With UAB returning its football program. Conference USA and the Sun Belt should just trade schools and become more regional instead of competing for the same area. Have the Sun Belt take the southwest and Conference USA take the southeast. Both get large population areas and would make travel less and create more attendance in sports as rivalries would grow. The media deal for both conferences would be similar in the next few years and by making each conference 12 schools each school would receive $1 million for the CFP instead of C-USA having to divide $12 million into 14 would only have divide into 12.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE
WEST
New Mexico State
UTEP
UTSA
Texas State
North Texas
Rice

EAST
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
ULM
Arkansas State
Southern Miss
South Alabama

HEADQUARTERS: Dallas, TX
Basketball Tournament Locations: Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, or New Orleans
Baseball Tournament Locations: Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, or New Orleans

A lot of Alumni of these schools in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans

CONFERENCE USA
NORTH
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennesse
Old Dominion
Appalachian State
Charlotte

SOUTH
UAB
Troy
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
FIU

HEADQUARTERS: Charlotte, NC
Basketball Tournament: Charlotte, Atlanta, or Birmingham
Baseball Tournament: Charlotte, Birmingham, or South Florida

A lot of Alumni for these schools in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Birmingham

This would make great regional match-ups and really get alumni into the schools programs by having friends and co-workers from other area schools to have similar interest in one conference. Could you image C-USA basketball tournament in Charlotte with all the App, Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, Georgia State, Middle Tenn, etc. alumni in the area. Would be on par with the ACC in Greensboro and would really create a great conference atmosphere.

At least i don't see anymore stupid "NIU => CUSA" proposals =)

I can see this ending well, though im not sure how marshall fans will take it

If there were any money (as in $2M per year per school) in regional conferences, this sort of shuffle would have happened 2-4 years ago instead of bringing ODU, UNCC, GSU and GSU into FBS (I probably forgot somebody. USA was moving up before the realignment carousel started, and Texas STATE and UTSA were WAC callups.)

Map of proposed conferences:

(06-02-2015 03:21 PM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote:  With UAB returning its football program. Conference USA and the Sun Belt should just trade schools and become more regional instead of competing for the same area. Have the Sun Belt take the southwest and Conference USA take the southeast. Both get large population areas and would make travel less and create more attendance in sports as rivalries would grow. The media deal for both conferences would be similar in the next few years and by making each conference 12 schools each school would receive $1 million for the CFP instead of C-USA having to divide $12 million into 14 would only have divide into 12.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE
WEST
New Mexico State
UTEP
UTSA
Texas State
North Texas
Rice

EAST
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
ULM
Arkansas State
Southern Miss
South Alabama

HEADQUARTERS: Dallas, TX
Basketball Tournament Locations: Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, or New Orleans
Baseball Tournament Locations: Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, or New Orleans

A lot of Alumni of these schools in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans

CONFERENCE USA
NORTH
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennesse
Old Dominion
Appalachian State
Charlotte

SOUTH
UAB
Troy
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
FIU

HEADQUARTERS: Charlotte, NC
Basketball Tournament: Charlotte, Atlanta, or Birmingham
Baseball Tournament: Charlotte, Birmingham, or South Florida

A lot of Alumni for these schools in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Birmingham

This would make great regional match-ups and really get alumni into the schools programs by having friends and co-workers from other area schools to have similar interest in one conference. Could you image C-USA basketball tournament in Charlotte with all the App, Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, Georgia State, Middle Tenn, etc. alumni in the area. Would be on par with the ACC in Greensboro and would really create a great conference atmosphere.

So what do you do with UTA and UALR. They are full members of the Sun Belt. Do you kick them to the curb. Also why did you not include your own teams conference.

(06-02-2015 03:46 PM)ValleyBoy Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 03:21 PM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote:  With UAB returning its football program. Conference USA and the Sun Belt should just trade schools and become more regional instead of competing for the same area. Have the Sun Belt take the southwest and Conference USA take the southeast. Both get large population areas and would make travel less and create more attendance in sports as rivalries would grow. The media deal for both conferences would be similar in the next few years and by making each conference 12 schools each school would receive $1 million for the CFP instead of C-USA having to divide $12 million into 14 would only have divide into 12.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE
WEST
New Mexico State
UTEP
UTSA
Texas State
North Texas
Rice

EAST
Louisiana
Louisiana Tech
ULM
Arkansas State
Southern Miss
South Alabama

HEADQUARTERS: Dallas, TX
Basketball Tournament Locations: Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, or New Orleans
Baseball Tournament Locations: Dallas, Houston, Shreveport, or New Orleans

A lot of Alumni of these schools in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans

CONFERENCE USA
NORTH
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennesse
Old Dominion
Appalachian State
Charlotte

SOUTH
UAB
Troy
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic
FIU

HEADQUARTERS: Charlotte, NC
Basketball Tournament: Charlotte, Atlanta, or Birmingham
Baseball Tournament: Charlotte, Birmingham, or South Florida

A lot of Alumni for these schools in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Birmingham

This would make great regional match-ups and really get alumni into the schools programs by having friends and co-workers from other area schools to have similar interest in one conference. Could you image C-USA basketball tournament in Charlotte with all the App, Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, Georgia State, Middle Tenn, etc. alumni in the area. Would be on par with the ACC in Greensboro and would really create a great conference atmosphere.

So what do you do with UTA and UALR. They are full members of the Sun Belt. Do you kick them to the curb. Also why did you not include your own teams conference.

