[Ill flame]

Missouri St should be the first fcs that c-usa calls. That would make them the second fbs in the state several hours from mizzou in a decent sized area. They already have decent facilities and have shown a willingness to invest more in sports. They offer more upside than any other fcs mentioned.

[Sly Fox]

On that, we have strong agreement. This could MSU's last opportunity for FBS for at least another decade.

The second call if needed likely will be to placate FIU with an invitation to FGCU.

[BlueBlood]

Agree with both of you. I was kind of surprised that SHSU and JSU were the first two out of the gate (theoretically - nothing is confirmed). I was expecting MO St. and EKU.

[Sly Fox]

No one is more surprised to be in this position than the Sam folks. Drop by their board and you will find they are nearly unanimous in opposition to CUSA membership. They'd rather stick with their WAC plan than move up.

[Geraldos Mustache]

C*USA is a dumpster fire.
Stay away Liberty! Stay away!

Never thought I would say this - but I wish Liberty were joining the Sun Belt.

[flameshaw]

C*USA is a dumpster fire.
Stay away Liberty! Stay away!

Never thought I would say this - but I wish Liberty were joining the Sun Belt.

And 5 years ago, you would have been saying the exact opposite. Stuff changes. I believe Ian will make the correct decision.

[Sly Fox]

Sam Houston's speculated move to Conference USA brings questions, concerns
Colton Foster | The Item

HUNTSVILLE — Sam Houston athletics could soon be on the move again, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

The veteran college football reporter said Monday that Sam Houston football could likely be moving up to the FBS level and joining Conference USA. The rumored move is coming a year after the Bearkats split from the Southland Conference for the WAC.

Here's the most pertinent parts ...

The first hurdle, money.

The five remaining programs left in Conference USA averaged a $31.5 million budget, while Sam Houston’s is still under $20 million. The lowest budget in Conference USA is Louisiana Tech, which runs at a budget of $23 million — still $5 million more than Sam Houston’s.

Over the last month, Sam Houston had a student body vote to increase the athletic fee by $3 per credit hour and it was voted down. The increase would have seen an estimated $1.8 million revenue increase by the students towards athletics, which could have potentially been enough to make the move, as approximately 72% of the funding comes from student fees and university funding.

The second hurdle, Elliot T. Bowers Stadium.

Click Here for Full Story

[UABlazin]

Dennis Dodd echoes some of the rumored moves https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... alignment/

[Sly Fox]

This I find hard to believe from Dennis Dodd's story:

Sources tell CBS Sports that Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod has received calls from up to 30 prospective members to fill that eighth spot.

[Ill flame]

This I find hard to believe from Dennis Dodd's story:

Sources tell CBS Sports that Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod has received calls from up to 30 prospective members to fill that eighth spot.

I'm sure there are several fcs schools calling, maybe an naia school shooting their shot. The number of prospective members that c-usa would actually consider is nowhere near 30 though

[Racenut]

Hopefully Brent McMurphy's best guess from a "source" is just a another swing and a miss from one of hundreds of bloviated gasbag sports writers jockeying for position in the Next Scoop 4th at Pimlico. Can't think of anything more deflating than conference kinship with this alliance of misfits. With 130 schools and counting in the FBS, Ian will have no trouble filling football schedules with those teams needing 3 to 4 non-conference games a year if we remain independent. The other sports seem to be functioning quite well without going to Texas for home and home games. Please say it isn't so.

[Sly Fox]

Hey now, the opportunity to play in Texas on a regular basis is perhaps the biggest upside.

[TH Spangler]

This I find hard to believe from Dennis Dodd's story:

Sources tell CBS Sports that Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod has received calls from up to 30 prospective members to fill that eighth spot.

One is probably NC A&T.

[TH Spangler]

What about TV? CUSA has a terrible TV contract. Hopefully we can keep ours somehow.

Cusa TV deal with CBS runs through the 2022-23 academic year. The conference also has separate contracts to stream games on Stadium and ESPN+.

