Southern Miss beatwriter: C-USA model failing

C-USA News & Notes
21

You been there? I have twice. Thier facilitates are far better except hoops and that’s only slight, huge following state wide, great marketing, and great booster environment. But agree we should smoke them with potential. Just don’t discount them, they are an ECU clone.[/quote]

[font=verdana]I wish Southern Miss well they have great tradition and solid fan support. I visited there last year and their football stadium while much larger than ours was covered in gray mildew. Their basketball area looked like it hadn’t been touched since 1970.[/font]

With that said I envy their ability to market and desire to win something Charlotte ignores.[/quote]

22

Our time of leaning on our potential is running out, if not already gone. It’s put up or shut up time if we don’t want to get left behind, again.

23

For the longest time, I think fans didn’t want to be associated with Sun Belt teams because we felt above them. With the consolidation in the Power 5, the notion of regional conferences makes a ton of sense. People equate size of school with quality of athletic programs. I think this is a fallacy.

24

[quote=“ImfromClayton, post:16, topic:31255”][quote=“4ever niner, post:13, topic:31255”][quote=“Run49er, post:1, topic:31255”]From Southern Miss beatwriter Pat Magee of the Biloxi Sun Herald.

Sunherald.com: Conference USA proves again that it’s a failing model[/quote] Nice article that could well have been written by Capt. Obvious. WKU vs. UTEP makes about as much sense as Syracuse vs. Miami and we know no league would be stupid enough to include those last two.[/quote]

The ACC makes 8 figures off their TV deal. That’s why Syracuse and Miami makes sense. Wanna guess how much ours makes?[/quote] If you see a direct relationship between their geographical footprint and their TV deal, then fine. That is a debatable point.
I’m not so sure they would not be making as much per school with an eight team or ten team league with a regional structure.

Of course, we all know college athletics is not about making money anyway, but about people graduating. I know this is true because the NCAA runs ads every week explaining that fact. ;D

25

You been there? I have twice. Thier facilitates are far better except hoops and that’s only slight, huge following state wide, great marketing, and great booster environment. But agree we should smoke them with potential. Just don’t discount them, they are an ECU clone.[/quote]

[font=verdana]I wish Southern Miss well they have great tradition and solid fan support. I visited there last year and their football stadium while much larger than ours was covered in gray mildew. Their basketball area looked like it hadn’t been touched since 1970.[/font]

With that said I envy their ability to market and desire to win something Charlotte ignores.[/quote]

Southern Miss athletics has been running a $2 million deficit for a decade, and the university has been covering it. Athletics has been told “no more”. They are in a position where they can either power wash the stadium, or pay the staff–but not both. Their new AD was not given the full picture when he was hired. The TV deal killed them and it is hard to see their path out.

26

Good article. I appreciate the coverage that the Biloxi paper has given to CUSA. I know there is some sentiment that Southern Miss is in the middle of nowhere with poor facilities, etc. but having lived in MS before I can tell you that people support the Golden Eagles at a much higher clip than they do most CUSA schools.

I agree with everyone here that the Sun Belt and CUSA should reform into 2 geographically based conferences. I do not see ECU being involved with this. The situation with the AAC is much much better than our situation. They have Memphis, UCF, USF, etc. in football and Wichita State, UConn, Cincinatti in basketball. They may fold eventually, but it won’t happen any time soon.

Most likely we would end up in a league with

App, ODU, Liberty, Coastal, GA State, GA Southern, Marshal

and then some of the following teams:

FIU, FAU, MTSU, WKU, Troy, South Alabama, UAB, Southern Miss

I don’t think that being in a major media market matters remotely as much as it did 10 years ago. Again, we missed the ship.

27

[quote=“TRLeader, post:5, topic:31255”][quote=“49erCC, post:4, topic:31255”]do not want to be in a conference with a
App[/quote]

Why not…the rivalry and atmosphere would be amazing.

Regional conferences will be the only way colleges can maintain expenses going forward with the P5 getting the bulk of the tv money.

I absolutely WELCOME a regional conference.
I’d much rather play in a regional conference with the likes of APP, Coastal Carolina, ECU, College of Charleston, ODU, Marshal, et al than FIU, UTEP, FAU, MTSU, Western Kentucky and Rice any day. The fan interest would be night and day. That means the gameday experience specifically.

We ain’t getting a seat at the P5 table…the regional option over this crap we’re in now is a no brainer.[/quote]
I’ve been saying this for years and was roundly booed…

28

[quote=“hootie, post:27, topic:31255”][quote=“TRLeader, post:5, topic:31255”][quote=“49erCC, post:4, topic:31255”]do not want to be in a conference with a
App[/quote]

Why not…the rivalry and atmosphere would be amazing.

Regional conferences will be the only way colleges can maintain expenses going forward with the P5 getting the bulk of the tv money.

