CBS Sports had an interesting article today, basically saying that conference realignment appears to be over, for now. The ACC’s grant of rights a couple months ago stopped realignment from the BCS level conferences, and the only hinted possibility was Conference USA considering going from 14 to 16 teams. But C-USA has decided to stay at 14 and not pursue a 16-team model for the “foreseeable future.”
After losing numerous members to the C-USA, Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson is happy with this decision: “Hopefully this will allow both C-USA and the Sun Belt to go forward in a stable way and allow both conferences to focus on competition rather than membership.” Benson was further quoted as saying that adding one more team to the 11 team lineup to get to 12 is still a possibility, but the conference won’t further evaluate the issue until after the first of the year. From the CBS article, “maybe then someone like Liberty will get the call…but for now, all 10 (FBS) conferences appear stable.”
Yay! Looking forward to the annual matchups with Monmouth and Presbyterian for the “foreseeable future.”
From the article – “Maybe then someone like Liberty will get the call and make the difficult, often costly move to FBS.”
The upside of having to wait is more time to develop the academic and athletic infrastructure, establishing the 24-hour Liberty Flames Sports Network, and, of course, strengthening the financial bottom line.
If in Janaury 2014 or later, LU were to be invited to join the Sun Belt, how much would they have to pay to the Sun Belt Conference and to the Big South Conference if they accepted?