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Curtis Johnson, Head Coach Opening statement: "I thought they (Syracuse) played outstanding. I thought they did the things they had to do. They threw it underneath a lot. They played very, very well. I thought Syracuse was big and physical and they beat our quarterback up pretty good. I thought the quarterback (Terrel Hunt) played outstanding. (Justyn) Shackleford played good. (Orleans) Darkwa ran the ball pretty decent. I thought those guys were physical. I thought the coach (Scott Shafer) did a great job preparing them. Those guys played excellent." On Tulane's special teams: "The special teams really hurt us and has been hurting us last year. We're really good on special teams. We had a young snapper that couldn't go so we played with our backup tight end. He wasn't doing very good like he should have been, but he'll get better. We just have to keep working on our special teams." On red-zone defense: "I just thought they played physical. They were a good football team and they kind of ran it at us and threw it around a little bit. I just thought that they had our number today. I thought they did an outstanding job. " On the number of penalties: "There were too many penalties at the end of the half. Guys were going out of bounds and we just have to let them go the best we can and that was our fault. There was jus too many penalties. It's very frustrating. That was one of the things we worked on and one of the things we were better at and then all of the sudden this year's team, and here we go again, back to doing the same things." On the offense's struggles in the red zone: "Yeah, that was the one thing about us, we're not good enough where we can have penalties and turnovers and be competitive. The penalties are taking us out of scoring position and out of lanes. It forces us to call the perfect play and they can't do that. It's too hard." On the pressure Syracuse put on Nick Montana: "The defensive front played outstanding. We couldn't block them. Montana did a great job hanging in there and he's a tough kid. He hung in there and I don't know if I could have done it any better. He hung in there and he delivered the ball. He played it very, very well, but they were just big, fast, and physical. It's what we talked about and what we saw on film. They're a good football team. They like to bring pressure and they did it well today" On score at halftime: "42-17 wasn't very good. I think we got a little bit demoralized. Our kids didn't play well. We had a couple costly injuries. We thought we'd come out and play better, but we just didn't do that. It goes back to Syracuse playing very good defense. They just played well today." Cairo Santos, K, Sr. On the end of his streak of 26 straight made field goals; "It looked like it was just leakage in the front line. It looked like it was going straight and it felt great on my foot. I think it was just a blocking issue but it was a good run." On the special teams performance; "It was rough -- a lot of blocking mistakes. We just have to get that fixed. We can't have two blocked punts and one blocked field goal in a game. It's not acceptable to our line so we have to get better." Peter Picerelli, P, So. On the punts that were blocked; "it's hard to tell right now without looking at the film. We're dealing with a new snapper this week -- Matt Marfisi -- but it's hard to tell without looking at the film whether it's on my end or whether it's a breakdown. I take all responsibility on that and getting the ball off faster. It's something we can't have, especially trying to come in here and win this game." On Matt Marfisi as the new snapper; "He's done really well -- especially being the starting tight end -- he's done well. It's really not something we were worried about coming into this game until after that first kick. It's something we adjusted after that first kick. Unfortunately it came and happened the second time. Then at halftime we really got to sit down with the whole unit, focus on that breakdown, and obviously it didn't happen again. I honestly wish we could go back and do those first two over but you know it is what it is." Nick Montana, QB, Jr. On what the Syracuse defensive pressure; "They (Syracuse) didn't really do anything we weren't expecting, we knew that was going to come. We just gave them the game, turnovers and not executing what we had for them. We had a good plan. We were just so up and down that we just gave them the game. The team wasn't that much better than us." On the overall performance; "We just didn't execute. We just have to execute. We let them (Syracuse) start and let them get momentum and they just kind of road that. We were trying to fight back but we never really got back all the way." http://www.yogwf.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41098&sid=d3e2c9d8cd652f4da7f1d38f931f6e8f

