By Russell V.
SouthernPigskin.com

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Appalachian State has been looking at moving up to the FBS and it appears Conference USA is listening.

Just when you think all is quiet on the football front, something comes up that brings it to the forefront again, even if it is just rumors swirling around message boards across the internet.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me get you up to speed.

Rumors are now spreading that Appalachian State has reached a deal to join Conference USA and is now just waiting on an official offer from the conference. Again, keep in mind this has not been reported by any major news sources and is more a case of “he said, she said” at this point.

Regardless, this is big news and a great fit for the Mountaineers if true. The Mountaineers would automatically become one of the better football programs in the conference, with great facilities and a rabid fanbase to match those of their future conference foes. In 2010, C-USA averaged 28,454 per contest. App averaged 25,715 per game, which would have ranked seventh in the conference.

The biggest obstacle standing in their way right now is that C-USA still needs to get rid of a school before they can add App State. My early favorite to leave would be UCF if/when the Big East continues to grow into a monster of a conference.

As I’ve said before, if the Mountaineers ever got the chance, they should make the jump to the FBS. It seems that they may get that opportunity within the next year or two.

Whether this rumor is actually true or not, it does help give us something to talk about to help the dog days of the offseason pass by just a little bit quicker. And for that, we thank you random bloggers and message board members from all across the internet.

On another note, every team has announced their schedules for 2011. Here is a link to a list of every SoCon team’s 2011 schedule.

http://collegesportingnews.com/content.php?425-Southern-Conference-2011-Football-Schedule

We’ll be taking an in-depth look at each team’s schedule next week as teams all across the SoCon prepare for spring practices. Good news fans: only seven more months to go until kickoff 2011.