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http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2016/05/02/In-Depth/Media-rights.aspx Conference USA, too, is expected to see its annual rights fee drop from the $7 million per year range to just around $1 million per year, sources said, as the conference replaced bigger college brands like Central Florida, Houston and Memphis with smaller ones like Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky. The deal with CBS and ESPN still has not been announced formally, but the conference says it will soon make an announcement. Conference USA’s current deals with Fox and CBS expire in June. Fox opted not to renew.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/hotseat

When I read this article it is very discouraging and leads me to believe there is likely rampant cheating going on right now. North Carolina, Miami, Penn State -- to me there is still less risk in cheating and until they fix this with some steep penalties it will continue... read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24560341/all-quiet-on-the-violations-front-is-ncaa-enforcement-dead

Jerry is picking Ohio State to win tonight which means Big 10 won't have enough teams and Heart of Dallas will have to get a replacement team which he projects to be Syracuse. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

Brelan Chancellor, WR, North Texas (vs. UTEP): Chancellor has been an inconsistent player this season. He's had big games, usually resulting from big plays, and some games where he has done very little. However, UTEP has allowed an average of 41 points per game, so it doesn't seem like a team that is going to stop Chancellor. All he needs is to break off one long play, which he is more than capable of, and he should get an abundance of chances against the Miners. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/24199121/week-11-start-em-and-sit-em

Eh, looks like we have at least a few fans out there. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/22930702/2013-conference-predictions

Non-BCS commissioners are in discussions to cap per-conference base revenue at $12 million per year in the playoff era, multiple sources have told CBSSports.com. The so-called Group of Five -- MAC, Conference USA, Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt -- continues to finalize the distribution of their annual $86.5 million slice of the playoff pie. CBSSports.com reported the details of the split in January. What's new is the $12 million base that essentially caps per-school distribution at $1 million per year. Any Group of Five conference with fewer than 12 members would get only $1 million per school. (10 schools = $10 million, 11 schools = $11 million, etc.) However, no Group of Five conference is expected to be at fewer than 12 members when the leagues are fully realigned in 2015. The playoff era begins in 2014. Group of 5 members in 2015 CONFERENCE SCHOOLS Conference USA 14 Mid-American 13 American Athletic 12 Mountain West 12 Sun Belt 12 The idea, essentially, is to get better, not necessarily bigger. The conference with the team that snags the playoff bowl spot reserved for the No. 1 Group of Five school could max out at $25 million to $26 million in any given year. Read more: http://www.mwcboard.com/index.php?s=a026d832663b14f8fb30dbd9fa651f0a&showtopic=47314

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Although Tuesday's news focused on Conference USA's official inclusion of Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee, on Wednesday, Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky was looking to the future. "Our deal is to be the conference that really represents the next generation of great programs," Banowsky said. "We target large markets, generally. We target growth markets. We find universities that have their best ahead of them in terms of potential, that have invested in facilities, that are gearing up and getting ready to go, and then we give them a stage and a platform to participate." Addressing reporters Wednesday upon the conclusion of the 2013 Conference USA Winter Meetings at the South Beach Marriott, Banowsky offered an update of the conference's latest moves and expressed excitement over the new structure. "That's our strategy," Banowsky said. "I wouldn't be looking for opportunities that didn't fit into that general bandwidth." According to a C-USA spokesperson, all current and future athletic directors of C-USA member programs attended the two-day meetings, with the exception of Tulsa interim director of athletics, Kevan Buck. Tulsa has widely been reported as a potential Big East or Mountain West target. According to the spokesperson, Buck cited personal reasons for missing the meetings. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/21605066/cusa-introduces-new-look-and-work-might-not-be-done-yet

The Big East has “reached out” to both Fresno State and UNLV to join the league on the football side, CBSSports.com has learned. In addition, BYU and Big East commissioner Mike Aresco have at least had informal conversations. UNLV and Fresno have “definitely” talked to Aresco, according to a source. However, the talks are being kept as secret as possible to keep from “offending people,” such as regents and boards of regents and trustees at those schools. Aresco is aggressively trying to assemble a group of football-playing schools to keep under the Big East banner. The problem: Uncertainty on all fronts. The Big East doesn't know how -- or even if -- it will proceed in football. The 10-team Mountain West hasn't made a move to expand because of its uncertainty in its TV contract with CBS. The 10-year contract runs through the 2015 season, paying what is believed to be $8 million to $12 million per year. However, one source said conference schools are hoping to gain control of some second and third rights (or games). Those rights could be owned by the schools (re: pay-per-view) or bundled by the conference to a rights-holder. Either way, the idea is to televise as many games as possible. “The only reason the Mountain West hasn't moved [is] because of the TV thing,” a source said. “The TV thing is really puzzling.” Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/21425151/big-east-contacts-fresno-state-and-unlv-about-joining-in-football

