A new set of dominoes has begun to fall … again.

The ever-changing landscape of college football is shifting once more and nobody knows when it will stop.

The latest moves involve the best-known college basketball program without football and somebody who might lead to a move for McNeese State.

Everything seems connected these days.

First, Gonzaga, the best of all mid-major basketball programs and the team that knocked McNeese from its first NCAA Tournament in 22 years last spring, is heading to the Pac-12, which — as of Wednesday — has eight teams.

The move will help save the league and could start a shift back to the West Coast for some schools that currently play conference games thousands of miles from campus.

California and Stanford come to mind for starters.

The Pac-12 had two full members this year, Washington State and Oregon State, so its days were numbered unless help came soon.

Then there was the interesting news Tuesday that Texas-El Paso was heading to the Mountain West, a league also believed to be on shaky ground. The Mountain West is trying to stabilize itself after the Pac-12 raided the league by taking five schools before the UTEP move.

UTEP leaving Conference USA, and possible other moves thanks to the shifts out west, could open up things for the Cowboys, who are more than willing to listen to any pitch made by a Football Bowl Subdivision league.

Heath Schroyer, McNeese’s Athletic Director, said he has not talked to anyone from an FBS league recently. That doesn’t mean others aren’t speaking in back rooms about the Cowboys.

A quick read between the lines feels like there might be some fire with that smoke.

Schroyer and other McNeese officials have maintained they are in the Southland Conference but would not pass an opportunity to move up if the right spot became open.

In other words: here we go again.

It has also been reported that the Mountain West is talking with Tarleton State and Texas State about a possible relocation. Both would make sense perfect sense..

Tarleton has been looking to move into FBS almost from the moment it transported its programs from Division II to D-I in 2021. Tarleton is in the Western Athletic Conference, which seems to have been losing steam since McNeese opted not to join in 2022.

Texas State is the farthest west member of the Sun Belt Conference while UTEP will exit Conference USA on July 1, 2026.

If the Sun Belt wants to add another program to become a travel partner with Louisiana-Lafayette then McNeese is a smart choice. If it would rather take Louisiana Tech to be with Louisiana-Monroe, then C-USA has another open spot.

You can almost fill in the blanks yourself.

McNeese’s window of opportunity may never be better than now.

The Cowboys are bouncing back in football and are 4-2, 3-0 at home where their crowds are beginning to grow again despite a road-heavy schedule.

New facilities are popping up everywhere on campus, including a $31 million press box complete with 25 suites that Schroyer said will be finished by the start of next season.

And Will Wade is still on campus. The man who shocked life into a dead men’s basketball program last season brings two-sport credibility to McNeese.

It also doesn’t hurt that there has been a huge gain in booster money and interest flowing around the Cowboys and a recent rise in student enrollment.

Add winning sports in other areas, particularly baseball and softball, and the recent years of investments look as if they are paying off.

There might be no better time than now for McNeese to cash in and make the move up.

If only it can get an invitation.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com