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Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby was introduced as the Big 12's new commissioner on Friday and many believe it signals a new era of stability for the reconstructed conference. At the same time the Big 12 was putting its hope for a new quieter period in Bowlsby, C-USA was announcing five new members in a continuing makeover of its membership. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are hoping a frantic two-year scramble, that included at least two near-moves to the Pac-12, may finally be in the past. On the other hand, Tulsa is hoping this bold move by Conference USA will bring about a similar spirit of unity in its league. "This is the first step in a process," said outgoing Tulsa President Steadman Upham. "We are re-populating our league in an effort to stabilize." Then, said Upham, C-USA can continue an effort to get some type of agreement/association/merger with the Mountain West. "We had a teleconference with the 16 presidents in our two leagues that will be going forward and we are definitely going to continue to work through some legal issues," said Upham. "Those plans have not ended." That's great news. TU would greatly benefit athletically from an association with Mountain West schools. However, the reality is the Big 12 is far more likely to enjoy a new-found stability than Conference USA. The new-look C-USA would appear to be banking on the future with new football schools like UTSA and Charlotte. In the present, it would appear C-USA will struggle as a football league. "The possibilities of this league 3-4 years down the road are tremendously exciting," said TU athletic director Ross Parmley. "For Tulsa, this provides us even more stability within a league." That more than anything should encourage TU. They are in a league with other like-minded schools trying to remain relevant in college football. Tulsa's conference odyssey has been a wild ride since it left the Missouri Valley Conference for the Western Athletic Conference in 1995. This latest shift in conference rivals would appear to be nothing more than a grab by C-USA to preserve its shaky future. But, it also gives league members like Tulsa, weary of the constant rumors and shifting allegiances, a new chance for hope. Certainly, the addition of five teams has great potential. North Texas, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana Tech gives Tulsa three natural geographic rivals. The addition of Florida International and Charlotte (with Old Dominion a possible add in the future) gives C-USA some balance between the east and west divisions. It will take C-USA from a 12-team to 13-team league, but does little to fix the geographic challenges that have been somewhat of an obstacle to league rivalries and cooperation. In addition, none of the new members really fills the loss of SMU, Houston, Central Florida and Memphis. But there is potential. Read more: http://www.tulsaworl...B1_TheBig855824

We will have our boys at the press conference, will be taking pictures, providing updates, tweets etc etc etc... huge, monumental day for UNT so stay tuned as we will be covering and reporting it here. GMG!

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May 4, 2012 IRVING, Texas - University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte), Florida International University (FIU), Louisiana Tech University, University of North Texas and University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have finalized comprehensive membership agreements with Conference USA, Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today. "We are excited about adding these new members as part of our bold strategy that focuses on growing institutions in large media markets," Banowsky said. "There is a tremendous upside here. This is an opportunity for us to add a mixture of established and emerging programs. We also remain committed to divisional scheduling models that are student-athlete and fan-friendly. The more we analyzed it, the more it made sense." Check out today's live press conferences: 11:30a ET/10:30a CT - Charlotte Press Conference 11:30a ET/10:30a CT - FIU Press Conference 11:30a ET/10:30a CT - UTSA Press Conference 1p ET/Noon CT - Louisiana Tech Press Conference 4:30p ET/3:30p CT - North Texas Press Conference Complete Release Each new member will join the league in all sports for 2013, Charlotte will begin conference participation in football in 2015. The metro area population of these schools is nearly 18 million. Existing members include East Carolina University, Marshall University, Rice University, University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University, The University of Tulsa, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). Divisions will be set in the near future and the Conference intends to continue hosting its Football Championship game. Conference USA and the Mountain West will continue to discuss a future affiliation that could begin as early as 2013. Both Conferences agreed that adding membership at this time was important and have carefully coordinated new membership plans. Additional expansion remains a possibility. "The discussions with the Mountain West are ongoing," Banowsky added. "What form the relationship will take is still to be determined, but both remain committed to working together." "The Presidents and Chancellors of Conference USA universities are pleased to welcome these five distinguished institutions to C-USA," said Dr. Scott Cowen, Tulane University president and Chair of Conference USA's Board of Directors. "Conference USA has always operated in a way that reflects the values of higher education and works very hard to balance the athletics and academic interests of its student-athletes at the highest level. These institutions clearly share those values." Read more: http://www.conferenc.../050412aab.html

DALLAS — Conference USA is restocking its league and is about to add more schools than it is losing to the Big East. UT-San Antonio's move to Conference USA was approved Thursday by University of Texas System regents, the same day that people familiar with the league's plans said North Texas, Charlotte, Louisiana Tech and Florida International would also be joining C-USA. Announcements are expected at each of the schools Friday. Those five additions in July 2013 will come at the same time Big East-bound Houston, SMU, Memphis and Central Florida are scheduled to leave Conference USA. That will give C-USA 13 schools, one above its current membership. Multiple people with knowledge of the planned additions spoke Thursday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because, aside from the action by regents overseeing UTSA, no official announcements had been made by the league or the individual schools. There could be even more additions in the future to the incoming five and the eight remaining Conference USA schools: Southern Miss , Marshall, East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa, Rice, UTEP and UAB. C-USA and the Mountain West Conference announced plans earlier this year to form a partnership in football, with as many as 24 teams located in five time zones. The two leagues are still working through details of such a move that had been planned to begin in 2013. North Texas, which is leaving the Sun Belt Conference, scheduled a news conference Friday about the “future of Mean Green athletics.” The news conference with school President V. Lane Rawlins and athletic director Rick Villarreal will be held at the school's $78 million, 30,850-seat campus football stadium that opened last season. Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/other-colleges/20120503-ut-san-antonio-north-texas-part-of-major-overhaul-of-conference-usa.ece?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter