AAC expansion

jpfalcon09 · Post by **jpfalcon09** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:55 pm

BillyLP wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:42 pm Maybe it's that App State and Coastal Carolina provide strong competition, but I don't see Marshall and the Sun Belt being a great match.

They're definitely an outlier. Curious why La Tech is being excluded. They're a former SBC member and would have easy natural rivals in ULL and ULM.

Tony4BG · Post by **Tony4BG** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:17 pm

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:34 pm Latest update - So. Miss, Marshall, JMU, and ODU to the Sun Belt will be announced early next week. That would leave Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, LA Tech, UTEP, and Liberty in CUSA. CUSA's only options then would be to bring in independents like UConn and UMass, poach from other conferences, or fold.

Florida International instead of Liberty.

Liberty is currently Independent.

Tony4BG · Post by **Tony4BG** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:18 pm

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:55 pm
BillyLP wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:42 pm Maybe it's that App State and Coastal Carolina provide strong competition, but I don't see Marshall and the Sun Belt being a great match.
They're definitely an outlier. Curious why La Tech is being excluded. They're a former SBC member and would have easy natural rivals in ULL and ULM.

Apparently those two schools do not want LaTech to join

jpfalcon09 · Post by **jpfalcon09** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:31 pm

Tony4BG wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:17 pm
jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:34 pm Latest update - So. Miss, Marshall, JMU, and ODU to the Sun Belt will be announced early next week. That would leave Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, LA Tech, UTEP, and Liberty in CUSA. CUSA's only options then would be to bring in independents like UConn and UMass, poach from other conferences, or fold.
Florida International instead of Liberty.

Liberty is currently Independent.

Good call, I got my affiliations mixed up.

Tony4BG · Post by **Tony4BG** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:39 pm

No worries! Guess we wait & see what happens with the five remaining CUSA members.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:48 pm

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:34 pm Latest update - So. Miss, Marshall, JMU, and ODU to the Sun Belt will be announced early next week. That would leave Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, LA Tech, UTEP, and Liberty in CUSA. CUSA's only options then would be to bring in independents like UConn and UMass, poach from other conferences, or fold.

Liberty isn't in Conference USA, but Florida International is.

I think the conference needs eight members. (I don't know that they all necessarily need to play football, but football-only affiliates don't count toward the eight, as I understand this.)

Adding Liberty and two other schools would address this. New Mexico State would make sense as a full addition, given how strong their basketball program is, and given that Texas-El Paso is just down the road. (So long as UTEP could stomach it. They might object the way Kent State would object to bringing Youngstown State into the MAC.)

I doubt UMass could bring all sports, but they could affiliate in football. Maybe bring in FCS schools like Missouri State.

I think this is solvable, so long as the MAC doesn't swoop in and grab two more schools. But the MAC might.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:52 pm

No school has been more humbled in this than Louisiana Tech. This interview was only a year ago.

https://twitter.com/RaginReview/status/ ... 62946?s=20

AAC expansion

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