Louisville football: 5 schools ACC should add through expansion

Appalachian State

Current conference: Sun Belt

From one Mountaineers athletic department to another.

At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before conferences just admit that football is the No. 1 revenue generator and try to get as many top football schools on board as possible.

That would be the only conceivable way that conference realignment would see Appalachian State make a jump to a power five conference only a few years after moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2014.

App State has been a college football powerhouse at the FCS level for years and won the FCS title in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Current Louisville coach Scott Satterfield helped ease the transition from FCS to FBS by guiding the Mountaineers to three consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles before his successor Eliah Drinkwitz tacked on a fourth consecutive title in 2019.

The fact that Appalachian State has maintained this level of success in football given its remote location in the mountains of North Carolina is both impressive and concerning in regards to conference expansion talk.

The Mountaineers provide a serious challenge in regards to high-level recruiting and travel for potential conference opponents.

There is little to no sustained success outside of football in the athletic department in Boone, North Carolina. Additionally, it brings about TV market concerns given that the school is already in ACC country and would not draw many new eyes.

With that said, App State has the pieces in place to continue building as a football program. If the ACC wants to keep expanding and add another up-and-coming football program, who’s to say that App State couldn’t be in the mix?