UTA in west and UALR in the east for basketball and baseball in the Sun Belt. Also you would not include the American schools or the MWC schools because both are getting better tv money then they would if they left. Also both get $1 million per school for the CFP so not need to move to get more money. Was not trying to be bias, teams just would not leave the American or MWC for the Sun Belt or CUSA right now. If those conferences lost members and lost tv revenue money then yea it would make sense. Why should App State and Charlotte not be in the same conference? Or Louisiana and Louisiana Tech? or UTSA and Texas State? or UTEP and New Mexico State?. Makes great match ups, increases attendance, and gets more locals involved in the games and creates a rivalry. Then it makes the conference gain traction and gets some excitement in post season play and tournaments.

Makes too much sense to actually happen.

Please, by the powers of all that is good, let this happen one day.

Of all the stupid and asinine post this board gets about conference realignment it is nice to finally see one that make sense. Props to the OP, Marshall will ***** about this but overall it is a very solid proposal.

UTA and UALR to the Summit, it's the price you pay for not having Football. It sucks not having football. :(

The only tweek I would make is to send ULM to "CUSA" to placate Tech and add Mo-state to the "sun belt". If Marshall balks and goes back to the MAC with JMU then everything works out perfect.

West

UTSA-TX State
UTEP-NMSU
Rice-N Texas

East

La Tech-UL
Mo State-stAte
USM-USA

Delaware, James Madison, Towson, Toledo as one more on the north of C-USA and Coastal Carolina in the south could make a 14 team C-USA.
Plug Lamar in Sun Belt west because UTEP will flee to MWC if they are forced to be in tha same conference as New Mexico State.

Apparently it's obligatory for an AAC fan to create two new conferences out of some combination of C-USA and the SBC a couple times per month.

Here is a good geographic conference that makes tons of sense. Let's do this:

ECU
Charlotte
Marshall
Ohio
ODU
App St
Georgia Southern
Georgia St
WKU
MTSU

(06-02-2015 05:01 PM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  Apparently it's obligatory for an AAC fan to create two new conferences out of some combination of C-USA and the SBC a couple times per month.

Here is a good geographic conference that makes tons of sense. Let's do this:

ECU
Charlotte
Marshall
Ohio
ODU
App St
Georgia Southern
Georgia St
WKU
MTSU

Wow, that DOES make too much sense to happen.

One of those things is not like the others....

(06-02-2015 05:10 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 05:01 PM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  Apparently it's obligatory for an AAC fan to create two new conferences out of some combination of C-USA and the SBC a couple times per month.

Here is a good geographic conference that makes tons of sense. Let's do this:

ECU
Charlotte
Marshall
Ohio
ODU
App St
Georgia Southern
Georgia St
WKU
MTSU

Wow, that DOES make too much sense to happen.

Add James Madison and Delaware to the list. Maybe Liberty, Stony Brook and some others.

I would much rather Marshall just form an entirely new conference if this was a serious option.

Marshall
WKU
MTSU
FAU
So Miss
UAB
Old Dominion
App State
Ga Southern
Ohio
Akron
James Madison

If not Ohio/Akron then add Charlotte/Delaware.

You guy understand that schools are in conferences for the most part because they are with schools they want to be with right? So as much sense as it would make to align, say, the Sun Belt and CUSA schools together, they are separate conferences for a reason. For many of the CUSA schools that reason is to be separate from the Sun Belt as many are former members.

(06-03-2015 01:08 PM)GE and MTS Wrote:  You guy understand that schools are in conferences for the most part because they are with schools they want to be with right? So as much sense as it would make to align, say, the Sun Belt and CUSA schools together, they are separate conferences for a reason. For many of the CUSA schools that reason is to be separate from the Sun Belt as many are former members.

With the greediness of the P5 conferences? The G5 conferences might need to find ways to be more geography friendly. The MWC and the MAC are more geography friendly. AAC, C-USA and the Sun Belt are not, and costs a lot of money to travel. Since they don't have a tv network to help grow to be attractive.

(06-02-2015 05:10 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 05:01 PM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  Apparently it's obligatory for an AAC fan to create two new conferences out of some combination of C-USA and the SBC a couple times per month.

Here is a good geographic conference that makes tons of sense. Let's do this:

ECU
Charlotte
Marshall
Ohio
ODU
App St
Georgia Southern
Georgia St
WKU
MTSU

Wow, that DOES make too much sense to happen.

I see one school in that mix that does not belong.

(06-03-2015 01:16 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 01:08 PM)GE and MTS Wrote:  You guy understand that schools are in conferences for the most part because they are with schools they want to be with right? So as much sense as it would make to align, say, the Sun Belt and CUSA schools together, they are separate conferences for a reason. For many of the CUSA schools that reason is to be separate from the Sun Belt as many are former members.

With the greediness of the P5 conferences? The G5 conferences might need to find ways to be more geography friendly. The MWC and the MAC are more geography friendly. AAC, C-USA and the Sun Belt are not, and costs a lot of money to travel. Since they don't have a tv network to help grow to be attractive.

The MAC is compact and that is hurting the conference. They want to expand and get into new markets. The MWC isn't any more compact than the Sun Belt. They take up roughly 1/3 of the US. The Sun Belt gets paid worse than anyone and are perceived as the lowest on the totem pole. It isn't P5 against G5; it is G5 against G5. They are fighting each other to be the next power school or conference and to keep their place.

I still think NCAA change the rules to allow FBS teams in as an Independent and change the rules on how to create a new FBS Conference in the near future. They have to provide an opening for some teams or I think you will see lawsuits being threatened. Liberty basically is has the money and desire to be FBS, but there is no openings. Sunbelt basically is turning them down to their "Religious Philosophy" which is wrong. Please I am not saying it correct or incorrect, but it has a much right as BYU and ND. Other schools will want to play FBS but the rules are structured like the old BCS, not a chance in hell.

I think the NCAA should come up either with a window to apply or specifications that need to be met to create a new conference. I have no issue if they state the are not part of the CFP for this current contract but should be included in the next contract.