RE: Why don't more FBS programs move to FCS?
One other thing to consider is a lot of conferences (CAA included) have academic agreements where they share resources, and schools generally like to play in conferences with their 'peer' institutions. On aggregate, P5 conferences have the 'top' schools, followed by G5, followed by FCS, with some obvious exceptions (Ivy, Patriot, and CAA to a degree).
This is where I think the CAA is in a better position than a decent amount of other conferences. It has a good blend of academic institutions, a lot of which are near major metros, which helps for recruiting.
I don't know exactly what direction JMU wants to head in, but I would think it prefers being associated with schools like Delaware, William and Mary, Villanova, Elon, Richmond, CoC, etc more than it would Arkansas State, Louisiana Monroe, South Alabama, etc.
But for the most part, the schools in the Sun Belt are bigger names than say, a Southland Conference school. Louisiana Lafayette might be a step below LSU, but it's a step ahead of Nicholls State or McNeese State. That might hold a school in the Belt from dropping down to the FCS, even if they save money and might become more competitive.
Hope that makes sense.
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