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#11 - The Mean Greens improvement under the former longtime Iowa State head man has been solid yet unspectacular. Theyll give C-USA opponents a fight but are projected for a season similar to last years 4-8 campaign. Read more: http://www.lostlettermen.com/ranking-c-usas-head-fb-coaches/

North Texas’ much-anticipated, long-sought move to Conference USA officially takes place on July 1, 2013, inaugurating an era that finds the Mean Green with the most geographic rivals since the 1950s and with more post-season opportunities than ever before. “This is validation that the progress we have made in our athletic programs in conjunction with our university’s academic reputation has made us a suitable fit for the high standards of Conference USA,” athletic director Rick Villarreal said. “It is a tremendous opportunity for North Texas athletics.” One of the biggest perks of the move to C-USA is chance to establish something that has been missing at North Texas since its days in the Gulf Coast and Lone Star conferences – rivalries. The new conference means North Texas will be in a league with three other schools in Texas and three schools in bordering states. In all, seven members of the new Conference USA are within 650 miles of Denton, whereas only three of football-playing Sun Belt members were within that radius. The Mean Green suddenly gains geographically-close adversaries to play in every sport, every year. That is the stuff of rivalries. “It’s cool for the players, because they’re going to have grown up playing against and sometimes with a lot of kids who get recruited in this conference, especially this division,” said women’s basketball coach Mike Petersen, a veteran of the intense rivalries in the ACC. “I’m excited because I think it’s going to help all the sports in general, our fan base, recruiting and being able to build rivalries,” said soccer coach John Hedlund. The move will also be an enormous boost in visibility for North Texas. The football team will be on national television eight times this year, as opposed to three such appearances last season. Also, more North Texas road games in a variety of sports will be streamed live than in previous years, a benefit of the North Texas move to C-USA and MeanGreenSports.com’s move to CBS Interactive, which also takes place July 1. Conference USA also sends more schools to post-season play than the Sun Belt. The league owns tie-ins to seven football bowl games; has sent multiple teams to the NCAA soccer tournament every season since 2005; sent three teams to the NCAA volleyball tournament in 2008 and two in 2009; and ranks eighth in the nation in bids to the NCAA basketball tournament. “Kids want opportunities to be on television and to go to bowl games, and Conference USA just enhances all of those things for all of us,” said football coach Dan McCarney. “C-USA has tremendous bowl tie-ins and great television exposure.” The Mean Green’s first Conference USA contests take place on September 27, 2013, in Denton, when the North Texas volleyball team hosts East Carolina and the soccer team plays Southern Miss. Football begins C-USA play a week later on October 5 at Tulane. Tickets for the inaugural Conference USA season are available through the North Texas Athletic Ticket Office online at www.meangreensports.com, in person at Apogee Stadium Monday through Friday from 8 to 5, or by phone at 800-868-2366. 2013 Conference USA West Division: Louisiana Tech North Texas Rice Southern Miss Texas-El Paso Texas-San Antonio Tulane Tulsa 2013 Conference USA East Division: Alabama-Birmingham East Carolina Florida International Florida Atlantic Marshall Middle Tennessee North Carolina-Charlotte Old Dominion Read more: http://untalumni.olhblogspot.com/2013/07/10/conference-usa/

- UTEP The Miners have rich history in both football and men’s basketball. In 2011, UTSA basketball beat UTEP in an early season non-conference game. On September 21, 2013 UTSA football plays the Miners in the historic Sun Bowl. Located a short direct flight away, El Paso and San Antonio offer fans of both teams easy travel options. In the long-term, UTEP could emerge as a major rival as the two schools square off in annual competition season after season. - North Texas Denton is a quaint community located just north of Ft Worth. With many UTSA fans located in the DFW metropolis, a regional rivalry with the Mean Green makes sense. There has not been a recent history between the two schools so only time will tell. Read more: http://smu.scout.com/2/1305097.html

The American Athletic Conference is working on a new lineup of bowl contracts starting with the 2014 football season, and commissioner Mike Aresco said Tuesday that he anticipates contracts for seven teams, including a new bowl game at Marlins Park in Miami. "We're moving pretty steadily on that, and we think it's very likely to happen for Miami," said Aresco, who said he has talked with the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences about lining up a team on the other half of the new game. "It's something we really are excited about. We feel it's workable and would be good for our conference. It's exactly the kind of thing we need to do." The Miami game would not likely be a spot for the American champion, should that team not land a spot in a top-six bowl in the new format -- one spot will go to the highest ranked champion from the American, Mountain West, MAC, Conference USA and Sun Belt conferences. That spot could be in Memphis, where C-USA's champion has played in the current bowl cycle. "It's really the geographic center of our conference. It makes a lot of sense from a lot of different perspectives," said Aresco, whose initial American men's basketball tournament will be at FedEx Forum in Memphis in March. Read more:

