Post by Whup Em All on Jun 16, 2022 14:12:55 GMT -6
It's a slow time of year, and will remain so for the next two months or so.
So here's something stupid we can talk about to pass the time.
Flash forward to 2026.
JSU and SHSU are both full FBS members, and both appear to have handled the transition well. KC Keeler has continued his winning ways at the next level, and Coach Rod appears to have recaptured the mojo which made him such a household name during his UWV days.
NMSU's hiring of Jerry Kill has paid major dividends, and Liberty continues to overperform under Hugh Freeze.
Meanwhile, the original CUSA members have also played at a high level. Even lowly FIU has flourished under Mike MacIntyre.
The 9 members of CUSA have gone from being the laughingstock of G5 to being the MWC and AAC's biggest rival when it comes to getting a team in the CFP.
Meanwhile, over in the Sun Belt, they're doing OK. The successful teams are continuing to be successful. Some of the ones which have struggled in recent seasons are also able to get their wheels back under them. But there's a clear divide in the conference. The East division teams are still vastly superior to the West. Fans of those schools are expressing the sentiment that the East should break off into its own conference, leaving the West to flounder in its mediocrity. "If we didn't have the West teams holding us back, we'd be in the same discussion as the AAC and CUSA."
Basketball season is only compounding these issues. As expected, the new AAC, while a bit weaker than the old one, is still a very strong conference. The new CUSA has exceeded even the high expectations many had for the conference, and has quickly established itself as a high-end mid-major. But the Sun Belt is bad. Very, very bad. And the worst of those very, very bad teams are all located in the West division.
OK, so everything you've read up to here is setting up something. I know it's painting a rosy-red picture of the CUSA where everything is unicorns and daisies and our farts smell of fine Corinthian leather. Don't get offended. There's a point.
So now we've established this hypothetical baseline...
1) The AAC is doing fine. There's been no further P5 movement up to now, so those teams are all pretty happy with the state of things.
2) The Sun Belt is a house divided. The East division is arrogant and restless. The West division feels its voice is getting shut down. Many fear that future media deals will be a step or three down from what they currently enjoy.
3) CUSA is doing great, but is still only 9 teams. Now that JSU and SHSU have completed their transition, there's heavy pressure (including from interested deep pocketed media outlets) for the conference to expand to 12 or 14.
Meanwhile...
The long-awaited Big 12 expansion DOES finally come. They decide to move to 14 teams, poaching Boise State from the MWC and Memphis and SMU from the AAC. The Pac 12 chooses NOT to expand, leaving the rest of the MWC and AAC unscathed.
This drops the AAC to 13 members (12 football playing schools). They can either expand back to 15/14 or stand pat at 13/12.
The MWC drops to 10 members (plus Hawaii football-only). To get back to where they are now, they'd need to add one team in the Mountain division to pair with Utah State, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, and New Mexico. They could, of course, re-tool their divisions and start divisional play in OLY sports (which they don't currently do) to try to ease travel. This could open the door to adding two more teams.
I mentioned I had a reason for setting up this rose-colored baseline. And that reason is to establish CUSA as a conference which doesn't necessarily NEED to rely on FCS move-ups for expansion. CUSA may even be in position to poach certain existing G5 teams. (Without the setup, the thought of CUSA poaching from ANY other G5 would be laughable.)
Continuing the hypotheticals... you are a person of great influence, with the ear and the trust of the commissioners of the AAC, MWC, and, especially, CUSA. Your influence is so great, in fact, that any move you suggest will come to fruition.
So...
What are your next steps?
So here's something stupid we can talk about to pass the time.
Flash forward to 2026.
JSU and SHSU are both full FBS members, and both appear to have handled the transition well. KC Keeler has continued his winning ways at the next level, and Coach Rod appears to have recaptured the mojo which made him such a household name during his UWV days.
NMSU's hiring of Jerry Kill has paid major dividends, and Liberty continues to overperform under Hugh Freeze.
Meanwhile, the original CUSA members have also played at a high level. Even lowly FIU has flourished under Mike MacIntyre.
The 9 members of CUSA have gone from being the laughingstock of G5 to being the MWC and AAC's biggest rival when it comes to getting a team in the CFP.
Meanwhile, over in the Sun Belt, they're doing OK. The successful teams are continuing to be successful. Some of the ones which have struggled in recent seasons are also able to get their wheels back under them. But there's a clear divide in the conference. The East division teams are still vastly superior to the West. Fans of those schools are expressing the sentiment that the East should break off into its own conference, leaving the West to flounder in its mediocrity. "If we didn't have the West teams holding us back, we'd be in the same discussion as the AAC and CUSA."
Basketball season is only compounding these issues. As expected, the new AAC, while a bit weaker than the old one, is still a very strong conference. The new CUSA has exceeded even the high expectations many had for the conference, and has quickly established itself as a high-end mid-major. But the Sun Belt is bad. Very, very bad. And the worst of those very, very bad teams are all located in the West division.
OK, so everything you've read up to here is setting up something. I know it's painting a rosy-red picture of the CUSA where everything is unicorns and daisies and our farts smell of fine Corinthian leather. Don't get offended. There's a point.
So now we've established this hypothetical baseline...
1) The AAC is doing fine. There's been no further P5 movement up to now, so those teams are all pretty happy with the state of things.
2) The Sun Belt is a house divided. The East division is arrogant and restless. The West division feels its voice is getting shut down. Many fear that future media deals will be a step or three down from what they currently enjoy.
3) CUSA is doing great, but is still only 9 teams. Now that JSU and SHSU have completed their transition, there's heavy pressure (including from interested deep pocketed media outlets) for the conference to expand to 12 or 14.
Meanwhile...
The long-awaited Big 12 expansion DOES finally come. They decide to move to 14 teams, poaching Boise State from the MWC and Memphis and SMU from the AAC. The Pac 12 chooses NOT to expand, leaving the rest of the MWC and AAC unscathed.
This drops the AAC to 13 members (12 football playing schools). They can either expand back to 15/14 or stand pat at 13/12.
The MWC drops to 10 members (plus Hawaii football-only). To get back to where they are now, they'd need to add one team in the Mountain division to pair with Utah State, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, and New Mexico. They could, of course, re-tool their divisions and start divisional play in OLY sports (which they don't currently do) to try to ease travel. This could open the door to adding two more teams.
I mentioned I had a reason for setting up this rose-colored baseline. And that reason is to establish CUSA as a conference which doesn't necessarily NEED to rely on FCS move-ups for expansion. CUSA may even be in position to poach certain existing G5 teams. (Without the setup, the thought of CUSA poaching from ANY other G5 would be laughable.)
Continuing the hypotheticals... you are a person of great influence, with the ear and the trust of the commissioners of the AAC, MWC, and, especially, CUSA. Your influence is so great, in fact, that any move you suggest will come to fruition.
So...
What are your next steps?