Defections Create Conference DOA
By BRETT McMURPHY bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 13, 2005
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Since Conference USA's inception 10 years ago, the original six-team football league has grown at an alarming rate.
Now a decade later, the league's stretch marks have become unsightly. C-USA's expansion to 15 institutions throughout 13 states from Texas to New York to Florida combined a mishmash of schools with not much in common.
There is a football-only school, four non-football playing schools and 10 all-sports members.
``We had multiple personalities,'' C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said. ``You had a basketball league, a football league. You need a league with one personality.
``For a league to be successful, it has to be of one mind.''
With nine schools leaving this summer, C-USA needed a major makeover. So six schools - UCF, Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP - will be added, giving C-USA a new-look 12-team all-sports league. Banowsky is adamant the league will prosper and succeed and even believes it will be better in many aspects.
Others aren't as optimistic, calling the new league Conference DOA. The league loses its best programs, which were responsible for about every major accomplishment the league achieved.
``We're losing some real bell cows,'' a league official said.
Ever since South Florida, Army, Cincinnati, Charlotte, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Saint Louis and TCU announced they were leaving the league, there has been growing animosity between exiting and remaining schools.
There have been private - and public - accusations of favoritism toward the holdovers. Last year Memphis, considered the league's top remaining program, was mistakenly awarded the No. 2 seed for the men's basketball tournament, instead of departing Cincinnati.
``It isn't right,'' Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said then. ``Don't you have to wonder if they're trying to take care of the people that are staying in the league?''
Two years ago when the league was filling its football bowl slots, the Mobile Bowl, C- USA's No. 2 bowl, chose TCU to face Miami (Ohio) and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. But the Horned Frogs wanted no part of Miami. Instead they wanted to stay home and play in the Fort Worth Bowl.
C-USA buckled and the Horned Frogs got their wish. C-USA then asked Louisville, which already had a deal with the Hawaii Bowl, to go to Mobile instead. Louisville agreed with an assurance it would be awarded the 2005 men's basketball tournament for helping out.
As USF learned several years earlier, C-USA's promises don't mean much. Although C-USA promised USF football membership in 2001, the league made the Bulls wait until 2003.
When bids were put in for the 2005 tournament, Louisville appeared to be in good shape. Memphis' $1 million bid was less than the Cardinals' $1.2 million bid, which included lower ticket prices.
Despite its earlier promises to Louisville, the league awarded the tournament to Memphis - part of C-USA's future - instead of the Big East- bound Cardinals.
Picking Memphis Backfired
That move backfired when news leaked this week that a $1 million guarantee by the Memphis and Shelby County Sports Authority was no longer valid because Banowsky failed to sign the contract. So C-USA was stuck with leasing FedExForum, paying all the expenses and taking whatever profits, if any, remained from ticket sales.
``They never signed the contract,'' Kevin Kane, president of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. ``Thank God, there never was a signed agreement.
``If there had been, the Sports Authority would have been on the hook for what could have been hundreds of thousands of dollars.''
The night after the Commercial-Appeal broke the story about the botched $1 million guarantee, C-USA held its annual pretournament reception for league officials, sponsors and dignitaries. Afterward, some C-USA officials, including Banowsky, and a group with ties to Cincinnati, Louisville and USF dropped by Memphis' Blues City Cafe.
Between helpings of homemade hot tamales, Southern fried catfish, barbecue ribs and green gumbo (Heineken), the group laughed and reminisced about the league's early days.
It was sort of a symbolic Last Supper for C-USA. Afterward, the C-USA officials walked one way down Beale Street. The remainder of the group headed off into the night - in the opposite direction.
They may have stuck together had the Big East accepted an offer from C-USA years earlier.
With rumblings the Big East basketball schools were considering a split from its football members, league sources said C-USA approached the Big East about creating a 12-team all-sports league. It would have consisted of the Big East's all- sports members and C-USA's top all-sports schools.
Ultimately the Big East wasn't interested. Although several months later the Big East would extend invitations to USF, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville and Marquette to join for the 2005-06 season. Banowsky said he would allow those schools to exit a year early if C-USA was compensated ``in the ballpark of $6 million to $10 million.''
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese refused.
Too Much Expansion
There's no question C-USA made significant strides through the years. Part of its downfall was it didn't know when to stop expanding. East Carolina was originally brought in to be a football-only member, but became an all- sports member because of a league loophole. The basketball coaches were furious the league was being watered down.
C-USA's niche was establishing itself as the best of the non-BCS leagues, but not much more than that. CBS analyst Billy Packer angered officials by calling C-USA ``a mid- major conference.''
In some ways, he was right. In 10 years, only one C-USA team - Marquette in 2003 - reached the Final Four. There have been no Heisman Trophy winners and not one NCAA team title in any sport in the past 10 years.
The league's self- proclaimed signature moment? A rainy regular-season football game when Louisville upset No. 4 Florida State in 2002.
C-USA never did make its mark on a national level - perhaps no non-BCS league consistently can - but how will C-DOA survive without its ``bell cows?''
The league is losing seven of Nielsen's top 50 television markets, including three top- 21 markets, along with Army's huge national following. It only adds one top-50 TV market - No. 20 Orlando (UCF).
The departing schools also accounted for nine of the 10 players on the men's basketball all-decade team and 27 of C-USA's 30 NCAA Tournament wins.
Banowsky still remains optimistic.
``I think we'll have great football and most people indicate it will be as good or better than it is now with the collection of teams we have coming in,'' Banowsky said. ``Our baseball will be among the best in the country.''
But what about a league built on basketball?
``We're losing some great programs, Cincinnati and Louisville, but what people don't appreciate is the quality of teams we're bringing in,'' Banowsky said.
``Tulsa has had more success in the last 10 years than any of these schools, especially Cincinnati. UTEP is the only school in the state of Texas to win a national championship. Even Central Florida has gone to back-to-back [NCAAs]. We're going to be a multiple bid league.''
Call It Cursed-USA
Maybe the best thing for C- USA is a fresh start. The old league at times seemed like Cursed-USA.
In 2000, Cincinnati was the favorite to win the NCAA men's basketball title until Kenyon Martin suffered a broken leg in the C-USA Tournament.
Last fall, Louisville was headed for an upset of Miami and an undefeated football season until Kerry Rhodes dropped a late interception, resulting in a Cards' loss and costing the league all those millions of BCS dollars.
On display Saturday on the final day of the league's final major event with its current membership was the league's past (Louisville) and future (Memphis).
Inside a raucous FedExForum, the underdog Tigers were going to the wire with the hated Cardinals. A Memphis victory would secure an NCAA Tournament berth and more importantly would make an even bigger statement about C-USA's future.
With Louisville clinging to a 75-73 lead, Memphis freshman Darius Washington was fouled while shooting a 3- pointer. No time remained, but Washington went to the foul line. Three for the win, two meant overtime, one was disaster.
Washington calmly hit the first before missing the final two.
His last two attempts came up painfully short. Just like C- USA.
A league that was so close at times to breaking through, but ultimately so frustratingly far.
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Article: Defections create Conference DOA
