Conference USA football: Destinations for remaining teams after realignment

2. Florida International goes Independent

This is the hardest team to predict where they may land if C-USA dissolves. There may be bad blood between FIU and the Sun Belt when they exited for C-USA back in 2013.

FIU may be too late to the party to join the American, as the conference is chalked full and already loaded in Florida.

The MAC and MWC are too far out of the way to make sense to join. So, why not go Independent? It’s not unprecedented. The Panthers were Independent from 2002-04.

The Panthers can play several teams locally and save a ton on travel. They could play games with in-state teams such as Florida State, Florida, FAU, South Florida, UCF, and Miami. They could find games against teams in any of the Group of Five conferences to fill out their schedule in any given season.

3. Western Kentucky to the AAC

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are set up nicely to be a member of the AAC, mostly due to the impending exit of Cincinnati.

The Hilltoppers, while nowhere near the success of the Bearcats, usually give a Power Five team a run for their money each season, sometimes pulling off the upset. Look no further than their 2019 upset of the Arkansas Razorbacks, thumping them in Fayetteville 45-19.

Another positive sign for Western Kentucky — they’ve been stomping grounds for household names in college football coaching: Bobby Petrino, Willie Taggart, and Jeff Brohm in recent years.

Additionally, the Hilltoppers have enjoyed playing in seven bowl games in the previous nine seasons. A quality addition for the AAC if it happens.