When Sheldon Dawson gave Memphis a commitment and then later backed away from it to sign with Georgia, his hometown school was a member of Conference USA. The Bulldogs’ sophomore cornerback knows that the Tigers are now a member of the new American Athletic Conference, but he was stumped when asked what league Georgia’s Saturday opponent, North Texas, plays in now. “I want to say the MAC, Mountain West or something,” Dawson said. Actually, North Texas is in its first season in Conference USA after leaving the Sun Belt Conference. Of seven Georgia players quizzed this week, only two answered correctly on the Mean Green’s league affiliation. In the age of conference expansion and realignment, it’s hard to keep up with all the changes. Even for an athletic director. “Maybe it’s sad to say but I couldn’t tell you who’s in the conference now,” Georgia’s Greg McGarity said of Conference USA. “It’s not to demean that conference. It changes. I have a hard time figuring out who’s in the ACC. …It’s all so fluid right now, it’s kind of hard to figure out who’s where.” It’s confusing for the coaches, too. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said on a teleconference Monday, according to the Washington Post, that East Carolina, Marshall and UCF were the best teams in Conference USA. Read more: http://dogbytesonline.com/college-football-realignment-leaves-players-coaches-ads-scratching-their-heads-75363/

1. It’s worth considering the opponents, sure. But Marshall has given up just 141 rushing yards in its first two games combined — against Miami (Ohio) and Gardner-Webb. For all that is said about the Thundering Herd’s offense and Rakeem Cato, this might be Marshall’s most useful aspect going forward, if it can keep it up. 2. Louisiana Tech’s running back situation now has intrigue. If Kenneth Dixon, who injured his knee in the Bulldogs’ 27-14 win over Lamar, can’t go this week against Tulane, Tech will turn to Tevin King. That’s OK, considering he was the starter last year until injury forced him to the sideline. Dixon was a freshman All-American last year, which gives Skip Holtz nice options in a run game as his passing game continues to find its way with a new quarterback. 3. It might not look like it given Colorado State’s 27 points, but Tulsa’s defense played a huge hand in its win a week after an embarrassing 34-point outing at Bowling Green. Colorado State’s 113 passing yards was the smallest total allowed by Tulsa in three years, since the Hurricane kept an inept Memphis team to 82 yards in a 48-7 win. 4. Tulane doesn’t appear ready to make the big jump into the top half of Conference USA, at least not anytime soon. Not when you fall behind early and lose to South Alabama at home. Nick Montana, the son of Joe Montana, brings promise to the Green Wave, but there are bigger issues to fix for second-year coach Curtis Johnson. 5. Logan Kilgore is a really, really big deal to Middle Tennessee State. Obvious, right? He threw three interceptions the week after suffering a shoulder injury, and now coach Rick Stockstill is wondering how a two-quarterback system would work. Not out of promise, mind you, but necessity. Middle’s fortunes would increase dramatically if Kilgore can become healthy, and soon. Read more: http://lindyssports.com/college-football/c-usa/east-carolina/column/conference-usa-notebook-familiar-names-start-strong-2/132835

Interesting...

Lets pull for pur C-USA brothers!

5. North Texas 4-8 3-5: With 17 starters returning for a Dan McCarney team, I may be under valuing this team. They do move up in competition from the Sun Belt though. This is a team that will play tough hard nosed football, but I don't think they have enough talent to get to a bowl. This is a team though that could upset someone. Read more: http://brianblade.sportsblog.com/post/152687/conference_usa_preview.html

The athletics budget for the University of North Texas is expected to increase to $30.4 million for the upcoming fiscal year, to level the playing field within Conference USA and support a new baseball program, school officials said. During UNT system Board of Regents meetings last week, the board passed an amendment to the system budget to consider adding $2.8 million in revenue and expenditures to the proposed athletics budget of $27.6 million. Talks with the finance committee, UNT President Lane Rawlins and athletic director Rick Villarreal are underway. A completed budget is expected in two weeks, Rawlins said. "Were a lot better than people in the region and state think we are, and one of the reasons we get overlooked is because so much attention is paid to athletics," Rawlins said. "Athletics is how you get attention. ... Its simply a fact of life for an institution of our size and location." The board wanted to learn more about how UNT compared with other institutions in the conference, and some were concerned that athletic programs arent enough of a priority. Rawlins presented figures that show UNT is on par with spending in its new conference, but Board of Regents Finance Committee chairman Don Potts said the university spends less than half of the average on recruiting. "The issue of concern is that were moving into Conference USA and we want UNT to have the same resources that our competitors have, Potts said. We do want to win, you know." Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20130823-unt-athletics-may-get-boost.ece

