However, those other five conferences, Mountain West, WAC, MAC, Sun Belt and Conference USA that are not automatic qualifiers in the BCS are fighting them and each other for attention and respect. Two of those that are known regionally, SBC and C-USA are facing each other in three key match ups this weekend, including Middle Tennessee hosting in-state rival Memphis.

Both conferences have been around for a very short time and each of them have had some turnover in terms of schools coming and going. Conference USA was formed a few years before its rival SBC, so they got the jump in terms of national television exposure and bowl berths. At the same time, the SBC is in the middle of its 11^th season of Division I football.

Also, the SBC has had a longer shelf life as a basketball conference, just over 30 years, but I will stick with the comparison of the two conferences in terms of only football.

Most national experts believe that the two conferences are down at the bottom of the peaking order in the Football Bowl Subdivision. However, both coaches and players believe that both conferences are getting better in all aspects of the sport. They are getting better players, more television exposure and increased bowl berths.

Some of the schools in both leagues overlap each other in location like in these three games between the two conferences on Saturday: Memphis at MTSU, North Texas at Tulsa and UAB at Troy. So, there is a little more added importance to these non-conference games then say SBC against the Big Ten. For example, these games will give these schools a chance to show recruits, who is the better conference. So far this season, the SBC is 2-1 against C-USA, which including Arkansas State beating Memphis and Florida International defeating UCF. C-USA member Houston knocked off North Texas earlier this season.

MTSU coach Rick Stockstill knows that these are important games as he stated during the weekly press conference on Tuesday. “It’s important, especially when you are playing comparable conferences. There is a little bit more of a rivalry and intensity with Conference USA.”

Since 2005, SBC has a better winning percentage in bowl games than C-USA, 55 percent to 40 percent however C-USA has played in more bowl games than the SBC. Last year, three SBC teams qualified for bowl games for the first time in conference history and went 2-1, including wins by Troy in the New Orleans Bowl and Florida International in the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit. This year, the SBC has automatic berths in the New Orleans Bowl Dec. 17, which includes a match up against C-USA and the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on Jan. 8.

The C-USA went 2-4 in bowl games last season, and this year they have six automatic berths and one secondary spot. Those six include the Library, Hawaii, Armed Forces, and the previously mentioned New Orleans against the SBC in which the series between the two conferences in the bowl is tied at four, St. Petersburg and the Ticket City Bowl in Dallas. The one secondary tie-in is the Military in Washington D.C.

As for the national television exposure, the SBC just extended its deal with long-time partner ESPN, in which calls for more football games on ESPN’s family of networks. At the same time, C-USA is in the first year of a contract with Fox Sports, in which most of its games will be shown on its family of stations. They also have a contract with the CBS Sports Network and the conference title game will be shown on ESPN2 on Dec. 3. Also, both conferences have a deal with regional cable channel, CSS.

This weekend’s triple play of games between the two conferences will go a long way in maybe figuring out who is the better conference regionally and who might make that next step in terms of exposure and recruiting.

“The creditability of our league has gained on a national scale, and that’s helped close the gap,” Stockstill said.