[TH Spangler]

Maybe a big announcement in April?

http://mobile.al.com/advbirm/pm_29180/c ... d=lobwldC8

Liberty is in the process of moving to Division I-A after years in I-AA.

"They're negotiating conferences and they'll announce that in April," Smith said. "They want to build a tradition there.

[Sly Fox]

Longtime WAC commissioner Karl Benson was just introduced as the nww Sun Belt commish effective 4/1/12.

This is a very interesting development for us to watch for a number of reasons.

[LUconn]

everywhere like, such as?

[bradyfan]

Longtime WAC commissioner Karl Benson was just introduced as the nww Sun Belt commish effective 4/1/12.

This is a very interesting development for us to watch for a number of reasons.

This is definitely intriguing. Can you give us some of the reasons? I wasn't aware that Benson could could effect our future.

[4everfsu]

The sun belt conference is looking to expand...

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... -expansion

[NotAJerry]

Longtime WAC commissioner Karl Benson was just introduced as the nww Sun Belt commish effective 4/1/12.

This is a very interesting development for us to watch for a number of reasons.

Hmm...does this mean a WAC/Sun Belt deal like the MWC/C-USA merger? If so, there's still plenty of spots open depending on how big they want to go. This just furthers my thought that we'll be a Sun Belt team by 2013.

And as I press submit, there's the story of the Sun Belt wanting to expand. LU/App St. moving up soon?

[jcmanson]

Benson has never shied from looking to the FCS for expansion

[Kricket]

The Sun Belt sort of seems like the logical next step for LU, although I'm sure most would prefer "Mount USA".

[LUGrad2000]

If North Texas, FIU, and FAU bolt for the Mountain USA:
NEW Sun Belt:
Ark. St.
Midd. Tenn.
West. Kentucky
Louisiana here
Louisiana there
South Alabama
Troy They are down to 7

ADD 5 to get to twelve:]
1. Georgia State (A sleeping GIANT)
2. Appalachian State
3. LA Tech (no brainer) if they don't go Mount USA
4. JMUor UNCC
5. Liberty

That would be a decent conference in a few years.

[TH Spangler]

Benson also expanded upon the idea of a geographical footprint within his conference using the recently announced merger of the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA as an example of what he wants the SBC to avoid, "I think when you look at joining of the MWC and C-USA and the geography that forces teams to cover, that was not the original idea that conferences have been about," said Benson. He added that teams the conference might be interested in must be the "right fit" saying that location of the teams in proximity to others in the conference was one of the most important factors.

http://www.kait8.com/story/16953195/ben ... a-priority

"The current footprint of the Sun Belt is very conducive," Benson said in reference to the league's geographic location. "There is a pool of possible members that are already in that footprint, both current FCS members and FCS members that have indicated the desire to move up to the FBS.

http://www.theind.com/indextra/9917-wac ... lt-commish

the Sun Belt's relative stability is something the WAC can't offer. And that, in this era of volatility, is a critical quality for a school still building a program.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/coll ... z1me4a5sA2

Current Sun Belt schools Florida International, Florida Atlantic and North Texas have been mentioned as targets for recently merged Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference in their effort to add more attractive TV markets.
But Benson, who has been commissioner of the WAC since 1994, said that maintaining a presence in Florida and Texas is important and that the conference will be in conversations with unnamed C-USA members about moving to the Sun Belt.
The appeal would be to allow those schools to remain in a more logical geographic footprint while enabling the Sun Belt to get to at least 12 football-playing members, three more than it has now.

http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/20 ... to_wo.html

[ATrain]

Benson has never shied from looking to the FCS for expansion

Exactly, see soon-to-be WAC members UT-San Antonio and Texas State.

[Sly Fox]

Interestingly enough, those two schools may be at the top of the Sun Belt wish list along with Louisiana Tech (who has consistently told them no for years).

If those two schools were to bolt to the Sunbelt or Mountain USA as expected, the WAC would have to get seriously creative or go out of business.

Let's just hope KK doesn't apply for that vacant WAC commish gig.

[Sly Fox]

GSU to Sun Belt? Not yet
2:11 pm February 17, 2012, by Doug Roberson

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said Georgia State is on his conference’s radar screen regarding expansion. Speaking to Tony Barnhart and Wes Durham on 790AM, Benson said that he “is aware of Georgia State and UNC-Charlotte, as they’ve already made the decision to go FBS.”

Here's the best intel from the story ...

