I believe CUSA is doom as a conference, what do you think?

I am not totally sold on CUSA dead. Or as once said in a movie, reports of my death have been great exaggerated. If CUSA lost Louisville and Cincy I believe that the basketball only schools would bolt on their own as would army this would leave CUSA with 8 schools add in Temple Marshall SMU and Tulsa and you still got a strong league. But my personal thoughts are that if Louisville and Cincy leave - The Southern 5 football schools of CUSA will break away taking a few others from the EWAC with them and form a new allsports Southern League.

You're putting me on, right? I sincerely hope you are both right, but I seriously doubt it. What makes you think that C-USA will split up?

There is nothing I would like better than for the Southern C-USA schools to join up with the WAC Eastern schools to form a Southern Conference. But I am not holding my breath waiting for that to happen. What are the chances?

Go get em troops.

I would personaly love to see them go. but I doubt it. See they are signing up a new bowl game in tx right now. prob will give up human bowl in Idaho. travel to tx saves them lots of cash.

Wilkie, even if Louisville were to leave and even if Cincy did as well, there are still 8 football teams. The rest of C-USA isn't going anywhere (southern miss is not going to the big east for goodness sakes). And with those 8, those 8 have no better alternative than to remain together. Will they ask others to join? Perhaps. But where are they going to go? The MAC, WAC or Sun Belt? Not a chance.

Louisville doesn't make or break C-USA, C-USA thus far has made Louisville. Without the TV exposure they have gotten from playing in C-USA, Louisville would simply be an older Troy State as an Indy.

As an ACC fan, I feel Louisville would be a poor fit in the ACC, both academically and athgletically. Academically, Louisville isn't even in the same neighborhood as the ACC schools, even FSU. Athletically, all Louisville adds to the ACC is a 10th member. The ACC already has strong basketball, and decently strong football. Their baseball isn't anywhere near ACC standards though, having only reached the post season once. All in all, Louisville offers little to the ACC..other than a school to take up a spot. Maybe if the ACC already had two other schools in mind to expand to 12 and needed a 3rd, but I would be highly surprised if the ACC expanded and Louisville was the headliner.

I agree about lousiville n the acc. If they are going anywhere.... and I not convinced about that they will be going to BE. As an UCF fan I am all for that. would start a shake up in CUSA and possibly more... opens up some possible spots for us. I would like to see us either a fb only member of a bcs or all sports in CUSA. either would be a step up from A-sun, and Mac combo we now have. We have an up n coming fb program... a regularly top 30 baseball program n a new 12 to 13 thou seat bb stadium in the works... possibly as soon as 2006 or 2007.

It's just a shame that 1A football is inthe shape it's in. In the prefect world, Louisville, Cincy and perhaps Memphis could exist as football independents and be in another conference for all other sports to save on travel costs and keep regional rivalries.

I'm sure they'd prefer an intimate hoops conference of:

Louisville
Cincy
Memphis
DePaul
Marquette
St. Louis
Xavier
Dayton

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Or how about a hoops league like this?

Providence
Seton Hall
Villanova
St. Johns
Georgetown
Marquette
St.Louis
DePaul
Charlotte

With a football conference like:

S. Miss.
Tulane
Houston
UAB
TCU
SMU
Rice
Tulsa
La Tech
UTEP

and:

Army
Louisville
Cincy
E Carolina
Memphis
S Florida
MTSU
and Marshall
Temple
or C. Florida

Memphis is nutty for keeping their future tied with Louisville - louisville is the only c-usa school (maybe, maybe cincy) that has the possibility of bcs membership. memphis isn't going to the bcs. So memphis wants a northern league?
I say do this:
East: Memphis, UAB, USF, UCF, Tulane, Southern Miss
West: TCU, SMU, Rice, UH, Tulsa and some other team (la tech?)

Not much different in football, except that the teams that have been improving and recruiting the best are in this league; baseball is better; women's basketball is better if you take tech.
So the question is men's hoops. Memphis rules this league, with some competition from tulsa. Annual NCAA appearance. Play Lou and Cincy and whomever out of conference.
And remember one thing, out of that entire league ONE only one basketball team had a losing record in 2003 (houston). It is not a RPI killer league.
This isn't a bad league - cuts down travel costs, brings some regional sanity. Every city is easily accessible to each other ( except for ruston la). And the non-revenue sports are better and cheaper, which is important for title ix.

I would see this league retaining every current c-usa bowl except hawaii, and perhaps adding one in florida. This league would be a top 5 - easy - baseball league, which is a growing sport.
It would be a 2-3 bid basketball league, which, considering no cincy, charlotte, lou, or marquette, probably increases the odds for everyone, except maybe tulsa.
TV - ESPN favors 4 football teams: TCU, USM, Lou, and ECU. 2 of them are in this league. Hell, add ECU - they are well supported and have solid programs - I forgot about them.
Basketball tv won't be as good, but the payouts aren't even as it is and the current television draws (that would be memphis) will still get on t.v. all the time and get the revenue.
Excepting a BCS invite for C-USA, I don't see how this league is much of a downgrade from what we have today.

If Louisville and Cincinnati leave C-USA (for anything but a BCS invite) then Memphis will undoubtedly go with them. Those three will stick together unless one is invited to the BCS (which I don't see happening).

The Catholic BB triumverate of DePaul-Marquette-St. Louis will stick together as well - and would surely follow the northern FB schools exodus (regionality, BB power considerations).

There is no way Army would stay in a conference with only one member ANYWHERE near it (ECU) - so they would likely move their FB with the more northern schools. Navy could then join because there would be no conflict with a conference championship game - adding another attendence/TV powerhouse to the line-up.

Temple needs a new home for all-sports soon and ties in very nicely with the Military schools geographically.

Marshall (another eastern/northern school) would love to jump from the MAC to a stronger FB conference (which this would be) and it's addition makes this a very attractive TV conference for FB.

UCF is released from their MAC contract if Marshall leaves and would give the conference a warm weather spot for a Bowl game.

If they can get ECU (which would be the only C-USA FB team remaining that is east of the Appalachians) then you have a very good little FB conference.

Then if Charlotte jumps to join the other BB schools from C-USA and neighboring ECU - then you have a VERY good BB conference too.

Now they need only one more full member to be a full fledged I-A conference - and any team from the MAC (Toledo or Miami-Ohio) would jump at a chance to join - or perhaps MTSU or USF.

FB and BB(8): Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, ECU, Marshall, Temple, UCF and either Toledo, Miami-Ohio, Western Michigan, MTSU or USF
FB only(2): Army, Navy
non-FB only (4): DePaul, Marquette, Charlotte, St. Louis


It trades C-USA FB powerhouses TCU and Southern Miss for Marshall, UCF and whatever they determine is the next best FB team from the MAC, C-USA or SBC - but also sheds C-USA FB attendence weaklings like Houston, UAB, Tulane for better attended UCF, Marshall and Navy.

The FB strength is probably comparable to the current C-USA line-up, but is much better attendence wise - BUT - that's a better and smaller BB conference than C-USA is right now - with more reasonable travel.

Conference USA is a good (not great) conference with several very respectable teams. Sure, they have urban and directional names, but image wise, they are at least a bit above (or on par) with the Mountain West as a whole. Even if a team or two did exit for the Big East (the ACC is really not a reality), there are others that could be admitted such as Marshall, Central Florida, LA Tech, Temple, or even one of Sun Belt teams such as Arkansas State or N. Texas State.
Army is only in the conference for footbal and have struggled. They may leave at some point if there is ever another option.
Conference USA's biggest problem is distance between some of the schools. This makes intense rivalries harder to achieve. I would like see them as an all-sports conference of 12 teams, two divisions, that pick up perhaps Marshall and Central Florida.
End of season rivalries could be Louisville vs Cincinatti,
Tulane vs Southern Miss, UAB vs Memphis, East Carolina vs Marshall, South Fla vs Central Fla, and TCU vs Houston. It's not completely all natural, but close.

Memphis can speak for themselves, but, imo, there is no way they join that league. They move from a southern team to a northern team. Yes, for baskets they'd like cincy and lou - for everything else, they southern alternative is preferable. Speaking of attendance weaklings in 2001 (latest I have available) Tulane outdrew WESTERN MICHIGAN, UCF, Miami O, Temple, MSTSU, and the rest of the "Weaklings" all outdrew Miami O, Temple, and MTSU. And no way does UCF pick that scenario - they'd stay with the choice down south. Cincy would probably prefer that; maybe ECU, but I doubt it. Army has no one close to them as it is and the whole point of them joining c-usa was that they had military bases all over the country.

With increasing travel cost, there is no way C-USA will survive. It will be a thing of the past just like the Metro and the Great Midwest. The basketball schools will probably be the first to leave. (Marquette, DePaul, St. Louis & Charlotte)

It may be time to recreate a new GREAT MIDWEST again with this lineup:


Marquette (C-USA)
St. Louis (C-USA)
DePaul (C-USA)
Xavier (A-10)
Dayton (A-10)
Butler (Horizon)
Detroit (Horizon)
Ill-Chicago (Horizon)
WI-Milwaukee (Horizon)
Valparaiso (Mid-Continent)



And then Charlotte should help create a new MID-ATLANTIC conference to include:

Charlotte (C-USA)
Charleston (Southern)
UNCW (Colonial)
Old Dominion (Colonial)
Va Commonwealth (Colonial)
George Mason (Colonial)
George Washington (A-10)
St. Joes (A-10)


Both of these leagues would very solid (top 10 RPI) conferences that would never have to worry about football.