WAC raiding the Southland...

[Maroon Eagle]

McNeese and Incarnate Word to the WAC...

Source: Both McNeese State University and the University of Incarnate Word are departing the Southland Conference with the intention to join the WAC.— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 2, 2021


A larger story in all this is Division I keeps increasing in size, which dilutes NCAA payouts, which has an impact on the Group of 5. And CFP expansion ($) is no guarantee.All ahead of a “transformational committee” that could reshape the power in Division I. https://t.co/fLXQA63frc— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) November 2, 2021

 

[PirateDawg]

University of Incarnate Word? I'm hearing about schools I never knew existed.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Rumors of SE LA to CUSA.

 

[Bill Shankly]

Rumors of SE LA to CUSA.

So that means they have what, five schools now?

 

[Maroon Eagle]

They'll have seven-- 5 of them being football playing schools and that's counting aTm Commerce which is joining next year. The 2 non-football schools are aTm Corpus Christi and UNO.

Oh, and Augusta is a new affiliate member in men's and women's golf-- the men's team won back to back national titles ten years ago and Patrick Reed played for them. Delaware State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Francis Marion are also affiliates in golf.

I wouldn't be too surprised if Little Rock joined the Southland from the Sun Belt -- that's pure speculation on my part as I've not seen anything about it but they are localish.

UT Arlington might not be a bad pick either but I think they want to see if they can get into the Missouri Valley. They've been linked to the conference previously.

As far as a football playing college... I've mentioned it before here but West Florida wouldn't be a bad choice for the Southland.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Mama said them SELA Muddogs are pretty good. You can do it.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Wait a second. If Southeastern goes, they'll have 6 schools with four being football playing schools.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

It looks like McNeese says no to the WAC...

Hearing the same from a Southland source. What a huge upset and a massive coup for the Southland. https://t.co/CDEIpNgBTo— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) November 9, 2021

 

[GloryDawg]

I think in the end the P5 and G5 will have different National Champions. The P5 is expanding as well with the new schools joining the Big 12.

 

[dorndawg]

I think in the end the P5 and G5 will have different National Champions. The P5 is expanding as well with the new schools joining the Big 12.

This is what should happen.

 

[johnson86-1]

I think in the end the P5 and G5 will have different National Champions. The P5 is expanding as well with the new schools joining the Big 12.

They should, but that is a mixed bag for the G5 schools. Lots of G5 schools get lots of money by convincing boosters that the impossible is possible. That one G5 that gets a pity invite to a NY6 bowl every so often keeps a lot of hopes and dreams alive and pocket books open. Once it's clear by rule that they are in a lower tier division, I suspect a lot of interest will die off. Only way it works out for them if they can stop spending so much money on football once it becomes clear that they are in a lower division.

If they do end up in a lower division, it will be interesting to see what happens to coaching and whether jumping from G5 to P5 starts to look a little more like jumping from FCS to DI.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I think in the end the P5 and G5 will have different National Champions. The P5 is expanding as well with the new schools joining the Big 12.

They could do this now if they wanted. I really don't think they want to, I think they like it the way it is and want to sell hope, like johnson said.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

They want to be Greenville Christian and defeat Oak Grove on the field. **

And they're of course playing for separate titles.

 

[Smoked Toag]

They want to be Greenville Christian and defeat Oak Grove on the field. **

And they're of course playing for separate titles.

We could fix a lot of this if we'd quit with the bowl tie-ins and just seed the dang thing based on merit. Probably get some cool matchups in bowl season too. That would give a lot of teams something to play for again. Rather than MTSU playing San Diego State in the Anywhere Bowl.

Isn't the TV money at a point now that attendance doesn't really matter anymore? Because if we could do that, the conference tie-ins don't matter so much, and the bowls won't pick teams just for who they think will 'travel'.

Make the committee actually work for a change, and rank all the teams, then choose the bowls based on that. With a caveat that there can be no rematches or interconference games. For example MSU could not be matched up with anyone on their current schedule or other SEC teams. Obviously give some consideration to geography, like not making Oregon State play USM in the Pinstripe Bowl, or similar.

All the conferences I guess would have to be agreeable to it. But it's a pretty good solution in my mind. And you can keep the playoff at 4 teams and preserve the regular season. Maybe expand to 6 or 8.

Also, no more FCS games. Make the P5 play the G5.

 

[Dawgg]

We could fix a lot of this if we'd quit with the bowl tie-ins and just seed the dang thing based on merit. Probably get some cool matchups in bowl season too. That would give a lot of teams something to play for again. Rather than MTSU playing San Diego State in the Anywhere Bowl.

Isn't the TV money at a point now that attendance doesn't really matter anymore? Because if we could do that, the conference tie-ins don't matter so much, and the bowls won't pick teams just for who they think will 'travel'.

Make the committee actually work for a change, and rank all the teams, then choose the bowls based on that. With a caveat that there can be no rematches or interconference games. For example MSU could not be matched up with anyone on their current schedule or other SEC teams. Obviously give some consideration to geography, like not making Oregon State play USM in the Pinstripe Bowl, or similar.

All the conferences I guess would have to be agreeable to it. But it's a pretty good solution in my mind. And you can keep the playoff at 4 teams and preserve the regular season. Maybe expand to 6 or 8.

Also, no more FCS games. Make the P5 play the G5.

It's not just TV money... it's bowl payouts and corporate sponsorships. You'd have to control the bowl payouts on everything from the NY6 down to the Barstool Bowl. You could conceivably do that with the events that ESPN owns and airs, but not everything.

TaxSlayer, Outback, and VRBO are shelling out money for naming rights because they're guaranteed a game between teams from the two best conferences in the country, the SEC and the Big Ten, even if that means they have to take the second tier from those conferences (after the NY6 selections are made).

They're not shelling out the money so they can get a mid-tier Big 12 team playing the second to fourth best G5 team.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Somebody is going to get a good coach in Lane Burroughs after all this. No way he stays in that shitastic conference. USM should show Berry the door and grab Burroughs.

 

[patdog]

The conference tie-ins are still there because the bowls want to be assured they'll have an SEC (or another P5 conference) team in their bowl game so they'll get better ratings for their game. They don't want a "better seeded" G5 team in their bowl because they know nobody's going to want to watch a 9-3 Memphis St. team instead of a 6-6 Arkansas team.

Just checked out Dawgg's response and he's 100% right.