C-USA, is it worth it?

[IllinoisState]

Unpopular opinion here....

Add Murray St., South Dakota St., and NDSU.

Commit to moving to FBS as a conference over 5 years. Football would generate more TV revenue and I don't think it would hurt our basketball product.

If a team moves out, we become far more attractive to schools like WKU, and potentially even a Tulsa or Memphis if the AAC implodes. Football could be competitive with conferences like the MAC, watered down AAC, and much better than C-USA and the new WAC.

You're right, that is unpopular.

[jsaluki080]

Unpopular opinion here....

Add Murray St., South Dakota St., and NDSU.

Commit to moving to FBS as a conference over 5 years. Football would generate more TV revenue and I don't think it would hurt our basketball product.

If a team moves out, we become far more attractive to schools like WKU, and potentially even a Tulsa or Memphis if the AAC implodes. Football could be competitive with conferences like the MAC, watered down AAC, and much better than C-USA and the new WAC.

FBS football conference of just SDSU, NDSU, Murray, MoSt, ISUr, ISUb, SIU, UNI. Interesting.
On one hand I like the idea but, on the other hand, I don't think this would be good for the long term stability of our conference. Some schools who already have a meager athletic budget may have their basketball budget further damaged. Also, it would give several schools a good launch pads to better football conferences. New schools coming in may start to have a football focus. The privates will get pissed off and a Big East scenario becomes likely.

Regardless, the last several pages have strayed from the topic. So, getting back on topic, I feel like C-USA is a dead conference. Even if they do stay together, their TV contract was already bad (from what I heard) and will only get worse.

[letsgoAces]

The advantage of the MVC as a basketball league with FCS football is a strength....FBS does not help at all.

[Sir Sci]

Unpopular opinion here....

Add Murray St., South Dakota St., and NDSU.

Commit to moving to FBS as a conference over 5 years. Football would generate more TV revenue and I don't think it would hurt our basketball product.

If a team moves out, we become far more attractive to schools like WKU, and potentially even a Tulsa or Memphis if the AAC implodes. Football could be competitive with conferences like the MAC, watered down AAC, and much better than C-USA and the new WAC.

I think it's an unpopular idea among the non-football schools in the conference for reasons that jsaluki correctly stated.

But for me it would be the ideal. We could stay in the MVC, keep those connections, remain in a strong basketball conference, and be in FBS. It's the best of all circumstances for Missouri State, at least.

Reasons it would make sense: NDSU and SDSU really should be FBS schools, but their location is simply prohibitive when it comes to being attractive to FBS conferences. And I'm not just talking about "market size" or whatever, I mean their actual distance from so many schools. I'm not intimately familiar with the finances of UND and USD, but I bet if their "State" counterparts made the move then they would want to as well.

Illinois State would also likely have little issue becoming FBS alongside Missouri State.

I think the ???s would be if SIU, UNI, and Indiana State would have the resources to make the move - because I think they'd be integral to a successful transition. Youngstown St and WIU would be fine to move on if they didn't want to move to FBS, but I think those three MVC teams that are also in the MVFC would be crucial.

All this is probably moot considering it won't happen, but it's the dream.

[BCPanther]

If the league went as a whole, UNI would figure it out.

There's zero chance of standalone move, that ship sailed in 2011 when a move the MAC was apparently a little closer than any of us thought at the time.

[letsgoAces]

I see no advantage of being an FBS school in the G-5, but what do I know. My guess is that at some point the Power 5 is going to make a clean break from the rest of the pack, forcing a merger between the G-5 and the FCS.

[Action10]

Unpopular opinion here....

Add Murray St., South Dakota St., and NDSU.

Commit to moving to FBS as a conference over 5 years. Football would generate more TV revenue and I don't think it would hurt our basketball product.

If a team moves out, we become far more attractive to schools like WKU, and potentially even a Tulsa or Memphis if the AAC implodes. Football could be competitive with conferences like the MAC, watered down AAC, and much better than C-USA and the new WAC.

I have a few problems with this.
How much more lucrative is the Sun Belt, MAC, or CUSA tv contract than what we have now? The MVFC moving to FBS will not get an AAC or Mountain West level tv deal yet. I don't know if the money outweighs the added expenses.
Another problem I see is that the league is more easily poached by other FBS leagues, specifically leagues with better tv deals (like the AAC or Mountain West).
To me, going FBS in football creates many, many more problems than anything it could solve.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Unpopular opinion here....

Add Murray St., South Dakota St., and NDSU.

Commit to moving to FBS as a conference over 5 years. Football would generate more TV revenue and I don't think it would hurt our basketball product.

If a team moves out, we become far more attractive to schools like WKU, and potentially even a Tulsa or Memphis if the AAC implodes. Football could be competitive with conferences like the MAC, watered down AAC, and much better than C-USA and the new WAC.

You're right, that is unpopular.

It isn’t possible.

The clause (which is a fraction of a sentence within a by-law) was added in 2011 with the implicit intention of helping out the WAC (or any FBS conference in the future) who fell out of compliance.

“Previously met the definition of a Football Bowl Subdivision conference” refers to the modern-day definition of a FBS conference (ie. the current FBS requirements for things like sport sponsorships).

It doesn’t refer to leagues who last met the definition of D1-A in 1981 (MVC, Ivy, SoCon, Southland) before the big relegation of 1982. Not only was the term different (D1-A) but the actual requirements for what met the definition of a D1-A conference were distinctly different and don’t apply to the FBS definition of today.

[BCPanther]

Unpopular opinion here....

Add Murray St., South Dakota St., and NDSU.

Commit to moving to FBS as a conference over 5 years. Football would generate more TV revenue and I don't think it would hurt our basketball product.

If a team moves out, we become far more attractive to schools like WKU, and potentially even a Tulsa or Memphis if the AAC implodes. Football could be competitive with conferences like the MAC, watered down AAC, and much better than C-USA and the new WAC.

You're right, that is unpopular.

It isn’t possible.

The clause (which is a fraction of a sentence within a by-law) was added in 2011 with the implicit intention of helping out the WAC (or any FBS conference in the future) who fell out of compliance.

“Previously met the definition of a Football Bowl Subdivision conference” refers to the modern-day definition of a FBS conference (ie. the current FBS requirements for things like sport sponsorships).

It doesn’t refer to leagues who last met the definition of D1-A in 1981 (MVC, Ivy, SoCon, Southland) before the big relegation of 1982. Not only was the term different (D1-A) but the actual requirements for what met the definition of a D1-A conference were distinctly different and don’t apply to the FBS definition of today.

The Valley sponsored I-A Football until 1985. The Valley is the only other league besides the WAC that holds the clause. There's almost zero chance that it's ever used but it does exist.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

BC, the Valley didn’t meet the definition of a D1-A conference from 1982-1985. It was a hybrid of D1-A and D1-AA teams.

I-A: Wichita, Tulsa, NMSU
I-AA: Drake, ISUr, ISUb, SIU, WTSU

The league participated in the I-AA playoffs.

There were 3 (2 when NMSU left for the PCAA) I-A programs, but the league itself didn’t meet the I-A definition, which is distinctly different (ie. requirements for things like sport sponsorships) from today’s FBS definition.