(11-02-2026 03:22 PM)EaglesFly Wrote:  When the smoke settles the haves and have nots will be seperated and what's left needs to hope they're in the right league.

See.. People don't get this part. We are all about to end up in our "Forever Homes" in the next couple of years. Schools have AD's and Presidents that are only temporary and are always wanting to add to their resumes so they can get the big gig at a P4. They just want to say they moved school X up to conference Such and Such. They don't care if it was a huge gamble to do so, they just know it looks good on their resume. Some schools get used by their employees as a stepping stone and some schools use other schools to lift up the conference to make themselves look better for a call up into a new conference. Memphis is really good at that part and don't ask Marshall and Southern Miss how we know.

(11-02-2026 09:42 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(11-02-2026 03:22 PM)EaglesFly Wrote:  When the smoke settles the haves and have nots will be seperated and what's left needs to hope they're in the right league.

See.. People don't get this part. We are all about to end up in our "Forever Homes" in the next couple of years. Schools have AD's and Presidents that are only temporary and are always wanting to add to their resumes so they can get the big gig at a P4. They just want to say they moved school X up to conference Such and Such. They don't care if it was a huge gamble to do so, they just know it looks good on their resume. Some schools get used by their employees as a stepping stone and some schools use other schools to lift up the conference to make themselves look better for a call up into a new conference. Memphis is really good at that part and don't ask Marshall and Southern Miss how we know.

There's something to that. I do appreciate that JMU's new president is 60 years old, which is the average retirement age for a college president. He has been clear in expressing that he wants to retire from JMU. Any further stops for him are extremely unlikely, so this is a chance to leave a legacy.

There's something to be said for a young, ambitious president who's looking to make a name for himself, but it carries the risks you describe.

That said, I do think either model can work with a strong board in place.

(11-02-2026 04:24 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  Having spoken with members of JMU's administration, that's viewed our most feasible path to ACC membership. Our leadership is under no illusion that we're going to join an ACC that looks like today's ACC. But in a scenario where the ACC loses 5-8 teams, our administration believes we are very well positioned, particularly if the ACC loses one or both Virginia schools.

I'm just not sure that the Big 12 will be successful in poaching the ACC. If the ACC loses UNC and UVA, I think it backfills with UConn as a basketball blue blood replacement and holds at 16. I'm not sure that a Big 12 raid of that version of the ACC succeeds. Things become much less certain if the SEC were to go after UNC, UVA, FSU, and Clemson. At that point, I could see the Big 12 potentially succeeding in poaching four ACC schools as well.

Still my money is on the ACC losing UNC and UVA, then backfilling with UConn. I don't think mass G6 migration to the P4 is happening.

Any mass migration would turn the P4 into the P3.

(11-02-2026 11:26 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  

(11-02-2026 04:24 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  Having spoken with members of JMU's administration, that's viewed our most feasible path to ACC membership. Our leadership is under no illusion that we're going to join an ACC that looks like today's ACC. But in a scenario where the ACC loses 5-8 teams, our administration believes we are very well positioned, particularly if the ACC loses one or both Virginia schools.

I'm just not sure that the Big 12 will be successful in poaching the ACC. If the ACC loses UNC and UVA, I think it backfills with UConn as a basketball blue blood replacement and holds at 16. I'm not sure that a Big 12 raid of that version of the ACC succeeds. Things become much less certain if the SEC were to go after UNC, UVA, FSU, and Clemson. At that point, I could see the Big 12 potentially succeeding in poaching four ACC schools as well.

Still my money is on the ACC losing UNC and UVA, then backfilling with UConn. I don't think mass G6 migration to the P4 is happening.

Any mass migration would turn the P4 into the P3.

Above a certain level, yes. If the ACC were to fall below 8 members for two consecutive seasons, it could lose autonomy status like the PAC 12. The sweet spot for a school like JMU is a scenario where the ACC loses 5-8 schools, including at least one Virginia school.

But even if the ACC were to lose 10 schools, which would land them at 7 football members, they could almost certainly add at least 1 school that could join immediately on July 1. It would take an epic raid of the ACC for it to lose its autonomy status. If the PCSA passes, that raid may become essentially impossible and that's the point.

But it's sort of an irrelevant hypothetical in my mind. I would only put money on UConn joining the P4.

Do people believe this? Usually, schools don't reveal all that unless they've been accepted.

ACC member FSU has lost sh#t tons of money the last few years and their spending #s are in the middle of the ACC...trying to keep up with the SEC has nearly bankrupted them.

For the people who intently follow conference realignment, Jim Williams is widely regarded as one of the worst sources out there. The vast majority of the stuff he tweets is slop and never corroborated by anyone credible. The actual credible reporters laugh about him behind his back. His tweets are a running joke among them.

Like the realignment board on this site often says, there’s a reason why whenever Jim Williams tweets something, it’s always crickets from the actual credible reporters who know things like McMurphy, Dellenger, Thamel, etc.

(11-03-2026 09:18 AM)VA49er Wrote:  Do people believe this? Usually, schools don't reveal all that unless they've been accepted.

No, the people who are knowledgeable about this stuff and follow it religiously will tell you Jim Williams doesn’t know anything and never has. He has hundreds upon hundreds of tweets that are flat out false and never corroborated by anyone credible with a track record in realignment.

Brett McMurphy, Pete Thamel, Ross Dellenger, The Athletic/Vannini, Extra Points/Matt Brown

^ Those are the reporters who’ve demonstrated a track record in conference realignment, broken things, and are rarely wrong.

