MEMPHIS — There was plenty of old on hand in Memphis at the annual Conference USA football media kickoff. To a certain extent, there also was a touch of the blues.

While many of the head coaches present are preparing for a competitive 2004 title chase, much of the discussion centered around the new — as in the looming makeover the league will unveil next summer.

That was the dominant theme as league players and coaches fielded questions from the media Tuesday. However, despite all the commotion about C-USA's future, league commissioner Britton Banowsky stressed the upcoming season will be handled in routine fashion.

"We're approaching this as any other year from a competitive standpoint," Banowsky said. "We've got wonderful coaches and great programs that are going to compete hard, kids that are going to fight hard.

"So we're going to do everything we can to set the competitive format so that the good (football) teams that win go to bowl games and the good teams that win in basketball go to the NCAA tournament. We're going to be business as usual for this year."

With Army, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, and Texas Christian set to flee C-USA following the season, 2004 will be anything but normal. This time next year, six new faces will attend the festivities in place of those departing, placing the league in a temporary holding pattern.

Despite losing three programs that have won C-USA football titles, Banowsky is optimistic about the future.

"I'm more excited now about the future of the league than I've ever been," he said. "We're going to be bringing in some programs that are going to be pretty good."

Next summer, Central Florida, Marshall, Rice, Southern Methodist, Texas-El Paso, and Tulsa will make the move to C-USA, joining the league's holdovers to form a 12-team, all-sports conference. There will be two regionally divided, six-team divisions with the potential of a championship game in 2005.

For the coaches of programs that will remain in C-USA, thoughts about the transition were mixed.

"It is really (disappointing)," Memphis coach Tommy West said in reference to the exiting schools. "The thing I think that we'll miss here in Memphis is some of the rivalries with Louisville and Cincinnati. That's been generated by basketball, but still, they've been really good rivalries. We'll miss that.

"But then again, there's some good teams coming in the league. I personally think we're going to be stronger. I'm optimistic now. I was pretty pessimistic at first."

West said his tune changed at the C-USA spring meetings after rubbing elbows with his new rivals — a who's who list of college coaches.

"I competed against George (O'Leary) when he was at Georgia Tech and I know how fierce a competitor he is and his teams are," West said. "Mike Price won two Rose Bowls at Washington State. Ken Hatfield has been at Clemson, he's been at Arkansas.

"Those guys will move their programs. They'll recruit."

Among the six newcomers, Marshall has enjoyed the most success in recent years. The Thundering Herd has been a mainstay in the national polls under coach Bob Pruett and is a fixture in the postseason.

League coaches also are encouraged by the prospects of Tulsa, which went bowling last season under first-year coach Steve Kragthorpe.

"It's not like it's going to all of a sudden be a weak league in '05," Houston coach Art Briles said. "We've got good teams coming in here.

"You know, the thing about college football, professional football, or any type you're talking about, what's good right now — as far as a team standpoint, league stand point — might be better or might be worse. Teams work in cycles and C-USA is on an up cycle right now, but that's not to say we won't be an even better league in three years."

Or if it will even remain intact.

Rumors and speculation began swirling during the two-day gathering about more potential conference upheaval. According to one school administrator who attended the C-USA kickoff, there is a good chance the Big East will break apart within the next three-to-five years and reconfigure.

East Carolina has been discussed as a potential fit with the Big East's gridiron members.

"I do think about the now, but you've got to be prepared for what could happen," Pirates coach John Thompson said about the possibility of future shakeups. "All of that is speculation. Obviously this is a good day for speculation.

"I don't think anybody has rose-colored glasses and thinks that there is not going to be change. There is going to be other change, and wherever it happens, there is going to be a domino effect. ...As East Carolina, we've just got to put ourselves in the best position."

That position is a spot in a conference with an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series. The Pirates jockeyed for membership in the new Big East last year, but were overlooked in favor of Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida.

For now, ECU will have to sit tight until another storm starts brewing.

"The seas are certainly calmer at this media event than they were a year ago," Banowsky said. "And that's great, because I think it was a big distraction for all of college athletics, really.

"It took attention from what was going on on the field. I think people are happy to get back in the business of staging the events and staging the games and returning the focus on what's going on with the student athletes."