UTSA in contact with CUSA, Sun Belt

Harry · November 28, 2011

With football finally over, I’ve been able to devote a bit more time to getting a clearer idea of where UTSA stands in terms of its future conference alignment, what with the non-stop rumors of the Western Athletic Conference’s impending demise and the announcement of a football-only merger between Conference USA and the Mountain West that could offer another step up the ladder.

After speaking with multiple sources over the past month, here’s what I have been told:

UTSA has had very informal discussions with CUSA commissioner Britton Banowsky and Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters in recent weeks.

While the latter didn’t sound like much more than an exercise to keep the lines of communication open — UTSA athletic director Lynn Hickey declined comment, reiterating her school’s commitment to the WAC – it’s still interesting that one source described Waters as having reached out to the Roadrunners.

Those who follow this stuff closely might recall that it was Wright who basically scoffed at the Roadrunners when they approached him in the summer of 2010 to gauge the Sun Belt’s interest, saying his league had improved to the point it no longer needed to be the way station for FCS move-ups. But with his league a likely target should CUSA and/or the Mountain West need to replenish its ranks from a likely raid by the Big East, Wright has seemingly softened his stance.

Read More: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/utsa/2011/11/utsa-in-contact-with-cusa-sun-belt/

PlummMeanGreen · November 28, 2011

Read More: http://blog.mysanant...-cusa-sun-belt/

Still kind of bothersome to me that North Texas name is never mentioned in these kind of media blurbs or anywhere else for that matter. Surely we are not going back to the days of all things under the radar which at times has meant' that nothing of significance is really happening. Folks, you ready to see an upstart UTSA football program join a long line of other schools post-Missouri Valley Conference era for North Texas who have also gone "beep beep" past our 100 year plan for a football program? Sad to say, but that would just about do it for many alums I know.

Put our name out there North Texas officials--no one else is going to do it (with the right people, that is): Even SMU got their name out there with Big 12 officials, got some publicity out of it then next thing you know they are going to be in whatever is left of the Big East. We all laughed at the Big 12 thing with SMU, but we did not when a school that we are literally and most likely out-drawing at the gate in our 8'th losing season in a row received an AQ league invite. (As a reminder, SMU was in the midst of about a 15 year losing streak their first year in CUSA).

But...it's like Deep Green posted when he said "it's all about school branding with the BCS and bowl people." Deep, it really does sound that way more and more; that is, they want the name school no matter how poorly the name school has performed the last 15 years and apparently they could care less how poorly name school draws at the gate, either. This is why schools with good attendance like Southern Miss, East Carolina and others similar willl not make this BCS party because they were not on the NCAA radar back in the 30's 40's and 50's.

To put this In layman's language, these crusty old NCAA/BCS/ESPN farts around the age group of the Chuck Neinas'es love to sit around and talk about their own younger years of following NCAA football along with their own father's memories as in the storied days of Doak Walker and Sammy Baugh to bring all this closer to home. They would rather do that than talk about how North Texas in 1968 probably had one of the 5 top football teams in the entire NCAA with several NFL draft choices coming from that team. Yet who the hell knew about any of that in 1968 since it was coming from our steam powered publicity machine in Denton, Texas? So in all reality, we have seen the enemy and it is who once again?

GMG!

Edited November 28, 2011 by PlummMeanGreen

kalebschumann · November 28, 2011

That's what happens when your school is proactive.

meangreenbob · November 28, 2011

UTSA targeted UNT from the beginning in the food chain and you can pretty much tell that they sense the kill.

UNT looks weak and timid.

Unless something is going on we don't know about..................BEEP BEEP!!!!!

SilverEagle · November 28, 2011

From the article....

"More interesting is that UTSA has apparently already begun its efforts to lobby CUSA, sending material to the school presidents who will ultimately decide which schools are added. Multiple sources said it is also in the early stages of assembling a team of local business and political leaders to help sell the school if an opportunity to join does materialize."

Local business and political leaders supporting their local state University?!?!

Someone needs to tell those business men that if they start supporting UTSA, then it will piss off all the students at Texas Lutheran and Our Lady of the Lake University. I hope some Denton Businessmen/women give them a call and give them fair warning about the dangers of showing support of UTSA........ :rolleyes:

wardly · November 28, 2011

if i am CUSA, i want a foot in DFW and San Antonia. i also find it hard to believe that Waters scoffed at a start up program at UTSA while supporting one at USA. i personally believe NT will be fine, either as a CUSA replacement for SMU should the ponies actually move to Big East, or in a merger with the WAC[ excluding SJSU,Utah State, and Idaho] while creating a Western Division of the Belt.while my preference certainly is CUSA, i could live with THE BIG BELT.

