Roll out the red carpet and strike up the band. Break out thehors d'oeuvres and the finest champagne. Beginning this fall,Conference USA is throwing one incredible party just before itshatters.
OK, so C-USA is not actually folding in 2005. It's just slimmingdown. Trimming the metaphorical fat ... and muscle ... andligaments.
Unfortunately, none of the defections are really theconference's fault. Little did conference officials know C-USAwould simply serve as a halfway house for members just waiting forthe right moment to escape. And when that moment came, it was ajailbreak.
First, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and SouthFlorida decided to bolt for the Big East, which was wounded whenthe ACC stole members from their ranks.
Then Texas Christian followed, leaving for the Mountain West,understandably opting for regional rivalries and road trips to Utahand Colorado State rather than South Florida and East Carolina.
Finally, St. Louis and Charlotte decided to leave for theAtlantic 10 conference and Army, only a member in football, choseto rescind conference affiliation altogether.
All in all, members of Conference USA fled faster than Frenchsoldiers defending Paris.
C-USA struck back, however, acquiring six new members to beginplay in 2005-2006. Central Florida, Marshall, Rice, SMU, Texas-ElPaso and Tulsa will join the six remaining members, includingMemphis.
The new, slimmer look is the conference version of a low-carbdiet, with Memphis playing the part of the Big Cheese.
At first glance, the onrushing realignment looks to be a hugeblow to C-USA and the Tigers.
C-USA basketball was on the verge of becoming a national powerconference. In football, three programs (and possibly a fourth)have top-25 aspirations this season. After this season, however,the picture isn't nearly as rosy.
In truth, C-USA is one Memphis short of becoming a mid-majorconference.
While the changes will actually improve the quality ofcompetition in some sports, including baseball, the two big moneymakers are men's basketball and football. Basketball is losing fourNCAA tournament teams from last season and will be replacing themwith just two.
In football, a drop-off in quality can be expected as well.C-USA is welcoming three programs, SMU, Central Florida and Texas -El Paso had a combined 5-32 in 2003. Marshall is a consistentwinner, but neither Rice nor Tulsa has been overly successful.
To make matters worse, the conference will lose teams in seventop-50 media markets and will gain only one: Orlando.
The conference swaps schools in Dallas-Fort Worth (SMU for TCU)and also gains another school in Houston -- Rice, which will createnice natural rivalry with the University of Houston, giving theconference a shot in the arm in the country's 11th largest market.However, neither university has much more than local appeal.
On the local level, Memphis has lost arguably its biggestconference rivalry in Louisville and now has the unenviableposition of being the marquee name in a lesser conference.
Southern Miss and UAB have nice football and basketballprograms, respectively, but neither can boast the television marketand regional appeal of the Tigers.
What the conference needs is national appeal, and at this point,only The U of M can deliver. The school boasts a pair ofwell-known, charismatic and media-friendly coaches in the moneysports, making it the official conference cash cow. John Calipariis quick to mention how often his basketball program finds itselfon national television, and football coach Tommy West has scoredtwo (possibly three) national appearances as well. These factorswill initially place the conference hopes on the shoulders of theTigers.
Should Memphis succeed in carrying the conference banner, thenew schools will get much needed exposure that should help themrecruit higher caliber talent.
Just how much attention they will receive is directlyproportional to how much interest the Tigers continue to receive onthe national scene.
A successful run in the next few years for the Tigers will keepESPN knocking on C-USA's door. If fortunes change ...well, they'dbetter not change or that long line of teams we see leaving theconference ranks might as well be a funeral procession.
