[TH Spangler]

I don't like the idea of Delaware or Kennesaw State joining CUSA.

KSU is officially in.

[Ill flame]

I can't say I'm excited about adding another fcs school to the conference. On the bright side Georgia is easily the state we recruit the most so playing there regularly should help recruiting in the Atlanta area. I don't see us losing many recruiting battles to kennesaw state.

[ballcoach15]

Apparently NCAA has removed all rules pertaining to moving from FCS to FBS.
Kennesaw is not FBS ready. Not a good addition to CUSA.

[ballcoach15]

Kennesaw has hard time drawing 5000 fans a game. They'll never hit 15000 average per game.

[Humble_Opinion]

Looks like CUSA is evolving into an FCS+/FBS Light conference.

At one point back in 2016-17 the CUSA was one of the better G5 conferences and the SBC was garbage. Things change quickly over the course of a few years. I understand it's not exciting at the moment, but it's certainly possible for the CUSA to recover their reputation over the next few years.

[Ill flame]

At one point back in 2016-17 the CUSA was one of the better G5 conferences and the SBC was garbage. Things change quickly over the course of a few years. I understand it's not exciting at the moment, but it's certainly possible for the CUSA to recover their reputation over the next few years.

Good point. For better or worse the media hypes a conference based on the top 2 or 3 teams rather than their strength from top to bottom. Until the last year or two C-usa was better than the sunbelt top to bottom but the sunbelt had the better teams at the top (Louisiana, App St and CCU). If we dominate the conference and go to a NY6 a couple times over the next few years people will be hyping up C-USA. If one or two other teams also do well (louisiana tech or WKU) people will act like it's the greatest G5 even if it isn't anywhere near the truth. The sunbelt proved that a couple good programs create enough hype to elevate an entire conference.

[LUalum12]

The new CUSA will start out better in Baseball and Basketball than the Sunbelt. Football will soon out perform the Sunbelt as well. Rising tide in this case (LU) lifts all boats.

[ballcoach15]

Any conference that admits JMU is a garbage conference.

[Chippy]

Any conference that admits JMU is a garbage conference.

"I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member" - Groucho Marx

[stokesjokes]

Hey, that’s my joke!

viewtopic.php?p=645324#p645324

[Chippy]

Hey, that’s my joke!

viewtopic.php?p=645324#p645324

I think you were quoting Groucho's brother, Karl

[TH Spangler]

Keep an eye on Tarleton State University

[FlamesHighontheTide]

It would make sense for the C-USA to add a team from that neck of the woods and then maybe somewhere in-between the Texas to Atlantic coast area. Living out in Montana I'd love for C-USA to grab both MSU & MU. MSU has a better stadium than most G-5s.

[Ill flame]

I don't see what good expanding even more does in a region that already has too many teams. Unless C-USA goes crazy and adds a northern division with all the top teams from the mvfc and big sky that are actually ready for the jump it just seems like they are not only watering down the conference but fbs as a whole.

[ATrain]

If C-USA keeps expanding, we won't have room for P5s on our schedule. We'll be playing an FCS, UMass, and then whoever in-conference, and that'll be it.

[jimflamesfan]

Even if CUSA expands to 12 football teams...we will still only play 8 conference games. You would rotate which teams you didn't play each consecutive year. You can either have two 6 team divisions or everyone just plays 8 conference games and the two highest ranked teams meet in the conference championship game.

That being said...I don't think it's good to go to more than 12. If you did add two more...I woud try to do it this way ... LU and FIU are the only teams without a travel partner. So see if you can get NC A & T...that gives LU a partner ... then invite Florida Gulf Coast for Olympic Only... that gives FIU a travel partner. Then invite ND State for football only. 12 football schools. 12 basketball/Olympic sport schools...everyone has a travel partner so Olympic sport teams can take one flight and play two conference opponents before flying back. And I think those teams add some value to the conference. ND State football adds value with their tradition and the Fargo dome. NC A & T would be the only FBS HBCU school...and people still remember FGCU's Dunk City magical run. It would help solidify travel.

