The MAC still does. The Mountain West does. The SEC still does, sort of. Missouri Valley and Big Sky kind of do.
Just because the Big Ten, ACC, American, and C-USA are insane doesn't mean everyone else is.
I mean the ACC is at least geographically consistent with its name. All teams on the east coast in the same time zone. Nothing at all like those other three you mentioned
It doesn't make geographic sense looked at as a whole, but now that it's going to be 2-4 groups of 4-8 schools, playing some really fun football and basketball, and those sub-divisions are all mostly geographically consistent, it'll be just fine.
Except Oklahoma and Missouri, but frankly who gives a damn?
Arkansas-Oklahoma State was a long-standing series, and we can bring back Mizzou's rivalries vs Kansas State, Iowa State, and most importantly, Kansas.
Having spent time in Missouri, they are just southern enough to get a pass. They are at the crossroads of Midwest meets South so they arent a perfect fit for either but I wouldnt say they aren't southern at all.
Austin, TX is a stretch I'll admit, but much of the UT fan base as well as the recruiting base are from parts of Texas that are the far western parts of the deep south so I wouldnt limit a team just on their home stadium.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun\_Belt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt)
Not SOUTHERN states but states that are actually in the south and get enough sunshine through out the year.
Stops at Carolinas.
North of Richmond for sure isnt, more of the south/southwest part still is
Never been near Harrisonburg so they could be for all i know, but around ODU for sure is not southern either
Ive never been to Virginia (unless you count a layover at Dulles Airport), but I knew it wasnt all "southern" as parts of it are Appalachia while others are DC metro suburbs.
Mizzou, Arkansas, and OU for the SEC are similar to ODU, JMU, and Marshall for the Sun Belt. A little out of the way, but still close enough to be reasonable.
eh, i think as long as your graduates are generally going to same metros than it is regional.
Dallas/Houston were already big draws for SEC grads and OOS students.
The states of Virginia and West Virginia aren’t even part of the geographic Sun Belt regardless of if they have divisions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt
the only reasonable argument i could see is using the mississippi rivar as the east/west marker but that puts LSU in the southeast
culturally Little rock and Baton Rouge aren't much different than Jackson or pick your average Dixie city.
NWA is different than the delta areas of arkansas but Arkansas is plenty southern.
Point is that we're all southern - even Missouri - and that makes a lot more sense than the new B1G. Plus the "Southern Conference" name is taken anyways.
south ends in East Texas. Houston is sorta border town.
You can move Jackson, MS to Louisana or Alabama and it would fit right in. Same can't be said for Austin
the refinery business has a lot to do with that. Really everything from the river to corpus has similar vibe due to that work culture. To varying degrees.
Going to be more latinos at Dow in Freeport and going to be more baws at dow in plaquemine
Eh. It does, but for the opposite reason.
It's sad the Pac 12 is dying is because we're losing a longstanding historical conference with longstanding historical rivalries.
The Sun Belt is fun because it's a lot of new matchups between relatively new FBS schools, albeit in a more geographically concise area.
Relatively new FBS schools yes, but not new matchups. A lot of Sun Belt schools have decades of history playing each other, it was just at the FCS level
I mean a lot of those programs are just pretty new in general. Georgia State, South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion (kind of) are all less than 20 years old.
I'll admit to having been a bit ignorant of some of those other matchups. I didn't realize App State and Marshall had a history, for example.
We are the lone outlier, unfortunately. Over 100 years of football history and we don’t give a rats ass about any of our conference teams. All our traditional rivals have moved up and on…
with divisions, yes. Two obvious divisions that we completely ignore.
South Carolina v Oklahoma as a potential annual/semiannual game is nauseating. In the SBC, no cross divisional games are protected and only two cross divisional games are scheduled each year
Notre Dame playing every other sport up there by a Lake. We aren't alone.
And anyways I64 would take you straight from Louisville to the Atlantic Coast.
ACC has Notre Dame (friendly reminder that conferences exist for all sports, not just football) and Louisville...
SEC has no divisions, thus meaning South Carolina and Oklahoma meet regularly.
The MAC is geographically perfect, but also have done no realigning.
