Could FGCU benefit with more NCAA Tournaments, bigger market reach from ASUN realignment?

Over the last few years, the college athletics landscape has seen its fair share of realignment, especially among the power conferences.

The Atlantic Sun Conference will go through the same in July 2026 in what’s going to be viewed as a test run for other small conferences across the country.

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The ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference — two leagues aiming to find stability in an ever-changing college sports world — announced in June they will realign their members to form the United Athletic Conference. The ASUN will retain non-football playing schools, while the UAC will be for athletic programs with football.

“The WAC has been a partner of our in the football space for a number of years,” ASUN commissioner Jeff Bacon said. “As they started to experience membership loss, our conversations with them continued to pick up about ways we could partner together. Over the course of those conversations this model emerged and became something that really provides a lot of value to all the members and into ultimately two conferences. I think we really probably spent January to what was a June announcement getting it worked up and finalized.”

Previously: What’s next for FGCU after ASUN announces WAC alliance, 5 teams exit conference

What do the ASUN and UAC look like?

At the moment, the new-look ASUN will have seven teams, all returning members. That includes FGCU, Stetson, North Florida, and Jacksonville in Florida along with Lipscomb (Tenn.), Bellarmine (Ky.), and Queens (N.C.).

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The UAC will field eight teams, five making the transition from the ASUN next summer − Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, and West Georgia. They’ll join three Texas squads in Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT-Arlington.

While those five former ASUN teams will be in the UAC, the scheduling alliance is expected to still feature what fans have gotten used to in the ASUN. While nothing is set in stone yet, FGCU will still likely play teams like Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, and West Georgia on a year-to-year basis, per Bacon. As for whether or not those games would be played during conference or during the nonconference slate, that’s to be determined.

For a school that’s long dominated the ASUN, the path for FGCU to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament in all sports has gotten easier. FGCU Director of Athletics Colin Hargis likes the potential for the conference down the road, even if the new-look conference decides to expand its footprint.

“… I think all coaches instantly want to know, what does postseason look like?” Hargis said. “What does scheduling look like? A lot of those details are TBD. Those are being worked through. I think the key is as we talked about it and as we kept our coaches apprised of what was unfolding and then eventually came out back in June, the opportunities that are out in front of us.

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2025-26 season starts: With young squad, FGCU men’s basketball aiming to take next step as program

“When you look at those automatic qualifiers in a path to the postseason and creating a potentially more efficient runway to get into the NCAA Tournament, whether you’re going through six other schools or if and when we choose to pick up another member or two potentially, you’re still looking at a shorter runway to make the NCAA Tournament.”

For men’s basketball coach Pat Chambers, it’s five fewer teams he has to worry about in conference play, making preparation and extra scouting for conference opponents a bit more exclusive. That could ultimately be the reason the Eagles make the NCAA Tournament for the first time this decade. It could also have its setbacks, especially if that places more pressure on conference games, going from 18 down to 12.

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“I guess it helps you, right?” Chambers said. “You’ve got more of a chance of success, more of a chance of going to the NCAA Tournament. But also, you know each other. It is gonna be a rock fight. Every night is gonna be a rock fight because we know each other so well.”

Could FGCU see a Texas-sized benefit?

FGCU athletics reached its apex of popularity thanks to its 2013 Sweet 16 Dunk City men’s basketball team.

Merging with the WAC will expose the Eagles brand to new markets, especially three in Texas.

Hargis’ strength as a marketer within the NC State athletic department was a big reason why FGCU hired him in 2024, and he sees potential with the ASUN’s move into Texas. With the ASUN and UAC expanding into the Dallas-area media market, that could create opportunities for schools like FGCU to appeal to a broader student base, rather than just in-state students and those in the Midwest looking for a change of scenery.

Media rights also play a sizeable role here. The ASUN and ESPN agreed to a one-year media rights extension, which is slated to end in the summer of 2026. The 2024-25 academic year saw just under 1,200 broadcasts on ESPN platforms, leading to potentially larger opportunities for the conference moving forward.

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“It’s a huge opportunity,” Hargis said. “From my perspective, when you think about college sports and really just a sports landscape in general, you have the state of Florida and you have the state of Texas. Those are your two major players in the landscape. So for us to now have a natural tie and especially with nonconference crossover and to be in that Dallas market, and Texas in general, that was part of what we looked at. That’s part of what the commissioners looked at, you know, and strategically thinking about both media rights were coming up, both from an ASUN perspective and the WAC.

“So in the next 12 to 18 months, 24 months, you’re going to have the ability for the conference now to go back to market and look at our media partners, ESPN+ in general. I think there’s a huge opportunity for us to again, create some brand awareness for the university and for our athletics programs, you in the state of Texas.”

ASUN and UAC next steps

As for the roadmap heading into next July, Bacon likes the direction in which things are headed and will aim to keep things on schedule as scheduling for the 2026 fall season is not that far away for many schools, FGCU included.

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“They’re gonna fly by quickly because we got plenty of work to do,” Bacon said. “That’s for sure. We’re right on track though in terms of our timeline to execute. We’ve hit certain target goals here over the course the next few months to ensure that we stay on track. Building everything that has to be built to support this moving forward, you can imagine the volume of topics and considerations we need to work through.

“How are you going to schedule? How are you going to manage championships? How are we going to manage our finance or governance? You name it. We are back to the drawing board on those elements in terms of piecing it together. What’s our membership going to look like? How are we structured? Do we grow? Do we stay where we are? All of those questions are being worked through, but we’re right on time here sitting on September 26 to where we want to be. We’re in a good spot.”

Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: FGCU sees potential with upcoming ASUN merger with WAC to form UAC