Post by Whup Em All on Jun 21, 2022 8:53:23 GMT -6
To play off that "Unhappy SBC East Leads to New Hybrid Conference with CUSA East" scenario... if JSU were left behind, for whatever reason -- rough transition, mere pettiness, whatever -- the new hybrid conferences would look more like this:
NEW HYBRID EASTERN CONFERENCE
NORTH
ODU
JMU
Liberty
Marshall
WKU
App State
SOUTH
MTSU
Coastal
Ga State
Ga Southern
troy state
FIU
NEW HYBRID WESTERN CONFERENCE
EAST
JSU
USA
Southern Miss
ULM
La Tech
Ark St
WEST
LA-La
SHSU
Texas St
SFA or Tarleton?
UTEP
NMSU
The conference could stay at 11 teams, but I think a move to 12 would be beneficial for scheduling and (at least for the teams on the east and west fringes) travel.
There are a few solid candidates out west, if dipping into FCS were to be necessary. My favorite is SFA, and I'm pretty sure they'd get strong support from UTEP, NMSU, SHSU, and JSU at the very least. (Possibly Texas State and some of the Louisiana schools.) The issue with SFA in this conference is the same issue CUSA has with them: it's not clear if SFA wants to move up or even has the means to move up. But they'd be a home run in basketball (mens and womens) and a solid add in football.
If the Jacks can't make the move, the next in line would be Tarleton. By then, they'd be past their D-II transition, and they have the financial support (and the will) to make a move up. I actually think the Texans are a more likely choice, if only for these two reasons.
McNeese would be crowded out by the other Louisiana schools. No chance for the Cowboys. UCA is a possibility, but they have neither the athletic success of SFA nor the raw hard cash of Tarleton. I don't see them making the cut. Mo State would be a possibility geographically, financially, and athletically... except there's no way on God's green earth they'd want to step over to this conference. It's not exactly glamorous.
From a JSU perspective, it wouldn't be great, but it'd be OK, I guess. It'd give many of us flashbacks to our days in the Southland, being the easternmost team in a Texas-Louisiana-focused conference. But we could maybe develop rivalries with USA and Southern Miss, so that could be cool.
Oh. Southern Miss. Yeah. They wouldn't be happy with this at all. Just a few short years after leaving CUSA for the Belt, they'd be kicked to the curb into this "leftovers" conference. Man, it'd be terrible listening to them gripe.
The same could be said for the Louisiana schools.
Rather than winding up in a conference with a bunch of happy schools satisfied with their current position, well... this would be the nightmarish opposite of that.
JSU (and possibly others) would probably be very open to joining that new league the UNA fans want to see, so this would possibly only be a temporary home. I just don't know how strong any new league would be, compared to the AAC, MWC, Hybrid East, and even this Hybrid West one. It would probably be a big step down.
Again, this is not what would happen in my O.T. scenario. This is just an alternate ending to my last post about an unhappy SBC-East breaking away.
NEW HYBRID EASTERN CONFERENCE
NORTH
ODU
JMU
Liberty
Marshall
WKU
App State
SOUTH
MTSU
Coastal
Ga State
Ga Southern
troy state
FIU
NEW HYBRID WESTERN CONFERENCE
EAST
JSU
USA
Southern Miss
ULM
La Tech
Ark St
WEST
LA-La
SHSU
Texas St
SFA or Tarleton?
UTEP
NMSU
The conference could stay at 11 teams, but I think a move to 12 would be beneficial for scheduling and (at least for the teams on the east and west fringes) travel.
There are a few solid candidates out west, if dipping into FCS were to be necessary. My favorite is SFA, and I'm pretty sure they'd get strong support from UTEP, NMSU, SHSU, and JSU at the very least. (Possibly Texas State and some of the Louisiana schools.) The issue with SFA in this conference is the same issue CUSA has with them: it's not clear if SFA wants to move up or even has the means to move up. But they'd be a home run in basketball (mens and womens) and a solid add in football.
If the Jacks can't make the move, the next in line would be Tarleton. By then, they'd be past their D-II transition, and they have the financial support (and the will) to make a move up. I actually think the Texans are a more likely choice, if only for these two reasons.
McNeese would be crowded out by the other Louisiana schools. No chance for the Cowboys. UCA is a possibility, but they have neither the athletic success of SFA nor the raw hard cash of Tarleton. I don't see them making the cut. Mo State would be a possibility geographically, financially, and athletically... except there's no way on God's green earth they'd want to step over to this conference. It's not exactly glamorous.
From a JSU perspective, it wouldn't be great, but it'd be OK, I guess. It'd give many of us flashbacks to our days in the Southland, being the easternmost team in a Texas-Louisiana-focused conference. But we could maybe develop rivalries with USA and Southern Miss, so that could be cool.
Oh. Southern Miss. Yeah. They wouldn't be happy with this at all. Just a few short years after leaving CUSA for the Belt, they'd be kicked to the curb into this "leftovers" conference. Man, it'd be terrible listening to them gripe.
The same could be said for the Louisiana schools.
Rather than winding up in a conference with a bunch of happy schools satisfied with their current position, well... this would be the nightmarish opposite of that.
JSU (and possibly others) would probably be very open to joining that new league the UNA fans want to see, so this would possibly only be a temporary home. I just don't know how strong any new league would be, compared to the AAC, MWC, Hybrid East, and even this Hybrid West one. It would probably be a big step down.
Again, this is not what would happen in my O.T. scenario. This is just an alternate ending to my last post about an unhappy SBC-East breaking away.