(10-29-2026 04:42 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 02:22 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 01:01 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 12:47 PM)FreeBirdJohnnyReb Wrote:  I like it!

I'd rather Liberty be in the mix but these other three would improve the SBC.

Would they?

How so?

You think the total control those programs have over their media markets inspires ESPN to break out the money cannon?

Or. . . like, on average on the field? In football?

Quality’s not nearly as important as inventory. If we do a 3-team expansion, they could pay us for all the Tuesday/Wednesday games and tell CUSA to kick rocks.

I hate that on the surface, but one Tues & Wed game per week for ESPN spread among 16 teams probably wouldn’t be much worse than what we do now. CUSA’s got it so bad because they’ve got 2 networks for whom they’re providing weeknight content.

Strong disagree on all of that. The denominator matters. A higher deal only matters if it's better per school.

And I don't see why we'd necessarily get the dubious privilege of taking mid-week from CUSA by adding 2 too many teams. That doesn't follow.

Personally I love the thought of adding Delaware. Big state school. Mid Atlantic feel. Would make the East coast branch happy and the campus and town are beautiful.

(10-29-2026 10:13 AM)everyone Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

We've played UL more haven't we? Either would be fine.

It's basically a wash. But Tech has a more competitive percentage vs SoMiss (.333) than ULl (.214).

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(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

(10-29-2026 06:00 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

Which FBS team is our 2nd? ULm is only 44, 12-13 less than SoMiss

And, the SoMiss Rivalry has a cool unique name (Rivalry in Dixie)

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(10-29-2026 06:10 PM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:00 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

Which FBS team is our 2nd? ULm is only 44, 12-13 less than SoMiss

And, the SoMiss Rivalry has a cool unique name (Rivalry in Dixie)

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

Did you cancel a bowl game to not play USM? Do you do everything in your sphere of influence to denigrate ULM or UL? Those are your rivals, USM is who yall aspire to be, even in their down years.

(10-29-2026 04:42 PM)inutech Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 02:22 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  Quality’s not nearly as important as inventory. If we do a 3-team expansion, they could pay us for all the Tuesday/Wednesday games and tell CUSA to kick rocks.

I hate that on the surface, but one Tues & Wed game per week for ESPN spread among 16 teams probably wouldn’t be much worse than what we do now. CUSA’s got it so bad because they’ve got 2 networks for whom they’re providing weeknight content.

Strong disagree on all of that. The denominator matters. A higher deal only matters if it's better per school.

And I don't see why we'd necessarily get the dubious privilege of taking mid-week from CUSA by adding 2 too many teams. That doesn't follow.

We’re not making any move that lowers the per-member payout. That’s a non-starter.

What move(s) will or won’t do that is up to the people writing the checks. If we add to our own inventory and damage that of other conferences, that could absolutely shift some money. The last couple rounds of realignment have been all about consolidation—getting as many desirable properties under as few roofs as possible to maximize the return on investment. It’s more efficient to pay a Big Ten with USC & Oregon more per member than to pay an entire Pac 12 just to get USC & Oregon.

You’re 100% right in that no one we’re discussing is a USC or Oregon, but the same principle still applies, just on an albeit much smaller scale. The suits at Disney are going to be the ones who decide what makes sense and what doesn’t in all this, and none of us know what info they’re sorting through.

(10-29-2026 06:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:10 PM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:00 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

Which FBS team is our 2nd? ULm is only 44, 12-13 less than SoMiss

And, the SoMiss Rivalry has a cool unique name (Rivalry in Dixie)

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

Did you cancel a bowl game to not play USM? Do you do everything in your sphere of influence to denigrate ULM or UL? Those are your rivals, USM is who yall aspire to be, even in their down years.

And you are looking up to Tech in record. So you aspire to be Tech?

