Conference USA Bowls

[50's PONY]

Dec. 10, 2003, 12:56AM


UH/C-USA NOTEBOOK
C-USA tries to bring clarity to bowl tie-ins
By JERRY WIZIG
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

'Tis the time for banquets and such, and also for conference meetings that might or might not be significant.

On the Conference USA agenda this week in New York are recommendations aimed at avoiding the embarrassing spectacle of confusion surrounding the bowl selection process among the five postseason possibilities. In a season in which C-USA teams went back to the 40s in scoring, the 48-hour process of slotting its bowl teams took more twists and turns than an opposing defensive back.

After Houston scored 40 or more points in half of its games during a 7-5 season, the Cougars seemed in danger of being left high and dry in the postseason. One apparent reason was the imprecise nature of agreements between C-USA and the bowls.

"We had good conversations about the (selection) process and tightened things about the contractual arrangements," Houston athletic director Dave Maggard said. "It was a very good meeting, re-emphasizing some things that had to be clarified, airing things out.

"There was a great concern to make sure we don't get caught up in the same sort of situation, that we know about final exams well in advance and everything in the contracts is clear."

Bobby May (Rice), Jim Copeland (SMU) and Bob Marcum (Marshall) were among the new faces at the table, representing incoming C-USA members. Army athletic director Rick Greenspan was absent while taking care of details covering the hiring of Bobby Ross as the Black Knights' new head football coach.

Apparently, the tone was much calmer than some of the conversations during the bowl process, when TCU demanded to be free of any obligation to the GMAC, which had the second pick of league teams, because of a schedule conflict with final exams. The GMAC said it never received such notice in due time and at one time threatened to go outside the C-USA, an issue that was cloudy in the wording of the contract. During that process, Maggard was referred to as "a bully" in one media report for insisting on UH's presence at the Hawaii Bowl.

This week, the "collegial" atmosphere so admired by university CEOs and NCAA representatives was prevalent.

"This was our strongest football season in a while," Maggard said of the C-USA.

Meanwhile, speculation continues about TCU's presence in C-USA or a move to the Mountain West.

"My feeling is, I'd like TCU to stay," Maggard said. "They lend a lot to the conference, and it's the feeling of all of us to continue that. Everyone is also in agreement that we'd still have a very viable conference."

Around the campus


Room for improvement
-- The 5-2 Houston Lady Cougars basketball team isn't unbeaten, and coach Joe Curl sees areas that need work during the current break for final exams and the holidays. They lost a pair of games to nationally ranked teams in four days, by 65-52 at No. 11 Georgia and by 66-63 at home to No. 7 Purdue.
"These opening seven games have helped us with a frame of reference. We're capable of winning any game," Curl said.

One major factor is fixing the offensive flow to counter the zone defenses UH has been seeing almost exclusively.

"We've seen 90 percent zone," Curl said. "Iowa played three series of man. Purdue and Georgia went totally zone. We need a better half-court flow on offense. Our shot selection would be better if we went deeper into the shot clock, make one more pass. Our free-throw shooting (58.5 percent) is fixable."

UH missed eight of 14 free throws against Purdue and 12 of 26 against Georgia. It starts a four-game road swing Dec. 19 at North Texas.


Cougar tracks
-- Azul Almazan, Lucile Turpin and Szintia Szanto each won two events, but UH women's swimming and diving team was outscored 179-121 by Kansas. Almazan swept both diving events, Turpin the 1,000 and 500 yard freestyles, and Szanto the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly with a second in the 200 individual medley. ... Starting basketball forward Nicole Oliver did not make the Georgia road trip because of a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules. ... Viewing parties to watch the Cougars in the Dec. 25 Hawaii Bowl are scheduled downtown at F2 Eatery Bar & Lounge, 306 Main, in west Houston at Sansone's West Oak Bar, 14144 Westheimer and on campus at the University Center in Harlon's at Coogs on the lower level. ... UH fans can contribute to U.S. servicemen in Hawaii and the Cougars football team with a game ticket and commemorative red Hawaii Bowl T-shirt for $50. The ticket and shirt will be donated to a member of the armed services. ... Coach Art Briles and host Craig Ackerman will broadcast Briles' weekly radio show Monday from the UH Athletics/Alumni Center. A Hawaiian chicken buffet will be served at 6:30 p.m. for $9 per person, with the radio show from 7-8 p.m. A pep rally will follow. For information, contact Melissa Gottlieb at mgottliebuh.edu.

Surfin' C-USA
-- Win some and lose some. Saint Louis lost a one-pointer to No. 7 Arizona, Louisville won ugly over Holy Cross and Charlotte won in double overtime at Old Dominion. ... Reggie Bryant's 3-pointer with three seconds left was ruled a two-pointer for Saint Louis against Arizona after reviewing the replay showed Bryant had one foot on the 3-point arc. ... Newcomer Brendan Plavich, a transfer from Vanderbilt, hit the winning trey at the second overtime buzzer in Charlotte's win at Old Dominion. Guard Demon Brown had 26 points and 10 assists, the first such double double for the 49ers since Sean Colson in 1997-98. ... Louisville's 56-40 win at home over Holy Cross might not have been pretty, but the Cardinals swatted shots like they were mosquitoes. Kendall Dartez had nine of Louisville's school-record 18 blocks while limiting Holy Cross to the lowest opponent's total since Cincinnati managed 37 in 1984. ... DePaul overcame an 18-point halftime deficit while edging Bradley 77-74. Delonte Holland scored 22 for the Blue Demons and Andre Brown's 14 points and 14 rebounds was his fifth double double of the season. ... Morris Finley's personal best 38 points, including 15 field goals, for UAB at Mississippi State helped him win the C-USA Player of the Week award.



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How Jerry Wizig ranks the basketball teams in Conference USA:
1. Marquette Getting by without Dwyane
Wade.
2. Cincinnati Starting to hit the boards.
3. Charlotte If front line develops, watch out.
4. Louisville OT loss to Iowa only blemish.
5. Memphis Saturday date at No. 14 Illinois.
6. DePaul Andre Brown off to fast start.
7. UAB Taking a break with 3-1 record.
8. Tulane Young squad showing promise.
9. Saint Louis Close, very close vs. Arizona.
10. So. Miss 4-1 start builds confidence.
11. E. Carolina Can make trouble, especially at
home.
12. S. Florida New coach, new faces.
13. Houston Time to work on free throws, etc.
14. TCU Hung in with Kansas for a while.




Jerry Wizig covers University of Houston athletics and Conference USA for the Chronicle. His notebook appears Wednesdays.


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[SMUguy]

So Saint Louis stayed closer with Arizona than the overrated Longhorns? What a surprise....