NCAA Realignment News...

[MylesKnight]

(Note: I realize there probably isn't one FOFC Member who only visits the site to read the College Football Board but I felt that this post needed to go here as well as the Main G.D. Board.. So there's your answer..)

..Call this the Prelude to the massive Conference Shakedown that may occur shortly, as the Sun Belt Conference has added 2 new schools to its mix as All-Sports Members... Troy State University and the University of Idaho... to go along with another recent addition to the Conference, Utah State University..

Utah State will begin play in the League in Football this Fall (2003), and all other sports will shift from the Big West Conference to the Sun Belt in the Fall of 2005.

Troy State Football will move to the Sun Belt next season (2004) and the rest of its sports programs will be moving in from the Atlantic Sun Conference in the Fall of 2005.

and Idaho, already a Sun Belt Football Only Member, will be joining the Conference for all other sports by the Fall of 2005 at the very latest. They currently compete in the Big West Conference for all-sports minus football.

The Sun Belt will now have 9 Football Playing Programs, with 8 of those schools now being Full Members in the Conference (Louisiana-Monroe is the only Football Only Member left)... Eight is the minimum number of All-Sports Football Playing Members the NCAA requires from a Conference that competes in Division I-A Football..

The new look Sun Belt Football Conference looks like this:

Arkansas State
Idaho
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe (Football-Only Sun Belt Member)
Middle Tennessee State
New Mexico State
North Texas
Troy State (Joining in 2004)
Utah State (Joining this Fall, 2003)


As for the overall Conference in all other sports, it will now have 14 members.. Here's the list:

Arkansas State
Arkansas-Little Rock
Denver
Florida International
Idaho (Joining Fall, 2005 at latest)
Louisiana-Lafayette
Middle Tennessee State
New Mexico State
New Orleans
North Texas
South Alabama
Western Kentucky
Troy State (Joining Fall, 2005)
Utah State (Joining Fall, 2005)


Other recent Team/Conference shifts include:

- The University of South Florida's Football Program moving from an Independent status to Conference USA beginning this Fall. USF already competes in CUSA in all other sports.

- The University of Maryland-Baltimore County moving from the Northeast Conference to the America East Conference.. They are set to join the AEC this Fall for All-Sports.

- Samford University and Jacksonville State University both switching alliances, from the Atlantic Sun Conference to the Ohio Valley Conference, beginning this Fall. This move was made primarily because both schools wanted a Conference home for All-Sports including Football.

- David Lipscomb University is joining the Atlantic Sun Conference beginning this Fall for all-sports. They have competed as a Division I Independent for the past couple of seasons since moving from the NAIA.

- Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is leaving the Southern Conference after being a part of the League for decades, for the Big South Conference. This move is being made primarily so that VMI's Athletic Teams can be more competitive with fellow Conference Members as the Big South is a bit of a step down from the SoCon.. VMI begins play in the Big South this Fall.. Also of note, the Big South's Inaugural Season as a Football Conference is this Fall as well.

- Elon University is basically flip-flopping with VMI as it moves from the Big South to the Southern Conference this Fall.

- Centenary College is headed to the Mid-Continent Conference for All-Sports. Since leaving the Trans America (TAAC), now known as the Atlantic Sun Conference 4 years ago, Centenary has competed as a Division I Independent. The interesting thing about this is when the Gents left the TAAC/ASun they stated the primary reason to be travel expenses to other Conference schools.. but the Mid-Continent is quite a bit more spread out the TAAC/ASun was then or currently is now..

- and one other note, Morris Brown College, which had competed as a Division I Indepedent and as a I-AA Independent in Football, has decided to drop its entire Athletics Program. The Atlanta school is in major financial trouble and may be forced to close its doors entirely in the near future. Good Luck to MBC, but I must say it doesn't look good at the moment.


There are plenty of other rumors and possible scenarios out there of this school moving here or those schools joining up with these schools but these are the most recent moves that have been made. Obviously Samford moving from the ASun to the OVC is nowhere near the media circus that Miami possibly bolting the Big East for the ACC is, but hey I'm just a huge College Sports Fan who gets into these things.. as you can obviously see by reading this post..