[Liberty22]

Rumblings going on over in ATL. The CUSA commish has been in town with GSU's prez all week. Word is MWC will not happen and CUSA is shopping to replace Houston SMU and UCF.

I hope Liberty is considered. or Trickle down helps out.

I read about the possibility of the merger not happening yesterday as well. I really hope that doesn't happen as well. I can't wait to be in the MAC, Sunbelt, CUSA, Anything seriously...

[PAmedic]

I think we would compete very well in the MAC right now.

^^^ THIS ^^^

ESPNU has been running a ton of MAC games and from what I've seen you are dead on.

not only that- we'd boost the avg attendance in the league by @ 10k/wk

CMU v Ohio last nite supposedly had 12k in attendance but I'd bet it was half that.

Initially I think we'd be mid-pack, better than BGU, Buff and Akron and maybe split with the directional Michigans. Acouple yrs and we'd probably do well.

[Sly Fox]

BYU as a football-only member of the Big East is looking more & more like it is going to happen. Here's an interesting take from a Yahoo contributor on how it could influence another football independent ...

BYU to Big East Increases Odds Notre Dame Football Might Join Too: Fan’s Opinion
By Joe Dorish, Yahoo! Contributor Network

The news that BYU will join the Big East as a football only member in the near future increases the odds that Notre Dame might also join the Big East as a football member. Notre Dame already plays all its other sports in the Big East. There has been no word that Notre Dame is even thinking of joining the Big East in football, but the addition of a program like BYU will not go unnoticed in South Bend.

BYU is Second Most Popular College Football Team Not Yet Affiliated with BCS Conference

BYU is the second largest football program in the country that is not yet affiliated with one of the BCS conferences. The largest unaffiliated football program, of course, is Notre Dame. Both schools have great football programs.

Click Here for Full Story

All that said, I just don't see the Golden Domers hitching their horse to the Big East leftovers given all of their existing options.

At the same time, having a partner like BYU would make Boise State much more willing to join the fun for Big East football. For those that aren't aware, Boise & Idaho in general are Mormon strongholds. Having a travel partner will also help convince the Idaho Legislature to be on board. The addition of those two schools would also assure that UH, SMU & UCF would be in the house along with Air Force for football. Frankly that combination might be just enough to hang on to the BCS autobid despite all of the departures.

And without Boise State, the MWC-CUSA Alliance is basically dead before it begins. The MWC wouldn't have enough to offer the CUSA to warrant an alliance that would likely not be strong enough for a BCS auto bid. That means that C-USA could begin their massive expansion which under just the right circumstances could bring us up to FBS either directly or indirectly.

Oh yeah, as I mentioned in my long diatribe back a few pages ago it appears Utah State will be likely headed to Mountain west to replace Boise State if they do in fact leave.

Click Here

[thepostman]

Am I crazy for thinking that combo of schools for football would make the Big East a stronger football conference??? Because I really think that would be the case if this all comes together.

Just curious what others think

[jbock13]

If I may just inject some common sense here... how in the world can you have schools in the west, be playing schools all the way on the east coast on a regular basis, and maintain any sense of consistency or togetherness? You can't. And if it even happens, the whole thing will crumble within years. There's no way St. John's wants to be playing Boise State or BYU in women's lacrosse.

The Big East should lose the auto-bid. But with WVU being my number 2 favorite team, it doesn't much matter to me anymore

[SumItUp]

There's no way St. John's wants to be playing Boise State or BYU in women's lacrosse.

Boise has been invited as a football-only member.

[jbock13]

There's no way St. John's wants to be playing Boise State or BYU in women's lacrosse.

Boise has been invited as a football-only member.

Yeah, but you get the point I'm sure.

[BJWilliams]

Not to mention Im sure its not unprecedented to have schools from outside the "footprint" of a conference as affiliate members for a sport.

[jbock13]

Not to mention Im sure its not unprecedented to have schools from outside the "footprint" of a conference as affiliate members for a sport.

Example please? And don't give me Liberty - Stony Brook. That's only 500 miles.