The five power conferences have molded the coming playoff to their advantage. Surprise. Even the ACC -- whose champion has finished in the AP top 10 twice in the last decade -- is cashing in on $91 million per year. The rest of college football, the so-called Group of Five (MAC, Conference USA, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Big East, for now)? About $19 million each. Their only distinguishing characteristic will be getting that one automatic playoff bowl berth in one of the "host" -- or open -- bowls. Those bowls are yet to be determined, but favorite sites include Phoenix, Atlanta and Dallas. The berth will be awarded to the highest ranked champion of the Group of Five. Therefore, the best combination of schools making up the No. 6 conference is an unknown depending on ... Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany deciding if his league is done raiding. Boise State to make up its mind. Big East? Mountain West? Someplace else? The silence coming out of Boise is deafening. The intentions of Cincinnati, Connecticut, the ACC and possibly more. So far, the two schools have not been thrown lifelines to BCS leagues, but are on record as being willing to jump. Cincinnati has a surprising amount of juice at this point. It has been to a BCS bowl. It draws surprisingly good TV ratings in basketball. Call it the best player left on the board. "Cincinnati is more valuable than what is being let on," an industry source said. A direction, a leader. The week starts with 12 Big East football schools for 2013 not knowing for sure if they have a BCS bid. College football is paralyzed at the moment. Anyone who knows which way it is headed is guessing. But there is an old idea being discussed. "If I were one of the other five commissioners, I would get on the phone and band together," said one source close to the situation. "I would become an über-conference. Forget superconference. Let our current [TV] contracts lapse. That's the only way to take this one." There are some advantages to this socialist approach. It's also scary. This might be exactly what the power conferences want. If those in the Group of Five are successful banding together, that might just be what the BCS conferences need to break away themselves -- from the Group of Five. That's how Division I-AA (now FCS) was created in 1978, when the bottom half of Division I complained about revenue and exposure. I-AA was given its own playoff and not much else in terms of TV and money. The latest evolution may be upon us. Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick spoke openly last week about establishing a "Division 5." Currently, there are four football-playing divisions (FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III). "The [power conferences] don't give a [damn] about" the Group of Five, the same source added. "Fine -- be bigger and go." These are no original thoughts. In fact, 14 months ago we were calling such a conference "Big Country." Conference USA and the Mountain West had been talking about it since 2010, the champions of the two leagues meeting in a play-in game for a BCS berth. As late as October 2011, the conferences had announced that had combined into "one large association." A few days later a document surfaced that detailed a 28- to 32-team grouping that would combine the Mountain West, Conference USA and the Big East. The idea fell part as playoff talk grew. Still, you can see the proposed divisional lineups here. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/21414150/as-abandoned-big-east-crumbles-race-begins-to-be-power-conference-no-6

What's to stop the Atlantic 10 for trying to pull the Big East's non-football-playing members to its league? Isn't that better than just waiting around to see if the Big East's non-football-playing members break away and then try to poach the Atlantic 10's best programs? Yes, that's better. And I suspect such inquiries will be made on some level, if they haven't already. But my guess is that the Big East's non-football-playing members would prefer to either stay put or figure out a way to start their own league. I'd be surprised if they simply merged into the A-10 to create a 21-team league. But that shouldn't stop the A-10 from asking. Absolutely, it's a question worth asking. And it's a possibility worth following. And what about fans of Houston, SMU, Memphis and UCF? They waited so long to become a part of a power conference, and now this power conference is diminished and on the verge of collapsing before they even arrive. What should those fans do? Cross their fingers. Hope. Maybe even pray. Because a split would be devastating for them. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21363188/here-are-some-answers-to-your-big-east-questions

