BCS bid. I think the odds of a hybrid conference getting a single bcs bid are long ones and the champ game keeps 10 schools from being shafted even further.

Also consider the economic impact of traveling to colorado & Albuquerque over Houston and New Orleans. This is the minimum you would increase it by and you'd have to do it for all sports. That money adds up and the tv deal would not be much better despite a greater on-field product due to fanbase size. You very easily could have to travel to Colorado twice, Albuquerque, and Wyoming instead of Houston for Rice, Tulsa, New Orleans, and El Paso. That would be a significant travel increase before you even talk about exit fees and lost NCAA tourney credits.

As far as specifics on the TV deal, even with Utah and BYU (who is rolling in $$ as an independent) the MWC could not muster more than 1.6 mil per team when CUSA was 900k. This new league I would expect to rake in between the 2 amounts and have to deal with exit fees and increased travel. The MWC made sense to create since they had a core of 5 geographically close schools (BYU, Utah, AFA, CSU, Wyo) to help with travel and 3 others for markets that made the economics work WAY better than the 16 team super-wac. Don't underestimate the travel benefits of CUSA-West, now that the Big12 is going to a round robin you guys, Rice, and UH have the easiest travel situation for any Texas fbs team.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Samurai Stang » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:20 pm

In the event that the Big East takes ECU and UCF, then one would expect SMU and Houston to break away to the MWC. While I agree that the MWC would benefit from replacing some of its schools, I do not believe it will happen. However, budget concerns may force some of the weaker members to leave Division I, opening the path for more competitive teams such as Tulsa.

Also, I see no circumstance in which the Big East takes Memphis. Villanova, Houston, and even SMU would all be given consideration before hand. But that is a minor issue in your larger point.

I agree that if CUSA becomes too weak, SMU must leave with Houston if at all possible.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Peruna 2K5 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:27 pm

Big East is strong in basketball, and don't forget that Memphis brings a good basketball team. That could be reason for the Big East to take them
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Ponyx2 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:31 pm

I was wondering when this week's conference re-alignment thread would show up.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby BUS » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:32 pm

That is crap.
Too much travel and no crowds at the games.
SMU needs to win and Steve O and G. Turner will improve our lot.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Samurai Stang » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:36 pm

Peruna 2K5 wrote:Big East is strong in basketball, and don't forget that Memphis brings a good basketball team. That could be reason for the Big East to take them


The Big East will not add a football school simply to have another basketball team.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby jrj84105 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:37 pm

Don't underestimate the travel benefits of CUSA-West, now that the Big12 is going to a round robin you guys, Rice, and UH have the easiest travel situation for any Texas fbs team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SMU and UH have to compete with TCU and Big East $$ for recruits now. Although the travel to Colorado is worse than the current CUSA West in-state travel, the Colorado trip plus one to Vegas/California/Hawaii beats the hell out of going to Connecticut. It's a potential selling point for recruits and you may be able to pick up a recruit or two in those destinations.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby EastStang » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:42 pm

No, in fact, no way!. Why would we want to join such a conference? What good would it do us for TV (MTN was going bankrupt)? Eastern TV sets are more important. Time zone? Do you want games that start at 9, 10 p.m. Central time and 10-11 p.m. Eastern time? Travel. Laramie, Wyo. or Greenville, NC. San Diego or Orlando? Fresno or USM? Memphis or Reno? Las Vegas or New Orleans? Hawaii or Huntington, WV? Sorry, not interested!
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Harry0569 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:44 pm

I guarantee you that recruits would not come here if they were having to travel to the West Coast every week. Guys like playing close to home, so that friends and family can watch their games. This thread is ridiculous.

I am so tired of these damn threads.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby smupony94 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:54 pm

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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Sammy 11 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:58 pm

Samurai Stang wrote:In the event that the Big East takes ECU and UCF, then one would expect SMU and Houston to break away to the MWC. While I agree that the MWC would benefit from replacing some of its schools, I do not believe it will happen. However, budget concerns may force some of the weaker members to leave Division I, opening the path for more competitive teams such as Tulsa.

Also, I see no circumstance in which the Big East takes Memphis. Villanova, Houston, and even SMU would all be given consideration before hand. But that is a minor issue in your larger point.

I agree that if CUSA becomes too weak, SMU must leave with Houston if at all possible.



Honestly I think it would be in SMU's interest to dominate the leftovers and be the next Boise from CUSA. Economics would be a push at best and if you guys can help ESPN get those typically BSU timeslots filled you could get a ton of exposure which helps recruiting.

Winning CUSA consistently (which SMU can do with Jones) is better than traveling to take on Boise, AFA, and others at elevation.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby that's great raplh » Thu Dec 16, 2010 7:09 pm

dominating our conference - year in and out 0- is what we need to do
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Samurai Stang » Thu Dec 16, 2010 7:50 pm

EastStang wrote:No, in fact, no way!. Why would we want to join such a conference? What good would it do us for TV (MTN was going bankrupt)? Eastern TV sets are more important. Time zone? Do you want games that start at 9, 10 p.m. Central time and 10-11 p.m. Eastern time? Travel. Laramie, Wyo. or Greenville, NC. San Diego or Orlando? Fresno or USM? Memphis or Reno? Las Vegas or New Orleans? Hawaii or Huntington, WV? Sorry, not interested!


Eastern television is more important, but in the scenario involved ECU and UCF leave CUSA while SMU is left behind. As long as CUSA remains as it is, SMU should remain. If the strong programs in the east leaves, then Houston and SMU should make their own destiny elsewhere.
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Re: Conference reallignment

Postby Samurai Stang » Thu Dec 16, 2010 7:58 pm

Harry0569 wrote:I guarantee you that recruits would not come here if they were having to travel to the West Coast every week. Guys like playing close to home, so that friends and family can watch their games. This thread is ridiculous.

I am so tired of these damn threads.


If CUSA loses ECU and UCF, then CUSA would be a weak conference not worth remaining in. In the MWC scenario, players would still get to play in Dallas, as you seem to have forgotten that SMU would not play on the west coast "every week" due to having home games.

Given how well SMU is recruiting in California and having no games there, your "guarantee" about players wanting to play close to him is clearly incorrect. Furthermore, those players that do care about playing near their homes will likely not mourn the end of rivalries with Rice and Tulane. Home games satisfy the "playing close to home" requirement.
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