Next round of conference realignment happening

[NYBuckeye96]

2021 Round 1 - Texas and Oklahoma to leave Big 12 for the SEC.

2021 Round 2 - Cincinnati, UCF and Houston to leave AAC for Big 12; BYU to leave independence/Big West for Big 12.

2021 Round 3 - North Texas, UTSA, Rice, FAU, Charlotte, and UAB to leave Conference USA for AAC.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... fMpcmkVSy8

I bet Marshall really, really, really wishes they were back in the MAC now.

Conference USA will be down to 8 schools after the 6 are formally accepted into the AAC:

Florida International
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
Middle Tennessee
Old Dominion
Southern Mississippi
UTEP
Western Kentucky

Will Conference USA survive? Consider this:

UTEP is rumored to be one of the schools the Mountain West may add.

Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and Western Kentucky are former Sun Belt Conference members and may want to return to the Sun Belt since the Sun Belt has bypassed Conference USA in prestige, despite losing schools to them in the past.

That only leaves Marshall and Southern Mississippi. Southern Mississippi is a natural geographic fit for the Sun Belt.

Or can Conference USA steal teams from the Sun Belt to remain alive, thus killing off the Sun Belt.

Since conferences are getting bigger in terms of members, it seems likely that one of Conference USA or the Sun Belt will no longer exist at some point in the not too distant future, unless several FCS schools decide to move up to the FBS level, which is what saved the Sun Belt in the last round of expansion a few years back.

Sun Belt:
Appalachian State
Arkansas State
Arkansas - Little Rock (no football)
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Louisiana
Louisiana - Monroe
South Alabama
Texas State
Texas - Arlington (no football)
Troy

Independents available:
Army
New Mexico State (possible Mountain West expansion candidate)
UMass
UConn (football only)
Liberty

All other options would be FCS schools moving up to play FBS football.

The new AAC will look like this, assuming an East/West split:

East
Memphis
South Florida
East Carolina
Temple
Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
U. Alabama - Birmingham

West
SMU
Tulane
Tulsa
Navy (football only if returns to West like before)/Wichita State all other sports
North Texas
Rice
U. Texas - San Antonio

So much for a "Power 6".

And the kicker............this may only be temporary. The Big 12 is rumored to be looking to add 2-4 more schools after Texas and Oklahoma leave. Boise State and Memphis are the next in line if only 2 are added. If four are added, the other two could be a combo of South Florida, SMU, Tulane or San Diego State.

[mattash]

Will the MAC take Marshall back?

[Omega]

Will the MAC take Marshall back?

I honestly do not think the MAC would accept Marshall back given past history. After all these conference play musical chairs Marshall may be left without an athletic home unless they are willing to drop down to D1 FCS status in football.

[mattash]

Marshall for Buffalo would be perfect

[svac83]

As of right now i think mountain west has no plans to expand.

[svac83]

The commissioner of Sun Belt has been in Huntington 3 times since summer. The holdup seems to be finding the sunbelt basketball only schools a new home

[svac83]

two different rumors i am hearing is if two teams added to sunbelt it would be southern mississippi and marshall. The other rumor is that ODU and marshall and Western Kentucky have sort of put themselves out there as a package deal to anyone who is interested.

[NYBuckeye96]

12 of the 14 AAC schools are former Conference USA schools. Only Temple and Navy/Wichita State have never been in Conference USA.

Additionally, of all 6 former AAC schools, 4 are former Conference USA schools. Only UConn and Rutgers were never in Conference USA.

20 total schools have been in the AAC and 16 were former Conference USA schools. I'm counting Navy/Wichita State as one school since Navy football plus Wichita State basketball/Olympic sports = one all-sport member.

The 6 schools the AAC added are all in major markets, but most weren't the best athletic programs available. If it were me, I would have added UAB, but the only other Conference USA school I would have added would have been Southern Mississippi. Assuming Sun Belt schools were available, I would have added Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana. The sixth school would have been Liberty. Doesn't move the needle, but at least it would be more competitive than what they actually added.

I wonder if Temple sticks around or pulls a UConn --- goes independent in football and joins the Big East or Atlantic 10 in all other sports. Temple and Memphis basketball will be hurt in this conference, but I think Memphis will be in the Big 12 sooner rather than later. Temple doesn't have a potential lifeline.

Marshall might get a lifeline to the Sun Belt, if you can call it that. I think the MAC's contract is worth more than the Sun Belt if I remember right. the Sun Belt appears to be ignoring the former schools that left for Conference USA a few years ago. I guess the MAC could be doing the same to Marshall.

[Omega]

Also so saw some discussion of Marshall, Temple, Army, Navy UConn, Old Dominion, James Madison, and Liberty forming a football sub group under the existing Big East Basketball conference. That would make sense geographically and travel wise. Still all the signs point to the Sun Belt for MU. Unfortunately given Marshall's miniscule market size, The Herd are beggars rather than choosers when it comes to conference realignment.

[OHHS old timer]

I think I'll wait until the dust settles...it would give me a headache.

I do agree that the Thundering Herd is not in a bargaining position with the small area. It sucks but truth hurts

[mattash]

Man I really liked the MAC

[NYBuckeye96]

It’s being reported the the Sun Belt will add 4 schools, 3 from Conference USA: Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Mississippi. The fourth school is FCS school James Madison, which is moving up to FBS. It’s also being reported the two non-football schools in the Sun Belt are being kicked out. Conference USA has interest in adding those two schools, along with Liberty and possibly New Mexico State. Also interested in adding UMass and UConn as football only members. Not sure UConn would go for that. As awful as their football is, they can make more money as an independent playing more P5 schools than CUSA schools I would think.

https://www.ktsm.com/sports/college-spo ... eague/amp/

[NYBuckeye96]

I wonder if it would be worth anything for the MAC to make a move to add Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee? They would both add to the footprint in a reasonable way and both would be competitive in most sports, especially men’s basketball.

[Bleeding Red]

Just announced that Marshall is moving to the Sun Belt conference

[Omega]

Just announced that Marshall is moving to the Sun Belt conference

It is good news for Marshall. The alternative of staying in a decaying CUSA was not an option. Given The Herd's history with conference affiliations, I am surprised they did not screw up.

[NYBuckeye96]

And I saw into the future. It’s being reported that the MAC could add Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee by the end of this week.

https://amp.courier-journal.com/amp/6236739001

While WKU and MTSU may not move the needle nationally, they have won more CUSA titles in all sports since 2014 than any other CUSA schools. They are decent in most sports. Surprisingly, Marshall is tied for last place with the fewest titles in that same time period.

Number of conference titles since 2014-15:

1. WKU - 27
2. MTSU - 18
3. Rice - 16
4. North Texas - 14
5. FAU - 11
6. UTEP - 10
7. FIU - 9
8. Louisiana Tech - 8
9. Charlotte - 8
10. UAB - 8
11. Southern Miss - 8
12. UTSA - 6
13. ODU - 6
14. Marshall - 6

https://www.ubbullrun.com/platform/amp/ ... n-football

[Omega]

Marshall had to pay a $3 million exit fee to CUSA to leave early.