UAB excited about possible future in the Super conference

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C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said "various other options" were also being explored but working on "consolidation with the Mountain West is a priority."

"I think we're very well positioned right now," said Banowsky. "The partnership with the Mountain West is moving forward in an exciting way. The best part of it is that it's going to be stable."

As of now, the proposed merger consists of UAB, Southern Miss, Rice, Tulane, Tulsa, Marshall, East Carolina and UTEP from Conference USA. The other side will consist of full-time members Nevada, Fresno State, UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado State and Air Force and footballonly member Hawaii. Banowsky said the final number could be anywhere from 16 to 24 teams.

Mackin said the benefits include an enhanced media contract that "should increase TV revenue and exposure" and a group of schools that draw viewers across five time zones. Other benefits include the stability of having a large number of universities in the conference and that the merging schools have "national stature." Travel budgets would seemingly be an obvious concern with the spread-out conference.

"This will be a regional conference with two divisions -- East and West," Mackin said. "Travel costs should not be affected because we will be playing our Conference USA schools and they would be playing the Mountain West schools. To give you an example, our soccer program would not be going to Wyoming. They would stay in their same footprint."

His comments came a day after it was announced that Memphis became the fourth Conference USA program to bolt for the Big East. The other C-USA schools are set to begin in the Big East in 2013-14.

Mackin shot down suggestions that seeking a spot in the Sun Belt Conference would be the best option for the Blazers.

"This new conference must be viewed as having increased value because most of the Sun Belt teams have requested that they be considered by membership in the new conference," Mackin said, adding that the requests came in calls to the C-USA office.

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