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2017-18 ALL-CONFERENCE USA FIRST TEAM Jon Elmore, Marshall, Jr., G, 6-3, 185, Charleston, West Virginia Nick King, Middle Tennessee, Sr., F, 6-7, 225, Memphis, Tennessee Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion, Jr., G, 6-2, 170, Atlanta, Georgia Chris Cokley, UAB, Sr., F, 6-8, 238, Savannah, Georgia Justin Johnson, WKU, Sr., F, 6-7, 245, Hazard, Kentucky 2017-18 ALL-CONFERENCE USA SECOND TEAM C.J. Burks, Marshall, Jr., G, 6-4, 195, Martinsburg, West Virginia Giddy Potts, Middle Tennessee, Sr., G, 6-2, 217, Athens, Alabama Roosevelt Smart, North Texas, So., G, 6-3, 185, Chicago, Illinois Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA, Fr., G, 6-0, 160, Bayamón, Puerto Rico Darius Thompson, WKU, Gr., 6-4, 190, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 2017-18 ALL-CONFERENCE USA THIRD TEAM Brian Beard Jr., FIU, Jr., G, 5-10, 180, Rancho Cucamonga, California Ronald Delph, Florida Atlantic, R-Sr., C, 7-0, 245, Winter Haven, Florida Jacobi Boykins, Louisiana Tech, Sr., G, 6-6, 175, St. Petersburg, Florida Ajdin Penava, Marshall, Jr., F, 6-9, 220, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina B.J. Stith, Old Dominion, Jr., G, 6-5, 215, Lawrenceville, Virginia 2017-18 CONFERENCE USA ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM Anthony Duruji, Louisiana Tech, Fr., F, 6-7, 198, Germantown, Maryland Zack Bryant, UAB, Fr., G, 6-2, 180, Hastings, Florida Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA, Fr., G, 6-0, 160, Bayamón, Puerto Rico Keaton Wallace, UTSA, Fr., G, 6-3, 170, Dallas, Texas Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU, Fr., G, 6-2, 175, Lexington, Kentucky 2017-18 CONFERENCE USA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM Brian Beard Jr., FIU, Jr., G, 5-10, 180, Rancho Cucamonga, California Ajdin Penava, Marshall, Jr., F, 6-9, 220, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Tyrik Dixon, Middle Tennessee, So., G, 6-1, 184, Bentonville, Arkansas Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion, Jr., G, 6-2, 170, Atlanta, Georgia William Lee, UAB, Sr., F, 6-9, 206, Selma, Alabama

https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...experience

Looks pretty sweet!

Who deserves the crown?

BOCA RATON North Texas head coach Seth Littrell knows firsthand the challenges that come with turning a dismal program around. Two years after inheriting an 11-1 program, Littrell’s Mean Green (9-3, 7-1) prepare to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls (9-3, 8-0) in Saturday’s Conference USA title game. Speaking to the media in a teleconference call on Tuesday, the third-year coach expressed his respect for the job FAU coach Lane Kiffin has done. “I think he’s done an unbelievable job,” Littrell said of Kiffin. “It’s a challenge getting somewhere, building relationships, setting your culture, having your guys buy into it. … It’s a great challenge.” Kiffin and Littrell faced off on Oct. 21, a 69-31 FAU win where the Owls recorded more than 800 yards of total offense. FAU players admitted after the win to being motivated by Littrell commenting that the Owls shouldn’t have scheduled the Mean Green for their homecoming game. read more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/college-football/north-texas-coach-seth-littrell-praises-lane-kiffin-quick-fix-fau/NMHlUS5ew3a1y5VeA518xJ/

