Besides Fordham and Youngstown, none of the rest really excite me. Even these two won’t make up for the loss of JMU and Delaware.
JMU has been FBS ready. But they don’t want go to Sunbelt which has no peer school.. wisely. Delaware will be starting to renovate and upgrade their stadium soon. I think they both want to get in AAC or otherwise will stay at FCS. But you are right though, no change will happen until Big 12 adds more. And Big 12 will add more because need a real conference title game... not the fake title game they are starting this year.
I just hope we continue to win and make buzz. And be ready when the right opportunity comes along. We don’t need real 15k attendance for FBS invite. Coastal is a prime example. As you mentioned earlier we have the facilities, budget, and prestige. I love what we are doing now in CAA. And keep working hard to be a better candidate than JMU and Delaware when AAC eventually comes calling in 5/6 years. I would decline any invite from sunbelt or cusa like JMU and wait for AAC. I am not even interested in MAC anymore. CAA>MAC in my opinion. Peer schools. Relatable. Rather than Akron or Ball state. Even presence of Buffalo doesn’t entice me.
It's slim pickings once schools start leaving the CAA. The league is a strong as it's going to be going forward until schools start leaving. None of those schools are very exciting, but that's all that's left.
I agree the MAC isn't very exciting, but as the only realistic path to FBS, it might be worth considering. Though save for Buffalo, and whoever of NIU/Toledo/WMU is hot in the west that year, I have zero interest in any of those schools. It's a tough position. Going the Umass route is a non-starter I think, but compared to a MAC schedule, I think an independent schedule could be much more interesting. Now that Liberty is FBS, it's hard to block other schools from going FBS Indy. If we can knock off JMU and/or make a deep playoff run, the FBS buzz is going to start up again. It always does when desirable schools start winning. I believe we were actually in talks with the MAC about being their 14th team if Umass joined for all-sports.
JMU and Delaware can want the AAC, but the AAC won't take any FCS schools in it's current state. Once this Power 6 thing they have falls apart after their best programs get raided by a gutted Big 12, they may change their tune. I'd also love a new east coast G5 conference that was once being rumored years ago. the following would be nice:
Stony Brook, UNH, Uconn (FB only), Umass, Buffalo, Temple, Delaware, JMU, ODU, Marshall, ECU, Georgia St.
In the meantime, I think our current situation is excellent as we're in geographically logical leagues for both major sports. The AE being strong this year in BB is a huge bonus too. Though I'd like an all-sports move to the A10. That's the best non-FBS move we can make. I couldn't give a damn about the CAA all-sports conference anymore. Moving from one 1-bid league to another makes little sense. Serves Hofstra right for trying to block us.