From the interwebs................................
</p>
Southern Miss willing and able to take advantage of realignment</p>
The Golden Eagles appear to be in a much better position for
inclusion in a 12-team Big East than once believed. Southern Miss
Director of Athletics
Richard Giannini is in a key position to help the Eagle cause. He holds
a seat on the prestigious Division I FBS Football Committee.</p>
“We’re on top of the situation,” he said in an exclusive interview with BigGoldNation.com.</p>
And while Giannini wouldn’t comment directly on the possibility of
Southern Miss making the move to the Big East it’s clear that he
believes the Eagles would be an attractive candidate for any league
considering expansion.</p>
“Southern Miss athletics has a lot of positive aspects to be proud
of and we will continue to work hard and our goal has always been to
play on the highest level of the FBS in football and our other sports,” he said.</p>
Southern Miss is in the middle of an athletic enhancement plan that
has seen more than $67 million dollars invested into athletic
facilities since 2000, and there are more plans on the way. Projects
funded include - an expanded M.M. Roberts Stadium, major renovations to
Reed Green Coliseum, enhancements to Pete Taylor Park and newly
constructed softball and tennis facilities.</p>
“Over the past ten years Southern Miss has invested more private
dollars into facilities than any other program in Conference USA,”
Giannini said. “We’re going to make sure that Southern Miss will
compete with the best and that our facilities are equal to anyone in
Division I athletics.”</p>
Inclusion in a BCS automatic bid conference would be a huge windfall
for Southern Miss who has historically ran one of the most cost
efficient athletic departments in the country. Fewer than one quarter
of <nobr style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: darkgreen;" id="itxt_nobr_18_0">NCAA
</nobr>
FBS programs operated in the black during the 2007-08 academic year.
The added revenue sharing from inclusion would nearly double the
Eagles’ athletic budget, and would help to level the playing field
in-state where the other major programs have long had inclusion.</p>
It is widely speculated that if the Big East were to move to a 12
team league that the divisions would be aligned into north and south
format. This could put the Eagles in a South division with programs
like - Louisville, South Florida and current C-USA rivals - East
Carolina, Memphis and UCF.</p>
If that were to happen Southern Miss would be able to retain long
standing rivalries with Memphis and East Carolina while re-igniting one
of the most heated rivalries in the program’s history - Louisville.</p>
The changes are likely to start a domino effect out west.</p>
“I think if the Big Ten makes a move, it will set off a series of
moves across the nation that will see leagues altered. The Pac-10
likely would add two teams to get to 12,” Dienhart said.</p>
At this point we can only speculate at how fast the changes will
come from the Big Ten, but regardless of when it happens, be it in the
next two weeks or two years, it’s apparent that Southern Miss is
working to insure that they are willing and able to take advantage of
any opportunity presented when these changes do come.</p>
</p>
Southern Miss willing and able to take advantage of realignment</p>
The Golden Eagles appear to be in a much better position for
inclusion in a 12-team Big East than once believed. Southern Miss
Director of Athletics
Richard Giannini is in a key position to help the Eagle cause. He holds
a seat on the prestigious Division I FBS Football Committee.</p>
“We’re on top of the situation,” he said in an exclusive interview with BigGoldNation.com.</p>
And while Giannini wouldn’t comment directly on the possibility of
Southern Miss making the move to the Big East it’s clear that he
believes the Eagles would be an attractive candidate for any league
considering expansion.</p>
“Southern Miss athletics has a lot of positive aspects to be proud
of and we will continue to work hard and our goal has always been to
play on the highest level of the FBS in football and our other sports,” he said.</p>
Southern Miss is in the middle of an athletic enhancement plan that
has seen more than $67 million dollars invested into athletic
facilities since 2000, and there are more plans on the way. Projects
funded include - an expanded M.M. Roberts Stadium, major renovations to
Reed Green Coliseum, enhancements to Pete Taylor Park and newly
constructed softball and tennis facilities.</p>
“Over the past ten years Southern Miss has invested more private
dollars into facilities than any other program in Conference USA,”
Giannini said. “We’re going to make sure that Southern Miss will
compete with the best and that our facilities are equal to anyone in
Division I athletics.”</p>
Inclusion in a BCS automatic bid conference would be a huge windfall
for Southern Miss who has historically ran one of the most cost
efficient athletic departments in the country. Fewer than one quarter
of <nobr style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: darkgreen;" id="itxt_nobr_18_0">NCAA
</nobr>FBS programs operated in the black during the 2007-08 academic year.
The added revenue sharing from inclusion would nearly double the
Eagles’ athletic budget, and would help to level the playing field
in-state where the other major programs have long had inclusion.</p>
It is widely speculated that if the Big East were to move to a 12
team league that the divisions would be aligned into north and south
format. This could put the Eagles in a South division with programs
like - Louisville, South Florida and current C-USA rivals - East
Carolina, Memphis and UCF.</p>
If that were to happen Southern Miss would be able to retain long
standing rivalries with Memphis and East Carolina while re-igniting one
of the most heated rivalries in the program’s history - Louisville.</p>
The changes are likely to start a domino effect out west.</p>
“I think if the Big Ten makes a move, it will set off a series of
moves across the nation that will see leagues altered. The Pac-10
likely would add two teams to get to 12,” Dienhart said.</p>
At this point we can only speculate at how fast the changes will
come from the Big Ten, but regardless of when it happens, be it in the
next two weeks or two years, it’s apparent that Southern Miss is
working to insure that they are willing and able to take advantage of
any opportunity presented when these changes do come.</p>