The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl announced today the signing of six-year contract extensions with both Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference. This will guarantee both Division I football conferences invitations to the New Orleans Bowl through the 2019 football season. Executive Director of the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Billy Ferrante, worked diligently with both conference staffs to secure the new deals. "We are thrilled to have the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA extend their contracts with our game. This showcases the growth that the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl has had over the past 12 years, and we look forward to the next six years of working with these two conferences to create a one of a kind experience for the student-athletes, coaches and University administrations." A Sun Belt Conference representative has earned an invitation to the bowl since 2001, and Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns have been the bowl Champion for the past two years. Bowl officials will be granted the first selection of a bowl-eligible Sun Belt team each season. Read more: http://www.nola.com/nobowl/index.ssf/2013/08/the_rl_carriers_new_orleans_bo.html

DENTON, Texas (AP) -- When Dan McCarney looks around the North Texas practice field, the coach is finally seeing what most NCAA Division I programs take for granted. For the first time in McCarney's three seasons, the Mean Green have 85 scholarship players. ''More guys that look like Division I football players,'' McCarney said. ''It's taken quite some time to replenish this roster to get it to where we can be competitive.'' That translates to players, even the 16 returning starters, having to work harder for jobs. ''Where there's been no competition going on in many positions the first two years that I've been here,'' the coach said. ''There were bodies there, but I'm talking about real competition, Division I competition, guys that have a chance to play winning football at this level.'' That comes at a good time with North Texas stepping up to Conference USA after the past 12 seasons in the Sun Belt. The Mean Green won Sun Belt titles and went to bowl games from 2001-04, but won only 13 games the next six years. McCarney is 9-15 so far. His goal in his third season? Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/north-texas-full-squad-going-223251562--ncaaf.html

DENTON, Texas (AP) -- When Dan McCarney looks around the North Texas practice field, the coach is finally seeing what most NCAA Division I programs take for granted. For the first time in McCarney's three seasons, the Mean Green have 85 scholarship players. ''More guys that look like Division I football players,'' McCarney said. ''It's taken quite some time to replenish this roster to get it to where we can be competitive.'' That translates to players, even the 16 returning starters, having to work harder for jobs. ''Where there's been no competition going on in many positions the first two years that I've been here,'' the coach said. ''There were bodies there, but I'm talking about real competition, Division I competition, guys that have a chance to play winning football at this level.'' That comes at a good time with North Texas stepping up to Conference USA after the past 12 seasons in the Sun Belt. The Mean Green won Sun Belt titles and went to bowl games from 2001-04, but won only 13 games the next six years. McCarney is 9-15 so far. His goal in his third season? Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/north-texas-full-squad-going-223251562--ncaaf.html

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — As the news got out that Todd Monken had taken the job in December, the texts began rolling in: Congrats. Good luck. You'll do well. Stuff like that. Several of them, though, ended with a cryptic string: SMTTT "I'm trying to figure out the code," Monken recalled. "Nowadays with text messaging, people come up with all sorts of stuff you can't figure out, right? Little letters, 'CUL8R,' and you're trying to figure out what it means, you know?" He figured, correctly, the first part was "Southern Miss." But after that? No clue. "I thought it might be Terri, Todd and Travis," he said, referring to himself, his wife and his son. Finally, someone let him in on his new school's catchphrase: "Southern Miss To The Top" (to end a conversation, you say "Southern Miss," the other guy answers "To the top!"). In foot-high wooden letters, the optimistic abbreviation sits on a shelf high in Monken's new office overlooking an end zone at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The display is among the few leftovers from the previous occupant, and it seems appropriate. As Monken heads into his first season as the Golden Eagles' head coach, the top seems a long way off. But up might be the only way they can go. "I really believe we can be a good football team," he said, adding "there are no barriers" to success at Southern Miss. *** Until last year, no one would disagree. But in 2012 – and this still seems hard to believe, for folks around here and anyone who's followed college football in recent years – Southern Miss hit rock bottom. It takes some doing, losing 'em all. Especially a year after 12-2. After 18 consecutive winning seasons. With a program that had developed a reputation as a mid-level bunch the big boys do not want to play. Oh-and-12? "I think we shocked everybody," senior receiver Dominique Sullivan said. "It was just a disaster," said longtime booster Ben Willoughby, "all the way around." Willoughby had just finished lunch last week at Po-Boy Express, just across U.S. 49 from the stadium. Retired for 20 years now, he was once a fund-raiser for the athletic department. Now, he's part of a small but devoted and proud fan base. Tucked into the Mississippi pine belt in the heart of SEC country, Southern Miss has carved a nice little niche through the years. "We're a mid-level D-I (FBS) team," Willoughby said. "We're not gonna be able to compete with (larger programs) on recruits, but they don't let their guard down against us on the field." "They're nasty," said senior linebacker Allen Howze, who grew up a little more than an hour away, in Ocean Springs, Miss., of the program's reputation through the years. "They win games." That's been the case, anyway. Until last year, when Southern Miss became one of only four FBS programs to go from double-digit victories to double-digit losses in consecutive seasons (the others: UTEP in 1988-89, Ball State and Rice in 2008-09). Three of the four came after a coaching change. But only the Golden Eagles went winless. read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/cusa/2013/08/12/southern-mississippi-rebounding-from-winless-season/2642923/

