AAC Expansion

[huskymedic]

So isn't the AAC basically just C-USA under the name of the AAC now? I mean Memphis, SMU, ECU, Tulane, etc. were all C-USA schools within the last decade and now they're just adding more C-USA schools. Just drop the AAC name and call it what it is...Conference USA.

 

[phillionaire]

It's a real life "Ship of Theseus" except instead of a boat it's the dregs of college athletics

 

[TRest]

Because C-USA was synonymous with a group of second and third rate schools with no geographic unity. Now however, the American is synonymous with...

 

[Vowelguy]

who are the two -- Wichita St & Temple?

 

[Drew]

who are the two -- Wichita St & Temple?

Navy and Temple (presuming he’s speaking on football)

 

[Guapo]

We just keep reinventing the Metro Conference

 

[How Sway?!]

Actually it was 629, 057.

Maybe the Cliffmeister didn't say it but the simple fact a city's population rises along with that of the entire nation means less than the increase or decline in the percentage of the nation's population in each region. He was, I believe, pointing out the major shift in population and growth from the Northeast to the Southeast and Southwest and the resultant economic decline and growth in the respective regions.

How many congressional seats have been added to Northeast states in the last say 50 years? The answer to that tells us where the economic growth will be in the future, for example.

Newest auto plants in the USofA:
-Tesla, moving from CA to TX
-Rivian IL
-Lucid AZ
-Toyota KY, IN, TX, MS, AL
-Honda OH, OH, AL, IN
-Nissan TN, MS
-Mazda AL
-Subaru IN
-Hyundai AL
-Kia GA
-Volkswagen TN
-Volvo SC
-BMW SC
-Mercedes AL, SC
-Hino WVA

Yeah but that was not OPs point. They said that the population of NYC was declining. I clearly stated that it's not, and in fact is growing at a significant pace.

 

[Waquoit]

We just keep reinventing the Metro Conference

Except the Metro Conference could ball. Won titles.

 

[Vowelguy]

Yeah but that was not OPs point. They said that the population of NYC was declining. I clearly stated that it's not, and in fact is growing at a significant pace.

As someone who follows this as part of my job,
I wouldn't say 'significant pace.' Average population growth over the last decade was 0.6%/year, slower than the national average of 0.7%, which itself is the slowest in US history.

The level change is fairly large because it's such a large metro area, but in growth terms not so much.

[commenting only bc I know a bit about this; not in any way agreeing with the OP]

 

[CTMike]

Because C-USA was synonymous with a group of second and third rate schools with no geographic unity. Now however, the American is synonymous with...

…POW6R!!!

 

[ecasadoSBU]

As someone who follows this as part of my job,
I wouldn't say 'significant pace.' Average population growth over the last decade was 0.6%/year, slower than the national average of 0.7%, which itself is the slowest in US history.

The level change is fairly large because it's such a large metro area, but in growth terms not so much.

[commenting only bc I know a bit about this; not in any way agreeing with the OP]

For a massive "mature" city like New York where pretty much everything is already built out I can back him and say its growing at very significant pace. I've lived here for 22 years now and just moved into Port Morris, Bronx. I don't quiet envisioned living here in the tip of the South Bronx but things worked out so far (wifey is a medical resident nearby in Mt. Sinai/Harlem).

But even the tip of the South Bronx is getting luxury rentals now. The whole Port Morris area is getting like $2 billion worth of high-rise luxury rentals right now. Developers are tapping into areas that were No-Nos in the past as they already redeveloped LIC/Williamsburg/Dumbo/Downtown Brooklyn/etc. Next door in Mott Haven Bx, the hood is also getting massive investment.

 

[zls44]

Using entrance and especially exit fees to pad the payout is literally a pyramid scheme.

 

[Vowelguy]

Using entrance and especially exit fees to pad the payout is literally a pyramid scheme.

Didn’t that used to be the name of Memphis basketball court?

 

[Blades]

So isn't the AAC basically just C-USA under the name of the AAC now? I mean Memphis, SMU, ECU, Tulane, etc. were all C-USA schools within the last decade and now they're just adding more C-USA schools. Just drop the AAC name and call it what it is...Conference USA.

 

[VCE]

I’m not sure the aac was ever a power 7, especially after UCONN left.

 

[District-Husky]

As someone who follows this as part of my job,
I wouldn't say 'significant pace.' Average population growth over the last decade was 0.6%/year, slower than the national average of 0.7%, which itself is the slowest in US history.

The level change is fairly large because it's such a large metro area, but in growth terms not so much.

[commenting only bc I know a bit about this; not in any way agreeing with the OP]

Exactly. Sure - Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states may have lost population, but where did that population loss come from? Not the cities or their metro areas - but instead the rural parts of the states. Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and DC all had population growth last decade (DC had an almost 15% population growth last decade and that was the 7th highest rate in the US). And comparing some huge suburb city in the sunbelt to the compact cities in the NE is not equitable. You have to compare sunbelt cities to NE metro areas b/c those sunbelt cities have enormous land areas.