[Sly Fox]

BYU, Boise State & Air Force would all likely be paired in a bracket with the Texas schools. Then they'd play a mix of teams every other year from the east. It doesn't sound crazy to me at all for football. Now if they were all sports members as jbock13 suggested ...

What could sound crazy is if the WAC loses a couple of teams to the MWC. Then they have to start getting real creative or face extinction.

[ATrain]

Not to mention Im sure its not unprecedented to have schools from outside the "footprint" of a conference as affiliate members for a sport.

Example please? And don't give me Liberty - Stony Brook. That's only 500 miles.

Texas A&M Corpus Christi and the Big South in softball.

[ALUmnus]

Leave it to Atrain to save us all by reaching into the realm of women's sports.

[Purple Haize]

University of Hawaii in any conference. Boom.

UPDATE President Obama just said Hawaii is now part of Asia, so there goes THAT point!

I got beat on Texas CC and softball. Birmingham Southern? Or do you think we should limit this the BCS conferences?

[flamesfilmguy]

Things are going to get really interesting if What i've been told is true. Sun Belt is gearing up for the likely hit they'll take when CUSA looks for new members. Could happen as soon as thanksgiving...

[Sly Fox]

FFG - I believe that is what I was laying out back on Page 20.

Thingsvarevabout to get real interesting once the Big East additions finally go down.

[ATrain]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... ing-report

BYU apparently NOT joining the Big East.

[jcmanson]

I think this is good news for us.

[Sly Fox]

I admit that I am rather impressed with how BYU has handled this situation. The Big East needs BYU more than BYU needs the Big East. They tried to use that leverage in a very Longhorn manner and nearly pulled it off. In fact, if Boise State says they aren't interested without BYU then the Mormons will be getting over in a big way.

Interpreting how this impacts us is a little more challenging. The entire Big East expansion is contingent on Boise State playing ball. If Boise state decides to stay put, we could be back to talk of that Big East/MWC/CUSA alliance. That would likely hurt us badly as none of the mid-level and smaller players would be moving. Without the alliance, it could get interesting as the Big East is still likely to bring in UCF. But everything else discussed prior is up in the air. Adding Memphis, Temple or ECU may not make for a strong enough argument for the league to hold a BCS auto bid.

[Sly Fox]

It appears that Big East negotiations with San Diego State are progressing and Navy is now on board ...

Click Here

[Purple Haize]

It appears that Big East negotiations with San Diego State are progressing and Navy is now on board ...

Click Here

I am on record as saying Army and Navy in the Big East would be a great move for the Big East! If the Big East is going after San Diego State maybe they should change their name to the Coast to Coast Conference?

[Sly Fox]

Actually it is San Diego State but your point remains valid. It is now looking like the entire expansion could be announced sometime this week. All that needs to occur is for Air Force & San Diego State to get on board. The former seems to be less anxious than the latter.

If this whole new western division of the Big East comes to fruition, then it is game on for C-USA and the dominoes really start falling.

[bradyfan]

If this is going the way that I think it is, college football's off-season may be as entertaining as its regular season.

[Schfourteenteen]

Big South Projections

Football

Catawba
Charleston Southern
Liberty
Newberry
Presbyterian


Plus the other Sports.

Campbell
High Point
Longwood
UNC Asheville
Radford


Winthrop, Gardner Webb, and Coastal Carolina will merge with former MEAC members like SC State as well as successfull Gulf Coast teams to create a Carolina League.

After Fordham leaves for the CAA, the Patriot League picks up VMI.

We're one step closer to this with the addition of Campbell.

[Sly Fox]

Take it for what it is worth, but a guy I used to know rather well back in the day is publicly stating that he thinks the Big East expansion project is dead ...

http://twitter.com/#!/TomPenders

Before you laugh it off as Tom being Tom, remember that he has direct ties on the inside at several schools ... especially UH.

Frankly I don't know what to believe any more. You would have thought this would have been done and over with by now.

[Sly Fox]

I wouldn't bet the farm on Tom's accuracy. But it certainly would throw everything into total chaos with nothing but negative impact on us.