All Expansion is not the Same

How Smaller FBS Conferences Approached a Volatile Landscape

As we near the beginning of a new era of college football, one can look back on the last few years and say it has been the most chaotic since Division 1 split into FBS and FCS. Heck, is it the most chaotic since the sport was on life support with so many players dying and leading to massive rule changes in the early 1900s?

What we do know, is that Texas and Oklahoma announcing their intentions to leave for the SEC, which becomes official this year, set off a tidal wave that is still having ripple effects felt down in Division 2 and the FCS. If you want to know how Richmond moving to the Patriot League is a part of that same storm, you can read one of my other articles here:

Richmond Bolts for Richer Pastures (substack.com)

We all know what has happened to the PAC-12, and the bigger conferences are likely still not done making moves given what some of the ACC schools are complaining about. That conference, along with the Big Ten, literally goes coast to coast while the Big 12 stretches from West Virginia to Florida to Arizona. Somehow the SEC, which now spans South Carolina to Texas but doesn’t have divisions anymore, is the most coherent. 

But you can find any number of pundits to talk about these schools and conferences. It’s what pays their bills and therefore, what most of them focus on and solely care about. What about the smaller FBS conferences? How did they fare in realignment? Let’s take a brief look and see how some did quite while mostly standing still, while others were caught flat footed. 

Mountain West

I will be brief with them, but the PAC-12 imploding because they were holier than thou about potential expansion helped this conference’s ability to more or less do nothing, and kind of improve. San Diego State and Boise State were the most mentioned in terms of expansion targets from a couple conferences, but it never came to fruition. Furthermore, with the PAC-12 schools besides Washington State and Oregon State finding homes, the Mountain West picked up a very favorable scheduling agreement with these schools. I won’t say they were the conference that came out the best in realignment, as their future and whatever happens with the now PAC-2 is still uncertain, but for the immediate future, they’re sitting quite well.

Mid American Conference

The MAC looked as though they would be fine with their geographically tightly knit group of schools for the foreseeable future. The novelty of their Tuesday and Wednesday games in October and beyond has slightly worn off with other conferences slightly encroaching on it, but the conference is unique. They made overtures to Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky as Conference USA was gasping for air, but that did not happen. So, everything seemed to be status quo.

Then, in true college football fashion, enter UMASS becoming a full-time member starting in 2025, confirmed earlier this year. This is a home run for UMASS, and I think sets the MAC up for potentially having an eastern branch for their conference. Buffalo is already there, so it’s not a completely farfetched idea. Whatever happens, this conference appears to be pretty stable moving forward with its members not really having reason to move on or elsewhere.

American Athletic Conference

Of the smaller FBS conferences (don’t tell them that), the AAC was in a position to basically pick and choose who they wanted. They have the best contract of the 5 conferences, and that alone makes them incredibly attractive for athletic departments always looking for cash. All that was left to decide was who they wanted, and what would the reasons be?

The AAC, thinking money and markets first went with schools that didn’t necessarily have football prowess to speak of, but were in bigger cities. Charlotte, UTSA, FAU, Rice, and UAB are not schools with football pedigree, but they are in cities where markets will actually rate. North Texas, and most recently Army, while maybe not directly in a big city, are close enough to bring in some eyeballs. The American had to react when UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati were all poached by the Big 12. They did a good job filling in with schools that could bring eyeballs which will make TV executives happy. But on field football product? It is still to be determined. 

Conference USA

Of the smaller FBS conferences, they by far were the most affected by Texas and Oklahoma bolting the Big 12 for the SEC. Almost immediately, they were under attack from the AAC as they anticipated losing their biggest football brands. What they might not have expected was the Sun Belt, a conference I will get to next, being able to outmaneuver them and stealing 3 more schools, Old Dominion, Marshall, and Southern Miss. Could CUSA have been more aggressive? Should they have fought the Sun Belt harder in terms of trying to keep those schools? Time will tell but this ever-shifting conference has to move fast or face dissolving altogether. 

Let’s start with the FBS schools they brought in. Bringing in New Mexico State from being a football independent was smart not only for that school, but for CUSA because it gave UTEP a very close rival in a conference that is inevitably quite spread out. 

Then, we move on to Liberty. If you twist the arms of the fans of this school and their administration, this move was more about a path to better bowl games and potentially the CFB Playoff. They would have wanted to be in the Sun Belt, but their ability to pull from online revenue and extracurricular Liberty things made it so really only a conference that was desperate would take them. Plus, CUSA could use the money. Don’t let folks from Liberty say their conference affiliation is driven by religious discrimination. Baylor and Texas Christian exist, and conferences would literally drop their 6 lowest revenue generating schools if it meant Notre Dame would join.

Then, things get interesting. Given that they had little to no choice, if CUSA was to survive, they would have to dip into the FCS. Now, let’s give them a little credit here. Picking up Jacksonville State early was a good idea. They have a healthy fanbase and a history of good football even if they don’t have a D1 national title. Adding Sam Houston and Kennesaw seemed necessary in terms of needing to fill out a conference. Both had FBS aspirations, even if the infrastructure wasn’t necessarily there. Time will tell whether the move was smart for these schools and the conference.

