[Blessed1]

According to InsideRunnerSports.com, UTSA has a C-USA invitation in-hand and their board of Trustees will vote to approve the move May 2-3.

Link:
http://www.insiderunnersports.com/other ... a-to-c-usa

If this is true, the Sun Belt will need 3 more teams to get to Benson's goal for 12 football-playing schools. Assuming FIU and N. Texas leaves for C-USA, the Sun Belt will have:

1. Florida Atlantic
2. Louisiana-Monroe
3. South Alabama
4. Louisiana-Lafayette
5. Troy
6. Arkansas St
7. Western Kentucky
8. Middle Tennessee
9. Georgia St (2013)
*Ark-Little Rock (does not play football)

Liberty should be in the mix with: Texas St., Appalachian St., Georgia Southern, Jacksonville St., and possibly ODU and JMU. I excluded UNC-Charlotte because they look like a favorite to receive a C-USA invite due to ECU's 'love affair' with the 49ers. If they don't get in, then Middle Tennessee St. should be next in line.

[logic]

That list doesn't look as appealing as it once did. Let's hope for CUSA or the MAC.

[thepostman]

That list doesn't look as appealing as it once did. Let's hope for CUSA or the MAC.

CUSA is not going to happen. If we move up it will be either Sun Belt or MAC. At this point I am not very confident we will find an avenue to move up leaving us floundering in a conference that is only going to get weaker

[ATrain]

According to InsideRunnerSports.com, UTSA has a C-USA invitation in-hand and their board of Trustees will vote to approve the move May 2-3.

Link:
http://www.insiderunnersports.com/other ... a-to-c-usa

If this is true, the Sun Belt will need 3 more teams to get to Benson's goal for 12 football-playing schools. Assuming FIU and N. Texas leaves for C-USA, the Sun Belt will have:

1. Florida Atlantic
2. Louisiana-Monroe
3. South Alabama
4. Louisiana-Lafayette
5. Troy
6. Arkansas St
7. Western Kentucky
8. Middle Tennessee
9. Georgia St (2013)
*Ark-Little Rock (does not play football)

Liberty should be in the mix with: Texas St., Appalachian St., Georgia Southern, Jacksonville St., and possibly ODU and JMU. I excluded UNC-Charlotte because they look like a favorite to receive a C-USA invite due to ECU's 'love affair' with the 49ers. If they don't get in, then Middle Tennessee St. should be next in line.

The Sunbelt may also try to take Louisiana Tech. Don't forget them.

[logic]

Do we have a hard date for the Feasibility ? Maybe that will help to clear things up. Of all the FCS schools I would still think we would be a top choice.


On a side note, here is an interesting find -

http://www.bbstate.com/info/schools-budget&c=BSOUTH

Our previous year listing was around 31 million (2009 expenses)....this year lists 19 million (for 2010 expenses). Seeing as though we have three new programs and are preparing to move FBS, we certainly didn't cut the overall athletic budget by 12 million. Any thoughts about this?

[4everfsu]

UTSA to C-USA

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... erence-usa

[ATrain]

That article also stated 3 other WAC schools were looking at defecting. Provided one of them isn't Louisiana Tech to the Sunbelt, that'll give CUSA 12 for its merger w/ the MWC (that article said its still on). The Mountain West Currently has: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming, Hawaii. That's 18. UNC-C gives them 19. That leaves 5 spots open to get to 24. Lets say La Tech moves to the Sunbelt, which will bump them up to 10. That leaves 2 for them to get to Benson's goal of 12. So, if that happens, there will be 7 open spots between the Alliance and the Sunbelt. Hopefully we can land one of those.

(WAC numbers if 3 schools leave: 2. If 4 schools leave: 1. The WAC is dead unless they do something crazy).

[Sly Fox]

The UTSA & likely move by Texas State means the WAC is either dead as a football league or extremely desperate. Do not eliminate this aspect from the scenario.

[LUGrad2000]

With the rumored moves to CUSA by UTSA, FIU, UNT, and LA Tech. The likely move by Tex. St. to the Sun Belt. This will bring CUSA to 12 and the Sun Belt to 10. Assuming Benson still wants to go to 12, and stay within the Southeast footprint, that leaves 2 spots open. Georgia Southern has gone into panic mode since GA St. was invited to the Sun Belt. They are not as ready as we are because they have been shaking the donors upside down for money the last few weeks, but they do have location, location, location. App. St. would be a stretch, but still closer to the footprint than we are. But then again, who is going to pass on Charlotte?

My fear is that our location will locate us out of an FBS invite.

