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The domino theory

Recent conference shuffling across the nation could eventually affect the Missouri Valley, but league officials are not worried

The "Fab Five" may have captured the hearts of television audiences with their stylistic transformations, but they're not the only ones in recent months to snag headlines with makeovers.

The landscape of college sports is undergoing a major overhaul - at least 15 schools have announced they will relocate to new conferences by 2006 - and when all is said and done the fallout may dwarf any renovation the style aficionados of Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" could drum up.

The dominoes first began to fall last spring, when the Atlantic Coast Conference announced plans to add Big East Conference schools Miami (Fla.), Syracuse and Boston College to its ranks. After lengthy deliberation and negotiation, Miami and Virginia Tech joined the ACC on June 30. Boston College followed Oct. 12.

After losing three of its premier programs to the ACC, the Big East quickly sought to plug the holes in its roster. It pulled Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, DePaul and Marquette from Conference USA, which was already losing Army, a football-only member that had decided to once again become an independent.

Miami and Virginia Tech's inclusion into the ACC goes into effect in August 2004, and Boston College's entry date has yet to be announced. Temple, a football-only Big East member, will also be breaking its ties with the conference after the 2004 season. Connecticut, a football independent but Big East member in all other sports, has been tapped to fill the opening created by Temple's departure.

Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said the migration of three of the conference's most visible schools forced him into a difficult position, but he is hopeful the changes will benefit all those involved.

"I think we've bludgeoned ourselves pretty good the last six months," Tranghese told USA Today. "But if people want it to work, it'll have to work."

In October, C-USA followed the Big East's example, adding Marshall and Central Florida from the Mid-American Conference, and Rice, Southern Methodist and Tulsa from the Western Athletic Conference. The WAC quickly struck back, pulling New Mexico State and Utah Sate from the Sun Belt Conference, shrinking that lower-echelon conference's roster to six schools.

The MAC, meanwhile, still has 12 schools among its ranks -the minimum needed to maintain a football title game - and has announced no expansion plans.

But C-USA has not had that luxury. With five schools already departed, C-USA schools Charlotte and Saint Louis also jumped ship earlier this month, relocating to the Atlantic 10 Conference. And now C-USA member TCU is considering a move to the Mountain West Conference.

If TCU were to leave as has been rumored, that would leave the door open for C-USA to pursue other schools, possibly from mid-major conferences such as the Missouri Valley.

The MVC is no stranger to schools departing.

Tulsa was one of its preeminent programs in the mid-1990s, when its basketball team posted three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and back-to-back Sweet 16 berths. But the Golden Hurricane moved to the WAC after the 1995-96 campaign and went on to post five NCAA tournament appearances in seven seasons.

Tulsa Athletic Director Judy MacLeod, who was interim athletic director when her school left the MVC, said Tulsa's move to C-USA was designed to provide the team with a higher level of competition, much like its departure from the MVC seven years ago.

"Our decisions in both situations were based on what we felt was in our best interest from a competitive standpoint," MacLeod said. "We enjoyed our years in both conferences, but we felt it was time to move on."

MacLeod said she has yet to hear any mention of current MVC schools being targeted by C-USA, given that the addition of another school would put the conference at 14 teams, pending TCU's decision.

"At this point I haven't heard anything about them pursuing other schools," MacLeod said. "I think they've done a good job filling in the spots they lost to the Big East, but I'm not sure if they'd be looking for any others."

With its basketball team appearing in back-to-back NCAA tournaments, SIU would certainly be a prime candidate should C-USA come calling. But Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk said he doesn't envision SIU following in Tulsa's footsteps.

"We're very happy where we are right now," he said. "The Missouri Valley has a tremendous level of competition, but it just doesn't get the coverage that some other conferences do."

Another MVC basketball powerhouse that could possibly garner interest from other conferences is Creighton, a school that snagged headlines last year when its basketball team rose to No. 10 in the Associated Press poll. But Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen said he thinks his school's lack of a football program would be the deciding factor.

"My understanding is that Conference USA and those other conferences are looking for someone with a Division I-A football program," Rasmussen said. "We don't have one of those and neither does any other MVC school, so I don't see it being something that's very likely to happen."

Kowalczyk said that while he has heard talk of the MVC adding a team or two to its ranks, he doubts that C-USA is seriously considering adding an MVC school. The issue of conference realignment was on the tip of many tongues during October's MVC media day, Kowalczyk said, but the idea of a school exiting the conference is not a realistic one at this point.

"We discussed it briefly, but I haven't heard much about other conferences looking at our schools," Kowalczyk said. "The issue of the Missouri Valley expanding was brought up, but even that was very brief."

Despite the recent upheaval that has sent many conferences scrambling, MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin doesn't anticipate the fallout to impact his conference. With a lineup of 10 teams that has remained steady since Tulsa's exit, Elgin said the conference has little reason to worry.

And if an MVC school were to accept an offer from a higher-profile conference, Elgin said he wouldn't fill the vacancy.

"If a conference were to come in and take one of our schools, it wouldn't cause a panic," he said. "Ten is a good number that we're happy with, but I don't think we'd feel pressured to get back to that if a school were to leave."

For Rasmussen, a 10-school league doesn't hold any special significance, but he also doesn't see any rush for the MVC to expand.

"I don't think there's anything magical about the number 10," Rasmussen said. "I think you add when you can add strength, and I think right now we feel that we're strong. But you always have to be on the lookout."