Dallas Morning News on Realignment: SMU, LA Tech, etc.

[DogsWin]

Here's another article on conference realignment from The Dallas Morning News. LA Tech is mentioned in 2 of the 3 scenarios, skip to the bottom of the article below for that.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/col...col.8ef74.html

Realigned leagues: the coming thing?
Area colleges might find ACC repercussions will bring them closer
07/06/2003
By KEITH WHITMIRE / The Dallas Morning News

SMU, TCU and North Texas play Division I football within the same metropolitan area, yet each is in a different athletic conference.

A move made between two East Coast conferences may ultimately bring them closer together.

The departure of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference could be the trigger that results in a regional alignment of schools in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

The new alignment could come about as a division of the Western Athletic Conference or Conference USA. Or it could be a completely new league.

SMU is a member of the WAC, along with regional rivals Rice, Tulsa and Louisiana Tech. TCU is a member of C-USA, along with nearby Houston and Tulane. Because the WAC and C-USA are far-flung leagues with burdensome travel costs, the eastern WAC schools and western C-USA schools could align to save money and build closer rivalries.

"The best thing for us, long-term, is some kind of regional alignment," SMU athletic director Jim Copeland said. "That could be a division of the WAC. For our program, I think it behooves us to have a set-up so fans can travel to games. ... Or when those teams come to us, not only can they bring their people, but there might already be an alumni base here."

There is already rampant speculation that just such an alignment is in the works, fueled by the Big East's need to replace Miami and Virginia Tech with teams from Conference USA.

Big East must move
If the Big East were to take a chunk out of C-USA, the remaining football schools could annex the eastern WAC schools. Or if the Big East takes a bigger bite out of C-USA, the WAC could gobble up what's left.

C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky has pledged to move deliberately and above-board with the Big East. But WAC commissioner Karl Benson, with the threat of Mountain West expansion in his league's western half, appears poised to pounce.

"As a league, we've recognized how important it is to create a six-team Central Time Zone Division," Benson said. "That would be our ultimate goal. If we can create that type of league, then there is no reason for any of our schools in the West to have interest in the Mountain West. Because that 12-team WAC will be superior to the Mountain West."

The Big East needs schools. The WAC and C-USA have vulnerable flanks. The new Southwest alignment could result from a tug-of-war or a negotiated dispersal.

Picture this scenario: The Big East takes Louisville, Cincinnati, East Carolina, South Florida and possibly Army.
That would leave C-USA essentially a Southern league with TCU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane, Southern Miss and Alabama-Birmingham. The six remaining C-USA football schools could then have their choice of at least two of the eastern WAC schools to get to eight or more members.

The key to this is that C-USA is left with at least six schools. The NCAA requires at least six schools to share a conference for five years to retain an automatic bid in the NCAA basketball tournament. TCU will begin its fifth season in C-USA in 2005.

Even if the Big East takes a conservative stance that leaves C-USA virtually intact, it appears there will be changes because of geographic issues in the WAC and C-USA.

"We all know this is going to happen, but I personally would like to see this be a longer, more deliberative and more strategic process to play out," Tulane president Scott Cowen told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

"I would rather not see us under pressure. Then we can try to rearrange the conferences, if that's what it's going to take, in a way that makes sense for the schools involved."

Three of the WAC's eastern schools – SMU, Rice and Tulsa – are so concerned about cutting travel costs – and about possible defections to the Mountain West – that they met recently with Army and Navy about forming a new league.

Tulane just went through a battle to save its football program because of debt, and Houston has struggled on the field and with attendance.

TCU, however, might not agree to join a regional league or return to the WAC, which could be perceived as a step backward after its defection to C-USA. The Horned Frogs are hoping to parlay their football success of five straight bowls into a position higher in the college-athletics food chain.

"We would be willing to discuss the notion of regionalizing non-revenue sports," TCU provost William Koehler said. "When you talk about football and men and women's basketball, we're going to have to think long and hard about that. We have been investing in our future in such a way that we want to be a player on the national scene."

TCU may look west
Should C-USA not remain an option for TCU, the school could turn to the Mountain West Conference, which is looking to enhance its television appeal and make a bid for full Bowl Championship Series status.

The BCS is a coalition of six major conferences and Notre Dame to determine a national champion, but the BCS also receives most of the bowl and television money in college football.

