Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[MJWalker45]

21 hours ago, rams80 said:

If C-USA  dies UTEP is getting WACrificed.

I could see a UTSA vs UTEP rivalry being enough to bring them into the American. 

 

[rams80]

You don't seem to understand how rivalries work at the G5 level; unless you need them as a travel partner (which LOL San Antonio and El Paso ain't) your goal is to keep your rival down below you.

[CrimsonBull9584]

54 minutes ago, rams80 said:

You don't seem to understand how rivalries work at the G5 level; unless you need them as a travel partner (which LOL San Antonio and El Paso ain't) your goal is to keep your rival down below you.

 

From an administrative point-of-view, I don't think that's how it works.

[rams80]

....and that's why Memphis found an equally good conference home as Louisville and Cincinnati.

 

Setting aside UTEP's general athletic ineptitude and isolation in the last decade, why should UTSA help them out as "rivals"?

[sportsfan7]

5 minutes ago, rams80 said:

....and that's why Memphis found an equally good conference home as Louisville and Cincinnati.

 

Setting aside UTEP's general athletic ineptitude and isolation in the last decade, why should UTSA help them out as "rivals"?

The only reason I can think of is that they are part of the same system. UTSA may be "forced", either by the UT Board of Regents or the TX Leg to at least make an effort at securing UTEP a place in the American. Do I think that is likely? No

[Seadragon76]

UTEP and Louisiana Tech might be better off in the WAC. My case is pretty simple - things have changed for the better in the 16-25 years since both schools were there. The conference is more based in the Southwest now and the football side of things is looking to reach the FBS level in 10-15 years. Adding in UTEP and Louisiana Tech could speed the process along since there is already a D-I school in New Mexico State and, if you want to be technical, Lamar would be FBS ready (one of the rules is having at least 15,000 seats in their stadium. The Cardinals have 16,000). It might take time, but you could see an 11 team WAC in the FBS by 2035 if it all works out.

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, rams80 said:

You don't seem to understand how rivalries work at the G5 level; unless you need them as a travel partner (which LOL San Antonio and El Paso ain't) your goal is to keep your rival down below you.

UTSA's biggest rival is Texas State. They're already below them. They'd rather play them every year, but that's not happening until they're in the same league.

[Red Wolf]

On 10/28/2021 at 3:34 PM, Dilbert said:

If CUSA dont raid the FCS then Id expect MTSU and WKU go to the MAC,  LA Tech and FIU to the Sun Belt and UTEP to either the MTN West, American or be forced to go independent. UTEP has said they will be in a conference, the MTN West said they dont want them and the American is trending toward a western footprint but also has a footprint up to Philadelphia so having a team far away from everybody isnt out of the question.

 

If those were going to happen they would have happened. Louisiana Tech is redundant as there's already a northern Louisiana school in the Sun Belt. In an alternate universe, Louisiana Tech is already in the Belt in place of ULM, but they balked and went to the WAC instead so that they could spend all of their money on travel expenses. Would be fitting for them to end up there again.

 

A large part of the appeal of the Sun Belt as it's being constructed is that it's geographically sound and made up of like-minded schools. They're all public universities, mostly in college towns, with an emphasis on football. Texas State is already a bit of a geographic outlier, but nothing like UTEP, and Miami is further from its closest potential opponent than San Marcos is.

 

As somebody who has been watching Sun Belt football since its inception, it's really weird to see how far the conference has come. The first ever champion had a losing record. We've outlived the old WAC, and now we're killing Conference USA, and schools actually want to be here.

[sportsfan7]

2 hours ago, Red Wolf said:

On 10/28/2021 at 3:34 PM, Dilbert said:

If CUSA dont raid the FCS then Id expect MTSU and WKU go to the MAC,  LA Tech and FIU to the Sun Belt and UTEP to either the MTN West, American or be forced to go independent. UTEP has said they will be in a conference, the MTN West said they dont want them and the American is trending toward a western footprint but also has a footprint up to Philadelphia so having a team far away from everybody isnt out of the question.

 

If those were going to happen they would have happened. Louisiana Tech is redundant as there's already a northern Louisiana school in the Sun Belt. In an alternate universe, Louisiana Tech is already in the Belt in place of ULM, but they balked and went to the WAC instead so that they could spend all of their money on travel expenses. Would be fitting for them to end up there again.

 

A large part of the appeal of the Sun Belt as it's being constructed is that it's geographically sound and made up of like-minded schools. They're all public universities, mostly in college towns, with an emphasis on football. Texas State is already a bit of a geographic outlier, but nothing like UTEP, and Miami is further from its closest potential opponent than San Marcos is.

Yeah I would expect Tech to go to the WAC with UTEP and NMSU and for FIU to wind up as an independent

[GDAWG]

 

[Burmy]

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

Not only would these be solid expansions of the conference footprint (making them virtually the FBS equivalent of the Ohio Valley), but it could be necessary to stabilize their numbers...should Memphis and some other American schools go to the Big 12, I still see the American picking up Buffalo and Northern Illinois.

[Geoff]

The AAC isn't picking off Buffalo unless there's another viable option in the NE. Temple is a geographic outlier and needs some neighbors.

[rams80]

Also the OVC is presently lying on the ground gutted and gasping.

[heavybass]

 

[TBGKon]

As rumored for the MAC.  For CUSA, I know it's lucrative to fight to stay alive but when you're options are Liberty and New Mexico State (and maybe UConn), whats the point?  It's probably best to go independent at least for the short term in football (we all know there are probably more moves happening in a few years) and find a non football home for the rest of the sports.  FIU could go ASun, LA Tech maybe to Southland or WAC, and UTEP to WAC. 

 

The non-football arrangements could even be as an associate member level, but I dont know how those arrangements work.

[Red Wolf]

C-USA is clearly no longer a viable FBS entity, but the one thing I would point out is that they still have an NCAA auto-bid for basketball, and should have some money from all of these exit fees, though those always seem to be negotiated down. So there's still something there, even if it isn't much. Little Rock and UTA need homes now, and that gets you to five. They could probably grab WAC or ASUN schools, or if nothing else grab those left behind in the Southland during that exodus. Obviously doesn't save the football side of things, but it could keep the conference alive.

 

This is all assuming MTSU and WKU are gone. If not, it's a little easier to keep the conference alive even if they're still not an FBS league.

[nickp91]

Last one out of the Conference USA office, turn out the lights. What a terrific hoops and baseball conference back in the 90’s and early 00’s

[4_tattoos]

7 hours ago, TBGKon said:

It's probably best to go independent at least for the short term in football (we all know there are probably more moves happening in a few years) and find a non football home for the rest of the sports

Does FBS allow Independent programs to have scheduling agreements with conferences? In Division 2 football UNC Pembroke had such an agreement with the South Atlantic Conference.

 

Don't know/understand the exact definition of it, but pretty much UNC Pembroke would play most of it's schedule against SAC teams, while not being a member of the conference.

 

Hmmm... Now that I've typed that out, it seems very similar (if not the exact same thing) to what Notre Dame does with the ACC. So would any of the remaining mid major conferences potentially do something like that with Liberty, New Mexico State or UConn? If for no other reason than to fill out some of the members out of conference schedule.

[rams80]

 

Anyway for use in a few years I invite everyone to consider the story of the scorpion and the frog.

[LMU]

If anything I could foresee a WAC/CUSA merger down the road.  Both conferences are having to dredge up FCS programs and CUSA is going to be gobbling up the programs that the WAC would be relying on for a football rebirth.

 

Of course, this is with the presumption that there's not more hemorrhaging by, for instance, UTEP somehow getting a MWC life preserver thrown to them.