Which FCS teams WILL move to FBS next? *Conference Realignment*

all right guys so in this video I'm going to be discussing the big four I would say right now teams that I think could easily join FBS if some certain things happened in terms of conference realignment possibly the Mountain West losing teams to the ACC if the ACC loses maybe FSU maybe Clemson they're going to look to replenish those teams possibly with Mountain West teams because they want to create their own West Wing they've already got Cal and Stanford maybe they want two more Mountain West teams possibly looking at poaching UNLV and San Diego State what would the Mountain West do in response to that could we potentially get FCS teams joining the Mountain West Conference and becoming FBS teams the first thing I want to do is put this into context you can see can an FCS School become FBS the previous application fee to transition from FCS to f FPS was just $5,000 so basically it was do you want to do it or not the the cost is extremely minimal for any of these Universities at $5,000 it was just a question of are we really good enough to be FBS are we going to get trampled are the benefits there that's what schools were be were deciding between but now it's $5 million so the price is a lot more Steep and it doesn't really surprised me based on the more lucrative situation being a member of an FBS conference is but we're going to go over some teams that I think pretty much a big four on teams that could join the Mountain West let's say the Mountain West hypothetically loses teams because of conference realignment again it would very likely be to the ACC you could also say maybe San Diego State to the Big 12 I know that's been rumored a lot although I don't think it's going to happen who are the big four teams that I could see joining the Mountain West and becoming FBS the first team it is South Dakota state now South Dakota State recently has run on a crazy run they just went 15-0 this past season there's a few factors that come into looking at a potential FBS level team A Mountain West level team one of them is recent program success certainly South Dakota state has that another one is fan base South Dakota state does have a very solid fan base pretty much own their region you could say well them and South Dakota but they're really the big team in that area in Brook and then the other Factor what's their Stadium situation that's probably the most important one and I would say when you look at South Dakota State stadium it is in my opinion more than ready to host FBS football and South Dakota state right now to me is a team ripe to join a potential Mountain West Conference that could be losing some of their good teams to the ACC they would be my 1A option who is 1B of course it has to be North Dakota State and pretty much every other year probably the past five or six years you would say because of North Dakota State's crazy FCS Dynasty where they kept winning basically four or five straight years Trey Lance although honestly Trey Lance barely played there more so Carson Wentz Easton stick as well North Dakota state has owned FCS they've owned their conference they've owned that 2014 team playoff they are an obvious option you look at their Stadium the Fargo Dome it gets very loud and imagine a decent renovation to the Fargo Dome where they added a translucent Natural Light Window maybe a roof as well to let in some light in very very nice Stadium designed for a smaller school it's just walls of lower bll seating the capacity is not too high but you also get that crazy environment where the noise gets trapped because it's a dome this is a great potential option for the Mountain West if they do lose teams because of conference realignment that's another obvious one both South Dakota state and North Dakota state are obvious ones you could also argue do you want to bring in South Dakota and North Dakota to kind of have that rivalry I don't think they would do that I think they would turn towards Montana and if you look at Montana they would be my number three team possibly to join the Mountain West or just become an FBS team in general Montana's had a lot of recent success they've got a beautiful Stadium that's like right on a hill you look up you see the mountain with snow on it it is a great game environment I believe college game day has been there one time within like the last three or four years I vividly remember them going to Grizzly Stadium so M Montana is my number three option in terms of FCS teams becoming FBS teams they've won a lot recently not to the level of North Dakota State or South Dakota state but certainly they could hold their own I believe in the Mountain West and you got to remember the Mountain West could get watered down if they lose certain teams although at this point I would say the Mountain West West would be wide open for these FCS teams anyways I think they could very easily win a lot of games joining this league straight up because I think these FCS programs are very impressive yes the competition would get a lot harder but still great HomeField Advantage the stadiums check out good enough fan base in the Mountain West obviously the TV markets would not be the best but this is your typical situation Beggars can't be choosers if you're the Mountain West who what other teams are you going to get that are as good as these teams terms of the FBS quality and then the fourth and final team it would be Montana State so that is the Rivalry I would bring over if you need four teams if you just need three teams go with South Dakota State North Dakota State and Montana but if you need that fourth team I would also bring in Montana State another team that's kind of a wild card that you could talk about is Villanova now obviously Villanova would not be joining the Mountain West they would be going to a conference on the Eastern side of the US but they're another team that just had a really nice year with Villanova it is kind of weird because they are a good basketball program or at least normally they are a good basketball program at least with Jay Wright recently it's been a little bit down but with them being in the Big East which football conference would they join would that be a weird relationship there's a little extra you know at play when it comes into that but Villanova would be my other team based on some Rec success I will say their Stadium needs some significant upgrades if they want to join FBS that would be a little bit of task they would have to do that would cost some money and they'd have to invest it into their Stadium to become FBS but those will be my top four teams if the Mountain West let's say hypothetically loses several programs South Dakota State North Dakota state for sure if they lose two teams let's say you know it's San Diego State and UNLV both of those teams go those would be teams that you would want now it does become a weird issue for the Mountain West because you've got that $5 million applic ation fee are those schools really going to want to pay it with the amount of success they're having in FCS I do think they would if they're just driven by money and economics it would make sense you would get more branding you would get more games on ESPN 2 on Fox on CBS network on better time slots and get your program more recognition so I do think it would make sense in the long run but you're also sacrificing program success to move up is that something that these teams would be willing to do with North Dakota State we know everyone's been saying they should join possibly the Mountain West well if we do get this realignment where the ACC loses two maybe up to four or even more schools the ACC is going to have to supplement and bring in new schools and very likely poach the Mountain West out of several schools because they already have K and Stanford and in terms of mitigating travel problems it seems like San Diego State could be a fit it seems like UNLV could be a fit people are talking about Boise State as well I would like to see Boise State stay in the Mountain West I think they're a great fit and I would like to see games like Boise State vers South Dakota State as we've seen teams like South Dakota State North Dakota State Montana rise this could really help the Mountain West Conference based on where these programs are located supplement potential losses if the realignment really gets crazy in the next few years with FS and Clemson and possibly what they could do so that would be be my big four in in terms of if I'm the Mountain West let's say I get poached I lose three four teams you're looking at North Dakota State you're looking at South Dakota State you're looking at Montana and you're also looking at possibly Montana State on top of that those would be the four teams and then Villanova from the East would be another team I would watch in terms of moving up and joining FBS and this is just a little recent history on some teams that have done it gone from FCS to FBS James Madison Jacksonville State Sam Houston Kennesaw State and then Delaware all of those teams some of them already joining Kennesaw State and Delaware joining I believe this upcoming year but it's not like that's Murderers Row or anything you know it does seem relatively easy now if you want to pay the $5 million I know keneshaw state had to pay that to join an FBS conference but either way guys that is going to do it for this video make sure you follow me on X link to that's always in the description