No news of C-USA expansion a good thing

[Harry]

Know what the best news was from the recent Conference USA meetings?

What wasn't said.

Namely, no talk about expanding the league back to 16 teams after East Carolina, Tulsa and Tulane leave in 2014.

Oh, sure, commissioner Britton Banowsky mentioned the "16-team model" for about the bajillionth time. But did the C-USA athletic directors say a word about future expansion during their meetings?

"It wasn't discussed a single time," said Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick.

Thank goodness.

When the league's East Division is composed of Marshall, Old Dominion, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic and Florida International, which is the configuration I favor, then that will be enough.

And when a West Division of Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP, Rice, Louisiana Tech, North Texas and UT-San Antonio is complete, which is the other side I advocate, that will be enough as well.

C-USA doesn't need an additional two members.

There are two reasons for that opinion.

No. 1: The five remaining C-USA members, who have stayed the course while the seven others bolted for the boringly named American Athletic Conference, would be insane to agree to slicing another two pieces out of the league's revenue pie.

Read more: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/marshall/x1430512008/No-news-of-C-USA-expansion-a-positive

[wardly]

Anyone know how So.Miss. and UAB feel about going West? I am guessing they are not happy,but have nothing to base it on.

[GTWT]

I kind of like the western division. It ain't perfect but at least the only Sun Belt refugee is us.

[Harry]

It will be interesting. The grandfathered programs like Marshall, Southern Miss etc seem to be fairly quiet but if you see a new team like say Middle Tennessee beat them you know their fans will come unglued. I think the programs like Rice who got left behind, they view this as an opportunity where they can win championships and go to bowls. I agree, the western conference is perfect for us, and frankly there isn't one team in the western division that I am not interested in playing against. I think for where we are right now this is a perfect place to be. People like to cast stones at C-USA but the conference has been a great building place for programs and I would hazard a guess that more programs left C-USA in a better place than when they entered.

[untjim1995]

Marshall, Southern Miss, UAB, and Rice are in CUSA still because they don't bring the entire package that the AAC wants from their new programs that they plucked from the old CUSA. Rice is stuck because the AAC has UH, plus they are small. UAB has very little following or funding (kind of like UNT, but in a far worse football stadium). Southern Miss and Marshall, both with solid name recognition, still don't deliver a decent TV market. They know that they are stuck in CUSA and must make the best of it as they move forward. Ironically, Rice may be the team most poised for a big move up in the win column. Like we have seen with TCU, Tulsa, and SMU, a wealthy private school in this region of the country can really thrive in the right situation. They will still have a nice budget as compared to the other current CUSA programs and will always have the strong academic pedigree to use as a recruiting tool. It owuldn't surprise me at all to see Rice as the top CUSA West team for several years to come.

Edited May 29, 2013 by untjim1995

[Harry]

Marshall, Southern Miss, UAB, and Rice are in CUSA still because they don't bring the entire package that the AAC wants from their new programs that they plucked from the old CUSA. Rice is stuck because the AAC has UH, plus they are small. UAB has very little following or funding (kind of like UNT, but in a far worse football stadium). Southern Miss and Marshall, both with solid name recognition, still don't deliver a decent TV market. They know that they are stuck in CUSA and must make the best of it as they move forward. Ironically, Rice may be the team most poised for a big move up in the win column. Like we have seen with TCU, Tulsa, and SMU, a wealthy private school in this region of the country can really thrive in the right situation. They will still have a nice budget as compared to the other current CUSA programs and will always have the strong academic pedigree to use as a recruiting tool. It owuldn't surprise me at all to see Rice as the top CUSA West team for several years to come.

I agree -- I actually think Rice and Marshall both like the current setup because it gives them a chance to win and build. They also realize that the AAC schools didn't bring big attendance numbers with the exception of Houston for Rice.. but Rice will keep Houston in their non-conference schedule.

[meangreener]

All I know is the west division will own the CUSA and we're in it. The West is a fantastic division.

[ragpicker]

I really like the west because it has the potential for some great {and close} rivalries. Man, do Houston and San Antonio beat the hell out of Jonesboro and Monroe, for example.

[meangreener]

I really like the west because it has the potential for some great {and close} rivalries. Man, do Houston and San Antonio beat the hell out of Jonesboro and Monroe, for example.

Exactly. I could care less about whether the SBC is a stronger conference. It's a better conference for us.