University presidents and athletic directors could ultimately decide conference realignment or the creation of a new conference is the best solution to combat the dire financial situations of their athletic departments. If so, the NCAA would have to change current policy in order for it to happen quickly, according to James Madison athletic director Jeff Bourne.

Already existing fiscal issues for many schools are magnified due to the impact of the coronavirus.

“We find ourselves in really tenuous times in terms of where schools are finding themselves today,” Bourne told the Daily News-Record. “I don’t know this for sure, but I’d anticipate and say the extreme times calls for extreme measures, and [the NCAA] probably would alter some of that thinking in regard to the ability of leagues being more nimble and changed and adjusted.

“And from the NCAA perspective, I could see a change happening there and willingness there.”

On Wednesday, the DN-R reported conversations among mid-major college administrators regarding conference realignment had “ramped up” according to Bourne, as a possible cost-cutting idea should schools move to align themselves geographically.

In order for a league to be recognized as an FBS conference by the NCAA, it must have at least eight active members and must sponsor at least six men’s sports and eight women’s sports, per the NCAA Division I Manual. The would-be league pursuing official NCAA membership also must complete and submit a membership application form to the NCAA along with a $900 check by June 1 to be officially in business in time for the fall semester.

For a school to jump from FCS to FBS, it must increase its football scholarship offerings from 63 to 85, sponsor at least 16 varsity sports and complete an application for reclassification from FCS to FBS to submit to the NCAA along with a $5,000 check.

Over the past two decades, it has been rare for a new conference to form and play at the FBS level.

But in 1998, tensions among schools in the Western Athletic Conference led to officials from Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming agreeing to form a new conference, the Mountain West, which began play in 1999.

The MWC first received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 2000-01 season, the same year March Madness expanded from 64 to 65 teams. An automatic berth to the men’s basketball tournament, and the annual payouts that come with participating in March Madness, are essential for any Division I conference - but basketball coaches have often fought against changes that might decrease the number of at-large bids available.

With further conference realignment looming, the NCAA expanded the tournament field to 68 teams in 2011. The next year, the Big East split to create the American Athletic Conference, which sponsors football on the FBS level, and the “New Big East,” which does not sponsor football.

Economic ramifications of the current COVID-19 pandemic, though, has school administrators evaluating all options, even the drastic measure of potential realignment.

“This could cause entities, whether they be conferences as a whole, or they be individual institutions, to unfortunately take a look at the way they have been doing things in the past,” Joe D’Antonio, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association, said. “The financial model might not fit what they have normally done in the past. If that new financial model dictates change, change to potentially save money, well then it’s not just Group of Five schools that have to look at that. I would suggest to you that could come from anywhere.”

Bourne said: “If you just do a 40,000-foot elevation and study, you have to ask yourselves, ‘Under what scenarios can we align and form where we can be self-sustaining and make things work?’

“Is the geographic footprint and competition piece the only element that’s causing problems for institutions right now? I’m not at those schools and haven’t done those studies, so I’m not sure what their answer would be, but I’m sure there are a myriad of issues out there that they find just as challenging as travel. So as the cost escalates up and the price of business keeps going higher, you’d have to ask the question, ‘What would scenarios have to look like so that programs are able to build sustaining environments that they can remain competitive in over a long period of time and not just for a year period of time?’”

As for which schools would have an interest in a potential mid-Atlantic or eastern-based Group of Five league, Bourne, who said all established conferences are founded on their rivalries, has some ideas.

“I think what was happening in football with [Old Dominion] and JMU,” Bourne said, “building the end of year rivalry, that was a really special rivalry and that was good for us and I know it had to be good for ODU as well.

“The days of playing VCU and Mason [in basketball], those were good days and we drew extremely well in those games. I just think those are things we have to look at.”

Even Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said a mid-major league based on the east coast is something his school would have to explore. Liberty of Lynchburg is an FBS independent in football, but all of its other sports reside in the Atlantic Sun.

“As a faith-based institution, going the Independent route for the long-term similar to Notre Dame and BYU is viable and attractive in several ways,” McCaw said in an email, “including having control of our schedule, bowl opportunities and broadcast rights. At the same time, if there were an invitation to consider an attractive east coast-based FBS football conference, we would carefully consider it.”