Here is a look at the Southern Miss Conference USA Championship rings.
Front view of the Southern Miss C-USA championship rings
Side view of the Southern Miss C-USA championship rings
Pretty nice rings and maybe the “Final Ranking #19″ will get people to stop making fun of LSU for their #2 Nationally ring.
The rings will be given out to the players at a special fall ceremony.
[via @JeffHammondUSM | h/t @USMGoldenEagles]
Since Old Dominion is joining Conference USA for the 2015 season in football, lets take a look at their football facilities and team history.
The full name of the stadium is Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
The field is named after Alvan Herbert Foreman. Foreman was a board of trustees member who helped secure the funds for multiple athletic facilities at the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary — later renamed Old Dominion University.
The field was dedicated on October 3, 1936 during a 7-0 defeat to the University of Virginia.
The school played football from 1930-41, compiling a 62-19-4 record.
Football was abandoned after the 1941 season and did not return to ODU until 2009, when the school restarted the team as a FCS Independent.
While ODU did not have football from 1942-2008, Foreman Field did host a variety of football games.
The most well-known game is the Oyster Bowl. The Oyster Bowl was first played in 1946 and was played annually from 1948 till 1995, all at Foreman Field.
A postcard of the 1946 Osyter Bowl
The Oyster Bowl is sponsored by the Shriners of Norfolk’s Khedive Temple to benefit crippled children.
A fun fact from the Oyster Bowl is that in the 1977 game between East Carolina and William & Mary, former East Carolina coach Jim Johnson came out of the stands to tackle a William & Mary player about to score the game-winning touchdown.
Some alumni of the Oyster Bowl include Fran Tarkenton, Roger Staubach, and Don Meredith.
The Oyster Bowl was not played from 1996-1999 and was moved to Hampton, Virginia from 2000-2010. The game returned the Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium in 2011 when ODU hosted James Madison.
Other games played at Foreman Field include Washington Redskins pre-season games in the 1960′s, the semi-pro Norfolk Neptunes during the 1960′s and 1970′s and the Virginia Ambassadors of the World Football League in 1974.
In 1981, aluminum seats and Astro-turf were added, but not much else had changed at the stadium since being built in 1936.
Finally, in 2007, ODU announced the return of their football program. They quickly began a massive $24.8 million remodeling project to Foreman Field.
The name of the stadium was also changed to Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium after S.B. Ballard Construction gave $2.5 million toward the project.
The construction added a really nice building in the end zone called the Ainslie Football Complex. The Ainslie building houses game day suites and concessions. They also added a new plaza entrance, called the Alcaraz-Weinstein Family Plaza.
The Ainslie Football Complex features 26 luxury suites, 390 loge seats and 100 mini boxes. Twelve of the suites have private patios overlooking the south plaza.
The project also brought the current seating capacity to 19,818.
It is being reported today that their are plans to further increase the seating at S.B. Ballard Stadium. Here is a rendering of the proposed changes.
A model of the proposed changes to Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium
I have been told that expected capacity will be around 40,000.
Meanwhile, ODU played the 2011 season, and will play the 2012 season, as a member of the Colonial Athletic Conference. In 2013 and 2014, ODU will begin the two year process of re-classifying from FCS to FBS before they join Conference USA as a full, bowl eligible football member in 2015.
[model photo via @KirkNawrotzky]
[post card photo via wikipedia.com]
[all other photos via ODUsports.com]
The day is finally here and Old Dominion and Conference USA have announced their official union starting for the 2013-14 season (football in 2015).
Here is the full press release from C-USA:
IRVING, Texas – Conference USA has entered into a membership agreement with Old Dominion University beginning in July 2013, Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today.
“We are extremely pleased to add Old Dominion to Conference USA,” Banowsky said. “They are a tremendous university with, not only a great tradition in athletics, but an extremely bright future. Their leadership team has a bold vision for the University, which fits well with our plan for the future of the Conference.”
2:30p ET/1:30p CT – Old Dominion’s LIVE Press Conference
Located in Norfolk, Va., Old Dominion features an enrollment of 24,753 students and sponsors 16 NCAA Division I sports. ODU will join Conference USA for all sports in 2013-14, with the exception of football, which will move up to the Football Bowl Series (FBS) level for conference competition in the 2015 season. The Old Dominion football program has sold out every game since the program was reinstated in 2009. The school is located in the No. 43 media market in the country. (More Info on Old Dominion)
Earlier this month, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte), Florida International University (FIU), Louisiana Tech University, University of North Texas and University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) finalized comprehensive membership agreements to begin competition in Conference USA for 2013 as well. Current C-USA members that will remain in the league in 2013-14 include East Carolina University, Marshall University, Rice University, University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University, The University of Tulsa, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). The metro area population of these 14 schools is nearly 19 million.
“Our new 14-member model will significantly expand the Conference’s market penetration and enable us to continue to stage our championship game,” Banowsky added. “Moreover, we will be able to compete in two divisions that are geographically balanced, fan-friendly and sensitive to the needs of our student-athletes.”
“The Presidents and Chancellors of Conference USA universities are pleased to include Old Dominion in our future plans,” said Dr. Scott Cowen, Tulane University president and Chair of Conference USA’s Board of Directors. “They possess all the attributes of a tremendous University and will make a great addition to our Conference. With the six new members in place, we are stable and poised for great things in the future.”
Watch the official announcement here at 2:30pm est.
[UPDATE]
It will cost ODU $2 million to join C-USA.
Also, here is a good story by Kyle Kensing (@Kensing45) with quotes from the ODU press conference.
Last night, Kyle Kensing (@kensing45) posted an article about how RowdyReport.com had broken the news that the University of Texas – San Antonio (UTSA) was likely to join Conference USA (C-USA) for the 2013 season. The story outlines the UTSA football program and how they have already grown a huge legion of fans.
Later in the evening, Kensing also posted on twitter that North Texas would also be voting this week to join C-USA.
Today, Brett McMurphy reported that FIU and Louisiana Tech were also expected to join C-USA. Those four teams would bring C-USA back up to 12 members for 2013 after they lose Houston, SMU, UCF and Memphis to the Big East.
UTSA would not owe their original target conference, the Western Athletic Conference, a buyout fee because they never officially started in the league. They would however owe C-USA a $2 million entrance fee, according to McMurphy.
North Texas and FIU would also be able to leave the Sun Belt conference without paying an exit fee.
In other conference re-alignment news, it also appears that Utah State and San Jose State with be joining the Mountain West conference for 2013.
For more news and details, here is the McMurphy story.
I find it interesting how the smaller conferences keep cannibalizing each other. There is sure to be even more movement when the WAC eventually folds from all of this and the MWC/C-USA merger is officially dead.
