Delaware to CUSA

[dbackjon]

Who from the Big Sky is going CUSA ?

If Montana/Montana State/Idaho/UC Davis etc wanted to go FBS, CUSA would have taken them in a heartbeat.

[Dane96]

To my eye - the knocking of new CAA members by PL fans is shaded more in just ignorance than anything else. Especially from a Fordham fan whose school is still playing in gym right out of Hoosiers. Their football stadium has been surpassed by UAlbany and soon even Bryant.

The overall facilities and investments at PL schools are just dormant other than an indoor facility at HC. They operate like the Ivys. No need for updates. The CAA - even with newer members - reinforce and expect facility upgrades upon their members. Only Villanova seems content with no upgrades on their football stadium - maybe they are better suited in a PL world.

Campbell’s arena looks like a palace compared to most in the PL. Same with Elon. W&M is pumping $25m into Kaplan. URI is upgrading their football stadium. Bryant announced stadium upgrades just after they signed on. Monmouth has nice facilities but a bit small

I like all the PL schools but face it, they are spending nothing in upgrades or facilities of any magnitude. Their strategy is to tread water. At least the CAA members are committed to ongoing improvements. It’s also why Fairfield and High Point are high on the add list. Check out the plans and conditions of their facilities.

Well stated. And while I don't know if Albany indeed will get or accept a full invite by the CAA, things like new facilities have been VERY much preached by the CAA leadership for entry. It is one of the reasons we pushed the arena renovation, which was just completed...and are pushing forward on the total rebuild of the PE building (Phase 1 is almost complete with the new practice facility for basketball and the updated volleyball pavilion, will build an indoor facility, and will likely move a host of baseball games to Bruno Field (the minor league park). Albany had our soft opening for the arena last night, official opener on Saturday. Financially, Holy Cross is the only school to make any sort of significant investments in its sports department, while BU actually move their basketball team back into Case.

[DSUrocks07]

I wonder how that goes down though. Given the sheer lack of numbers (2 schools!!), wouldn't WSU and OSU basically have to invite almost the entire Mountain West to fill out a conference? So, instead of there being a PAC 12 and a MWC, you would essentially have MWC re-branded as Pac 12 but with WSU and OSU being the 2 lead dogs at the table.

I think that what is likely going to end up happening is a full merger into the "Pacific-Mountain West Conference" with a later split into an east - west division (or more extreme, a full conference separation with new names). Which would then open the door for Big Sky and MVFC teams to look to move up if they were interested.

Eventually the end goal is for 16-team conference alliances to be established as a form of tier system at the FBS level

Big Ten-SEC
ACC-Big 12
Pac-Mountain
SunBelt-CUSA
AAC-MAC

And if the WAC-ASun hodgepodge pulls off their plan then they would be the lowest tier.

And FCS would remain for the schools that don't want to commit financially to their football programs (in comparison to FBS school) and the conference tiers would shake out based on on-the-field success and who the real penny pinchers are.

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[caribbeanhen]

I think that what is likely going to end up happening is a full merger into the "Pacific-Mountain West Conference" with a later split into an east - west division (or more extreme, a full conference separation with new names). Which would then open the door for Big Sky and MVFC teams to look to move up if they were interested.

Eventually the end goal is for 16-team conference alliances to be established as a form of tier system at the FBS level

Big Ten-SEC
ACC-Big 12
Pac-Mountain
SunBelt-CUSA
AAC-MAC

And if the WAC-ASun hodgepodge pulls off their plan then they would be the lowest tier.

And FCS would remain for the schools that don't want to commit financially to their football programs (in comparison to FBS school) and the conference tiers would shake out based on on-the-field success and who the real penny pinchers are.

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The real Penny pinchers are the ones that end up with all the money 💰

[DSUrocks07]

And all of this talk about schools jumping up to chase FBS money and how it's a fool's errand, I wonder if this same conversation is being had at the D2 level when it comes to basketball programs.

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[NY Crusader 2010]

Albany to the CAA in all sports has been a long time coming. It's almost weird how long it's taken for that move to take place. IMO that would be a heist for the league. Between football and basketball, Albany could definitely come at least close to being what the Hens were overall --without the worry that they'll look to move up to FBS. Not to mention, solid lacrosse! And maybe, just maybe, an excuse to hold the CAA tournament in the Empire State in the near future.

Another thing -- out of all the schools remaining in the CAA, both for all sports or as football affiliates, the league is getting past the point of having to worry about schools leaving to go FBS in football. The only schools that would even think about that in the next 10 years IMO are Towson and maybe Villanova. The latter highly unlikely unless Temple drops football.

[UNHWildcat18]

Albany to the CAA in all sports has been a long time coming. It's almost weird how long it's taken for that move to take place. IMO that would be a heist for the league. Between football and basketball, Albany could definitely come at least close to being what the Hens were overall --without the worry that they'll look to move up to FBS. Not to mention, solid lacrosse! And maybe, just maybe, an excuse to hold the CAA tournament in the Empire State in the near future.

Another thing -- out of all the schools remaining in the CAA, both for all sports or as football affiliates, the league is getting past the point of having to worry about schools leaving to go FBS in football. The only schools that would even think about that in the next 10 years IMO are Towson and maybe Villanova. The latter highly unlikely unless Temple drops football.

You know they declined multiple times right? I don't see how "hey Albany we just lost Delaware, going to lose CofC and might lose another school soon. Please spend more money to come join our conference" no benefit to joining for all sports and they are already in the football league. I don't see a great argument. They had to beg SBU to join, and honestly if you read their board SBU fans aren't happy.

[WestCoastAggie]

You know they declined multiple times right? I don't see how "hey Albany we just lost Delaware, going to lose CofC and might lose another school soon. Please spend more money to come join our conference" no benefit to joining for all sports and they are already in the football league. I don't see a great argument. They had to beg SBU to join, and honestly if you read their board SBU fans aren't happy.

Hmm... Right now, I think the Football affiliate is a higher priority until CoC announces their move to the A-10.

[mainejeff]

You know they declined multiple times right? I don't see how "hey Albany we just lost Delaware, going to lose CofC and might lose another school soon. Please spend more money to come join our conference" no benefit to joining for all sports and they are already in the football league. I don't see a great argument. They had to beg SBU to join, and honestly if you read their board SBU fans aren't happy.

Albany moving all of their sports to the CAA wouldn't surprise me though. The CAA has been a magnet for anyone remotely interested in progressing their athletic program.....it has name cache and maybe most importantly, access to a new student recruitment base in the mid-South. That being said.....not every school that has joined has enjoyed or seen success that they had hoped for but that may be more of an individual school problem than the league that they joined. Lack of investment in facilities, stagnant coaching salaries and in some cases a de-emphasis on athletics seems to be an issue with some current CAA athletic programs.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Hmm... Right now, I think the Football affiliate is a higher priority until CoC announces their move to the A-10.

Why does the CAA need football affiliates? Even with Delaware leaving, its down to I think 14 teams. I can't even keep count.

CofC to the A-10 may happen but that league is already super bloated. Don't think they need Charleston now. Unlike we see in the power football conferences, there's no major incentive for the Big East to undergo a big round of expansion. Therefore, I don't see the A-10 getting raided heavily anytime soon. Unless you count UMass possibly bringing all sports to CUSA, which they honestly should just solider up and do at this point.