I absolutely WELCOME a regional conference.
I’d much rather play in a regional conference with the likes of APP, Coastal Carolina, ECU, College of Charleston, ODU, Marshal, et al than FIU, UTEP, FAU, MTSU, Western Kentucky and Rice any day. The fan interest would be night and day. That means the gameday experience specifically.

We ain’t getting a seat at the P5 table…the regional option over this crap we’re in now is a no brainer.[/quote]
I’ve been saying this for years and was roundly booed…[/quote] To be fair, the Niners prospects for better conference affiliation looked more possible in years past. Now, not so much.

But I agree completely, a regional conference is now the way to go. In fact, I’ll be happy if the “P5” decide to break away from the rest of the NCAA to help force this move. Half of those teams will be losers, and many programs will wither due to all the losing. In the meantime, the playing field will be closer to level among everyone else (enforcing rules against cheating for example?), and we can institute real playoffs for football too. It’s pretty clear by now who would be in that breakaway cartel and who would be out, so let’s get it over with and stop holding out for the lottery ticket.

29

If CUSA and the Sunbelt were to regionally realign I’d rather see three conferences emerge than two. I’ve never been a fan of 14 team conferences. Eight, nine, or 10 are a much better number of teams. Play round-robin in basketball and everyone in football.

30

Yes to this. ^^^^^

31

Regional conferences with regional tv deals that will draw more fans. If you are watching 20 to 30 Charlotte games a year the likelihood of becoming a fan is greater. We need Wal-Mart fans to build a brand.

32

Who said a move is a downgrade? The paradigm has shifted. Change or be changed. C-USA may not exist in a year or two.

Regional is where it’s at if you’re not P5.

33

We have fans that think we’re better than App. Just because we’re bigger, we’re not necessarily a better athletic school. We might be - we might not. But let’s prove it.

Regional conferences is where it’s at.

34

We have fans that think we’re better than App. Just because we’re bigger, we’re not necessarily a better athletic school. We might be - we might not. But let’s prove it.

Regional conferences is where it’s at.[/quote]

Or…he may not want to be in a conference with App because he’s afraid we’d get our ass kicked.
As we sit today…We would.
And not just in football.

35

[quote=“9erken, post:28, topic:31255”][quote=“hootie, post:27, topic:31255”][quote=“TRLeader, post:5, topic:31255”][quote=“49erCC, post:4, topic:31255”]do not want to be in a conference with a
App[/quote]

Why not…the rivalry and atmosphere would be amazing.

Regional conferences will be the only way colleges can maintain expenses going forward with the P5 getting the bulk of the tv money.

I absolutely WELCOME a regional conference.
I’d much rather play in a regional conference with the likes of APP, Coastal Carolina, ECU, College of Charleston, ODU, Marshal, et al than FIU, UTEP, FAU, MTSU, Western Kentucky and Rice any day. The fan interest would be night and day. That means the gameday experience specifically.

We ain’t getting a seat at the P5 table…the regional option over this crap we’re in now is a no brainer.[/quote]
I’ve been saying this for years and was roundly booed…[/quote] To be fair, the Niners prospects for better conference affiliation looked more possible in years past. Now, not so much.

But I agree completely, a regional conference is now the way to go. In fact, I’ll be happy if the “P5” decide to break away from the rest of the NCAA to help force this move. Half of those teams will be losers, and many programs will wither due to all the losing. In the meantime, the playing field will be closer to level among everyone else (enforcing rules against cheating for example?), and we can institute real playoffs for football too. It’s pretty clear by now who would be in that breakaway cartel and who would be out, so let’s get it over with and stop holding out for the lottery ticket.[/quote]

ken,
You only say this because of where we are TODAY.

for years…guys like you REFUSED to admit Judy Rose was a monumental once in a lifetime disaster, but instead a true UNCC benefit!

Now you move the goal post? Screw that, we should be in whatever league Memphis, UCF, USF, App, ECU, Cincy, etc is in.

We are where we are now because of ass backwards executive. We should not accept the grave she dug.

36

[quote=“punchdrunk, post:35, topic:31255”]Now you move the goal post? Screw that, we should be in whatever league Memphis, UCF, USF, App, ECU, Cincy, etc is in.

We are where we are now because of ass backwards executive. We should not accept the grave she dug.[/quote]

Agree. But from what I’ve read in this thread, we now have some fans that think these teams are too far away.

No one thought they were too far away during CUSA1.

37

[quote=“49r9r, post:36, topic:31255”][quote=“punchdrunk, post:35, topic:31255”]Now you move the goal post? Screw that, we should be in whatever league Memphis, UCF, USF, App, ECU, Cincy, etc is in.

We are where we are now because of ass backwards executive. We should not accept the grave she dug.[/quote]

Agree. But from what I’ve read in this thread, we now have some fans that think these teams are too far away.

No one thought they were too far away during CUSA1.[/quote]
Should we be with the teams we were with two decades ago? Absolutely. Do we have a chance at that today? Absolutely not. The next AD whoever and whenever that is will have a monumental hill to climb to bring us back to relevance.