Conference USA’s quarterback power rankings are topped by two rising juniors who enjoyed prolific seasons a year ago, followed by a quartet of solid seniors. After that, however, the picture is much murkier. Five of C-USA’s 14 teams will turn to a first-year starter in 2013. All of them are talented, yet on the flip side all of them are also vastly inexperienced. 10 Derek Thompson Sr. 57.5%, 2,629 PASS YDS, 14 PASS TD, 14 INT The Mean Green have an underrated offensive line, so Thompson should have ample time to throw in his third year as UNT’s starter. The question is to whom, as an upgrade at receiver is sorely needed. Read more: http://www.lostlettermen.com/ranking-c-usas-starting-quarterbacks/

MURFREESBORO — Now that the pomp of MTSU’s official entrance into Conference USA has settled just a bit, it’s time to start capitalizing on the move. On the field, the Blue Raiders hope to repeat success similar to last season’s 8-4 record. Offseason workouts continue, and players are slated to report to preseason camp on Aug. 1. Off the field, MTSU needs to make a good first impression in the new league by selling tickets and filling up more of Floyd Stadium that previous seasons. “We want to measure ourselves more with East Carolina and Southern Miss, and (higher attendance) is under that broad conference component that we want,” MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro said. “We can get a lot better. We need to get back to averaging more than 20,000 like we did before, and I think we need to consistently get to averaging 25,000 like a Conference USA school can.” MTSU’s average attendance for home football games dipped slightly from 18,407 in 2011 to 17,738 last season. Massaro said it was not surprising that sales slipped coming off a 2-10 record in 2011. He has set a minimum goal of a 10 percent increase in season-ticket sales this year (that total number has hovered around 6,000 sold the past few seasons).That task primarily rests on The Aspire Group, an outsourced yet on-campus ticket sales and marketing firm brought in by MTSU as a new approach to building its fan base while stepping into C-USA. Read more: http://www.dnj.com/article/20130706/BLUERAIDERS01/307060028/C-USA-raises-bar-MTSU-attendance

The main goal of college athletics' Realign-mageddon, which mercifully came to a halt this past year following a lengthy reign of terror, was improving image. Sure, it had to do with increased revenue streams, better access to bigger bowls, greater exposure and a bunch of other stuff, but image essentially was everything. Improve your image and everything else follows. How does a college athletic program improve its image? One way is to move to a cooler neighborhood. So a bunch of teams with a chance to move did. Big 12 teams jumped to the SEC. Big East teams hopped to the Big 12 and the ACC. An ACC team even moved to the Big Ten. And a horde of Conference USA teams began an exodus to the Conference Formerly Known as the Big East, the American Athletic Conference. The University of Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and Southern Methodist went this year. Tulsa, East Carolina and Tulane leave next year. Their idea was that in pairing with the erstwhile Big East football schools they would earn the image boost they craved and felt they couldn't achieve in Conference USA. Now it's a tiny, tiny example of an athletic conference's public image, but when the Maxwell Award watch list came out Monday, the American's teams scanned it and saw just a trio of C-USA players among the names. Surely they breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed in the satisfaction of their two names on that same list. Wait, what? Read more: http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/201307080160

