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Are you ready for Tulsa vs. Texas-San Antonio?
Published: 5/1/2012 7:46 PM
Last Modified: 5/1/2012 7:46 PM

Last September, Texas-San Antonio kicked off its inaugural college football season with a game against Northeastern State.

Turn the clock ahead two years, and that same UTSA team could kick off the 2013 Conference USA season against Tulsa.

CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy continued his strong C-USA coverage Tuesday with a report that Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio, Charlotte and Old Dominion will join the league in 2013.

You can read McMurphy's story here.

(You can also read Eric Bailey's story from Sunday on UTSA's move to C-USA here).

McMurphy's story mentions a possible East division of Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane, Tulsa and Texas-El Paso.

I'm a huge small conference sports fan and grew up following the Southland Conference. That division looks a little like the old SLC. And while that might be a good thing for nostalgia, I'm not sure it's a good thing for the long-term health of Tulsa athletics.

It might, however, be good for winning football championships. UTSA started its program in 2011, Charlotte isn't starting a football team until 2013, and Old Dominion plays in the Football Championship Subdivision (previously I-AA).

If you're a Tulsa fan, would you rather be the best team in this version of C-USA or one of many contenders in the league's previous incarnation? (I won't even ask you about joining the Big 12. The scraps in that league are still worth more than $15 million per year).

They say that unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes. And that appears to be the case with Tulsa and conference realignment. Tulsa is able to maintain its recruiting base in Texas with the additions of North Texas and UTSA, it will still have the same bowl possibilities with a winning football season, and it can still make the NCAA men's basketball tournament if it's good enough.

There news isn't all bad, though. Tulsa should be a likely host city for numerous C-USA championships. And if the BCS four-team playoff ever expands, smaller conferences may eventually climb into the national championship picture regardless of conference affiliation.

Until then -- or until another league comes calling -- Tulsa must proudly carry the C-USA banner and hope for the best.

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GeorgeNolandII (10 months ago)

Mike,
With AQ conference a thing of the past, Boise State will most likely stay in the MWC. Any chance of Tulsa getting a bid to join them?

amron warrior (10 months ago)

These moves for Tulsa are bad,
The worst than could ever be had.
With quality diluted
And interest denuded,
There's no reason for fans to be glad.

Golden Hurricane (10 months ago)

I'd rather be independent...this is pathetic. If Ross Parmely can't do something to get TU out of this mess, TU should re-evaluate whether he is the right man for this job. This is embarrassing.

TCH51 (10 months ago)

More fans showing up at game time would help! We need to fill the stadium for every game, so we are talking about expansion, then the big boys would look favorably upon us.

colhi64 (10 months ago)

TCH51 is right, but the fans won't come until Tulsa is winning and ranked. I am not sure Tulsa could bet ranked playing in such a weak league. Strenth of schedule is going ot kill them. They will win, yes. Pull in the fans? A few more, yes. Get ranked. Problematic.

26889 (10 months ago)

TU has been asleep at the wheel. Many of our former athletic peers and conference mates (Louisville, Boise State, TCU, SMU, Houston, UCF, Memphis, San Diego State, Cinncinati, etc.)have all found their way into BCF conferences. Despite its long tradition and recent success, TU is continually left behind, residing in cobbled together conferences that are filled with commuter schools with no football tradition. I am hoping for some bold, aggressive leadership from Parmley and the new president.

jdltulsa (10 months ago)

Interesting that you mention nostalgia for the Southland Conference. For Tulsa fans, this lineup will likely remind them of the days when Tulsa was still a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and that conference still played football. TU won the last several Valley championships until the league discontinued playing at the D-IA level and Tulsa went independent in football (and MVC in other sports) until leaving for the WAC 1996.

Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters (10 months ago)

Good discussion. Thanks for commenting. Here are a few responses...

George, I haven't really heard anything about Boise State moving back to the Mountain West. It seems the issue with Boise and the Big East is more about television money than AQ status. But I read an article from YahooSports earlier today that said the dismantling of the Western Athletic Conference, where all Boise's non-football sports were going to play, could cause the school problems. That might force Boise to change course.

A Mountain West with Boise might be better than this version of C-USA, but Tulsa needs the Texas recruiting ties and likely prefers the travel in this league.

26889, I'm not sure if "asleep at the wheel" (great music, by the way) is the right term. Tulsa hasn't had the football success of some of those schools and lacks the positive geography of a few others. Without a BCS run in football, I'm not sure what Tulsa could have done.

Tulsabills (10 months ago)

not sure I'd say TU has been asleep at the wheel either, but I do think Bubba & Stead lacked a vision of what TU could be. They did TU no favors by shrinking the football stadium from 40K to under 30K. They incorrectly viewed TU's conference set up as long term. I still think Bubba's MAC AD days led to him to incorrectly view CUSA in a similar manner to the MAC.

While TU was shrinking their stadium, SMU & Houston were making big noise about expanding theirs. SMU & Houston created the perception they were planning to move up in the world.

I know everyone will cry "TV market size is all that matters", but Boise & Memphis blow holes in that theory.

Let's say Bubba & Stead didn't settle for Wojcik's mediocrity, didn't give him a 6 year extension after winning something called the CBI. Let's say they got us a good coach as soon as it was obvious to fans (who stayed away in droves) that Wojcik was just not the man. Let's say they pushed for a little more $$ & kept the football stadium at 40,000 & marketed both sports in a stronger manner. I say TU would quite possibly be in the Big East today.

jmac3 (10 months ago)

SMU Moved from the cotton bowl to a 30,000 seat un campus stadium. The Ford is not bigger.... O and they had 17,000 last game. You can have them Big East.

Tulsabills (10 months ago)

SMU's stadium currently has a capacity of 32,000. Last fall they released plans for an expansion (not yet funded) to increase capacity to 51,600. The mayor of Dallas wrote an editorial that SMU deserved to be in a BCS conference. Famous alums chimed in. They did get BCS invite.

Can't hurt TU to try. No one ever made a shot they didn't take.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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