BOCA RATON For the first time since 2008, Florida Atlantic is preparing for postseason play. Though FAU (9-3, 8-0) clinched bowl eligibility on Nov. 3 and a spot in the Conference USA championship game earlier this month, the Owls are now officially getting ready for their first postseason game since a 24-21 win in Detroit over Central Michigan on Dec. 26, 2008 in the Motor City Bowl. FAU completed the fourth 8-0 season in C-USA history with last Saturday’s 31-12 win over Charlotte. Saturday’s C-USA title game pits FAU against North Texas (9-3, 7-1), a team the Owls beat 69-31 on Oct. 21. “I feel like we’ve done a lot, we’ve accomplished a lot,” FAU linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said. “We’re not where we want to be, but looking back, we’ve done a lot of progress in the summer and even in December when the coaches first got here.” As the Sun Belt conference — FAU’s home from 2004-12 — does not have a championship game, the Owls will be playing in their first FBS title game. Here are some of the key details FAU fans need to know prior to Saturday’s C-USA title game. read more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/college-football/after-perfect-conference-usa-season-fau-set-for-first-title-game/udHM8yHEcVglqquUBp61KL/

Here are my picks for 1st team all conference in case anyone is curious. I was going to do 2nd team as well but the deliberation took way too long. The official list should be out this week: Offensive POTY: Devin Singletary (SO) - Running Back (FAU) Defensive POTY: Marcus Davenport (SR) - Defensive End (UTSA) ST POTY: Trevor Moore (SR) – Kicker (UNT) Offense QB: Mason Fine - UNT RB: Devin Singletary - FAU RB: Jeffery Wilson - UNT WR: Thomas Owens - FIU WR: Korey Robertson - USM TE: Deon Yelder - WKU OL: Will Hernandez - UTEP OL: O'Shea Dugas - LT OL: Michael Montero - FIU OL: Trey Martin - Rice OL: Antonyo Woods - FAU Defense DE: Marcus Davenport - UTSA DE: Brian Womac - Rice DT: Anthony Rush - UAB DT: Kevin Strong Jr - UTSA LB: Tevin Crews - UAB LB: Azeez Al-Shaair - FAU LB: Chase Hancock - Marshall CB: Darious Williams - UAB CB: Brad Muhammad - FIU S: Ben DeLuca - Charlotte S: Nate Gaines - UTSA Special Teams K: Trevor Moore - UNT P: Kaare Vedvik - Marshall KR: Isaiah Harper - ODU PR: Darrell Brown - ODU View Full Article

Call it Separation Saturday. Marshall and North Texas did what they do last week. The Herd kept up its stingy defensive ways, in a 35-3 win over Old Dominion. The Mean Green put up 441 yards of offense in a 29-26 win over UTSA, which leads C-USA in total defense. Clearly the class of the league at the moment, Marshall and North Texas stayed atop our rankings as co-No.2s. 2. Marshall (5-1, 2-0): The Herd is the first team in league history (22 years) to not allow a TD in its first two conference games. Up next: Friday, at Middle Tennessee. 2. North Texas (4-2, 3-0): Led by QB Mason Fine and RB Jeffrey Wilson, the high-powered Mean Green are threatening to pull away in the West. Up next: Saturday, at FAU. read more: https://pilotonline.com/sports/college/old-dominion/football/conference-usa-power-ratings-marshall-north-texas-are-separating-from/article_4a5c4a0f-f776-5233-bf49-c24f4a652bd9.html

From the moment UTSA debuted its football program in 2011, even going back to when the school floated the idea of football in the mid-2000s, the buzz around the Roadrunners was that they were a mountain of potential. Mark 2016 as the year that potential began to become reality. UTSA went on to tie the record for the youngest program (sixth year) to make a bowl game, and now, with more than half their starters back, they are suddenly picked to finish second in the Conference USA West Division. The issue around the Roadrunners now shifts to how they can handle success. One immediate way is to focus on how the season ended, which was a narrow loss to New Mexico in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/football/2017/08/16/utsa-deals-life-favorite/541731001/