It was a banner season with three notable caveats. For one, the year did not include a Western Athletic Conference title, Louisiana Tech's primary goal heading into 2012. Two: The year ended without a postseason bid, amazingly enough, despite the Bulldogs' nine-win finish and flawless offensive credentials. Finally, and most of all, the offseason began without coach Sonny Dykes, who led Tech for three years before accepting a job as Jeff Tedford's replacement at California in early December. So was 2012 truly a successful season for Louisiana Tech? Nine wins was the barometer for success; the Bulldogs won nine games. The offense was expected to be superb; the offense was predictably superb, without fail. The Bulldogs were expected to beat at least one automatic-qualifying opponent in September; they beat two, Virginia and Illinois. And yet there are those three negatives. Successful? I'd say so, given that Tech matched most of its preseason expectations. But this team could have done much more, so much more, only to cost itself a potential Bowl Championship Series bid – if not merely a postseason bid – by botching WAC games against Utah State and San Jose State in November. A successful year, I suppose, though Tech left wins on the field. GAME(S) TO WATCH — Rice: I don't think any West Division team can hang with Tulsa, the prohibitive preseason favorite. Whether the Bulldogs can secure second place in the division likely hinges on a date with Rice, another West team with bowl aspirations. Whether Tech can reach bowl eligibility depends on its success against the weaker teams on this schedule; the Bulldogs can't afford a slipup against FIU, UTEP, North Texas or UTSA. The non-conference schedule is much easier than a year ago, though a loss seems likely against N.C. State in the opener. A 3-1 mark in non-conference play – which would mean a win at Kansas – would leave Tech in the position to win eight games during the regular season. Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/07/05/louisiana-tech-college-football-countdown-2013-preview/2491615/

HUNTINGTON -- Moving to a new conference is hard for any team to take on. Moving to a bigger conference after a run in the Sun Belt in which a team has won just 13 games makes the task unenviable to anyone. Yet, that is the plight of Florida Atlantic in 2013. Not only do the Owls move from the Sun Belt to Conference USA, they do so knowing they will have just one game in Boca Raton, Fla., in the first half of the season. Sure, they get a pair of in-state games, but a pair of roadies against Miami and South Florida aren't exactly the type of home lovin' the Owls were looking for. When FAU hosts Marshall on Oct .12, it will be just its second home game of the season. It's certainly not going to be an easy plight for head coach Carl Pelini, especially after a season when his team finished 3-9 and he has more questions than answers rolling into 2013. Offensively, the Owls finished 107th in scoring offense in 2012, compiling just 20.5 points per contest. On the flip side, the defense wasn't the greatest either, allowing 30.8 points per game, which ranked 85th. Heading into the 2013 campaign, the problem is the same on both sides of the ball -- the battle in the trenches. On the offensive line senior left tackle and DeAndre Williams and center Mustafa Johnson will be the leaders, but there are many uncertainties at the other three spots. There is beef with projected left guard Stern Vile (by the way, great name) listed at 6-foot-5, 335 pounds and sophomore right guard Mike Marsaille at 6-5, 300, but size doesn't exactly mean talent. Read more: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x1280784991/No-Headline

What USM and the rest of the remaining C-USA schools can take heart in is that the league will be on the same level as the AAC when the current BCS system comes to an end before the 2014-15 season. The AAC, C-USA, Mountain West, Sun Belt and MAC (also known as the Group of Five) will all be lumped together with the highest rated team out of the five conferences earning a bid to one of the three major bowl games that do not have contracts set with the power conferences. The Chick-fil-A, Cotton and Fiesta bowls will be among the three potential destinations for one team from the Group of Five. USM fans that sulk over the school's current conference affiliation are mainly turned off by the lack of quality among C-USA opponents. This year's home league schedule of FIU, FAU, MTSU and North Texas creates talk among fans of just sitting on the couch this year. The Eagles' four most attractive league opponents are all on the road -- Louisiana Tech, Marshall, East Carolina and UAB. That's not to say that Middle Tennessee is any less of a team than those in USM's four road games, but the fact that MTSU is the most well-regarded home opponent leaves many Golden Eagle fans shaking their heads. However, USM fans had similar complaints back in 2005 when Tulsa, SMU and Central Florida were brought into C-USA to make up for other defections. Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/06/4781033/c-usa-goes-through-yet-another.html Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/06/4781033/c-usa-goes-through-yet-another.html#storylink=cpy

MOBILE, Alabama - There has always been a sort of mid-major, schoolyard fight existence between the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA. A my-dad-can-beat-up-your-dad relationship, with every scrap between the leagues celebrated with winks and hallway backslaps by the victor, if not indeed blatant cheering. Now, those schoolyard scraps are only going to intensify. And that might be a good thing for both conferences, both of which could use a rivalry or two to keep things interesting. As of Monday, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee and Florida International are no longer members of the Sun Belt, leaving the league to join C-USA. The Sun Belt added Texas State, Georgia State and Texas-Arlington to its roster that day. A year from now, Western Kentucky will leave to join the four departing Sun Belt members in C-USA to add another element to the feud. Western Kentucky's year should be interesting, with the school having already announced its intentions to leave. The Hilltoppers, a long-time member of the Sun Belt, won't be the most welcomed opponent at opposing stadiums and arenas during its farewell tour. Some in the league, especially conference leaders, feel Western Kentucky did the league a disservice by announcing its plans only days after it appeared the Sun Belt had set its future roster allowing for divisional play and a football championship game. Now it must go out and find yet another member to make that formula work. So each time the Hilltoppers take it on the chin this season, there will be smiles - probably hidden, but employed nonetheless - around the league to mark the occasion. That will only intensify the rivalry. Read more: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/with_changing_membership_roste.html