The WAC will be left with New Mexico St. and Idaho if Utah St. and San Jose St. go to the MWC. Idaho has talked about dropping down to FCS. New Mexico St. would have to add 5 or 7 schools to get to the minimum.

[TH Spangler]

Do any of you guys think Coach Gills Mid-American Conference past could play a roll in us landing there? I think I actually like it more than the Sun Belt.

[jmmiii]

I'm not sure about all of the technicalities, but I was wondering if we shot ourselves in the foot by not purchasing the northeastern campus in Massachusetts. Could that have qualified us for having 2 TV markets (one in Virginia and one in Massachusetts)? If so, I have a feeling that extra reach could have bumped us up a notch or two in FBS conference considerations.

[logic]

The MAC brass will love that we hired Gill for sure. They certainly haven't forgotten him and what he did for Buffalo. This is an interesting thought. I don't see the MAC adding any of the aforementioned schools..if they're looking for someone I think we would be a great addition. Sly...is the MAC looking?

[TH Spangler]

The MAC brass will love that we hired Gill for sure. They certainly haven't forgotten him and what he did for Buffalo. This is an interesting thought. I don't see the MAC adding any of the aforementioned schools..if they're looking for someone I think we would be a great addition. Sly...is the MAC looking?

I guess they would have to be raided ... to need someone else.

[logic]

Temple to the Big East..any others? Maybe they go to 14? Who replaces Temple for the MAC to get back to 12?

[NotAJerry]

Temple to the Big East..any others? Maybe they go to 14? Who replaces Temple for the MAC to get back to 12?

MAC is at 14 with Temple. Once they leave they're down to 13. I don't know if we fit their geographic footprint very well, but we may be one of their few options unless a Youngstown St. type of school wants to join.

[jimflamesfan]

I think becomming the 14th team for the MAC would be our best hope right now. I think Bowling Green doesn't mind playing in the East or West Conference...so we'd fit in well in the East Conference of the MAC if they want to have two 7 team divisions.

[Sly Fox]

The MAC is a viable option. Keep in mind that UMass is a football-only affiliate. So they really only have 12 teams right. There has been some rumblings that the MAC could add some Mid-Atlantic teams to expand their footprint and get to 16 teams. The likely options would be Youngstown State, JMU, ODU & LU.

It is way too premature to write just about anything off at this point. We are still waiting to see what the CUSA & MWC boys do. I still wouldn't completely rule out the WAC possibility. Who would have guessed six months ago that longtime Southland doormat UTSA would be the hottest commodity in the latest round of realignment? Not even the most ambitious of Roadrunner fans.

And I don't believe the Massachusetts campus would have any impact on realignment.

[4everfsu]

USU and SJSU to MWC

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ing-report

[TXFlame]

If the WAC wasn't dead before, it surely is now.

[Blessed1]

Ok. Here is where we are in this conference realignment madness....

C-USA divisions will probably look like this:

C-USA East
East Carolina
Marshall
Southern Miss
UAB
La Tech (2013)
FIU (2013)

C-USA West
UTEP
Rice
Tulsa
Tulane
N. Texas (2013)
UT-San Antonio (2013)

Since C-USA only needs 12 schools to host a championship game, it appears that they're finished in this round of expansion. If they were to expand again, the candidates would probably be: UNC-Charlotte, Georgia St., Old Dominion, Middle Tennessee St., and possibly Appalachian St.

The Sun Belt conference will probably look like this...

Sun Belt - East
Florida Atlantic
South Alabama
Troy
Western Kentucky
Georgia St (2013)
UNC – Charlotte (2013)

Sun Belt - West
Louisiana-Monroe
Louisiana-Lafayette
Arkansas St
Ark-Little Rock (Non FB)
Middle Tennessee St.
Texas St (2013)

I expect the Sun Belt to go after Charlotte since they were passed over by UT-SA. I also expect to pick up Texas St. since N. Texas and UT-SA are going to C-USA. This is where this get interesting. With 11 football-playing schools (including Charlotte and Texas St., of course), the Sun Belt would have 1 spot available to meet Benson's quota of 12. They could go with either Appalachian St., Georgia Southern, Liberty, Jacksonville St, or even New Mexico St. I excluded ODU and JMU because they seem to be tied at the hip. I'm not sure if one would jump to FBS without the other.

Also, UT – Arlington could get an invite for all sports except for FB. There's a good chance that they could get in now and possibly add FB in a 3-5 years. This would mean the Sun Belt would be open to expand to 14 in the near future).

The MAC will probably look like this...