MeanGreenTexan · November 28, 2011

if i am CUSA, i want a foot in DFW and San Antonia. i also find it hard to believe that Waters scoffed at a start up program at UTSA while supporting one at USA. i personally believe NT will be fine, either as a CUSA replacement for SMU should the ponies actually move to Big East, or in a merger with the WAC[ excluding SJSU,Utah State, and Idaho] while creating a Western Division of the Belt.while my preference certainly is CUSA, i could live with THE BIG BELT.

USA is already in the Sun Belt... that is why they get to make the jump.

Greenrex · November 28, 2011

Plumm MG-

Well said. You are 100% correct on all points. We have always needed a “Brand”. I was a student in the 60’s and a small handful of us tried to get something started in that direction. I wrote a letter to the editor of the "Campus Chat" detailing why we should drop the word "North" from North Texas State University. I thought “TSU” was the perfect name and would help establish the brand. Apparently the idea was compelling because the next edition of the paper required two sections in order to include all the comments from students and others. It was the most pages ever published in a single issue up to that time. Most of the comments were favorable, even enthusiastic. There were a few more comments in the next edition then it pretty much fizzled. We had no one even close to a T. Boone Pickens and the administration had zero interest.

But, with this old codger hope springs eternally. It is never too late to establish a brand and turn things around. I hope it happens. I love North Texas even more now than when I was a student.

rex

PlummMeanGreen · November 28, 2011

Fresno State, Texas State, UTSA, Denver, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State

OK, with what's lefover of the above WAC schools, does North Texas join a new WAC with ULouisiana and Ark State and others?

A New WAC?

Louisiana Tech

Texas State

UTSA

New Mexico State

UTEP

North Texas

Ark State

U of Louisiana

Who in a depleted CUSA might be interested in joining this New WAC if any? Tulsa? Any others? Banowsky better break his silence because this New WAC sure as hell would if it had the remote chance of happening. The CUSA commish' has said absolutely nothing about North Texas ever that I can recollect, but said he was a bit bothered that SMU in their own search for a new league had not consulted with him at all. Duh? :rolleyes:

Who did I leave out that is most likely not going to the MWC? * UTEP would be prime for MWC so they might have to be replaced in this new WAC.

I know its all in a name, but I still think the Western Athletic Conference branding still trumps that of the *Sun Belt in the perception race; maybe by just a tad, but IMHO it still does. We have lost Texas HS recruits to La Tech because they were in the WAC fellow sports fans and I think Harry would back that up, too.

* Did the SBC really improve its own branding with the addition of South Alabama? The answer for many of us is.....no.

Edited November 28, 2011 by PlummMeanGreen

wardly · November 28, 2011

Plumm MG-
Well said. You are 100% correct on all points. We have always needed a “Brand”. I was a student in the 60’s and a small handful of us tried to get something started in that direction. I wrote a letter to the editor of the "Campus Chat" detailing why we should drop the word "North" from North Texas State University. I thought “TSU” was the perfect name and would help establish the brand. Apparently the idea was compelling because the next edition of the paper required two sections in order to include all the comments from students and others. It was the most pages ever published in a single issue up to that time. Most of the comments were favorable, even enthusiastic. There were a few more comments in the next edition then it pretty much fizzled. We had no one even close to a T. Boone Pickens and the administration had zero interest.
But, with this old codger hope springs eternally. It is never too late to establish a brand and turn things around. I hope it happens. I love North Texas even more now than when I was a student.
rex

i was at NT 61'thru 66', and remember when this came up. it was killed by the University of Texas, and never got off the ground.

UNTLifer · November 28, 2011

UTSA targeted UNT from the beginning in the food chain and you can pretty much tell that they sense the kill.

UNT looks weak and timid.

Unless something is going on we don't know about..................BEEP BEEP!!!!!

NT has a new student fee, a new stadium, a relatively new athletic center/Eagle Point development dedicated to athletics, a new pro-athletic President and administration and a new coaching staff that is the highest paid in school history. I have a hard time believing we are now sitting around twiddling our thumbs and not being proactive.

VideoEagle · November 28, 2011

If you have ever been involved in any kind of M&A activity (merger and acquisition), you know that 99% of what happens is completely behind the scenes. When things leak out or there is public comment, it is because 1. a deal is already done or mostly done behind the scenes or 2. it is pure unsubstantiated rumor.

TCU most certainly did NOT get into the Big 12 because it's AD called a press conference.

greenjoe · November 28, 2011

I have a hard time even believing that Coach McCarney even wrote this. First of all, football is NOT over. And secondly, why didn't somebody tell me there were two dan McCarneys in the world ? My bad.

Beat Middle Tennessee

GO MEAN GREEN

Edited November 28, 2011 by greenjoe

Mean Green 93-98 · November 28, 2011

I have a hard time even believing that Coach McCarney even wrote this. First of all, football is NOT over. And secondly, this is the type message that an athletic director would put out. I put zero credibility in any of this.