While a few of its old Sun Belt Conference rivals celebrated their move to Conference USA earlier this week, North Texas remained patient. UNT officials and fans were thrilled about joining the league, a move that became official Monday. UNT just decided to wait a little longer to have what amounts to an unofficial celebration tonight when the Denton Noon Kiwanis Club sponsors the city’s annual fireworks show at Apogee Stadium. The event that annually attracts thousands will offer UNT officials and fans a chance to celebrate the school’s move to C-USA, not to mention promote all that the new league offers to a large chunk of the city’s residents. The event, which previously took place at Fouts Field, moves to Apogee for the first time tonight. UNT officials plan to promote C-USA with displays on the video board and also will be on hand for the annual parade through downtown, where they will pass out T-shirts and trinkets. UNT spent 12 years as the only Texas school in the Sun Belt and now will be aligned in a league with Rice, UTEP and Texas-San Antonio, as well as regional foe Louisiana Tech. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130703-good-ol-c-usa.ece

Let me start this by saying it’s very early in the college football recruiting process. Old Dominion has eight commitments so far from high school players, and the Monarchs hope to sign approximately 20 players this winter. So it’s hard to judge the class of 2014 with much accuracy. But so far, at least, ODU is doing what it needs to do to be competitive in Conference USA – it’s luring good recruits away from peer schools. ODU’s class is ranked among the best in Conference USA and, considering that ODU has yet to enter the Football Bowl Subdivision, surprisingly high among FBS schools. The 247 Sports recruiting Web site has ODU ranked 71st out of 118 FBS schools and third among the 16 schools in C-USA, behind No. 59 Rice and No. 70 Tulsa. ODU will join Conference USA and begins playing FBS football in 2014. While the Monarchs technically will be in the same NCAA classification as the ACC, SEC and the other power conferences, C-USA schools rarely beat the big boys for recruits. C-USA is at the same level as the American Athletic Conference (formerly known as the Big East), the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West, and to a lesser extent, the Sun Belt. Those conferences largely compete for the same pool of players. Two years ago, ODU rarely beat a Big East or MAC team for recruits. ODU was content to snare the best recruits in the Mid-Atlantic away from Delaware, James Madison and Towson. However, half of ODU’s eight recruits this spring and summer had offers from American Athletic Conference and/or Mid-American Conference schools. The other half were recruited largely by FCS schools. Without speaking to individual recruits – something he can’t do under NCAA rules – recruiting coordinator Ron Whitcomb said the biggest difference between this year and last “is that we’re beating some teams that in the past we haven’t beaten very much. “We had a tough time against some of them.” Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2013/07/odu-recruiting-well-against-its-football-peers

So, fireworks or dud? The moves aren't "Dawg Dazzle" quality, but they are better than the fireworks we let off in our backyards. And they certainly aren't duds. The emphasis was on growth and television markets. FIU (48,000 students), North Texas (36,305) UT-San Antonio (30,474), FAU (30,000), Charlotte (26,232) and Old Dominion (24,753) are up and coming schools with growing enrollments. Among the departing members, only UCF (59,490), Houston (40,747) and East Carolina (26,900) had larger enrollments. As for television markets, six of the eight largest markets in C-USA will belong to first-year members. Besides, although conference reconfiguration was football-driven, the updated Conference USA will be stronger in basketball than the old version. Overall, C-USA leadership did as well as reasonably could be expected. That's worthy of at least Camden Park-quality fireworks. AAC: Even the acronym sounds like someone gagging. Everyone that mattered has bailed, including Syracuse, Pittsburgh, the Catholic Seven basketball schools, Louisville and Rutgers (2014), while TCU, Boise State and San Diego State became no-shows. Read more: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x1489432505/A-look-at-changes-to-college-athletics

