DENNY O'BRIEN: Commissioner proves critics wrong

College Notebook No. 14
Friday, October 7, 2005

By Denny O'Brien

PIRATE TALK

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Unqualified, unimpressive, and unbelievably clueless on how to handle the chore of reconfiguring a major Division I-A conference.

All three have been used to describe Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky. And all three are absolutely wrong.

With the Liberty Bowl's recent announcement that it had renewed its relationship with C-USA for at least four more years, Banowsky solidified the league's fate as a legitimate player in college football. Not only did he secure a guaranteed payday of at least $1.5 million, but also opened some eyes nationally by outlasting the Big East for the bid.

It was a watershed moment for a commissioner who wisely keeps his cards close to the vest.

"I don't anticipate us to have a lot of dramatic changes in our (bowl) lineup," Banowsky said back in August. "The conference made a decision when we asked them what was the right number of bowls. We modeled to see what were the average number of teams that we look like we would qualify, and five is the number. So, we want to have a bowl for every eligible team.

Banowsky didn't need a fallback option, but my guess is he had one in case the Liberty Bowl or any of the league's other four postseason games fell through. That methodology has been the case throughout his tenure, though it hasn't been widely discussed within the media or by fans.

When Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, and Texas Christian abandoned ship, Banowsky was unfairly chastised for not attempting a strong counterpunch. The overwhelming sentiment was that he should have made an aggressive pitch to keep the fickle four.

That's a valid argument if Banowsky had the luxury of selling automatic inclusion in the Bowl Championship Series to his departing members.

The response wasn't much better when Banowsky announced the six 'rundown' replacements. To many, that was interpreted as a feeble attempt to patch a sinking vessel with enough Texas flavor to move the league offices to 'Big D.'

More accurately, the end result was a 12-team, southern-based league of football-minded programs that is geographically more manageable for a majority of the members. That enabled a lucrative conference championship game and opened the doors for additional television exposure and revenue.

And despite all of the negative spin within the press and on Internet message boards and sports talk radio, the new-look C-USA has far exceeded its expectations.

In Texas-El Paso and Central Florida, the league inherited underachieving programs with proven, veteran coaches who already are demonstrating their schools' tremendous upsides. Marshall was one of the most successful programs nationally in the 90's, while Tulsa slowly but surely is transitioning its culture away from a basketball-centric mentality.

Though Rice and Southern Methodist have fallen on difficult times of late, both academically-minded institutions have gridiron histories that are second to few in C-USA.

With the loss of Louisville to the Big East Conference, the general feeling was that C-USA would lose much of the football momentum it gained while the Cardinals ascended up the national polls. Actually, it has been the Big East that has been unable to regain traction in the aftermath of the defections of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The argument can certainly be made that C-USA has actually picked up steam with its new Liberty Bowl deal. And if Banowsky can add the EV1.Net Houston Bowl to its postseason roster, he can ensure that at least half of the conference will go bowling most years (C-USA alternates its Hawai'i Bowl bid with the PAC-10).

Factor in the in the new television contract with CSTV and the conference title game, and you have a decent day's work by the C-USA Commish.

You just wouldn't know it from the reaction abroad. Because Banowsky maintains a low profile and is comfortable flying beneath the radar, he has been perceived by some as weak.

In retrospect, enough hasn't been said about the integrity with which Banowsky has performed throughout his tenure, especially during the realignment process. From that angle, he totally outclassed John Swofford and Mike Tranghese.

Unfortunately, that doesn't earn style points in college athletics. Even so, Banowsky should be commended for not only his decorum, but also his ability to rally and mend together a league in which the synergy thus far has outweighed the perception.

"I got a lot of questions last year about the league and the realigned league and all of those issues," Banowsky said not long ago. "Now the focus is on the seasons, the teams, and the coaches — where it should be. My sense is that this is a very stable group of universities."

For the time being, that definitely seems to be the case. Apparently Banowsky has a clue about his profession after all.