Different Dan McCarney.

Daddy Dumpsalot · November 28, 2011

Still kind of bothersome to me that North Texas name is never mentioned in these kind of media blurbs or anywhere else for that matter. Surely we are not going back to the days of all things under the radar which at times has meant' that nothing of significance is really happening. Folks, you ready to see an upstart UTSA football program join a long line of other schools post-Missouri Valley Conference era for North Texas who have also gone "beep beep" past our 100 year plan for a football program? Sad to say, but that would just about do it for many alums I know.

Put our name out there North Texas officials--no one else is going to do it (with the right people, that is): Even SMU got their name out there with Big 12 officials, got some publicity out of it then next thing you know they are going to be in whatever is left of the Big East. We all laughed at the Big 12 thing with SMU, but we did not when a school that we are literally and most likely out-drawing at the gate in our 8'th losing season in a row received an AQ league invite. (As a reminder, SMU was in the midst of about a 15 year losing streak their first year in CUSA).

But...it's like Deep Green posted when he said "it's all about school branding with the BCS and bowl people." Deep, it really does sound that way more and more; that is, they want the name school no matter how poorly the name school has performed the last 15 years and apparently they could care less how poorly name school draws at the gate, either. This is why schools with good attendance like Southern Miss, East Carolina and others similar willl not make this BCS party because they were not on the NCAA radar back in the 30's 40's and 50's.

To put this In layman's language, these crusty old NCAA/BCS/ESPN farts around the age group of the Chuck Neinas'es love to sit around and talk about their own younger years of following NCAA football along with their own father's memories as in the storied days of Doak Walker and Sammy Baugh to bring all this closer to home. They would rather do that than talk about how North Texas in 1968 probably had one of the 5 top football teams in the entire NCAA with several NFL draft choices coming from that team. Yet who the hell knew about any of that in 1968 since it was coming from our steam powered publicity machine in Denton, Texas? So in all reality, we have seen the enemy and it is who once again?

GMG!

It's sad and depressing but I think RV is content in this conference based on my conversations with him. Fire RV??

All About UNT · November 28, 2011

I have a hard time even believing that Coach McCarney even wrote this. First of all, football is NOT over. And secondly, this is the type message that an athletic director would put out. I put zero credibility in any of this.

Beat Middle Tennessee

GO MEAN GREEN

Please tell me you are being sarcastic.

wardly · November 28, 2011

Fresno State, Texas State, UTSA, Denver, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State

OK, with what's lefover of the above WAC schools, does North Texas join a new WAC with ULouisiana and Ark State and others?

A New WAC?

Louisiana Tech
Texas State
UTSA
New Mexico State
UTEP
North Texas
Ark State
U of Louisiana

Who in a depleted CUSA might be interested in joining this New WAC if any? Tulsa? Any others? Banowsky better break his silence because this New WAC sure as hell would if it had the remote chance of happening. The CUSA commish' has said absolutely nothing about North Texas ever that I can recollect, but said he was a bit bothered that SMU in their own search for a new league had not consulted with him at all. Duh?

Who did I leave out that is most likely not going to the MWC? * UTEP would be prime for MWC so they might have to be replaced in this new WAC.

I know its all in a name, but I still think the Western Athletic Conference branding still trumps that of the *Sun Belt in the perception race; maybe by just a tad, but IMHO it still does. We have lost Texas HS recruits to La Tech because they were in the WAC fellow sports fans and I think Harry would back that up, too.

* Did the SBC really improve its own branding with the addition of South Alabama? The answer for many of us is.....no.

UTEP is very happy in CUSA because of alumni base in large Texas metropolitian cities and has expressed no interest in joining MWC. in fact, i would think that they would be supportive of our admission into CUSA should SMU move to Big East, which like Santa Clause, will believe when i see it.

Green Jackal · November 28, 2011

It's sad and depressing but I think RV is content in this conference based on my conversations with him. Fire RV??

I am sure he just gave you the politically correct answer to the question. If you worked for Conference USA I have the feeling his answer would be different.

Green Mean · November 28, 2011

It's sad and depressing but I think RV is content in this conference based on my conversations with him. Fire RV??

In RV's defense look at what he's had to work with since he got here a decade ago. I just don't think UNT has had as much leverage as we may think and if reports are true then we had a great shot to be in CUSA already if it wasn't for Fouts and baseball. Like I said in another thread...this realignment stuff may not be in our hands but it sure doesn't mean we can't win championships and go to bowl games, march madness, add baseball and better the overall profile of UNT athletics being in the Sunbelt for the time being. If we take care of our stuff then outsiders will take notice and things will began to fall favorably for UNT.