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Talking Bull: The "Left Behind Conference"

Life as a mid major is hard and sometimes you have to choose between bad and worse. Right now there are going to be a lot of schools making that choice.

Mid-Major Realignment: MWC, C-USA And A Whole New Worldwide Conference - SBNation.com
There's strength in numbers, or at least the Mountain West and Conference USA are hoping. They're now working on a whole new conference. Check back here for the latest college conference realignment news.

The alliance, as it is, makes a bit of sense for the teams in the Mountain West and in Conference USA. It's a bit of a big footprint but they do meet each others immediate needs. They will not be pulling in as much per school as they have been. Two small gutted conferences do not replace what either has lost.

But now the talk is inviting up to six new teams. Including FIU, Utah, ...

For any WAC teams added you can make the case that the LBC might be better than the WAC. It's debatable now that the WAC has reloaded with some new schools but the Sun Belt and FIU? The Belt is finding its feet, they are starting to put together enough power to get teams ranked (has not happened yet but they are oh so close).

The Belt also has what the MAC has, stability and a pretty common institutional vision.

There is nothing holding the new alliance together other than the potential of maintaining their TV deals. But for teams in the MAC, or the Belt, is another 500 to one million worth the travel? Do you want to be in a conference where you wont play certain teams, ever, unless you both reach the championship?

UB Starts Looking for a new, short term, AD

AD leaves blueprint for success - Bob DiCesare - The Buffalo News
UB has interviewed four people within his administration as interim replacements: John Lambert, senior associate AD/development; Anucha Browne Sanders, senior associate AD/marketing; Doug Gnodtke, associate AD/internal operations and Paul Vecchio, senior associate AD/communication and sports administration. Of them, only Browne Sanders would be considered a surprise replacement while the national search unfolds. The only pressing issue in the near future concerns women's basketball coach Linda Hill-MacDonald and a contract set to expire this season.

Bulls at Kent Tonight

UB’s True Season Starts Tuesday at Kent State
By now, people in Buffalo are starting to take notice that this year’s UB basketball squad is quite talented.

Bulls take streak on road - Niagara Men's Basketball - The Buffalo News
Buffalo's four-game MAC road winning streak is its longest since joining the conference. The Bulls won the previous meeting with the Golden Flash, 66-65, at Alumni Arena on Jan. 7. Javon McCrea led the Bulls with 25 points and six rebounds. Kent State leads the all-time series, 25-8.

MAC power poll update from MRO

MRO: MAC Power Check - Feb. 13 | Basketball
UB isn't getting a whole lot of respect. I suspect that's because the Bulls have faded late in the season in past years. I don't think that will happen this year. They get three games at home. They're 37th in the country in experience. The time is now for Reggie Witherspoon and True Blue. Plus -- and nobody else can say this -- they have a chance of earning a season sweep of Akron. The two-headed monster of Mitchell Watt and Javon McCrea has proven too much for the rest of the MAC to handle, making up for Zach Filzen's struggles. The interior dominance has now opened up the outside game; UB is tied for second in three-pointers made