The addition of VCU gives the A10 a second recent Final Four school, along with 2 time finals participant, Butler. With the A10 recent conference office move to Virginia, and the departure of Philadelphia school, Temple, the A10 also seems to have an unofficial geographic shift to the DC/VA area with George Washington (DC), Richmond and now VCU in the conference.

VCU will join for the 2012-2013 season.

The loss fo VCU, Georgia St. and perhaps ODU will further deplete the CAA membership. VCU, ODU and GMU account for virtually allt he success of the conference over the past 7 years. With football sponsorship a top CAA motive, it means that the CAA will likely need to replace Georgia St. and ODU (should ODU leave) with 2 all-sport members with football. Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina are considered top candidates. If Appalachian St. is left out of any Sun Belt or CUSA expansion, the school might consider some initial thoughts about teaming up with CAA members such as JMU, Delaware, Villanova, W&M, etc in CAA football. Another option for the CAA would be to expand to the north with UNH and Maine. Liberty was thought to be a candidate, but with their FBS upgrade goals, they are less likely a candidate.

Boise St. hasn’t been one of those programs that seems overly focused on making big bucks as their sole motivation. That’s not exactly the case for some of the other schools in conferences above the Mountain West. But for Boise St., it’s always been about showing that they belong. When they sneak into a BCS bowl, they put on a show and stress that same message through player and coach interviews. Even better, they believe what they are saying.

The move to the Big East was about getting that opportunity every year just by winning their conference. It was a good move with the Big East BCS AQ in play…a great move. Because it meant if they win the conference, which they expect to do each year, they would get into the BCS. And due to location, it makes them more appealing to other bowls, so they aren’t just a school to plug into the Orange bowl each year like the usual Big East winner is. The Fiesta might actually WANT Boise St some years!

But for Boise St., the future seems to hinge on the SPECIFICS of the proposed BCS +1 setup.

If Boise St. is a  top 4 “ranked” schools using some system AND even if  to be eligible, a school HAS to be a conference champion, Boise St. will likely, in 8 out of 10 years of going undefeated, make the “playoffs”. They know how it works: if you are not in the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 or Pac-12 or even ACC to an extent, if you lose 1 game, you are OUT of the BCS at-large running right now. But with a 4 school playoff, they don’t have to compete to be in the #1 or #2 spot for a title shot, they just need to win their conference and be ranked in the Top 4 to have a chance. Go undefeated, and that will happen most years.

But if Boise St. remains in the MWC…

If they win most years, they are in the playoffs…with a chance to win the championship by winning two games. A Boise St. program in the Big East (if they still had the 5 BCS games), would almost never be in a position to play for a title…since the Big East is so weakened now, it’s not likely that they would be in the 1 or 2 spot, even if undefeated, over (2) 1 loss schools like the SEC and Big Ten champions.

But in the MWC, they can win the conference, make the playoffs, play regional schools, cut their overall travel budget for athletics, keep the profits rather than having to invest them into travel for their non-football sports (Big Sky is only conference that would cut travel costs more than MWC would).
Join the Big East, and the school will get more TV money. Period. The MWC is not the caliber of  conference it was with Boise St., TCU BYU and Utah now gone. Nevada has been a strong program of late and a nice addition. But them, teamed with Hawaii, Fresno St., Utah St. and SanJose St. just isn’t a power conference that will generate the type of television revenue that the Big East can, even with the additions of the Bay Area market, and bringing back the Salt Lake City market..The kicker is TV money.

But does that matter to Boise St. as much as a chance to winning a title?

Maybe not, which goes against so much of the current trends.

But that might just be the case with Boise St., hence them even considering the MWC at a time when they know the Big East TV contract will be better than the MWC.

Because in the end, Boise St. might be able to generate more revenue by making it to the playoffs or even winning title(s) over the years.