MAC - East
UMASS (FB-only)
Buffalo
Kent State
Akron
Ohio
Miami

MAC - West
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Western Michigan
Ball State
Northern Illinois
Toledo
Bowling Green

At 13 members, the MAC could expand within their footprint with Western Kentucky. Or, as Sly mentioned earlier, the MAC could decide on a Mid-Atlantic expansion that could include Liberty, ODU, and JMU.

An unfavorable scenario for Liberty would be if the MAC takes Western Kentucky or Youngstown St. and needs only 2 more to get to 16. In that case ODU and JMU may take those 2 spots. As I mentioned earlier, those 2 seem to be tied at the hip. If ODU received a C-USA or Sun Belt invite before JMU, would they hold out for JMU?

Last but not least is the WAC. I don't know what they will do. If all that I mentioned above happens, the only remaining schools will be Idaho, New Mexico St., Seattle, Denver, Boise St., and UT-Arlington. They could invite western and south-western schools only and possibly look like this...

Idaho
New Mexico St.
Denver (non FB)
Seattle (non FB)
Boise St. (non FB)
UT-Arlington (non FB)
Lamar (or Sam Houston St.)
Montana
Montana St.
Cal Poly
Sacramento St
Portland St

I'm not sure if they could pull this off since most of the schools mentioned either have state budget problems or stadium issues that would be hard to address in a 1-2 year span.

If the WAC decides to eastern and western divisions, it could look like this...

WAC - West
Lamar
Sam Houston St.
UT-Arlington (non FB)
Idaho
New Mexico St.
Seattle (non FB)
Denver (non FB)
Boise St. (non FB)

WAC - East
Liberty
Appalachian St
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville St
Delaware
Youngstown St.
*South Carolina St. (or Hampton)
*Florida A&M

[steve hoffman]

Hard to think the WAC can pull out of this. It looks like for the time being all doors are closed to us baring a east/west WAC setup, however its just as likely that the conference folds as expands I would think.

[4everfsu]

I would say we are not getting out of the Big South anytime soon..

[PatrickKelly]

Iagree. I think liberty losses out in this round of expansion talk. It makes no sense for the Sun Belt to each up to VA to add a member. Travel cost would be out of control. The MAC may be the best scenario, but they've not even suggested they're expanding.. I think wee may soon see us in aBig South without Stoney Brook and Coastal.

[Rooster Cogburn]

Everyone on this board thinks that if something doesn't happen instantly, it isn't going to happen. I have no idea what is happening, but I am going to wait out the process before jumping to unfounded conclusions. There are still dominoes yet to fall.

[Sly Fox]

First off, the WAC is not going out of business. At the worst, they no longer support football. That is probably the most likely scenario unless the NCAA grants them another waiver to get real creative with football. Montana already told the WAC no when they had some decent schools so what is left now is out of the question for the Grizz. All signs point to Idaho dropping down to the Big Sky and NMSU going independent and waiting for an opening in the MWC to appear.

It appears that La Tech has enough support that they will land in either the Sun belt or CUSA. Some media reports indicate the CUSA invitation has either already been extended or is just waiting on final approval.

I would suggest that the Sun Belt is only a possibility for us if part of a package deal with either ODU or Appy. The former is a stretch but the Monarchs have been in the Sun Belt before. Appy would only come into play if Charlotte were already selected by CUSA.

CUSA looks like they plan on going with just 14 in their immediate expansion. With the push back into Texas with UTSA & UNT, that significantly hurt our chances. Our only hope there in the short term is if ECU is able to flex its muscle to have at least two expansion slots come to the Mid-Atlantic region. Otherwise we need CUSA to think bigger than 14 (24 total in alliance) to bring us back into the picture.

The MAC rumors seem to be gaining some momentum. JMU in particular is attractive to the MAC folks and ODU makes an obvious travel partner for the Dukes. If that happens, we are very much in the hunt. Keep in mind that UMass is only a football affiliate and not a very strong one at that. There remains the possibility that with Temple now gone, the MAC could try to force the Minutemen to commit to an all-sport membership or walk away. Another wild card could be Marshall. If they are unhappy with the direction the CUSA has taken moving further and further away from Huntington, they may consider a move back to the MAC.

And then there is the CAA which appears to be overwhelmed by all of the activity. I guess we could be positioned to consider the colonial for a short term stop on our road to FBS. But frankly the only way I see us being invited is if JMU & ODU are gone. At that point I am not convinced that the CAA would be that much of an upgrade from the Big South. At least in the big South we have no exit fees and can bail in a hurry.