It’s not just Alabama and Auburn and Florida and Georgia and the rest of the rich, powerful Southeastern Conference that owes Mike Slive an enormous debt of gratitude upon his passing; it’s also not-so-rich, not-so-powerful programs such as UCF and USF.
You see, Slive, the influential and innovative former commissioner of the SEC who passed away earlier this week at the age of 77, didn’t just make a boatload of money for the big boys of college football; he also stood up for the little guys.
He was one of the founders and the first commissioner of Conference USA — a league that was formed, in essence, to give college football independents/indigents unity in numbers, visibility and, yes, a national TV contract.