UMass signals CUSA

[shizzle787]

Unless you can provide evidence of this, I'm calling BS.

Liberty has been clear that they are going all-in on creating a major FB program and becoming Baylor 2.0. After getting rejected by every other G5 during the latest realignment, they went with the conference that was desperate for any warm body.

KenPom. Went from a league in the low 20s to a top-12 league. Their fanbase was not happy about joining CUSA for football and giving up P4 H/H series.

 

[Vowelguy]

KenPom. Went from a league in the low 20s to a top-12 league. Their fanbase was not happy about joining CUSA for football and giving up P4 H/H series.

Just because CUSA is ranked higher in BB does not mean that was the prime reason for moving. The BE is ranked higher in men’s soccer than the American. Can we conclude that UConn chose the BE because of its soccer ?

 

[shizzle787]

Just because CUSA is ranked higher in BB does not mean that was the prime reason for moving. The BE is ranked higher in men’s soccer than the American. Can we conclude that UConn chose the BE because of its soccer ?

Falwell wanted the school to stay independent and become the evangelical Notre Dame. He got forced out, and they changed direction.

 

[Vowelguy]

Falwell wanted the school to stay independent and become the evangelical Notre Dame. He got forced out, and they changed direction.

Still not hearing any proof their decision was driven by basketball.

It defies logic.

 

[UConnJim]

No school from CUSA would ever be considered for the CFP due to the weak schools (CUSA is rated the worst G5 conference) and poorly rated schedules. Liberty is 8-0 this year and their schedule is ranked #128 and are rated #63 in FBS by Sagarin. They are rated below 6-2 SMU, 8-0 Air Force, 6-2 Troy, 8-0 James Madison, 7-1 Tulane, 4-4 Boise St., 7-1 Fresno St., 5-3 UTSA, and 6-2 Memphis.

In 2022, before joining CUSA, Liberty played Wake Forest, BYU, UConn, Arkansas, and Virginia Tech. This year, they play no P5 schools, and they have none scheduled until 2027. They play 3 Tuesday night and 1 Thursday night games this year. Does anybody really want to sign up for that? Not me.

 

[Marbles90]

But the huge flaw in your logic is UConn going 12-0 as an independent beating P4 teams to get there. That will never happen. Mora has straight out told you that. I don’t get why you all care so much who we play. We are getting shellacked. Nobody is coming to games anyway. And we will never have the $$ to be anything more than a laughing stock to the other P4 programs. Even if a CUSA playoff bid will never happen, winning in that league or any G5 league is way better than going 2-10 as an independent.

And for those folks saying these G5 conferences won’t help us financially, that is true if you are still under the delusion that we can compete with P4 schools. If we are getting G5 conference $$ we are at least on a level playing field with others in the same league.

We need to win. We need to rebuild. We sold our football soul to save basketball. As much as I hated it, it worked. We won the national championship and we are back in basketball. Football can’t compete on the same level as our basketball program right now. Rebuilding is about starting over and with our coach, facilities and resources, we SHOULD be able to win in these conferences and start the process of moving up.

 

[shizzle787]

But the huge flaw in your logic is UConn going 12-0 as an independent beating P4 teams to get there. That will never happen. Mora has straight out told you that. I don’t get why you all care so much who we play. We are getting shellacked. Nobody is coming to games anyway. And we will never have the $$ to be anything more than a laughing stock to the other P4 programs. Even if a CUSA playoff bid will never happen, winning in that league or any G5 league is way better than going 2-10 as an independent.

And for those folks saying these G5 conferences won’t help us financially, that is true if you are still under the delusion that we can compete with P4 schools. If we are getting G5 conference $$ we are at least on a level playing field with others in the same league.

We need to win. We need to rebuild. We sold our football soul to save basketball. As much as I hated it, it worked. We won the national championship and we are back in basketball. Football can’t compete on the same level as our basketball program right now. Rebuilding is about starting over and with our coach, facilities and resources, we SHOULD be able to win in these conferences and start the process of moving up.

We are top 12 among G5 in attendance so…..

 

[GoConn]

If were winning, who cares who really play. People will come to games if were winning and we can still schedule 1 or 2 OOC games with P4 schools.

 

[ZooCougar]

If were winning, who cares who really play. People will come to games if were winning and we can still schedule 1 or 2 OOC games with P4 schools.

Joining a crappy conference cons:

Less games (that we won’t win anyway) at home against P4 teams. Although this likely a plus since we need to stop pretending that we can compete on a P5 level.

