C-USA moves closer to picking 12th team

ORLANDO, Fla. _ After two days of meetings in Texas, Conference

USA athletic directors adjourned Tuesday with no official

recommendation on expansion, but that should change soon.

Although the group had hoped to have its membership puzzle solved

by Wednesday, pieces will fit in time for an April 30 discussion by

league presidents, UCF AD Steve Orsini said.

“That’s our job. We’ll come up with one,”

Orsini said.

C-USA presidents have the final vote on expansion. Athletic

directors will have one or more conference calls over the next two

weeks to iron out expansion wrinkles.

UTEP is the favored candidate among a list that includes Louisiana

Tech and North Texas but no longer includes Temple, Toledo and

Miami of Ohio. Temple’s interest in C-USA is for football

only, and the league is pondering only all-sports members.

Mid-American Conference members Toledo and Miami, once on

C-USA’s expansion radar, on Tuesday reaffirmed their

commitment to staying in the MAC, and the MAC issued a statement of

its “solidarity.”

C-USA has a roster of 11 schools for 2005-06, when the bulk of

conference realignment happens around the country. Although C-USA

Commissioner Britton Banowsky said staying at 11 “is still a

viable option,” he is on record as wanting a league with 12

schools, and athletic directors are expected to follow his lead. A

12-team league allows for divisional play in several sports and

also will permit C-USA to have a football championship game.

Despite the lack of a formal announcement Tuesday, Banowsky was

pleased.

“I think we took some big steps forward get to some

consensus,” he said. “We don’t have a consensus

yet, but we’re making progress.”

Banowsky said one reason league leaders are taking their time with

the expansion evaluation is that the conference, after this

decision, does not foresee any more membership changes in the near

future.

Alan Schmadtke
The Orlando Sentinel
(KRT)

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