Five Things to Watch 1. Welcome — and stay awhile There are four first-year coaches in Conference USA, and all are at schools set to still be in the league next season. Sean Kugler is a Texas at El Paso alum and former assistant (1993-2000) who then coached for three NFL teams before getting his first head coaching job as Mike Price’s replacement. Former Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken takes over at Southern Mississippi, which was the only winless FBS team last season at 0-12, coming a year after the Golden Eagles were 12-2 and C-USA champs. Southern Miss next season will be the only team remaining from the original 1996 C-USA lineup. Skip Holtz spent the last three seasons in the Big East with South Florida. Ron Turner is in his first season at Florida International after working for three different NFL teams since his stint at Illinois’ head coach from 1997 to 2004. 2. Lot of Lone Star Four of the league’s 14 teams are in Texas — North Texas, Rice, UTEP and Texas at San Antonio. That should help build some regional rivalries, especially with all of them in the West Division. “You look back at the Southwest Conference days, all the great rivalries existed because of the locations of the universities,” Rice coach David Bailiff said. And Louisiana Tech, which had been in the WAC, isn’t too far away. “All of a sudden you’ve got car-ride trips for your fan base, where people get in the car and put the flag in the window,” Holtz said. “Their fans can also come to our place, which I think is going to be a completely different atmosphere for Louisiana Tech. Because being in the WAC, every trip’s been a plane ride.” Read more: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/magnolia/sports/football-tulsa-ecu-chance-to-exit-conference-usa-with-another/article_74a8b0ba-0074-11e3-a5a1-0019bb2963f4.html

Originally Posted by JagRunner "Honestly, no one here even cared about UNT until we joined CUSA and UNT fans started acting like we shouldn't be in the same conference as them. They spouted so much hate on the CUSA board and their own Mean Green board. Our shit talking is just rebuttal for what is said from UNT fans on message boards. We get the same crap from UTEP fans. In the end I think it'll create some rivalries between us and UNT/UTEP." Read more: http://www.rowdytalk.com/showthread.php/3058-Why-the-hatred-for-UNT/page5

@ New Mexico: W - but by no means automatic. What concerns me is that we, as a fan base, want this one so much that we're all calling it as a W. If the team thinks the same way, we'll get beat. vs OSU: L - loss, but a fun one. @ Arizona: W - lol yes a win. Don't ask. ALL signs point the other way, but I've had a gut feeling on this game for 2 years. @ UTEP: W - backup aggy QB doesn't overly concern me; we've faced some talented slingers. Will still be a tough-fought game in all facets. vs Houston: L - I think this game and the UTEP game are both 50-50. I wrote an L here, but I'm calling at least one win between the two. @ Marshall: L - Cato > UTEP QB. And Marshall in general is just more talented than us overall. I think Marshall is this year's San Jose State. vs Rice: L - I would love to call a win here, except I think Rice is the real deal. Sounds funny to say. vs UAB: W - only because it's @ home and homecoming. I don't think the score will be close, per se, but I would actually have this as a road loss. @ Tulsa: L - IMO Tulsa may not even be the best team in the division for 2013, but they know how to win. This will be a long shot for us. vs Tulane: W - I think Vegas will actually have us favored here. We'll see. @ UNT: L - this or UAB is our WTF loss of the year. I believe we are legitimately better, but I think they may put us on our heels a bit. If so, our fans will rage. vs La Tech: W - I think La Tech finishes ahead of us in the west, but we have their number. We can beat them. Kenneth Dixon is OP though. 6-6 read more: http://www.rowdytalk.com/showthread.php/3011-Official-2014-Win-Loss-Prediction-Thread

