CONFERENCE USA COMMISSIONER BRITTON BANOWSKY: " THE MOST CHALLENGING TIME IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS"

CONFERENCE USA COMMISSIONER BRITTON BANOWSKY SPEAKS TO REPORTERS DURING MEDIA DAY YESTERDAY

Original G5 Blog Content

Twitter: @GFiveConf

Conference USA held their annual Media Day in Irving, Texas yesterday. Among the parade of Head Football Coaches and Conference USA star football players, Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky addressed the media with a few important conference details. Among them were:

*COMMITMENT TO COST OF ATTENDANCE FEES: Conference USA  is committed to paying the so called cost of attendance  fees that have been strongly pushed for by the Power 5  in the last 18 months. Although Conference USA is in support of the extra fees, Banowsky indicated that each school in the conference will have to decide if they can afford the new costs associated with these new fees. It is not entirely clear at the moment what schools  , if any , will choose not to pay the new cost of attendance rate hikes.

*"THE SECOND FIVE" Britton Banowsky was asked what the 5 non power conferences should be called.( This blog refers to the five as the G5 or Gang of 5) Banowsky indicated that the 5 should be called,'The Second Five".

*THE POWER 5 NEED US: MTSU Head Coach Rick Stockstill, speaking to the media noted that,
"There’s no doubt in my mind that all of us are going to co-exist together" and "“I don’t see this complete separation where it’s them ... and we’re the little boys trying to take their ball from them. I think we’re set in Conference USA, set better than some of the other conferences that aren’t in that top five.” (SOURCE: Charleston Gazette )

*WKU LAST PIECE OF REALIGNMENT PUZZLE: Banowsky made the point that Conference USA was at a  "pivot point" and that WKU was the last piece of the realignment puzzle for the conference.

CONCLUSION

As I have written before,(Conference USA faces difficult challenges ahead)there are few conferences in the FBS that have experienced as much dramatic change due to realignment as Conference USA has. Listening  to the press conference yesterday however, one gets the sense that Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky understands these changes and is ready to lead  Conference USA to better days.

The challenges for the conference however, are many, including finding one or two teams that can make national headlines for winning in College Football. Conference USA, also faces the difficult task of learning to assimilate the many new programs that now fly under the Conference USA flag.

Still, if you are a fan of Conference USA, or one of the teams in the conference, you have to feel good about what Britton Banowsky said yesterday as well as the optimism portrayed  by the coaches and players  in attendance at Media Day. The next few years for Conference USA will be of utmost importance as it works  to recapture some of the  magic and respect it enjoyed from years past . Stay tuned.