I agree that the Birmingham market will be a great asset to TV negotiations, and CUSA is in a better position now versus last week in regards to television negotiations.
That said, given Banowsky's affinity for the 16 team model, I wonder if we'd be better off (in light of recent events) to jump to 16 SOON.
IMO, Banowsky should approach our television negotiations with just that arrow in his arsenal. The B1G obviously felt that growing the league would help maximize television, and who is to say that the numbers wont come out better for us all (expenditures vs income) if we make the Eastern and Western footprints more dense (allowing for closer rivalries) and basically operate the two divisions as their own leagues that come together at playoff time. With an imaginative branding campaign, I think being the first 16 team football conference since the WAC could set CUSA apart.
Given our headquarters are based there, I think we'd be well served to plant the CUSA flag in Texas and take Texas State (effectively locking out the MWC) and off their tourney success I think we should offer Georgia State to bolster basketball.
Those are two programs that have a world of potential under the CUSA umbrella, shrink our footprints, and give us tons of marketing possibilities. I REALLY like the idea of establishing the brand as the only conference with 5 Texas schools (lets not forget that Texas is a HUGE state, where football is religion... lots of eyes on TV sets).
If you look at the map, they'd fill the two biggest holes in the East and the West. We'd almost be 2 separate bus leagues (and basketball would be better).
The main thing I want to know is: (1) Would the money be better with those 16 - and a greater regional identity? and (2) If the money is not better, are we really going to get that much more per school with 14 vs 16, that outweighs the potential savings on running basically two denser bus league footprints that could play amongst themselves and, then, really make our playoffs that much bigger of an event when the time comes.