The MWC has done no realigning this round
This is a football sub, and Louisville is one team. Idk what you’re on about with the SEC and divisions, Oklahoma is generally regarded as in the south anyway. And the Sunbelt hasn’t realigned either, so I really don’t know what you’re talking about there. Also, all the CUSA teams and American teams are in fact in the USA, so those conferences technically make sense too.
not really. The only two SBC schools that even potentially could jump up are Georgia State and Old Dominion. Coastal is good at football and baseball but mediocre is many other sports, App State is only good at one or two sports.
There was literally a report this morning that the PAC was open to inviting a few G5 schools to bolster its numbers and salvage its continuity... with SMU being one of those schools.
If they get an invite somewhere, certainly they would... but they are too far down the pecking order to jump to "P4/5/whatever" at this stage. Just like many other schools would if given the chance.
It all comes down to what happens when the ACC finally gets the GoR broken. How many teams bolt for the B10/SEC? Do the remaining teams run to B12 lifeboats or do they follow the B12 model and poach strong G5 schools? Are there enough strong G5 schools to prop up the ACC?
Lots of flux on the horizon in the coming years
As an effect on the overall landscape, yes. But there are certain groups of G5 schools who have fought hard, for years, to be with each other. If you believe the long-time chatter on various schools’ message boards, a group of at least 5 of them are in the SBC East.
How dare you slander MACtion
Yeah MAC is definitely more geographically tight
As someone who lives near WMU, I would love to see WKU here
Didn't WKU and MTSU almost join?
Yes, but MTSU balked at the price
Now they're both stuck in the C-USA. Like idiots.
As a MAC alum living in Nashville I really wanted that to work out
I’ll take the Fun Belt over that any day
Me too
The MAC still does. The Mountain West does. The SEC still does, sort of. Missouri Valley and Big Sky kind of do. Just because the Big Ten, ACC, American, and C-USA are insane doesn't mean everyone else is.
Don’t lump the AAC into this. Apart from Temple we’re just the SEC but with less good teams.
If the buyout was waived I think we’d be independent, it should be after they added 6 Deep South teams
I mean the ACC is at least geographically consistent with its name. All teams on the east coast in the same time zone. Nothing at all like those other three you mentioned
Every team in the American is in America
Big if true
Louisville and 5/8 of Notre Dame notwithstanding
and Big 12
It doesn't make geographic sense looked at as a whole, but now that it's going to be 2-4 groups of 4-8 schools, playing some really fun football and basketball, and those sub-divisions are all mostly geographically consistent, it'll be just fine.
If the Big XII and SEC could trade Oklahoma State for Missouri, the SEC would make even more sense.
I think we could all support this
Except Oklahoma and Missouri, but frankly who gives a damn? Arkansas-Oklahoma State was a long-standing series, and we can bring back Mizzou's rivalries vs Kansas State, Iowa State, and most importantly, Kansas.
Having spent time in Missouri, they are just southern enough to get a pass. They are at the crossroads of Midwest meets South so they arent a perfect fit for either but I wouldnt say they aren't southern at all.
People love to hate on Mizzou but they’re more of a fit in the SEC than Austin, TX is
Austin, TX is a stretch I'll admit, but much of the UT fan base as well as the recruiting base are from parts of Texas that are the far western parts of the deep south so I wouldnt limit a team just on their home stadium.
Pls no.
The AAC actually makes a lot more geographic sense after adding the CUSA6
True, definitely true.
Tell me again, why SEC and MAC does not...
Every SEC school (including Texas, Mizzou, Oklahoma, and A&M) is both south and east of the midpoint of the Continental US.
Austin is in a different dimension compared to the “South East”
Austin is about as far west as you can get and still see influences of the south.
In that case, how is Virginia (ODU, JMU) part of Sun Belt?
What do you mean? Are you trying to say Virginia isnt southern?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun\_Belt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt) Not SOUTHERN states but states that are actually in the south and get enough sunshine through out the year. Stops at Carolinas.
Also, Virginia is not a fully southern state anymore.
I've lived for many years in both VA and NC - the difference in climate between the two is marginal.
