(11-01-2021 08:42 PM)_sturt_ Wrote:  This seems to be eluding some, and not to step on any toes, but for what it's worth...

If programs exit by Aug 2023... and that may or may not be practical... CUSA football won't technically exist for that season unless they are able to coax all 5 FBS indys to join, making 8. The FCS schools they may add shortly will be meeting the annual June deadline for application to move up, and the NCAA manual explicitly says they cannot be reclassified until the August two years after that deadline... meaning, August 2024.

(Someone raised the fact that the manual also allows for an exception, but that exception also is explicit to one situation, ie, that a given school that had been FBS would fail to meet the requirements for the number of sports sponsored.)

That said, CUSA as a full-fledged FBS football conference still would be able to return for 2024... as far as I've been able to find, anyhow, there is no football penalty for skipping a year.

It seems like CUSA could get support for legislation for an additional exception/waiver from the Sun Belt and from the American if they are reasonable in negotiating the exit fees for the 11 departing schools.