C-USA - Yes or No?

[zippy5]

Thought a poll would be nice to gauge the interest here.

Mods - feel free to merge with one of the other C-USA threads if possible.

[ZippyRulz]

Do it. We can recruit better if the student athletes know they will be traveling to Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas instead of within the rust belt. Better soccer. Better football/baseball weather (although baseball would no longer be required). Multiple big dance bids. Broader exposure for our brand. With or without other MACsters.

[skip-zip]

Do it. We can recruit better if the student athletes know they will be traveling to Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas instead of within the rust belt. Better soccer. Better football/baseball weather (although baseball would no longer be required). Multiple big dance bids. Broader exposure for our brand. With or without other MACsters.

I'm pretty much with you here. I see these benefits. I don't understand why so many people on here over the years have seen this potential move as "lateral". I think there's a lot of potential benefits for us, if the opportunity should present itself.

[Dave in Green]

Well here's a shock -- all televised C-USA football games are on Saturdays:

C-USA and Sinclair Broadcast Group Reach Multi-Year Content Agreement

Men's basketball also gets a good TV package:

American Sports Network to Carry 63 C-USA Men's Basketball Games

[Jrship35]

Posted on another topic but applies:

Works for me. CUSA North: Toledo, UA, Ohio, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky.


Hey, I would applaud that decline in travel from GA ...... Does everyone think that the AD could pull it off ?

How much, if any, influence would Bowden have ? Not that he has truly earned it yet ..... Didn't know if he (or Dad) might have any inroads.

[Ham]

I think with one or two fellow MAC schools coming with us our travel budget would still be reasonable. We could still maintain our rivalry with Can't. Iowa and Iowa State maintain a strong rivalry and play their game in September. After the MAC shunned us for years, why should we feel any loyalty?

[mes102]

The brand in the recruiting trail would change significantly too. A student-athlete in Ohio may see Ohio State as the pipeline dream. If not realistic, then Cincinnati. Then after that, they'll just pick a MAC school, which all the ones in Ohio always seem to be "blended" to recruits. No one really sticks out. If you replace the MAC label with a C-USA label, you will stick out from the rest of the current MAC schools in Ohio. That mentality alone may get you a few better recruits. Playing better competition will always draw better recruits as well. It's something different, and it may boost Akron in every sport in recruiting.

I know this is football forum, but think about this for a second. Akron women's basketball is currently 7-0 and beating their opponents on average by 20+ points per game. And that's after losing three 1,000 point scorers and one of the best point guards in the country statistically the past two seasons(also the best class ever in women's program). Can you imagine what type of recruits Coach Kest could get if she's not "just another head coach of a MAC program in Ohio"?

The above is just an example of what the recruiting could be like in every sport. Coaching is great, but student athlete talent level is where your program can improve the most. I'm all for attempting a change to C-USA.

[Jrship35]

So is there any traction to this possibility or are we just hoping ? I cannot find any valid information of this possibility ...................... Although I sure hope I am wrong

[ZachTheZip]

I think with one or two fellow MAC schools coming with us our travel budget would still be reasonable. We could still maintain our rivalry with Can't. Iowa and Iowa State maintain a strong rivalry and play their game in September. After the MAC shunned us for years, why should we feel any loyalty?

We could play the Wagon Wheel game in September. Definitely wouldn't hurt attendance.

Actually, it makes it easier to schedule non-conference games in both football and basketball, because you're suddenly surrounded by similar teams from a different conference. You can get home-and-homes with BG, Can't, Miami, or whoever.

[ZippyRulz]

Posted on another topic but applies:

Works for me. CUSA North: Toledo, UA, Ohio, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky.

Hey, I would applaud that decline in travel from GA ...... Does everyone think that the AD could pull it off ?

How much, if any, influence would Bowden have ? Not that he has truly earned it yet ..... Didn't know if he (or Dad) might have any inroads.

I really don't know, but just speculating: I'm sure TB knows a lot of the coaches in CUSA since it's a big fraternity, and probably a lot of AD's as well. His major role would have to be touting our football facilities and convincing CUSA powers-that-be how, when, and why our football program is on the rise and how that would be accelerated by joining CUSA. The AD could do most of the pimping of our other sports.

[zippy5]

We could play the Wagon Wheel game in September. Definitely wouldn't hurt attendance.

Actually, it makes it easier to schedule non-conference games in both football and basketball, because you're suddenly surrounded by similar teams from a different conference. You can get home-and-homes with BG, Can't, Miami, or whoever.

Yes and no. I'm sure a few ADs will probably be ignoring our calls if we went through with it.

[ZachTheZip]

Yes and no. I'm sure a few ADs will probably be ignoring our calls if we went through with it.

Good thing about scheduling MAC schools is that there's a lot of them in a very small area. We only need one or two a year in football, and two or three in basketball to put together a decent schedule.