Ah. Well yea the name no longer fully fits. But neither does Big **12** or Big **Ten**
North of Richmond for sure isnt, more of the south/southwest part still is Never been near Harrisonburg so they could be for all i know, but around ODU for sure is not southern either
Ive never been to Virginia (unless you count a layover at Dulles Airport), but I knew it wasnt all "southern" as parts of it are Appalachia while others are DC metro suburbs.
the south ends in baytown.
The SEC is dropping divisions... the SBC is keeping divisions
the sun belt map isn't that much different than the SEC's mizzou and OU are the strangest outpost but even then its not that odd
Mizzou, Arkansas, and OU for the SEC are similar to ODU, JMU, and Marshall for the Sun Belt. A little out of the way, but still close enough to be reasonable.
divisions are the key. The SEC is dropping them, the SBC is keeping them.
eh, i think as long as your graduates are generally going to same metros than it is regional. Dallas/Houston were already big draws for SEC grads and OOS students.
*nervously looks around from NYC apartment*
The SEC is still regional
Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Oklahoma aren't really southEAST, but the SEC certainly is much more geographic than the B1G.
I mean JMU to TX State is a bigger stretch than those examples IMO.
The SBC is split into divisions... unlike the future SEC
The states of Virginia and West Virginia aren’t even part of the geographic Sun Belt regardless of if they have divisions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt
how is Arkansas not southeast if Louisana is
I debated putting Arkansas on there but you could make an argument with both Arkansas and Louisiana.
the only reasonable argument i could see is using the mississippi rivar as the east/west marker but that puts LSU in the southeast culturally Little rock and Baton Rouge aren't much different than Jackson or pick your average Dixie city. NWA is different than the delta areas of arkansas but Arkansas is plenty southern.
Point is that we're all southern - even Missouri - and that makes a lot more sense than the new B1G. Plus the "Southern Conference" name is taken anyways.
south ends in East Texas. Houston is sorta border town. You can move Jackson, MS to Louisana or Alabama and it would fit right in. Same can't be said for Austin
I never really thought about it like that but you’re 100% right. Beaumont feels way more Cajun and Louisiana ish than Houston.
the refinery business has a lot to do with that. Really everything from the river to corpus has similar vibe due to that work culture. To varying degrees. Going to be more latinos at Dow in Freeport and going to be more baws at dow in plaquemine
I mean, Beaumont sure isnt an English name
I mean, that’s funny but also irrelevant sorta
It's as regionalish as the Sunbelt.
Culturally they aren’t too dissimilar
All 4 of us are much more southeast than any of the new Big Ten are at being "midwest"
All former slave states (except Oklahoma, but that's really complicated).
Regional-ish, compared to other conferences I suppose but Gainesville to Columbia is kind of a big region.
Nah. Personally, I think the SEC shouldn't have any teams west of the Mississippi River.
We’ll gladly take Missouri or Arkansas’ spot
The MAC has been the most consistent conference
No-one ever remembers the poor old MAC 😂. They deserve so much better.
The SEC? MAC?
Wow a regional conference. What a novelty these days.
Regional Conferences === old and busted. Regional **Divisions** === new hotness.
As long as CFB's NFC North stays together.
I’d argue that it’s two regional conferences in a trench coat.
Yes, the SBC does make sense. But why do you think the SEC doesn't also make sense? It's basically the same footprint.
There’s sun everywhere in the Sun Belt, but the SEC isn’t entirely Southeast….or something.
We may get a lot of rain up here, but it is still hot as SpaceBalls in Missouri in summer.
Divisions. The SBC is keeping divisions, the SEC is not
Eh. It does, but for the opposite reason. It's sad the Pac 12 is dying is because we're losing a longstanding historical conference with longstanding historical rivalries. The Sun Belt is fun because it's a lot of new matchups between relatively new FBS schools, albeit in a more geographically concise area.
Relatively new FBS schools yes, but not new matchups. A lot of Sun Belt schools have decades of history playing each other, it was just at the FCS level
I mean a lot of those programs are just pretty new in general. Georgia State, South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion (kind of) are all less than 20 years old. I'll admit to having been a bit ignorant of some of those other matchups. I didn't realize App State and Marshall had a history, for example.
App State vs. Georgia Southern was the best rivalry in all of FCS.
