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Post by sprout203 on Nov 27, 2023 18:51:00 GMT -6
Would Buffalo be an option? Its a long ways away but that doesnt seem to be a concern in realignment. Do Pods UTEP Sam LA Tech NMSU MTSU WKU KSU JSU Liberty Delaware UMASS/Buffalo FIU Miami is loaded with NE transplants If so, I hope we play them in August and not November.
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Post by ntxgamecock on Nov 27, 2023 22:52:52 GMT -6
Making CUSA more like FCS. Look at the well-respected Sun Belt East and you'll see some of the best the FCS had to offer in the last 15 years. CUSA is following that recipe with us, Sammy, Kenny, Liberty and now Delaware. You'll have to give it time, but people won't be laughing at this league for very long. Following the new nickname format, that would be “Us or Jackie, Sammy, Kenny, Libby, and Della.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by Cleburneslim on Nov 28, 2023 3:26:57 GMT -6
Look at the well-respected Sun Belt East and you'll see some of the best the FCS had to offer in the last 15 years. CUSA is following that recipe with us, Sammy, Kenny, Liberty and now Delaware. You'll have to give it time, but people won't be laughing at this league for very long. Following the new nickname format, that would be “Us or Jackie, Sammy, Kenny, Libby, and Della.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Della works great since they are hens.
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Post by Whup Em All on Nov 28, 2023 10:04:52 GMT -6
Your not accounting for the schools who will soon leave due to realignment involving the pac and whichever conferences they raid. Ps I despise the JSU KSU to the west notion. Adding udel is a move because they are available, soon other teams will leave other conferences and who is leaving and who is available is pure guesswork. Add udel and remain non-divisional, playing as round robin as possible. Adding Delaware isn't the issue. It's adding a 12th team after Delaware that causes the headaches. I mean, 11 teams is terrible for scheduling. If you play an 8 game conference schedule, an (almost) round-robin schedule would mean there would be two opponents each team wouldn't play. Adding a 12th team initially makes this worse -- you'd now have three teams who wouldn't appear on your schedule -- but divisions would at least create a portion of the schedule common to multiple teams. If you go without divisions (or pods), though, it's just an ugly scheduling situation. I understand there could be teams leaving, and it's possible Judy and the others in the league office know which teams may be headed out. (If the PAC/MWC situation is going to impact NMSU and UTEP, then someone has already made a phone call to each, and politically, the best thing for the Aggies and Miners could do would be to keep at least the top league officials aware of the situation as it unfolds.) If the far-west teams are going to be leaving, it makes expansion a lot easier for CUSA. We can virtually add as many eastern teams as we want without creating a weird travel imbalance. But based on what we have NOW and not what we MAY have later, I'd prefer an eastern team (ideally EKU) to be added as No. 12. If we end up having to replace two western teams, it's really no big deal. Add two western teams (Tarleton and SFA?), and JSU/KSU could still remain in the West. Travel would just be way easier. Or add two northeastern teams, and shift MTSU and WKU westward. You'd end up with something like this: EAST Liberty Delaware FIU EKU? UMass? Buffalo? WEST Jax State Kennesaw State La Tech Sam Houston MTSU WKU Essentially, CUSA would become more of an eastern league, with the "far west" being Sammy and La Tech. The only way to avoid this (with Delaware added, and assuming UTEP-NMSU are the only ones leaving) would be to either expand to 14 with a crap-ton of western teams (Tarleton, SFA, Mo St, UCA, McNeese) or just add one west team (Tarleton? SFA? Mo St?) to get back to 10, and stay there, without divisions. Anyway... for the record, I'm not a huge fan of splitting the central teams across East and West divisions either. I'm just saying that moving TWO would be better than moving ONE. Pods are preferable, but only if you add an eastern team as No. 12. If you end up with 7 east and 5 west, pods are a terrible idea. I mean, look: EASTDelaware Liberty FIU KSU CENTRALWKU MTSU JSU La Tech WESTSammy NMSU UTEP Tarleton? It's a mess.