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(10-29-2026 06:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:10 PM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:00 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

Which FBS team is our 2nd? ULm is only 44, 12-13 less than SoMiss

And, the SoMiss Rivalry has a cool unique name (Rivalry in Dixie)

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

Did you cancel a bowl game to not play USM? Do you do everything in your sphere of influence to denigrate ULM or UL? Those are your rivals, USM is who yall aspire to be, even in their down years.

I define a "rival" as someone you don't particularly like, i.e. hate to lose to 'em, love to beat 'em, but respect them as a quality opponent, a quality rival. That is, has been, USM for Tech. I think that applies to ULL as well, but it doesn't apply to ULM.

This is just my opinion and view of matters.

They're all three "rivals."

One is heated. One is aspirational (on our part) but historic. The other is. . .close by. That order is also how often we've played each one.

We haven't cancelled any bowl games, so that's not relevant.

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

(10-29-2026 09:27 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

For who exactly?

(10-29-2026 09:45 PM)TealNation Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:27 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

For who exactly?

That's part of the problem. We're not inviting Delaware without App and Marshall committing Long Term. Ditto Liberty.

Ain't realignment fun?

(10-29-2026 06:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:10 PM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:00 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

Which FBS team is our 2nd? ULm is only 44, 12-13 less than SoMiss

And, the SoMiss Rivalry has a cool unique name (Rivalry in Dixie)

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

Did you cancel a bowl game to not play USM? Do you do everything in your sphere of influence to denigrate ULM or UL? Those are your rivals, USM is who yall aspire to be, even in their down years.

I’m confused, who’s denigrating Louisville?

(10-29-2026 09:27 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

I highly doubt Marshall and App State go anywhere. Let’s get the money right for the SunBelt and stay here. The SBC was doing fantastic before JMU was here, we were great when they were here, and we’ll be amazing after they’ve gone. I’m good right here! Good programs and rivalries right now. We can play ECU once in a while and I’m good. Playing Charlotte is a waste of time and excites no one from App.

(10-29-2026 11:08 PM)Goronic Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:27 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

I highly doubt Marshall and App State go anywhere. Let’s get the money right for the SunBelt and stay here. The SBC was doing fantastic before JMU was here, we were great when they were here, and we’ll be amazing after they’ve gone. I’m good right here! Good programs and rivalries right now. We can play ECU once in a while and I’m good. Playing Charlotte is a waste of time and excites no one from App.

Plus, if you guys leave "The Curse of Gill" (Trademarked just in case) means you'll lose your next 4 games and your football program will never recover.

(10-29-2026 06:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:10 PM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 06:00 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:57 AM)hannibalDawg Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:24 AM)High Country Student Wrote:  Everyone wouldn’t get to play their primary rival that week necessarily but I will say if we did something like add Missouri State, Ohio & Liberty, we could finally have a legitimate rivalry week where everyone has a rival to play:

Ohio vs Marshall
Liberty vs ODU
App vs Coastal
Georgia Southern vs Georgia State
Troy vs South Alabama
Southern Miss vs Louisiana
ULM vs LA Tech
Arkansas State vs Missouri State

Tech and SoMiss would be primary rival, that would leave ULm and ULl to face off.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

B….. please SMH. USM isn’t yall biggest rival, it’s not even close. They are your 3rd at best.

Which FBS team is our 2nd? ULm is only 44, 12-13 less than SoMiss

And, the SoMiss Rivalry has a cool unique name (Rivalry in Dixie)

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

Did you cancel a bowl game to not play USM? Do you do everything in your sphere of influence to denigrate ULM or UL? Those are your rivals, USM is who yall aspire to be, even in their down years.

When I look at USM's all-time record against Tech, and ULL's all-time record against Tech, it's very clear that you and the Cajuns should aspire to be more like USM too.

(10-29-2026 11:08 PM)Goronic Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:27 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 08:55 AM)Ed Harley Wrote:  I have it on good authority that the SBC has had discussions at the highest level with Missouri State. All indications are that MoSt would accept if the invitation comes. My guess is that the SBC would be taking 3 teams if this were to occur.

Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

I highly doubt Marshall and App State go anywhere. Let’s get the money right for the SunBelt and stay here. The SBC was doing fantastic before JMU was here, we were great when they were here, and we’ll be amazing after they’ve gone. I’m good right here! Good programs and rivalries right now. We can play ECU once in a while and I’m good. Playing Charlotte is a waste of time and excites no one from App.

Folks aren't looking at the revenues, branding and upside of what is left and what's out there available.

First, no one available can replace JMU. With there budget, revenues, and branding after their playoff get, they are head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. So, anyone we add will reduce value and thus reduce our product portfolio.

Only ODU can come close to what JMU spends, followed by App ST, Marshall and Coastal. These are also the top brands and value in the conference and unfortunately all are currently trending down in their athletics.

Only Liberty would add value at the top of the conference and the only programs that would add upside are LU and Delaware.

Granted, my comments are speculative due to the ambiguous searches of how schools report budget and revenues, as well as branding, market share and projected upside, based on P4 pressure and competition.

But the point is, no one is going to improve their conference share with an add. Only a deduct, a split or a conference move will fatten the wallets' of what's left. Sad, because I love this conference but I believe many of us are going to be forced to widen the revenue deficit or become more uncompetitive than we already are in FBS

(10-30-2026 04:48 AM)HD76 Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:08 PM)Goronic Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 09:27 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  

(10-29-2026 11:58 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  Ohio and Delaware to East and Missouri State to West. It'll happen.

That's a lot of schools.

Kinda. But if Marshall or App left and ULM dropped football, suddenly it makes more sense.

I highly doubt Marshall and App State go anywhere. Let’s get the money right for the SunBelt and stay here. The SBC was doing fantastic before JMU was here, we were great when they were here, and we’ll be amazing after they’ve gone. I’m good right here! Good programs and rivalries right now. We can play ECU once in a while and I’m good. Playing Charlotte is a waste of time and excites no one from App.

Folks aren't looking at the revenues, branding and upside of what is left and what's out there available.

First, no one available can replace JMU. With there budget, revenues, and branding after their playoff get, they are head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. So, anyone we add will reduce value and thus reduce our product portfolio.

Only ODU can come close to what JMU spends, followed by App ST, Marshall and Coastal. These are also the top brands and value in the conference and unfortunately all are currently trending down in their athletics.

Only Liberty would add value at the top of the conference and the only programs that would add upside are LU and Delaware.

Granted, my comments are speculative due to the ambiguous searches of how schools report budget and revenues, as well as branding, market share and projected upside, based on P4 pressure and competition.

But the point is, no one is going to improve their conference share with an add. Only a deduct, a split or a conference move will fatten the wallets' of what's left. Sad, because I love this conference but I believe many of us are going to be forced to widen the revenue deficit or become more uncompetitive than we already are in FBS

CUSA and the PAC were supposed to go away (P4/G4). A CUSA consisting of Kennesaw, Sam Houston, WKU, MTSU, Jax State, FIU (I had to Google who's in it) has zero value. I know it sounds dickish but it is what it is. We get cut-throat and take Delaware, Missouri State, and Liberty. A flagship, a state school, and a well off religious private. Ohio is also the cornerstone of the MAC. If ULM drops and the SBC grabs those four the MAC takes a hit and CUSA is for the most part sunk. SEC didn't care about what havoc they caused the Big12. The B1G and Big12 showed the PAC no mercy. Do what you gotta do.

The UL Warhawks are not dropping down willingly. I know everyone has those dreams of dropping them as they consider them dead-weight but if they made it throught the COVID times, there is nothing right now forcing them down. The finances require them to stay put.

As for contenders for options, Delaware and Ohio seem like the best options according to similarities to current SBC profile, academics, competitiveness and geography. I would give the edge to Ohio due to its proximity and rivalry with Marshall. Adding only one schools makes sense to me, 14 is enough. Unless somehow we can increase revenue, through higher media deals or increasing ticket sales and decreasing travel costs, I don't see the need for 16.