In the current realignment era, the FBS has expanded from 120 teams to 131 teams with James Madison as the most recent addition to this season. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will be upgrading next year, giving the FBS a total of 133 teams. With this information provided, what if these upgrades had their own conferences, instead of being added to pre existing conference? Here's how a conference like that would look like with these teams:

FCS upgrade conference

North Division
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
UMass

South Division
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Same Houston State
South Alabama
Texas State
UTSA

.

What if you go back another decade or so?

Your FCS-to-FBS conference would include teams such as:

Boise State

University of Central Florida

Marshall University

University of Alabama - Birmingham

University of Buffalo

Louisiana Tech

University of Nevada

University of North Texas

University of Connecticut

University of South Florida

Middle Tennessee State

.

(08-28-2022 05:33 AM)andybible1995 Wrote:  In the current realignment era, the FBS has expanded from 120 teams to 131 teams with James Madison as the most recent addition to this season. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will be upgrading next year, giving the FBS a total of 133 teams. With this information provided, what if these upgrades had their own conferences, instead of being added to pre existing conference? Here's how a conference like that would look like with these teams:

FCS upgrade conference

North Division
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
UMass

South Division
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Same Houston State
South Alabama
Texas State
UTSA

That would be a very solid league in football.

4 of the schools listed in both lists were at one point FBS or 1A before they were forced down to FCS in 82. Those 4 moved back up after a yo-yo effect.

(08-28-2022 05:33 AM)andybible1995 Wrote:  In the current realignment era, the FBS has expanded from 120 teams to 131 teams with James Madison as the most recent addition to this season. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will be upgrading next year, giving the FBS a total of 133 teams. With this information provided, what if these upgrades had their own conferences, instead of being added to pre existing conference? Here's how a conference like that would look like with these teams:

FCS upgrade conference

North Division
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
UMass

South Division
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Same Houston State
South Alabama
Texas State
UTSA

Basically the recent upgrades ARE the Sun Belt. 8 have moved up since 2012 and only 2 (ULL and USM) were in FBS before 1992. The MAC, MWC and P5 have, combined, 4 schools from the 1990s with all the rest prior. AAC, CUSA and Indies only have 6 with less than 10 years and a dozen long time FBS (more than 30 years).

(08-28-2022 10:22 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(08-28-2022 05:33 AM)andybible1995 Wrote:  In the current realignment era, the FBS has expanded from 120 teams to 131 teams with James Madison as the most recent addition to this season. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will be upgrading next year, giving the FBS a total of 133 teams. With this information provided, what if these upgrades had their own conferences, instead of being added to pre existing conference? Here's how a conference like that would look like with these teams:

FCS upgrade conference

North Division
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
UMass

South Division
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Same Houston State
South Alabama
Texas State
UTSA

Basically the recent upgrades ARE the Sun Belt. 8 have moved up since 2012 and only 2 (ULL and USM) were in FBS before 1992. The MAC, MWC and P5 have, combined, 4 schools from the 1990s with all the rest prior. AAC, CUSA and Indies only have 6 with less than 10 years and a dozen long time FBS (more than 30 years).

Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech are joining the Sun Belt this year, and they’ve always been Division IA/FBS teams.


Conference USA has had some recent FCS upgrades ever since 2013. Now, after the previously unthinkable Sun Belt raid of Conference USA, all of C-USA’s teams will be recent FCS upgrades as far as I’m aware.


Edit: I guess that this year, UTEP and Rice (a former SWC member lol) are the only two long time FBS teams in Conference USA. After Rice joins the AAC next year, everybody in Conference USA except for UTEP will be a recent upgrade from FCS.

(08-28-2022 02:19 PM)Poster Wrote:  

(08-28-2022 10:22 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(08-28-2022 05:33 AM)andybible1995 Wrote:  In the current realignment era, the FBS has expanded from 120 teams to 131 teams with James Madison as the most recent addition to this season. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will be upgrading next year, giving the FBS a total of 133 teams. With this information provided, what if these upgrades had their own conferences, instead of being added to pre existing conference? Here's how a conference like that would look like with these teams:

FCS upgrade conference

North Division
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
UMass

South Division
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Same Houston State
South Alabama
Texas State
UTSA

Basically the recent upgrades ARE the Sun Belt. 8 have moved up since 2012 and only 2 (ULL and USM) were in FBS before 1992. The MAC, MWC and P5 have, combined, 4 schools from the 1990s with all the rest prior. AAC, CUSA and Indies only have 6 with less than 10 years and a dozen long time FBS (more than 30 years).

Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech are joining the Sun Belt this year, and they’ve always been Division IA/FBS teams.


Conference USA has had some recent FCS upgrades ever since 2013. Now, after the previously unthinkable Sun Belt raid of Conference USA, all of C-USA’s teams will be recent FCS upgrades as far as I’m aware.


Edit: I guess that this year, UTEP and Rice (a former SWC member lol) are the only two long time FBS teams in Conference USA. After Rice joins the AAC next year, everybody in Conference USA except for UTEP will be a recent upgrade from FCS.

You're off a bit.

Marshall, USM, and ODU have left CUSA for the 'belt. USM didn't get kicked down in the big attendance reset. Marshall transitioned to what's now FBS in the
90s. ODU in the early 20-teens.

Louisiana Tech came up in the first try/opt-in era, got pushed down over stadium size/attendance with the stricter rules, came back up in 1989 (completely).

The new CUSA after the AAC schools (like Rice) leave will have Tech, long time FBS/DivIA members NMSU and UTEP, WKU/MTSU/FIU who all joined in the aughts, Liberty more recently, SHSU and JSU soon.

The CUSA teams leaving for the AAC are Rice, UAB who came up in mid 90s, and then a bunch of relative newbies.

(08-28-2022 05:02 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(08-28-2022 02:19 PM)Poster Wrote:  

(08-28-2022 10:22 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(08-28-2022 05:33 AM)andybible1995 Wrote:  In the current realignment era, the FBS has expanded from 120 teams to 131 teams with James Madison as the most recent addition to this season. Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will be upgrading next year, giving the FBS a total of 133 teams. With this information provided, what if these upgrades had their own conferences, instead of being added to pre existing conference? Here's how a conference like that would look like with these teams:

FCS upgrade conference

North Division
App State
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Liberty
Old Dominion
UMass

South Division
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Jacksonville State
Same Houston State
South Alabama
Texas State
UTSA

Basically the recent upgrades ARE the Sun Belt. 8 have moved up since 2012 and only 2 (ULL and USM) were in FBS before 1992. The MAC, MWC and P5 have, combined, 4 schools from the 1990s with all the rest prior. AAC, CUSA and Indies only have 6 with less than 10 years and a dozen long time FBS (more than 30 years).

Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech are joining the Sun Belt this year, and they’ve always been Division IA/FBS teams.


Conference USA has had some recent FCS upgrades ever since 2013. Now, after the previously unthinkable Sun Belt raid of Conference USA, all of C-USA’s teams will be recent FCS upgrades as far as I’m aware.


Edit: I guess that this year, UTEP and Rice (a former SWC member lol) are the only two long time FBS teams in Conference USA. After Rice joins the AAC next year, everybody in Conference USA except for UTEP will be a recent upgrade from FCS.

You're off a bit.

Marshall, USM, and ODU have left CUSA for the 'belt. USM didn't get kicked down in the big attendance reset. Marshall transitioned to what's now FBS in the
90s. ODU in the early 20-teens.

Louisiana Tech came up in the first try/opt-in era, got pushed down over stadium size/attendance with the stricter rules, came back up in 1989 (completely).

The new CUSA after the AAC schools (like Rice) leave will have Tech, long time FBS/DivIA members NMSU and UTEP, WKU/MTSU/FIU who all joined in the aughts, Liberty more recently, SHSU and JSU soon.

The CUSA teams leaving for the AAC are Rice, UAB who came up in mid 90s, and then a bunch of relative newbies.

I said that Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech are long time FBS/Division I-A members. I didn’t realize that Louisiana Tech was forced into Division I-AA in 1982 before being allowed back into Division I-A in 1989. For some reason, I thought that Louisiana Tech was one of the Conference USA teams leaving for the Sun Belt, but I guess they aren’t.

I forgot that NMSU (a long time FBS member) is leaving independence to join Conference USA.