The BCS is examining its format in advance of its television contract expiring in 2005. Among the issues is looking at ways to grant more access to non-BCS leagues such as the WAC, C-USA and Sun Belt.

One idea being circulated is to stage a fifth BCS bowl with the highest-ranking team from a non-BCS league gaining a berth. Automatic berths in a BCS bowl currently pay about $13 million to participating conferences.

There are two at-large berths in the BCS, but no team from a non-BCS league has qualified since the series was formed in 1998.

Mere membership in a BCS conference can mean getting a share of overall conference revenues in the $100 million range in a league such as the Big 12 or Southeastern Conference.

C-USA divides about $27 million among its 15 members, some of whom don't play football or are football-only. The WAC distributes about $6 million among its 10 schools.

While there is speculation of the Big East possibly losing its BCS status, a league would have to bring significant value, i.e. TV ratings, to gain membership.

"I don't think any of the current non-BCS leagues are going to get in," SMU's Copeland said. "I think a regional type of conference, whether it's affiliated with a current non-BCS league or a new league, has as much chance of being a part of the BCS as what we're in now, or any of the other non-BCS conferences."

Where does North Texas fit in a regional alignment? UNT is already in a semi-regional league, the Sun Belt Conference, with five of its eight football schools in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

The Sun Belt is entering its third season as a football league and has proven a boon to UNT's football program without the travel costs of the WAC or C-USA.

UNT has enjoyed the success of back-to-back trips to the New Orleans Bowl, including a win over C-USA member Cincinnati last season. The Denton campus is a geographic natural for a Texas-based regional league and boasts an enrollment of 30,000.

But athletic director Rick Villarreal's phone isn't ringing.

"There's not been any direct calls saying, 'Hey, would you do this?' or 'We're going to do this, are you in?' " Villarreal said, and he knows why. Despite recent on-field success, UNT still has to prove itself in terms of funding and attendance and overcome the stigma of having been a I-AA program.

But Villarreal is quick to point out that TCU's biggest home crowd last season was the 33,281 it drew for North Texas. TCU's second-biggest crowd was 30,621 for SMU.

Neither of those figures would impress anyone from the Big 12, but it does show a spike in interest when local schools play each other. That, in a nutshell, is the basis for the expected regional alignment of WAC and C-USA schools.

"When you can talk around the water cooler about games," Villarreal said, "it creates interest."

THREE WAYS TO CONSOLIDATION The ACC's recent expansion could lead to a new division or league of teams in this region. Staff Writer Keith Whitmire looks at three proposals:

THE NEW C-USA
Houston SMU Tulane
Memphis So. Miss Tulsa
Rice TCU UAB
Pros: Big East expansion leaves C-USA a southern league that cuts travel costs and reunites former Southwest Conference rivals SMU, TCU, Rice and Houston.
Cons: The WAC probably dissolves, with some schools joining the Mountain West and Sun Belt.

THE WAC-EAST
Houston Rice Tulane
La. Tech SMU Tulsa
Pros: An eastern division cuts down on travel to the WAC West: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Jose State and UT-El Paso. With 12 teams, the WAC could stage a championship game.
Cons: Not as strong without TCU, which probably refuses to re-join the WAC and stays in what's left of C-USA or joins the Mountain West.

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE II
Houston SMU Tulane
La. Tech So. Miss Tulsa
Rice TCU North Texas
Pros: If both the WAC and C-USA are damaged beyond repair, a mix of what's left could form a league that makes sense geographically. A key would be getting TCU and/or Southern Miss for immediate football legitimacy, with Tulsa doing the same in basketball.
Cons: A last resort. Forming a new league would be difficult and costly. Initially, there would be no NCAA Tournament automatic bid and no guarantee of bowls or significant television revenue.

[oledawg66]

I would love to know where our AD and sports people stand on all of this. Personally, I love the idea of the SWC II. With the major markets involved in this picture we should be able to solve the bowl problem. And I don't think Tulsa and the Lady Techsters would be hurt by not having automatic bids. The new CUSA would be fun too even though we are not mentioned in that picture. I was in Dr Billy Bundrick's office when he was entertaining CUSA officials back when we were campaigning hard for membership. We weren't successful then, but maybe we have more to offer now with a WAC Championship under our belts. And the WAC East is not bad with a chance to play for a Conference Championship. Any way it shakes out, I love the idea of regional rivals that are easy road trips.