Conference Shuffle Fun! FCS Level

Well the long dog days of Summer are soon to be upon us and with it the dreams of crisp Fall Saturdays that now, unlike last year and all the years before it, hold the anticipation of the fulfillment of long hard work on all our parts. In four short and exciting years we will finally join the ranks of complete athletics playing universities.

[B][COLOR=Green]WE WILL BE PLAYING 49ers FOOTBALL![/COLOR][/B]

And with this excitement comes questions of where we will find a conference home.

This thread is for speculation on the future of FCS level football conferences and Charlotteā€™s place in that world when we get to that level.

This is a complement to the FBS Shuffle Fun Thread:

[URL=http://www.ninernation.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23703]FBS Shuffle Fun Thread[/URL]

This one seems to be more clear cut to me than FBS.

The CAA is the big factor here. The CAA will soon be 14 football schools with ODU and Georgia State. It is the home to most of our football playing fellows in the A-10 and I canā€™t see them wanting a 15th school but I also didnā€™t see them wanting a 13th or 14th either. A CAA split into northern and southern conferences would be ideal for us, but there has to be a desire on the part of a majority of their schools to do so.

A brief comment on the SoCon. It would provide us with the best FCS rivalries BUT their S*** donā€™t stink and we will not join an FCS level conference for all sports and thatā€™s the commitment the SoCon demands.

The Big South would also be good for us but their commissioner has made statements about not wanting a transient football only member whoā€™s moving on the FBS at the earliest possible oppourtunity (guess what University he was talking about).

I think Independent will be our only option and I believe that may be for the best. First, it will put pressure on our admin to move to FBS as quickly as possible. We all know that things only happen at this U when they keep moving. Once they slow down they get complacent (see no football after joining CUSA). Second, we will have better scheduling options. We will have flexibility in scheduling schools we really want to play and that would bring in better ticket revenue from all three regional conferences, Big South, SoCon, and CAA. The downside to Independent status is we would need to be invited to the FCS playoffs, but if we plan to move up to FBS as soon as possible (according to Judy) then thatā€™s not as important.

[U][I]CAA Split[/I][/U]

[U][B]North CAA Conference[/B][/U]

New Hampshire
Maine
Massachusetts
Hofstra
Rhode Island
Northeastern
Villanova
Towson

[U][B]South CAA Conference[/B][/U]

James Madison
Richmond
William & Mary
Delaware
Old Dominion
Georgia State
[B][COLOR=Green]Charlotte[/COLOR][/B]
Carolina Coastal (most promissing FCS school from the Big South Conference)

[U][B]Big South with us[/B][/U]

Liberty
Stony Brook
Charleston Southern
Gardner-Webb
VMI
Coastal Carolina
Presbyterian
[B][COLOR=Green]Charlotte[/COLOR][/B]

Bump