Athletics: Cajuns aren’t close to C-USA yet

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, May 15, 2013

UL Ragin’ Cajuns athletic director Scott Farmer said there is “absolutely no truth” to a message-board rumor suggesting Conference USA officials traveled to Lafayette early this week to visit the UL campus.

UL, a longtime Sun Belt Conference member, previously has been identified as a candidate interested in joining C-USA should the conference decide to expand to 16 teams.

Four current Sun Belt schools – Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Florida International and Florida Atlantic – are leaving the SBC for C-USA on July 1, and another, Western Kentucky, will do so in 2014.

But Farmer said C-USA officials have never visited UL, and there are no current plans for them to do so.

“We have not met with officials from any league,” the athletic director said when asked about the bogus online rumor.

Representatives of Conference USA-member schools actually have been meeting early this week in Destin, Fla., and the conference is known to have considered a 16-team model.

But C-USA is not expected to announce any new membership plans when its spring meetings conclude today. In fact, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported Tuesday that expansion was “not on the agenda.”

If Conference USA does decide to go to 16 sometime in the future, UL would be just one of several likely C-USA candidates – along with fellow Sun Belt member Arkansas State, incoming Sun Belt members Texas State and Georgia State, and current FCS program James Madison.

Representatives of Sun Belt-member schools, meanwhile, will hold their own spring meetings Sunday through Wednesday in Destin.

The issue of future Sun Belt membership is sure to be discussed then.

But Sun Belt spokesman communications associate commissioner John McElwain said that is merely among “a variety of topics” on its agenda.

“Of course membership is one of them,” McElwain said. “But TV, bowl games, conference leadership positions – there’s no shortage of topics we need to discuss.”

According to multiple reports, the per-school difference in TV revenue last was $1.17 million for C-USA programs vs. roughly $40,000 for Sun Belt programs.

The Sun Belt earlier had expressed plans to identify a potential replacement for outgoing Western Kentucky, in part so it could have 12 members for the 2014 football season, the minimum required by the NCAA to stage a conference football championship game.

But now it appears possible the SBC will consider opting against issuing a membership invitation in the immediate future, even if it means having only 11 football members in 2014 and being the only one of its peer conferences to not have a football title game.

James Madison previously had been considered a strong candidate by the Sun Belt, but for multiple reasons – supposed conflicting feelings regarding readiness to jump from FCS to the higher-level FBS, potential pursuit of preferred Conference USA membership instead – it did not reciprocate interest.

Liberty University continues to aggressively pursue SBC membership, but its bid may not have majority support from member schools.

Other current FBS programs – including Jacksonville (Ala.) State and Southland Conference-members Sam Houston State and Lamar – have expressed interest in the Sun Belt, but are not known to have widespread support.

Several others – including Missouri State, Illinois State, Indiana State and Tennessee-Chattanooga – are among a lengthy list on the receiving end of exploratory contact.

Missouri State is known to remain a possibility for long-range consideration, but most are not currently considered viable short-term candidates.