[LUminary]

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.

You make a good point. Hopefully not lost in the FBS frenzy is the need of regional rivals. Being aligned with ECU and Marshall might not happen, but winding up in a conference with the likes of JMU, App State and ODU is important.

[LUGrad2000]

What are the odds Mountain USA will expand to 24 schools?

[Sly Fox]

Right now it is looking more than likely than not ... but it may not be all at once.

[LUminary]

more on sun belt expansion, and it trying to get CUSA members...

http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20 ... t|Sports|s

[R i]

Would the WAC and Sun Belt consider a similar merger as the MWCUSA?

[jbock13]

What are the chances that the SEC merges with the PAC 10?

[flameshaw]

What are the chances that the SEC merges with the PAC 10?

Zero. IMVVHO. Don't see any chance that happens.

[R i]

What are the chances that the SEC merges with the PAC 10?

I get your jesting at the fact conference realignment is crazy. If a MWCUSA merger makes sense for two bottom feeding DI conferences, Why wouldnt it make sense for two more?

[jbock13]

R i, at least you understood I was clearly joking.

These whole mergers are a 2 year fad that will eventually flame out.

[jcmanson]

The thing about the Sunbelt and the WAC, is the new Sunbelt commissioner comes from the WAC. It’s an interesting dynamic. It sounds like a great idea for both conferences (especially the WAC), but not sure it would realistically happen.

[flamehunter]

These whole mergers are a 2 year fad that will eventually flame out.

What do you mean by that??? Do you know something?????

[BJWilliams]

lol...I think youre reading far too much into his statement flamehunter.

[jcmanson]

Looks like Temple may be going to the Big East. This could send the MAC into looking for expansion. It's also one less team for the Mount USA 24 and Sunbelt to choose from.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/sport ... ref=sports

[TDDance234]

This was the domino that needed to fall. If the Big East starts offering spots for clubs like Memphis and Temple, it will begin the process of bringing FCS schools up, IMO.

And here it comes.

[R i]

Props. Especially if you didnt go back and edit those two shool names.

[TH Spangler]

My guess, from everything I've read here and from news clips, it sounds like APP and ECU will go to the C-USA/Mountain W.

And maybe Georgia State, Jacksonville State, JMU and Liberty U to the Sun Belt (16 Teams)? With Delaware, Georgia Southern and Old Dominion in play next? UNC Charlotte will be looking at C-USA/Mountain W in a couple of years. Did I forget anybody ....

[TH Spangler]

http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/ASU_Spo ... -id-007055

ASU's athletic department is no doubt keeping a close eye on everything that's gone on. There's no guarantee that a team that is in the newly merged league will be there five or 10 years down the road. That can also be true of Appalachian State.

Another X-factor in all of this is Charlotte. The 49ers begin FCS play as an independent in 2013, but want to move up to the FBS level as soon as possible. Appalachian State is already competing for football players with the 49ers. It would be tougher if Charlotte made the move to the FBS, while ASU was still playing in the FCS.

Old Dominion found quick success in FCS conference Colonial Athletic Association, so it's not impossible to build a program quickly, such as Charlotte desires. But starting from scratch to becoming a member of Conference USA is a huge leap.

I truly believe CUSA would be a better conference with Appalachian State in it. ASU brings a good athletic program, excellent facilities and traditions with it. The programs are clean and for the most part, successful.

I also think Charlotte and Old Dominion would be good addtions to the league, as soon as they were ready with competitive football teams.But CUSA, especially with the recent merger with the MWC, has to be an excellent fit for ASU before any move should be made. Travel costs and the cost of pulling student-athletes out of class must also be — and already have been — considered.

I'm still not all that crazy about moving to the Sun Belt, but it's still an option — if the Sun Belt would be interested. If I'm that conference, I'd send a limo to Boone to invite Appalachian State.

[TH Spangler]

Looks like Temple may be going to the Big East. This could send the MAC into looking for expansion. It's also one less team for the Mount USA 24 and Sunbelt to choose from.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/sport ... ref=sports

Here's what a MAC - Sun Belt merger could look like?

SOUTH
Arkansas State
Western Kentucky
Louisiana-Lafayette
FIU
North Texas
Louisiana-Monroe
Troy
Middle Tennessee
Florida Atlantic
Liberty U
JMU
Georgia State

NOTRH
Ohio
Kent State
Bowling Green
Miami (OH)
Buffalo
Akron
Northern Illinois
Toledo
Western Michigan
Ball State
Eastern Michigan
Central Michigan

Minus a couple, plus a couple more.....

[Sly Fox]

MAC has the least amount of interest in mergers of any of the FBS lower tier. They might expand a few but they are even tighter financially in general terms than Sun Belt & WAC schools.

[Sly Fox]

Another step in Birmingham toward the new conference being formed ...

UA System Board of Trustees gives UAB approval to seek spot in new conference
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 11:17 AM Updated: Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 11:29 AM
By Steve Irvine -- The Birmingham News

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- University of Alabama System Board of Trustees gave approval on Tuesday for UAB to sign a formation agreement to join the new conference formed by a merger between Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference.

Here's the only real news of the story ...

Part of the agreement, according to Garrison, is that the new conference is organized within 60 to 120 days.

