Sunbelt Expansion... additions?

[Yosef84]

Southern Miss wouldn't be an exciting add for the SunBelt but we could do worse. They do have a history of success in football but it's pretty stale (as others have pointed out already). What they do bring is name recognition. They also make some of the teams in the West happy, which might be important from a political perspective. I suppose they do have the "potential" thing going for them but it would be nice if they were playing at a higher level. I think Arkansas State and UL would be pretty excited about it and that's not nothing.

[Ramblinredwolf]

Will it enhance the conference? Will it Enhance TV deals? Is it good for App?
Those are the main question when I consider re-alignment.

To me, the answer to all of these is NO for So. Miss.

Not a rich football tradition, not a good recent record, we don't need to add another weak opponent to the SB West, don't see there being any hype that would help us negotiate TV deals, and its another longer trip when App plays them.

Remember, any teams we add will cost App $$ from league payouts unless we get a new TV deal. What is in it for the SB???

Is it good individually for App? Not really. Is it good for the conference? Absolutely. And I'm not an insider but I don't think Belt leadership (which would include App representation) would allow additions to be if the positives outweighed the negatives (which includes financial incentives).

I'm sorry but I'm failing to see how some of you are still convinced they don't have rich football tradition-Southern miss founded their football program in 1912; App didn't start theirs until 1928.

[t4pizza]

I am not wild about this addition but I will say that they will instantly be competitive in the West as only ULL is clearly better at this point in time. I think they would beat ULM, Texas State almost annually and be competitive with USA and Ark State most years with ULL being the only real mismatch. I know that USA clobbered them this year but I don't see that as an annual thing.

[The Rock]

Will it enhance the conference? Will it Enhance TV deals? Is it good for App?
Those are the main question when I consider re-alignment.

To me, the answer to all of these is NO for So. Miss.

Not a rich football tradition, not a good recent record, we don't need to add another weak opponent to the SB West, don't see there being any hype that would help us negotiate TV deals, and its another longer trip when App plays them.

Remember, any teams we add will cost App $$ from league payouts unless we get a new TV deal. What is in it for the SB???

Is it good individually for App? Not really. Is it good for the conference? Absolutely. And I'm not an insider but I don't think Belt leadership (which would include App representation) would allow additions to be if the positives outweighed the negatives (which includes financial incentives).

I'm sorry but I'm failing to see how some of you are still convinced they don't have rich football tradition-Southern miss founded their football program in 1912; App didn't start theirs until 1928.

How is this good for the conference? Adding this school will literally cost the rest if he conference money?
Duke football was founded in 1888. Does that mean they have a rich football history?

[Ramblinredwolf]

Will it enhance the conference? Will it Enhance TV deals? Is it good for App?
Those are the main question when I consider re-alignment.

To me, the answer to all of these is NO for So. Miss.

Not a rich football tradition, not a good recent record, we don't need to add another weak opponent to the SB West, don't see there being any hype that would help us negotiate TV deals, and its another longer trip when App plays them.

Remember, any teams we add will cost App $$ from league payouts unless we get a new TV deal. What is in it for the SB???

Is it good individually for App? Not really. Is it good for the conference? Absolutely. And I'm not an insider but I don't think Belt leadership (which would include App representation) would allow additions to be if the positives outweighed the negatives (which includes financial incentives).

I'm sorry but I'm failing to see how some of you are still convinced they don't have rich football tradition-Southern miss founded their football program in 1912; App didn't start theirs until 1928.

How is this good for the conference? Adding this school will literally cost the rest if he conference money?
Duke football was founded in 1888. Does that mean they have a rich football history?

Yes as do the ivy league schools; I think any school that has been sponsoring football 80+ years and is still actively playing football can say they have rich football history.

[Rick83]

The SBC might be courting schools like USM, Marshall, etc... because they expect to lose a team or two to the AAC. I could see USM and Marshall both being unhappy with the state of C-USA football.

[AppGrad78]

I see Southern Miss as a “value buy” for the Sun Belt. Yes, it’s down now. But the program is traditionally strong in a lot of sports and the football program consistently draws about what we draw.

We want teams with passionate fanbases, right?

The addition of, say, Southern Miss, Marshall, James Madison and Liberty immediately elevates the Sun Belt in the eyes of ESPN. And that Eastern Division unquestionably will be the best division in the G5.

[NavyApp]

I see Southern Miss as a “value buy” for the Sun Belt. Yes, it’s down now. But the program is traditionally strong in a lot of sports and the football program consistently draws about what we draw.

We want teams with passionate fanbases, right?

The addition of, say, Southern Miss, Marshall, James Madison and Liberty immediately elevates the Sun Belt in the eyes of ESPN. And that Eastern Division unquestionably will be the best division in the G5.

No not really. I want programs that are CONSTANTLY competitive in football, programs that will push the brand forward. I'm sorry but SoMiss does not help the Belt in the sport that matters most financially.

