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American and Mountain West should merge.

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Husky25

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We need more games against Tulane and Tulsa.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Muntz (I know you will), but I do not recall UConn ever playing Tulsa in football.
 

Husky25

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Maybe it's just not funny.

No, it was funny. Trust me. A lot of people told me it is funny. Smart people. Funny people. The funniest.
 
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The only way UConn could thrive independently in football would be through relationships with appealing P5 and G5 schools. We would need 6-7 scheduling locks a year. I'm not even sure how we would establish bowl alliances.

Hypothetically, you build it out this way:

(1) Have permanent deals with independents BYU, UMass and Army as a base. That gives you 3 games.

(2) Play 1 local FCS opponent per year at home.

(3) Maintain relationships with the regional AAC schools Temple and Navy. That's 2 more games.

(4) Build upon what seems to be thawing relationships with BC and Syracuse (at least regarding scheduling). That's another 2 games.

That gives you a scheduling base of 8 games to work with on an annual basis. Add in 2 more P5 opponents plus 2 AAC/MWC level opponents that vary year-to-year. I'd leave it to others here to judge whether that's a better schedule than simply having an AAC conference schedule plus non-conference P5 games, but this is how I'd personally evaluate a potential independent schedule.
 

Husky25

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Hypothetically, you build it out this way:

(1) Have permanent deals with independents BYU, UMass and Army as a base. That gives you 3 games.

(2) Play 1 local FCS opponent per year at home.

(3) Maintain relationships with the regional AAC schools Temple and Navy. That's 2 more games.

(4) Build upon what seems to be thawing relationships with BC and Syracuse (at least regarding scheduling). That's another 2 games.

That gives you a scheduling base of 8 games to work with on an annual basis. Add in 2 more P5 opponents plus 2 AAC/MWC level opponents that vary year-to-year. I'd leave it to others here to judge whether that's a better schedule than simply having an AAC conference schedule plus non-conference P5 games, but this is how I'd personally evaluate a potential independent schedule.
Wouldn't the value of the AAC plummet the very second UConn goes through the door. Do you think former Conference-mates would really care to help the program that just tanked their conference with their scheduling issues? I doubt it. More likely, UConn/BC Cold wars commence. Plus UMass quite probably all of a sudden has a conference home. They will no longer be independent.

The problem with most of these realignment fantasy posts is that people rarely consider what's in it for the other schools. Only if should be agreeable to UConn.
 
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Wouldn't the value of the AAC plummet the very second UConn goes through the door. Do you think former Conference-mates would really care to help the program that just tanked their conference with their scheduling issues? I doubt it. More likely, UConn/BC Cold wars commence. Plus UMass quite probably all of a sudden has a conference home. They will no longer be independent.

The problem with most of these realignment fantasy posts is that people rarely consider what's in it for the other schools. Only if should be agreeable to UConn.

Oh sure - it all has to be mutually beneficial. That being said, BYU was able to get scheduling arrangements in place with Boise State and Utah State despite leaving the MWC, so it's not completely unprecedented for a defector school to get games back on the schedule with their old league.

It's understood that independence is a difficult road. The decision may very well be that it's not really better than staying in the AAC. However, the fact that UConn's basketball programs may be able to find a home in the Big East gives it a bit more breathing room to at least consider the independence option compared to most (if not all) other G5 schools.
 

jho

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For all of those complaining about the caliber of AAC MBB, can we at least produce one dominant season in the league. Yes, I know that we won the conference tournament last year - thank you Jalen Adams - but our regular season records of 12-6, 10-8 & 11-7 are underwhelming.
 
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None of these scenarios is going to help the women's program. The BE is no better than the A10 in women's hoops. If you doubt that, the BE sent 3 teams to the NCAAs last year. Two of them, Seton Hall, and St. John's, were blown out last year by Duquesne, the number 3 team in the A10 (19 and 21 point margins). UConn played Duquesne last year, and you know the result (although Duquesne was the only team to hold a lead on UConn during the entire tournament). What this means is that teams the caliber of Duquesne would be your main competition in the BE. That might even be worse than being in the AAC, where at least S. Florida is a fairly strong program.
 

hardcorehusky

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Aresco said today on the Gresh and Joe D debacle that there is no expansion in the near horizon for the AAC. He said the job now is to become P6. TV contract will be better and they will be looking at internet options.

