New C-USA Commissioner MacLeod needs to make several big plays

[Harry]

Conference USA's decision to name Judy MacLeod as its new commissioner is an historic move, making it the first intercollegiate league at the Football Bowl Subdivision level to put a woman in its highest post. Adding to the attention that comes from such a milestone, the challenges MacLeod inherits are also monumental, and how she handles them will directly impact the University of Texas at San Antonio and the future of its athletics programs ­— especially a fledgling football program that needs to continue building momentum on and off the field.

“The financial aspects of the job will be extremely important. Getting a new television contract and dealing with the bowl arrangements we have is key,” UTKFC Athletics Director Lynn Hickey told me. “When it comes to our split of the football bowl money, we want to be at the top.”

C-USA also needs to improve its branding, and it’s critical that MacLeod create more stability in a conference that saw several member universities leave for other conferences on former Commissioner Britton Banowsky’s watch. There could be more shuffling across the collegiate landscape as a result of the decision by the so-called Power Five conferences — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — to seek autonomy from the rest of the pack.

“There are other issues,” said Hickey, one of two female athletic directors in C-USA. “How do we fit in with the new autonomy piece and the Power Five? How do we position ourselves to stay at the top of the second five conferences?”

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