Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[Geoff]

Invites went out.

 

 

[GDAWG]

On 11/3/2021 at 7:41 PM, Geoff said:

Invites went out.

 

 

 

Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas would have to expand to at least 15,000.  They are currently at 12,600.  I think though that Sam Houston State would want to get to 30,000 in order to host games against FBS schools with large alumni in the area.  If they ever play host to Baylor, Houston or Texas Tech, their alumni bases could be big enough that 15,000 would be too small.

[heavybass]

Virginia's General Assembly has unanimously approved the jump of James Madison to FBS... the move's going to be announced soon.... James Madison will be in the Sun Belt today.

[heavybass]

James Madison accepts Sun Belt invite, CUSA officially adds Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston and Jacksonville State to bring that league up to 9 (for now)

[Burmy]

Middle Tennessee has announced that they're staying in C-USA.

[Red Wolf]

Quote

With the addition of four new members, C-USA offers a strong footprint in the South and Southwest, providing opportunities to develop new regional rivalries, while staying connected to traditional opponents that our fans want.

 

Not that Middle had great options here, but it's worth pointing out that FIU, NMSU, and UTEP are all further away from them than literally every single MAC school. Regional is definitely not the term I would use here.

[sportsfan7]

I think this is the right move. MTSU has always been more of a Southern team than Midwestern, but more importantly, they're about to get the combined exit and entrance fees (which I heard is $18 mil split 5 ways, but we be around $19.5/4 if WKU leaves). Also the awful C-USA TV deal is up in 23. If things don't get better then, it might be worth re-exploring the MAC. If WKU wants to join now, I don't really see many options. I'm not sure that WKU would want to move up in tandem with EKU, thus giving them greater legitimacy, and I think the same logic applies to the Ohio schools (specifically Akron and Kent St) with Youngstown. I suppose Ill St, Ind St, and So Ill might be more palatable options, but I'm not sure if they have the means and desire to move up

[Germanshepherd]

Good. MACtion is a sacred thing, and I don’t like it being :censored:ed with too much. 

[Burmy]

McNeese is staying in the Southland for now...they still want to move up to FBS someday, and the Southland has said that, when they do, it won't cost 'em a penny to leave.

[Red Wolf]

7 hours ago, Germanshepherd said:

Good. MACtion is a sacred thing, and I don’t like it being :censored:ed with too much. 

 

WKU and MTSU wouldn't stop Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday night football from happening. Not sure what else about MACtion would be sacred.

 

6 hours ago, Burmy said:

McNeese is staying in the Southland for now...they still want to move up to FBS someday, and the Southland has said that, when they do, it won't cost 'em a penny to leave.

 

McNeese moving up to FBS seems like a longshot to me. Louisiana schools are constantly trying to stave off financial crises.

[Germanshepherd]

I’m just so used to MACtion being the Ohio/Michigan schools and ol’ Buffalo that adding new teams into the mix wouldn’t feel right. Ticky-tack I know, but I love the MAC as constructed for making my weeknights better for years, and Akron/MTSU wouldn’t slap the way Akron/Ball State does. I know it’d be a smart move for the conference and it’s only two new things but nostalgia’s a hell of a drug. 

[Burmy]

And sure enough, Western Kentucky's staying in C-USA too.

I think the MAC is as perfect a conference as it is right now...they can look to expansion if any teams leave (e.g., my proposed scenario of Buffalo and/or Northern Illinois joining the American)

[Seadragon76]

Those two schools staying were very, very important for Conference USA. It gives them seven FBS level schools in 2023, so they may need to throw a football only invite to UConn in order to satisfy the requirements while Sam Houston and Jacksonville State make the move up, which is a two year process.

 

For McNeese State, their decision to stay in the Southland is very important as well because they're in danger of going extinct if the WAC, for example, decided to snatch another school from there. Getting Texas A&M-Commerce helps a small bit, but they need more schools to join. UT-Arlington and Little Rock would be great options for them since I do believe that the FCS only requires six teams minimum for football.

[Red Comet]

1 hour ago, Seadragon76 said:

UT-Arlington and Little Rock would be great options for them since I do believe that the FCS only requires six teams minimum for football.

Neither of those schools have football teams, though. They’d have to raid some other schools. 

[Burmy]

7 hours ago, Red Comet said:

Neither of those schools have football teams, though. They’d have to raid some other schools. 

I think both schools are in good position to add football soon...they won't even have to build a new stadium. (UTA can use Globe Life Park, Little Rock can use War Memorial Stadium)

[Red Wolf]

1 minute ago, Burmy said:

I think both schools are in good position to add football soon...they won't even have to build a new stadium. (UTA can use Globe Life Park, Little Rock can use War Memorial Stadium)

 

UTA's said they have no intention of adding football until they get their other sports better funded. Little Rock football ain't happening, no way no how. LR doesn't even sponsor the Sun Belt's minimum of sports. I made a long post about Little Rock a while back so I'll just quote that here if you want a little more detail.