[skip-zip]

The brand in the recruiting trail would change significantly too. A student-athlete in Ohio may see Ohio State as the pipeline dream. If not realistic, then Cincinnati. Then after that, they'll just pick a MAC school,

I think this has become a rather outdated assumption. Look back over the last 5-6 seasons. And look at how many times Cincinnati was actually better than OSWho. I'd love to follow Cincinnati's path, in both their progression to larger conferences, and their ability to make the SW corner of Ohio their own, and defy the OSWho allegiance. Well done.

This notion actually goes back maybe 30 years for me. The old Metro Conference (which makes up part of the current C-USA) was a conference full of Midwest and Mid-South city schools. It seemed like the ideal fit for Akron, even back then, as we were just starting to establish ourselves as D-1A in football and basketball.

[zippy5]

Wow so 21-2 if a MAC member joins us. 15-8 even by our self.

Small sample size, but still. I didn't get the impression from many around here that they would support it.

[Hilltopper]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. After you actually spend some time on the other side it becomes obvious that there is little to no difference. Unless we can make a major jump I don't think it would make any difference.

[ZachTheZip]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. After you actually spend some time on the other side it becomes obvious that there is little to no difference. Unless we can make a major jump I don't think it would make any difference.

Nobody makes a major jump straight from the MAC (or the Sunbelt), though. You have to go through C-USA first.

[zippy5]

I get that, which is why I'd only want to do it if someone came with. The C-USA as is isn't very appealing. But if say, OU and UT came with, yeah I can dig it. Plus, the other factor is what if UA says no and they go anyway. Then I think we're in a bit of trouble.

Or they could just add a southern team and this would be a waste of time and excitement

[Lee Adams]

As in the past,I can not figure why a conference that plays football at a significantly higher level than Akron would want a team like Akron. We are not talking basketball here. Its not just about numbers. And,say what you will about the 'Cleveland' TV market it hasn't been and isn't that attractive to that conference. If Akron had been a consistent winner over the past 5-6 years there might be some passing interest. But,Akron does nothing to raise the profile of the conference at any level,on the field or off. At least not at this time. And, we would be looking at a lot more seasons of bad records in a better conference.

[LZIp]

Look back over the last 5-6 seasons. And look at how many times Cincinnati was actually better than OSWho.

Zero? Maybe one the year they went 6-6?

[footballzip]

We used to play MTSU and WKU in the old 1-AA OVC. The rest of the schools don't impress me, not much better than the MAC teams. Why not try for the Big Ten, hey Rutgers got in.

[Balsy]

Akron...in the Big10...

[zippy_ua_00]

They let rutgers in bc they wanted the NYC media market. Same with maryland they wanted the baltimore market

[jupitertoo]

Don't expect Ohio to be going anywhere. They are a charter member of the MAC and the faculty is much too strong to allow the school to make that sort of incremental investment in athletics. Plus, they would never go anywhere without Miami. I frankly don't seen any potential rivalries within CUSA, aside from Marshall, that would be incentive enough to move. And Ohio already plays Marshall.

[a-zip]

Here is my analysis so far;

Football - ADVANTAGE CUSA - more bowl tie-ins, better TV deal, top teams Marshall, MTSU, La Tech, Rice, UTEP -

average attendance CUSA - 21,510

average attendance MAC - 16,739

Mens Basketball - ADVANTAGE CUSA Six C-USA teams earned postseason bids in 2014. Tulsa played in the NCAA Tournament and Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss participated in the NIT, advancing to the quarterfinals.

average attendance CUSA - 3896…….5589 for conference tourney

average attendance MAC - 2869……….3542 for conference tourney

Womens Basketball - ADVANTAGE CUSA - don't know why but since the men are better, I bet the women are too ;-)……I know ODU is a powerhouse

Men's soccer - ADVANTAGE CUSA Three teams (Charlotte, Old Dominion and associate member New Mexico) earned a berth to the NCAA Championship, with New Mexico becoming the fourth C-USA school to advance to the College Cup. South Carolina is an affiliate member.

Womens Soccer - see comment on women's basketball

CUSA Highlights

http://www.conferenceusa.com/ot/competitive-highlights.html

CUSA Map

http://www.conferenceusa.com/ot/c-usa-members.html

School Endowment/Enrollment - ADVANTAGE CUSA

Avergage CUSA Endowment $521,000,000

Average MAC Endowment $201,000,000

[lance99]

They let rutgers in bc they wanted the NYC media market. Same with maryland they wanted the baltimore market

I don't believe that to be totally true for that Conference.

As much as I cannot stand the Big Ten, I honestly believe they are playing the long game with this. Say what you want about Maryland going, they went there for the $$$. Rutgers was different. You can say market all you want with them(only ND carries NYC in College Football), but from a Conference standpoint, they probably looked at it as a fit with everyone else and potential students and research $$$.

Also keep in mind if all that mattered was TV sets, Army(close enough)/Stony Brook/Columbia would be on Television every week with the largest ratings because they are in the largest Market. If nobody is watching, it doesn't matter! That is what gets lost in all of this realignment talk.