Early August is usually the peak of optimism for the Tulane football team before the inevitable cliff dive once the season starts. After a decade of losing, though, the Green Wave and second-year coach Curtis Johnson are seeing tangible signs that their talk of a turnaround won’t get hit with a reality check in September. Specifically, they can point to the heft on their defensive front seven and the lack of heft on the schedule in revamped Conference USA. “As ultra-competitive as I am, I’ll probably be disappointed with (just) six wins,” Johnson said Monday at Media Day. “We better get more than six this year. We’ve added some pieces to the puzzle, and hopefully by the end of the year, we’ll have this thing completed and we’ll be holding up a (Conference USA) trophy.” Six wins would make Tulane bowl eligible for the first time since 2002. The Green Wave has not won more than four since Hurricane Katrina and has gone 4-21 in a turbulent past two seasons bridging the end of Bob Toledo’s tenure and the start of Johnson’s. With eight starters returning on offense and defense, Johnson expects different results. “I’d like to see 12 wins this year, but if we get to a bowl game, which I hope and pray we are, it would be a step in the right direction,” he said. “It’s leading to the foundation of the program that we want to set here.” That foundation got bigger with the transfer of a pair of former SEC players. Tyler Gilbert (6-feet-3, 244 pounds), a junior college transfer who played linebacker for Arkansas two years ago, is getting reps at defensive end. Defensive tackle Chris Davenport, a 6-4, 334-pound five-star recruit who played sparingly in four years at LSU, will attend graduate school while anchoring the line. “It’s like having a big Chevy Suburban right in the middle of the defense,” co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Jon Sumrall said. “He takes up a lot of space.” The transfers give Tulane 15 defensive linemen on scholarship a year after Sumrall recalled beginning spring practice with seven. The depth-shy, size-challenged Wave ranked 114th nationally out of 120 FBS teams in rushing defense, allowing an average of 222.9 yards on 5.1 yards per carry. “We couldn’t even do drills,” Sumrall said. “Now we’ve got 14 or 15 out there and could run like four drills. (Johnson) has been fantastic about it. He’s a wide receiver guy, but he gives me more opportunities to bring in defensive linemen than you would ever imagine.” Part of Johnson’s line-centric philosophy is preparing for the increased competition in the American Athletic Conference, which Tulane will join next year. That league features former Big East teams Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida along with former Conference USA heavyweights Houston and Central Florida. He hopes to reap the benefits this season in a diminished C-USA, which brings Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Florida Atlantic and Texas-San Antonio to the schedule. Throw in the first two games against Jackson State of the lower-level FCS along with FBS upstart South Alabama, and seven of Tulane’s foes are ranked below the Wave in analyst Phil Steele’s preseason rankings. Read more: http://theadvocate.com/sports/6704136-128/stronger-defense-lighter-schedule-boost

The days of cross-country travel for Louisiana Tech athletics are over after the Bulldogs left the Western Athletic Conference in favor of the more regional Conference USA. Student-athletes and fans rejoice about most games being in the same or adjacent time zone as opposed to the multiple time zone trips to the West Coast. But does fewer miles traveled mean more dollars in the Tech athletics budget? Yes and no, says Marie Gilbert, an associate athletics director and chief financial officer for Louisiana Tech. Gilbert said the football team is making the same number of chartered flights (five), as they did in 2012, but the shorter distance of those flights amounts to an estimated 10 percent savings in football travel expenses. (The trips) just arent to Hawaii and San Jose State, Gilbert said. Were still making three flights for conference games and then the two additional flights in non-conference (North Carolina State and Kansas). Next year depending on the non-conference schedule, the (savings) might be even more. The Bulldogs will fly to Florida International, UTEP and UTSA in conference play. Other road or neutral games include Army (in Dallas) and Rice (Houston). Techs mileage is significantly less in 2013 than its previous 12 years in the WAC. The Bulldogs will travel 3,965 miles total in seven road games, averaging 566 miles per trip. The 2012 Dogs averaged 774 miles per trip while the highest average trip came in 2008 1,616 miles per trip. That included a flight to Hawaii, which hosted Tech four times in the last 12 seasons. For all sports, Gilbert estimates a total savings of about $150,000 for 2013-14 although cost estimates arent finalized for the coming season. Read more: http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130805/SPORTS/308050026/Tech-trips-shorter-spending-less-C-USA?nclick_check=1