But anyway, the argument that we should have stayed in the AAC to play crap 4th rate southern state schools - because those schools fill-up a stadium with 35,000 people - is not a great argument.

 

[Samoo]

Should have quit while you were ahead.

Should have quit before he was a head.

 

[BlueMAB]

For a massive "mature" city like New York where pretty much everything is already built out I can back him and say its growing at very significant pace. I've lived here for 22 years now and just moved into Port Morris, Bronx. I don't quiet envisioned living here in the tip of the South Bronx but things worked out so far (wifey is a medical resident nearby in Mt. Sinai/Harlem).

But even the tip of the South Bronx is getting luxury rentals now. The whole Port Morris area is getting like $2 billion worth of high-rise luxury rentals right now. Developers are tapping into areas that were No-Nos in the past as they already redeveloped LIC/Williamsburg/Dumbo/Downtown Brooklyn/etc. Next door in Mott Haven Bx, the hood is also getting massive investment.

Good old gentrification. Yay.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Now I wonder if it's time for Wichita State and Temple to bite the bullet and pay up $10M to join the Big East (for Wichita State) and A-10 (for Temple).

And for those who are hating on Wichita State joining the Big East, they've been a top-30 KenPom team for eight of the last ten years and a top-70 season for those other two years.

Hard pass

 

[Durks07]

Hard pass

Can you imagine the pitch from the Big East to its members about adding Wichita State:

Guys, if we add Wichita State, not only will you each get to send all your teams on an additional trip each year to Kansas, but you will all also get less money annually from our media rights deal too for doing it! Who's in???

 

[HuskyHawk]

Now I wonder if it's time for Wichita State and Temple to bite the bullet and pay up $10M to join the Big East (for Wichita State) and A-10 (for Temple).

And for those who are hating on Wichita State joining the Big East, they've been a top-30 KenPom team for eight of the last ten years and a top-70 season for those other two years.

As someone who likes Wichita State, and who has relatives who went there (cousin played football there before they killed the program)....no. There's no upside to this for the Big East. Not to add Temple either (and Nova would block them anyway). Keep the round robin and pay attention to what is going on.

Lots of scenarios could happen in coming years. B1G could add two, ACC could add 1 plus ND. Football could split entirely from the non-football conference structure. The NCAA hasn't allowed that yet, but it could and would open up shuffling of the Olympic sports leagues.

 

[Rocktheworld]

interesting question, so i dusted off the 'billing software' (haven't looked at that since summer '20 for for a question aboot 'what percentage of office workers in the nyc market will not be returning?' that sum realty group wanted to know the answer to. they waved a pantload of cash in my mug.
heck, i wanted to know myself, so why not do the same effort and get paid for it?), and counted aboot 11 minutes for this effort.
i won't bill you for the two frozen burritos ( 'los campanas' brand, 'red hot beef burritos,' $4 a bag of 8! and 2:09 in the microbox, power level 8 -highly rec'd.) that i ate while doing that.
i bet that i could figger out a way to cut my lawns, and charge u for it. ur a pal, so i'd prolly just charge you t+e, and not a flat fee, tho im kinda out of the 'billing for time' bitness. too many cartoons to watch. u see the new archer? edgy. lol.

This is your brain on crack

 

[AZHuskiePop]

some on this board want it to be called Big East

Im not sure what you mean but these are the facts.
The AAC is the direct decedent of the Dave Gavitt‘s Big East chartered in 1979 .
The C7 broke away from that conference in 2013 and attempted to destroy it and make off with the war chest of $70,000,000 .acquired through earned NCAA credits mostly earned by non C7 , schools and exit fees from football schools that joined P5 conferences.
They were stopped cold by the three remaining members
UConn, Cinncy, and USF by a loophole in the bylaws.
By the way the majority of that money was divided between the three remaining schools and distritubuted over a 5 year period in addition to the media and football playoff money. From 2014-2019 UConn was the benefactor of approx $8,000,000 per year in part from old Big East money. When the new contract failed to meet our minimum threshold of $10,000,000 we decided to part ways from the conference we founded in 1979.
Aresco who was the president of the Big East
had a grandiose dream of a national conference which needed a national name, he granted the C7 the use of the name which he had no use for , which was a mistake , in order to forfeit all claim to the conference assets.
The headquarters and all employees of the big East respectively became the property and employees of the AAC. The current Big East started from zero.
The charter for the conference now known as the Big East dates to around 2013. All collective history it claims prior to that is mythical.
I understand the desire to play with your old rivals and to be in a local conference. I understand many respected (there are a few )posters See the C7 as blameless. However I don’t cut them slack they had the votes to control who was accepted and who was rejected and leaving over an addition is bizarre Excuse . No they were negotiating there own deal even as they charged their chosen commissioner to find new football members.With the intent to destroy the old conference.
They also voted to exclude UConn from the final Big East tourney which is hilarious as we were the only founding member staying in conference.
It sad to see any conference destroyed especially one with a history. I was appalled when I looked at the WAC . But seeing the AAC destroyed is particularly difficult.
Partly because we were a co - founder and partly because of the key role it played in the resurrection of Eastern Basketball and later football.
I suspect I could take solace in the fact that The Big East/ AAC had been the only conference that have had teams elevated to power conferences
Even TCU was a member of the AAC when they were picked by the Big 12. I think they even paid an exit fee but never played a game.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Because C-USA was synonymous with a group of second and third rate schools with no geographic unity. Now however, the American is synonymous with...