NORTH TEXAS * Football - The Mean Green haven't been anything better than average for quite some time. It's hard to see North Texas not finishing in the bottom half of the C-USA West this season, but Dan McCarney is a good coach. * Basketball - Former coach Johnny Jones built a strong program in Denton, but it faltered in 2012-13 after he left to take the top job at LSU. UNT had a disappointing 12-20 record in head coach Tony Benford's first season. However, Benford has a good staff and decent facilities. North Texas will fight to get into the top half of C-USA. * Baseball - Despite several reports that North Texas is moving toward creating a baseball program, it has yet to materialize. * Other: The men's golf program is good. Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/02/4774526/will-the-new-c-usa-teams-succeed.html Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/02/4774526/will-the-new-c-usa-teams-succeed.html#storylink=cpy

MURFREESBORO President Sidney McPhees charge to his Middle Tennessee State University coaches is simple entering Conference USA: Dominate. Thats easier said than done, especially in a league redefining itself amid a shakeup that brings in eight new member schools, including MTSU, on Monday. MTSU and its fans will celebrate the long-awaited entrance into C-USA, but McPhee said work toward athletic success in the conference started long ago. I have already passed that, and Im looking ahead, McPhee said. Quite frankly, Ive already talked to (athletic director Chris Massaro) and our coaches about How do we dominate Conference USA like we have dominated the Sun Belt? We are looking at how we position ourselves for that next movement, whether its in my tenure or someone elses tenure. Winning in C-USA is attainable for MTSU. Though C-USAs brand is regarded more highly than the Sun Belt, the two leagues have been quite comparable athletically the past few years. And MTSU has been the Sun Belts best, winning the leagues Bubas Cup all-sports trophy in nine of the 13 years its been in the league, including the past five in a row. Still, this weeks move offers a new challenge to the Blue Raiders on the field and court, particularly in the depth of competition. North Texas, a well-rounded athletic school, makes the move from the Sun Belt to C-USA alongside MTSU. Western Kentucky, the most comparable to MTSUs overall athletic success, comes to C-USA next year. Read More: http://www.dnj.com/article/20130630/BLUERAIDERS02/306300035/Blue-Raiders-ready-C-USA-competition

NORTH TEXAS (*8/8) Team Theme: SMOOTH OPERATOR Dan McCarney’s operation of weaning off of JUCO’s and concentrating instead on high school recruits showed promising signs - on the stat sheet at least - last season when the Mean Green improved its numbers on both sides of the ball despite slipping both SU & ATS. Longtime followers of this publication know what that equation means – expected improvement this season. For the first time in 60 years NTSU had three players rush for more than 500 yards in a single season and two of them are back in 2013. They join senior QB Derek Thompson to form a potent backfield. Coupled with a defense that allowed the fewest points in a season since 2006, the transition to the CUSA could be smoother than anticipated. Stat You Will Like: North Texas’ offensive line allowed the fewest sacks in the nation last season (6). PLAY ON: vs. Middle Tennessee State (10/12) Read more: http://www.covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=326488

Added: 7/1/13 Monday, July 1st, 2013 - FAU AD Pat Chun speaks as FAU officially becomes a member of Conference USA. (Photo:FAUSports.com) LINK TO AUDIO PAGE (should be at the top of the page)

BOCA RATON – The cake tasted sweet, and the banner and TV screens looked professional, but the football fans in attendance at the party celebrating FAU's official entrance into Conference USA were really looking forward to was the fashion show. Near the end of the party senior defensive back Keith Reaser emerged from behind a stairwell door sporting blue pants, a blue jersey and a blue helmet that featured the winged FAU logo on the right side and his number 3 on the left other. The pants and jersey had been worn by FAU players before. For the first time in the program history, the Owls' hats will be a color other than white. “Bottom line, this is all about recruiting,” said FAU Atheltic Director Pat Chun, noting that the timing of the move to C-USA cemented the decision to change helmets. “We're an emerging brand. We want to be reflective of that. We want to be vibrant.” The crowd of several hundred in attendance erupted when Reaser made his way to the podium. Players in attendance seemed to like the choice of blue. Red and gray were the other helmet color options. “I like the whole thing,” said linebacker Andrae Kirk, who wears number 45. “I like the blue - the one solid set. It just looks nice. And I like the (red) stripe and the number on the side. I think 45 will look good on that.” Held in the Delray Acura Lounge inside the football stadium, the party lasted about an hour and featured a surprise guest – former FAU running back Alfred Morris. Read more: http://www.fauowlaccess.com/articles/182/fau-unveils-blue-helmets-at-c-usa-launch-party.aspx