Workers from AstroTurf, a Dalton Ga. company, began the process of planting the seal of Old Dominions new conference on the turf at Foreman Field Sunday afternoon. Workers are tearing out the Colonial Athletic Association logo and replacing it with one from Conference USA. AstroTurf employees should complete the task late Monday. But that is merely a symbolic change. The real change begins Monday at 6:15 a.m., when ODUs football team holds its first practice. This is a season of transition for ODU. The Monarchs left the CAA and joined Conference USA on July 1. However, because of NCAA rules, ODUs football team cant begin playing a Conference USA schedule until 2014. ODU plays as an independent this season, one that will present major challenges that the Monarchs have never faced before. ODU is moving from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision, and that's a huge step up, especially for a program that has played just four seasons of football. ODU has never played an FBS team, yet will play two in its first two games. The Monarchs open at East Carolina Aug. 31, and ECU is the consensus pick to the C-USAs East Division. ODU then plays at Maryland on Sept. 7. It will be ODUs first game ever against an ACC school. ODUs coaching staff has worked hard to prepare the Monarchs for the transition. They had what recruiting services say was a good FBS recruiting class - remarkable when you consider ODU wasn't yet at the FBS level. Regardless, it was one of the nations largest recruiting classes. There will be 37 new players in ODU blue and silver Monday, including 12 junior college and 25 high school players. All 12 juco transfers will play this season. So, likely, will at least a handful of the freshmen. Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2013/08/sizing-who-may-back-heinicke-odu-opens-practice

UNTs players report for the beginning of fall camp tomorrow with practice and media day to follow on Monday. We have been talking about how UNTs roster shapes up and some of the key issues the Mean Green faces heading into the fall since the end of spring practice. There is a feeling around UNT that this could be the year the Mean Green turns it around, and that maybe its UNTs last good chance to turn it around after eight straight losing seasons. With so many seniors in key spots, its easy to see why. And that does not even take into account the one-time chance to get off on the right foot in Conference USA. Practice will be closed up tighter than a drum again this year, which means we wont see much, OK any, of the Mean Green before the season opener against Idaho. What issues will UNT be working on behind the scenes? Here are some thoughts: Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/unt-players-report-tomorrow-thoughts-notes-entering-camp-part-i.html/

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Marshall fans are going to hear it all autumn, especially if their team enjoys its best overall record in 11 years. And they'll hear it if the Thundering Herd shakes its eight-year history of bouncing between 3-5 and 5-3 in Conference USA games. They'll hear it even louder if the Herd plays for the league championship. In light of the latest realignment plate-shifting, the phrase already reverberates around the college football world. Watered down. As in C-USA. As in Marshall's schedule. To hear some tell it, the Herd's path to league contention is not only watered down, it's waterlogged. MAC-like, even. With youthful programs such as Texas-San Antonio, Florida International and Florida Atlantic, the supposedly improved Marshall team has an eight-game cakewalk after September, right? If a few preseason polls and prognostications are to be believed - and that's all we have until the first kickoff - the Herd's league schedule rates about the same, if not a teensy bit tougher than it otherwise would be. Believe it? Read on and you make the call. After eight years of stability, C-USA bid farewell to defending East Division champion Central Florida, Southern Methodist, Houston and Memphis, now residents of the American Athletic Conference. Coming on board are UTSA, FIU, FAU, Middle Tennessee, North Texas and Louisiana Tech. Of course, Marshall can't play everybody in a 14-team league, and it won't play five teams in what seems to be an inferior West Division. Then again, the Herd plays prohibitive West favorite Tulsa, on the road with a short week to prepare. To compare, let's look at the schedule that might have been, had there been no realignment. The schedule to peruse is not that of 2012, but rather 2009. Why? The 2013 league matchups would have followed the C-USA rotation set in 2005 and renewed in 2009. In the 12-team setup, each team had three cross-division games per year, neatly rotated so that all East teams would face all West teams twice in a four-year span, home and away. In 2009, Marshall played division rivals UCF, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Alabama-Birmingham and East Carolina as usual. From the West Division, the Herd played SMU at home and Texas-El Paso and Tulane on the road. This fall, the East Division includes Southern Miss, UAB and ECU, along with newbies Middle Tennessee, FIU and FAU. MU's cross-division foes are UTSA at home and Tulsa on the road. Read more: http://www.wvgazette.com/Sports/201308010194?page=1

