I hope everyone is paying attention.

I would assume snagging Memphis would make getting Tulane, UTSA and USF almost easy. And I would expect that to then happen. But if they can get UTSA, then why TXST?

can't afford that for the others, and it's my guess that if they get Memphis, the others will come eventually. Texas State has the potential like UCF had. They have the alumni, just not the football traditions yet. They will come for free, and solidifies the conference until the other AAC teams become available. If all that is the case, it's a very shrewd move.

I guess, if they get Memphis, a logical replacement for the AAC is probably TXST. Take TXST off the table and the PAC starts to look > the AAC by a wide margin. Everyone will fall in line after that.

The memphis AD 6 months ago, was leery over the travel, and ability to get some subsidies on travel and rights that have to be much more, however if so, creates alot of disruption in group of 5. memphis is the bell cow of the AAC with basketball, football.. that would really hurt. full members now UAB, Fla Atlantic, Charlotte ECU, Temple, Memphis, Tulane, Rice, Tulsa, North Texas, SOuth Fla, and Whichita St For non football, Navy and Army for football only. ALready CUSA lost UTEP to the Mountain West. Current membes. Fla international, Liberty, Kenoshaw St, jacksonvillle st, louisiana tech, western ky, middle tenn state, sam houston, and new mexico state, UTEP, Delaware and mo state coming in) Texas State is the largest in Sun Belt and it would hurt the Sunbelt. Texas State, Ark St, Southern Miss, South Ala, Louisiana Monroe Troy and Louisana lafayette, ODU, JMU Marshall, Appy St, coastal carolina, Ga St Ga Southern. YOu can see AAC would need to pick up a school from the SunBelt, or CUSA and if you want to move to AAC, what enhancement do you as an institution is from SBC. Also, You begin to wonder, for CUSA, is more than just FCS moved up... So, if we all think the ACC and Big 12, is shaky, and challenging, the Group of 5 is much more, and also trying to keep a budget..

There is no Georgia team in the AAC, and GSU is in Atlanta. But if this is the beginnings of a top four jailbreak from the AAC, maybe the Sun Belt will be the one to pull teams?

Georgia State has any desire to expand the capacity. Also, I don't think Georgia State has any desire to go back to playing its home games in the Georgia Dome. People can say what they want about the Sun Belt Conference, but it may be the ideal conference for Georgia State.

which doesn't seem like it would take much more than removing the tarps from the upper deck and some maintenance work.

justify taking on the expense? FWIW JMU's stadium is expandable to around 46K (I think). However, I don't think JMU is in any big hurry to expand it right now. One reason GSU was eager to get out of playing in the Georgia Dome is the perception the lack of attendance created for the school and program. You could probably say a GSU game in the Georgia Dome would remind people of an ETSU game in Bristol Motor Speedway.

so it wouldn't be new construction like what GSU had to do to retrofit the stadium or what JMU would need to do to expand their stadium. That said, being in the same state as UGA and in a front-runner city with GT likely means that GSU won't need the upper deck any time soon.

open space where the outfield would have been in the baseball stadium. Based on the picture in the hyperlink, it appears that some of the seats down the first base line where the right field corner would have been may not be used because their view is blocked by the bleacher added on the first base/second base side of the infield/outfield. If GSU was seriously thinking about expanding the stadium, then it might be "forced" to demolish part of the existing structure in the right field so brand new structure could be built to better align with the existing infield/outfield bleacher. I mean look at all that "wasted" space between the infield/outfield structure and the structure behind the right field wall.

I have no clue who the Carson Tk guy is. Texas State does seem likely as BSU AD said Texas is important to them.

I’m going to humble brag that I called out Texas St back in September as a good option for the PAC and my top pick. Memphis was always a target but I thought they committed to the AAC back in the fall so I had personally written them off. But they definitely make sense for the brand and getting the PAC a bit more eastern exposure. Or maybe this is all fake (like so much of X) and I have to walk back my brag and look silly. If so, oh well ** Edited by HokieAl at 2/26/2025, 11:48:16 AM

Good for them, that PAC 12 would be a very good conference, clearly the best G6, and they will also get a CFP in most of the time. As for the ACC, we might need some of those in a few years, and I would rather pull from a very respectable PAC at that time than from today's G5.

well take USF and East Carolina - and be coast to coast, and skip over Tulane

Lots of history. But if I'm a Pac comissioner, I'm not sure they move the needle. Same with ECU, I'm sorry to say. Memphis, USF, and UConn all make sense. I'd rather have UTSA than Texas St., but Texas St. is a bargain.

available, as the AAC schools rejected initial offers, and the PAC may have seen Memphis as the school that merited the financial considerations like exit fees. Texas State is basically free for the PAC - Memphis I'm guessing, will cost them a bit of change. The others in the ACC may not be able to afford the exit fees, but that contract has an ending date like all do. I like Tulane as well, but they are yet another small academic private school that is not even a little brother to LSU in that market. UConn is a no brainer for the ACC or B12 - and if any G football conference gets them, would have a feather in their cap. It comes down to the money. Currently, the Big East pays the equivalent of the top G FBS conferences, and I think they stay independent unless there is a significant raise.