In AA the Southern Conference used to be a powerhouse with Ga. Southern, McNeese. They do not seem to be doing as well as they used to. I wonder if the good players they were getting are now going to belt schools?

Also, the Big Ten, and the Big East seem to have been down the last few years. They usually look South for the bounty of good players down there. Those are still good conferences, don't get me wrong, but I wonder if some of those players are now being picked off by Belt teams?

The decline of those conferences seems to coincide with the rise of the belt.

Just a thought.

Never really thought of it; seems plausible though. SBC teams are getting way more 3-star and the occasional 4-star recruits then they were getting 3 years ago. There's no doubt that recruiting in the conference is getting better every year.