During Sun Belt Media Days (held at the end of July in New Orleans), Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill made it pretty clear that he’s happy with the Sun Belt’s position in the college football solar system.

“We now have 14 schools in 10 contiguous states, and this commitment and these additions resulted in what may have been the best season in the history of Sun Belt football,” said Commissioner Gill. “The carefully constructed design of the Sun Belt has paid dividends on the field and with college football fans.”

Those confident remarks were made before the PAC-12 was picked apart by their unscrupulous Power 5 brethren and reduced to just four sad-faced programs. Now the college football universe is tossed into flaming entropy with only the Sun Belt and the MAC serving as bastions of calm. While the Sun Belt appears wise to stand pat with a winning hand, one wonders how future moves may force Commissioner Gill to raise the stakes.

What if The Mountain West and PAC-4 Merge?

This scenario makes the most sense and is steeped in sanity, which is probably why it won’t happen. The prospect of the Mountain West taking on Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State and Cal and building a new PAC-15 (named adopted for branding reasons) elevates the Mountain West to “autonomous” standing while the Shunned Four avoid the independent desert.

How does this affect the Sun Belt? Not at all, which would be welcome.

What If the ACC Absorbs the PAC-4?

Since fan-favorite rivalries and geographic footprint no longer matter to power hungry athletic directors, this absurdity seems like a distinct possibility. The travel arrangements is not my problem, so if the ACC and the Snubbed Quartet want to rack up frequent flyer miles, so be it. It won’t matter to the Sun Belt.

What If the ACC Decides to Start Bulging in a Reasonable, Thoughtful Manner?

You can’t tell me that ACC Commissioner James J. Phillips hasn’t viewed the raid on the PAC12 with chagrin and dismay. If it can happen to the Conference of Champions, it can happen to the Conference of a Cranky Florida State. Already, there has been rumblings of Florida State and Clemson doing the Judas Shuffle to the SEC. Miami has also wiggled toes on their Happy Feet. If the trend is to go Super, would it not behoove Phillips to extend a cordial invite to geographical fits like Eastern Carolina, Tulane, FIU and perhaps Memphis?

What if Sun Belt programs like Appalachian State, JMU, Marshall and ODU start looking sexy to the ACC? Yes, there would be state conflicts, but so what? Nobody feels anything except the coldness of coin. This could be shattering to the Sun Belt, who would either have to staunch the bleeding with their own poaching, or simply accept a reduction in size.

The American and CUSA Form the First Super G5 Conference

I’ve argued that the Sun Belt should become Too Big to Fail – and it’s fallen on deaf ears. But what if Mike Aresco and Judy MacLeod are listening? Should the ACC and/or the Big 12 pry more programs from the AAC (Memphis is begging to leave), would it not make sense to form an alliance with a vulnerable colleague like CUSA? It’s harder to fall the bigger you are, and this survival move may be the smartest for Aresco, who just a few years ago seemed poised to absorb the Big 12.

Would such a super-conference have an affect on the Sun Belt? Some programs likely won’t want to be part of a 20-something team conference and will beseech Gill for a spot in the Sun Belt. Honestly, there are great footprint teams available for the Sun Belt in CUSA and AAC: Memphis, Middle Tennessee, WKU, UAB and Charlotte among them. There’s some opportunity here.

Everybody Says “Screw This” and Becomes Independents

Dusty Thibodeaux from FunBelt Podcast suggested this move, and damnit, doesn’t it feel right for everyone? If regional rivalries and sensible footprints no longer matter, let’s just bingo-ball a new schedule every year and let the pigskin gods sort it out. Ironically, once such a move is implemented, Notre Dame will begin advocating for conferences.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sun Belt Media