CUSA Expands

[GoRedGoBlue]

C-USA presidents approve expansion plan
05:11 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 14, 2003

By KEITH WHITMIRE / The Dallas Morning News


Conference USA's presidents approved an expansion plan Tuesday and authorized commissioner Britton Banowsky to extend invitations to schools.

SMU has had talks with C-USA regarding expansion and speculation is high that the school could receive an invitation along with fellow WAC members Rice and Tulsa.

Tulane president Scott Cowen said C-USA had three objectives in expansion. The first is a tighter geographic fit. Second is to add schools with similar academic objectives, and third is to develop a conference where all schools play football.

Cowen would neither confirm nor deny schools included in C-USA's expansion plan, but did speak positively about SMU.

"You have to ask yourself, does an SMU fit that profile?" Cowen said. "And from my perspective it does."

Calls to SMU officials have not been returned.

In a statement, Banowsky said no members have formally withdrawn and no new members have been added. The Big East is expected to announce Nov. 4 its addition of C-USA members Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville and Marquette.

South Florida has also been mentioned as a Big East target with Sunday’s announcement that Boston College is leaving for the ACC.

[RE Tycoon]

The Ticket has just reported on their ticker (which would support the DMN article) that SMU HAS been invited and is expected to accept the inviatation...I thought this wasn't going to happen for another month or so. Oh well this is good news when we need it the most.

GO 'Stangs!

[GoRedGoBlue]

Well, if UL and Cincy don't leave, then probably all bets are off...but they seem intent on leaving.

[FloridaMustang]

Uh. Yeah they're leaving.

[The Hammer]

I hope this is true. It will be nice to have some geographic rivalries that won't require getting on a jet plane.

[Mike Damone]

Go over to the Frog board. I know you're already over there GRGB. It is hilarious. They are acting like someone died. Ready to jump ship and head to MWC. I guarantee you that if they had invited an exact clone of SMU, rather than us, the reaction would be different. They feel so much above us its funny.

[Sam I Am]

The C-USA to the rescue. Miracles never cease. I like the new arrangement a lot whether TCU is in ot or not. :p

[EmeraldCityPony]

Any word yet on how many schools are being invited?
----------------
Oops, nevermind. I now see the original post mentioned Rice and Tulsa.

<small>[ 10-14-2003, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: EmeraldCityPony ]</small>

[MrMustang1965]

I just called KTRK-TV (ABC affiliate) and KRIV-TV (Fox affiliate) and neither one had heard about this yet! Rice is right here in Houston, of course. They're going to start making phone calls to find out what's up. Hopefully the folks in Houston will know something tonite at 10 about SMU, Rice and Tulane! :whistling:

[ponyboy]

The immediate effect of this will be to breathe life into what has been a tough football season. Expect a game on Saturday.

[HorseRaider]

Originally posted by Mike Damone:
Go over to the Frog board. I know you're already over there GRGB. It is hilarious. They are acting like someone died. Ready to jump ship and head to MWC. I guarantee you that if they had invited an exact clone of SMU, rather than us, the reaction would be different. They feel so much above us its funny.

Not only do they feel like they're so much above SMU, but above every D1 school in Texas and above almost everyone in the nation. I agree..their board is a hoot! Three years of winning big in football only, and now they suddenly think no one is good enough to hold their jockstrap.

It's good that CUSA made a smart decision based not on football prowess only. (unlike the TCU folks who think FOOTBALL is the only criteria a school should be judged by before being invited into a conference, not a school's other athletic programs and overall acadamia)Looks like CUSA took everything into consideration when inviting SMU, Tulsa and Rice.

It will be nice to be able to drive to more road games (Houston, Rice,Tulsa,TCU,Tulane, Southern Miss)as well.

<small>[ 10-14-2003, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: HorseRaider ]</small>

[RE Tycoon]

I just heard an update that said the CUSA comish will be in Dallas tomorrow to meet with president Turner. I don't if this the official invite or what...oh well we will know soon enough.

GO 'Stangs!

<small>[ 10-14-2003, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: Current STUDent ]</small>

[KnuckleStang]

TCU is a prime example of what having a DECENT football team and playing an absolute pansy schedule will do for your self-esteem. In a perfect world, sure, I'd like them in our conference, but if they think MWC is the way to go, let em go. They honestly think that conference is going BCS. Their attendance is up right now, because they're obviously winning. They play the 116th-most-difficult schedule in the country, by one source. I say go ahead, run to the MWC. Enjoy your frequent flyer miles. But you better hope you never have another losing season, cause if you do, it ain't gonna be like the welcome wagon came to town. (don't ask me what that means)

<small>[ 10-14-2003, 04:52 PM: Message edited by: KnuckleStang ]</small>

[Charleston Pony]

Let's just hope it's true this time and that Copeland has raised the funds necessary to buy our way into CUSA. As a Mustang living on the east coast, there is no contest in playing in CUSA where all our games will be in central or eastern time zones vs the WAC's late night affairs (especially difficult for me during bball season)

I don't blame TCU people for being disappointed because right now SMU, Rice & Tulsa would really hurt CUSA's football strength, but let's see where everybody is by the time this actually happens. If TCU people would stop to think about it, they'd realize the new CUSA affords them more opportunities to have seasons like the one they are having now (possibly going undefeated against a fairly weak schedule). There are advantages to doing that, rather than going 7-4 against better competition. Besides, I honestly believe it's just a matter of time before SMU and Tulsa are competitive again with TCU on the gridiron.

The Big East has some tough decisions ahead that could really hurt CUSA. Do they go after USF to retain a Fla presence? Do they consider Marshall? They need 8 football members, but will they be content with that or do they look at 9 for scheduling purposes? Can they convince Notre Dame to become a full member (with a double standard for revenue distribution?) Do they look at Navy and/or Army to help with TV negotiations?

Lots of possibilities. Promises to be an interesting couple of weeks ahead.

<small>[ 10-14-2003, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Charleston Pony ]</small>

[Sam I Am]

C-USA is doing a good job of protecting its postion in Div. 1-A football. I predict that Notre Dame will remain independetn unless the TV network indicates otherwise. I further predict that the MWC does not need to expand. As for TCU, is SMU any worse than playing Army? As for Tulsa, they have already made improvements. Rice can take care of itself with Hatfield in charge. But as I always say, I have yet to win a trifecta or make a hat trick in soccor.