North Texas “They have a spread offense out of that Larry Fedora tree, and you saw how much better those guys were playing in that system right away.” “They have some talent, and they should be able to get some pretty good players out of Dallas every year.” “They had a junior running back that our staff thought was pretty good (Jeffrey Wilson), probably one of the better guys in the league until he got hurt.” “The freshman quarterback (Mason Fine) was kind of a shorter guy but really moved around the pocket well and created some plays with his feet. I was impressed with him, but he got hurt too at the end of the year.” “When you’ve got the quarterback and running back coming back, that’s a great start. They lost some receivers, but they’ll be solid coming into the second year of that system.” https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...-foes-2017

The $18 million lost in 2015-16 by the University of Texas at El Paso's Athletic Department doesn't tell the complete story, Athletic director Bob Stull said. The UTEP Athletic Department spent more than twice as much that season ($32.5 million) than it made ($14.5 million), according data analyzed by the Texas Tribune. But Stull, not surprisingly, has a different take. "If we were losing $18 million we wouldn't be in business," he said. "That's not the way an athletic department works." What the report — which looks at all eight public schools in Texas that play in the Football Bowl Subdivision — accurately reflects is that what UTEP UTEP spends $1.6 million less than North Texas ($34.1 million spent) on athletics and $6 million more than UTSA ($26.4 million), while making $1.5 million more than North Texas ($13 million made) and $2.3 million more than UTSA ($12.2 million). read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/college/utep/2017/08/02/utep-athletics-18-million-dollar-loss-only-part-story/455716001/

11. NORTH TEXAS Breakdown: With C-USA based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, it made sense to add a large public university like North Texas. The program has tons of potential, but fan support is lagging and the football program has been inconsistent. Facilities: Apogee Stadium is one of the nicest football stadiums in the conference, but it doesn’t draw great crowds. UNT Coliseum is a little bigger than necessary for the basketball programs. Fan support: UNT fans have shown up strong at their two bowl games at the Cotton Bowl stadium (2014 and 2016), but crowds at Apogee Stadium aren’t very good. Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/sports/spt-colu...rylink=cpy

I was pleasantly surprised to see on the front of the Dallas Morning News site the announcement of Frisco, Texas, being awarded the Conference USA basketball tournament. I did have to scroll down a long way, though. (Two-finger scrolling on laptops is one of the most underrated developments in the tech world.) I bring this up because the event could receive the skimpiest home media presence in its 22-year history. I do place a positive asterisk on that statement, however. The Denton Record-Chronicle covers North Texas, and does it well. The paper has staffed a football game in Huntington, something a handful of C-USA area papers can say. There is an outlet in Frisco, the Frisco Enterprise. But as far as Dallas goes, Southern Methodist was in the league from 2005-13 and let me tell you, the Mustangs were a buried blip. I don’t recall North Texas, situated about 40 miles from downtown Dallas, getting any more of a ride during my two visits to SMU. And I don’t see Dallas giving this basketball tournament much respect. Certainly not as much as Memphis, Tulsa, El Paso and Birmingham. - See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports-doug-smock/20170521/doug-smock-marshall-miami-football-opener-looms-large#sthash.IIOIekAR.dpuf

THE CIRCUMSTANCES venture into “don’t ask” territory, but I witnessed members of opposing softball teams dancing the Macarena over the weekend, during a long break in the action. I instantly wondered how many ladies on the Marshall and Alabama-Birmingham teams were even born when that craze gripped America. I shouldn’t admit this, but I knew that was 1995 without looking it up. In 1995, Marshall football was seen on WSAZ, Channel 3, with home games usually at 7 p.m. Conference USA was in its infancy and I declined to pay extra for call waiting on my push-button telephone. We still had answering machines! Now, Marshall is in finishing its 12th season in that C-USA, which has five schools that weren’t even playing football in 1995. Finding the right channel — or device — to watch games is half the fun. To write about it is no fun. Getting the correct outlet for an upcoming football game is cause for relief. Deciphering who owns what and who airs what can be elusive. C-USA’s TV landscape is becoming more convoluted — so much so, you’ll be able to find games this fall on Twitter! What the heck. Isn’t that where a presidency was born? Let’s go back to the future of the soon-to-be-former American Sports Network, which carried six Thundering Herd games last year. - See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports-marshall-university/20170507/doug-smock-c-usa-tv-deal-could-get-interesting#sthash.qCJk6wsF.dpuf

http://pilotonline.com/sports/college/ol...abcf2.html Regional realignment will be driven by finances. Not a matter of if but when.

