The news raised Mike Hamrick's eyebrows.

When informed that the Orlando Sentinel newspaper recently published a list of the top 20 power brokers in Conference USA, Marshall's new athletic director was intrigued.

But when Hamrick learned that Marshall didn't have one single person make the list, he was appalled.

"Wow," said Hamrick.

Wow, indeed.

That discrepancy obviously needs to be rectified. And I know just the person to correct the problem.

Hamrick.

It's not in his job description, but raising Marshall's profile in Conference USA is indeed a significant part of Hamrick's new position.

"No question," said Hamrick, who was UNLV's athletic director in the Mountain West Conference before accepting his new post at Marshall on Monday. "I think I have to be visible. I think I have to be a strong advocate for Marshall.

"You know, in the Mountain West Conference I think if you called Craig Thompson, the commissioner -- and I'd welcome you to do that -- I think he would say that Mike Hamrick is a power broker in that conference."

I don't need to telephone Thompson.

Hamrick obviously was a power broker in the MWC.

The proof is in his accomplishments.

"We brought the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament -- it was taken away right before I got there -- back to Las Vegas," said Hamrick. "It went to Denver for three years. It went to a neutral court.

"Now, it's on UNLV's home court. We just got that contract extended for three more years.

"I represented the Mountain West Conference initially on the BCS Advisory Committee. I was on the NCAA Baseball Committee.

"So, you know. ..."

I know this.

Hamrick was indeed a power broker in the Mountain West Conference. Now, he needs to have that same presence in Conference USA for Marshall.

It is absolutely crucial to Herd athletics for Hamrick to join the Orlando newspaper's list. Here are the Sentinel's rankings:

No. 1 -- Britton Banowsky, Conference USA commissioner.

No. 2 -- John Hitt, UCF president.

No. 3 -- Bubba Cunningham, Tulsa athletic director.

No. 4 -- Skip Holtz, East Carolina head football coach.

No. 5 -- George O'Leary, UCF head football coach.

No. 6 -- Todd Graham, Tulsa head football coach.

No. 7 -- Terry Holland, East Carolina athletic director.

No. 8 -- Steve Orsini, SMU athletic director.

No. 9 -- R.C. Johnson, Memphis athletic director.

No. 10 -- Scott Cowen, Tulane president.

No. 11 -- Keith Tribble, UCF athletic director.

No. 12 -- David Bronczek, FedEx CEO and Memphis supporter.

No. 13 -- Richard Giannini, Southern Miss athletic director.

No. 14 -- June Jones, SMU head football coach.

No. 15 -- Bob Stull, UTEP athletic director.

No. 16 -- Ron Dowdy, Orlando-based developer who has donated multimillion-dollar contributions to East Carolina and UCF.

No. 17 -- Doug Wojcik, Tulsa men's basketball coach.

No. 18 -- Kevin Sumlin, Houston head football coach.

No. 19 -- Neil Callaway, UAB head football coach.

No. 20 -- Wayne Graham, Rice baseball coach.

Check the names of the schools that are represented on this list of C-USA power brokers. Every league member has at least one representative.

Except one.

Marshall.

That is Hamrick's cue.

"There's nobody who will push Marshall as hard as I will," he vowed.

That's imperative because Marshall desperately needs Hamrick to join the ranks of C-USA power brokers.

The sooner, the better.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.

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