CSNbbs

(cont). I'd say that the nBE (or whatever the name will be) will eventually be made up of:

Temple
ECU
Marshall (when/if UCONN exits)
Navy (if it stays - backup is La Tech)
UCF
USF


Memphis
Tulane
So Miss (when/if Cincy exits)
Houston
SMU
TU


I also think there is a good chance the MWC eventually picks up a Texas presence with the addition of UTEP and either UTSA or Rice.

Just my thoughts. As long as we can stay aligned with SMU and Houston athletically, I'm fine. This is CUSA without the "drag".

As long as ESPN and the other networks think in terms of major league cities and large metro areas for TV viewership, we would be better off in the BE imo. Cinicnnati, Philly, DC/nation w/Navy, Orlando, Tampa, NO, Houston, Dallas, Memphis are all major league cities and of course Tulsa is in a fairly large TV market (similar in metro size to New Orleans).

In the MWC, they would have San Francisco, Salt Lake, San Diego and Denver, but then drop down to Vegas, Fresno, Albuquerque, Honnolulu. But the problem with the MWC is their location and game times. Not so for the BE.

The TV times are important as far as national exposure goes and the NBE wins that point completely. I don't know which conference will end up and be better....either one is fine with me but I will be awake to see a lot more games if we go to the NBE. I also don't see a lot of difference in money......I don't even see a lot of difference money wise between the NBE and NCUSA, maybe a million or two. The initial thought that the teams going to the Big East were going to make at least 6-8 million is way off base....probably closer to 3 million now. Both the MWC and the NBE will be seen as a step ahead of the NCUSA and the other minor conferences so that's where we want to be.