AAC Heading Forward

[Towney007]

Just an interesting story that didn't get play around here (that I saw)

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...r-mike-aresco-0314-20150313-story.html#page=1

So I know this is probably the thing no one who's a fan of a relevant program in this conference wants to hear - but let's take worst case scenario here and assume UConn's here for.. a long while.

What's the strategy for this conference heading forward other than 'let's not lose folks'? On the positive side - SMU has had a nice rise down in Dallas and Houston - while they're drizzling now, have a marquee coach, a new practice facility and a nice size market to draw off.

What's next for the conference? Expansion candidates? Holding on for dear life? Would it be ludicrous for the AAC to consider a big nation-wide expansion and target the San Diego State's, BYU's, UMass's and UNLV's of the world? Try to scalp a few big hoops programs in between? Possibly peel some I'm admittedly not an expert on things conference-alignment, etc. - just interested in what folks on this board have to say.

 

[Adios]

ODU.

 

[noeynox]

UMass and Buffalo. Decent hoops with both.

 

[Towney007]

I know UMass is kind of buzzy and while there's some hoops history there, their football program SUCKS. Their A.D. just left and their Associate A.D. also flew the coop. So i'm not sure that's a stable enough situation. They'd be the only candidate I could think of regionally, but I almost do wonder if the AAC would say 'f-it, let's run to the burning building and go national' - go where everyone's kind of half-going. Pick off BYU, get UNLV, San Diego State... maybe even toss the idea of some hoops exclusive schools - your Gonzagas/VCU's... Take the island of misfit toys. Not sure that's even remotely realistic - may even be border line ambitiously stupid - but I dunno. Just throwing out some topical fodder, here.

 

[Northbound]

I just threw up in mouth after reading the op.

 

[storrsroars]

The AAC's best play is to continuing taking the long view, spending the next few decades lobbying for more rules and regulations to make football safer until it becomes non-contact flag football, at which point nobody will watch, then basketball, baseball and hockey will become the revenue sports and we'll be in the catbird's seat!

 

[weyuo]

The AAC's best play is to continuing taking the long view, spending the next few decades lobbying for more rules and regulations to make football safer until it becomes non-contact flag football, at which point nobody will watch, then basketball, baseball and hockey will become the revenue sports and we'll be in the catbird's seat!

Blah Blah...one more negative comment. Man is this crap getting old already. Just let the schools in the AAC grow. They are improving their facilities, they have a good core group of coaches in B-ball and football so let them recruit, improve their teams and compete. It's a young conference with some nice potential. Nurture it. This seed will yield either poison ivy or sweet smelling roses. Either way UConn is here for a while as... NOBODY... is interested in inviting them anywhere else. So make the best of it instead of constantly demeaning the league. When the time comes, and that won't be til at the very least UConn football is ranked at the end of a season for a few seasons, the Huskies will be asked to join the P-5 club and then it will be time to move on. So you can either make the best of it or continue to wallow in misery over something you have absolutely no control over.

 

[nomar]

Don't disgrace my avatar like that, homie

 

[UconnFanDC]

Just an interesting story that didn't get play around here (that I saw)

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...r-mike-aresco-0314-20150313-story.html#page=1

So I know this is probably the thing no one who's a fan of a relevant program in this conference wants to hear - but let's take worst case scenario here and assume UConn's here for.. a long while.

What's the strategy for this conference heading forward other than 'let's not lose folks'? On the positive side - SMU has had a nice rise down in Dallas and Houston - while they're drizzling now, have a marquee coach, a new practice facility and a nice size market to draw off.

What's next for the conference? Expansion candidates? Holding on for dear life? Would it be ludicrous for the AAC to consider a big nation-wide expansion and target the San Diego State's, BYU's, UMass's and UNLV's of the world? Try to scalp a few big hoops programs in between? Possibly peel some I'm admittedly not an expert on things conference-alignment, etc. - just interested in what folks on this board have to say.

Cincy and maybe South Florida or Memphis could be heading to the Big 12. So The AAc will get robbed at some point. The Big 12 will want to eventually have a conference championship in football and the AAc is ripped for the picking.

 

[Ts5034]

SMU is the biggest surprise. I dont think anybody expected them to be this good. While that is a huge plus for the conference, I cant see them sustaining this level of success after Larry Brown hangs it up. I could obviously be wrong but I just have that feeling. He will be 75 by the time next season starts so how many more years could he really have left on the sidelines? 2-3 max? Thats why I have more faith in Temple, Memphis, Cincy, and even Tulsa moving forward.

But...what will ultimately save this conference is the trasformation of the bottom feeders like USF, Houston, ECU, Tulane from being terrible to respectable. Right now they just kill the leagues RPI. There is no happy medium with the AAC. You have 5-6 schools who are good and are in the NCAA Tournament conversation and the rest of the schools have a 100+ RPI.

 

[donyell34]

Why are we not considered for big 12 . Memphis has sucked in football till this year. Geographic location other than Cincinnati same for us as Memphis and Florida schools. Football program has nowhere to go but up.

 

[huskyharry]

Geographically, Memphis is a good fit for the Big 12, close to Missouri etc. , Cincy is not bad and South Florida or UCF would provide entry to Florida, which could help Big 12 recruiting for football.

SMU has a pending judgment from the NCAA and Coach Brown will retire soon, so some dark storm clouds there.

 

[Kitaman]

Don't disgrace my avatar like that, homie

Yeah man, what's up with that? I thought you changed your nick cuz you wanted to present a horrific scenario.

More fked up than that is I always gave you cred thinking that was you in the middle.

 

[John]

Just an interesting story that didn't get play around here (that I saw)

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...r-mike-aresco-0314-20150313-story.html#page=1

So I know this is probably the thing no one who's a fan of a relevant program in this conference wants to hear - but let's take worst case scenario here and assume UConn's here for.. a long while.

What's the strategy for this conference heading forward other than 'let's not lose folks'? On the positive side - SMU has had a nice rise down in Dallas and Houston - while they're drizzling now, have a marquee coach, a new practice facility and a nice size market to draw off.

What's next for the conference? Expansion candidates? Holding on for dear life? Would it be ludicrous for the AAC to consider a big nation-wide expansion and target the San Diego State's, BYU's, UMass's and UNLV's of the world? Try to scalp a few big hoops programs in between? Possibly peel some I'm admittedly not an expert on things conference-alignment, etc. - just interested in what folks on this board have to say.

On a personal level I need to start forcing myself to get jacked about seeing us play these teams, because right now I have trouble feeling excitement for even the top end of the conference. Basically come to the final realization that this is as good as it gets.

 

[Adios]

SMU is the biggest surprise. I dont think anybody expected them to be this good. While that is a huge plus for the conference, I cant see them sustaining this level of success after Larry Brown hangs it up. I could obviously be wrong but I just have that feeling. He will be 75 by the time next season starts so how many more years could he really have left on the sidelines? 2-3 max? Thats why I have more faith in Temple, Memphis, Cincy, and even Tulsa moving forward.

But...what will ultimately save this conference is the trasformation of the bottom feeders like USF, Houston, ECU, Tulane from being terrible to respectable. Right now they just kill the leagues RPI. There is no happy medium with the AAC. You have 5-6 schools who are good and are in the NCAA Tournament conversation and the rest of the schools have a 100+ RPI.

SMU can afford another HoFer. They are LOADED.

 

[tzznandrew]

SMU can afford another HoFer. They are LOADED.

While we're stuck here, we need them and Tulsa to stay where they are and Houston to get good, Memphis to return to form, and Temple and Cincy to stay where they are or get better. UConn as a Top 10 team, SMU, Cincy, Temple, and Memphis as Top 20-30 teams, and Tulsa/Houston as a Top 50 schools would be great. And it would probably pull the other sub-200 schools out of the RPI basement.

 

[Matrim55]

On a personal level I need to start forcing myself to get jacked about seeing us play these teams, because right now I have trouble feeling excitement for even the top end of the conference. Basically come to the final realization that this is as good as it gets.

Yup. And that's kind of why I'd like to see UMass in the conference - I'd have no problem working up some real hatred for that game.

EDIT: I'm willing to hate Buffalo, too. And maybe Marshall.

 

[tzznandrew]

Yup. And that's kind of why I'd like to see UMass in the conference - I'd have no problem working up some real hatred for that game.

EDIT: I'm willing to hate Buffalo, too. And maybe Marshall.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

If we are stuck in this conference for the immediate future, I'd like to see them try and merger with the Mountain West and form essentially the sixth power conference. Model the league as a professional league where we play the majority of games against teams in our division (east coast), with crossover games with teams over there.

Adding schools like Boise, San Diego State, UNLV, BYU for basketball/football would be a step up from the Tulane's and Tulsa's of the world, and could add some intrigue.

 

[g_smith]

I am just upset with the amount of travel this league requires. What made the BigEast so great was that fans actually could travel to away games. And we didn't need to fly to Texas on a regular basis.

 

[Matrim55]

Kind of off-topic, but I just looked at the rosters of most AAC teams, and it's remarkable how little turnover there will be this offseason. Obviously we bring back 9 of our 10 guys. Cincinnati, Tulsa and Memphis all return pretty much everyone of relevance; SMU lose two bigs and a swingman, but return their two best players and have a very good class coming in; Temple lose Cummings and Morgan, but have what looks like a solid class as well.

I think five of those six teams will be tournament teams, provided there aren't surprise sanctions, injuries or decommits.

The bottom of the conference looks better, too. Houston - who played much better down the stretch - return just about everybody and added size in their recruiting class. UCF brings back 7 of their rotation, and have their best class (and let's all admit how terrifying it would be if McBride got in shape and was able to play more than 14 minutes a night).

USF and Tulane are going to be tire fires, and I'm not sure what to make of ECU - they return almost everybody, but lack a single big who I'd even consider to be serviceable.

It sucks to play in a league with no real rivals, but at least the quality of the games keeps improving.

 

[Redding Husky]

I'd like to see us go to 16 with the best four we can get (some may say no):

1) BYU
2) Boise
3) Air Force
4) Colorado State
5) SDSU
6) Fresno

UMass is not up to speed. UNLV football is horrible. Army would be a no-brainer if they would commit to football like Navy has, but there is no indication they ever will.

From the list above, we could have a west division of : Navy, Air Force, Tulsa, SMU, Houston, BYU, Boise, and Colorado State. SDSU & Fresno would be alternates. Colorado State is building an on-campus stadium and it looks they're committed to playing quality football. Football drives the bus.

 

[Towney007]

Don't disgrace my avatar like that, homie

I really thought I was cool. I found it. I stared at it. Took pride in it. Even thought it would lead to acceptance.

Nothing to live for now. Burn the tapes, Danny. Going into the light.

 

[Chin Diesel]

AAC going forward has to make a statement from the commissioner that 50-48 rock fights suck, aren't good for TV and aren't good for recruiting.

Tell that to the refs and the coaches. The SMU, Cincy, Tulsa and Temple crap doesn't get you money, eyeballs or tourney bids. People can go to any YMCA at lucnh and see that garbage.

Emphasize and reward skill, speed and athleticism. It's possible to have good games, with good defesne and still see scores in the 70-80 point range.

It's a downward spiral otherwise.