FBS Conference Realignment is all speculation at this point!
Conference realignment is certainly
changing the landscape across the country. Why? Because many conferences are
hunting the dollars that comes with college football and other sports such as
basketball, if you don’t believe me check out the latest with other conferences
especially the Big East that’s about to fill the real pain.
The seven founding basketball schools in
the Big East announced on Saturday they would ultimately leave to form a new
league. Putting this conference in a situation to think what’s next for our
remaining and future members.
The big exit will leave four current Big
East football members, and nine new schools are scheduled to join the league
over the next three years, and all of those are not schedule to join in all
sports. So will this force the new conference to add members and if so from
where do they add these new members. Many are speculating as usual that they
will raid Conference USA again or maybe other conferences such as Mountain West
and the MAC to create a new national conference with two divisions in all
sports.
With all the college conference shuffling
happening, many are wondering inside and outside of the Sun Belt Conference
what is going to happen next?
On last week or so I wrote here on my blog
that the Sun Belt Conference may add additional programs to replace Middle
Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic after the FCS playoffs, I didn’t say what day
or how many weeks it would be after the playoffs. I was relying on information
that was provided. But I am here to keep my readers and followers well informed
on the situation as information develops as we know nothing as developed on a announcement
as of yet.
There is a big question that is blowing
over many desks as we speak, what will happen next? And to be honest nobody
knows, why because all of the realignment shuffling has not settled. Everyone
wants to know who will the SBC add as new members, will it be FCS programs or
will it be other FBS programs? Even me I am asking the same question to many
and would like to know and when it will happen? But what concerns me the most
is will it be FCS programs and will the SBC make the right choice?
I had some interesting conversations this
weekend with a couple of individuals inside of the Sun Belt Conference and
outside of the Sun Belt Conference, and each of them seems to be on the same
page now but with a little bit of a different twist.
The answers comes down to this, the Sun
Belt Conference will add two programs at minimum to get back to 10 programs in
football and 12 in all sports. I ask who
might they add, or who is the SBC considering? The answers were Appalachian
State and Georgia Southern which tops the list in FCS programs along with Lamar
University in Texas. There was no mention of any other programs from the FCS in
those conversations.
Then I asked a follow up question of when
will the SBC possible announced their additions? Simple don’t know yet, due to
the changes in conference realignment. I asked what you mean. Simple with the
Big East losing programs, changes are coming soon, they may invite programs
from other conferences, preferably C-USA and more SBC programs may be added to
C-USA who knows, so the Sun Belt is waiting to see what happens.
I don’t know how long the Sun Belt will
wait through all this conference shuffling, but with me the question still
remain the same, will they wait until it too late?
Two FCS programs have expressed interest
and have made a few necessary moves to make the jump to the FBS. Georgia
Southern and Appalachian State are those two programs, and each of their AD’s
have also made it known that they are having discussion with several
conferences. There is no doubt that both of these programs want to be in the
FBS, but where will their first home be? I spoke to an inside sure and not long
ago, and was informed that the talks with Georgia Southern and the SBC were
serious and the business side of the deal needed to be worked out. Um, Really?
Well these are all rumors, because no one officially has come forward.
With the Big East losing programs now, and
may be force into deeper changes. Many options are on the table now. If the Big
East goes after more C-USA programs, then C-USA will go after more SBC programs
or possibly Appalachian State and Georgia Southern. Appalachian State would
rather be in C-USA any way and wouldn’t deny an invite to the Big East or
whatever their conference maybe called in the future along with Georgia Southern.
We all know that Memphis, Tulane, East
Carolina, SMU, Central Florida, and Houston have all left for the Big East in
2013 and 2014, what if the Big East dissolves and there is no conference left
for those programs to call home, what will they be forced to do? These six
programs will be forced to seek a spot back in their old conference or seek to
form a new one.
If such of a move is to happen, and
Conference USA takes back some of those programs and not all, who will it be
and where will the others go? Many are speculating that Memphis, Tulane and SMU
may be left out. So where will they go? The Sun Belt would be glad to welcome
them in. So is this why the Sun Belt Conference may be delaying its
announcement and move to add additional programs. Could it be something much
better than FCS programs? SMU would make a great fit in Texas with Texas State,
Memphis could very well replace Middle Tennessee in the State of Tennessee and
Tulane could be a great additional for as TV market and rest of SBC eastern
schools such as South Alabama, Troy and Georgia State. All that of these
programs has a great TV market that would be a benefit to the Sun Belt
Conference.
We can’t forget about New Mexico State
either, this is a program that can get pick up three different ways now, C-USA
could pick them up to form a mega conference, the Big East can pick them up to
form their new national conference, and the Sun Belt can welcome them back in
as well.
I’m pretty sure that the Sun Belt
Conference wouldn’t want to dissolve as the WAC did and be forced away. I also
believe that the SBC would like better TV revenue contracts and college bowl
tie ins. SBC do want better, but how soon due they want it?
However I do believe that the Sun Belt
Conference should be more open to its fans and supporters on all the conference
realignment and what the SBC plans are in the near future. Many would like to
know and should know, but when it happens it happens. On the honest side to all
of this nobody knows when, but those at the board room table of the Sun Belt
Conference.