You could say that by adding Delaware, CUSA can thank the shenanigans that have been going on at the CAA HQ these past 5 years or so. From the Flo deal to the “y’all come” approach they took to conference expansion, many prominent CAA members have left. CUSA may not have been the best fit for Delaware, but it is a school rich in football tradition and the infrastructure and drive that made them more FBS ready than many of the other CUSA additions. We’ll see how Blue Hen faithful like their new home. 

Finally, and most recently, the conference added Missouri State. The school had been floating expansion for a while, but many wondered why CUSA didn’t offer someone like an NDSU or SDSU? They are miles ahead as football programs, and that’s not debatable. I have some of my own cynical thoughts about this, but if Missouri State wanted to move up and they got an invite? More power to them I suppose. CUSA was always going to have a geography issue, and Missouri State is oddly in a place that kind of centralizes CUSA? Anyway, much like Sam Houston and Kennesaw State, this is definitely a wait and see in terms of will this be a good move for the program. 

So, CUSA did what they had to do to survive. They brought in New Mexico State to help out UTEP and have a fully up and running FBS athletic department. They then also bring in Liberty, a school poised to honestly do whatever they want with the conference and hope that someone will eventually scoop them up. Then, they added 5, yes 5, FCS schools in one round of realignment.

Look, they did what they had to do, and they found schools that wanted to make this move. But when almost half of your conference was FCS not that long ago, and none of the programs being brought in except Delaware from a while back have national championships to their name? We will see what happens with this conference moving forward. I’m not even sure it’s all done shaking out yet.

Sun Belt Conference

My opinion is 100 percent biased here, but even objective journalists that cover the smaller FBS conferences have said that the Sun Belt came out of this round of realignment looking the best and strongest in terms of poised to move forward with a sustainable model. How did they do it? Let’s take a look.

First and foremost, they didn’t lose any members. Had the AAC wanted to go for football pedigree and tradition rather than market sizes, the Sun Belt would have been ripe for the taking. Appalachian State was right there. They took Charlotte. Georgia Southern was right there. They took UAB. I could go on. Point is, with a little bit of luck and having to be somewhat thankful for the different ambitions of the AAC, the Sun Belt was able to keep its entire conference intact. But that didn’t stop them from being shoppers.

As previously mentioned, ODU, Marshall, and Southern Miss would eventually join from CUSA, but that was not always a given. I think Southern Miss and Marshall were always going to be SBC targets, but ODU would be tricky. Who else could they bring along that would make other SBC presidents happy? Liberty was out there, but I think it’s safe to say the schools moving away from CUSA wanted nothing to do with them, and ODU, being in the same state, also wasn’t really keen on being attached at the hip.

Enter what was objectively seen as the best possible pick up for any smaller FBS conference from the FCS, James Madison University. The athletic department was littered with success, they have national championship pedigree in multiple sports, including football, and they had existing rivalries with multiple SBC schools. It would be an excellent pairing with ODU and would give the conference an even number to work with. Thus, the table was set. The Sun Belt adds Marshall, Southern Miss, ODU, and JMU. 

Not only did they add these teams, but they also kept the conference split into east and west divisions, cutting down on travel for teams and making it much easier for fans to go to away conference games. This is not only the case for football, but applies to other sports like basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball, and others. It’s a conference with natural close knit geographical rivals, and with football teams that (mostly) have a history of winning. If not that, they are in a hotbed of football talent. 

Speaking of diamond sports, the league is one that expects multiple bids for both baseball and softball annually. Georgia State is building a new baseball stadium and Appalachian State is set to build a new softball stadium. Each sport is growing in popularity and the SBC is set to become solidly the 4th or 5th best conference in each for the foreseeable future. So, patience and strategic planning helped map out a conference that while it is spread out, but keeping divisions keeps the same feel of what college football is supposed to be. And also, they are very competitive and great in other sports too. 

Conclusion

If we have learned anything from the last few years, it is that it would be silly to say that things have settled down in college athletics. There seems to be a new court case popping up every week. Clemson, Florida State, and even North Carolina are becoming more and more fed up with the ACC even as they all try to be cordial. Meanwhile the SEC and Big Ten are just looming waiting for the dust to settle. 

As for these smaller conferences? They all, somehow, survived. Time will tell if the AAC was smart going after markets instead of quality of football. What will become of the Mountain West and the PAC-2? Is the MAC content with where they are, or do they dare slightly stretch their tightly knit footprint? Does the Sun Belt continue to make the right moves and perhaps become the model of schools with smaller budgets moving forward? How will CUSA fare with their spread out geographical footprint, 5 new schools coming up from FCS, and athletic departments with varying levels of support and infrastructure? 

No idea. And anyone who tells you they do know without industry sources, is a fool. All I know is, I am glad my school ended up where they did, and whatever happens next, let’s just hope the college sports we love continue to bring us and the athletes that participate in them great joy.