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- TCU, SMU likely headed for C-USA
Commissioner expects both schools to play out
WAC contract's tenure
- By Matt Welnack and Matt Stiver
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- Staff reporters
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- TCU and SMU appear to be leaving for Conference USA after their Western
Athletic Conference contracts expire in two years.
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- WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said he is aware of conversations that
have taken place between the two schools and C-USA officials.
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- "It has probably reached a stage where there's a definite possibility,"
Benson told Houston television station KRIV Wednesday night.
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- C-USA, based in Chicago, is also expected to accept South Florida's
football team for the 2001 season, and with the addition of TCU and SMU,
it would give them a 12-team football league.
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- Chancellor Michael Ferrari and athletic director Eric Hyman could not
be reached for comment.
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- Based on the commissioner's conversations with both schools, Benson
said he believes if TCU and SMU were to join C-USA they would honor the
remaining portions of their WAC contract. However, Benson said he hopes
the two schools would make the decision that the WAC is in their long-term
interest.
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- Provost William Koehler said he believes TCU should explore their options.
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- "We are always going to look at opportunities and try to strengthen
the position of the university in a way that's in the (university's) long-term
best interest," Koehler said.
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- At a meeting of Conference USA presidents, ESPN.com reported Monday
that the green light had been given to expand the conference. The names
TCU and SMU have been thrown around as potential expansion candidates.
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- The next meeting of C-USA presidents will take place on October 11
in New York, but there is likely to be a conference call before then, according
to wire reports.
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- Seven schools play both football and basketball in C-USA, including
Tulane, Alabama- Birmingham, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis and
Southern Mississippi. Army and East Carolina are football-only schools
and DePaul, Marquette, St. Louis, North Carolina-Charlotte and South Florida
are basketball-only schools.
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- When told that Ferrari would consider a bid, TCU head basketball coach
Billy Tubbs said it was the best position.
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- "I think he's right on," Tubbs said. "I think anytime
you have an opportunity, you have to weigh all options. I think we would
have to consider it very heavily and then make the decision as to what's
best for the university and for all sports that we play."
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- Tubbs said in terms of the basketball team, he would have to evaluate
TCU'S prospects for success in Conference USA.
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- "Conference USA is a very good basketball conference," he
said. "In past RPI ratings, Conference USA has ranked higher than
the WAC.
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- "I just want to be in a conference where we have a realistic chance
to win championships. Right now, I think that the two programs that are
probably a little ahead of us in Conference USA that we would really need
to get online with are Cincinnati and Louisville. I think we're pretty
much on the same page with the rest of them. Cincinnati and Louisville
are a little ahead of us, but we can catch them."
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- Tubbs said he would be happy either way the university decided to go.
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- "If (Hyman) came to me and said we were moving, I would support
that," he said. "If he came to me and said we are staying in
the WAC, I would support that. I hope it's an option that's extended to
us."
- Frogs triumph over Bobcats
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- By Steven Baker
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- staff reporter
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- Four goals by four different players helped the TCU women's soccer
team to a 4-0 victory Wednesday over the Southwest Texas State Bobcats.
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- This is the first season for the Lady Bobcats, who could only manage
four shots-on-goal compared with TCU's 11. All of the goals were scored
in the first period of the game which, for the most part, was played on
the Bobcats' defensive side of the field.
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- TCU head coach David Rubinson said the team could have had more scoring
opportunities against the inexperienced Bobcats.
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- "Honestly, I think we played a team that wasn't quite as good,"
he said. "Everybody has to have a first year."
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- The Lady Bobcats only managed five shots in the whole game against
the TCU defense.
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- Rubinson said out of those five shots only one ball was in a dangerous
place on the field, because the defense played organized for most of the
game. However, the defense could have played better, he said.
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- "I thought we were a little bit lethargic and probably played
somewhat to the level of our competition," he said. "That was
one of the things that concerned us from the beginning."
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- On the other hand, TCU had 21 total shots in the game.
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- Freshman forward Jenn Coulson scored the first goal on a breakaway
in the 17th minute of the game off of an assist from sophomore midfielder
Tiffany Goetz. The goal came after two near misses and two wide shots by
TCU.
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- On the next goal, sophomore midfielder Jeanine Rogers scored on a header
in the 37th minute from a cornerkick by Coulson that flew over the heads
of charging defenders. Kristen Tutt, the lone Bobcat goalie for the game,
saved seven shots, but could not handle the onslaught of scoring chances
by the TCU offense.
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- "We were in the right spots at the right time," Rubinson
said.
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- Soon after the second goal, senior midfielder Allison Calleri scored
an unassisted goal when the defense over ran the ball. Calleri had a bad
angle on her first shot at the goal and the ball ricocheted off of Tutt's
shinguard. Then, Calleri made the goal-scoring play off the shinguard escalating
the score to 3-0.
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- Calleri has become a team leader on and off the field, Rubinson said.
She has always been an important part of the team, he said.
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- "Since the day Allison came to TCU, she has been one of our key
players," Rubinson said. I thought we struggled the first 20 minutes
of the game, but when she came on, she settled things immediately. You
could see a difference in our play."
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- Calleri said game experiences at TCU have prepared her for a leadership
role.
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- "Being here for four years gives me a little bit of an edge,"
she said. "I try to help the younger ones out a little bit."
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- The younger players made most of the plays in the game.
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- Sophomore midfielder Ali Schloegal scored the last goal of the night
off of a header assisted again by Coulson in the 43rd minute.
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- Rubinson said he feels good about the team and the young players, but
that they all still have room for improvement.
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- "Our younger players are very good," he said. "They
came to TCU to play soccer and not to sit on the bench."
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- TCU will play in the Baylor Bear Invitational in Waco this weekend.
Their first game is at 5 p.m. Friday against Louisiana State and then 1
p.m. Sunday against Baylor.
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- The team lost to Baylor last year, 1-5, and to LSU, 0-3.
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- Rubinson said they must defeat Baylor and LSU this year.
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- "We are a different team this year from what we were a year ago,"
he said. "I think we are much improved but this season will tell us
that."
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