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I know these rumors of teams leaving C-USA gets tiresome...but this one seems to be credible and it looks like a strong possibility they are gone.

I personally would not miss them, there are a few good things about being in a conference with one dominant team that makes a run at the Final Four each year but I think it has had a more negative impact on the other teams in conference. Was hard to get too excited about the season when it was a given you had no chance to compete for the championship or tourney because you had a "pro" team as a conference mate.

I think with them gone, the race will be more wide open and more excitement will be generated and teams will get better....Figure Houston and UTEP and UAB will consistently have good teams but the rest of us can make runs at them.

Whatever happens is fine..but if they do go, I would look at it as more positive than negative.

bagice wrote:I know these rumors of teams leaving C-USA gets tiresome...but this one seems to be credible and it looks like a strong possibility they are gone.

I personally would not miss them, there are a few good things about being in a conference with one dominant team that makes a run at the Final Four each year but I think it has had a more negative impact on the other teams in conference. Was hard to get too excited about the season when it was a given you had no chance to compete for the championship our tourney because you had a "pro" team as a conference mate.

I think with them gone, the race will be more wide open and more excitement will be generated and teams will get better....Figure Houston and UTEP and UAB will consistently have good teams but the rest of us can make runs at them.

Whatever happens is fine..but if they do go, I would look at it as more positive than negative.

I disagree, with Memphis gone the conference loses any sort of basketball legitimacy. That previous also-rans can suddenly compete for the championship just solidifies CUSAs status as a one bid league.

bagice wrote:I know these rumors of teams leaving C-USA gets tiresome...but this one seems to be credible and it looks like a strong possibility they are gone.

I personally would not miss them, there are a few good things about being in a conference with one dominant team that makes a run at the Final Four each year but I think it has had a more negative impact on the other teams in conference. Was hard to get too excited about the season when it was a given you had no chance to compete for the championship or tourney because you had a "pro" team as a conference mate.

I think with them gone, the race will be more wide open and more excitement will be generated and teams will get better....Figure Houston and UTEP and UAB will consistently have good teams but the rest of us can make runs at them.

Whatever happens is fine..but if they do go, I would look at it as more positive than negative.

I would hate to see them leave. However, I would love to c the CUSA tournament being played @ somewhere other than Memphis every year.
Also, next to Memphis, I would say Tulsa has the best program in the league.

papawasamustang wrote:

bagice wrote:I know these rumors of teams leaving C-USA gets tiresome...but this one seems to be credible and it looks like a strong possibility they are gone.

I personally would not miss them, there are a few good things about being in a conference with one dominant team that makes a run at the Final Four each year but I think it has had a more negative impact on the other teams in conference. Was hard to get too excited about the season when it was a given you had no chance to compete for the championship or tourney because you had a "pro" team as a conference mate.

I think with them gone, the race will be more wide open and more excitement will be generated and teams will get better....Figure Houston and UTEP and UAB will consistently have good teams but the rest of us can make runs at them.

Whatever happens is fine..but if they do go, I would look at it as more positive than negative.

I would hate to see them leave. However, I would love to c the CUSA tournament being played @ somewhere other than Memphis every year.
Also, next to Memphis, I would say Tulsa has the best program in the league.

Oops forgot about Tulsa, you are right, they belong with Houston and are probably ahead of UAB and UTEP....

As far as us losing legitmatcy and being a one bid league...hell, thats what we were anyway...having one team clobbering the rest of us did not make others better, now instead of Memphis getting the one bid, other teams will be vying for it and maybe this will get us to improve.

I think even without Memphis, we still have good BBall programs with good reputations and history(Houston, Tulsa, UAB, UTEP) and the rest of us can also step up.

I'm sorry, as a native Memphian I like Memphis, donate to the school, and actually want the Tigers to move into the big-time (I think it would be good for the city as a whole) but this probably isn't going to happen. Memphis is a one-trick pony - basketball. Frankly, as a fairly large public school with below-average academics in a city with some athletic talent in it U of M should be better, (I honestly believe they should be pushing other CUSA members around more, just like Houston is starting to reach some potential) but they are a commuter school with little support for the University outside of b-ball. Imagine Houston with alot less money and without the NASA ties. They're alumni and boosters are apathetic, unmotivated and unorganized, they don't own any of their own facilities, the Liberty Bowl is horribly, horribly outdated and owned by the city who is trying to sell it to the school because they can't afford to take proper care of it, and the school itself is seriously strapped for cash ($125M behind in needed repairs). Outside of Men's b-ball, where they have been top 5 nationally in attendance in recent years, their other athletic programs are consistently below average. It is a school in serious need of some leadership at almost all levels (look at the Calipari incident - he was allowed to run free, essentially answered to nobody, and ended up leaving the school holding the bag). Also, Memphis is 50th in the country in the terms of a media market - big, but not something they are drooling over. Plus, it is below average in terms of wealth. It isn't the goldmine everybody thinks it is. They are with us for the time being.
I don't mind saying Go Tigers, but this is a stretch, and everybody but their fans seem to see it. Could it happen? Yea, but there are problems that have to be addressed first.