Benson, who was introduced as Sun Belt Commissioner on Thursday after many years leading the Western Athletic Conference, told the “Barnhart and Durham” show that the conference’s priority would be adding an existing FBS members. If they can’t lure existing FBS members, they could turn their attention to schools with FBS aspirations, such as Georgia State and Charlotte.

Click Here for Full Story

In other words, Benson is focused first & foremost on trying lure La Tech, UAB & Southern Miss over to the Sun Belt.

Now let's look at what is left of the WAC heading into 2012 football ...

• Idaho
  Louisiana Tech
  New Mexico State
  San Jose State
  Texas State
  UTSA
  Utah State

La Tech is generally believed to be gone to either MWCUSA or Sun Belt. They have zero interest in what is left of the WAC. Utah State is considered the prime target of MWCUSA in the west. UTSA & Texas State are also considered fairly likely candidates for MWCUSA. In other words, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that the WAC could be left with three football members in the coming weeks ... Idaho, NM State & San Jose State. The league would also have non-football members Boise State, Denver, Seattle & UT-Arlington. Let that sink in for a moment.

In other words, whoever the new WAC commish turns out to be will have some serious challenges to manage. The concept that has been discussed by me a number of times the past few years on here is that the WAC could potentially add an eastern division of FCS move-ups allowing those teams to maintain auto bids in non-football sports. That could buy the WAC some stability for a couple of years to find some new western allies before eastern schools break off to form their own new league. This plan would meet all of the ridiculous NCAA by-laws that currently stand in the way of a new eastern league being formed.

I have heard several folks the past couple of days talking about the Eastern schools buying C-USA's charter to move up together. The problem with this move is that C-USA & MWC dissolved themselves in order to release them from existing contracts in order to form a new league with more leverage for TV networks. In other words, C-USA & MWC will not exist as FBS leagues once this becomes effective at the end of the school year. Of course, the NCAA could grant some waivers like they have previously to the WAC to keep things alive.

Just some more food for thought as the plot thickens.

[PAmedic]

ugh. this crap all makes my head hurt. someone advise me when it's over so I know which conf to follow.

[ballah09]

Dennis Dodd has been predicting Liberty to Sun Belt on twitter.

and a couple insiders on scout said Liberty and App State are going to be in the Sun Belt. One of the posters was the same one who said Memphis to Big East (way before it happened) and said that Sun Belt reps and a couple school presidents toured Liberty and Appy. FWIW.

[Blessed1]

Dennis Dodd has been predicting Liberty to Sun Belt on twitter.

and a couple insiders on scout said Liberty and App State are going to be in the Sun Belt. One of the posters was the same one who said Memphis to Big East (way before it happened) and said that Sun Belt reps and a couple school presidents toured Liberty and Appy. FWIW.

I think you're referring to these tweets from Dodd...

@dennisdoddcbs

Sun Belt will not sit still. Georgia State, Jax State, Liberty, App State possibilities. Karl Benson already turning Sun

@dennisdoddcbs

Sun Belt fb possibilities: La Tech, Georgia State, Jax State, App State, Liberty. Predicting will not sit still under Benson.

[Sly Fox]

From the FAU beat writer ...

Sun Belt wants to keep Florida in its footprint

By Ted Hutton February 17, 2012 08:43 AM

Now that the Karl Benson news has had some time to digest, some more thoughts.

Just like Mitt Romney is using the word “conservative” in every sentence to try and convince GOP voters he is one, Benson used the word “footprint” over and over again on Thursday to make sure everyone knows the Belt has a nice one.

Once Denver is gone, the Belt will stretch from Texas to Florida to Kentucky and across just two time zones, which these days is a pretty tight boundary.

He pointed out that Spanning-The-Globe is a bad footprint, so spread out that it really doesn’t qualify as a footprint, but more of an amorphous blob.

Here is his interesting take ...

Prior to Benson taking over, I thought there was a 50-50 chance FAU might move out of the Belt. Now I would say there is a much greater chance they stay, and with Benson in charge, that could be the smart thing to do.

Click Here for Full Story

And this is a concept that intrigues me about the Sun Belt. If the league can keep one or both of the Florida schools in the fold, it is huge for television purposes and would give league members recruiting access to one of the most fertile grounds in America. The same can be said for hanging onto North Texas. There would be strong advantages for LU to be in a league based in the heart of the strongest regions for Evangelicals while working the recruiting trails from Dallas to Miami.

