Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409240045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Short
The presidents of the Division I-A schools will consider a merger of the Great Midwest and Metro conferences, as well as the formation of a breakaway conference consisting of those five schools and possibly Houston and East Carolina.
Tulane sources quoted by The Times-Picayune newspaper said the breakaway conference had the best chance of taking hold. The sources said some of the five schools would prefer a six-team conference, the minimum required by the NCAA, and adding only Houston.
Adding East Carolina and Alabama-Birmingham, which will play Division I-A football beginning in 1996, is a possibility, the newspaper said.
The six-team conference apparently would satisfy Louisville, where basketball coach Denny Crum has said he likes the small seven-team Metro Conference - which includes Virginia Tech for all sports but football - because it allows him to schedule big-name opponents in January and February for television.
It also would allow the Cardinals' football program to schedule six non-conference games.
The merger of the two conferences seems a long shot, the sources said. Also, a breakaway conference with basketball schools Marquette and St.Louis, said to be a possibility two weeks ago, appears to be dead.
by CNB