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UNT not in C-USA’snew plans
UTEP school of choice in conference realignment

09:20 AM CDT on Saturday, May 1, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer



One door closed for the North Texas athletic program Friday, but another could soon open.

Texas-El Paso accepted an invitation to join Conference USA on Friday, after the presidents of the league schools voted to invite the school during a conference call in Chicago. UNT, Toledo, Temple, Louisiana Tech and Miami of Ohio all presented proposals to C-USA officials in an attempt to join the league.

UTEP is a member of the Western Athletic Conference, which could look to UNT to help fill the void left by the El Paso school.

"We are absolutely interested in UNT," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. "We have been waiting to see what the outcome of Conference USA expansion would be. We definitely think that UNT is valuable and has great potential."

Benson said the league could invite one team or create an Eastern Division of the WAC by inviting multiple teams based in the central time zone.

Sun Belt members New Mexico State and Utah State have already committed to leave the league for the WAC for the 2005 season.

Joining their former Sun Belt brethren is not an attractive option, UNT and Sun Belt Conference president Dr. Norval Pohl said.

"The way the WAC is configured right now is not that attractive to us," Pohl said. "Traveling to the West with the time difference does not make it a good option."

The WAC is based largely on the West Coast. Louisiana Tech is the lone team from the league in the central time zone.

WAC officials have expressed interest in adding at least one team from the central time zone to serve as a bridge to La. Tech. UNT is just one of multiple teams in the Sun Belt that could serve that purpose.

Both the WAC and Sun Belt could be damaged by further conference expansion. The Sun Belt will have nine schools with football programs in 2005 after Troy State, Florida International and Florida Atlantic join the league.

The WAC will have eight members in 2005 when UTEP, Rice, Tulsa and SMU leave the league for C-USA and are replaced by Utah State and New Mexico State.

Both leagues could be in danger of falling below the NCAA minimum of eight teams for a Division I-A conference if they lose more teams. The Mountain West Conference could look to the WAC for candidates if it decides to expand.

The Sun Belt guarded against falling below the minimum number of teams for a Division I-A football earlier this year. Current Sun Belt member Florida International committed to moving its football program from Division I-AA to Division I-A. Florida Atlantic is joining the league and moving its football team from I-AA to D-I-A as well.

While some of those teams are new to the Sun Belt, Pohl was confident the league’s members are willing to stick together.

"We have had discussions for several months about the ripple effect in conference realignment," Pohl said. "There is a lot of solidarity in the Sun Belt. I think the Sun Belt is pretty strong now."

Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters also expressed confidence in the Sun Belt’s stability.

"Our programs are healthy, comfortable and feel like better days are ahead," Waters said. "We have seen improvement in all of our sports."

Pohl named the Sun Belt’s regional alignment as one of its top assets. The league has multiple teams in Louisiana, Arkansas and will have two teams in Florida in the fall

A regional alignment inside Texas was the key reason UNT was interested in C-USA. Houston is already a member of the league that will add SMU, Rice and Tulsa in 2005.

UTEP will join those schools in a Western Division that will also include Houston and Tulane.

UNT is the only Texas school that is a member of the Sun Belt.

Even though C-USA did not invite UNT, the league’s officials said they were impressed with the moves the school has made to build its program.

"North Texas has awesome future potential," C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said. "It was not an easy decision at all."

UNT has quickly built its program in the Sun Belt, a league it has dominated in football. The Mean Green have won the Sun Belt title and played in the New Orleans Bowl the last three seasons.

"It was good for us to be considered as long as we were," UNT senior associate athletic director Hank Dickenson said. "We are going to continue to work hard because reconfiguration is not over."

The dilemma UNT now faces is whether to continue that building process in the Sun Belt or look to be involved in another round of conference realignment.

Dallas Morning News staff writer Calvin Watkins contributed to this report

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870.


