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Post by gemofthehills on Jan 20, 2022 15:28:14 GMT -6
“Conference USA acknowledges reports of three of our members prematurely departing. We fully expect everyone to follow our bylaws and honor their contractual obligations through the 2022-23 academic year. All fourteen members will continue to be eligible for conference championships and the postseason opportunities Conference USA provides.”
Reading the reactions, Judy must have caught them off guard with this released statement.
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stevo
Full Member
Posts: 732
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Post by stevo on Jan 20, 2022 16:25:17 GMT -6
(Unless you want to pay your full exit fee)
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Post by Cleburneslim on Jan 20, 2022 16:45:25 GMT -6
I think this is another indication they are leaving early.
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Post by gemofthehills on Jan 20, 2022 16:50:04 GMT -6
Sooner the better for the conference. None of those 3 would excite me as a conference mate. AAC is taking the more desirable members and SBC is taking what App wanted, closer members and one bone to the west USM.
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Post by troysux on Jan 20, 2022 17:39:33 GMT -6
Doesn’t really matter if they leave now or in 2023 as far as we are concerned. We are still in the ASUN for 2022-23.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2022 18:48:13 GMT -6
CUSA still hasn't released their schedules so they aren't confident in anything.
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Post by troysux on Jan 20, 2022 19:29:34 GMT -6
CUSA still hasn't released their schedules so they aren't confident in anything. The Sun Belt is supposed to be having a vote next week on letting the new members in early. James Madison is basically being kicked out of their league after this year so they need a home for 2022. If I’m CUSA I’m letting them go. Nobody in the G5 is going to cause irreparable harm to their current league if they leave a year earlier than planned. It makes it easier on the leftovers as there would be a 1/11 chance of making the big dance instead of 1/14. Plus you can do a 20 game home/home basketball. Screws up football scheduling but it’s only for one season. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by gemofthehills on Jan 20, 2022 21:16:38 GMT -6
CUSA still hasn't released their schedules so they aren't confident in anything. The Sun Belt is supposed to be having a vote next week on letting the new members in early. James Madison is basically being kicked out of their league after this year so they need a home for 2022. If I’m CUSA I’m letting them go. Nobody in the G5 is going to cause irreparable harm to their current league if they leave a year earlier than planned. It makes it easier on the leftovers as there would be a 1/11 chance of making the big dance instead of 1/14. Plus you can do a 20 game home/home basketball. Screws up football scheduling but it’s only for one season. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Dont believe any going to the SBC are much of a threat to win any championships, maybe USM in baseball.
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Post by troysux on Jan 21, 2022 4:58:18 GMT -6
Marshall football maybe. But none in basketball.
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Post by gemofthehills on Jan 27, 2022 7:21:22 GMT -6
Appears the SBC may have to wait for the 3. Just a few days ago the SBC folks and leaving 3 said CUSA had no say in the matter, now they are delaying the announcement. Sure more nego going on and hopefully they can exit this year. JMU appears to be going to the SBC this year.
The leaving 3 and SBC folks are still trying hard to sell their new lineup as being something great. While they will be close together the quality will not be going up unless JMU is a huge success. CUSA, if they leave, will be tougher next year with very few gimme games.
Also, anyone have any insight on the rumor of TUNA, EKU and NDSU turning down CUSA? Reasonable to believe NDSU would turn down CUSA but EKU and TUNA. No way EKU would if they are truly desiring FBS. And why was Kennesaw or UTC not invited? No west teams?, would make one believe if true UTEP and NMSU are leaving ASAP and CUSA will be more eastern in the future.
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Post by Cleburneslim on Jan 27, 2022 7:39:14 GMT -6
It all fabricated from a grain of truth I imagine. Cusa did talk to these schools and discovered they weren’t very prepared for anything. Look at the rumored schools and how prepare they are. They were caught waiting. Look at who were selected liberty nmsu fbs Indy. Us were about as prepared as you can get and be fbs. Ducks in a row. SHSU. Not prepared yet but eager and a national champion and a western team. They are definately in the best option west of the Mississippi so they got the offer.