And if that happens, Boise St. could parlay that success (if they can achieve it) into their own Tier 3 TV contract. If they could negotiate 1-2 games a year on their own with say, ESPN, that would be a huge get for them. Just look at the BYU money as an independent. Imagine a National Champion Boise St. team….think they could work out a good TV deal for 1-2 games a year? I do, if the MWC permits it.

But it’s worth it to the MWC, since all the other Boise St. games would be under the MWC package, increasing the television contract value. That’s just how it works. Look at the Pac-10. Even years when USC was the only dominant force, the Pac-10 still had a large TV presence and value. The MWC might never be at the same level as the Pac-12, but they can improve their annual revenue.

So that’s where we are at. The MWC sits at 10 schools with spots waiting for Boise St. and San Diego St. If Boise St. opts to return, it seems safe to assume San Diego St. would follow.

For the Mountain West, it’s a given: if Boise St. and San Diego St. need help from the Mountain West to pay the exit fees from the Big East, do it. It’s $15 million dollars in one year ($5 million for Boise St., $10 million for SDSU) that will help make them hundreds of millions in the future. Dont’ want to spend the money to bail out SDSU? Fine, try to get CUSA to permit UTEP to swing over to the MWC as #12, freeing up another spot in CUSA for an MTSU, FAU, ODU, App St., UMass pair to get to 14.

The MWC is a nice conference and bounced back from the defections. But Wyoming, Colorado St., Fresno St., Nevada, etc aren’t going to drive future MWC TV contracts. Boise St. will. So whatever the MWC needs to do to convince Boise St. to change their mind, just do it.

As we’ve done in 2011 and  previous years, here’s an updated list for the 2012 NCAA television revenue by conference for the BCS conferences. Note that there will be additional changes once league specific networks (like Pac-12 Network) are generating more money. Other contracts are expected to be altered to reflect new membership additions such as ACC, SEC and Big 12. The Big East contract is next up for renewal. The value is expected to be much lower with the losses of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU but will still increase due to inflated value within the industry for conference television contracts. The per school increase for the Big East will likely rise as well, even with the membership growing to 13 members.

ACC

Big Ten

Big 12

Pac-12

SEC

OTHERS:

CUSA
5 years, $35 million, CBS College Sports (through 2016)
5 years, $35 million, Fox (through 2016)
Annual: $14 million
Average Annual per School: $1.17 million
Notes: CUSA and the MWC are expected to form a football alliance in order to negotiate a single TV contract for that sport.

Mountain West
10 years, $120 million, CBS College Sports (through 2016)
Annual: $12 million
Average Annual per School: $1.33 million
Notes: losses and additions now have the MWC at 10 members with Hawaii as a football only member, will lower per school payout. The MWC ended their own channel, Mtn this year. CUSA and the MWC are expected to form a football alliance in order to negotiate a single TV contract for that sport.

More figures here and here…

Overall Notes:
Note that many of these figures are fluid due to issues such as conference specific networks and their revenue growth potential. Per school payouts wil vary as well due to specific conferences distribution processes and their own TV rights factored in.

The addition of Butler comes at a time when the conference has also considered adding even more schools. VCU and George Mason have been targeted as expansion candidates and both have expressed interest. But with ODU potentially leaving the CAA for CUSA, there might me more of a drive for both schools to join.

Current A10 member Charlotte is also planning on joining CUSA for the 2013 season. With the addition of Butler and departures of Temple and Charlotte, the A10 would then be at 13 members. So in order to accept both VCU and George Mason, the A10 would grow to an uneven 15. This would likely require the A10 to expand yet again to 16. But the candidate pool takes a significant drop after Butler, VCU and George Mason. Candidates such as Siena, Boston University, Detroit, Wright St., don’t carry the clout of Butler, GMU and VCU. ODU would be an ideal member for the A10, but their football aspirations would likely cause them to remove themselves.

