tyndal23 wrote: ↑January 29th, 2022, 12:33 am
Exactly. Even though we are in a moment in time where $, Transfer Portal, NIL, top tier coaching staff allows for instant success unlike anytime before in CFB History, I do agree that we should take the path least resistant for Football Relevance and ride the wave of “ significantly better” of the power hose sports ( when our baseball/softball/field hockey teams are already top 25) - for an “every other yearl” MBB 2 bid league ( that will have zero impact on our MBB recruiting level) - Makes sense. 10 years from now the Sunbelt will be salivating for us...can’t wait.
I won't touch on non revenue sports since they don't matter in realignment. Basketball on the other hand isn't something that should be overlooked. I think you will be suprised how much better recruiting would be playing in the best 1 bid conference instead of being among the worst. Schools like nmsu, wku, mtsu and Louisiana tech may not be P5 but they are at least brands that casual fans recognize unlike the entire asun.
Our seeding and preparation for the jump in competition in the ncaa tourney will improve. C-usa has won a game in 4 of the last 5 tourneys, the asun has won 2 of 5 with one of those being a first 4 game against another 16 seed. This is before all of the current deadweight in c-usa is replaced with us and nmsu. In our current situation it feels like a major upset if we win a first round game and the sweet 16 feels out of reach. Making it to the second weekend feels much more attainable in c-usa if we find a way to win the conference.
We got some pretty drastic realignment at the G5 level and I expect even more drastic movement during the next realignment cycle. Who knows maybe the ACC will get picked apart so bad by the B1G and SEC that they get desperate enough to give us a call (it won't happen but a person can dream). I do believe our time will come but not yet. The fan support just isn't there yet and that's a very important piece to the puzzle thats improving but won't form overnight.