Remember how I said "Chaos is a ladder" in the expansion thread? Well, I wonder if a P5 (for now) conference is looking towards GA State.
Many years ago I said GA State would be what was then Division 1 before not too long. Everyone was incredulous that an upstart program at a commuter school just down the road from GA Tech with no football history could jump to D1 football so fast. Fast forward to 2013, 3 years after they started football, GA State joined the Sun Belt at the FBS level. If it wasn't for the chaos of the last expansion round, GA State probably doesn't sniff FBS that quickly, but they used that chaos to fast track their rise to FBS.
Now we're on the doorstep of another round of expansion chaos, and GA State could use it to improve their situation...possibly into a P5 conference. Whether you think GA State's program is a joke or not, they are still sitting in the #10 media market in the Nation, and #1 in the Southeast. Their football stadium was designed specifically for future expansion. Sure, they may not be a good football program at the moment, but they don't need to be. Other conferences can look at GA State as an investment towards the future. Recruiting at GA State looks totally different if they get asked to fill a void in the Big 12...or ACC if GT leaves for B1G (or SEC). Their basketball program is actually competitive and could probably compete at a decent level Day 1.
This next round of expansion will definitely uplift a school that probably had no chance at P5 before. Teams like UCF/GA State, two teams in really good markets could find themselves in a better position than they could have imagined.