Fresno St. Alum wrote:
I think Denver is being forced out. I hope someone can get info on it. If UNO drops to D-II that would put the Sun Belt at 11 without those 2. I think they would only add 1 of the 2 to put them at 12. Leaving one for the WAC if it needs a replacement. If both got the invite to the Belt I agree they would go there with the other schools in the area.
Any conference that's been sent scrambling to find replacements in recent history knows better than to force out a member, even in a tenuous situation like Denver and the SBC. Once the conference starts making those moves instead of the schools, it tends to cast a shadow over the conference that's going potential member schools second thoughts about going there. If a conference is going to vote out a member school without very very good reason*, potential members may be weary about going somewhere where they could be voted out arbitrarily. When you consider that when the moratorium is over and the economy is back in the black, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are two schools likely to move to I-A, the last thing you want to do is have them pass the SBC over for Conference USA.
* The only recent example I can think of where a school could have been kicked out of a conference and had good reason was Chicago State, the difference is they left the (now) Summit before they would have been kicked out due to a lot of hefty violations. Not only did their decision to go to purgatory (being an independent) keep them from having some strict penalties from the conference, but probably kept the NCAA out of their hair (apparently wallowing in that murky of water does seem to get some sympathy from the suits).