The nationwide division scenario: The teams could be scattered to the four winds -- and time zones. Assuming Boise State and San Diego State go back to the Mountain West, that increases MWC membership to 12. At least. SMU and Houston could also join but it's doubtful how much TV value those schools would bring. There are few options for schools ending up in Conference USA. By 2015, CUSA will be a 14-team league. Former members SMU, Houston, East Carolina, Central Florida, Tulane and Memphis might be in a cat fight to rejoin their old conference. At 14 teams, CUSA certainly isn't going to take back all six. Is it? The big winner might be the Sun Belt. The lowest-rated football conference could have some juicy options having just lost Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, Texas-San Antonio, North Texas and Florida International to C-USA. Schools like Houston, SMU, East Carolina, Memphis and even Central Florida could come crawling on hands and knees, just needing a home. The problem is the Sun Belt has five years left on its TV contract. It is a contract that pays current members approximately $1 million per year. Best guess: With or without Boise State and/or San Diego State, the orphans make a go of it on their own. Without Boise as a foundation, the reconstituted league (Big Leftovers?) would have SMU and Houston as the flagships if for no other reason because of some TV market appeal. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/21391349/hoops-exodus-leaves-big-east-football-schools-facing-big-questions

Hmmm I just stumbld over this article which lists loads of "secret srimmages"... but none for NT. are we having this kind of thing? seems advantageous to me to have a real test before the season starts of with a bang.

What awaits the Sun Belt over the next four and a half months should amount to a special year in this conference. Yeah, you see small leagues get lucky every now and then and have a star with NBA potential. Sometimes the player is good enough to be a lottery pick, like Damian Lillard in the Big Sky last season. But it is ridiculously rare that a talent like Tony Mitchell is playing college hoops at the Sun Belt level. He is No. 7 on our Top 100, and many think he's the best combination of talent and athleticism playing in college basketball today -- better than anyone at Kentucky, Carolina, UCLA or Kansas. And he's living life at North Texas. Huh? Well, Mitchell initially committed to Missouri but was ultimately ruled academically ineligible and landed at North Texas, where he eventually started his career last December. North Texas will be an interesting team to watch this season beyond Mitchell (14.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season), who is a near-guarantee to win Player of the Year in the league and earn a spot on national All-American teams. The school lost its coach, Johnny Jones, to LSU. So Mitchell and new coach Tony Benford (former Marquette assistant) will be league favorites thanks to help from Chris Jones, a solid fellow sophomore. He'll run the 1. Oklahoma State transfer Roger Franklin Jr., academically cleared forward Justin Patton and long-bomber Jordan Williams fill out what is one of the most formidable favorites of any mid-major league. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/20573576/college-basketball-previews-with-nba-prospect-tony-mitchell-north-texas-is-favored-in-sun-belt

F - Tony Mitchell, 6-8, 235, Soph., North Texas Was supposed to go to Missouri, but didn't qualify and that's why he's in the mid-major ranks. But Mitchell can play anywhere. He's super-athletic, goes hard and is more skilled than people realize. He averaged 14.7 points and 10.3 boards for the Mean Green after missing the first nine games of the season. Read more: http://www.cbssports...ller-tops-list" Click here to view the article

You going? Ranking the roadtrip: Want evidence that Kansas State football is back? K-State sold out this game in August. If you're traveling to Manhattan and don't have a ticket, this might be the easiest one left on the schedule to score from a scalper. Otherwise, head to Aggieville. Magic number for Kansas State: 2.5. The Mean Green don't have much of a passing attack -- QB Derek Thompson is completing only 42 percent of his passes -- so they have to rely on their running game. Good luck with that. K-State is allowing 2.5 yards per rush and held Miami to 1.9 yards per carry. Magic number for North Texas: 3. To have any chance, North Texas needs to hold K-State to field goals and not allow Klein within sniffing distance of the end zone because if he sniffs, he scores. This game comes down to: Running the ball and turnovers. The team that can do those two well will win. And K-State has dominated those categories the past two years. The Mean Green have given the ball away four times in two games. To keep this one close, they'll need to eliminate turnovers. Prediction: Kansas State 48, North Texas 13 Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/general/blog/college-football-rapidreports/20166334/preview-north-texas-mean-green-at-no-15-kansas-state-wildcats

Interesting take on Marinatto and the Big East's fall from grace. Evidently, Judy Genshaft the AD at South Florida was stubbornly blocking Central Florida which led to instability within the league (sound familiar). Marinatto was able to land a 1.4 billion dollar ESPN contract which the Big East unbelievably passed on and after that the floodgates opened up. The irony of this of course for North Texas is this instability led to SMU's move to the Big East which opened up an opportunity for us to join C-USA. read more: http://www.cbssports.../story/18985030