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News Nuggets, 10.15.03
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
Previous Day Nuggets...
Next Day Nuggets...
Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
C-USA presidents spring into ready mode on realignment
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PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
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10.14.03: 'Chat'
with J.T. this a.m. on ECUPirates.com... .. Frogs cop two
weekly awards... ..
More... |
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10.13.03: Frogs'
ascension up the rankings continues... .. Record-setting QB,
longtime trainer to be enshrined by UC... .. College football
weekend: The good, the bad, the ugly... ..
More... |
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10.12.03: Houston
QB highlights Saturday C-USA action... .. Coaches in post-game
confrontation after Memphis-MSU game... .. Colonel Rebel bites
dust, leaves no heirs... ..
More... |
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10.11.03: Frogs
hop over South Florida... barely... .. NCAA mounts push on
academic performance... .. LSU AD calls on fans to squeal on
troublemakers... ..
More... |
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10.10.03: Fall
break frees up tickets for Pirates-Tar Heels battle... ..
Friday night's TCU at USF TV capsule... .. 'Vote' for the
Blazers, urges UAB campaign... .. Gamecocks start fast, then
hang on... .. Vandy downsizing prompts Turner to jump ship...
.. Bulls baseball stages 'blood' match... ..
More... |
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10.09.03: Countdown
ticking towards blast off for Pirate hoops... .. Thursday
night's college football TV capsules... .. Glantz-Culver
Division I-A Power Index... ..
More... |
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10.08.03: Longer-range
three-point line on the way... .. Attendance on the rise for
C-USA football... .. Emergency fund for ECU athletes needs
your pocket change... ..
More... |
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10.07.03: ECU
harrier adds to career haul of league honors... .. Army
Heisman heroes still receiving honors... .. Tough stretch
ahead for ambitious Hokies... ..
More... |
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10.06.03: College
football weekend: The good, the bad and the ugly... .. Frogs
regain momentum in both polls... .. Fan jailed for zonking
UNLV coach on noggin... .. Paddy wagon loads up during drunken
post-game melee... ..
More... |
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10.05.03: Frogs
still unblemished but Cardinals bite the dust... .. TCU No. 1
in Golfweek/Sagarin golf rankings... .. Baseball America
honors Cougars' Cho... ..
More... |
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In the wake of
Boston College's defection from the Big East
to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Conference USA conducted its annual fall
Board of Directors Meeting Tuesday in Chicago and issued a buoyant news
release, including quotes from the group's executive and the league's
commissioner.
“We had a very productive meeting of the
Conference’s Presidents and Chancellors,” said Dr. Shirley Raines, president
of the University of Memphis and chair of the Conference USA Board of
Directors. “The group continues to work very well together in resolving the
complex issues related to membership and in setting its course for a very
exciting and an even stronger Conference USA.”
Complex indeed, if recent speculation about
a new league configuration involving
12 or 13 Division I-A football-playing schools is correct. The revised
league would bring in members from the Western Athletic and Mid-American
Conferences to offset the potential losses of Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville
and Marquette to the regrouping Big East and Charlotte and Saint Louis to
the Atlantic 10.
Regardless of what happens, C-USA's
presidents have apparently agreed on the next steps they will take.
“The Board has provided the Commissioner
with a consensus on the future direction of the conference and we are
prepared to move forward as anticipated changes occur,” said Raines.
For now, according to C-USA commissioner
Britton Banowsky, all schools are holding steady and a plan is in place for
when that changes.
"No member has formally withdrawn and no
new members have been added,“ he said in the prepared statement. “It remains
inappropriate to speculate on particular members that might be leaving or
joining the conference.
"We did, however, have an open and active
conversation about what is both possible and desirable. We are genuinely
excited about the opportunities this change represents and are well
prepared.”
Ultimately, C-USA's future actions will be
influenced by the decimated Big East's next move in the realignment chess
match. The Big East's linchpin football powers, Miami and Virginia Tech,
decided over the summer to accept invitations to join the ACC.
The Big East has said it will decide by
early November the direction it will take in the future. Questions remain as
to whether the remaining football-playing schools — Connecticut, Pittsburgh,
Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia — will peel away to form a new
conference or to seek membership in other leagues.
TCU, Louisville accommodate change for TV
FORT WORTH - The Texas Christian basketball office has announced several
changes to the 2003-04 schedule, according to Horned Frogs coach Neil
Dougherty. The highlight is an additional national television appearance for
the Horned Frogs.
The TCU-Louisville game, originally set for
Wednesday, Feb. 18, has been moved up a day to Tuesday, Feb. 17, so that the
contest can be televised by ESPN2. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. (CT). The
Frogs' other national television appearance is slotted for Monday, Dec. 1
vs. Kansas. That game will get underway at 10:00 p.m. (CT).
"We're excited to be able to showcase TCU
and Fort Worth to national television audiences against two traditional
basketball powerhouses in Kansas and Louisville," Dougherty said.
Another Conference USA game involving TCU
also changed dates. The Horned Frogs will now host Southern Miss at 7:05
p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28, instead of on Saturday, Feb. 7.
In addition, due to scheduling conflicts
for both schools, TCU and SMU have mutually agreed to postpone this year's
meeting. The rivalry will resume during the 2004-05 season.
The Horned Frogs begin the season with an
exhibition game against Interhoop on Friday, Nov. 7. Tip time for that game
has moved to 7:30 p.m. (CT).
News Nuggets are
compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member
schools, and from Associated Press and
other reports. Copyright 2003
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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