If Larson did have contact with the MW?

[NDSU92]

How about a Conference USA with Conference games for football only

Sam Houston
Jacksonville State
Central Arkansas
North Dakota State
South Dakota State,
Liberty,
New Mexico State
UTEP
FIU,
Louisiana Tech
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky

Or maybe UConn or UMass

1 year ineligible for FCS Playoffs
1 year ineligible for FBS Bowl Games

Then we're good for the Bahamas Bowl

Good rivalries built besides SDSU with Sam Houston and Jacksonville State. It's got some really good long term potential for football.

Take out the sleepy Dakota schools and you’re probably not far off from what it’ll look like

[NDSU1980]

I'm curious, I would guess that some here have emailed Matt Larsen about FBS, probably more than once. Did anyone ever get a response back and what did he say? At least Gene Taylor always replied, even if it was just someone bitching about Snorty.

[Professorbum]

I'm curious, I would guess that some here have emailed Matt Larsen about FBS, probably more than once. Did anyone ever get a response back and what did he say? At least Gene Taylor always replied, even if it was just someone bitching about Snorty.

Just heard him quoted on the radio saying something to the effect of we'd never hurt volleyball just to help football. Yeah... not looking good.

[HerdBot]

Frisco Bowl??? Wouldnt that be a hoot??????

You then get to host the C-USA Championship game which is on CBS Sports Network . The team with the best record hosts.

DALLAS – Conference USA has announced the league’s bowl lineup that will span the six-year cycle from 2020-25. The conference is guaranteed seven bowl appearances in each year of the new cycle.

C-USA Bowl Lineup 2020-25 Release.(pdf)

“We are very pleased with our future bowl lineup,” said C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod. “Our teams will continue to have postseason opportunities in outstanding destinations that are very accessible to our schools and their fans. We are also excited to have additional flexibility to create great matchups.”

As part of the new bowl cycle, C-USA will annually send teams to the Bahamas Bowl against a Mid-American Conference opponent, and to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, against a Sun Belt Conference school. The league has participated in all six Bahamas Bowls and has placed a team in the New Orleans Bowl 14 times in its first 18 years.

As previously announced, the league will continue its relationship with the Independence Bowl. C-USA is guaranteed to send a team to the Shreveport, Louisiana-based bowl in 2021 and 2025, while holding a secondary agreement with the bowl in the other years of the cycle.

C-USA will also continue its long-standing relationship with the Hawai’i Bowl. The league is set to participate in the Honolulu-based game in 2020, 2022 and 2024.

The conference’s remaining guaranteed selections in the cycle (either 4 or 5 per season) will include the LendingTree Bowl (Mobile, Alabama) and the following games which are owned and operated by ESPN Events:

1. Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas)
2. TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, Alabama)
3. Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton, Florida)
4. Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama)
5. Cure Bowl (Orlando, Florida)
6. Fenway Bowl (Boston, Massachusetts)
7. SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dallas, Texas)
8. Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas)
9. Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida)
10. Myrtle Beach Bowl (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)
11. New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

“We are excited about extending our relationship with Conference USA,” said Pete Derzis, ESPN senior vice president of programming and ESPN Events. “We look forward to continuing to feature the conference’s top programs, student-athletes, coaches and fans in our bowl games across ESPN’s networks.”

C-USA’s 25th football season is scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 29. The league’s 16th annual football championship game is scheduled for Saturday, December 5.

[HerdBot]

We went from a few weeks ago thinking maybe JMU would get picked up because of their location and nothing else much would happen as far as FCS to FBS to CUSA getting raided and being desperate and now potentially a handful of FCS schools will move up and here we will sit. Watching schools much less deserving move on and continue to water down an already watery FCS.

When JMU, Sam Houston, Central Arkansas, and Jacksonville State leave, we might as well rename it D2 and then rename D2 D3, and D3 becomes D4 and then NAIA becomes NA-WTF-IA

[HerdBot]

Take out the sleepy Dakota schools and you’re probably not far off from what it’ll look like

You also got FBS independents... UMass and UConn if they want to stay that way

[OrygunBison]

Just heard him quoted on the radio saying something to the effect of we'd never hurt volleyball just to help football. Yeah... not looking good.

Did you hear that coming out of his own mouth or was someone else paraphrasing?

[Professorbum]

Did you hear that coming out of his own mouth or was someone else paraphrasing?

I'm paraphrasing what I heard ML himself say. And I'm not taking much liberty in that paraphrase. It was statement that we have to consider all sports when it comes to athletics decisions and, for as long as he's the AD, we're not going to hurt one sport in an effort to benefit another. He also made the explicit point that NDSU is not just about football.

[NDSU92]

I'm paraphrasing what I heard ML himself say. And I'm not taking much liberty in that paraphrase. It was statement that we have to consider all sports when it comes to athletics decisions and, for as long as he's the AD, we're not going to hurt one sport in an effort to benefit another. He also made the explicit point that NDSU is not just about football.

Surely he doesn’t actually believe that, or believe that’s how businesses are run

I mean let’s just divvy up all budget equally amongst all programs. We don’t want our revenue sports having an unfair advantage. Investing in women’s golf will be just as good for the university as football, right?

[TAILG8R]

I'm paraphrasing what I heard ML himself say. And I'm not taking much liberty in that paraphrase. It was statement that we have to consider all sports when it comes to athletics decisions and, for as long as he's the AD, we're not going to hurt one sport in an effort to benefit another. He also made the explicit point that NDSU is not just about football.

This is very much true but when it comes to other sports(maybe not counting basketball) the vast majority of the other sports enjoy some of their support from fans who are football fans first. Lose the football fans and you run the risk of losing a considerable amount of support for your other programs imo.