NEW NORTH ATLANTIC STRATEGIC ALLIANCE: AMERICA EAST

     In an attempt to enhance name ID, the North Atlantic
Conference will become AMERICA EAST. The conference also
announced an eight-game TV contract with Creative Sports
Marketing, a subsidiary of ESPN.  America East includes BU,
Drexel, Hofstra, Northeastern, Towson State, Delaware, Hartford,
Maine, UNH and Vermont.  The new logo was created by Drexel
swimmer Steven Burke (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/27).
     OTHER CHANGES:  Conference USA and Louisville settled a
dispute yesterday allowing invitations to be extended to East
Carolina and Army to join the conference as football-playing
members only.  According to the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, the new teams
will begin play in '97, with each conference team playing no more
than six league games in '97, '98 and '99 and no more than seven
starting in 2000.  Louisville had sought flexibility to schedule
more out-of-conference games.  The parties also agreed on an
automatic Liberty Bowl berth for the champion.  Louisville had
sought the rights to play in a "higher-level bowl" (CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER, 6/26).