Athletic director Lynn Hickey declined comment, and head football coach Larry Coker did not immediately return a phone message.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source confirmed details of a report on CBS Sports.com which indicated the Roadrunners will be among a group of schools joining C-USA. The same source said UTSA had also received invitations from the Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences.
The Mountain West and C-USA are in the process of joining their 16 existing members in some fashion after losing multiple schools.
Several sources have identified North Texas, Florida International and Louisiana Tech as leading candidates to join C-USA, which will lose SMU, Houston, Central Florida and Memphis to the Big East. There is also strong speculation that Utah State is the top choice to join the MWC.
UTSA is slated to join the Western Athletic Conference on July 1 for its second season of football. But it will be an unexpectedly short stay now that C-USA, which UTSA identified as its dream destination when the football program was approved in December 2008, has warmed up to the Roadrunners.
They had received a cool reception initially, when Hickey first approached commissioner Britton Banowsky in 2009 about the possibility of joining.
Then came last winter, when the two rekindled informal talks after C-USA was gutted by the Big East. But multiple sources said it wasn’t until recently, when C-USA began its evaluation process in earnest, that UTSA’s stock began to rise.
A C-USA athletic director, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Roadrunners stood out largely because of their location in a major Texas market and their long-term potential after averaging 35,521 fans at the Alamodome last season to set a start-up record.
Said a MWC athletic director, also speaking anonymously, “It’s Texas football, you can’t go wrong. Especially with that market.”
A strong slate of non-conference games in the coming years was also said to be attractive to broadcast partners.
The C-USA athletic director did stress that, although league presidents have authorized Banowsky to operate on their behalf, no invitation is final until they give approval.
“If you’ve ever been in a room with a bunch of presidents, one guy can sway all the other ones in another direction,” the AD said. “So I never go 100 percent on these things until they’re done. But I’ll say that they’re in very good position. Everybody likes them.”
It is not immediately known what will happen to the WAC, which is also adding Texas State, UTSA’s long-time rival.
(A source had told the Express-News several months ago that UTSA and Texas State would look to continue their series regardless of league affiliation.)
An agenda posted on the UT System web site indicates that three WAC schools have declared their intent to leave. That would leave only four football-play members, half what the NCAA requires to remain a viable entity in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
The agenda states that UTSA will pay no exit penalty pending timely notification to the WAC, but a source said the Roadrunners might have to forfeit all its league revenue for the season. The agenda also lists a $2 million entrance fee to C-USA, payable through a combination of school funds and league revenue.
[email protected] is expected to join Conference USA in all sports for the 2013 season pending approval from the University of Texas System Board of Regents on Wednesday, a source told the Express-News on Saturday.
Athletic director Lynn Hickey declined comment, and head football coach Larry Coker did not immediately return a phone message.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source confirmed details of a report on CBS Sports.com which indicated the Roadrunners will be one of four teams joining C-USA. The same source said UTSA had also received invitations from the Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences.
The Mountain West and C-USA are in the process of joining their 16 existing members in some fashion after losing multiple schools.
Multiple sources have identified North Texas, Florida International and Louisiana Tech as leading candidates to join C-USA, which will lose SMU, Houston, Central Florida and Memphis to the Big East. There is also strong speculation that Utah State is the top choice to join the MWC.
UTSA is slated to join the Western Athletic Conference this summer for its second season of football. But it will be an unexpectedly short stay now that C-USA, which UTSA identified as its dream destination when the football program was approved in December 2008, has apparently warmed up to the Roadrunners.
They had received a cool reception initially, when Hickey first approached commissioner Britton Banowsky in 2009 about the possibility of joining.
Then came last winter, when the two rekindled informal talks after C-USA was gutted by the Big East. Multiple sources said it wasn’t until very recently, when C-USA began its evaluation process in earnest, that UTSA’s stock began to rise.
A C-USA athletic director, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Roadrunners stood out largely because of their location in a large Texas market and long-term potential after drawing 35,521 fans last season to set a modern start-up record.
Said a MWC athletic director, also speaking anonymously, “It’s Texas football, you can’t go wrong. Especially with that market.”
A strong slate of non-conference games in the coming years was also said to be attractive to broadcast partners.
The C-USA athletic director did stress that, although the league presidents have authorized Banowsky to operate on their behalf, no invitation is final until they give final approval.
“If you’ve ever been in a room with a bunch of presidents, one guy can sway all the other ones in another direction,” the AD said. “So I never go 100 percent on these things. But I’ll say that they’re in very good position. Everybody likes them.”
It is not immediately known what will happen to the WAC, which which is also adding Texas State, UTSA’s long-time rival.
An agenda posted on the UT System web site indicates that three WAC schools have declared their intent to leave (presumably UTSA, Louisiana Tech and Utah State.) That would leave only four football-play members, half what the NCAA requires to remain a viable entity in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
The agenda states that UTSA will pay no exit penalty pending timely notification to the WAC, but a source said the Roadrunners might have to forfeit all its league revenue for the season.
The agenda also lists a $2 million entrance fee to C-USA.