ODU has all but accepted the CUSA invitation. The only thing that would stop that move would be if they decided to remain in FCS football and was extended an invitation by the A10 to be member #16, joining with Butler, VCU, and GMU.

We can now add Charlotte and ODU to that list as CUSA expands to 14 schools.

Charlotte will return to their previous conference, CUSA, in 2013, the same year they start football. It is unknown how long it will take until Charlotte football is part of CUSA.

Old Dominion has a new football program as well, a member of the FCS subdivision in the CAA Football Conference. ODU is not expected to participate in FBS level football in CUSA their first year either.

So to recap:

CUSA Expansion:
Losses: Houston, UCF, SMU, Memphis
Additions:  UTSA, FIU, North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Charlotte, Old Dominion

With the departure of ODU, it should increase the chances that after the 2012 season, that VCU and George Mason announce they will join the Atlantic 10.

Following what appears to be the trend started by UTSA (to CUSA), Utah St. and San Jose St. (to Mountain West) and likely Louisiana Tech to CUSA, Texas St. will flee as well.

Texas St. will likely be the replacement for North Texas, which is also expected to join CUSA. UT-Arlington allows the conference to remain in the Dallas market with the North Texas loss.

The WAC will now be left with only New Mexico St. and Idaho as football sponsoring members. But with all these departures to happen for the 2013 season, it appears this upcoming football season will be the last for the WAC.

But the non-football roster is facing it’s own extinction.

Remaining members will include NMSU, Idaho, Boise St., Denver and Seattle. The conference will likely need to bring in Utah Valley and UTPA just to remain at 7 and bring in an 8th member in CSU-Bakersfield. But with that instability, it is also just as likely that Denver flees for the Summit League. Denver and Seattle would both like to be in the WCC, but that conference has not shown any interest thus far in expanding to 12 following the addition of Pacific. Boise St. was tried for the Big Sky and Big West, but settled on the WAC as it was it’s only non-football option.

In November of 2010, we covered the State of the WAC: A Conference on Life Support. After receiving some donations from the FCS subdivision, the WAC took some time to rest and see if the new additions would take. To help ease the pain, the WAC even adding some support outside of football, by adding Texas-Arlington to help it’s eastern football wing of UTSA, Texas St. and LA Tech…and even added Denver and Seattle to give it’s northern members, Idaho and Utah St. a hand.

But unfortunately for the WAC, it’s time as a football conference has come to an end.

First to leave, or at least to become just about official, is UTSA. The school plans on leaving the WAC to join the newest version of Conference USA. It’s quite a feat for UTSA, a new football program that was able to go from non-existent to CUSA in just a couple years thanks to the departure of 4 CUSA schools.

Next up for the WAC exodus are the team of Utah St. and San Jose St. Utah St. has for some time been a logical MWC addition, as a way to attempt to replace the lost market of Utah with the departures of BYU and Utah. Salt Lake City had been the epicenter of the MWC, and Utah St. has a chance to help the conference reclaim some of that lost market. San Jose St. brings very little on field success. But it’s presence in the Bay Area make it an appealing option for the MWC as they seek a better television deal.

Next up for the farewell tour of the WAC will likely be Louisiana Tech. The school is expected to be the selection for the #12 spot in CUSA, with UTSA, North Texas, and Florida International joining as well. There is still a chance that Charlotte or even Appalachian St. could sneak past Louisiana Tech. But even if that happens, Louisiana Tech is likely gone anyways. With the WAC now over for football, LA Tech will at worst leave the WAC for the Sun Belt in the event that they are passed over by CUSA at the last minute.

