Selig keeping eye on C-USA, Sun Belt, WKU

[Harry]

Wood Selig was athletic director at Western Kentucky for nearly 11 years until his departure for the same position at Old Dominion in 2010.

Now, Selig is taking ODU from the Football Championship Subdivision level to the Football Bowl Subdivision level in Conference USA. ODU resides in the Norfolk-Portsmouth (Va.) media market, which ranks 44th in the nation.

C-USA has since added Sun Belt Conference members Florida International, North Texas, Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee, and WKU has been buzzed about in regard to future expansion.

Selig had a heavy hand in many of the facilities renovations at WKU, along with the program’s move to the FBS. He also hired football coach Willie Taggart.

The Daily News’ Zach Greenwell talked to Selig by phone Thursday night about Conference USA, the Sun Belt, future realignment and all things WKU. The conversation has been edited for length.

Daily News: How do you feel about the current status of Conference USA?

Wood Selig: “I really like the direction of Conference USA.

The additions that Conference USA has made have been very similar in that they’re large, metropolitan universities in large, metropolitan media markets. ...

You’re talking about some of the top major media markets and upcoming metro universities with medical schools and dozens of doctoral programs. It’s universities and athletic programs on the rise.”

DN: Just how important are media markets during this time of realignment?

WS: “They’re trying to build their TV value – their cable network value. It’s all eyeballs and TV households. Those are primary factors for expansion, and they also want to get quality academic institutions that either fit within their footprint or strategically allow them to expand their footprint.”

Read more: http://www.bgdailynews.com/sports/selig-keeping-eye-on-c-usa-sun-belt-wku/article_9111226e-3b03-11e2-9963-0019bb2963f4.html

[shaft]

Can CUSA East get any worse?

Edited December 4, 2012 by shaft

[Harry]

I'll say this Old Dominion may be pretty good. They are the favorite to win the FCS bowl in Frisco and seem poised to make the transition to FBS. FIU was down this year but they get talent, and MUTS is a pretty good program. Losing ECU hurt but that division is not too shabby.

[Rudy]

Can CUSA East get any worse?

Can Syria, Libya, or Egpyt?

[shaft]

I'd take Egypt. Long history,bigger market.

[Rudy]

But what are their attendance numbers?

[letsgiveacheer]

If you are speaking of ODU, every game has been sold out since they began playing football about three years ago. Their stadium is not very large, maybe 18K at the most, but there are plans to expand.

If you are speaking about the attendance numbers of Egypt, even though I lived in Cairo many years ago, would have no idea how many would attend a CUSA East game.

[Legend500]

No to all three. Egypt's AD is facing a lot of questions from his Board, Syria's AD has the Alumni up in arms, and Libya's AD is still trying to find the best place on campus to hide in.

That said, ODU is an interesting choice. The CUSA East is weak, but realignment has yet to fully shake out, so it's too early to think that anything's set in stone.

[KingDL1]

How many teams can the FBS sustain, they keep adding teams it seems like it will force a split. I thought it should be capped at 120.

Edited December 6, 2012 by KingDL1

[eulessismore]

How many teams can FBS sustain, they keep adding teams it seems like it will force a split. I thought it should be capped at 120.

The problem is, that every time some kind of rule gets written, we find out later on it only applied to UNT.

[KingDL1]

The problem is, that every time some kind of rule gets written, we find out later on it only applied to UNT.

Now that would be funny if it wasn't true!

[shaft]

How many teams can the FBS sustain, they keep adding teams it seems like it will force a split. I thought it should be capped at 120.

It should be capped at 128 with a 64 team playoff.

But Western Kentucky shouldn't be in CUSA, the MAC maybe, but not CUSA.