Confernce Realignment Chaos is Here!!!!!! (maybe ... probabbly not) (Rumor Texas and OK reach out to SEC about joining)

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Sun Belt is all official and done, with JMU officially announced yesterday. Some juicy gossip about the CAA conference (JMU's current) announcing that they will lock JMU out of all conference championships and thus NCAA tourna auto-bids from now onward.

CUSA first wave is official and done, as noam posted above.


They're waiting to see what happens with Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee to the MAC.

There was a MAC presidents meeting yesterday. Usually those things are scheduled when it's a done deal, and it's a formality. But nothing was announced. Rumor is that things have hit a snag, mainly over contract/grant of TV rights, things like that.

It was noted that MTSU's Twitter account welcomed the four new teams to the league, while WKU's account did not. That's the kind of "tea leaves" that you can, maybe, try to read on these things. 😂
 

MplsGopher said:
Sun Belt is all official and done, with JMU officially announced yesterday. Some juicy gossip about the CAA conference (JMU's current) announcing that they will lock JMU out of all conference championships and thus NCAA tourna auto-bids from now onward.

CUSA first wave is official and done, as noam posted above.


They're waiting to see what happens with Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee to the MAC.

There was a MAC presidents meeting yesterday. Usually those things are scheduled when it's a done deal, and it's a formality. But nothing was announced. Rumor is that things have hit a snag, mainly over contract/grant of TV rights, things like that.

It was noted that MTSU's Twitter account welcomed the four new teams to the league, while WKU's account did not. That's the kind of "tea leaves" that you can, maybe, try to read on these things. 😂
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Apt tea leaf reading!

 

Western Kentucky needs a partner to the MAC
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Western Kentucky needs a partner to the MAC
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After watching the MAC games on tv last night, I'm not sure why a team would want to go there. Yes, it's one of the most stable conferences in the country, but playing on cold weeknights in November in front of a couple hundred fans (there could not have been more than 200 people at the EMU game) doesn't really seem all that great.
 

discochris said:
After watching the MAC games on tv last night, I'm not sure why a team would want to go there. Yes, it's one of the most stable conferences in the country, but playing on cold weeknights in November in front of a couple hundred fans (there could not have been more than 200 people at the EMU game) doesn't really seem all that great.
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They have no choice, they left the Sunbelt in 2014 because CUSA was a step up at the time, so they can't go back and the AAC doesn't want them.
 


goldengophers said:
They have no choice, they left the Sunbelt in 2014 because CUSA was a step up at the time, so they can't go back and the AAC doesn't want them.
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They can remain in CUSA, which now has enough members to survive.
 



And now the MAC has decided not to expand, so both WKU and MTSU will remain in CUSA. So it seems like unless any other FCS teams are going to move up, this round of realignment may be complete.
 



discochris said:
After watching the MAC games on tv last night, I'm not sure why a team would want to go there. Yes, it's one of the most stable conferences in the country, but playing on cold weeknights in November in front of a couple hundred fans (there could not have been more than 200 people at the EMU game) doesn't really seem all that great.
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It's all for TV. (Captain Obvious there)

They get on ESPN(2), people can watch, it is what it is.

It's that, or play on normal Saturdays with zero or close to that TV coverage. They made their choice and chose that identity.
 

Good - on WKU and MTSU staying.

CUSA should survive.

Sun Belt can claim whatever they want, but LT, MTSU, FIU, WKU, and UTEP are solid "mid-major" programs in G5. 20-30k stadiums, not bottom of the barrel attendance. Liberty, like or hate the school as much as you want for what it is, will bring a very solid, similar type of college football program.

NMSU is just a travel partner for UTEP, and is solid (for WAC standards) in bball. Football, we'll see.

Will be interesting to see how Jax and SH evolve. Hey, I mean Coastal Carolina came out of nowhere in the Sun Belt.
 

MplsGopher said:
It's all for TV. (Captain Obvious there)

They get on ESPN(2), people can watch, it is what it is.

It's that, or play on normal Saturdays with zero or close to that TV coverage. They made their choice and chose that identity.
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Obviously the MACtion weeknight thing is to get paid for providing ESPN content in November. But it's such a sad sight to see these 20-30,000 seat stadiums with a couple hundred people. EMU obviously being the worst case scenario, since they're literally seven miles from the Big House, and nobody cares about EMU sports. There have been calls for years for them to either drop football, or leave the MAC.
 

MplsGopher said:
It's all for TV. (Captain Obvious there)

They get on ESPN(2), people can watch, it is what it is.

It's that, or play on normal Saturdays with zero or close to that TV coverage. They made their choice and chose that identity.
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The mid-week MACtion gets a lot of action in Vegas, FanDuel etc. Sports gambling proliferating through the country, provides a solid niche.

Personally, can't do it. Rather turn my attention to the O/U on the Predators-Stars, per se. Nothing beats an empty net goal in a 3-2 game (either team), when the number was 5.5. Quite a rush.
 
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Agree that this "should" put a lid on movements, for now.


Seems that EKU, and any MVFC schools - especially including the Dakotas - have missed their opportunity, if there was one, while JMU, SHSU, and Jax State have cashed in.


EDIT: actually, I could be wrong here. There is still one thing: the WAC. They're losing NMSU and Sam Houston from their plan here: https://www.wacsports.com/expansion/index

It was reported that they had invited McNeese and Incarnate Word as replacements, but then McNeese reported they turned it down.


Maybe WAC will stick with 11 then. Seattle is the, by far, outlier. And they've always wanted into the WCC (Gonzaga, etc.), which aligns with their Catholic identity. But it hasn't happened yet.
 