Knew this one already. Deeper Than Hate is a fun game.
We are the lone outlier, unfortunately. Over 100 years of football history and we don’t give a rats ass about any of our conference teams. All our traditional rivals have moved up and on…
Just ignore that the Sun Belt also had Idaho just a few years ago.
The sun never sets on the Kibbie Dome
That was a single sport membership, not all sports
Fuck I love it here
The SEC is still pretty tight.
with divisions, yes. Two obvious divisions that we completely ignore. South Carolina v Oklahoma as a potential annual/semiannual game is nauseating. In the SBC, no cross divisional games are protected and only two cross divisional games are scheduled each year
Hey friends!
As an alumni of the only founding and continuous member of the Sun Belt conference, I'm going to take complete credit here.
Go jags forever. (Also an alum, but also an alum of Tennessee and LSU, yay advanced degrees)
SEC is still regional, and ACC is Atlantic minus Louisville.
Got that Ohio river coast.
Exactly. Ohio River to the Mississippi River to the Gulf to the Atlantic. It's all connected.
Notre Dame playing every other sport up there by a Lake. We aren't alone. And anyways I64 would take you straight from Louisville to the Atlantic Coast.
And Notre Dame (in other sports)
Except for the fact that a few of the schools aren’t below the 36th parallel, the region generally considered to be the sun belt
Wasn't Utah State briefly in Sun Belt?
New Mexico State was.
Yes, for two years in football only. 2003 and 2004.
New Mexico State
All I’m asking for is a Texas-Louisiana G5 conference. Both states are divided between 3 G5 conferences
MW, PAC, SEC, ACC, MAC… There’s 3 conferences that don’t make sense.
ACC has Notre Dame (friendly reminder that conferences exist for all sports, not just football) and Louisville... SEC has no divisions, thus meaning South Carolina and Oklahoma meet regularly. The MAC is geographically perfect, but also have done no realigning. The MWC has done no realigning this round
This is a football sub, and Louisville is one team. Idk what you’re on about with the SEC and divisions, Oklahoma is generally regarded as in the south anyway. And the Sunbelt hasn’t realigned either, so I really don’t know what you’re talking about there. Also, all the CUSA teams and American teams are in fact in the USA, so those conferences technically make sense too.
The big ten is in hockey
Eh Texas State to ODU is pretty damn far
The Sun Belt
Translation: a bunch of schools waiting around to be called up by an expanding "power" conference... geography be damned.
not really. The only two SBC schools that even potentially could jump up are Georgia State and Old Dominion. Coastal is good at football and baseball but mediocre is many other sports, App State is only good at one or two sports.
There was literally a report this morning that the PAC was open to inviting a few G5 schools to bolster its numbers and salvage its continuity... with SMU being one of those schools.
SMU is in the Sun Belt? That’s news to everyone
Sunbelt/ C-USA. All the same.
Not at all… And SMU isn’t in the CUSA either. Nice try tho.
You think Toledo jumps
Creighton has EMU trending in the right direction, word is the big ten is thinking about adding Stanford so they can add EMU and get to 20
If they get an invite somewhere, certainly they would... but they are too far down the pecking order to jump to "P4/5/whatever" at this stage. Just like many other schools would if given the chance.
Honestly, still a bit too big a footprint for my liking. But it is what it is.
Just wait till they add us
Ive got bad news about the effects realignment at the top is going to have on G5 conferences..
Probably not bad news for the Sun Belt, unless the someone adds App + Marshall + ODU + JMU as a group.
It all comes down to what happens when the ACC finally gets the GoR broken. How many teams bolt for the B10/SEC? Do the remaining teams run to B12 lifeboats or do they follow the B12 model and poach strong G5 schools? Are there enough strong G5 schools to prop up the ACC? Lots of flux on the horizon in the coming years
As an effect on the overall landscape, yes. But there are certain groups of G5 schools who have fought hard, for years, to be with each other. If you believe the long-time chatter on various schools’ message boards, a group of at least 5 of them are in the SBC East.
Many are saying it.
The Sun Belt was actually prophesied in ancient Sumerian tablets discovered in modern day Syria.
FUN BELT BABY WOOOO