![]() Gone are the days of absurd promotions needed to get fans into seats, of listening to ESPN’s Z-team call a game or tracking down a broadcast on some obscure streaming site. That’s not to say Conference USA won’t be missed, though. But even if Rice is just jockeying for position before the next conference reshuffle, they’re in a much better place now than they would have been in C-USA. With a current wave of realignment ongoing, there’s a chance that this iteration of the AAC doesn’t last more than a few years. It has more nearby schools, more small, private schools, more national prominence and a more lucrative TV deal. The AAC makes a lot more sense for Rice, even if it’s just C-USA circa-2006 with a new coat of paint. So the Owls are finally getting out, after 18 years of half-empty stadiums, inconsistent play and the one nationally-relevant opponent per year in each sport. Only three of the conference’s 11 current schools have been members for more than a decade. It isn’t a permanent home, but Rice never seemed to get that memo. All but two of those original Metro Conference teams had moved on within a decade. ![]() That’s even how it formed when the Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference dissolved, some of its members merged with the Great Midwest Conference to create Conference USA, in an effort to hold on to some semblance of their major-conference status. That’s what it was for Houston, SMU, Texas Christian University and several others. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |