The Future Of College Football and The Death Of Conference USA 1995-2011
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/24520...-1995-2011

by James Crytzer (Scribe) Written on August 30, 2009
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The buzz around the college football preseason centers around the Heisman Trophy and BCS, but since 2005 a new word has entered the college football vocabulary: expansion.

Every program outside of the six BCS conferences is looking to be the next South Florida or Louisville; to go from forgotten to the big money of a BCS conference.

With teams such as Utah, Boise St., and Hawaii busting the BCS, a line has been drawn for the mid-major conferences. You are either striving toward the BCS: Mountain West and WAC, or falling further behind: C-USA and MAC.

With news of the Memphis basketball 'scandal,' Conference USA is officially on notice: Expansion will lead to the contraction of Conference USA.

The current members of the Conference USA are divided into two divisions: East and West.

East

* East Carolina
* Marshall
* Memphis
* Southern Miss
* UAB
* Central Florida

West

* Houston
* Rice
* Southern Methodist
* Tulane
* Tulsa
* UTEP

The geographic footprint of this conference reaches over 1,500 miles between El Paso, Texas (UTEP) and Orlando, Fla. (UCF). With teams so spread out, C-USA has already implemented video conferencing for media days.

The mandatory 12-game schedule has increased the travel demands as well. Teams must play each member in their respective division as well as three games in the opposing division.

Teams such as East Carolina, last year's darling of C-USA, will have to travel to SMU and Tulsa this season for conference games! Mid-major squads normally travel these distances for payout games such as the $1 million dollars Arkansas St. will get from Auburn in 2010.

These teams cannot afford to spend so much, and get so little out of a conference win.

Another problem C-USA is running into is their bowl tie-ins. The conference just re-signed with the Hawaii Bowl, once again increasing the travel needs 4,500 miles.

Besides the Liberty Bowl, all of C-USA's bowl games are forgettable at best.

The Texas Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl and Eagle Bank Bowl are simply siphoning money from the conference.

They're not helping the conference reputation either.

Even these bowl games are a mirage regarding the conference's reputation. Last year C-USA teams participated in six bowl games. Their one notable win: Houston over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Every other game saw them beaten by superior teams: Memphis v. South Florida, and East Carolina v. Kentucky.

Or beating a team from a lesser conference: Southern Miss v. Troy, Rice v. Western Michigan, and Tulsa v. Ball State.

The truth regarding college football and specifically the Conference USA is that these bowl games are being paid for by C-USA basketball money.

Every appearance in the NCAA tournament nets C-USA a 'unit,' a specific amount of money that is split between all members.

These units are paid out over a six-year period, meaning the success and money of C-USA in 2003, 04, and 05 are about to run out. Right around 2011.

The Texas schools should just form a new conference. They could easily find schools that would support it.

1.Houston
2.Rice
3.SMU
4.Utep
5.North Texas
6.Tulsa
7.New Mexico state
8.LaTech
9.Arkansas state
10.Tulane
11.Texas state(?)
12.UTSA(?)
It would cover five states,and greatly reduce travelling expenses.

Quote:With news of the Memphis basketball 'scandal,' Conference USA is officially on notice: Expansion will lead to the contraction of Conference USA.

Soooo... I may need somebody to explain this sentence for me. Thanks in advance.

Any team in the WAC would join C-USA were an offer extended, so I don't see why this guy thinks they are a better conference than us. Hawaii to Ruston, LA is probably further than El Paso to Greenville, so I don't see why distance is such an issue in C-USA but not the WAC... Sure, they've got a bunch of cupcakes so that good teams can run through the conference and make BCS bowls, but I'd wager Troy or Houston could do the same thing if they were in the WAC instead of Boise State.

Anyhow. C-USA will survive.

(08-31-2009 06:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  

Quote:With news of the Memphis basketball 'scandal,' Conference USA is officially on notice: Expansion will lead to the contraction of Conference USA.

Soooo... I may need somebody to explain this sentence for me. Thanks in advance.

Any team in the WAC would join C-USA were an offer extended, so I don't see why this guy thinks they are a better conference than us. Hawaii to Ruston, LA is probably further than El Paso to Greenville, so I don't see why distance is such an issue in C-USA but not the WAC... Sure, they've got a bunch of cupcakes so that good teams can run through the conference and make BCS bowls, but I'd wager Troy or Houston could do the same thing if they were in the WAC instead of Boise State.

Anyhow. C-USA will survive.

Other than La.Tech and New Mexico State, who in the WAC would join CUSA?

(08-31-2009 05:49 PM)hawghiggs Wrote:  The Texas schools should just form a new conference. They could easily find schools that would support it.

1. Houston
2. Rice
3. SMU
4. Utep
5. North Texas
6. Tulsa
7. New Mexico state
8. LaTech
9. Arkansas state
10.Tulane
11.Texas state(?)
12.UTSA(?)
It would cover five states,and greatly reduce travelling expenses.

Interesting idea. The problem, of course, is that there are certain schools that do not want to share a conference with certain others. UTEP wants nothing to do with NMSU for instance. I also wonder if Houston would really want anything to do with the two future San Antonio area FCS upgrades.

HAWGHIGGS CONFERENCE WEST
- New Mexico State / UTEP
- UTSA / Texas State
- North Texas / Houston
HAWGHIGGS CONFERENCE EAST
- Rice / SMU
- Tulsa / Arkansas State
- Louisiana Tech / Tulane

That is the best I could do, geographically, given the schools that you listed. I assume that the private schools - Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and Tulane - would all want to be in the same division. UNT/SMU and Rice/UH would still be paired together for travel in minor sports and as crossover football rivals.