[ballah09]

Does this end the partnership with Big South regarding football? Would GWebb, Campbell and Hampton all move to the UAC?

[ballcoach15]

The ASUN appears it's on the way to becoming a watered down conference. 20 teams is too many. I wonder where they're gonna find all their teams.

[Class of 20Something]

The ASUN report said they'd been working on this for 15 months. This did not catch Ian off guard. I would imagine some extensive AAC conversations are being held. As I noted with our rankings in the major sports, we belong. Football is lagging, but improving too meet that standard, and that standard has been named. Top G5 football was explicitly stated. Perhaps with this in mind.

The danger for the AAC is Liberty has the coaching and facilities to already compete in the AAC. What happens when we recruit at an AAC level for a few years? It seems to reason that Liberty and it's coaches are committed to each other in a way that only limits Liberty by the company it keeps. That is, we will soon rise to the top of any conference we join, no matter the level.

Okay, I'm maybe being a little overzealous. But it's an interesting thought. When does the exponential growth slow down?

[BlueBlood]

I read it like 5 times and still can’t tell if LU is getting kicked to the curb or is the mastermind behind this - building a new ASUN FBS conference.

[A Sea of Red]

I read it like 5 times and still can’t tell if LU is getting kicked to the curb or is the mastermind behind this - building a new ASUN FBS conference.

The new league is planning to be FCS football

[BlueBlood]

The new league is planning to be FCS football

What about the other one?

[bluedevilflame]

The way I read it is Liberty, UNA, and Bellarmine are getting bounced out of the ASUN and into this new conference, which seems for lack of a better term, beneath LU.
At this point it's probably time for a new conference, we all knew the ASUN was only a stop gap anyway so no real love lost. So what now? Do we try our luck somewhere like the A-10? Do we go all in with CUSA, AAC, MAC, or Sun Belt? I'm very curious to see where we land when the ground settles from all of this. I cannot imagine we'll stand still between now and 2023.

[ATrain]

The way I read it is Liberty, UNA, and Bellarmine are getting bounced out of the ASUN and into this new conference, which seems for lack of a better term, beneath LU.
At this point it's probably time for a new conference, we all knew the ASUN was only a stop gap anyway so no real love lost. So what now? Do we try our luck somewhere like the A-10? Do we go all in with CUSA, AAC, MAC, or Sun Belt? I'm very curious to see where we land when the ground settles from all of this. I cannot imagine we'll stand still between now and 2023.

If we can't get to the AAC, I'd personally like to see us in the A-10. They're normally a multi-bid league to the men's and women's bball tourney, and we'd be one of the top teams for baseball and softball there. Plus it'd be nice to have regional, respected, basketball teams (VCU, Richmond) coming to the new arena.

[ATrain]

The other question is - who would the other UAC members be? Unless there is a mass defection from the Big South or MEAC, I'm not sure how we'd get continuity.

[bluedevilflame]

I'm guessing a handful of Big South and MEAC schools, LU (hopefully not), Bellarmine, UNA, and a bunch of current D-2 programs. It is going to be an absolute mess of a conference.

[JK37]

Mess = yes.

But why? I’ve reread and don’t understand the motivation.

[Liberty22]

I have no idea other than I don’t think we would stay part of the UAC. UNA, Bellarmine, and Liberty will be part of the UAC with the ASUN 7 moving to CCSA and becoming the ASUN. There’s a guy on the CSNBBS boards who said that the ASUN will sponsor FCS football and the UCA will sponsor FBS football. He claims the ASUN commish told him that. (For the record, I highly doubt the validity to this) Either way I doubt LU stays part of some new FBS UCA conference. Whoever they got to join wouldn’t be very glamorous I don’t think. So my best guess is we do 1 of 2 things.

1. We join AAC or better.
2. We stay independent with our other sports joining something like A10, Big East, or similar.

I think our leadership (thankfully) has higher aspirations than SunBelt or CUSA. That’d be a major step down imo.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Yeah, I keep reading this, trying to figure out the 'why'...What incentive do current D1 members from other conferences have to join this? And Kyle Kallander and Dennis Thomas (the MEAC commish) are on the board of the CCSA, so I don't think they'd let the CCSA play along with this arrangement if it meant that their 'home' conferences would get 'raided'. Maybe I just don't understand all of the moving parts well enough, or the possible opportunities that exist from this type of thing, but I'm just left confused.

[prototype]

I'm completely confused and see little upside in this for the ASUN or Liberty.

