[TIMSCAR20]

My opinion only but I think the perception is UTEP is just not a good fit for CUSA due to geography. I hope they stay in personally, at least until Tim Floyd retires. I enjoy our interactions.

[TH Spangler]

http://www.college-sports-journal.com/p ... sion-move/

""Liberty, who has been sitting by the phone for years, has to be proactively preparing several new Powerpoint presentations, ready to ship to the MAC or Sun Belt at a moment’s notice.""

[Innocent Bystander]

• 1. Pull up two teams from either C-USA or beyond (likely Marshall. Rice or Southern Miss)
  2. Pull up one team and add UMass as a football associate to go alongside Navy

Any chance that a third option for the AAC would be to add both UMass and Army as associates? I know Army wasn't interested initially, but there appears to be some sentiment among the Army faithful to give conference membership another go if they get an AAC offer.

[Jonathan Carone]

Why is no one mentioning ODU to the AAC? They have more money than the other schools, their budget is bigger, and they bring more to the table.

[TH Spangler]

Why is no one mentioning ODU to the AAC? They have more money than the other schools, their budget is bigger, and they bring more to the table.

Starting a major upgrade to stadium. Great TV market.

[Purple Haize]

Why is no one mentioning ODU to the AAC? They have more money than the other schools, their budget is bigger, and they bring more to the table.

Starting a major upgrade to stadium. Great TV market.

Maybe they are happy where they are?

[Jonathan Carone]

In reality, it doesn't really matter.

If BYU doesn't get into the Big XII, we're not getting an FBS invite. It's the exact same situation just replace FBS with P5 for them.

[LUGrad2000]

In reality, it doesn't really matter.

If BYU doesn't get into the Big XII, we're not getting an FBS invite. It's the exact same situation just replace FBS with P5 for them.

Well, at least then we will know. Big South 4 life, or FBS Ind€]¥#%?+t.

[R i]

In reality, it doesn't really matter.

If BYU doesn't get into the Big XII, we're not getting an FBS invite. It's the exact same situation just replace FBS with P5 for them.

It may appear the same, but my opinion is that they are two very very separate situations.

[Jonathan Carone]

In reality, it doesn't really matter.

If BYU doesn't get into the Big XII, we're not getting an FBS invite. It's the exact same situation just replace FBS with P5 for them.

It may appear the same, but my opinion is that they are two very very separate situations.

You're not wrong. BYU doesn't have their president campaigning for a presidential candidate every school president hates. So there's that!

[Purple Haize]

In reality, it doesn't really matter.

If BYU doesn't get into the Big XII, we're not getting an FBS invite. It's the exact same situation just replace FBS with P5 for them.

It may appear the same, but my opinion is that they are two very very separate situations.

Maybe I am just a tolerant liberal but I don't get the BYU hate. I understand the LU aversion a lot more than I do BYU. The Cougars have tradition, are competitive, have money and bring eyeballs and butts to tv's and seats. They are weird but they aren't going off the rails. Heck one of their own was almost President and they pretty much own Vegas!

[ATrain]

In reality, it doesn't really matter.

If BYU doesn't get into the Big XII, we're not getting an FBS invite. It's the exact same situation just replace FBS with P5 for them.

It may appear the same, but my opinion is that they are two very very separate situations.

Maybe I am just a tolerant liberal but I don't get the BYU hate. I understand the LU aversion a lot more than I do BYU. The Cougars have tradition, are competitive, have money and bring eyeballs and butts to tv's and seats. They are weird but they aren't going off the rails. Heck one of their own was almost President and they pretty much own Vegas!

Own Vegas? Sorry...I saw no BYU emblems when I was there...

[Purple Haize]

Check out the history of Vegas and who backs a lot of the financing. It's not easy to get something done out there without LDS backing

[rmiller1959]

If you are wondering if dominoes could fall far enough to impact us, this is where you will be watching things very closely. If CUSA loses one or two teams of the ones I mentioned above, they will have a very small pool of schools of possible back-fill: Texas State, JMU, Missouri State, NMSU and Liberty. If for instance say Southern Miss and Rice were gone, there would be no incentive for other Sun Belt schools with the exception of isolated Texas State to pay the entry & exit fees required to make the move. JMU appears less compelled to make the leap today than they were a year or so ago. Missouri State would be a stretch to C-USA considering the state of their football program but could be an option. NMSU would come in an instant if invited but considering the geography involved and the low upside of the school, it appears unlikely. That leaves us in a surprisingly strong position based on our budget, geography and ability to act quickly.