The next likely WAC member to waive goodbye? None other than the Fighting Armadillos, I mean Bobcats, from Texas St. While the San Marcos school has less clout than North Texas in the conference realignment pecking order, and doesn’t offer the market penetration that UTSA does, Texas St. does have something to offer: a school in Texas. It might not seem like much, but Texas St. appears to be in a position where they could benefit from all the Big East and now CUSA movement. With the Sun Belt expected to lose North Texas and Florida International, even with incoming Georgia St., the Sun Belt will be looking for members. With LA Tech likely in CUSA, it means the Sun Belt candidates will be Charlotte and Texas State. Others such as Appalachian St., Georgia Southern and ODU have yet to fully commit to upgrading to FBS football. Once the Sun Belt loses 2 schools, they will be back at 9 members with Georgia State. Charlotte might be the pick here. But the conference might also opt for another FCS upgrade along with Texas St. for a 12 school football conference. Even another lonely WAC member could slip in along with Charlotte and Texas St.

And that lonely WAC member? That would be New Mexico State.

The chances that New Mexico St. join the Sun Belt are slim to none, but a bit closer to “slim”. Under a few scenarios, the Sun Belt might see a benefit in adding NMSU as it’s 12th football member. This would likely only happen if LA Tech does join CUSA, as well as North Texas and FIU. The Sun Belt, at 9 football members, could always add Texas St. and NMSU along with Charlotte for a 12 school football conference.

And then there is Idaho.

The poor Vandals have to sit back and watch all the other conferences come in and loot their conference, only to be left with no other football schools. Pride will likely keep Idaho in FBS football for many years, despite having no conference home. Idaho doesn’t have the clout of a BYU, Notre Dame or Army in being an independent, but they will have no choice. The only shot, and it’s a long one, would be if Idaho were to seek football only membership in the Sun Belt. If things worked out for them, perhaps NMSU is also left outside, and the tandem could attempt the get the Sun Belt to accept them as low revenue gaining football-only members in a 14 school conference. Idaho could also try to get the MAC to offer a similar spot, not that much different than when UCF was a MAC football member. But Florida certainly offers better incentives to the MAC than Idaho.

As for a life preserver, similar to what kept the WAC alive once before? It just doesn’t exist this time around. Schools like Montana, Montana St., Cal Poly, UC Davis, Portland St., Sacramento St., Lamar and SHSU passed on upgrading last time when the WAC still had a core group with Utah St., San Jose St., LA Tech and others. With them all gone and only 2-3 schools remaining, there is no chance that a group of regional FCS schools would upgrade.

Breakdown of a Broken Down WAC – Options for it’s Members:

Status: SAFE
UTSA will be leaving the WAC for CUSA

Status: SAFE
Utah St. will be leaving the WAC for the Mountain West

Status: SAFE
San Jose St. will be leaving the WAC for the Mountain West

Status: SAFE
Louisiana Tech Options: will either be moving to CUSA as member #12 (with UTSA, North Texas and FIU) or joining the Sun Belt if LA Tech is passed over by CUSA for Charlotte or Appalachian St.

Status: CHANCE OF BEING LEFT BEHIND
Texas St. could be left out of the FBS football conference mix. Their primary hope is that the Sun Belt loses 2-3 schools with their membership dropping to 8-9. Either Charlotte or LA Tech would be the top replacement, whichever one is not invited to CUSA. Texas St. expects that it will slip into the next spot for school #11 under the scenario in which the Sun Belt loses North Texas and FIU to CUSA, adds Georgia St. for #9, adds Charlotte or LA Tech for #10, and Texas St. for #11. If the Sun Belt were lose lose out on Charlotte, it might be a blessing in disguise for other schools, as the conference might than take Appalachian St. (similar region as Charlotte) and Texas St. for #12.
Scenarios if left behind:
A) Participate as a FBS independent while remaining in the  WAC for non-football sports
B)  Participate as a FBS independent while returning to the Southland for non-football sports
C)  Participate as a FBS independent while joining the Summit League for non-football sports should the WAC fold and Southland reject them
D) Downgrade to FCS football and re-join the Southland Conference
Other FBS option: school could seek football only membership in a conference such as the Sun Belt or MAC

Status: GOOD CHANCE OF BEING LEFT BEHIND
New Mexico St. is in a worse situation that Texas St. Their only hope is that the Sun Belt opts to expand to 12 schools, adding Charlotte or LA Tech along with Texas St. to get to 11 following the departures of North Texas and FIU. NMSU would have to beat out FCS schools like Appalachian St. and Georgia Southern for that final spot.

