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a la the incoming Herd, Monarchs, Golden Eagles and Dukes. Now, it's a conference that attracts other schools to migrate to it. The Sun Belt used to be the conference that programs left to find greener pasture elsewhere. That perception has changed in recent years with the breakout success of Coastal Carolina adding to the ongoing notoriety of Appalachian State and Louisiana. Not that long ago, the Sun Belt Conference was derided as one of the weakest conferences in the nation - if not THE weakest. In doing so, the SBC became a clear winner in the realignment sweepstakes as it grew from ten to fourteen teams when it also accepted a powerhouse FCS program in James Madison. Not only did it grab the largest market in both of the Carolinas (Charlotte), it also secured access to south Florida (FAU), the Dallas (North Texas) and Houston (Rice) areas, the largest market in Alabama (Birmingham), and the largest market in west Texas (El Paso).Ĭonference USA continued to get piled on when Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss decided to abandon the ship and move to the burgeoning Sun Belt. On the surface, that might not sound like much, but it gave the American Conference several major markets for viewership. The American snatched Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Texas-El Paso. With the American Conference losing three of its highest profile schools, that league turned to Conference USA and picked its bones clean. In addition, a passel of Football Championship Subdivision Schools were absorbed into the FBS. Naturally, the Big 12 had to save itself from extinction so the conference quickly went out and secured commitments from three programs out of the American Conference - UCF, Houston, Cincinnati - as well as a major independent program in BYU.Īnd the game was on with College Football bets of who would be next.īy the time the final domino had fallen, a multitude of Football Bowl Subdivision schools had switched their league affiliations. Texas and Oklahoma began a new game of conference realignment dominoes when those schools announced last year that they would leave the Big 12 for the SEC.

For those to be dismantled for money is kind of a shame.College Football Realignment Strikes Again - 2022 Conference Members Maby Staff When you go to places, you’ve been to USC, all these different places, you see how passionate fans are about certain things, what matters, rivalries. Not that my opinion matters on it, but I don’t like that. I don’t know the history behind the moves, but I’m sure it had something to do with the SEC starting the unique moves for that to happen, for traditional teams like USC and UCLA to move like that, so. So people are always trying to chase the SEC and figure it out. “I’ve said, just like I mentioned, the SEC is the top of everything.

“I haven’t really thought about it that way,” Kiffin said. Kiffin also addressed being on the inside of the SEC while there’s volatility or uncertainty swirling on the outside, as conference realignment shakes out, and again expressed frustration with potentially losing traditions in the college football landscape. The coaches got to deal with it and get ready for a different world.” I know everything obviously is about money nowadays or else teams wouldn’t be going with playing all over the place, breaking up these awesome traditions. That transition I feel like started with Alabama especially, and now they’re coming to the SEC.” Now, over the last five, 10 years, the players started coming that didn’t used to come from the Northeast and West Coast very often at all. Said it for a long time: The SEC just means more. I think the draft picks, national championships prove that coming out of the SEC.

I think going to the SEC is a whole ‘nother animal. I don’t know that there’s a huge jump into the Big Ten. “You know, they’ve been playing in great conferences and against great opponents,” Kiffin said. But Kiffin, entering his third season at Ole Miss having overseen a leap from a 5-5 record in Year 1 to a 10-3 record in Year 2, zeroed in on the SEC when asked about challenges those four teams (USC, UCLA, Texas, Oklahoma) could face.