Conference USA announces that it is adding Missouri State in 2025.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 10, 2024

Go Bears!

My acro&tumbling daughter (who wants to go to Baylor but cant crack our team) just got offered there. We take our visit next week - I'll be driving up.

They are moving from FCS to FBS.

I wonder if NIL will slow the movement up or the TV money will still be good enough for teams to want to move up.

cowboycwr said:

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They are moving from FCS to FBS.

I wonder if NIL will slow the movement up or the TV money will still be good enough for teams to want to move up.

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I have been wondering about that as well. I thought we might see some teams move down like Idaho did several years ago. There seems to still be some advantages to moving up because FCS teams keep making the jump to FBS.

I guess they still view the FBS as a better student attraction. The FCS title game draws a little over 1million viewers. The Potato Bowl between two 7-5 teams can draw near that. Less wins for the same viewership as the natty. Some 16 year old kids watching over winter break thinking "I'll apply to that directional U. Fun football team."

I don't see the other benefit because most of the leagues have sprawling travel now and FBS requires more scholarships and your stadium has to sit a certain amount. Cost is definitely more.

boykin_spaniel said:

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I guess they still view the FBS as a better student attraction. The FCS title game draws a little over 1million viewers. The Potato Bowl between two 7-5 teams can draw near that. Less wins for the same viewership as the natty. Some 16 year old kids watching over winter break thinking "I'll apply to that directional U. Fun football team."

I don't see the other benefit because most of the leagues have sprawling travel now and FBS requires more scholarships and your stadium has to sit a certain amount. Cost is definitely more.

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I would think it is the difference in TV money. While the FCS games can all be found on ESPN+ or streaming they very rarely end up on any major channels.

Meanwhile even sun belt, MAC, or CUSA games end up on ESPN (especially if a week night game. then add in bowl bonus payouts.

There actually isn't a stadium size requirement. just a minimum attendance requirement (one year it is paid attendance, next year is actual attendance) and it is low- 15,000.

Married A Horn said:

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My acro&tumbling daughter (who wants to go to Baylor but cant crack our team) just got offered there. We take our visit next week - I'll be driving up.

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My wife did her Masters there. Mostly online and grad school so limited exposure to the undergrad experience but her professors and overall experience were great. I hope your daughter finds the right fit for her!

That's because Sun Belt was the Masse composite #6 conference. Ahead of MWC, American, MAC and CUSA. You must have been under a rock the last 2 seasons to be mentioning MAC and CUSA in the same breath as Sun Belt.

They'll be more relevant than Oregon St and Wazzu next season as they climb into the #5 slot and nip at the toes of the ACC on the verge of losing FSU and Clemson.

How much more money is UMass making compared to Furman? UMass has to fund an extra 22 scholarships and better support other sports.

Everyone always asks why NDSU or other Dakota schools won't move up and it's the cost. The travel expenses would be astronomical plus all the extra scholarships. The Sun Belt has done a great job keeping everything regional so teams moving up aren't having worse travel expenses but schools like James Madison have some money with 20k+ students.

Married A Horn said:

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My acro&tumbling daughter (who wants to go to Baylor but cant crack our team) just got offered there. We take our visit next week - I'll be driving up.

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That Springfield-Branson area is beautiful (and growing fast)

johnnychimpo said:

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That's because Sun Belt was the Masse composite #6 conference. Ahead of MWC, American, MAC and CUSA. You must have been under a rock the last 2 seasons to be mentioning MAC and CUSA in the same breath as Sun Belt.

They'll be more relevant than Oregon St and Wazzu next season as they climb into the #5 slot and nip at the toes of the ACC on the verge of losing FSU and Clemson.

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Where did I say anything about the conferences and their appearance, rating, or anything of the sort????

Oh that is right.... I didn't.

I simply pointed out that games of the G5 conferences end up on TV and only the playoffs from FCS end up on TV thus the money difference must be good enough for schools to still want to jump up.

boykin_spaniel said:

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The Sun Belt has done a great job keeping everything regional so teams moving up aren't having worse travel expenses but schools like James Madison have some money with 20k+ students.

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James Madison has tons of money for a G5 public just look at what they spend on recruiting and facilities. There aren't a lot of good publics in VA outside of UVA and VT so they get some pretty good pickings.

Sun Belt is trying to capitalize on "relative" brand value over tapping into a TV market of 3M+ like no name UNC - Charlotte. They want to try and recreate the wheel of glory days of Randy Moss in the 90's at Marshall and the 80's with Favre at Southern Miss.