[From the class of 09]

At what point can we anounce a move up and still be considered for the playoffs at the FCS level?

[jcmanson]

At what point can we anounce a move up and still be considered for the playoffs at the FCS level?

Once we announce our move up, we are no longer allowed to play in the playoffs.

If we don't announce until August-November, I'm not sure if we will be allowed to make playoffs next year. I would think we would.

[R i]

Aren't we announcing in April. Per a T.E. recruit in his local News Paper.

[jcmanson]

Aren't we announcing in April. Per a T.E. recruit in his local News Paper.

That's what he hinted at...

[R i]

It is my feeling that we have been offered. We are waiting to see if we get offered by C-USA.

[Cider Jim]

Once we announce our move up, we are no longer allowed to play in the playoffs.

And that will probably end our reign as Big South Quiz Bowl champs.

[From the class of 09]

At what point can we anounce a move up and still be considered for the playoffs at the FCS level?

Once we announce our move up, we are no longer allowed to play in the playoffs.

If we don't announce until August-November, I'm not sure if we will be allowed to make playoffs next year. I would think we would.

That's my thought. If we could wait till the fb season starts and then announce a move to up for 2013 they couldn't exclude us from the playoffs this year could they?

I know it doesn't really matter in the big picture, but it would be ideal to make the playoffs for the first time in 2012 than move to FBS in 2013.

[jbock13]

To those who have better knowledge than I, if the rumors are the WAC (which who knows), it would be football only right?

I have a feeling that the April announcement is just the conclusion of the study.

[RVAparks]

Looks like CUSA-MWC are discussing merger again. Could hurt Liberty's chances

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ource-says

[4everfsu]

Reading that article, if they combine they will have 15 football members. I would say it is a done deal.

[Sly Fox]

Nothing is a done deal in regard to C-USA. They are weighing all of their options. Frankly I get the feeling that they are getting cold feet in regard to a merger since it appears BCS AQs may be disappearing and then a merged league wouldn't bring a ton of value for either conference. But even if they move forward witht he merger, I am hearing that could still take a number of teams in a maxi-league.

If the WAC comes into play, it would be an all sports deal with likely two divisions to limit travel costs.

In fact, if any FBS league comes calling we are looking for all sports membership.

[Sly Fox]

From today's El Paso fishwrap ...

The C-USA league office has said it and the Mountain West are exploring a partnership in sports other than football, but has given no specifics.

As for adding teams, the Mountain West shares a geographic footprint with the WAC and C-USA with the Sun Belt.

"We could add one team on the East side, two teams on each side, there are a lot of options," (UTEP AD Bob) Stull said.

And here is a snippet from a yahoo-backed blog called "The Dagger" ...

• The departure of Memphis would make a proposed basketball merger with Conference USA far less appealing for the Mountain West. Such a merger already would create an unwieldy travel schedule, but at least UNLV, New Mexico and their Mountain West peers had the allure of a visit from Memphis once every year or two. Without Memphis, the most appealing brand-name basketball programs in that league are Alabama-Birmingham, Tulsa or Southern Mississippi. Is a visit from one of them going to draw more fans or TV viewers than current Mountain West members? Probably not. The Mountain West would be better off scrapping the merger, adding Utah State and hoping San Diego State comes back if the unwieldy Big East football partnership crumbles.

• Unless Conference USA does manage to merge with the Mountain West in basketball, it looks like it may be a one-bid league more often than not. Tulsa is a decade removed from its basketball golden era. Alabama-Birmingham has been a fringe NCAA tournament contender in recent years. And while Southern Mississippi and Marshall are enjoying strong seasons this year, history suggests it will be difficult to win consistently at those schools.

Click Here for Full Story

The uncomfortable position of the MWC remains a wild card. When the alliance/merger was first announced, it looked a great deal more appealing for the MWC schools than the C-USA. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

If the merger talks die off, C-USA will likely be in an expansion frenzy that would most certainly guarantee us a spot in an FBS league somewhere. If the merger occurs, we're still in the game. It just makes it a little more challenging.

[4everfsu]

As for Conference USA and the Mountain West, the conferences announced last year that they planned a football merger starting no later than 2013, with the possibility of expanding the agreement to other sports. Now it seems even more likely that the two leagues will join together to try to maximize their TV revenue.

A source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that the C-USA board will meet this week to discuss the possibility of a full-scale merger with the MWC.

These paragraphs are at the bottom of the article below.

Click Here for Full Story

[Sly Fox]

Here are some fishwrap stories from cities following the CUSA/MWC merger discussions ...

John Klein: Conference USA shakeup puts TU in tough position

By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
Published: 2/9/2012  2:21 AM
Last Modified: 2/9/2012  5:57 AM


Tulsa once again faces an uncertain conference future in the wake of the Big East's latest raid on Conference USA.