While the payout is among the lowest in the Group of Five at $500,000 per school.

[ballcoach15]

This I find hard to believe from Dennis Dodd's story:

Sources tell CBS Sports that Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod has received calls from up to 30 prospective members to fill that eighth spot.

One is probably NC A&T.

NC A&T would be good addition. Short road trip.

[TH Spangler]

This I find hard to believe from Dennis Dodd's story:

Sources tell CBS Sports that Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod has received calls from up to 30 prospective members to fill that eighth spot.

https://krod.com/here-are-a-list-of-win ... an-target/

[aredd33]

This I find hard to believe from Dennis Dodd's story:

One is probably NC A&T.

NC A&T would be good addition. Short road trip.

You don’t want a conference with JMU and ODU but NC A&T would be good?

[Sly Fox]

What about TV? CUSA has a terrible TV contract. Hopefully we can keep ours somehow.

Cusa TV deal with CBS runs through the 2022-23 academic year. The conference also has separate contracts to stream games on Stadium and ESPN+.

While the payout is among the lowest in the Group of Five at $500,000 per school.

The reason why this is interesting is because 2023 is likely when we would join CUSA as the other schools are exiting. Ian could play a major role in helping CUSA commish Judy McLeod negotiate the next deal. I am guessing that might be a stipulation of our participation if it comes to fruition.

[tyndal23]

We have more bowl tie in’s now than the future CUSA will have.
CUSA may marginally enhance hoops, down grade everything else and travel twice as far in Olympic Sports as we do now.
We retain 100% of our tv revenue with ESPN as an Indie.
We would have just as good a chance as an Indie with harder schedule for a Playoff spot than the SOS of CUSA.

Why are we even considering this ?

[ballcoach15]

I believe NC A&T would bring more fans to Williams Stadium than JMU or ODU. I know they'd bring more than ODU brought.
NC A&T has softball. ODU does not.

CUSA officials did a site visit to Jacksonville State today.

[LU 57]

I believe NC A&T would bring more fans to Williams Stadium than JMU or ODU. I know they'd bring more than ODU brought.
NC A&T has softball. ODU does not.

CUSA officials did a site visit to Jacksonville State today.

We played NC A&T in 92 or 93. They brought a bunch of fans and their band.

Their fans sang, “Whoop there it is!!” every time they scored, which on that day, unfortunately was a lot .

[Ill flame]

Our competition to be the top g5 and earn a cfp/ny6 appearance is way easier than trying to be an at large against a bunch of P5s. Especially with Houston, UCF and Cincinnati going to the big 12 we really only need to compete against teams like Memphis, smu, app St, Louisiana and Boise st which are all beatable teams for us.

[tyndal23]

Our competition to be the top g5 and earn a cfp/ny6 appearance is way easier than trying to be an at large against a bunch of P5s. Especially with Houston, UCF and Cincinnati going to the big 12 we really only need to compete against teams like Memphis, smu, app St, Louisiana and Boise st which are all beatable teams for us.

If everyone in your conference is bottom 15 SOS, you better have one heck of a non con-schedule.

[jimflamesfan]

Or we could play our CUSA schedule plus Buffalo, The Citadel, Umass, and Kansas and we could be ranked top 25 3/4 of the year.
(Those were Coastal's OOC games this year). Just sayin.
I actually like doing CUSA and then playing 1 or 2 P5s and a good G5.

[Ill flame]

Our competition to be the top g5 and earn a cfp/ny6 appearance is way easier than trying to be an at large against a bunch of P5s. Especially with Houston, UCF and Cincinnati going to the big 12 we really only need to compete against teams like Memphis, smu, app St, Louisiana and Boise st which are all beatable teams for us.

If everyone in your conference is bottom 15 SOS, you better have one heck of a non con-schedule.

All but 2 of our P5s on the schedule after 2025 are in the first 4 weeks of the season where our nonconference games would be. If we were to run the table with the 2 P5s per season on our schedule we would be the top G5.