For a league that's been in existence for over 30 years, I find it remarkable how much of a revolving door the Sun Belt is. I'm not so naive not to realize that schools choose conferences because of business decisions, but it just seems there's no camerederie in that league. Nothing seems to say, "Our schools belong together."

Let me throw this out there: I'm a graduate of Appalachian State. A lot of our fans think that we should "move up" based partly on Michigan but mainly because of strong attendance & domination at our level. Personally, I'm not so sure. With C-USA at 12 members, the Sun Belt seems like the only option, and aside from other challenges related to upgrading to 1A, I don't like the idea of joining that league.

Right now ASU's longest conference road trip is only a seven-hour drive to Birmingham, and half the teams are within four hours. Conference members are close enough that, despite members' mostly small enrollments, I know graduates from every school in the league despite having lived only in NC. Now, technically, Sun Belt schools are located exclusively in the South, but from Boone, NC, App State would have to travel to FIU and FAU, which are farther than Chicago. North Texas is farther than Montreal. Forgetting even the travel costs, for a moment, I ask how a league that spread-apart that supposed to be conducive to rivalries & camerederie? I've met all of two people who've attended any Sun Belt school, and I doubt the graduates/fans of SB schools themselves have met many people from their own conference "rivals."

In the late 1980s, UALR talked about football. Talks progressed to the point that they contacted the Little Rock School District about the possibility of renting a stadium. At that time, the school started work on adding dormitory to make the transition from a commuter school to a residential.

Yes, if the SLC looses enough members quickly enough, then UALR looks like an attractive addition. Otherwise, I do not see UALR getting an invitation.

As to the UNO decision, it continues a terrible trend in Division III. Schools are classifying themselves as Division III to save money. It has nothing to do with athletic philosophy. I agree with the observation that more schools will seek out this classification.

In response to this trend, I will not be surprised when Division III splits.

The Southland would not lose those members until other moves above them are made. Fewer and fewer schools in the Southland are not playing football. The first place that those schools will go will be the Sun Belt once that conference starts losing members. I don't know of any plans for UALR to start a football team, but it would be helpful for them to start thinking about it. The Southland might become like the Ohio Valley. They would start inviting non-football members to try to stay afloat.

About the only scenario I can see UALR going to the Southland is if there's a mass exodus of football schools to I-A, enough to jeopardize an autobid. While Quinn has pointed out that Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi was accepted to the SLC without football, they were also planning on starting a I-AA team, though that may have either been a ruse to get into the Southland, or may have been bogged down by the economic downturn. The first choice for the SLC is always going to be football-playing schools, since the current fb-playing schools are the ones most likely to leave.