I know some of you are laughing right now but I will simply tell you this is not just crazy hypotheticals. I am hearing that we are legitimate candidate for CUSA from sources here in Texas and beyond. Some of these sources at large state schools seem puzzled that our name is coming up and wanted to know from me what was going on in Lynchburg that was impressing their school's administrators.

This scenario sounds plausible. I recall that ODU would love to schedule a home-and-home with Liberty:

"Liberty athletic director Jeff Barber and ODU athletic director Wood Selig are good friends who say once the Flames have found an FBS home, the schools surely will play."

ODU's AD had also been talking to the previous C-USA commissioner about Liberty:

"Selig said he has talked with C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky, not so much to recommend Liberty for the next round of conference expansion, but to make sure conference officials realized the growth potential.

"'Their baseball stadium cost $18 million,' Selig said. 'There are Triple-A teams that don't have a stadium as nice as Liberty's. They have really positioned themselves well.'"

We have an ally in C-USA, and I don't doubt that Jeff Barber is talking to his friend to help us out.

[Sly Fox]

First off, the Big XII & CUSA have vastly different perspectives on what makes a good addition. Perception means a great deal more to the Big XII Presidents than it does to the loose confederation of G5 schools that comprise Conference USA. There has not been the pushback from CUSA academics the way there has been from certain circles in the Big XII. BYU is welcome in every G5 in the nation regardless of their honor code. It is just the P5 who want to present themselves as the upper echelon of society that are more sensitive. Evcen the Sun Belt folks who were so staunch against us would not hesitate to snare BYU if it were even remotely possible.

As for ODU, they are most certainly on the AAC back-fill short list. But from what I have heard they have done a nice job of representing us as well as JMU nicely to their current peers.

[Humble_Opinion]

Our academics have improved as much as our facilities in recent years, they just haven't been as widely discussed on this board. Our profile in terms of degrees offered and degrees issued has started to look more like most of these major institutions. That is evidenced by the recent update in our Carnegie classification as a DRU. The AD's of the world look at us and drool. They are more easily convinced of our potential than the academics are. that is a part of the challenge here.

[TH Spangler]

This is hard to keep up with. Sounds like CUSA could lose three of these. Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss, ODU, Louisiana Tech (AAC) and UTEP (MWC).

[adam42381]

Our academics have improved as much as our facilities in recent years, they just haven't been as widely discussed on this board. Our profile in terms of degrees offered and degrees issued has started to look more like most of these major institutions. That is evidenced by the recent update in our Carnegie classification as a DRU. The AD's of the world look at us and drool. They are more easily convinced of our potential than the academics are. that is a part of the challenge here.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is this? I didn't have much luck with Google.

[thepostman]

You need to brush up on your Google skills. First hit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegi ... _Education

[rmiller1959]

If this is true - if it's BYU and Houston - does the loss of only one school from the AAC leave us once again all dressed up but with nowhere to go?

http://landgrantgauntlet.com/2016/08/27 ... w-members/

[adam42381]

You need to brush up on your Google skills. First hit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegi ... _Education

I found that, but there's no mention of DRU.

[Sly Fox]

Doctoral Research Universities = DRU

Technically the term used by Carnegie to describe us is "R3: Doctoral Universities - Moderate Research Activity".

Here's the LU news release from back in february dexcribing the step up in designation:

Click Here

[rmiller1959]

The field is narrowing:

http://www.mwcconnection.com/2016/8/30/ ... idate-list

[Sly Fox]

Based on everything i am hearing, there are only three serious candidates and the others are simply overflow on the highly unlikely possibility of adding a 4th school. The other two unnamed AAC schools would clearly be SMU & Tulane. neither is getting invited and they know that fact. But it looks good to their donor bases to have been seen as pursuing the Big XII.

UH & UC are the clear frontrunners but I have heard reliable folks tell me to not count out BYU. Allegedly negotiations have been ongoing between lawyers for the league, candidates & networks (ESPN & Fox). I still think it is possible that they push off a decision until next summer. But it could drop any day based on the bylaws of the Big XII.

[R i]

August has come and nearly gone. Its looking like they are in no rush to add, so that UH and UC could be football eligible in 2017. Good for them, bad for us.