Well, although nothing has been made official, it looks like we are going to the CUSA with UTSA in tow. There is still lots of complaining about the situation, with the best comment being this from gmg.com:
It’s like busting your ass for years to get that big executive promotion. The day finally comes, only you find out some 19-year-old intern was just named VP as well.
It feels like that is true, but the circumstances are markedly different. This isn’t 1998, anymore. In this soon-to-be-post-BCS world, where Boise St, TCU, UConn and Hawaii got into the Fiesta, Sugar, Rose Bowls.
There is a ton of money floating around that split open old conference allegiances. It is much easier to move up and around than ever. UTSA, UNC Charlotte and Texas State would never have been able to make the jump in the old-pre internet era.
Now, with technology fueling the popularity of college football and even more money to be spread around causing more shifts, we have moved up. Finally.
As much as we hate the situation, we can only embrace the good. Use the resentment of the young bucks as fan hate fuel. Unleash it when UTSA makes a trip up to Apogee sometime in Fall 2013.
The move, in comparison to the Roadrunners, doesn’t minimize the awesome improvements Rick Villareal and company have made. We didn’t do very well for most of the history under the old rules, under these new television-money-driven ones? Well, we are doing better.
We have an awesome on-campus stadium with very good facilities in a fertile recruiting market. We don’t need to compete with Texas, Oklahoma for recruits, and we already have a leg up on the second tier SMUs of the world.
Remember Tony Mitchell? Yeah. How about George Odufuwa? Roger Franklin?
We have a nice little tradition of bringing in DFW guys after their first choice fell through. There is even another one to speculate about. Hint.
Everything is looking up. We are going to a slightly more prestigious conference and angling for a nice little television deal that could bring in enough money to even do baseball, yo.
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In tangentally related news, we could have been in MTSU’s position. Apparently, their president was all-but sabotaging what looked like a certain move, which may have paved the way for UTSA to step in. It is all speculation at this point, so I won’t link to anything.
If true, it would explain the seemingly inexplicable UTSA invite. However, as Coach Dan McCarney’s nephew, Dan McCarney says, nothing is absolute until we get official announcements.
First off, there is no hyphen in the proper name of UNC Charlotte. Second, for sports it is the Charlotte 49ers. Third, in 1998, Charlotte was a member of Conference USA. They could have built up football just like UAB or USF. Do some research before you complain about undeserving startups.
Fixed the hyphen thing. I admittedly didn’t look up Charlotte but I am not overly concerned about their potential move up.
Point remains concerning the move. What Could Have Been is a frequent refrain among all colleges. U of Chicago used to be a legit Big Ten school in football. Now? They can’t compete athletically. I put no weight in those arguments.