[Humble_Opinion]

I think the CUSA understands the situation they find themselves in and are responding accordingly. In the 2013-16 version of re-alignment, the SBC were the bottom-feeders among the FBS Conferences, and they had to do what they could to survive as they had numerous schools (~5) poached by the CUSA. For many reasons, the SBC has now seemingly jumped ahead and the CUSA are among the bottom-feeders in the FBS. And at this point, there aren't quite as many institutions at the FCS level that are ready to take the leap to the FBS as there were back in 2013-16. Essentially the pickings are slim and they're doing what they can to get ahead of the curve and remain viable as a league.

[cruzan_flame13]

Coming from a WVU fan:

All things considered, I believe this guy thought Freeze would go to Auburn or WVU.

[Ill flame]

With the Big 12 signing a new 6 year deal starting in 2025 and the ACC, B1G and SEC all having tv contracts through at least 2030 I think it is safe to say we won't get any more realignment among the P5 until those contracts ends. I think if any teams were going to move conferences by now it would've happened before these tv contracts were signed. I see this as good news because it gives us about 8 years to improve our stock before things get crazy again.

I don't think we will be anywhere near a P5 candidate by that time but I look at how much things have changed in the last decade and I have to imagine Liberty will be in much better shape. Hopefully by then we are a R2 which would be the biggest thing we could do in the short term to improve our image. I don't see a reason why they isn't achievable with the growth of our research heavy graduate programs such as engineering.

Evidently the 15,000 student cap is gone now that we are at 15,800. I don't think we would be at 25,000 but it wouldn't suprise me if we were around 18,000+ which would only help with attendance. Could we be averaging a near sellout by then? By nearly every metric our fanbase only gets bigger every year so it seems attainable.

[BlueBlood]

Agree. Academics is the best thing the school can work on right now. Also, staying scandal free would surely help.

As to enrollment numbers - that is something to watch. Many times, growth breeds growth. It could snowball.

[cruzan_flame13]

With the Big 12 signing a new 6 year deal starting in 2025 and the ACC, B1G and SEC all having tv contracts through at least 2030 I think it is safe to say we won't get any more realignment among the P5 until those contracts ends. I think if any teams were going to move conferences by now it would've happened before these tv contracts were signed. I see this as good news because it gives us about 8 years to improve our stock before things get crazy again.

I don't think we will be anywhere near a P5 candidate by that time but I look at how much things have changed in the last decade and I have to imagine Liberty will be in much better shape. Hopefully by then we are a R2 which would be the biggest thing we could do in the short term to improve our image. I don't see a reason why they isn't achievable with the growth of our research heavy graduate programs such as engineering.

Evidently the 15,000 student cap is gone now that we are at 15,800. I don't think we would be at 25,000 but it wouldn't suprise me if we were around 18,000+ which would only help with attendance. Could we be averaging a near sellout by then? By nearly every metric our fanbase only gets bigger every year so it seems attainable.

We could've surpassed 15k years ago but was holding back the best way possible. We also could've been close or even going through the study position to be a R2 school. Leafership held us back and we see a little snippet of why that was the case. We saw how quickly LU increase from 2013-2017, so those things are possible from 2024-2029. The new President will have to be up to of her or she is high in academia and understand the benefit of growing the athletic programs. If we continue the trend of getting the same type of people, then we will continue to grow slowly and receive the only achievement of building another building that is likely not needed on the main campus(which may likely not fit).

[Sly Fox]

Until the Pac 12 inks their deal(s), nothing is set in stone as for potential dominoes. But I agree that the windows are closing.

But honestly, we are fine where we sit for the time being. It will be tough without the P5 games on our resume, but we can be a relatively big fish in a small pond with access. That's something we couldn't do as an indy.

[TH Spangler]

Gonzaga has been meeting with B12 last couple weeks.

[cruzan_flame13]

Gonzaga has been meeting with B12 last couple weeks.

One sport program is about to give benefits to the entire athletic department.

[ballcoach15]

Liberty would be better addition to B12 than Gonzaga.