Is it still a Media Day if there are more coaches there than media members?

That’s pretty much the way it shook out today at the Hilton East hotel. Unfortunately for the league, the showing for media day was pretty weak. The Commercial Appeal had three reporters there — myselff, Geoff Calkins and Jim Masilak — and there was a smattering of local TV and radio folks. A few out of town papers sent writers including the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the Birmingham News and the Tulsa World.

But that’s pretty much par for the course now in the new-look C-USA, which is the subject of my story in Friday’s paper. Obviously having Mike Davis and Matt Doherty at UAB and SMU, respectively, will be good for the league’s national image. But judging by the media day turnout, it’s pretty obvious that basketball interest isn’t that strong outside of the league’s flagship cities.

A couple interesting notes from today…

Houston coach Tom Penders is a riot. First, he tried to convince me that his team belonged in the NCAA Tournament last season. Sorry coach, but no. Then, he blasted away at a couple of the league’s weaker teams last year and said he had seen Boys Clubs that were better than Rice’s gym.

There was no formal announcement on the Memphis TV situation. But as I reported in Thursday’s paper, the deal to get six U of M games on CSS is done. The league will announce its entire regional TV package at a later date.

I talked with some CSTV officials, who said there were just a few more I’s to dot and T’s to cross before they anounce the move from a sports tier to digital basic. I’ve heard a few people ask whether CSTV will be on analog cable. It won’t, and here’s why: The FCC has mandated that all cable convert to digital by Feb. 2009. So in an effort to get more customers on digital, cable companies aren’t very likely to put new programming on analog.