 

  

On 9/20/2021 at 4:13 PM, Red Wolf said:

 

Finally, a topic I have some knowledge on where I don't have to recklessly speculate. Little Rock football ain't happening. When the Razorbacks were pushing harder to get out of playing games at War Memorial, the city and the state parks department were worried about all of the lost revenue and decided to push for UA-Little Rock to finally start football.

 

The university wasn't super interested, but the parks department and the city agreed to pay 2/3 of a feasibility study. The results? Real bad. For one, the amount of donors who said they would give for football was super low, which is saying something since people will usually pretend they'll give money until they actually have to. I suspect this is because most of Little Rock's donors are already big Razorback football fans, as evidenced by the license plates one sees when walking through the donor lot at basketball games.

 

The study also said that if they did start football, it would be best to be an FCS (specifically in the Ohio Valley I believe was the suggestion) as that would be more in line with Little Rock's budget. They would have also needed to increase the student athletic fee which was (is?) already the highest in the state. If I recall correctly, I believe it was the same amount that UTSA increased to when they started football. Also worth pointing out that UA-Little Rock has really struggled with enrollment lately, partially because UCA, just 30 minutes up the road, has become a much more attractive option for a lot prospective students.

 

 

 

[GDAWG]

6 hours ago, Burmy said:

I think both schools are in good position to add football soon...they won't even have to build a new stadium. (UTA can use Globe Life Park, Little Rock can use War Memorial Stadium)

 

UTA Football isn't happening anytime soon, so Globe Life Park will be used for North Texas SC (FC Dallas' developmental team) and Arlington ISD.  

[sportsfan7]

16 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

Those two schools staying were very, very important for Conference USA. It gives them seven FBS level schools in 2023, so they may need to throw a football only invite to UConn in order to satisfy the requirements while Sam Houston and Jacksonville State make the move up, which is a two year process.

 

For McNeese State, their decision to stay in the Southland is very important as well because they're in danger of going extinct if the WAC, for example, decided to snatch another school from there. Getting Texas A&M-Commerce helps a small bit, but they need more schools to join. UT-Arlington and Little Rock would be great options for them since I do believe that the FCS only requires six teams minimum for football.

There's a 2-yr grace period when conferences drop below 8 FBS teams

 

I feel confident in saying that aTm-Commerce isn't the last Lone Star Conference school that the Southland will add. I believe an earlier poster mentioned aTm Int'l, aTm-Kingsville, UTPB, and Midwestern St as potential targets, I would also add DBU, Angelo St, and West aTM to that list, although Int'l and DBU don't have fb (and DBU also doesn't have wbb)

[Geoff]

21 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

Those two schools staying were very, very important for Conference USA. It gives them seven FBS level schools in 2023, so they may need to throw a football only invite to UConn in order to satisfy the requirements while Sam Houston and Jacksonville State make the move up, which is a two year process.

 

For McNeese State, their decision to stay in the Southland is very important as well because they're in danger of going extinct if the WAC, for example, decided to snatch another school from there. Getting Texas A&M-Commerce helps a small bit, but they need more schools to join. UT-Arlington and Little Rock would be great options for them since I do believe that the FCS only requires six teams minimum for football.

WKU and MTSU actually gives CUSA nine teams, not seven. They would have been at seven had MTSU not killed the move to the MAC. The MAC was only taking the package deal, not separate pieces. 

 

WKU, MTSU, UTEP, LTU, and FIU plus the newbies equals nine.

 

I'm still not sure why CUSA didn't add more. EKU has been wanting to get to the FBS for years now so I'd imagine it's a slowplay on the conference's part. SEMO seemed to pull themselves out of the running.

 

I know CUSA actually stands to potentially get better candidates if they wait a little bit but there's growing consensus that the new NCAA constitution will make the reclassification process more difficult. If I have short-term goals of being FBS, I'm jumping now if I can.

[Seadragon76]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

WKU and MTSU actually gives CUSA nine teams, not seven. They would have been at seven had MTSU not killed the move to the MAC. The MAC was only taking the package deal, not separate pieces. 

 

WKU, MTSU, UTEP, LTU, and FIU plus the newbies equals nine.

 

I'm still not sure why CUSA didn't add more. EKU has been wanting to get to the FBS for years now so I'd imagine it's a slowplay on the conference's part. SEMO seemed to pull themselves out of the running.

 

I know CUSA actually stands to potentially get better candidates if they wait a little bit but there's growing consensus that the new NCAA constitution will make the reclassification process more difficult. If I have short-term goals of being FBS, I'm jumping now if I can.

 

I say seven because while Liberty and New Mexico State are FBS teams, Sam Houston and Jacksonville State aren't. They'll more then likely start the process of becoming an FBS member next season with the 2023 campaign being the second year. This means that C-USA would have seven full time FBS schools in the conference.

 

When 2024 comes around, then they'll have nine teams because those two teams will now be fully fledged FBS schools.