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With at least 4 FBS independents that might benefit from joining a football-only or hybrid conference constructed like the original Big East, and at least 5 or 6 FCS schools that are thought to be likely to become FBS schools in the years ahead, it may not be long before some discussions will begin to take place about scheduling alliances that could evolve into a new "G6" FBS conference by 2030 or thereabouts.
Two current conferences - - the WAC and ASUN have been mentioned by the online media as possible FBS conferences, which might include some FB-only members.
Another possibility might be a national "G6" FB-only conference with a footprint spanning multiple time zones.
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Current FBS teams that might consider joining or affiliating a "G6" FB conference:
UMass, UConn, Liberty (ASUN BB/oly member), NMSU (and possibly Army as an affiliate, like ND)
Some of the current FCS schools that have been mentioned as potential future FBS schools by various media outlets include
North Dakota State, James Madison, Jacksonville St., Florida A&M, Southern Illinois, Youngstown State, Sam Houston St., U. Texas - Arlington, Delaware, Villanova, North Carolina A&T, Montana, Montana St., South Dakota St., Weber St., Illinois St., UT-Chattanooga, EWU, EKU, UC-Davis, and Kennesaw State.
NOTE: Future ASUN FB school Jacksonville State has announced a FB scheduling affiliation with the WAC until the ASUN begins to compete in football.
https://sportsenthusiasts.net/2018/08/29/transitioning-from-fcs-to-fbs-part-2-potential-teams/
https://sportsenthusiasts.net/2018/08/29...ial-teams/
https://www.csnbbs.com/post-16854164.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/BigSouth/commen...lready_in/
https://herosports.com/power-five-split-...rger-ahah/
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Leaving the WAC FB schools to one side for a moment, for the sake of discussion:
If enough schools wanted to form a new FBS conference, and to do it quickly, it might look something like this:
West Division:............East Division:
North Dakota St..........UMass
Southern Illinois..........UConn
UT Chattanooga...........Liberty
Eastern Kentucky........James Madison
Youngstown St............Florida A&M
However, the travel distances for such a conference might be prohibitive, particularly for the FCS to FBS schools, which would find it a challenge to make the jump even if the schools were in their own regions.
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Conferences such as the ASUN or WAC, which might consider making the FCS to FBS transition would have the advantage of not having to start up an entirely new conference, but the idea of having a conference with a mixture of FCS and FBS schools could present challenges of its own.
In the case of the ASUN, which won't become a FB conference for a couple of years,
What would an ASUN Football Conference look like?
It might look something like this by 2030:
North Division:......................South Division:
UMass (FB-only)................Liberty (Full ASUN member)
UConn (FB-only)................Kennesaw St. (Full ASUN member)
EKU (ASUN member).........Jacksonville St. (ASUN member)
Youngstown St (FB-only).....Florida A&M (FB-only)
James Madison (FB-only).....Central Arkansas St (ASUN member)
S Illinois (FB-only)..............UT-Chattanooga (FB-only) (?)
NOTE: Presumably, all or most of the FCS schools would make the transition to FBS by 2030, though this might be a challenge.
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I'm not in the loop here, but wonder what are the thoughts of the people on this board are about any schools that might be most likely to join those listed below in a WAC football conference that has apirations to become a FBS conference at some point in the future.
Current and future WAC teams listed at wikipedia:
New Mexico State (current FBS independent and WAC BB/oly member)
Tarleton St. (Current WAC member)
Dixie State (Current WAC member)
UTRGV (Current WAC member; plans to add FB in 2024)
Sam Houston St (future WAC member)
Abilene Christian (future WAC member)
Lamar University (future WAC member)
Stephen F. Austin St (future WAC member)
Southern Utah (future WAC member)
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Here are some western teams* that might consider making the jump and becoming FB-only members in a future WAC FBS conference
North Dakota State, Eastern Washington, Portland State, Montana, Montana St., South Dakota St., Weber St., & UC-Davis.
*many of these teams are cited here:
https://herosports.com/power-five-split-...rger-ahah/
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Presumably, New Mexico State would continue to play as a FBS independent which might play one or two games per season vs. WAC football teams for the next several seasons.
Sam Houston State may be the first to make the jump to FBS, but they might have to wait until there are a few more FBS teams in the conference.
Maybe, in an early phase, the WAC FBS conference teams might play a mixture of FBS and FCS games and look something like this:
NMSU (full WAC member)
Sam Houston St (full WAC member)
North Dakota St. (FB-only) (?)
Being an outsider, there's a lot that I don't know about the WAC's situation, but perhaps they could have enough FBS teams to hold a FBS championship game by 2030.
Just tossing it out there for discussion.
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