Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports

1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

Yeah, a CUSA member sure wouldn't want a strong sun belt. Idaho and NMSU are perfect additions from a CUSA perspective.

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports
1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

I think NMSU already has a foot in the door (already FBS, prior member left in good standing, basically in W. Texas, solid hoops, easy W in football (jk), etc.).

Idaho for football only has some merit but really has little in common with the Sun Belt. May get an invite as a favor to them, similar to what we did for Denver all those years.

Then you can add two FCS's to round out the confernce.

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports

1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

New Mexico State has huge issues internally. Idaho...never again.

Pull up FCS who at least have a chance to be something.

Just please, no Jacksonville St.

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports

1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

Both are way outside the SunBelt footprint.

Only as a last resort to keep the conference on life support should these two be added and the SunBelt is not on life support at this time like so poster think.

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports

1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

No. We are a southeastern based league, not the big east

I am more concerned about how strong the conference is on the field and in the stands than I am about whether someone is currently FBS. In the Sun Belt's young life we have seen Troy, FIU, FAU, WKU and USA move up from FCS. All but USA (one year) have been in postseason play and Troy was dominant for some time. NMSU has a lot of upside with their overall program and it really isn't any further for most of our programs than it was to travel to the FL schools.

I think it is a mistake to only add one or two but that is just me.

(01-24-2013 10:11 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports
1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

No. We are a southeastern based league, not the big east

Do you want to go back to the Southland?

(01-24-2013 10:13 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:11 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports
1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

No. We are a southeastern based league, not the big east

Do you want to go back to the Southland?

What are you talking about? Just because a school is currently FCS does not mean they'll suck for generations to come.. based on history NMSU will suck for generations to come. App State and Georgia Southern make way more sense. And yes, I'll take Liberty or even Lamar before I take Idaho.

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports

1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

Those teams would actually fit CUSA's footprint better than ours.

If no other schools leave the SBC.......

Oral Roberts

New Mexico State


-Move ASU/UALR to eastern division
-Bring in 2 quality basketball programs
-Bring in 9th football member to ease scheduling


Do nothing else until we lose more schools.

Look. Another original "We Should Add" thread.

Well, at least it's not GSU and App State fans talking about how great they are this time.

(01-24-2013 10:19 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:13 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:11 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports
1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

No. We are a southeastern based league, not the big east

Do you want to go back to the Southland?

What are you talking about? Just because a school is currently FCS does not mean they'll suck for generations to come.. based on history NMSU will suck for generations to come. App State and Georgia Southern make way more sense. And yes, I'll take Liberty or even Lamar before I take Idaho.

Okay, I can understand that but for us returning to a more modern version of the SLC does not appeal to our fan base. By no means am I suggesting taking Idaho, but give me NMSU all day over freaken Lamar or any other SLC program at this time.

(01-24-2013 10:59 AM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:19 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:13 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:11 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:44 AM)MG61 Wrote:  Idaho - Football only
New Mexico State - All sports
1. Pickup two existing FBS programs instead of FCS move ups.
2. Football only for Idaho eliminates costly travel to far west for non-football sports.
3. New Mexico State brings a lot to the table for basketball. Would currently be highest ranked Belt team. Would lead the Belt in basketball attendance.

No. We are a southeastern based league, not the big east

Do you want to go back to the Southland?

What are you talking about? Just because a school is currently FCS does not mean they'll suck for generations to come.. based on history NMSU will suck for generations to come. App State and Georgia Southern make way more sense. And yes, I'll take Liberty or even Lamar before I take Idaho.

Okay, I can understand that but for us returning to a more modern version of the SLC does not appeal to our fan base. By no means am I suggesting taking Idaho, but give me NMSU all day over freaken Lamar or any other SLC program at this time.

Let me put it this way:

App State
GaSO
NMSU
Liberty
Jax State (Alabama)
Lamar
SHSU
Idaho

(01-24-2013 11:03 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:59 AM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:19 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:13 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:11 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  No. We are a southeastern based league, not the big east

Do you want to go back to the Southland?

What are you talking about? Just because a school is currently FCS does not mean they'll suck for generations to come.. based on history NMSU will suck for generations to come. App State and Georgia Southern make way more sense. And yes, I'll take Liberty or even Lamar before I take Idaho.

Okay, I can understand that but for us returning to a more modern version of the SLC does not appeal to our fan base. By no means am I suggesting taking Idaho, but give me NMSU all day over freaken Lamar or any other SLC program at this time.

Let me put it this way:

App State
GaSO
NMSU
Liberty
Jax State (Alabama)
Lamar
SHSU
Idaho

Then hell, you should have stayed in the SLC because I see very little difference.

Sounds like going under is a better option than SLC.

The Sun Belt should invite....NO ONE at this point. In the past, I was a proponent of adding Ga Southern and Appy immediately. I still advocate their inclusion but I'd just wait to see how many teams we will need or if CUSA gets raided so badly the two conferences simply merge.

Here's why its safe for the Sun Belt to sit at 8 football/10 basketball teams for the next couple of weeks.
1) No one is taking Ga Southern but us. Its doubtful anyone will be taking Appy at this point either.
2) We're likely to lose 1 and probably 2 more teams. Lets see who we have left to build the conference around before extending bids
3) There are any number of schools that are interested in moving to the Sun Belt, regardless of the raiding by other conferences, such as Ga Southern, Appy, NMSU, Jax State, Liberty. JMU would probably be interested as well. We aren't in a WAC situation. And its very unlikely we will be.
4) Lets see how conference BCS sharing gets finalized before expanding. If the BCS formula and other sharing mechanisms are done by conference, rather than by individual teams, it may make sense to stay smaller.

Again, I think Appy and Ga Southern will be in the Sun Belt soon. I just don't see the need to run around desperately adding teams until we know what holes we are looking to fill. Or if there may be an advantage to staying small.

We all know that for geographical, cultural, and program fit, Ga Southern and Appy are the top two, but we don't need to jump the gun right now. As far as the others go, lets wait to see what we need and if any of the others can contribute to the Belt before going crazy.

What I absolutely dont want to happen is.

1) Adding teams to create partners for existing teams unless the sponsoring team makes a committment (and binds it to an enforceable contract) to stay in the conference so long as its partner does. I'd love to see another team from the West, but I don't want to go down that NMSU, Idaho, Denver, Utah State route again. If say, Texas State wants NMSU in the conference, great...But Texas State should have to up their committment to the Belt in order to sponsor them.

2) Adding teams without a massive (and probably unmatched by existing conference members) exit fee for those new teams.

3) Adding more basketball teams. Especially those not in the middle of our footprint.

If you don't add some by this summer then you are forced to take NMSU, Idaho or both if we lose more teams. I can't imagine that we are anywhere near being finished with realignment and it will affect the SBC.

Whether you are a fan of a team that is likely to move on in the future or not, we owe it to the league to make sure it continues for those that remain.

Also, how can any fan of FIU, FAU, WKU, USA or Troy talk down to FCS programs who want to move up? It seems like yesterday that I watched ASU hang 66 on FIU as a fresh FBS program.

I know that there is not any separation between teams currently in the MAC, SBC or CUSA but I also know that with an increase in scholarships and a little time there are FCS programs that can compete in any of those three conferences.

(01-24-2013 11:43 AM)Crump1 Wrote:  It seems like yesterday that I watched ASU hang 66 on FIU as a fresh FBS program.

Which makes it all the more painful to watch them leave us behind. Let's be completely honest about that.