are you new to this thread?
We absolutely should not join C-USA. It is the worst FBS league whose champ is extremely unlikely to finish as one of the top 6. In fact, since the CFP/NY6 setup started, C-USA has gone to 0 NY6 bowl games (aka best G5 champ/aka top 6 champ).
We have a better chance of getting into a 12-team playoff as an independent than in C-USA going 13-0 against a much weaker schedule.
These are the members of the future C-USA:
Liberty (currently indie)
LaTech
NMSU (currently indie)
FIU
UTEP
MTSU
WKU
Jacksonville State (currently FCS)
Sam Houston State (currently FCS)
Prestige-wise it is much better to be an independent than in C-USA. The only exception is UMass whose schedules are on par with a C-USA schedule.
You had mentioned earlier that we could just play 4 P5 home and homes and 8 C-USA games, but we both know that won't happen. We will schedule 1 FCS game. It is unlikely that we would schedule 3 P5 home and homes every year. Most years it would be two. Also, would an ACC team want to schedule a home and home against a C-USA team on the regular?
But I will give you a thought experiment:
I will compare our 2023 schedule (as the following years are not complete) vs. a prospective C-USA schedule with 3 P5 home and homes:
2023: NC State, @Georgia State, FIU, Duke, Utah State, @Rice, USF, @Boston College, @Tennessee,
@James Madison, Sacred Heart,
@UMass
C-USA: Sacred Heart, NC State, @Duke, Boston College, @FIU, LaTech, SHSU, @JSU, @WKU, Liberty, NMSU, @MTSU
Which schedule looks better to you?
To me, 2023 has 8 games of interest (all but Georgia State, FIU, James Madison, and UMass).
The C-USA schedule has only 3 games of interest (NC State, Duke, BC- the three games that have nothing to do with C-USA).