Scenarios if left behind:
A) Participate as a FBS independent while remaining in the  WAC for non-football sports
B)  Participate as a FBS independent while joining the Southland for non-football sports
C)  Participate as a FBS independent while joining the Summit League for non-football sports should the WAC fold and Southland reject them
D) Downgrade to FCS football and join Southland Conference
Other FBS option: school could seek football only membership in a conference such as the Sun Belt or MAC

Status: POOR
Idaho is in the worst possible spot. They regionally are not an ideal fit for all-sports membership in the Sun Belt, the only conference that might have space for them (since the MWC does not have any desire for them at this time). Idaho’s only shot of not being am FBS football independent will be if they are able to join the Sun Belt in some capacity.

Scenarios if left behind:
A) Participate as a FBS independent while remaining in the  WAC for non-football sports
B)  Participate as a FBS independent while joining the Big Sky for non-football sports
C)  Participate as a FBS independent while joining the Summit League for non-football sports should the WAC fold and Big Sky reject them
D) Downgrade to FCS football and join Big Sky Conference
Other FBS option: school could seek football only membership in a conference such as the Sun Belt or MAC

WAC Survival Once Football is Gone:

Lost in the realignment news is that beyond being just about football, there are also non-football members with a stake in the action. The hope here is that the WAC can keep enough members such as Idaho and NMSU, and perhaps Texas St., and that they can pick up a few other members from conferences like the Summit League or Southland.

* Utah Valley will be expected to join the WAC.

* CSU-Bakersfield is another option that the WAC to consider.

* UTPA will be expected to join if the WAC can keep any Texas members such as Texas St. and UT-Arlington and the Southland does not offer them membership

* They will also have to look at potential Division 2 upgrades in the region.

* If times are desperate, New Orleans is another option, as the school will rejoin Division 1 and is without a home

Looking at the math, the WAC would appear to be safe as a conference without football. Likely membership:

CSU-Bakersfield
Seattle
Idaho
Denver
Utah Valley
NMSU
Texas-Arlington
UTPA
New Orleans

WAC Non-Football members:

The newest WAC member, as a result of Boise St. moving it’s football program to the Big East. Should the WAC fold, Boise St. will have a few options.

Options if the WAC folds:
- seek membership in the Big Sky for non-football sports
- join the Summit League for non-football sports
- Try again to get the Big West to accept them for non-football sports
 Seattle has few options. They only joined the WAC because the WCC and Big West had no interest. Seattle would have one option: hope the WCC changes their stance and brings them in with a 12th school after Pacific joins for 12 member.

 Denver has a few options as well. They can always join the Summit League. The could also ask the Big West to change their football requirement rules ans apply. And Denver always has the hope that thanks to the WCC additions of BYU and Pacific, that the WCC would invite them as a travel partner for the Utah based school, becoming member #12 with Seattle.

 Texas-Arlington will always likely have a home back in the Southland if they want it. The fact that the Southland is flirting with schools like UTPA says much about their conference stability. Even more telling is that UTPA has yet to be invited, likely a case of the Southland holding out to see how the WAC membership shakes out. If the WAC folds, UTA will have a home again. If the Southland felt too jilted, UTA could always join the Summit.

Over the next few weeks, the WAC will undergo some more changes. But what you see above should cover just about every scenario…even some real longshots.

To keep up with all the scenarios and news, be sure to follow the Conference Realignment Grid .

