Conference USA in survival mode after defections

Harry · December 9, 2011

And now, the questions begin, such as: Will the merger continue, and will it begin in 2012 or 2013?

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson did not return calls for comment, but he and Banowsky had been working on kicking off the alliance in 2012, or 2013 if the early start falls through.

The "Megaconference USA" merger was struck in an attempt to (a) attain BCS automatic qualifying status at some point, B. with promise of such, persuade members not to defect, and C. created an improved TV revenue with a coast-to-coast product.

Obviously, B. did not succeed, and that stands to inflict damage on the other two items. How much, how little?

C-USA might have to renegotiate its package with Fox and CBS Sports Network, as it is losing the fifth, 10th and 19th-ranked markets in Dallas, Houston and Orlando, respectively. Never mind that SMU, Houston and UCF are not close to the No. 1 team in those markets; perception of market size has helped drive the latest round of realignment....

...Attendance-wise, only UCF cracked the top 100 in Division I last season (81st, 6,370). Houston drew just 3,281 and SMU fell below 2,000.

But they're still heading to the Big East, and C-USA faces the dilemma of whether to expand, and what schools to bring in. For instance, the Dec. 20 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg may feature conference foes in Marshall and Florida International.

Read More: http://wvgazette.com/Sports/201112080275

Harry · December 9, 2011

I think this is a good article, but there is an error, CUSA doesn't lose Houston because Rice is still there. They are losing DFW and Orlando.

greenminer · December 9, 2011

Does Rice really count?

greenjoe · December 9, 2011

This is who Rice is. Very important member of CUSA and hopefully a friend of North Texas

GrayEagle · December 9, 2011

If CUSA would return to 12 by adding Temple, North Texas and say, FAU, they shouldn't lose anything from their TV packet. In fact, they should gain. Basketball would be an attractive part of the package. I don't think that Conference USA has that much of a problem.

There are plenty of problems to go around though for the MWC and the Big East. The East, although they had to go 3,000 miles to do it, has saved themselves for the time being. The Mountain West on the other hand has been devastated. They have lost five expected top teams and left with few choice markets. They need CUSA until some of their teams can build back. They're trying to buy time and it appears that C-USA is going along so they have no complaint due.

The NCAA is a train wreck and is only going to get worse. There are solutions but until they get the cooperation of Delany and Slive they won't/can't happen.

shaft · December 10, 2011

If CUSA would return to 12 by adding Temple, North Texas and say, FAU, they shouldn't lose anything from their TV packet. In fact, they should gain. Basketball would be an attractive part of the package. I don't think that Conference USA has that much of a problem.

Why would CUSA add two teams from the East?

It would make more sense to add FIU or FAU in the east.

And add UNT and or LA Tech or UTSA in the west.

GrayEagle · December 10, 2011

Why would CUSA add two teams from the East?
It would make more sense to add FIU or FAU in the east.
And add UNT and or LA Tech or UTSA in the west.

There will be nine teams in CUSA when SMU, UCF and Houston depart so only three are needed to return the conference to twelve teams.

When negotiating TV contracts, larger TV markets are a better sell so that advertisers are happy. Temple is in the fourth largest TV market and North Texas is in the fifth. La Tech is the better program and would be my choice if there are no complaints from the TV network. FIU is in the large Miami market but is a young program that has had attendance problems until recently. Their on-campus stadium only seats 23,500. FAU, whose market is West Palm Beach, also has little history and attendance problems but at least they have a 30,000 seat stadium on their campus and have had two 20K+ crowds since it opened. CUSA is not an original entry conference so UTSA, who is not a FBS program yet, would not be in their radar. Their target should be the Sun Belt, who will take FCS and new programs.

shaft · December 11, 2011

So why would they add two teams from the east? How would they change their divisions.

The 12th spot in CUSA was between UTEP vs. UNT vs. LA Tech, so we know two of the schools are still in the running. We also know that UTSA is on the "short list" which is actually a dozen teams which includes almost the entire Belt.

And if Temple was such a catch why did the Big East throw them out? We know market size matters, but so does location, facilities, fan base and level of competition.

buff64 · December 11, 2011

There will be nine teams in CUSA when SMU, UCF and Houston depart so only three are needed to return the conference to twelve teams.

When negotiating TV contracts, larger TV markets are a better sell so that advertisers are happy. Temple is in the fourth largest TV market and North Texas is in the fifth. La Tech is the better program and would be my choice if there are no complaints from the TV network. FIU is in the large Miami market but is a young program that has had attendance problems until recently. Their on-campus stadium only seats 23,500. FAU, whose market is West Palm Beach, also has little history and attendance problems but at least they have a 30,000 seat stadium on their campus and have had two 20K+ crowds since it opened. CUSA is not an original entry conference so UTSA, who is not a FBS program yet, would not be in their radar. Their target should be the Sun Belt, who will take FCS and new programs.

Where does La. Tech's tv market rank ?