Then again, a 24-team MWCUSA would be awesome as well. Picture four 6-team divisions allowing regional rivalries to flourish while gaining strength in numbers nationally to gain more exposure. It would keep travel costs down while allowing us to have conference games in football every few years with teams like Air Force, Hawaii and Colorado State. And imagine the hoops fun with traditionally strong programs like Tulsa, UNLV, New Mexico, UAB & Southern Miss. And did I mention we'd likely be paired with ECU, Marshall and possibly Appy, Charlotte and Temple?

I would be ecstatic if we could land in the crazy big MWCUSA and thrilled with the Sun Belt. I'd even be pleased with the MAC even though to me it is a big step down from the first two mentioned. And I'd be jazzed with a marriage of convenience with the WAC that could be set up to create an Eastern league down the line.

The only thing that would leave me disappointed is if we get passed over and find ourselves still stuck in the Big South a few years down the road. Based on what I have learned, I find this scenario to be the least likely of all mentioned. The people who are making these decisions are having their eyes opened when they look at where we are now and where we are heading with shovels in the ground.

[TallyW]

From what I can read it seems that everyone knows some FCS schools will be involved at some point... and right now as I can understand it the big hurdle most schools will have is money. With LU's recent Moody's ratings and 200+ million raised... campus expansions, etc... JLFJR has made it known that money isn't going to be a problem in upgrading. I'm pretty confident that we're going to be getting some exciting news before too long.

I'd be good with all you mentioned Sly... I may be a homer... but I honestly feel like if we jump it makes sense for the blob of MountainUSA to look our way. Our ambitions are to be a school with 100k attending every year... I'm not sure how that's not attractive.

[Sly Fox]

It is not just the resources, Tally. It is the infrastructure we are putting into place that is knocking the socks off these league reps when they tour. In the realm of schools looking to slide into these FBS situations, we are a rare commodity that is well prepared to make the transition post haste without major adjustments. Many of the schools expressing an interest have major Title IX concerns and will have to add a slew of sports for FBS eligibility. Those concerns have already been addressed at LU.

[jinxy]

Sly, whats your gut feeling on where and when we land in a FBS conference. You always seem to pretty close with these things. Just wondering your thoughts.

[TallyW]

I guess when I spoke of money I was thinking facilities also....

The Title IX issue is a great point. I hadn't considered that.

Sly, do we have much chance at getting the invite from the newly merged USA conference? Do we offer anything that would make them step past raiding lower FBS teams to come grab us?

[Sly Fox]

Right now, I believe we have a legitimate shot at each of the leagues IF the MWC-CUSA merged league goes to 24 teams. If they choose to linger at a lower number, we likely would get squeezed out. The Sun Belt is a very real possibility as well but once again it will be determined by whether they choose to just go to 12 and if they lose a significant number of teams to the aforementioned MWC-CUSA venture. I would see a WAC deal before the MAC comes calling. Unless the MAC gets picked over for at least 2-3 teams then I don't foresee scenarios where we land there.

As for a timeframe ... this could happen in days or it could linger into the summer. But I expect MWC-CUSA to make their calls before August so that any new teams will be ready to go for the 2013 football season and they'll be ready to negotiate a new TV deal or two.

To be honest, I haven't had much significant inside information from any sources since about Thanksgiving. I am going strictly on my intuition and experience being around these leagues. But I haven't been this jazzed about our chances ever before. Nothing is certain but this is looking more promising by the day. Dare I say kudos to our AD & Chancellor for their vision years ago to position us for this day? I think I shall.

[ballah09]

i'm not sly but everything is pointing to sun belt. just reading what people are saying that's close to the higher ups at their schools in the sun belt, that la tech, liberty, gsu and appy are their top priorities. they want to expand to 12-16 teams 6-8 in each division. as of now there are 9 teams but they are expecting, or at least going to try to keep; fiu, mtsu, and north texas to stay.

what they supposedly love about liberty is the potential revenue and the tv network that they have. sun belt loves the atlanta market w/ gsu. this is what the guy was saying when posters questioned these two schools.

if liberty gets passed up or something dramatically changes in the sun belt then liberty could easily get in the wac, if they wanted to. wac is desperately looking for teams and a lot are not buying.

[jinxy]

good, i really dont care where we go anymore as long as we go haha. I'd prefer to avoid the WAC just due to the travel

[R i]

MACUSA, 24 team , 4 region league sounds the best to me. Bigger schools, much more national coverage.

WAC, with the Eastern Division would be my second choice. I think traveling to JMU once a year as a conference opponent would be worth it all. Plus we would get to see so many more away games in all sports.

Sun Belt Would be third. I guess we have been spoiled a little having VMI and Radford so close. Some of my best fan experiences have been at those two school. I dont think I could make the trip to FIU or Arkansas State.