to make sure i have this right- is the idea that SBU could have a future in this new ASUN, which i presume means replacing the other spots with northeast schools, because its doubtful we fly the team and staff to texas 5 times a year.
ASUN football will be all over the place. The UCA is in Arkansas, North Alabama is in Alabama, Kennesaw State is in Georgia, and those are the only three known teams that will comprise the six-team minimum to qualify for an auto-bid.
According to the article linked below, "(Central Arkansas athletic director Brad) Teague declined to name the other three schools, but it's believed Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference are two of them." Jacksonville State is Florida and Eastern Kentucky is Kentucky, obviously. Geographically SBU would have to fly every time they played on the road. Currently, they only fly to Richmond, JMU, Elon, and W&M. For an athletic department that is desperate for cash, constantly flying is a terrible decision.
Now if ASUN truly has FBS aspirations, which they shouldn't, as none of the aforementioned teams, IMO, are good enough for FBS and would lose to even the worst FBS squads, then SBU joining them wouldn't be the worst decision. In the short term Stony Brook would 100% take a loss, as the travel costs alone would destroy them. BUT, the profits down the road from joining the FBS would be immense, even for the lowest teams. It's something that requires, weeks and months of thought and planning.
I'm told by somebody who started hearing ASUN rumblings 6 months ago, no CAA teams have been approached, or would consider a move to ASUN.
https://www.inforum.com/bison-media-zone/mens-sports/football/6842473-McFeely-blog-Central-Arkansas-joins-new-Atlantic-Sun-football-conference-hopes-to-be-FBS-soon