Thanks for the assessment, I have only been reading what the fans have been saying and guess it is possible that is is more of a longshot than some think. Hopefully here soon SMU can step up their play and give you guys a game..although I guess we have come as close as anybody a couple of years back.

My husband's advice was just kick them out like BC did when Jagodinski interviewed with the Jets. You don't want to be here? Fine, don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out, and let's see how you do as an independent.

There's some appeal to that. I'd certainly rather send them packing than wait for them to ditch us or desperately give them all sorts of concessions to keep them happy. Although I guess they bring credibility to the conference, I wonder if we'd be better off from a basketball perspective if we had a more competitive conference without a clear #1 every year (I mean, does anyone even remember the conference UNLV was playing in when they were in the Final Four every year? Nope -- we just remember UNLV, and UNLV's dominance sure didn't help pull anyone else up with them). The Missouri Valley seems to get more respect than CUSA -- even though CUSA's best is a lot better than the MVC's best -- because it is competitive every year with several teams making noise to get an at large bid each year.

I'm thinking the league should just get better in hoops, instead of [deleted] about Memphis being good. This could be a great basketball league w/the right hires. Strive for being 2 bids, not getting rid of our one surefire bid. Mediocre parity is loser talk. Just become more competitive vs. the elite

First, I do not fault any school from pursuing a BCS conference affiliation (come on, if the Big XII asked us we'd be gone in less than a heart beat). But this is wishful thinking by Memphis fans. The BE would have to have its basketball and football schools split. That means leaving ND basketball with the existing BE. Memphis adds nothing in football to their TV contract, and nothing to basketball to their TV contract to make up for the loss of Georgetown, Villanova, DePaul, Notre Dame, etc. Secondly, if Memphis left, what would change in CUSA? We'd add La. Tech or NMSU, and keep our eyes forward and actually improve our football product. The western schools UH, UTEP, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane and Rice should stay pretty solid together with USM and UAB long term commits as well. I worry at times about whether the MWC will make a play for UH if they expand to 12. But I would hope that UH would "just say no" since that would put them and TCU into the red-eyed step child division with UNM, SDSU, Nev (or Fresno)., TCU, UNLV. They'd see AFA, and BYU every four years. And of course there is always the possibility that the PAC 10 might someday jump to 12 and try and add BYU and Utah. So, right now the most stable conference is CUSA. Sure, ECU, UCF and Memphis are wiggling their rears at the BE, the problem for them is that the BE just sees them as another mouth to feed.

I agree that this is a bit wishfull thinking on Memphis's part, but nobody is ever going to consider kicking Memphis out - not only in terms of basketball (don't look now, but Memphis is reloading; they had the #3 recruiting class in the country as of yesterday afternoon, and that was before landing the #64 player in the country last night) but also for their football wildcard in the Liberty Bowl. Yeah, I know, the Liberty Bowl isn't that great, but it's the best we have right now, we can't afford to lose it, and Steve Earhardt, it's director, has said publicly that it's going where Memphis goes. I kind of think this conference needs Memphis right now.
But I agree that we also need to know who's in and who's out.

I am not in favor of kicking Memphis out. I just said that if any team leaves we keep our eyes forward, back-fill and move on. My view - nothing changes unless there is a football playoff installed with 8, 12, or 16 teams. Then there will be lots of reassessments by all FBS conferences.

You didn't. DiamondM's husband, and possibly DiamondM, did.

leopold wrote:I'm sorry, as a native Memphian I like Memphis, donate to the school, and actually want the Tigers to move into the big-time (I think it would be good for the city as a whole) but this probably isn't going to happen. Memphis is a one-trick pony - basketball. Frankly, as a fairly large public school with below-average academics in a city with some athletic talent in it U of M should be better, (I honestly believe they should be pushing other CUSA members around more, just like Houston is starting to reach some potential) but they are a commuter school with little support for the University outside of b-ball. Imagine Houston with alot less money and without the NASA ties. They're alumni and boosters are apathetic, unmotivated and unorganized, they don't own any of their own facilities, the Liberty Bowl is horribly, horribly outdated and owned by the city who is trying to sell it to the school because they can't afford to take proper care of it, and the school itself is seriously strapped for cash ($125M behind in needed repairs). Outside of Men's b-ball, where they have been top 5 nationally in attendance in recent years, their other athletic programs are consistently below average. It is a school in serious need of some leadership at almost all levels (look at the Calipari incident - he was allowed to run free, essentially answered to nobody, and ended up leaving the school holding the bag). Also, Memphis is 50th in the country in the terms of a media market - big, but not something they are drooling over. Plus, it is below average in terms of wealth. It isn't the goldmine everybody thinks it is. They are with us for the time being.
I don't mind saying Go Tigers, but this is a stretch, and everybody but their fans seem to see it. Could it happen? Yea, but there are problems that have to be addressed first.

Excellent assessment. Your comments reflect my thoughts and are right on accurate. Nice job.

If they bolt, would C-USA search for a new 12th member? Any word or rumors as to a possible replacement ?

Definitely not North Texas, we've kept them out of our conference for this long, let's not break now.