C-USA / BE MERGER MAY BE REAL

[Diehard Pony]

I stole this article off the toad's site. Who knows how reliable it is, but if this plays out TCU will have hit a home run, and we may be in the leftover status.


C-USA, Big East seem likely to work together
By CARY ESTES
BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD
There are some early signs that the expected fight for survival between Conference USA and the Big East Conference might become a cooperative effort instead.
C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky and Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese "are communicating regularly," C-USA Associate Commissioner Brian Teter said Wednesday.

The goal, Teter said, is to cause as little conflict and animosity as possible between the two leagues while the Big East looks to add teams following the recent defection of Miami and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"Those two have clearly had an open line of communication," Teter said. "There have been assurances that there's going to be no surprises like what happened in (the Big East)."

This frequent communication might lead to more than just good feelings. It might lead to a solution that satisfies nearly all the schools involved.

There have been several reports this week that C-USA and Big East officials are exploring the possibility of a merger involving most of the football-playing schools in the two leagues.

That would create a 16-team conference that likely would be split into two eight-team divisions. Then the non-football playing schools in the two leagues would combine to form a 10-team conference, possibly still under the umbrella name of the Big East.

Teter said he could not comment on any potential merger between the two leagues. He said Banowsky was traveling and could not be reached for comment.

But The New York Times reported Wednesday that an unnamed source said a football/basketball realignment between the two conferences "is possible." The story quoted Banowsky as saying he and Tranghese "have agreed we won't work against each other's purposes."

Banowsky and the C-USA school presidents held a conference call Wednesday to discuss the situation. The only decision that was announced was that the members agreed there would be no changes made for at least two years (until the 2005-06 season).

"While there may be changes on the horizon, we are comfortable knowing that any future changes will not be effective prior to the 2005-2006 academic year," Banowsky said in a statement.

That happens to coincide with the end of the current contracts involving the Bowl Championship Series and several TV networks. The Big East currently is a BCS member, while C-USA is not. The Big East will have to expand before then to maintain BCS status, while C-USA is looking to find a way into the BCS.

A merger might appear to be the quickest and easiest answer to both problems, but it still is extremely uncertain whether one will occur.

"Everybody has their guess about what might or might not happen," Teter said. "But the bottom line is, nobody knows."

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Big East's loss could turn into C-USA's gain
Commentary by CARY ESTES
BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD
It was supposed to be the death knell for Conference USA. The first falling domino in a chain that would conclude with the league's demise, which in turn would end the opportunity for UAB to develop into a big-time football program.
Instead, it is possible that the Atlantic Coast Conference's recent raid of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East Conference could end up being the best thing to happen to C-USA. And to UAB.

The Big East is trying to figure out how to replace two top-25 football programs — one a perennial national championship contender — adequately enough to ensure continued membership in the lucrative Bowl Championship Series once the current television contracts run out in 2005.

The answer is, it can't. Unless the league somehow can sweet-talk Notre Dame into joining (not gonna happen), there are no viable candidates out there who can elevate Big East football immediately back to national prominence.

Louisville and Cincinnati? Please. Louisville's football program never has been nearly as good as the school's supporters like to think it is, while Cincinnati is an annual .500 team that rarely comes close to selling out its modest 35,000-seat stadium.
Sure, both schools have excellent basketball programs, but basketball is not behind any of the decisions being made these days in terms of conference re-alignment. If it were, then Syracuse would have made it into the ACC instead of Virginia Tech.

After all, Syracuse is the reigning NCAA basketball champion, while Virginia Tech cares so little about basketball that the school hired Seth Greenberg to be the head coach.

No, this is all about football. And a football league consisting of Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse, Connecticut, Rut-
gers, Louisville and Cincinnati is going to make the BCS boys laugh. All the way to the bank, as they reduce the number of BCS leagues from six to five, thus ensuring themselves a bigger share of the loot.

Picking up a couple of random teams — be it from C-USA or elsewhere — is not a fail-safe solution for the Big East. A better option, and one the league reportedly is exploring, is to combine with C-USA and form a 16-team football league that would stretch from upstate New York to the heart of Texas, and include a number of major media markets.

In addition, C-USA's four schools that do not play football —DePaul, Marquette, Charlotte and Saint Louis — could combine with the Big East's six non-football schools to form a 10-team league that might still operate under the umbrella name of the Big East.

This scenario — which likely would include UAB, especially if Army returns to being an independent — keeps the basic structure of both leagues intact, while enhancing the overall strength and appeal. It would be difficult for the BCS coalition to refuse entry from such a large group of schools. Not with the threat of lawsuits hovering nearby.

By itself, Conference USA could have pounded at the door for years, and the BCS folks would not have answered. The BCS did not want C-USA, and the league has been unable to prove its worth by beating enough BCS teams on the field.

But if the merger occurs and the new combo has BCS status, then suddenly all the C-USA football schools will have cashed the golden ticket and be inside the money-making factory. UAB's football program will receive a much-needed shot of BCS revenue. Programs on the verge of elimination (i.e. Tulane) will survive and perhaps even thrive.

All because the ACC decided to steal a few schools away from another league. A highly criticized move that could be the saving grace for Conference USA.
Cary Estes' column appears each Thursday in the Birmingham Post-Herald.


Copyright © 2003 Birmingham Post Co. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from the editor is prohibited.

[Nacho]

That story has more holes thatn the Albert Hall. Here's another story about UAB. Not quite as rosy.

<A HREF="http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/sports/1057915139205661.xml" TARGET=_blank>http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/sports/1057915139205661.xml</A>

[ReedFrawg]

As much I would like to see this as the final outcome, this story says absolutely nothing. It takes a couple quotes from the CUSA office and a small quote from an unnamed source and somehow concludes that there will be a 16 team merger. Like I said, I hope it happens but I'm not putting any stock into this article. We'll probably see a hundred more just like it over the next several months.

[FloridaMustang]

Just because Trang and Britton are working together, it doesn't mean they're working on a merger.