The Atlantic 10 expansion process continues their strategy of bringing schools into the conference to prepare for potential departures. With the Big East still eyeing schools such as St. Louis, Dayton and Richmond. Davidson will allow the conference to retain some access into the southern market of Charlotte, providing a 5th school in the general region with Richmond, VCU, George Mason and George Washington.

The loss of Oakland is a difficult one for the Summit. Despite the addition of Denver, the conference has lost schools recently, such as UMKC to the WAC and Oral Roberts to the Southland, and the loss of Oakland will bring their membership to only 8 schools. With few immediate Division 2 upgrade options, the conference will likely reach out to other regional schools in states such as Minnesota.

The Horizon League will likely look to the Summit League for a replacement, with Oakland considered the top candidate.

The Sun Belt is expected to look at schools such as JMU, Liberty, Lamar and Sam Houston St. as replacements.

Appalachian St. and Georgia Southern will upgrade their football program from FCS to FBS and join the Sun Belt. Upon joining, the schools would be the 9th and 10th football members. Both schools are expected to join for the 2015 season.

In addition to the (2) all-sports members, the Sun Belt will also add Idaho and New Mexico St. as football-only members. The move will allow the Sun Belt to field a championship game. Schools like Jacksonville St., Lamar and Sam Houston St. were other potential members for spots 11-12 but will likely have to wait for current Sun Belt members to leave.

After being passed over last year, the recent departures of Xavier and Butler from the conference have opened up a spot for George Mason in the conference. George Mason will officially join the A10 on July 1, 2013. With the conference already consisting of fellow Washington D.C. school George Washington, along with nearby rivals Richmond and VCU, the A10 has strengthened it’s position within the region. For the CAA, the loss of George Mason is a devastating blow after losing VCU, ODU and Georgia St. already. College of Charleston will help offset those losses, but losing VCU, ODU and now George Mason, the top 3 programs in the conference, will be difficult to combat.

Adding Xavier will will allow the conference to maintain a presence in Cincinnati while Butler will replace Notre Dame as the bridge to DePaul and Marquette. Creighton might seem like a geographic stretch right now, but with St. Louis expected to join next year with Dayton or Richmond, that will no longer be the case.

The move would give the America East (9) members for the 2013-2014 season, and help after the loss of Boston University. The America East has had it’s eyes on Northeast Conference members for expansion, but at this time, it appears that Umass Lowell is a cleaner fit. The expected addition of UMass Lowell would be yet another blow for N.J.I.T. which has hoped for an America East or Northeast Conference invitation over the past few years, only to be passed over.

UMKC will join the WAC for the 2013 season. They will leave the Summit, a conference that had it’s most recent addition come from the same WAC conference via Denver.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise on the surface as Denver just left the WAC for the Summit. But with multiple Summit schools as potential candidates for the Horizon or even Missouri Valley Conference, and with few available candidates, UMKC looks to be making a proactive move to ensure they aren’t left behind.

The move back to the Mountain West for Boise St. has been aided by the recent conference television renegotiations due to the folding of the conferences own network.

The Mountain West is currently considering other expansion ideas, considering with San Diego St. and UTEP as well as SMU, Houston and BYU. With the Big East falling apart, Houston and SMU might find the Mountain West as a comfortable option.