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Post by Whup Em All on Nov 28, 2023 10:23:57 GMT -6
Look at the well-respected Sun Belt East and you'll see some of the best the FCS had to offer in the last 15 years. CUSA is following that recipe with us, Sammy, Kenny, Liberty and now Delaware. You'll have to give it time, but people won't be laughing at this league for very long. Following the new nickname format, that would be “Us or Jackie, Sammy, Kenny, Libby, and Della.” Jackie Sammy Kenny Libby Della and Louise FIU, WKU, MTSU, NMSU, and UTEP miss out on all the fun. Honestly, this should be our guiding principle in future expansion. If we can't turn your school into a cutesy nickname, you simply don't make the cut.
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Post by Whup Em All on Nov 28, 2023 14:03:17 GMT -6
I absolutely do not have time to work this out for every CUSA team, but another "pod" possibility would be to do away with geography entirely, and simply replicate what the SEC plans to do starting next season.
Each team has its own self-defined "pod" which it plays every year. Each team in the pod in turn plays its own group of teams. The pods are basically just there to assist in scheduling, rivalry building, travel, and conference identity. They are too amorphous to be used in any other way.
For example, JSU's pod might include KSU, WKU, and MTSU.
KSU's might include JSU, FIU, and MTSU.
WKU's might include MTSU, JSU, and Liberty.
Liberty's might include Delaware, FIU, and WKU.
The only requirement would be that if Team 1 has Team 2 in its pod, Team 2 must also have Team 1 in its pod. The other two teams can be completely different for each team. No two pods will look exactly the same.
It's messy to draw it up, but once everyone has their assigned pod, it would give the feel of a tight, regional division. JSU fans would see those three other teams on the schedule every season, in every sport. (For most non-football sports, they'd play home-and-away every single season.)
The inter-pod schedule would have to be drawn in such a way that every CUSA team played every other CUSA team at least (hopefully) once every other year, and would host those other teams at least once every four years.
CCG participants would simply be pulled from the two teams with the highest conference record, with head-to-head and rankings as the tie-breakers.
This is probably the only solution which will work in the newest incarnation of CUSA.
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Post by Cleburneslim on Nov 28, 2023 14:14:49 GMT -6
I absolutely do not have time to work this out for every CUSA team, but another "pod" possibility would be to do away with geography entirely, and simply replicate what the SEC plans to do starting next season. Each team has its own self-defined "pod" which it plays every year. Each team in the pod in turn plays its own group of teams. The pods are basically just there to assist in scheduling, rivalry building, travel, and conference identity. They are too amorphous to be used in any other way. For example, JSU's pod might include KSU, WKU, and MTSU. KSU's might include JSU, FIU, and MTSU. WKU's might include MTSU, JSU, and Liberty. Liberty's might include Delaware, FIU, and WKU. The only requirement would be that if Team 1 has Team 2 in its pod, Team 2 must also have Team 1 in its pod. The other two teams can be completely different for each team. No two pods will look exactly the same. It's messy to draw it up, but once everyone has their assigned pod, it would give the feel of a tight, regional division. JSU fans would see those three other teams on the schedule every season, in every sport. (For most non-football sports, they'd play home-and-away every single season.) The inter-pod schedule would have to be drawn in such a way that every CUSA team played every other CUSA team at least (hopefully) once every other year, and would host those other teams at least once every four years. CCG participants would simply be pulled from the two teams with the highest conference record, with head-to-head and rankings as the tie-breakers. This is probably the only solution which will work in the newest incarnation of CUSA. I like this.
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Post by Whup Em All on Nov 28, 2023 15:48:33 GMT -6
I absolutely do not have time to work this out for every CUSA team, but another "pod" possibility would be to do away with geography entirely, and simply replicate what the SEC plans to do starting next season. I like this. It works great in theory. In practice, you begin to run into a few issues: 1) Since each individual pod matchup has to be reciprocal, it's not as simple as "Pick your three favorite opponents." JSU may pick MTSU. MTSU may not want to play JSU. Or vice versa. At some point, this catches up to the schedules, and while one school may be very happy with their three pod opponents, another school may absolutely hate the hand they've been dealt. 2) Even when traditional and regional rivalries are used to determine a school's pod opponents, they may end up hating life due to their opponents' strength. Imagine being in the SEC and having to face Bama, UGA, and Tennessee every year, while your biggest rival plays Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Missouri. Doesn't seem very fair, does it? Of course, you have to deal with this on a certain level even with traditional divisions, but the individualized pods make it seem much, much worse. 3) Tiebreakers stink. This isn't a problem with pods, per se. It's simply inherent in any system which doesn't involve round-robin scheduling. If your top three teams all beat each other but didn't lose any other games, one of those teams is going to get left out purely because some sportswriter in Sheboygan had a great aunt who graduated from there, and he hated that woman with every ounce of his being. And if you think computer rankings will be any better, I assure you they won't. They all hate their great aunts. You can trust me. I'm a programmer.