[bluedevilflame]

I have no idea other than I don’t think we would stay part of the UAC. UNA, Bellarmine, and Liberty will be part of the UAC with the ASUN 7 moving to CCSA and becoming the ASUN. There’s a guy on the CSNBBS boards who said that the ASUN will sponsor FCS football and the UCA will sponsor FBS football. He claims the ASUN commish told him that. (For the record, I highly doubt the validity to this) Either way I doubt LU stays part of some new FBS UCA conference. Whoever they got to join wouldn’t be very glamorous I don’t think. So my best guess is we do 1 of 2 things.

1. We join AAC or better.
2. We stay independent with our other sports joining something like A10, Big East, or similar.

I think our leadership (thankfully) has higher aspirations than SunBelt or CUSA. That’d be a major step down imo.

I agree for football the Sun Belt or CUSA would be a step down from the schedules we have been able to cook up since going independent, but for all other sports, either conference would be a huge step forward. I think the decision will have to be made, do we go all in with football and sacrifice all other sports along the way, or do find a good situation for all of our programs?

[chris leedlelee]

If we can't get to the AAC, I'd personally like to see us in the A-10. They're normally a multi-bid league to the men's and women's bball tourney, and we'd be one of the top teams for baseball and softball there. Plus it'd be nice to have regional, respected, basketball teams (VCU, Richmond) coming to the new arena.

Assuming that we remain independent for football, the A-10 does seem to make the most sense, especially from a regional rivalry standpoint. If the C-USA and Sunbelt were smart, they would be trying to pull us over for all sports, but it is highly unlikely that they can get past their prejudices. Football has a brighter future with independence for the short term anyhow.

[bluedevilflame]

I think on the field performance can get us over that hump with the Sun Belt and CUSA. Making it to and subsequently winning our first bowl game this year shows where our program is heading in the long run. Politics are always going to be a barrier with most university presidents but if we can prove we can handle our own on the field and can generate significant cash flow, I can't imagine we wouldn't make it in somewhere.

[ATrain]

Yeah, I keep reading this, trying to figure out the 'why'...What incentive do current D1 members from other conferences have to join this? And Kyle Kallander and Dennis Thomas (the MEAC commish) are on the board of the CCSA, so I don't think they'd let the CCSA play along with this arrangement if it meant that their 'home' conferences would get 'raided'. Maybe I just don't understand all of the moving parts well enough, or the possible opportunities that exist from this type of thing, but I'm just left confused.

My guess is that the ASUN7 are tired of being used as a stepping stone for football schools, and many probably don't want to see Liberty become the dominant force in the major sports of the conference.

[bluedevilflame]

Yeah, I keep reading this, trying to figure out the 'why'...What incentive do current D1 members from other conferences have to join this? And Kyle Kallander and Dennis Thomas (the MEAC commish) are on the board of the CCSA, so I don't think they'd let the CCSA play along with this arrangement if it meant that their 'home' conferences would get 'raided'. Maybe I just don't understand all of the moving parts well enough, or the possible opportunities that exist from this type of thing, but I'm just left confused.

My guess is that the ASUN7 are tired of being used as a stepping stone for football schools, and many probably don't want to see Liberty become the dominant force in the major sports of the conference.

I think you are spot on here, we have absolutely dominated the ASUN since joining, are looking strong at going undefeated in conference play this season, and facilities that cannot be touched by the other programs. The athletic department had to have known that we were going to outgrow the ASUN quickly.

For those curious:
https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=37009

[Lion1983]

It's not as bad as it appears, its actually way better...

After talking to UNA officials, voicing concerns of being handed off to a lesser conference, I was met by surprise when told the gameplan.


No, Liberty, UNA and Bellarmine are not getting pushed out. The core 7, or ASUN 7 is just a formality in the NCAA bylaws saying that they have had to be together for so many years to form a new conference. Liberty, UNA and Bellarmine will still be in the ASUN 20 school conference. All 10 will be...

The UAC (United Athletic Conference) will be an FCS football only conference, that UNA, KSU and possibly Stetson (out of the ASUN) will be a part of. It will also include Big South football members, and Monmouth. The ASUN FCS schools will then have a home in the new ASUN FBS conference if they choose to upgrade to FBS football.


As for the ASUN 20, I was just told it would primarily come from the C-USA and a few Sun Belt schools. To form a multi sport "core" conference at the FBS level.


This also helps FGCU and UNF if they plan to start football programs. They will have a FCS and FBS home if they should start football.

