Possible AAC/CUSA/Sun Belt Merger


Brett McMurphy @Brett_McMurphy
FBS independents Liberty & New Mexico State & FCS members Jacksonville State & Sam Houston State likely joining Conference USA as all-sports members, sources told
@ActionNetworkHQ. Addition of those 4 schools will help replenish C-USA after recent losses
 
BREAKING: JMU has earned state approval from the Intercollegiate Athletics Review Commission to make move to the FBS and join the SunBelt.

The Sun Belt will make a $600,000 contribution to JMU during the transition. Indicates that once the transition is complete JMU could earn $2.5 million from media rights.
 
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Isnt there a minimum stadium size for FBS?

It was 18,000 minimum attendance/stadium size at one point but it's very loosely enforced these days (attendance wise) especially with the Sun Belt and MAC playing Tuesday and Wednesday games (I still wanna see Valley finish renovating the stadium and fill in the north end zone so that we can hit that 18,000 mark in stadium size)
 
It was 18,000 minimum attendance/stadium size at one point but it's very loosely enforced these days (attendance wise) especially with the Sun Belt and MAC playing Tuesday and Wednesday games (I still wanna see Valley finish renovating the stadium and fill in the north end zone so that we can hit that 18,000 mark in stadium size)
Thanks, I thought I remembered minimum for stadiums and attendance average, but I was sure if the requirement was still around.
 
It was 18,000 minimum attendance/stadium size at one point but it's very loosely enforced these days (attendance wise) especially with the Sun Belt and MAC playing Tuesday and Wednesday games (I still wanna see Valley finish renovating the stadium and fill in the north end zone so that we can hit that 18,000 mark in stadium size)

Right. They don't care about that anymore. The FCS #1 Sam Houston isn't even averaging 9k in that 14k seat stadium and they are in the discussion to move up
 
Thanks, I thought I remembered minimum for stadiums and attendance average, but I was sure if the requirement was still around.

I remember when FAU was trying to move up and Schnellenberger was on Cold Pizza trying to encourage people to come out so that they could hit that 18,000 mark. That was in the mid-2000s. Probably the last tme they really really enforced it because if you look at some of these Tuesday and Wednesday night games on ESPN, there arent even 5K in those stands yet they are all still FBS.
 
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Sun Belt has two non-football playing members UT-Arlington and AR-Little Rock. Allegedly there is a mutual understanding between the SBC, UTA, and Little Rock that it would be in all parties' best interests for those two schools to go to new conferences that don't sponsor FBS football. ::)

Matt Brown
@MattBrownEP

NEWS: Sources tell Extra Points that UTA will be joining the WAC, with an announcement coming as early as the end of this week.
 
The funny thing about UTA is that it has all of the ideal makings one would need to have a solid FCS football program.

They would be primed for either the WAC or go back to the Southland where they use to play before football was disbanded in 1985.
 
Interesting:


Conference USA currently has only five members — UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, Florida International and Western Kentucky — committed to the league long-term.

C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod has said the conference is pursuing new members, including FCS schools that are considering making the move to FBS, the NCAA's top tier of Division I college football.

Other possible options for C-USA include FBS independents Connecticut, Massachusetts, Liberty and New Mexico State.

UConn athletic director David Benedict told CTInsider.com that the school had an exploratory conversation with C-USA officials about a football-only membership. UConn rejoined the Big East for basketball and most of its other sports programs last year.
 
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