The idea that troy st would accept tuna and not us seems silly to me especially when they were other options out there. Also will WKU be ok with offering EKU. Probably not if other options are out there.
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Post by Whup Em All on Jan 27, 2022 8:36:00 GMT -6
Addressing the rumor: I'm with Slim... I'd believe CUSA *spoke* to them all. But I don't for a second believe an invitation was given, and I especially don't believe any of them turned it down, except, maybe, NDSU. (And their reasons, if so, would've centered around their remoteness in the frigid north.)
Even more especially, I don't think UNA was invited over several other candidate schools. KSU? UTC? NCAT? There's a reason why the Lions hardly ever come up in discussions about the next CUSA expansion.
There are a surprising number of UNA fans who claim they'd prefer the Belt to CUSA. I mean, it makes sense for JSU fans to feel that way -- we're right on the GA border, so you have troy state and USA in state, then Ga State right down I-20, and Ga Southern's a familiar school to most of our Georgia-based fans. But UNA? Take those "attractive" schools and add 3 hours of travel time to each. UNA doesn't have anywhere near the number of Georgia students. They have no history with Ga State, Ga Southern, App, Coastal, Marshall, or any of the Virginia schools. They know Southern Miss... that's about it. They complain about travel in CUSA, but they're closer to the Texas teams than we are, they're already in an OLY conference with Liberty, and CUSA would give them MTSU (effectively in their backyard), WKU and JSU at about 3 hours each, and LT at only 6-7 hours. Sure, west Texas, New Mexico, and Miami are a haul, but c'mon. That's 3 teams. It's not that terrible. Moot point anyway, of course, but sheesh... I just don't think they've thought this through.
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Post by troysux on Jan 27, 2022 10:42:39 GMT -6
If you are FCS and FBS comes calling, you say yes. If they turned it down expecting the Sun Belt to call, they are crazy. (I don’t really believe it happened, just saying).
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Post by Whup Em All on Jan 27, 2022 12:20:09 GMT -6
If you are FCS and FBS comes calling, you say yes. If they turned it down expecting the Sun Belt to call, they are crazy. (I don’t really believe it happened, just saying). Exactly. And to clarify what I meant by NDSU being believable, if CUSA approached them for full membership, I could see the ungulates turning them down for travel reasons (for OLY sports). Everyone always looks at costs going *to* Fargo and never considers that NDSU would also have to travel *from* Fargo. It's unlikely CUSA would issue a football-only invitation, since the conference bylaws currently prohibit that. (Bylaws can be re-written/waived, of course, but so far the conference hasn't done this.) It's also remotely possible CUSA approached NDSU to gauge their interest in football-only membership, but NDSU said no because they WANT to have all sports in the same conference when/if they make the move up. Bottom line: The ungulates have a case for saying no. EKU and UNA? Not so much. Their quickest route to the Sun Belt, if that's their dream destination, would be via CUSA. And honestly, I don't see EKU turning them down at all, if an invitation were issued. As others have hypothesized, EKU was probably conditional on WKU moving. I doubt an invitation was even issued for UNA -- at this time -- simply because transitional D-II to CUSA is a mighty big leap. If they want to move up, they need to spend the next 3-5 years putting facility and staffing upgrades into overdrive. (And even then, they'll have to overcome the same "too many FBS schools in Alabama" stigma that kept JSU mired in FCS for so long.) If the Lions DID get some stronger interest from CUSA, it was probably for the same reason as EKU: If MTSU left, UTC would likely be the first choice to replace them. If the Mocs weren't interested (vaguely plausible because they're idiots and also because the SoCon is pretty good at hoops but mostly because they're idiots) then UNA would be the next closest school to that geographical area which had a stated goal of moving up to FBS.
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stevo
Full Member
Posts: 732
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Post by stevo on Feb 10, 2022 9:09:06 GMT -6
According to Matt Brown (as I recall):
1. The 3 FCS schools currently most likely to move to FBS (CUSA) are Tarleton State, EKU and McNeese St.
2. NDSU and SDSU are only interested in the Mountain West. If Boise State and/or San Diego State ever move to the Big 12.
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