C-USA Commissioner's Comments in Orlando

[MrMustang1965]

(U-WIRE) OVIEDO, Fla. -- Last Thursday, Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky paid a visit to East Orlando, taking some time to answer the questions of reporters from around the area.

The Knights will make the transition this summer to C-USA from the MAC in football and the A-Sun in all other sports. UCF's move to a more prominent conference is undoubtedly a step up for the athletic department, and one that both UCF officials and C-USA leaders are looking forward to.

"This is an exciting time for UCF and Conference USA," Banowsky said. "Dr. Hitt and Steve Orsini are terrific, dynamic leaders who are taking the university to new heights."

Reaching those new heights that Banowsky spoke of is most certainly the reason that the Knights are making the shift to C-USA, where there is more money to be made and more media coverage.

According to Banowsky, the shift to C-USA will provide UCF athletics the necessary exposure that it needs to help develop it into a high profile program.

"We're trying to build a big stage," Banowsky said. "And [UCF] will participate on that stage. If there are some great stories here, hopefully they will be accessed by a pretty large audience."

A deal that C-USA made with ESPN and College Sports Television Networks (CSTV) in January will go a long way in providing that exposure. The six-year deal, which starts on July 1, will provide coverage of C-USA football, men's basketball and women's basketball games on ESPN and ESPN2.

There has been a lot of talk lately that the quality of the new C-USA will be diluted, especially in basketball, because of the departure of solid and storied programs, most notably Louisville, Cincinatti and Marquette.

Banowsky believes this to be untrue, and thinks that while the conference has lost some serious firepower, it still has a chance to send multiple schools to the NCAA Tournament.

"What we've lost is some really great basketball programs," Banowsky said. "What we've gained is some good basketball programs. We're gonna be fine in basketball. ... Men's basketball will surprise [people], I think we are a multiple-bid league in basketball."

The new C-USA field of 12 will be three teams smaller than the current field. Only East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Southern Miss, Tulane and UAB will return to C-USA while nine teams will depart. The six new additions to C-USA are UCF, Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP.

The desire to climb the beanstalk to athletic success has been the primary reason for the instability and uncertainty in college athletic conferences in recent years. The trend began when Miami jumped ship from the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2003. Since that move more than half of all Division I college programs have changed conferences.

UCF, which joined the MAC only three years ago in football, now finds itself moving to C-USA in all sports. And while C-USA will not have the firepower it experienced in year's past, it is a huge step up from the MAC and A-Sun across the board.