The next dominoes (September 19 edition)
A lot has happened in the last five days. Rumors are swirling about the AAC and MWC. So without further ado, here are my next dominoes.
The AAC decides to take a bite out of the apple in the MW. Unable to persuade the two biggest names in the MW (SDSU and Boise State), they grab Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, and Wyoming. They also grab Rice and UAB out of C-USA to form a 14-team league.
West: AFA, CSU, UNM, Wyoming, Rice, SMU, Navy
East: Tulsa, UAB, Memphis, Tulane, ECU, Temple, USF
At this point the MW is down to 8 schools, most in the Pacific time zone. But first, Gonzaga looks around and decides to stand pat due to the defections from the MW.
The new strategy for the MW is to get into Texas, so they do. They add UTEP, NMSU, North Texas, and UTSA to get to 12.
West: SJSU, SDSU, Fresno State, Hawaii, UNLV, Nevada
East: Boise State, USU, UTEP, NMSU, UNT, UTSA
With C-USA down to 9 members, the MAC senses it can upgrade both its football and basketball prospects at the expense of the former while gently expanding their border. The MAC invites WKU and MTSU to get to 14 schools.
South: WKU, MTSU, Ball State, Ohio, Miami (OH), Akron, Kent State
North: Bowling Green, Toledo, Buffalo, NIU, EMU, CMU, WMU
Army, UConn, and UMass look around and decide to stay independent.
This leaves us with 18 schools: Liberty, the 10 Sun Belt schools, and 7 remaining C-USA schools (Charlotte, FAU, FIU, ODU, Marshall, LaTech, Southern Miss).
At this point, I think the Sun Belt is in the driver's seat. It decides to add four schools to eliminate a competitor. Adding Liberty does not achieve this goal, so they remain independent. The Sun Belt adds Marshall, Southern Miss, LaTech (who holds their nose), and FAU.
West: Texas State, Arkansas State, UL Monroe, LaTech, Louisiana, Southern Miss, South Alabama
East: Marshall, FAU, CCU, App State, Troy, Georgia State, Georgia Southern
The remaining independents are Notre Dame, Army, UConn, UMass, Liberty, FIU, ODU, and Charlotte.
FIU joins the A-Sun for Olympic sports. ODU and Charlotte join the CAA for Olympic sports.
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