The move will bring the Mountain West total membership to 9 all-sports members and 10 for football. While warm bodies for the MWC has been a priority, they have the luxury of also adding the Salt Lake City market and the Bay Area to help boost it’s television contract value. The Mountain West and CUSA are still expected to partner up, despite a full merger being shelved. The plan will likely involve the two conferences forming a football alliance where they negotiate a united television deal and arrange for some sort of championship game.

If the Mountain West were to add 2 more schools and grow to 12, combined with the expected growth of CUSA to 12, the alliance could hold two championship games with the winners meeting in a bowl game.

CUSA will be adding UTSA as well as likely North Texas and Florida International.

Louisiana Tech will likely be the 12th CUSA member unless Charlotte can get more support for it’s inclusion. Old Dominion is also keeping an eye on things in the event that they opt to upgrade to FBS.

The losses of Utah St. and San Jose St. from the WAC will put the final nail in them as a football conference.

With Utah St., San Jose St., UTSA and potentially Louisiana Tech leaving, the WAC will be left with only New Mexico St., Idaho and Texas St.

Texas St. will be pushing the Sun Belt hard for inclusion to replace the losses of North Texas and UTSA.

New Mexico St. will also likely petition the Sun Belt so that they are not left out. But the Sun Belt might have more appealing options such as Appalachian St., Charlotte and Georgia Southern. Even ODU might make itself available if they feel desperate enough. And maybe that would be the right call, since CUSA and the Sun Belt will be fairly locked into their new memberships and the MAC, already at 13 would remain the only FBS option.

For Idaho, it’s a tough a time as ever. Texas St. has the advantage of being in a close proximity to the other Sun Belt members, in comparison. Idaho and even NMSU remain far away with little value to the Sun Belt. It would not be shocking to see NMSU and Idaho seek even football-only Sun Belt membership with limited revenue in return to both schools as a means to secure a football home.

And they did.

Conference USA will add UTSA in 2013 as their first replacement following the departure of Memphis, UCF, Houston and SMU, per reports. The move makes sense as it gives CUSA even more presence in Texas, where with the departures of Houston and SMU, only Rice and UTEP remain.

While UTSA might be the first school we know will be joining CUSA, they likely won’t be the last.

North Texas is also expected to join CUSA in 2013. North Texas is the logical replacement for SMU, which was the lone Dallas market CUSA member.  In adding North Texas, CUSA hopes to remain relevant in Dallas.

Next up, Florida International.

Florida International has long been considered a top candidate with North Texas for CUSA. With the departure of UCF, CUSA no longer has a Florida presence. FIU will now serve as the lone  Florida representative.

And CUSA might not be done. Louisiana Tech as well as Charlotte are still being considered for CUSA expansion.

And now it gets tricky.

What does CUSA expansion means to any Mountain West/CUSA football alliance?

CUSA lost 4 members but was considering a full merger or alliance with the Mountain West. Most designs of an alliance called for expansion by 4 total schools, 2 in CUSA and 2 in the Mountain West. This would then give CUSA (10) members and the Mountain West (10) members. The 10 school conferences would then play a 9 came schedule to determine their champion. Via an expected waiver exception, the MWC and CUSA would likely have proposed that they be permitted to have their 10 school conference champions play each other in an Inter-Conference championship. Since almost all the other FBS conferences get to benefit with an extra game for themselves, the two conferences hoped to share in that benefit by having 1 of their conference members advance for a single extra game.

But if CUSA is at 12 schools, then it means that CUSA would have enough members for it’s own championship game, and too many for any championship type game with the Mountain West (for a conference to have a championship game, it’s members must have played all schools in it’s division…so if CUSA were a division and MWC another, there just simply aren’t enough games in a year for all CUSA members to play each other).

And then there is the UTEP issue.

Just this week, UTEP coach Mike Price stated on SiriusXM, that UTEP was moving to the MWC to play their old traditional WAC rivals that now encompass the MWC. What Price was referring to was a long thought theory that if there were a CUSA/MWC alliance or even full-merger, that it would make the most sense to have currently isolated UTEP move to the Mountain West, where it would be closer to it’s regional rivals like New Mexico.