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I don't think there is any question but that UNT has enormous potential and I like the fact we are negotiating to play them as early as 2006. I'd like to see La Tech eventually return home to the Sun Belt and firmly believe that Tech and UNT would develop a pretty nice rivalry. As UNT, Troy State, La-Lafayette and the incoming Florida schools continue to improve, my guess is that CUSA and the Sun Belt could turn into strong competitors. I'm assuming of course, that SMU will be much improved by the time we join CUSA.

CUSA already plays against the SBC champ in New Orleans. That's a good start. Games like SMU/UNT, Tulane/La-Laffayette or La Tech, UAB/Troy St, Memphis/Midd Tenn, UCF/FIU or Fla Atl and Tulsa/Ark St set up as pretty natural rivalries.

I expect the WAC to make a strong pitch for UNT, but would like to see the greenies stay put...and would like to see La Tech join them. The WAC and SBC should trde La Tech for Idaho...provided egos don't get in the way of doing what makes sense.

I agree-NTSU should look in the mirror instead of blaming other schools. They aren't ready yet but their destiny lies completely in their hands. Build a Division 1A Football facility which will making it easier to schedule a higher level of competition=better alumni and student support=better attendance=better recruiting. I can tell you without question that if they had a quality facility I would fully support a home-and-home game with them. As many have said it makes too much financial sense. Rice once had the same feeling for UH but I'd bet they wouldn't trade that series now. I'd rather drive 30 miles to Denton and get the see an extra game every other year than play a Northwestern or Wake Forrest (who are on our schedule) for example. This game should draw 28-30,000 once the rivalry sets in. Since the breakup of the SWC one of the biggest problems are that there are few games that have any significant meaning. This game would with a little seasoning.

The moment that Miami was in play with the ACC, the intrigue included lawsuits, trading Syracuse for VT in the ACC, questions of automatic qualifying BCS conferences, Louisville, Cincinnati and USF bolting for BE, WAC departures, including us, to CUSA, TCU's strange conclusion that their student athletes, families and fans will benefit with travel to PT and MT zones and, most recently, the acceptance by UTEP of a CUSA invitation.

Whoa. Who would have predicted all these moves in a less than a half of a year. Despite UTEP's conclusion to connect East, while the Frogs prefer West and pass them at 30,000+ feet, this final move didn't need to happen. Having said that the Miners have great upside and are a great addition to the new CUSA for all sports.

Most importantly, SMU, Tulsa and Rice get it right with this new alignment and the future is much more rational than where we were with no stadium of our own, a conference with its' power base in the West, coaching challenges in FB and BB, and little hope of any major changes.

SMU, including Turner and Copeland, deserves credit for positioning us for the future. Thanks. It is now up to the very young Mustangs, who will run on the to the field this fall. Phil has placed a big bet in going younger, bigger and faster. I hope solid progress this fall is rewarded with an even more impressive 2005 campaign, when we formally enter CUSA.

Go, U, SMU!!

I'd still like to see SMU/TCU/UNT play a "round robin" schedule every year. If we all played each other, each school would have one home and one road game each year with a metroplex rival. That would leave only an 11th game to schedule. We could try to schedule home/home deals with Navy, Army & Baylor rotating every 2 yrs. until we get re-established as a competitive team. One we're ready, that 11th game can be a road game for $$ against a top program allowing SMU a chance to pull an upset that would be noticed on a national level.

Games with TCU, UNT, Baylor, Army & Navy should be very competitive and will guarantee decent attendance at Ford.

Now that CUSA has finalized its' twelfth member with UTEP, any possibility of aligning Army and Navy as affiliated FB only members for four games each a year?

This idea was discussed with the two service schools rotating between the CUSA Private Schools (SMU, Rice, Tulsa and Tulane) as I understood it. Each of the privates would get Army or Navy annually. This would permit Army and Navy to get in CUSA Bowl pool each year.

Love to see it. Conference CUSA would have an even more of a USA feel!