The entire college sports industry is looking like it is shifting. The best way to grow our fans and to get some type of exposure is to build local rivalries with local media exposure. We have to get the community invested in what we are doing. People in the Charlotte and Carolina areas know who Coastal Carolina is. That would bring in more attendance than a Charlotte USF match-up in my opinion. Would we get the athletes to compete with the ACC, SEC, etc? No, but we don’t have that today.

38

[quote=“Dowless, post:37, topic:31255”][quote=“49r9r, post:36, topic:31255”][quote=“punchdrunk, post:35, topic:31255”]Now you move the goal post? Screw that, we should be in whatever league Memphis, UCF, USF, App, ECU, Cincy, etc is in.

We are where we are now because of ass backwards executive. We should not accept the grave she dug.[/quote]

Agree. But from what I’ve read in this thread, we now have some fans that think these teams are too far away.

No one thought they were too far away during CUSA1.[/quote]
Should we be with the teams we were with two decades ago? Absolutely. Do we have a chance at that today? Absolutely not. The next AD whoever and whenever that is will have a monumental hill to climb to bring us back to relevance.

The entire college sports industry is looking like it is shifting. The best way to grow our fans and to get some type of exposure is to build local rivalries with local media exposure. We have to get the community invested in what we are doing. People in the Charlotte and Carolina areas know who Coastal Carolina is. That would bring in more attendance than a Charlotte USF match-up in my opinion. Would we get the athletes to compete with the ACC, SEC, etc? No, but we don’t have that today.[/quote]
I don’t disagree. I’m more irked an ex AD employee (hih) who tweets pro Judy stuff from their sports marketing acct (and could of been a whistle blower) now tells me know your roll. There are handful of these folks. But yes we have regressed so badly the last 15 years that you are correct. We are an unrecognized brand now

39

[quote=“Dowless, post:37, topic:31255”][quote=“49r9r, post:36, topic:31255”][quote=“punchdrunk, post:35, topic:31255”]Now you move the goal post? Screw that, we should be in whatever league Memphis, UCF, USF, App, ECU, Cincy, etc is in.

We are where we are now because of ass backwards executive. We should not accept the grave she dug.[/quote]

Agree. But from what I’ve read in this thread, we now have some fans that think these teams are too far away.

No one thought they were too far away during CUSA1.[/quote]
Should we be with the teams we were with two decades ago? Absolutely. Do we have a chance at that today? Absolutely not. The next AD whoever and whenever that is will have a monumental hill to climb to bring us back to relevance.

The entire college sports industry is looking like it is shifting. The best way to grow our fans and to get some type of exposure is to build local rivalries with local media exposure. We have to get the community invested in what we are doing. People in the Charlotte and Carolina areas know who Coastal Carolina is. That would bring in more attendance than a Charlotte USF match-up in my opinion. Would we get the athletes to compete with the ACC, SEC, etc? No, but we don’t have that today.[/quote] Coastal Carolina is light years ahead of Charlotte in terms of athletics.

Judy Rose should be embarrassed!

40

Coastal? hahahah

Most people in Charlotte couldn’t name where Coastal Carolina is, let alone what conference they play in or even what sports they play. A baseball championship might feel good, but it is just as irrelevant as Dubois’ freaking soccer attendance quote.

I would NOT be in a league with Coastal. Someone is going to say they made the NCAA tournament with an auto bid from their shit league. Who cares? They have no upside at all in that sport. They will never be any better or bigger in hoops than they are right now. Shit on Charlotte’s awful last decade all you want, but at least it has potential and history. Add coastal and you get a low end FBS startup program in the middle of nowhere (Conway is not MB, and MB is not a destination except for redneck HS kids anyway), and this joke of a gym for hoops:

I think a shift to regional conferences is inevitable, and Charlotte has nearly completed its journey to irrelevance exceeded only by UConn’s fall from greater heights, the 49ers program being the victim of its own shitty leadership. You see, the AAC is going to hang around as that “P5” conference that CUSA 1.0 was, but for all sports. That’s where Charlotte should be, and would have been, if Dubois and Judy hadn’t allowed the program to wither and die from neglect and bad decision making.

So, the situation has to be salvaged - whatever scraps of potential future relevancy must be preserved. This means very carefully choosing more regional partners rather than just throwing in with anyone. A real AD would be open minded to an effective swap of far flung Texas teams for more regionalized opponents, but only IF they had a commitment to BOTH of the high revenue sports that Charlotte should also start holding itself to again under new leadership (what’s good for the goose). Otherwise? Why even bother? Just drop down to DII and play freaking Gardner Webb and Presbyterian or whatever.

Being selective might even allow an opportunity to steal a couple of east coast AAC programs, especially if the P5 comes knocking on the leagues door. Balance in revenue sports has to be achieved, including a focus on hoops that yields at large bids every year. Anything else is a waste of time and just glorified intramurals.