[appst89]

Any addition to the Belt will not cost anyone money. The Belt is not going to expand unless the Mouse says there is additional money to be made by expanding.

I like the USM addition. I think getting back to a conference where they have some traditional rivals will help them to thrive again.

[Ramblinredwolf]

Well we all can agree to disagree for the time being. We won't really get any definitive word until American pulls the trigger which in turn will result in domino effect with the other conferences (which according to national pundits like Brett McMurphy, The Athletic and Dennis Dodd) that could be happening next week with Colorado State and Air Force.

[t4pizza]

I see Southern Miss as a “value buy” for the Sun Belt. Yes, it’s down now. But the program is traditionally strong in a lot of sports and the football program consistently draws about what we draw.

We want teams with passionate fanbases, right?

The addition of, say, Southern Miss, Marshall, James Madison and Liberty immediately elevates the Sun Belt in the eyes of ESPN. And that Eastern Division unquestionably will be the best division in the G5.

No not really. I want programs that are CONSTANTLY competitive in football, programs that will push the brand forward. I'm sorry but SoMiss does not help the Belt in the sport that matters most financially.

I am in agreement with you on this but my question is, what programs out there are constantly competitive in football an dill push the brand forward? I think most agree that Marshall qualifies but they have had some down football years. Other than them, who else qualifies that isn't in the AAC? Very few G5 teams are like App State and truly are constantly competitive in football, most run in cycles. I think our best option may be finding teams that at least want to be competitive and have shown some history of being competitive at times.

[hapapp]

If USM is paired with an eastern school like Marshall, then yes both the conference and App benefit. We are a part of a conference and that means that there is give and take on a number of decisions that can benefit the conference. Most App fans are in favor of adding Marshall but to do so likely means adding a team to the West.

[Saint3333]

I'd like to add UTSA (travel partner for Texas St when UTA leaves), USM (favorite of other SBC teams), Marshall and either WKU or JMU.

Those moves would be the death nail to CUSA as I assume UAB goes to the AAC.

[NavyApp]

I see Southern Miss as a “value buy” for the Sun Belt. Yes, it’s down now. But the program is traditionally strong in a lot of sports and the football program consistently draws about what we draw.

We want teams with passionate fanbases, right?

The addition of, say, Southern Miss, Marshall, James Madison and Liberty immediately elevates the Sun Belt in the eyes of ESPN. And that Eastern Division unquestionably will be the best division in the G5.

No not really. I want programs that are CONSTANTLY competitive in football, programs that will push the brand forward. I'm sorry but SoMiss does not help the Belt in the sport that matters most financially.

I am in agreement with you on this but my question is, what programs out there are constantly competitive in football an dill push the brand forward? I think most agree that Marshall qualifies but they have had some down football years. Other than them, who else qualifies that isn't in the AAC? Very few G5 teams are like App State and truly are constantly competitive in football, most run in cycles. I think our best option may be finding teams that at least want to be competitive and have shown some history of being competitive at times.

I'm with you and I know what I was asking for doesn't really exist. But to your point about most decent to good G5 teams run in cycles I agree; SoMiss doesn't even fit that bill. If you look at their records from the past 40 years on sportsreference.com it's really easy to see that their "good" years are actually outliers and never happen with any momentum. I know you are not stumping for them and I agree I'd like to find some regional programs that at least show that they want to be competitive by investing in their program. I'd also love for the conference to cut some dead wood too but that won't happen.

[huskie3]

Air Force is getting push back from major donors about moving to aac

[Captain Morgan]

man the speculation is all over the place.

Jack Whidden III
@JackWhidden3
· 7h
Okay, I’m going to editorialize for a little here.

After talking to industry leaders for over a month, I believe a merger between CUSA and the Sun Belt is closer than it ever has been.

I also think if done right, this would be better for FAU than joining AAC + CSU and AFA.

[Stonewall]

The non-football Sunbelt schools need to find new conferences , sooner rather than later.If ECU and Marsha want to take those slots , great.If not we are still in a good position with the best "brand" in the Sunbelt , one of the best in G5 overall.And the Sunbelt will have an argument to make as the top G5 conference once the AAC three are gone.

[moonshine]

Look no further than Greenville, NC to understand USM’s struggles. Much like ECU, the Golden Eagles have seen new programs start or move up in their area which has impacted their recruiting while not really having any nearby rivals. The SBC is a cultural fit for USM and appeases our western constituents who give them several instant rivals. This allows the East to cherry-pick our top target and if the Mouse instructs the SBC to add more than 2, we may see JMU and/or WKU or another western addition like UTSA to give the Bobcats a rival and travel partner for visiting teams.

[pop5app]

No jmu!

[hotrod2001]

Southern Miss would be a good addition to the west and give a good regional rival for the Alabama and Louisiana teams. Based on some other boards, that fanbase is pretty excited about a potential move. A change of scenery could do them good.

Although it'll be weird having two black and gold teams who use The Rock as their home field.