August 24, 2004

TCU, Louisville want to leave C-USA with a bang

In a season of flux for nearly half of the members of Conference USA, two football schools fleeing the ship hope to claim the conference title before they slip into the night.

Louisville and TCU, both migrating in different directions next spring, are widely considered the top two contenders for this year's crown.

TCU, who will move to the Mountain West Conference, nearly busted the BCS last season, reaching 6th in the rankings at one point before a late season loss to Southern Miss derailed the train. TCU left the WAC just four seasons ago, and won the conference in it's last season as a member of that conference. It hopes to replicate that feat in 2004.

"Right now, we're going to take care of Conference USA and we're going to try to represent them in the best way," Patterson said. "That's the way we've always done things, and don't plan on changing."

Louisville is being promoted to BCS school status with it's move to the Big East.

Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino thinks his players will feed off of the inevitably angry away crowds the team will encounter this season.

"If this was not our last year, that would still be one of our goals," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "There might be some hostility in some of the crowds we go into ... I think the players feed off of that, get energy and excitement from it."

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