The SBC announces today that they will add Georgia Southern and Appalacian State for all sports, plus Idaho and NMSU for football only in 2014. Their stated goal (according to Karl Benson) is to get to 12 and hold a championship game for football because those who don't have a CCG in the G5 will not get as large a share of the playoff revenue as those who do. With yesterday's news that Tulsa was leaving CUSA for the C-TBA and a strong supposition that Western Kentucky would replace Tulsa's spot in CUSA, who does the Sun Belt get to replace WKU and get to 12?

JMU?
Liberty?
Jacksonville State?

All three of those have at least publicly admitted they are exploring FBS membership.

Steal a program from the MAC? It's an outlier idea for sure, but the MAC really doesn't like playing with 13 and would rather get to an even number.

Thoughts?

Missouri State?

They have a pretty good west division with Louisiana, ULM, Arkansas State, Texas State, New Mexico State, Idaho. So I'm assuming the final member will come from the East.

I would say that James Madison is far and away the best option for a football program. It remains questionable if they are willing to leave the CAA.

I'm going to throw UT-Chattanooga into the pile as a possibility. Great facilities and good basketball, as well as a good geographic fit.

Florida A&M would be an interesting pick, but they probably have too many institutional issues to make the move at the current time.

JMU is the hot rumor.

CUSA might see if UMASS is interested. That would keep WKU in the SB.

I haven't heard anything about them exploring FBS, but Eastern Kentucky would be an interesting pick. EKU and WKU used to be a big rivalry in football until WKU went FBS.

Dieter Kurtenbach ‏@dkurtenbach 3m WKU will move to Conference USA, and when they do, James Madison has emerged as the top candidate to replace them in the Sun Belt.


So it seems JMU is the leading candidate.

I know its all about football but none of the adds (App St. GaSo. JMU) do anything for basketball. Losing WKU is bad for B-Ball.

JMU is getting better though in basketball.

Liberty's nonsensical, ignorant, "education system" will hold them back from any D1A conference wanting them.

(03-27-2013 12:28 PM)darkdragon99 Wrote:  I know its all about football but none of the adds (App St. GaSo. JMU) do anything for basketball. Losing WKU is bad for B-Ball.

Not that bad in what is traditionally a 1 bid conference. If WKU leaves then someone else will still get that one credit each year for the conference. CUSA is taking a big hit in basketball.

After JMU gets added then Missouri St and Sam Houston St are the next up. Followed by Liberty, Jacksonville St, and Chattanooga.

(03-27-2013 01:17 PM)Eagleditka Wrote:  After JMU gets added then Missouri St and Sam Houston St are the next up. Followed by Liberty, Jacksonville St, and Chattanooga.

Lamar was fairly close to joining the WAC a couple of years ago so I wouldn't be surprised to see their name pop up in the event ULL or Ark State leave.

Travel in the all sport conference of the SBC is looking pretty good.....

SBC East: JMU, ASU, GS, GSU, USA, Troy
SBC West: ArkSt, UALR, ULM, ULL, UTA, Tx St

Things start to get funky once you throw in NMSU and Idaho into the West division but still its not too bad.

(03-27-2013 01:43 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:17 PM)Eagleditka Wrote:  After JMU gets added then Missouri St and Sam Houston St are the next up. Followed by Liberty, Jacksonville St, and Chattanooga.

Lamar was fairly close to joining the WAC a couple of years ago so I wouldn't be surprised to see their name pop up in the event ULL or Ark State leave.

Travel in the all sport conference of the SBC is looking pretty good.....

SBC East: JMU, ASU, GS, GSU, USA, Troy
SBC West: ArkSt, UALR, ULM, ULL, UTA, Tx St

Things start to get funky once you throw in NMSU and Idaho into the West division but still its not too bad.

In November of 1986 I sat in a press conference when Arkansas State announced the formation of the American South. I asked ASU's AD at the time why form a hoops league and leave football an indy. He told me that a) they felt the marketplace rewarded better basketball leagues and b) they were getting tired of having to block SW Texas, NW Louisiana, and the "dead Texans" from expansion talks.

Lamar isn't acceptable to Arkansas State and Louisiana. If their name keeps coming up block fatigue may set in.

(03-27-2013 02:13 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Lamar isn't acceptable to Arkansas State and Louisiana. If their name keeps coming up block fatigue may set in.

That wouldn't be a problem if you joined the MAC.

(03-27-2013 02:13 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:43 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:17 PM)Eagleditka Wrote:  After JMU gets added then Missouri St and Sam Houston St are the next up. Followed by Liberty, Jacksonville St, and Chattanooga.