MplsGopher said:
Good - on WKU and MTSU staying.

CUSA should survive.

Sun Belt can claim whatever they want, but LT, MTSU, FIU, WKU, and UTEP are solid "mid-major" programs in G5. 20-30k stadiums, not bottom of the barrel attendance. Liberty, like or hate the school as much as you want for what it is, will bring a very solid, similar type of college football program.

NMSU is just a travel partner for UTEP, and is solid (for WAC standards) in bball. Football, we'll see.

Will be interesting to see how Jax and SH evolve. Hey, I mean Coastal Carolina came out of nowhere in the Sun Belt.
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From what I understand, the Sun Belt wanted to go all-in on football, and targeted schools that have either invested big or planned to invest big in their programs. That's a big reason they invited JMU to move up, instead of taking another CUSA team that was already FBS. And honestly, Sun Belt football is usually pretty fun.

That's different from the AAC, which went after larger media markets (which are less important now in the streaming era.)

I really would like to see NM State do well. They've been screwed in the conference merry-go round for years. There's no reason they should not have been in the MWC with New Mexico, or already in CUSA with UTEP. They have a nice campus and a nice stadium.
 

Ope3 said:
The mid-week MACtion gets a lot of action in Vegas, FanDuel etc. Sports gambling proliferating through the country, provides a solid niche.

Personally, can't do it. Rather turn my attention to the O/U on the Predators-Stars, per se. Nothing beats an empty net goal in a 3-2 game (either team), when the number was 5.5. Quite a rush.
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I didn't think of the gambling aspect. Good point.
 

MplsGopher said:
Agree that this "should" put a lid on movements, for now.


Seems that EKU, and any MVFC schools - especially including the Dakotas - have missed their opportunity, if there was one, while JMU, SHSU, and Jax State have cashed in.


EDIT: actually, I could be wrong here. There is still one thing: the WAC. They're losing NMSU and Sam Houston from their plan here: https://www.wacsports.com/expansion/index

It was reported that they had invited McNeese and Incarnate Word as replacements, but then McNeese reported they turned it down.


Maybe WAC will stick with 11 then. Seattle is the, by far, outlier. And they've always wanted into the WCC (Gonzaga, etc.), which aligns with their Catholic identity. But it hasn't happened yet.
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The WAC isn't FBS though. They hope to move back up in the coming years, but who knows what the landscape will be then.

This round really dealt a blow to FCS level football though. So many of the powerhouses are moving up, or already have.
 

discochris said:
The WAC isn't FBS though. They hope to move back up in the coming years, but who knows what the landscape will be then.

This round really dealt a blow to FCS level football though. So many of the powerhouses are moving up, or already have.
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Agree WAC isn't FBS, and thus would be very unlikely to add an existing FBS team - if that's what you meant?

I'm talking about any additional movement, I guess. So where will I stop? I will draw the line at leagues lower than the WAC, since they were FBS, and maybe could be again one day.
 

MplsGopher said:
Agree WAC isn't FBS, and thus would be very unlikely to add an existing FBS team - if that's what you meant?

I'm talking about any additional movement, I guess. So where will I stop? I will draw the line at leagues lower than the WAC, since they were FBS, and maybe could be again one day.
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I get it. There's still a bunch of movement in the lower level (non FBS) D1 conferences it seems.
 

WAC will get UTRGV as a football replacement for NMSU.

 

Not sure where else to put this, it isn't realignment related per se.


Says that there are three realistic options and one needs to happen soon, to implement by 2024:
- 12 with bids for the 6 highest rated conf champs
- 12 with auto-bids for P5 + best G5
- stay with current 4-team through 2026
 

Two things:

- Incarnate Word accepted the WAC invite, so WAC will indeed go to 12 for now.
- They're a fairly large (10k student body) private school in San Antonio, that was playing scholarship FCS football
- While it's not confirmed that the new WAC schools may try to reach up to FBS in the future, it would at least put them in that position


Also, AAC commish is opposed to the 12 with auto-bids for P5 version.

https://sports.yahoo.com/aac-commis...tic-bids-for-power-five-champs-210954420.html

AAC commish won't support 12-team playoff with automatic bids for Power Five champs​


In theory, a change to the current contract (running through the 2026 season) has to be agreed to by all owners of the CFP - which includes the five G5 conferences. So a single No vote could tank the effort to get things updated by the 2024 season. But I doubt they'd allow that charade to continue past the 2026 season, for the new contract.
 

How long til FCS goes away?
 

This is crazy. Could legitimately be questioned if FIU has plans to continue sponsoring football:

 

hello-world said:
If USC comes with UCLA then UCLA comes with Cal and Cal comes with Stanford.

If those four schools joined the B1G, then Notre Dame would come calling shortly after.
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fmlizard said:
If the Big Ten were solely interested in building a national super-conference and was OK with chucking much of its historical roots, these 5 + Washington would make 20.

That 20 would scarcely resemble the Big Ten, but it would be a financial and academic and multi-sport athletic machine that would make this newfangled SEC look weak.
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Welp... we're about to find out.

Cannot believe we had this conversation almost a year ago. Was the first thing I thought of when the announcement came out today.
 

hello-world said:
Welp... we're about to find out.

Cannot believe we had this conversation almost a year ago. Was the first thing I thought of when the announcement came out today.
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With the NIL and all the shuffling between conferences, I wonder if in the next few years, we'll see the purported top sixty-four (or so) teams just reorganize into a set of roughly geograpically-based divisions. Set up an expanded playoff format off of that.
 


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