The 2013 season's first games are four weeks from today -- we'll pause a moment to let your tears of joy dry -- and there are numerous early-season opportunities for Conference USA teams to make national noise. Let's bypass those games where the C-USA team will serve as cannon fodder -- such as UT San Antonio playing host to Oklahoma State (yes, that game really is in San Antonio), UAB at LSU and North Texas at Georgia. Instead, let's focus on games where a C-USA team has a legit shot at a victory over a school from one of the "Big Six" conferences. Here are five such contests: Virginia Tech at East Carolina, Sept. 14: This will be the sixth meeting in seven seasons between the teams and the Hokies are 4-1. But the Hokies' offense is a big concern. Will QB Logan Thomas bounce back from a horrible 2012 season? Who is the featured back? Do the Hokies have a go-to receiver? And will two new starting tackles hold up? The Hokies' defense should be fine -- the same goes for ECU's defense, which is headed by LB Jeremy Grove. Can ECU's receivers get open against Tech's solid secondary? That should determine the outcome. Read more: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224545/article/conference-usa-teams-can-pull-off-early-stunners

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- As far as college sports goes, the NCAA's Division I was, for a time, enjoying an extended period of tranquility. Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky remembers nearly six years of calm. No major shakeups. No shifting conference ties. But when that peace stretches on, it's like a hurricane zone that hasn't seen a storm blow through in a long time. One of two thoughts runs through the minds of that region's residents - either "We'll never have to worry again," or "We're due." Division I was due. Starting at the turn of the decade, major college sports faced a maelstrom. Winds of change barreled through the conferences, picking up teams like Dorothy's home in "The Wizard of Oz" and dropping them into new surroundings. Conference USA was not immune. "Back in the summer of 2011, you saw the dynamic above us in the system become unstable," Banowsky said. "When that happens, the presumption is there will be an effect downstream." Banowsky presumed correctly. Over the next two years, Conference USA will transform, saying farewell to seven teams and welcoming nine others. With that transformation comes new opportunities in rivalries, revenues and recruiting. As some major markets leave the conference lineup, others slide into their place. The potential for the new lineup has conference members excited for the future. But has Conference USA done enough to ensure itself a bright future in the volatile college sports landscape? Will the new additions make up for the assets lost? The conference remains focused on one word - potential - as it enters a new era. It's potential that excites C-USA members and staff and gives them hope that the conference will survive in college athletics' new world. Read more: http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/201308010187

Conference USA endured more than its fair share of changes to arrive at the lineup commissioner Britton Banowsky spent a lot of time talking about during the league’s media day last week. SMU and Houston led a league exodus before North Texas joined along with former Sun Belt Conference members Middle Tennessee, Florida International and Florida Atlantic, not to mention Texas-San Antonio. Tulsa and Tulane will depart after one more year, leaving a void that Western Kentucky — another Sun Belt school — will help fill. Banowsky helped guide C-USA through those changes and said he couldn’t be happier with the result or more confident in the stability of the league going forward. UNT officials have echoed that sentiment, despite recent talk of some elite college football programs moving into a separate division. “I am delighted,” Banowsky said. “I think we are very well positioned. We have a lot of new energy and a new excitement. You want to avoid becoming stale. We are staying fresh.” A host of schools benefited from the latest round of conference realignment. There is little doubt that UNT was among them after landing in a league with three other Texas schools — Rice, UTEP and UTSA. UNT spent 12 years as the only Texas school in the Sun Belt. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity,” UNT football coach Dan McCarney said. “This league has great respect from around the country because of what teams in the league have done in recent years. There have been some real tremendous seasons, in conference wins, out-of-conference wins, bowl wins. When you put it together with the leadership of Britton Banowsky, you can see why this league is respected around the country.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130731-football-c-usa-confident-in-its-stability.ece