Lamar was fairly close to joining the WAC a couple of years ago so I wouldn't be surprised to see their name pop up in the event ULL or Ark State leave.

Travel in the all sport conference of the SBC is looking pretty good.....

SBC East: JMU, ASU, GS, GSU, USA, Troy
SBC West: ArkSt, UALR, ULM, ULL, UTA, Tx St

Things start to get funky once you throw in NMSU and Idaho into the West division but still its not too bad.

In November of 1986 I sat in a press conference when Arkansas State announced the formation of the American South. I asked ASU's AD at the time why form a hoops league and leave football an indy. He told me that a) they felt the marketplace rewarded better basketball leagues and b) they were getting tired of having to block SW Texas, NW Louisiana, and the "dead Texans" from expansion talks.

Lamar isn't acceptable to Arkansas State and Louisiana. If their name keeps coming up block fatigue may set in.

So if James Madison joins the SBC and Arkansas State leaves, then we'll know that "dead Virginians" are also unacceptable to Arkansas State.

West: Idaho, NMSU, Texas State, Sam Houston, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama

East: Georgia State, Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Missouri State, Troy

It wouldn't surprise me if Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette and WKU were all in CUSA soon

Let's see how many more teams bolt the sinking ship and then we can know how many spots they have left to fill. I hope the member schools laughing as if FAU/FIU were not a loss enjoy being with Idaho, New Mexico State, Georgia State and maybe a few other schools in FCS like Lamar/Liberty soon :)

(03-27-2013 02:13 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:43 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:17 PM)Eagleditka Wrote:  After JMU gets added then Missouri St and Sam Houston St are the next up. Followed by Liberty, Jacksonville St, and Chattanooga.

Lamar was fairly close to joining the WAC a couple of years ago so I wouldn't be surprised to see their name pop up in the event ULL or Ark State leave.

Travel in the all sport conference of the SBC is looking pretty good.....

SBC East: JMU, ASU, GS, GSU, USA, Troy
SBC West: ArkSt, UALR, ULM, ULL, UTA, Tx St

Things start to get funky once you throw in NMSU and Idaho into the West division but still its not too bad.

In November of 1986 I sat in a press conference when Arkansas State announced the formation of the American South. I asked ASU's AD at the time why form a hoops league and leave football an indy. He told me that a) they felt the marketplace rewarded better basketball leagues and b) they were getting tired of having to block SW Texas, NW Louisiana, and the "dead Texans" from expansion talks.

Lamar isn't acceptable to Arkansas State and Louisiana. If their name keeps coming up block fatigue may set in.

That doesn't make sense. Lamar was a charter member of the American South. Lamar and ULL have had a big rivalry.

Now Lamar doesn't make sense if SB wants an E/W split. But your comment about opposition doesn't flow from the AS formation.

(03-27-2013 04:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:13 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:43 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:17 PM)Eagleditka Wrote:  After JMU gets added then Missouri St and Sam Houston St are the next up. Followed by Liberty, Jacksonville St, and Chattanooga.

Lamar was fairly close to joining the WAC a couple of years ago so I wouldn't be surprised to see their name pop up in the event ULL or Ark State leave.

Travel in the all sport conference of the SBC is looking pretty good.....

SBC East: JMU, ASU, GS, GSU, USA, Troy
SBC West: ArkSt, UALR, ULM, ULL, UTA, Tx St

Things start to get funky once you throw in NMSU and Idaho into the West division but still its not too bad.

In November of 1986 I sat in a press conference when Arkansas State announced the formation of the American South. I asked ASU's AD at the time why form a hoops league and leave football an indy. He told me that a) they felt the marketplace rewarded better basketball leagues and b) they were getting tired of having to block SW Texas, NW Louisiana, and the "dead Texans" from expansion talks.

Lamar isn't acceptable to Arkansas State and Louisiana. If their name keeps coming up block fatigue may set in.

That doesn't make sense. Lamar was a charter member of the American South. Lamar and ULL have had a big rivalry.

Now Lamar doesn't make sense if SB wants an E/W split. But your comment about opposition doesn't flow from the AS formation.

Makes perfect sense.

The American South was chartered as a basketball only league. Lamar was coming off a run of four NCAA appearances in five years that included a Sweet 16.

We aren't interested in a hoops only league and we aren't interested in hitching our football fate to a program that was a football nightmare at a school that dumped football to make basketball better, made basketball worse and nearly cost us our auto bid in the Sun Belt when they went running back to the Southland. We had to pay FIU's exit fee to the TAAC to just to get them in a year early so we'd be a legal conference. Bad blood.