UNT is officially a member of Conference USA today, the big moving day in the latest round of realignment in college athletics. Several schools, including Middle Tennessee, made their big promotional push today. UNT put out a video this morning, but is waiting until Thursday when it will have a captive audience at the annual fireworks show that is moving to Apogee Stadium. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/c-usa-day-arrives-and-a-few-notes.html/

Florida Atlantic is on the move to the C-USA from the Sun Belt and they're pretty excited about it. Namely, they made a semi-palatable looking cake, but they also revealed new uniforms that are much more owl-centric than their previous duds. The first thing you'll notice is wings on the side of the uniforms. Read more: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/7/1/4483892/fau-owls-new-uniforms-c-usa

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - The countdown is now officially over. As of July 1, 2013, Old Dominion University begins a new era in its athletic history as a member of Conference USA. Gone is the Colonial Athletic Association. The Monarchs are one of eight institutions joining CUSA today, bringing the league’s membership for 2013-14 to 16 teams. Joining ODU as new members are Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, North Texas and Texas San Antonio. East Carolina, Marshall, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Southern Mississippi, Tulane, Tulsa, Texas El Paso and Rice comprise the rest of the league membership. New Old Dominion basketball coach Jeff Jones stopped by the Hampton Roads Show to discuss the importance of this historic move for ODU. link to video interview: http://www.wavy.com/dpp/hr_show/odu-moves-up-to-cusa

You know all that talk about conference realignment and schools joining new conferences and new conferences appearing out of thin air? Remember how the Big 12 almost died and the original Big East did die before spawning a pair of shiny new conferences? Well, quite a bit of that takes effect today, July 1st, 2013. Since I do this for a living and I can barely keep track of who is changing to what league and when, I’ve decided to put together a breakdown to help those of you that are getting just as confused as I am. Read more: http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/01/a-complete-breakdown-of-conference-realignment-for-2013-2014/

Today is FIU's first day as a member of Conference USA. Everybody seems to be doing “getting to know you” little intros as C-USA remakes itself today. FIU, FAU, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Louisiana Tech and Texas-San Antonio officially join the league as Central Florida, Houston, SMU leave. Next year, Old Dominion and North Carolina-Charlotte come in while East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa leave. Let's be real -- Southern Mississippi brings no more sexy to FIU fans than Arkansas State. The only way Rice draws at Camp Mitch is with Chicken as a travel partner. To Marshall’s “We…Are…Marshall!” FIU could give a sullen “We…Are…Ambivalent.” With that in mind, here’s my Getting to Know Conference USA primer: FAU, North Texas, Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky: They’ve been in the same conference with FIU for a decade. Don’t be afraid to pay attention. As Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes sang... Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fiusports/ Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fiusports/#storylink=cpy

Louisiana Tech will launch one of the most important weeks in school history Monday when it welcomes a new president, a new athletic conference and kicks off a country-wide search for a new athletic director. Itll be a largely subdued celebration in Ruston today when Dr. Les Guice officially takes over the universitys reins from longtime president Dr. Dan Reneau. Tech also officially joins Conference USA today in a move supporters hope will continue moving its sports programs forward. I dont know if this is the biggest week in school history, but it certainly is a big week for me, Guice said. In addition to the moves in athletics, we also are completing our budget and planning for the coming year. Joining the new football league has been anticipated since the WAC began losing members midway through Techs decade-long membership in the far-flung league. The WAC was heralded as the best thing since peaches in Ruston when Tech joined it in 2001, because it afforded separation from its Sun Belt brethren, while affording some regional rivalries. The same could be said of C-USA. I think its great because you can travel to San Antonio or Dallas for games, and it will save (Tech) money, said Shreveporter Cynthia (Aillet) Pettiette. Hopefully it will increase the fan base. I dont know if I see any downs about it at this point. C-USA officials welcomed Tech with a full page ad in todays Times, saying Were Proud to Play with La. Tech. Logos of the 16 league members for 2013-14 were included in the ad, along with the slogan C-USA, A History of Greats Whos Next. Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130701/SPORTS0203/307010010/La-Tech-officially-joins-C-USA?nclick_check=1