No CBS

A bit more ESPN plus

Joining a crappy conference pros:

More games against teams we can compete with

Something to compete for

Bowl alliances

All games including the usual FCS on an ESPN plus

Bowl alliances

With a conference schedule it’s easier to schedule 7 home games a year

A chance to be dominant in a conference and prove that we can win.

 

[GoConn]

Joining a crappy conference cons:

Less games (that we won’t win anyway) at home against P4 teams. Although this likely a plus since we need to stop pretending that we can compete on a P5 level.

No CBS

A bit more ESPN plus

Joining a crappy conference pros:

More games against teams we can compete with

Something to compete for

Bowl alliances

All games including the usual FCS on an ESPN plus

Bowl alliances

With a conference schedule it’s easier to schedule 7 home games a year

A chance to be dominant in a conference and prove that we can win.

Pros outweigh Cons.

I think unfortunately we need all just realize we arent and wont be P4. Once you swallow you pride there (I have), play football in a G5 conference against teams we can actually compete against. I think overtime we can begin to dominate that conference which could lead to a P4 invite.

There is nothing wrong at all playing in an elite basketball conference with the Big East and a lower tier football conference where we can be competitive.

 

[ZooCougar]

Pros outweigh Cons.

I think unfortunately we need all just realize we arent and wont be P4. Once you swallow you pride there (I have), play football in a G5 conference against teams we can actually compete against. I think overtime we can begin to dominate that conference which could lead to a P4 invite.

There is nothing wrong at all playing in an elite basketball conference with the Big East and a lower tier football conference where we can be competitive.

If you try to imagine what this looks like 5 years from now as Indy it will probably look exactly like it looks now.

The recruits aren’t going to get decidedly better like we saw moving into the Big East.

The Independent strategy won’t work and isn't working. We’re like a family that lost all of their money and refuses to move out of the mansion that they can’t afford to live in. Only some of our friends come over once in a while to eat our food and get an easy win.

 

[pepband99]

Joining a crappy conference cons:

Less games (that we won’t win anyway) at home against P4 teams. Although this likely a plus since we need to stop pretending that we can compete on a P5 level.

No CBS

A bit more ESPN plus

Joining a crappy conference pros:

More games against teams we can compete with

Something to compete for

Bowl alliances

All games including the usual FCS on an ESPN plus

Bowl alliances

With a conference schedule it’s easier to schedule 7 home games a year

A chance to be dominant in a conference and prove that we can win.

Still ignoring:

Weeknight games

Financial hit due to decreased ticket revenue and likely TV rights drop too.

We have an AD that is massively in the red, and you're just whistling by probably dropping, guessing, something like 2M / year in top line, for by far the most expensive sport. It's a non-starter.

 

[shizzle787]

Joining a crappy conference cons:

Less games (that we won’t win anyway) at home against P4 teams. Although this likely a plus since we need to stop pretending that we can compete on a P5 level.

No CBS

A bit more ESPN plus

Joining a crappy conference pros:

More games against teams we can compete with

Something to compete for

Bowl alliances

All games including the usual FCS on an ESPN plus

Bowl alliances

With a conference schedule it’s easier to schedule 7 home games a year

A chance to be dominant in a conference and prove that we can win.

Playing on ESPN+ is not a pro. It's a con.

Bowl alliance doesn't matter as there is always an excess of bowl games. If we win 6 games as an independent, math dictates we will play in a bowl.

Conference schedule does not make it easier to schedule 7 home games a year. It is the same difficulty. The only reason we haven't scheduled seven home games yet is because we have/are playing a pay day away game in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025. We don't need to play those anymore. If we play 5-6 P4 H/H series and 5-6 G5 H/H series every year, we will get a 7th home game on average every other year.

Winning the MAC or CUSA doesn't mean anything to me, and there is no guarantee we will run through the MAC. If we don't, people will be mad. Going 8-4 in the MAC is not an accomplishment.

 

[Kolumbo]

Joining a crappy conference cons:

Less games (that we won’t win anyway) at home against P4 teams. Although this likely a plus since we need to stop pretending that we can compete on a P5 level.

No CBS

A bit more ESPN plus

Joining a crappy conference pros:

More games against teams we can compete with

Something to compete for

Bowl alliances

All games including the usual FCS on an ESPN plus

Bowl alliances

With a conference schedule it’s easier to schedule 7 home games a year

A chance to be dominant in a conference and prove that we can win.

