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I think your best hope for that to happen would be the AAC losing 3 and choosing to backfill all 3 from CUSA. If you took Southern Miss, Marshall, and one other away from CUSA, I think it would really cause a lot of the Western Schools to rethink things
Otherwise the best hope is the SBC ironically enough, remaining strong. You'd need a series of SBC Presidents to say "I'm not going to join CUSA in its current alignment, but we'd love to share a conference with X school" you might see Presidents on that end becoming more receptive.
Won't the SBC's and CUSA's automatic bids to the NCAA MBB tournament, as well as the football payoff's each year make it very hard for a new conference to be formed?
SBC could even change it's name to SWC if that is not a protected entity, which it almost surely is.
When the Big East basketball schools split and the other schools formed the AAC, how did the AAC manage to keep its automatic bids?
What you suggested in an East/West conference split within the SBC and CUSA is what I also suggested and makes the most sense. Here is one example of what that might look like, disregarding any teams moving to the AAC or MWC.
SBC
North - LA Tech, N. Texas, Ark State, MTSU, WKU, UAB
South - UL, USM, Rice, TX State, UTSA, UTEP
CUSA
North - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, App State, GA State, GA Southern
South - FIU, FAU, Troy, USA, ULM, Coastal Carolina
You'd have to completely rename the conferences for that to happen just because being affiliated with SBC brings your entire programs' perspective down.
Yep. The NCAA doesn't care what you call your conference. The leagues could reorganize entirely and come up with new names and new commissioners and new TV deals, but as long as one claims to be the original Sun Belt and the other the original CUSA, then they get to keep their auto bid and playoff cut.
AAC got a break in that they essentially were able to take over the Big East's BCS money at the time. The Auto Bid was granted based off of how long the teams had been together.
I've been away from RP the past few days, any re-alignment mentions from our local media or admin??
Remember that other school we beat in a bowl game just a couple of years ago...
"Not only would the Big 12 conference gain a new, ultra competitive opponent on the field but it would also gain access to one of America's most die-hard college sports fan bases headquartered in one of Sports Illustrated's 2004 Sportstown USA communities. Historically, ECU has been known for its great game day atmosphere while continually filling its bleachers with fans. In 2010 ECU Football averaged over 50,000 fans per home game and currently has plans to add another 1,000 seats to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium by 2018, including luxury suites and a brand new press box."
Statement from Greenville City Council
Also from the Athletic Director: