BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

The Big East does seem to be taking a lot of hits and it wouldn't surprise me if this happened.

 

That's why I mentioned Dayton and St. Louis. Unless you're talking about the football Big East that doesn't have a name yet (America 12? Metro? Conference WTF?). In which case, it's possible they'd take UMass for all sports, and maybe even VCU or Richmond to balance football-only Navy.

Meanwhile, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern appear to be making their long-rumored move to the Sun Belt this week. Tommy Bowman of the Winston-Salem Journal tweeted that ASU was about to make the move, and rumor is Georgia Southern is holding a press conference Wednesday. That gives the Belt 10, though Tulsa is widely expected to join the Big American Metro Shitshow soon, triggering a Western Kentucky jump to C-USA and leaving the Belt with 9. Presuming this happens, the Belt will add either 1 or 3 teams.

JMU, Liberty, New Mexico State and random southern FCS schools that may or may not be moving up: y'all are on the clock.

 

Speaking as a Middle guy, I wouldn't mind having Western in the same conference. Chance to maintain a long-standing rivalry.

 

JCM: That seems to be the idea. Both schools want it and WKU has old Sun Belt rivalries with UAB, Charlotte and Old Dominion that they can rekindle. CUSA basketball might be better than people expect it to be going forward, if MTSU and La. Tech can build on what they did this season while ODU and UAB return to past glories.

 

Can we change the title to this thread ? Running conference switch thread, or something? We're off the BCS now and "yeah?" either means yeah, really? or yeah - yay as in the opposite of boo.

 

I agree. For Middle to get an at-large bid even though it didn't win its conference tourney was a big step in the right direction. I also think the Sun Belt did itself no favors with potential future members with how it treated Middle on the way out, but maybe that's the Middle alum in me talking.

 

Siena is denying rumors that they're the A-10's next team here, but Chris DiSano, some TV talking head and Rhode Island color guy, tweeted that they're making some sort of announcement Wednesday, and he doesn't think it's the coaching change.

Siena has been pretty horrible the last couple of years, but they've had success before and they still had more than 6,000 fans playing in the low-major MAAC. A lot of A-10 followers aren't happy about Mason and Siena as additions, but did they really expect another Butler/VCU combo to be lurking out there? Wichita State only works if Dayton and St. Louis stay, and adding two Northeast schools to replace two Midwest schools makes it look pretty obvious that they're Big East-bound.

 

The night was observed by grilling celebration steaks and some libations at the Expendable house.

 

Why wouldn't you want George Mason? I certainly get not wanting Siena. I could pick a dozen schools I'd want ahead of them. Hell I'd take a half-dozen MAAC schools before Siena.

 

Ain't that the truth.

I take all of this talk with a grain of salt... sort of like the "Boise to the Big East" nonsense. Going to just wait to see how it all shakes down in a few years.

It's hard enough keeping up with the large conferences, but I really wonder if anyone outside the schools themselves gives a rat's tail who's in the Sun Belt or Atlantic Sun or whatever.

 

Not too many people on a national level care, that's for sure. All of this stuff keeps working its way down, even to the Division II and lower levels. The D-II schools in the Southeast have undergone a lot of realignment in the past few years and schools are jumping to D-II from NAIA seemingly every year.
Also, the local D-II university here is rumbling about either adding football and staying D-II or going to D-I in a conference like the A-Sun or Big South. Looking at where the school is and the conference memberships, I'd go with the A-Sun because it's a better geographical fit.

 

MIAA (Pittsburg State, NW Missouri State and the like) has been a major mover in Division II. Went from 10 to 16 schools in, I think, two years. Then Nebraska-Omaha jumped to D-I and Truman State got tired of being mudstomped in most of its sports by everybody, so the conference will be at 14 next season. I've already had a couple of people say that the coaches, basketball especiallly, think it's too big and it could end up splitting again.

Since I went to school at Pitt State in the mid-90s, 18 schools have been in the conference. Pitt State, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Emporia State, Washburn, Northwest MO, Central MO, Southwest Baptist and Truman State (for the rest of the season) are the hold overs from that time. Missouri-St. Louis and Missouri-Rolla left not long after I graduated (UMSL because it didn't have football; UMR because it was horrible in most every sport). Lincoln's left and come back. Omaha came in and left. Fort Hays State, Nebraska-Kearney, Lindenwood, Northeastern State (Okla.), Central Oklahoma have come in since I graduated (the last four in the past two years).

That makes the Big East look stable.