... no geographic unity with 3 first rate schools and mostly a group of 2nd and not so selective 3rd rate schools.
Memphis, UTSA & ECU accept > 80% of applicants. UAB accepts > 90% undergrad applicants, yet its' well respected med school and research helps the school's broader reputation.

 

[Rocktheworld]

We just keep reinventing the Metro Conference

Thank Christ “we” aren’t involved in that nonsense anymore

 

[MU in MKE]

Im not sure what you mean but these are the facts.
The AAC is the direct decedent of the Dave Gavitt‘s Big East chartered in 1979 .
The C7 broke away from that conference in 2013 and attempted to destroy it and make off with the war chest of $70,000,000 .acquired through earned NCAA credits mostly earned by non C7 , schools and exit fees from football schools that joined P5 conferences.
They were stopped cold by the three remaining members
UConn, Cinncy, and USF by a loophole in the bylaws.
By the way the majority of that money was divided between the three remaining schools and distritubuted over a 5 year period in addition to the media and football playoff money. From 2014-2019 UConn was the benefactor of approx $8,000,000 per year in part from old Big East money. When the new contract failed to meet our minimum threshold of $10,000,000 we decided to part ways from the conference we founded in 1979.
Aresco who was the president of the Big East
had a grandiose dream of a national conference which needed a national name, he granted the C7 the use of the name which he had no use for , which was a mistake , in order to forfeit all claim to the conference assets.
The headquarters and all employees of the big East respectively became the property and employees of the AAC. The current Big East started from zero.
The charter for the conference now known as the Big East dates to around 2013. All collective history it claims prior to that is mythical.
I understand the desire to play with your old rivals and to be in a local conference. I understand many respected (there are a few )posters See the C7 as blameless. However I don’t cut them slack they had the votes to control who was accepted and who was rejected and leaving over an addition is bizarre Excuse . No they were negotiating there own deal even as they charged their chosen commissioner to find new football members.With the intent to destroy the old conference.
They also voted to exclude UConn from the final Big East tourney which is hilarious as we were the only founding member staying in conference.
It sad to see any conference destroyed especially one with a history. I was appalled when I looked at the WAC . But seeing the AAC destroyed is particularly difficult.
Partly because we were a co - founder and partly because of the key role it played in the resurrection of Eastern Basketball and later football.
I suspect I could take solace in the fact that The Big East/ AAC had been the only conference that have had teams elevated to power conferences
Even TCU was a member of the AAC when they were picked by the Big 12. I think they even paid an exit fee but never played a game.

This was a fascinating look into the perspective of an AAC diehard. These "facts" really help me see where some people are coming from regarding the old/new BE.

Thanks for laying it out like this! I can totally see how you can spin this in the manner in which you do.

That being said, take a few minutes to google "Ship of Theseus"

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Good old gentrification. Yay.

Sorta. Mostly industrial land being re-zoned for residential use. I think its good for the Bronx. Growing up in the Bronx is nice to see the boro is finally getting investment and allowing those of us that want quality rentals to stay within the boro.

Most people moving in for now into Port Morris are transplants from other areas of the BX

 

[LBird33]

This was a fascinating look into the perspective of an AAC diehard. These "facts" really help me see where some people are coming from regarding the old/new BE.

Thanks for laying it out like this! I can totally see how you can spin this in the manner in which you do.

That being said, take a few minutes to google "Ship of Theseus"

also known as Theseus’ paradox

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Bottom line? Right now, UConn is in the best situation possible: Independent in football and Big East for other sports. There is no way we could have remained in the AAC knowing what we know now and UConn was not getting a Big 12 invite. You have to give credit to Benedict for reading the conference realignment tea leaves and acting proactively.

Long term, I think UConn will end up in a top conference, but football needs to recover and become competitive.

The primary rule of conference realignment is that it is never over.

Exactly.
Finally at last, UConn, made a proactive move which was a great move. For all we criticize the administration we should also recognize good moves. This was a good one.

There was no way Uconn was gonna get that P-5 invite. We cut the chace, got our FB independence and landed our basketball programs in the best basketball-centric league in the country.

 

[superjohn]

We have no clue what college sports will look like in 20, 15, 12, 10, even 5 years from now. The only thing we know for certain is greed runs the ship...

They can break off from the NCAA and completely abandon the NCAA tournament, it would be a disaster for everyone. This could end up with just 2 power conferences where they kick out all the schools who have never really performed to their liking and it's just Ohio State always playing Michigan and Alabama always playing Auburn...

We have no clue what the country is going to look like in 20 years let alone what college sports will look like. All you can do in the meantime is best position yourself to stay relevant, UConn's only option was returning to the Big East to keep what made UConn what it is today at an elite level (basketball) and to get the football program right, that's up to Benedict and the University.