The game would be in the footprint of Conference USA.

It was kind of a new thing to us, because in Conference USA we'd always been the underdogs. Then we were picked at the top of this conference. (The rough start) wasn't so much a letdown, but media-wise, we didn't meet expectations, or our team's.

We may have survived a little bit if we were in Conference USA with this team, but surviving in the Big East is another story. You have to grow up in a hurry. We are just not physically talented with out inexperience and youth.

I'm excited to see two of the best players in Conference USA history lining up against each other for the last time. They've gotten to know each other, and that's an extra piece of this. They get to line up against each other for the last time on national television.

Just to see them grow as a team, to join Conference USA, now in the Big East, it's great. To me, it's amazing they made a bowl game. To see where they are now, what they are doing.

There's going to be 8 to 10 teams eligible that are going to get left out under the new scenario. If you'd have stated you had to have a winning record, we wouldn't have increased any bowls because we were right at the edge.