We haven't been able to watch one UConn game on tv this year. I did get to check in on the Fordham vs. Bucknell game last night though. Congrats to the Rams, 27-21.

 

[Vowelguy]

Playing on ESPN+ is not a pro. It's a con.

Given how this team has been playing, not allowing anyone to watch could be a plus.

 

[shizzle787]

We haven't been able to watch one UConn game on tv this year. I did get to check in on the Fordham vs. Bucknell game last night though. Congrats to the Rams, 27-21.

Huh? All of our FBS home games are on CBS Sports network (which I have and at least 50 million other US households have). The Sacred Heart games is on WFSB 3 (CBS in most of CT).

The Tennessee game was on SEC Network. The Boston College game was on ACC Network.

You want to know what games weren't on linear TV?

Yep, you guessed it: James Madison (Sun Belt), Rice (AAC), and Georgia State (Sun Belt).

 

[ZooCougar]

Playing on ESPN+ is not a pro. It's a con.

Bowl alliance doesn't matter as there is always an excess of bowl games. If we win 6 games as an independent, math dictates we will play in a bowl.

Conference schedule does not make it easier to schedule 7 home games a year. It is the same difficulty. The only reason we haven't scheduled seven home games yet is because we have/are playing a pay day away game in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025. We don't need to play those anymore. If we play 5-6 P4 H/H series and 5-6 G5 H/H series every year, we will get a 7th home game on average every other year.

Winning the MAC or CUSA doesn't mean anything to me, and there is no guarantee we will run through the MAC. If we don't, people will be mad. Going 8-4 in the MAC is not an accomplishment.

The only excess bowl games are terrible bowl games. And no there are not always excess.

We’re already on ESPN + several times a year. It’s a wash.

We can’t even get Sacred Heart onto plus.

You’ve literally siding the last 10 years inventing crappy conferences for us to join and now you get cold feet?

Conference schedule absolutely makes it easier.

 

[Vowelguy]

Reminder: you need to WIN GAMES to be bowl eligible.

This thread is like two 12 year olds arguing over whether they are going to get a red or blue mustang when they can afford one.

 

[GoConn]

Winning the MAC or CUSA doesn't mean anything to me, and there is no guarantee we will run through the MAC. If we don't, people will be mad. Going 8-4 in the MAC is not an accomplishment.

Very curious, What do you consider an accomplishment then? Is going 8-4 as an independent make it an accomplishment?

 

[shizzle787]

Very curious, What do you consider an accomplishment then? Is going 8-4 as an independent make it an accomplishment?

Yes. Against a schedule of at least 4 P4 teams. Absolutely.

 

[shizzle787]

Reminder: you need to WIN GAMES to be bowl eligible.

This thread is like two 12 year olds arguing over whether they are going to get a red or blue mustang when they can afford one.

Not quite. We are both arguing while in a mobile home. The difference is that my mobile home is next to a bunch of nice houses. He wants to move the mobile home to a favela.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yes. Against a schedule of at least 4 P4 teams. Absolutely.

That we can’t really even compete against because we can’t match them on talent.

You can’t fake it till you make it.

We’re ranked 132nd out of 133 this week.

It’s not working.

 

[metsfan2323]

Yes. Against a schedule of at least 4 P4 teams. Absolutely.

The P4 games are destroying this football program. They are not even remotely exciting. We are a middleweight boxer trying to knock out Mike Tyson in his prime. It's ugly. Yes we beat BC last year but 20 things went in our favor in order for us to win that game. It was a fluke.

We are a G5 team that should be playing G5 games with the goal of being the best G5 team in the country. Winning games is the only thing that will bring the fans back.

 

[shizzle787]

That we can’t really even compete against because we can’t match them on talent.

You can’t fake it till you make it.

We’re ranked 132nd out of 133 this week.

It’s not working.

We went 6-6 last year and blew a game against Ball State. We can compete. We just need to finish games. I don’t think we should be scheduling body bag away games though. Let’s stick to 5 or so P4 H/H series against low end B1G and ACC programs.

 

[shizzle787]

The P4 games are destroying this football program. They are not even remotely exciting. We are a middleweight boxer trying to knock out Mike Tyson in his prime. It's ugly. Yes we beat BC last year but 20 things went in our favor in order for us to win that game. It was a fluke.

We are a G5 team that should be playing G5 games with the goal of being the best G5 team in the country.

We lost to BC by 7 and NC State by 10 and were in both games. I agree we should not have scheduled Tennessee but the home and homes against average and below ACC and B1G teams is fine.