How does and/or should CUSA value its individual football programs?
1. Marshall. Good history. Solid program. About as close to National recognition as any CUSA team has.
2. Southern Miss. Ditto on the history. Decent national recognition, especially in the South. Program has fallen some in recent years, though.
3. Tech. Good history. Consistent of late. Better national perception outside of the State than what we may think. Future is seen as ok, but hampered by State politics and LSU homerism.
4. ODU. No real D1 history, but solid fan base in a big metro area that supports the program.
5. UAB. Bigger school than we think. Nice feel good story. Nice new facility coming. In retrospect, killing the program may have been the best thing to happen to UAB. Nice upside. Would be higher if it didnt have to deal with Bama.
6. North Texas. Nice tradition, great facility. Decent upside. Suffers by being in an area full of D1 programs.
7. UTSA. Bigger metro with no football competition. Has failed to live up to its potential, but could have a very favorable upside if it ever puts it all together.
8. FAU/FIU (tie). No tradition. Big metro with competition for eyeballs from other D1 programs.
10. UN Charlotte. Bigger metro. Lack of any real success has hampered its growth as a program. Decent upside if they could ever really do anything.
11. Western Kentucky. Like Tech, suffers from a relatively rural fan base. If they bring the program back up, has a future as a nice, solid program.
12. Rice. Had some nice years, but has struggled of late. Their glory days in the SWC have passed and will not return. Small school. Still, good name recognition because of academics and history. Huge metro with lots of competition for fans.
12. Middle Tennessee. Meh. The Blue Raiders can win and fans from the Nashville metro still won't show up.
13. UTEP. Has the Sun Bowl and a bigger metro, but that's about it. Alone on an island in far West Texas.
Marshall sits alone at the top. 2 through 6 are all pretty close and somewhat interchangable. After that, there's a pretty steep drop. FAU and FIU have name coaches, which makes them somewhat newsworthy. UTSA and UAB may have the biggest potential upsides.
Thoughts? Do I have Tech ranked too high?
1. Marshall. Good history. Solid program. About as close to National recognition as any CUSA team has.
2. Southern Miss. Ditto on the history. Decent national recognition, especially in the South. Program has fallen some in recent years, though.
3. Tech. Good history. Consistent of late. Better national perception outside of the State than what we may think. Future is seen as ok, but hampered by State politics and LSU homerism.
4. ODU. No real D1 history, but solid fan base in a big metro area that supports the program.
5. UAB. Bigger school than we think. Nice feel good story. Nice new facility coming. In retrospect, killing the program may have been the best thing to happen to UAB. Nice upside. Would be higher if it didnt have to deal with Bama.
6. North Texas. Nice tradition, great facility. Decent upside. Suffers by being in an area full of D1 programs.
7. UTSA. Bigger metro with no football competition. Has failed to live up to its potential, but could have a very favorable upside if it ever puts it all together.
8. FAU/FIU (tie). No tradition. Big metro with competition for eyeballs from other D1 programs.
10. UN Charlotte. Bigger metro. Lack of any real success has hampered its growth as a program. Decent upside if they could ever really do anything.
11. Western Kentucky. Like Tech, suffers from a relatively rural fan base. If they bring the program back up, has a future as a nice, solid program.
12. Rice. Had some nice years, but has struggled of late. Their glory days in the SWC have passed and will not return. Small school. Still, good name recognition because of academics and history. Huge metro with lots of competition for fans.
12. Middle Tennessee. Meh. The Blue Raiders can win and fans from the Nashville metro still won't show up.
13. UTEP. Has the Sun Bowl and a bigger metro, but that's about it. Alone on an island in far West Texas.
Marshall sits alone at the top. 2 through 6 are all pretty close and somewhat interchangable. After that, there's a pretty steep drop. FAU and FIU have name coaches, which makes them somewhat newsworthy. UTSA and UAB may have the biggest potential upsides.
Thoughts? Do I have Tech ranked too high?
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