The Mountain West would then add Utah St. as it’s #10 to join UTEP, while CUSA would free up a spot to add (3) total schools to get to (10) on their side and enable a more flexible football alliance. CUSA was expected to bring in North Texas, FIU and UTSA, but originally it seemed that for all 3 to join, UTEP would need to make the move west.

And now that doesn’t seem to the the case.

CUSA seems now set on a path to expand to 11 schools with UTSA, North Texas and Florida International. A final spot will likely go to Louisiana Tech, who have long sought CUSA membership. But that spot likely only goes to LA Tech because neither Charlotte nor Appalachian St. are prepared at this time to upgrade to FBS football.

As for the Mountain West, even if an alliance exists, it appears they will be at 10 members with only Utah St. and San Jose St. expected to join. Both a solid additions from the television negotiations standpoint, as the conference will now be able to add Salt Lake City and the Bay Area as part of their conference home.

As we’ve seen thus far with Conference USA and the Mountain West, nothing in final until the papers are signed. So there could be even more radical changes as soon as next week. Until then…

Per Lenn Robbins of the NY Post, George Mason and VCU will be announcing they will be joining the Atlantic 10 on May 1st, with Butler expected to join as well.

The move would line up the Atlantic 10 as the premiere non-football sponsoring conference in the NCAA for the sport of basketball.

At a time when conferences are making moves to improve football, others like the Big East making football moves just to preserve the sport, the A10 is taking another approach: adding the best basketball schools available in the region.

Butler is still expected to join the Atlantic 10 as the unofficial “replacement” for the departing Temple. Butler will serve as a geographic bridge to connect the two Ohio schools, Xavier and Dayton, with St. Louis. Butler will also give the Atlantic 10 access into the Indianapolis market, one that Butler has had success in gaining attention from for it’s program.

The additions of George Mason and VCU add two other Final Four schools to the A10.

But they also solidify the Atlantic 10 as a strong contender in the Washington D.C. and Virginia region. The conference recently moves it’s headquarters from Philadelphia to Newport News, VA. With current member Richmond being joined by VCU, the A10 will rival the ACC in Virginia, as both conferences now contain 2 of the top 4 basketball programs.

In the Washington D.C. area, George Washington, a top 10 school just a few years ago, will be joined by George Mason. The Big East with only Georgetown and the ACC with Maryland are the only powerful conference competitors in the region now.

The departures of GMU and VCU from the CAA will add to the continuing rebuilding that conference has undertaken. Over the past two years, the CAA has lost football only members UMass and URI, as well as the dropping of football by all-sports members Hofstra and Northeastern. Georgia St. announced last week that it will be leaving for the Sun Belt. When the CAA shelved their exit fee vote last week, it was apparent that some of the schools expected to give “yes” votes had potentially changed their minds. The vote was to raise the $250,000 fee to $1.2 million.

The Georgia St. departure from the CAA has forced the CAA to put an all-sports member sponsoring football at the top of the priority list as the conference needs 6 all-sports members to sponsor football in order to retain sponsorship. Stony Brook is considered the most likely candidate, assuming that Appalachian St. rejects and CAA invitations. If there is any pressure to add a southern based school, Coastal Carolina is the likely option.

With the departures of GMU and VCU, it could mean that the CAA tries to assist some of it’s members by adding travel partners. Boston University is a likely candidate to replace GMU/VCU as they would enable member schools to schedule 2 Boston games when having to travel north to play Northeastern. Charleston is another school on the wishlist, but they have twice rejected CAA overtures. Davidson is considered another option for the final spot once a football school is added. In total the CAA will look to add 3 schools.

Another CAA option now could be to make a push to solidify itself as the top FCS football conference by adding Appalachian St. and Georgia Southern for all sports, with a 3rd member added for non-football sports.