So, the new conference will be comprised of ALL current ASUN members plus 10 current FBS schools.

I'm sure Liberty and Ted Gumbart started planning this before Liberty was ever officially introduced as a new member of the ASUN.

They only outlier in this situation is NJIT....

[BlueBlood]

Thanks Lion1983.

[Liberty22]

It's not as bad as it appears, its actually way better...

After talking to UNA officials, voicing concerns of being handed off to a lesser conference, I was met by surprise when told the gameplan.


No, Liberty, UNA and Bellarmine are not getting pushed out. The core 7, or ASUN 7 is just a formality in the NCAA bylaws saying that they have had to be together for so many years to form a new conference. Liberty, UNA and Bellarmine will still be in the ASUN 20 school conference. All 10 will be...

The UAC (United Athletic Conference) will be an FCS football only conference, that UNA, KSU and possibly Stetson (out of the ASUN) will be a part of. It will also include Big South football members, and Monmouth. The ASUN FCS schools will then have a home in the new ASUN FBS conference if they choose to upgrade to FBS football.


As for the ASUN 20, I was just told it would primarily come from the C-USA and a few Sun Belt schools. To form a multi sport "core" conference at the FBS level.


This also helps FGCU and UNF if they plan to start football programs. They will have a FCS and FBS home if they should start football.

So, the new conference will be comprised of ALL current ASUN members plus 10 current FBS schools.

I'm sure Liberty and Ted Gumbart started planning this before Liberty was ever officially introduced as a new member of the ASUN.

They only outlier in this situation is NJIT....

Would this not effectively kill CUSA and possibly sun belt? If so, why would they agree to it? Wouldn’t schools be required to pay their way out of CUSA to do this? Still imo, I would think LU still looks to go AAC or Independent with A10/big East other sports. A de facto CUSA/SB UAC is not exciting to me.

[cruzan_flame13]

UAC is an FCS conference and will become FBS is they want to. Where's the money coming from for this to start and to last? How do FBS teams come to play with this dicision if the ASUN 7 has no football and UAC is a FCS school with up to 20 schools? How would that work? Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions here.

[Lion1983]

Out of the ASUN 20 member conference... only UNA, KSU and possibly Stetson will be affiliated with the new UAC . Because they play FCS football. The UAC will be a football only conference at the FCS level similar to the MVFC. It will not have anything to do with Liberty or anyone else in the ASUN.

As for the CUSA and SunBelt, the remaining members of both conferences can just agree to merge. No penalty given to either side, pick a name for their conference (either CUSA or Sun Belt) and keep on chugging.

The new ASUN will be a FBS conference along with non football members (most of the current ASUN) and non FBS members UNA, KSU and Stetson.

It makes a whole lot of sense if you dont think about football and look at the possible makeup.

Purely speculation on who the schools will be, so dont call me out on this.

But, you may have ODU, Marshall, Charlotte, MTSU, UAB, FAU, FIU, Georgia Southern, App State, southern Miss, Western Kentucky and so on join. I know that's more than 10, just because it could be any combination of them.

It would tighten up all schools in the footprint for non football travel. And start the Mega Conference aspect that so many people have been talking about the past Decade or so.

As for football, I wouldn't be surprised to see UConn and UMass join in football only.

[cruzan_flame13]

Out of the ASUN 20 member conference... only UNA, KSU and possibly Stetson will be affiliated with the new UAC . Because they play FCS football. The UAC will be a football only conference at the FCS level similar to the MVFC. It will not have anything to do with Liberty or anyone else in the ASUN.

As for the CUSA and SunBelt, the remaining members of both conferences can just agree to merge. No penalty given to either side, pick a name for their conference (either CUSA or Sun Belt) and keep on chugging.

The new ASUN will be a FBS conference along with non football members (most of the current ASUN) and non FBS members UNA, KSU and Stetson.

It makes a whole lot of sense if you dont think about football and look at the possible makeup.

Purely speculation on who the schools will be, so dont call me out on this.

But, you may have ODU, Marshall, Charlotte, MTSU, UAB, FAU, FIU, Georgia Southern, App State, southern Miss, Western Kentucky and so on join. I know that's more than 10, just because it could be any combination of them.

It would tighten up all schools in the footprint for non football travel. And start the Mega Conference aspect that so many people have been talking about the past Decade or so.

As for football, I wouldn't be surprised to see UConn and UMass join in football only.

Thanks, we shall see what happens in the near future.