Neither conference is adding any of those until/unless the SEC and B1G take teams from ACC. Then it will be ACC trying to take B12 schools and B12 trying to take ACC schools. Whichever conference looses this battle will THEN add some of the schools in this list.

(11-03-2026 02:24 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(11-03-2026 09:18 AM)VA49er Wrote:  Do people believe this? Usually, schools don't reveal all that unless they've been accepted.

No, the people who are knowledgeable about this stuff and follow it religiously will tell you Jim Williams doesn’t know anything and never has. He has hundreds upon hundreds of tweets that are flat out false and never corroborated by anyone credible with a track record in realignment.

Brett McMurphy, Pete Thamel, Ross Dellenger, The Athletic/Vannini, Extra Points/Matt Brown

^ Those are the reporters who’ve demonstrated a track record in conference realignment, broken things, and are rarely wrong.

McMurphy suggested SBC wanted Charlotte, he lost all credibility after that imho

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(11-01-2026 02:10 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  And this is why it's delusional to think moving to the AAC can put you in a position to join the ACC or Big 12. Even if you're JMU you have all of those schools ahead of you.

Wouldn't surprise me if JMU was also on the list just not reported

(11-04-2026 08:23 AM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  

(11-01-2026 02:10 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  And this is why it's delusional to think moving to the AAC can put you in a position to join the ACC or Big 12. Even if you're JMU you have all of those schools ahead of you.

Wouldn't surprise me if JMU was also on the list just not reported

It also wouldn't surprise me if JMU isn't the only SBC school on that list.

The delusion on here by some fans is hilarious. How many Sun Belt schools applied to the Big12 or ACC?

There's a reason it's AAC schools, they're a level closer to the P4 and top G6 than the SB. A few will eventually move from the AAC and PAC to the P4, but the AAC is so much better positioned to both make a move up, and to catch the P4s that fall downward.

This is just more of the same bitterness of jilted fans knowing their school is on the wrong trajectory. App and Marshall fans would be jizzing in their pants if their schools suddenly announced a move to the AAC. So Miss fans are understandably spiteful because they've been heading in the wrong direction for decades.

The rest of you are scared because the Sun Belt is a few moves away from being half FCS call ups like CUSA. I get it, most JMU fans are intolerable, but some of you will never admit the truths.

(Today 02:53 PM)2Buck Wrote:  The delusion on here by some fans is hilarious. How many Sun Belt schools applied to the Big12 or ACC?

There's a reason it's AAC schools, they're a level closer to the P4 and top G6 than the SB. A few will eventually move from the AAC and PAC to the P4, but the AAC is so much better positioned to both make a move up, and to catch the P4s that fall downward.

This is just more of the same bitterness of jilted fans knowing their school is on the wrong trajectory. App and Marshall fans would be jizzing in their pants if their schools suddenly announced a move to the AAC. So Miss fans are understandably spiteful because they've been heading in the wrong direction for decades.

The rest of you are scared because the Sun Belt is a few moves away from being half FCS call ups like CUSA. I get it, most JMU fans are intolerable, but some of you will never admit the truths.

We’ve already been in CUSA with 90% of those schools. They all have a tendency to ruin a conference. Every conference that Rice and Memphis has has either ben dissolved or ruined in their wake. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

(Today 02:53 PM)2Buck Wrote:  App and Marshall fans would be jizzing in their pants if their schools suddenly announced a move to the AAC. So Miss fans are understandably spiteful because they've been heading in the wrong direction for decades.

Are you kidding? I personally, would be much happier in the PAC-10 than the AAC. Hell, currently, all except two of the current AAC. We WERE in a conference with. You better get the hell off your high horse.

(Today 02:53 PM)2Buck Wrote:  The delusion on here by some fans is hilarious. How many Sun Belt schools applied to the Big12 or ACC?

There's a reason it's AAC schools, they're a level closer to the P4 and top G6 than the SB. A few will eventually move from the AAC and PAC to the P4, but the AAC is so much better positioned to both make a move up, and to catch the P4s that fall downward.

This is just more of the same bitterness of jilted fans knowing their school is on the wrong trajectory. App and Marshall fans would be jizzing in their pants if their schools suddenly announced a move to the AAC. So Miss fans are understandably spiteful because they've been heading in the wrong direction for decades.

The rest of you are scared because the Sun Belt is a few moves away from being half FCS call ups like CUSA. I get it, most JMU fans are intolerable, but some of you will never admit the truths.

This is exactly the same stuff that was said circa 2012. "If you want to move to the AAC, you have to move to CUSA. There's a pecking order." Heck they took Charlotte, UAB, and FAU from the dumpster fire that was CUSA. So by going fromt he SBC to the AAC you've already discredited that.

Interesting that JMU fans seem to continually be trying to convince themselves over and over again that they are destined for the P4 or that the AAC will always be the top G6 conference and is the only road to a power conference. Enough. Everyone here understands why you want to move to another G6 conference so we really don't need the constant reminders of same. I hope it is sooner rather than later so we can be done with this incessant "look at how wonderful we are" garbage. You are perhaps a large fish in a small pond now but are headed towards being a small fish in a big pond. Those who feel compelled to get a point across seldom achieve this purpose when the audience becomes deaf to the point they are trying to make.

And every non JMU school is wasting their breath trying to convince us that we're making a mistake. Reminds me of the CAA fans.