Click Here for Full Story

In other words, the paperwork is being assembled and this new league will be formed in the next couple of months. That's doesn't mean any expansion has to be announced by then, but it does give a little insight into process.

[Sly Fox]

Here's an interesting look into the MTSU mindset ...

Should Sun Belt change name?
Product may be better than league's brand
10:04 PM, Feb. 27, 2012 |

Written by
Adam Sparks

MURFREESBORO — Conference realignment is a discussion that seems to have no beginning or end in major college athletics.

It lies dormant for a few months, and then one morning the ESPN ticker says five more schools have jumped from one conference to another, seeking greener pastures playing games against different opponents with a different logo and perhaps in a different time zone.

In MTSU’s case, the possible options have been narrowed to two leagues, the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA. The latter will soon become part of a 16-school football conference conglomerate via a merger with the Mountain West Conference.

The Sun Belt, meanwhile, has been MTSU’s home since 2001, the third season of FBS football for the Blue Raiders.

Over the years, the top-half of schools in the Sun Belt has aimed so much to jump to CUSA that the target has been blurred. What is CUSA, and what specifically makes it better than the Sun Belt?

Click Here for Full Story


And the focus on the Sub Belt for FBS is a reflection of this story by the same writer ...

McPhee: No contact from CUSA
Says options still open for MTSU, Sun Belt
11:11 PM, Feb. 27, 2012 |

Written by
Adam Sparks

MURFREESBORO — MTSU president Sidney McPhee said he has “not had any direct or indirect contact with Conference USA about a possible move.”

That came after MTSU had been mentioned in numerous reports among as many as a dozen possible candidates to join the upcoming conglomerate of Conference USA and Mountain West Conference.

McPhee, the Sun Belt’s representative on the NCAA board of directors, continues to compliment MTSU’s current league while still hinting at other options. But he said CUSA had not reached out to him. Curiously, MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro has deferred all specific questions about conference realignment to McPhee.

Click Here for Full Story

[Purple Haize]

Would it be the MAC Belt or the Sun MAC and would the winner get an Automatic bid into the Golden Arches Bowl?

[TH Spangler]

Author of FBS study likes Georgia State’s position
10:08 pm February 28, 2012, by Doug Roberson

Georgia State doesn’t need tradition to eventually succeed on college football’s highest levels, according to Russell Wright, the managing director of Collegiate Consulting, the Atlanta-based company that conducted an FBS feasibility study for the university.

Though the Panthers have played football as an FCS-level team for the past two years, including 3-8 last year, he said they have two things going for them: the university is based in Atlanta, the ninth-largest market in the country, and it has such a large student enrollment. Because the university has more than 30,000 students, more than $16 million of its $22 million in the revenues listed in the report come from student fees. He said that financial support is an important plus, outweighing the barbs of those who have asked why Georgia State would conduct the study so soon after starting football. Athletic director Cheryl Levick has declined to comment on the study.

“The quality of competition doesn’t matter at all,” he said. “The market drives it more than the on-the-field product.”

Click Here for Full Story

[Sly Fox]

Here's a story that gives a little insight from the Sun Belt perspective ...

Here's what we know as far as UNT's conference future

By Brett Vito
bvito@dentonrc.com
8:50 PM on Sat., Mar. 3, 2012 |

I have finished up my stories for tomorrow's paper, so here is what we know as far as where UNT stands in terms of conference realignment.
The topic of where UNT will be in the future has been a hot one all day.
I talked to UNT officials and asked a few questions at Karl Benson's press conference this evening.
Here is the key part of what Benson had to say:
"I don't think anything is imminent," Benson said. "Whether it is North Texas or Florida International or Florida Atlantic or Troy or Western Kentucky or anyone else being mentioned, it is a compliment to the growth that these institutions have had.
"Teams from the Sun Belt are going to get better and take advantage of the assets and resources the conference has. Unfortunately in this world and this environment in college athletics, there is upward mobility."

And check this out ...

"There is always going to be threats," Benson said. "One of my goals of the next 30 to 60 days -- and it started today with the CEO meeting today -- is talking about the benefits of being a member of the Sun Belt."
UNT officials are not talking on the record, but we know that officials from schools that are going to be in the Alliance have visited UNT and Apogee Stadium.
The bottom line is that the Alliance is still in the process of determining what it wants to do in terms of expansion. The league appears as if it will add several teams. Once it determines what its plans are in terms of how the league will look, it will move quickly on adding members.
That is when the serious talks will begin. I have been told by conference officials that is has not gotten to that point quite yet.

Click Here for Full Story

[Sly Fox]

From a WKU beat reporter ...

Benson optimistic about Sun Belt's future
New commissioner wants Sun Belt to return to a 'multiple bid' league

Posted: Saturday, March 3, 2012 8:09 pm | Updated: 8:23 pm, Sat Mar 3, 2012.
Cole Claybourn |



HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Karl Benson admitted he's in an awkward position.

The Western Athletic Conference commissioner who was hired as the Sun Belt Conference's fifth commissioner last month is still technically working for the WAC and isn't expecting to start his tenure with the Sun Belt until at least March 15.

But Benson was on hand for his first ever Sun Belt Basketball Tournament and talked about his visions for the conference, which include helping it get back to being a multiple bid league for the NCAA Tournament.

Click Here for Full Story