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Post by sprout203 on Nov 28, 2023 21:13:53 GMT -6
I don't feel like looking at the FCS conferences, but the one out west that had all the teams that did not play each other comes to mind. The top teams never seemed to play each other, but the all played the bottom dwellers.
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Post by ntxgamecock on Nov 28, 2023 22:23:22 GMT -6
Following the new nickname format, that would be “Us or Jackie, Sammy, Kenny, Libby, and Della.” Jackie Sammy Kenny Libby Della and Louise FIU, WKU, MTSU, NMSU, and UTEP miss out on all the fun. Honestly, this should be our guiding principle in future expansion. If we can't turn your school into a cutesy nickname, you simply don't make the cut. I could get behind Fi-Fi, and Mitzi. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by Cleburneslim on Nov 29, 2023 6:25:50 GMT -6
Jackie Sammy Kenny Libby Della and Louise FIU, WKU, MTSU, NMSU, and UTEP miss out on all the fun. Honestly, this should be our guiding principle in future expansion. If we can't turn your school into a cutesy nickname, you simply don't make the cut. I could get behind Fi-Fi, and Mitzi. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Flora
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Post by troysux on Nov 29, 2023 6:30:37 GMT -6
This makes Buffy a great expansion candidate.
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Post by beauregard on Nov 29, 2023 7:57:42 GMT -6
Our footprint is imperfect for east-west divisions. But it works well for pods. With credit to Whup and operating under the assumption we take UMass, the pod system looks like this: EastFIU Liberty Delaware UMass Central
Jax State Kenny MTSU WKU WestSammy LaTech UTEP NM State The traditional east/west division would look like, assuming UMass doesn't make the cut: WestUTEP NM State Sammy LaTech FIU (Because everyone flies there anyway) (Missouri State, Tarleton, SFA) EastJax State Kenny MTSU WKU Liberty Delaware The three-pod format would be just as you posted it. The Central pod in this scenario is outstanding. Every team would develop a rivalry with every other team, simply because of the distances involved. The longest distance between Central opponents would be 288 miles between WKU and KSU. I think if we went to East-West divisions, I think it would end up looking more like this: EASTDelaware Liberty UMass or EKU WKU MTSU FIU WESTKennesaw St Jax St La Tech SHSU UTEP NMSU This format would preserve rivalries by keeping MTSU/WKU and JSU/KSU in the same divisions. On that note, if UMass joins, there's a rivalry with Delaware. If EKU joins, they'd be another rival for WKU. Despite having to fly to every game anyway, FIU would balk at being in the West. Besides, it kind of makes sense having them play teams along the Atlantic coast. The Gamecocks would still have long distance trips to UTEP and NMSU, but would not have to make the long treks to FIU, UMass, UD, and Liberty. It balances out. We have a history with Sammy, and La Tech's not *terribly* far away, so there'd be some familiarity there. And the lucky JSU fans who get to travel to La Tech games would get to enjoy some of the authentic Cajun cooking in Ruston. (Consider me envious.) Tarleton and SFA are notably missing from this list. (So is MOST, but I don't really care about them.) If the conference ever had financial incentive to expand to 16, though, those are the teams I'd choose, along with whichever team from EKU/UMass didn't get the invite this go round. Add NDSU, see what that looks like.
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Post by gemofthehills on Nov 29, 2023 8:39:33 GMT -6
Its amazing the Hens forum board was roughly a month ahead on this news. UMASS rumors havent died completely but Temples name seems to have recessed.
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Post by ntxgamecock on Nov 29, 2023 9:05:35 GMT -6
I could get behind Fi-Fi, and Mitzi. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Flora I like Flora. How about Tepper, the last name of the Carolina Panthers’ owner. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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