"For Conference USA, the AAC, and the Sun Belt they've chased the traditional modalities: market size, TV eyes, populous areas etc. They've worked under the illusion that a broadcast company is going to reimburse them for the reach of their media markets. That's gotten them to where they are now, millions of dollars behind the Power 5. The illusion is that Old Dominion brings ESPN or Fox the Norfolk area. It doesn't. The same way that SMU or North Texas or even TCU don't bring ESPN the Metroplex on a silver platter. TV execs know where the value is and what drives ratings and for eastern Virginia it's the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech or North Carolina. Texas, Texas A&M and OU bring eyes from the Metroplex. Florida and Florida deliver the greater Miami area if at all, not FAU or FIU..." http://swcroundup.com/news/2017/4/11/a-p...ign=buffer

The college sports-television industrial complex is at a crossroads. It seems like everyone involved is dealing with one crisis or another. The SEC, Big Ten and (soon) the ACC have or will have their own private fortunes through television networks, but traded a portion of their souls to get there. The Pac-12 has its own network, but no fortune. The Big 12 has a host of issues, stemming from its lack of a network. ESPN and Fox are losing subscribers by the bundle, threatening to bring the entire system down with them. On the other end of FBS, the MAC has submitted itself fully to the whims of television, releasing a schedule earlier this month that calls for zero Saturday games in November. The Mountain West has also handed carte blanche to the television networks in exchange for a pile of cash, and is now wondering if the trade was worth it. As detailed by the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Mountain West is fresh off a conference tournament that saw the second of its two semifinals scheduled for a 9:30 p.m. Pacific time tip off (which resulted in a 9:52 actual tip time)… and its championship game tip at 3 p.m. the following day. “I’ve had several people, at least three people today, text me and say, ‘Is it really 9:30? I just looked at the schedule,’” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told the paper “I had to say, ‘Yeah, it’s really 9:30.’ It’s brutal.” read more: http://footballscoop.com/news/mountain-west-leave-tv-online-only/

You get better by making good hires. That goes for conferences, too. We talk a lot about potential and markets and history and geography and all sorts of factors that go into improving as a group, but the straightest line between where you are and improvement is, simply, hiring good coaches. Some of the large changes you see are due to conference realignment. The Big East got raided, changed names, and dropped. The Mountain West lost Utah and TCU and dropped. The Pac-12 added Colorado at its most dismal and dropped. Conference USA (and, to a degree, the Mountain West) took on a bunch of start-ups and fixer-uppers and dropped. Et cetera. That said, a lot of these upward and downward trends have to do with the coaches walking in and out the door. Conference USA has been pretty dismal for a few seasons now. It rose in 2014, but that was primarily due to a surge by Marshall. After peaking at an average S&P+ rating of minus-3.3 in 2008 and nearly matching that in 2011, the conference has been demonstrably worse. There could be a surge coming, though. And if it happens, hires are predictably the reason. Two have earned quite a bit of recent attention: Butch Davis at FIU and Lane Kiffin at FAU. This duo could drastically change recruiting within the state of Florida and beyond. But if this rise occurs, it began last year when UTSA brought in Frank Wilson and North Texas hired Seth Littrell. read more: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/3/7/14814744/north-texas-football-2017-preview-schedule-roster

Here is a summary of the CUSA recruiting classes. http://collegefootballnews.com/2017/2017...s-rankings C-USA ranking 2nd in G5 group, just behind AAC (SMU's conference). http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...g-day-2017 Overall not too bad from a conference perspective. We beat out Mountain West and Mac/Belch

