you got me -- I don't follow the Sunbelt or AAC nearly as close as you do. I think it's great to be following "non P5" conferences, but they have to some hook of interest for me (e.g. I follow the MWC fairly closely due to three teams within a 2 hour drive, and a good friend who is a big time Boise St fan).
Not trying to write a book but I'll be happy to go in a little detail for why I'm watching more G5/FCS football.
My interest in P5 football outside CU is at an all-time low and I will probably watch the SEC once Oklahoma & Texas gets in for maybe a couple of seasons before the bottom falls out. My plan for this season is to watch one or two good/intriguing P5 games per week and the rest to G5/FCS. The SEC is slowly killing college football as we know it and I was excited about that 12 team playoff proposal but that has been put on the back burner for the sake of college football's future. I have seen this same P5 song and dance for a little over 30 years so I'm taking a break from that while things are unstable and I'm not sure I will be back in that case.
The MWC & MAC appear stale to me. The MWC was fun to watch when Utah, BYU, and TCU were in that conference. If it is possible for the MWC to get rid of their divisions and let BSU play their traditional rivals in Nevada & Frenso State more often, it would be good for the MWC. The only interest I have in the MWC is Air Force. As for the MAC, I don't see it being stronger than the FCS Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The AAC does interest me because of teams like Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati and I'm interested in Navy & Tulane due to option football tendencies of their head coaches. Once the Big 12 inevitably invites them, that conference will be just like another C-USA. Speaking of C-USA, there's always the potential of UTSA being the next Boise State and I'm keeping an eye on Southern Miss because they hired Willie Fritiz's OC from Tulane. Other than that, it's as stale as the MAC and not that high on my viewing priority list.
The Sun Belt is unique because it is more rural than urban as opposed to C-USA & MWC and there appears to be more option orientated football. You got Coastal Carolina, App State, and Georgia Southern who runs some option football. Georgia State & Troy are two other good East teams. In the SBC West, you got Louisiana who is seemingly being billed as this year's Coastal Carolina (from last season). ULM hired Rich Rod as their offensive coordinator and I have loved watching those Rich Rod offenses for years. Arkansas State has been a team that intrigued me for years and South Alabama just opened a new on-campus stadium. Texas State could go crazy this year. That is why sometimes smaller is better when it comes to the size of the conference.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference plays more like the Big Ten but has that 1990's Big 8 vibe. I'd like to see Northern Colorado (UNC) entertain the thought of leaving the Big Sky for this conference even if it means some short term pain on the football field due to their history with the Dakota schools from their D2 days. It was entertaining to see North Dakota win at least a share of the MVFC title in its first year just to upstage their instate rivals in NDSU. Northern Iowa is known to have a tough defense due to who their coach is and they certainly look like they have some rivalries with NDSU & SDSU. Western Illinois is kind of meh to me but Illinois State & Southern Illinois are schools that certainly could G5 if they chose to. Youngstown State was a power in the 1990's much like CU but have fallen on hard times likewise. This conference is just rugged and that would explain why none of those teams reached the FCS championship game despite having five teams in a 16 team playoff this spring.
The Big Sky Conference has a good number of rivalries and that is what makes it appealing. I'm going with UNC as my team for this year but given what I have just discovered about how McCaffrey could be in over his head, I'm glad I am also following the Montana & Idaho schools plus Weber State & NAU. There's Dan Hawkins at UC Davis and that's more than enough reason for me to root against UC Davis. The Big Sky could use some shrinkage in the size of this conference and that is happening with Southern Utah leaving for the WAC after this season. Portland State's football future is iffy and I think they just need to pull the plug but with their options limited, they will just keep playing that sport.
The WAC is back if you haven't heard and they have the defending FCS champs in Sam Houston State. That team was on a mission last year and they were incredible in the FCS playoffs. The WAC is having a challenge with the ASUN since there are enough teams for one automatic FCS playoff qualifier. Central Arkansas (ASUN) and Jacksonville State (ASUN) could make things interesting. Both conferences will sponsor football fully starting next year so it'll be fun to see how those pan out. I'm intrigued by the WAC long term and both conferences are going to hire companies to examine whether they could move up to FBS by the end of this decade. That was before the NCAA announced that constitutional convention so we'll see.
You got to feel bad for the Southland since they lost four Texas schools to the WAC and could lose a fifth (UIW) after this year. That was a fun conference to follow last spring and that could be more fun to watch because there is going to be round robin play in that conference due to the departures. I hope they can find some good replacements out of the D2 ranks if necessary. Nicholls State scored 75 (I think) and then gave up 71 to SHSU...just crazy.
The Southern Conference appears to be a shell of itself after App State and Georgia State moved to the Sun Belt but there are some good teams in that one albeit a little option orientated from those small southern private schools. Mercer and Samford are two schools to keep an eye on in addition to Wofford & Furman. Chattonga State and ETSU are two public schools to keep an eye on.
The Big South could be interesting since there are some newcomers in historically strong HBCU North Carolina A&T joining this year while Keenesaw State is headed to the ASUN next year.
The CAA is still one of the top FCS conferences out there and there is a possibility that James Madison is the next school to move up to FBS especially if the C-USA loses some members in an inevitable G5 realignment scenario. Delawrence did impress me in the FCS playoffs and I remember Joe Flacco playing for them when they were winning I-AA championships. I just wish they didn't renew their contract with FloSports instead of going with ESPN+ and their fans have made it known to the CAA. I'll be able to catch some CAA teams when they play on the road at Big Sky & MVFC teams this season.
SWAC is intriguing due to Deion Sanders at JSU and Eddie George at Tenneessee State. Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman are two former MEAC schools joining the SWAC this fall. The MEAC appears to be dying after the defections of aFm, BC, and NC A&T.
I didn't get a chance to watch some Ivy League due to COVID-19 but I'm going to check them out this fall. The Pioneer League which has San Diego in it could be intriguing to watch since St. Thomas is a D3 school making the jump to D1 this year and they play at Northern Iowa. Ohio Valley Conference has lost some sizzle after Jacksonville State left for the ASUN and the Northeastern Conference is another conference that gets the meh reaction from me.
I'm going to keep dipping my toes in the D2 waters especially the RMAC, MIAA, and Lone Star Conference. I might have wrote a book on the FCS because that is what I know about the FCS but I'm more interested in the Big Sky, MVFC, WAC, and Southland which is kind of regional.
It's nice to have some variety in football from the P5 to D2 football and the main thing is the ability to watch those games on demand which means I no longer tie my schedule to game like I used to.
