PonyFans.com

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... y/18923863

FIU, LaTech, UNT, UTSA, Charlotte, and Old Dom.

FIU, LaTech, and UNT I understand. UTSA, Charlotte, and Old Dom have me scratching my head a bit.

I guess you could see UNT and UTSA and replacements for SMU and UH with no more overlap of schools in Houston.

LaTech just fits the region.

Not sure why Charlotte would come back to CUSA, they jumped ship to the A10 when their rivalries bolted CUSA for the Big East.

Old Dominion, who knows, probably would have gone Sun Belt if the others stayed. Not sure why it wasn't the Sun Belt poaching CUSA instead.

How would the Sun Belt poach anyone from CUSA? That is like saying the Big East is going to poach the ACC.

goldenstang wrote:How would the Sun Belt poach anyone from CUSA? That is like saying the Big East is going to poach the ACC.

So: ECU+Marshall+Rice+USM+Tulane+Tulsa+UAB+UTEP>>>FAU+FIU+MTn+USA+Troy+WKU+ASU+ULL+ULM+UNT

Seems more like a toss up given CUSA has lost its biggest attractions. Glad SMU is moving on up!

ECU, Southern Miss and Tulsa have been very good at football the last several years. Tulsa, UAB, and UTEP have solid basketball programs so yes, CUSA is stronger than SBC. Frankly I don't understand why they are adding all the schools they are adding. I would have done the merger with the MWC for a 16 team conference and called it a day. Otherwise limit the additions such that you preserve a 9 or 10 member conference. In this case add La Tech or FIU and FAU.

MustangSTATS wrote:

goldenstang wrote:How would the Sun Belt poach anyone from CUSA? That is like saying the Big East is going to poach the ACC.

So: ECU+Marshall+Rice+USM+Tulane+Tulsa+UAB+UTEP>>>FAU+FIU+MTn+USA+Troy+WKU+ASU+ULL+ULM+UNT

Seems more like a toss up given CUSA has lost its biggest attractions. Glad SMU is moving on up!

A lot of those schools having been playing college football for 50+ years, most of the belt teams are relatively recent startups. The stigma that comes with being labeled a Sun Belt school is probably a big difference between the two leagues. Just because CUSA lost a few teams doesn't mean it changed the pecking order. If you look at sports other than football, the gap between the two teams is even larger.

BigT3x wrote:http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/brett-mcmurphy/18923863

FIU, LaTech, UNT, UTSA, Charlotte, and Old Dom.

FIU, LaTech, and UNT I understand. UTSA, Charlotte, and Old Dom have me scratching my head a bit.

UTSA is huge with relatively little sports competition in town. They could be very successful

MustangSTATS wrote:I guess you could see UNT and UTSA and replacements for SMU and UH with no more overlap of schools in Houston.

LaTech just fits the region.

Not sure why Charlotte would come back to CUSA, they jumped ship to the A10 when their rivalries bolted CUSA for the Big East.

Old Dominion, who knows, probably would have gone Sun Belt if the others stayed. Not sure why it wasn't the Sun Belt poaching CUSA instead.

Charlotte is just starting football, and both they and ODU have a target of moving up to FBS. CUSA makes more sense when you add in football.

Also, I expect UTEP may be leaving, and that's why they are going with more than 12 schools.

MustangStealth wrote:Also, I expect UTEP may be leaving, and that's why they are going with more than 12 schools.

Where would they go? Mountain West? "The Mtn" or whatever their channel was is shutting down and UTSA got an invite to both the MWC and CUSA and chose CUSA.

Now that the merger is off the table, CUSA is the stronger conference.

Scattershooting while wondering what an Old Dominion / SMU game would draw at Ford.

If I was Rice, I would have some serious discussions about the future of FB. This is what occurs when there is no commitment over decades. Watered down conference, outdated facilities and zero support while your cross-town rivals just moved up in the world.

The future, to be generous, is trending down.

That school does not need FB. I would consider marshalling my resources towards baseball and basketball.

SMU just seriously dodged a bullet.

BigT3x wrote:

MustangStealth wrote:Also, I expect UTEP may be leaving, and that's why they are going with more than 12 schools.

Where would they go? Mountain West? "The Mtn" or whatever their channel was is shutting down and UTSA got an invite to both the MWC and CUSA and chose CUSA.

Now that the merger is off the table, CUSA is the stronger conference.

Yes. Even though there won't be a merger, there is still a strong possibility of some sort of partnership between the 2 leagues that will include UTEP switching sides. There are more viable expansion candidates in the CUSA footprint, so they can afford to let UTEP go and focus more on the southeast. UTEP fits better geographically and historically with the MWC.

Congrats to NTSU!

SoCal_Pony wrote:Scattershooting while wondering what an Old Dominion / SMU game would draw at Ford.

If I was Rice, I would have some serious discussions about the future of FB. This is what occurs when there is no commitment over decades. Watered down conference, outdated facilities and zero support while your cross-town rivals just moved up in the world.

The future, to be generous, is trending down.

That school does not need FB. I would consider marshalling my resources towards baseball and basketball.

SMU just seriously dodged a bullet.

I was thinking the same thing. Rice can't be happy with these additions. I mean seriously, NTSU and FIU. Out of all the current C-USA schools, I feel the worst for Rice (and Tulane).

MustangSTATS wrote:I guess you could see UNT and UTSA and replacements for SMU and UH with no more overlap of schools in Houston.

LaTech just fits the region.

Not sure why Charlotte would come back to CUSA, they jumped ship to the A10 when their rivalries bolted CUSA for the Big East.

Old Dominion, who knows, probably would have gone Sun Belt if the others stayed. Not sure why it wasn't the Sun Belt poaching CUSA instead.

Actually, Charlotte (and St. Louis) got kicked out in 2005 when Banowsky decided to make CUSA a 100% all-sports conference. Since Charlotte is starting football, they needed to get back to a conference that sponsors football