Welcome to "Second Guess" Tuesday. This is much like two-for-Tuesday specials, but with opinions instead of pasta. Would it really cost a Conference USA member school only $400,000 in exit fees to leave for another league? Not even close. Granted, it sounded like that at first. When C-USA commissioner Judy MacLeod had an informal chat with media members during the recent Conference USA Football Kickoff event in Irving, Texas, she reportedly commented that the exit fee would be two year's worth of revenue. So, lots of people leaped to the conclusion MacLeod was talking about just television revenue. Since the projected television revenue in 2016-17 and 2017-18 is only $200,000 annually per school, folks arrived at the $400,000 exit figure. But as it turns out, the exit fee isn't based on only television revenue. "It would include any revenue allocated after a school would submit their notice of withdrawal," explained Courtney Morrison-Archer, C-USA's associate commissioner for public affairs. "Schools must provide 14 months notice. "So, before May 1 of year 20XX to withdraw June 30 of year 20XX plus one." And that includes all revenue? "All revenue," confirmed Morrison-Archer. That makes a lot more sense, not to mention a lot more dollars. According to figures published by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va., C-USA is projected to have $53,757,000 in revenue for 2016-17. read more: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/marshall_sports/chuck-landon-fees-for-exiting-c-usa-not-cheap/article_ee3aa126-5615-5354-bec2-c0cad747762a.html

Tough situation for Marshall... http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/ma...5e709.html

There’s been a focus in Houston lately around the Houston Cougars, their chances of jumping to the Big 12, one of college football’s power conferences. The Cougars are looking to secure their future in college athletics, and school officials doubt they have a bright future as a member of the American Athletic Conference. But while UH fans, athletes and administrators might feel otherwise, the school is in a good position, no matter what happens. While the American Athletic Conference is relatively new, it’s rather stable when compared to some of the other non-power conferences. The conference provides lots of primetime television exposure on ESPN and its family of networks. The television money, while not as lucrative as in conferences like the Big 10 or the SEC, is decent. This is not the case in the other non-power football conferences. Take for instance Conference USA which once was situated much as the American is now. Many of its major members, UH, Cincinnati, Memphis and Louisville, have been poached by other conferences. That has meant the loss of major television markets, meaning less conference interest and a much lower profile. And while the American has a somewhat high profile deal with ESPN, Conference USA just entered into new media rights deals with four different parties that result in less revenue for member schools than before. This results from C-USA being the first of the minor conferences to renegotiate its media deals during a time of industry belt-tightening. The Big 10 might be entering into new major deals and the NFL and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament might be selling broadcast rights for tons of dollars, but other sports and leagues have been taking major financial hits. read more: http://www.houstonpress.com/news/uh-might-be-looking-to-upgrade-conferences-but-what-about-rice-8509673

Marshall writer is indicating a lot of regret over C-USA membership and indicating they wished thy would have stayed in MAC. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/ma...bc507.html

SunHerald Article from today...

"We hear frequently from our fans that it's difficult to find our games ," said Debbie White, a senior associate athletic director at ODU. "It's become increasing more challenging to keep people informed. And it's frustrating for our fans." It's only going to get more frustrating this season, when ODU becomes the first conference with a deal for games on beIN Sports. Never heard of it? You likely aren't alone. Conference USA was the first Football Bowl Subdivision League to re-negotiate its TV rights since viewers began to shift away from cable, and that shift was reflected in a far-more diverse TV package announced last week. In addition to beIN Sports, C-USA will have three other TV partners: ESPN, the CBS Sports Network and the American Sports Network. A fifth is expected to join the list. A large number of C-USA games will also be streamed on ESPN3 and on the one network league officials have yet to announce. Just two years ago, you could find C-USA football on just two outlets: Fox Sports and the CBS Sports Network. read more: http://pilotonline.com/sports/college/old-dominion/football/got-a-college-degree-may-need-one-to-figure-out/article_6e38751a-a1c5-5ec8-81dd-c9e03de34ede.html