Interview with Tulane Prez Scott Cowan

[Harry]

SI: When did the opinion shift so dramatically?

Cowen: I think it's been an undercurrent for the last four years. What you've seen happen in the last two years is a lot of conference realignment. A lot of that conference realignment, when you look at it on paper, doesn't make any sense, but they're doing it because they want AQ status. The next thing you see is conferences that have AQ status where the top team in the conference doesn't even rank in the top 20 in the country and they're playing in an elite bowl. The third thing you see is attendance is not what it used to be at some of the bowls. You have all of that coming together in the last 24 months where people are saying that the model we put in in 1998, we've outlived that model. It's time to do something else.

SI: Do you see any chance that it stays the same?

Cowen: You never want to rule out that possibility. I think the odds are very small that it stays the same, but you can't rule anything out at this point.

SI: Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference plan to merge into a 16-team league that could get bigger. How much bigger could it get?

Cowen: We could go up to 24. We start out at at least 16, and it's possible we could go expand it up to 24. The notion of consolidation in the larger conferences is already taking place, and that's going to continue. The reason the consolidation is continuing is because of, once again, the TV contracts.

SI: How much did the concept of AQ status influence conference realignment?

Cowen: The AQ status clearly has some impact, especially on those leaving conferences and going to the Big East. It's primarily -- if not exclusively -- about AQ status for a year or two. In our particular case, we really like the possibility of creating a new association made up of the members of the Mountain West and Conference USA. We think there will be strength in numbers. We'll have more stability. Plus, we think we can do some innovative things in that conference academically and competitively that will really distinguish us. We are talking about the possibility of semifinals [for the conference championship].

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/andy_staples/03/08/tulane-cowen-playoff/index.html?sct=hp_t11_a10&eref=sihp