New C-USA

[jon breiner]

Thanks to Mr Monday Night on the CUSA newsgroup:

Conference USA 
  
 www.georgelapides.com
  


C-USA PLANS 13 TEAM LEAGUE

 Conference USA isn't exactly stuck in quick sand as other leagues
work on realignment plans that involve absorbing six current C-USA
members.  C-USA is putting together what basically would amount to a
brand new 13 team all-sports league.

          For football, the league would be divided into a six team
West Division and a seven team East Division, with the winners of each
division playing a championship game at the end of the regular season.
Assuming that, as expected, Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul and
Marquette all leave Conference USA for the Big East and UNC-Charlotte
and St. Louis switch to the Atlantic 10, C-USA then would add five new
members, Tulsa, SMU and Rice from the Western Athletic Conference and
Marshall and Central Florida from the Mid-American Conference.  Tulsa,
SMU and Rice would join TCU, Houston and Tulane in the West Divison,
while Marshall and Central Florida would join East Carolina, South
Florida, UAB, Southern Mississippi and Memphis in the East Divison.
The West Division would reunite former Southwest Conference members
Houston, TCU, SMU and Rice.

         In basketball, present plans call for one 13 team league,
with no divisional split. Unlike football championship games in the
SEC and the Big 12, the title game in C-USA would not be played at a
neutral site.  The most likely scenario would have the team with the
best record getting the game at its home stadium. The new Conference
USA would not begin league play until the departing members are gone.

 
CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL ALIGNMENT 

 
East                                  West
Division                              Division                        

Memphis                                Houston

Southern MS                            TCU

UAB                                    Rice

South Florida                          Tulsa 

Central Florida                        SMU

Marshall                               Tulane

East Carolina