rams80

No. It is madness to try and there will be one or more franchises that will not survive the transplant and need to move again if they do try. Metro Vegas is smaller than Portland, Pittsburgh, and Sacramento and slightly bigger than Austin, Cincinnati, and Kansas City. The smallest 4 sport market is Denver and they have like 700,000 more people than Vegas.

We've got maybe Charlotte and maybe Montreal east of the continental divide as "plausible" markets. I think MLB could brick those quite nicely if need be.

Fine, glorified D-III team that only plays at FCS because of NCAA rules. (and honestly Valpo football is bad even by Pioneer League standards).

Introducing the Beloit High-A Central Marlins.

Beerdrinkers is right there for a Lutheran school.

Valpo was almost bought by the Klan back in the twenties. Anything that's been appropriated by white nationalists over the last few years is out.

Also, Calgary torches every market they play in in 5 years or less. It's a cardinal rule.

If you're in the Pioneer League, you ain't gonna join a football league that claims to have FBS ambitions.

OK, UNLV isn't a draw in their own market and Colorado Springs isn't that big. They won't grow the pie at all.

LOL NO on Missouri Valley Football Conference.

UNLV football is a roaring trashfire and UNLV Men's basketball hasn't made the Dance since 2013 when really the last of Lon Kruger's recruits aged out; they are on their third coach since Kruger took the Oklahoma job. Air Force has been worse in basketball and mediocre in football.

Pretty sure all 4 California-based Pac 12 members would be no votes on that.

It turns out Peoria suspending operations may have been the correct call.

Chicago State bailed, they weren't kicked (although life in the Summit League was apparently too hard for them, which again raises serious questions about why you are in D-1 to begin with since the Summit League is the league teams fresh out of D-2 join.)

The athletes actually bolster enrollment.

Did USCe's arena ever replace the ice plant? IIRC that was what killed the Inferno before.

All built with taxpayer dollars. They ain't dropping football because the state lege will kill them.

NMSU stays up because Santa Fe is 4 hours away, on the wrong side of Albuquerque, and "NCAA Division I FBS" is about the only thing state legislators understand when they are being told that NMSU should get funding at least remotely in the ballpark with UNM and certainly better than Tech, Western, Eastern, and Highlands. The alumni and fanbase core alone are not enough, you need those political considerations. Re: C-USA: Team charters would have to fly into El Paso anyway to take the hour bus ride up to Las Cruces, so any NMSU bid would be predicated on a "travel partners" sales pitch with UTEP. Shame the schools are bitter rivals.

I'd say this, FCS is the endgame for revived WAC football. Not FBS.

Assuming BYU would be persuaded to abandon its "Mormon Notre Dame" model, their preferences would be as follows. 1. P5 conference 2. Returning to the MWC in everything, tail between their legs. (deliberately large gap) 3. Joining another football league, such as the WAC as presently or soon to be futurely constituted.

I'd say its less attendance and more facilities in general, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, and Abilene Christian have significantly larger football and basketball facilities than Incarnate Word and Houston Baptist.

Southland's shakier than you might think. Louisiana public higher ed is in BAD financial shape at the lower tiers; WAC might be a safer bet right now.

This. The only reason they are sticking it out is because the school (correctly) determined that the politicos 4+ hours away in Santa Fe understand NCAA FBS better than Carnegie R2 and Land Grant status when it comes to determining how much state aid they get.

Not as long as Jerry Falwell Jr. calls the shots; waaaay to many political liabilities, especially given his handling of COVID.