Memphis announced Wednesday its intention to move to the Big East Conference, the fourth C-USA member to leave for the Big East in the past four months.

It leaves TU in a watered-down Conference USA with seven other members, linked only by the need for a conference home.

Conference USA seems on the verge of an all-sports merger with the Mountain West, another league that has been decimated by teams leaving for the Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and independence.

Where that leaves Tulsa, in some sort of patchwork league with a shaky future, is not good for the Golden Hurricane.

Click Here for Full Story

And from the Deep South ...

With rival Memphis leaving C-USA, UAB should but won't join Sun Belt
Published: Thursday, February 09, 2012, 5:30 AM
By Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Fittingly, on the day Memphis left Conference USA, UAB and Southern Miss played each other in basketball. It was a thorough UAB victory over the league's first-place team.
Forget this year's standings. It's time to look at the big picture.
UAB and Southern Miss are joined at the hip now. Their futures are being determined by others as the haves and have-nots get divided, the original C-USA now down to UAB, Southern Miss and Tulane. UAB's old Great Midwest Conference rivals? All gone. Central Florida, Houston and SMU will join Memphis in the Big East, too.

Click Here for Full Story


And from Nashville comes some Sub Belt perspective ...

MTSU, WKU important to Sun Belt's viability
11:17 PM, Feb. 8, 2012 | Comments

Written by
Greg Pogue

MURFREESBORO — The shaking felt earlier this week in west Tennessee had nothing to do with the San Madrid Fault, but rather the announcement that the University of Memphis was departing Conference USA for membership in the Big East Conference.

The trickle-down theory for college athletics conference realignment continues to hit closer to home. Memphis becomes the fourth school to leave C-USA, a league with a geographic footprint shared by its regional mid-major brethren, the Sun Belt Conference.

And that brings us to the natural conversation concerning MTSU and Western Kentucky, longtime former rivals in the Ohio Valley Conference that was fully renewed again in the Sun Belt once WKU elevated its football program to the highest level. They have long been considered conference dance partners because of geography, tradition, rivalry and athletics success.

Click Here for Full Story

[LUconn]

Interesting. It's hard to shake the notion that CUSA is the most desirable conference without a BCS AQ. But what makes them any better at this point? Nothing according to those articles.

[Sly Fox]

I'm glad someone is beginning to see the light. Frankly everyone of the potential FBS leagues has its own degree of attraction for us.

The only thing CUSA-MWC merger offers us is access to a better TV package. But if the money is being split so many ways, the financial returns are negligible. Obviously we want to be in a league with ESPN or similar type of exposure. And this merged group does offer a few higher profile schools than the other leagues.

The much maligned MAC, Sun Belt & WAC each have the potential to decrease travel costs and generate more regional rivalries. Yes, even the WAC if they move in a direction where we would be involved.

[PAmedic]

consider also Alumni demographics and where we would get more exposure.

those of us up here are familiar w/ MAC teams and could attend away games.

the vast majority of you guys down south are much more familiar w/ SBC teams.

cowboys/hicks like some Texans would be happy with the WAC/MWC

it's probably a push, but HoMO could probably describe the alumni footprint better.

[Sly Fox]

The alumni footprint is constantly evolving. But it is just as much about where we want to grow exposure as it is about where we have already been. That is why C-USA/MWC and Sun Belt are particularly intriguing possibilities.

[jcmanson]

Everywhere is a bigger footprint than the BSC. I'm not as concerned about what conference we end up in. Once we're in the FBS, we can decide what conference is best (may be Independent in time). The big hurdle is just getting to FBS.

[Kricket]

Everywhere is a bigger footprint than the BSC. I'm not as concerned about what conference we end up in. Once we're in the FBS, we can decide what conference is best (may be Independent in time). The big hurdle is just getting to FBS.

+1

[R i]

We take best available. Not first available.

[NotAJerry]

We take best available. Not first available.

And if there's only 1 available?

[LUminary]

You don't "go FBS" and then decide what to conference to be in. In fact, you can't "go FBS" at all without an invitation by a conference. And, at this point, there is no conference invitation. Hopefully the stars will align at some point to produce ONE. I doubt there will be the luxury of picking and choosing.

[R i]

We take best available. Not first available.

And if there's only 1 available?

Then thats best available.

[jcmanson]

CUSA & MWC Dissolving to form new league
http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.c ... 2/34822810

The institutions from Conference USA and the Mountain West are dissolving both leagues to create their own conference, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com.
The new conference will start in the 2013-14 academic year. Conference USA and the Mountain West would continue as is for the 2012-13 season.

crap