He said the silver lining is that most of the schools targeted were AAC schools and that shows the conference in a better light. Attendance is up conference wide and TV viewership is up as well. Even more importantly, they are on the cusp of championship game sponsors(bet it isn't Fed Ex) and tournament championship sponsors. When sponsors want to sponsor your events, TV listens. Admitted the conference was in no shape to negotiate the dollars last time but the exposure is great.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Aresco said today on the Gresh and Joe D debacle that there is no expansion in the near horizon for the AAC. He said the job now is to become P6. TV contract will be better and they will be looking at internet options.

He said the silver lining is that most of the schools targeted were AAC schools and that shows the conference in a better light. Attendance is up conference wide and TV viewership is up as well. Even more importantly, they are on the cusp of championship game sponsors(bet it isn't Fed Ex) and tournament championship sponsors. When sponsors want to sponsor your events, TV listens. Admitted the conference was in no shape to negotiate the dollars last time but the exposure is great.

What is the real ratings gap between the average AAC game and all but the top matchups?
 
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I think a solid P6 league does move the needle.
It's all about match ups. If the AAC can produce a couple top 25 match ups and even get a team in the top 10 why shouldn't it get paid as such?

The problem is that even successful G5 schools lack the TV markets / fanbases / and historic rivalries of the average P5.

A game with #11 Houston is not worth the same to a network as a game with #11 Michigan (or even a #31 Michigan for that matter).

Millions of people watch Notre Dame, even when they are lousy. ND gets paid for the TV sets. This isn't a meritocracy.

We're in the best G5 league right now, hands down. That's something. But there's no way to make it a P6 because you can't create a league that comes close to a P5 in terms of fans/viewers. I don't care how good Houston is; more people will always watch Texas. Ditto Cincy and Ohio State. Same for USF/UCF vs Florida and Florida State.

An island of successful misfit toys is still an island of misfit toys.

Basically, there is no G5 bucket that we could pool our media rights into and wind up with more than if we sold them ourselves on a standalone basis.

We need to focus on getting our rights back, not trying to create a slightly different, slightly improved G5 bucket to bleed $$$ into.
 

MattMang23

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Hypothetically, you build it out this way:

(1) Have permanent deals with independents BYU, UMass and Army as a base. That gives you 3 games.

(2) Play 1 local FCS opponent per year at home.

(3) Maintain relationships with the regional AAC schools Temple and Navy. That's 2 more games.

(4) Build upon what seems to be thawing relationships with BC and Syracuse (at least regarding scheduling). That's another 2 games.

That gives you a scheduling base of 8 games to work with on an annual basis. Add in 2 more P5 opponents plus 2 AAC/MWC level opponents that vary year-to-year. I'd leave it to others here to judge whether that's a better schedule than simply having an AAC conference schedule plus non-conference P5 games, but this is how I'd personally evaluate a potential independent schedule.

So you propose a schedule of:

Home:
UMass
Maine
BC
Temple
San Jose St.
Maryland (what incentive any P5 would have to play here, I have no idea)

Road:
BYU
Syracuse
Army
Navy
UNLV
Wake Forest

Holy Yankee Conference home schedule, Batman!

That schedule is no better than the worst schedule the AAC will ever hand us and it will *only* cost us 10M and 20K fans to achieve it!
 

ConnHuskBask

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It's truly very simple.

We play all sports as an AAC member and hope that the next TV deal payout increases and we can retain out Tier 3 rights.

Eventually the subsidies will decrease if revenue doesn't increase and then I think you'll see that comes at the expense of non revenue sports first and then eventually the football staff.

It sucks, but I think we can still remain competitive in the AAC for football and nationally competitive for hoops...that is unless the P5/Big East forms their own NCAAT.
 

UConnNick

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I see no reason to offer up another rope ladder to lesser programs. There's zero in it for us.

100% agree w/ Fishy. No UMass to the AAC chatter, please[/QUOTE]

We've already watched one of those teams we helped climb the ladder leapfrog us into the ACC (Louisville), and we just survived a situation when the same thing could have happened with any number of a few other schools, (UH, Cincinnati, UCF, USF).

Let's not help anybody else become just another competitor of ours for promotion to P5 status.
 
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1. Make the most of what you have in the AAC, it could be worse (sun belt, etc).
2. Now's the time to develop the offense, we really need to get better in that dept. I've been watching UCONN for years and we still can't over the good ol' Danny O years. The defense is pretty good, year in and out.
3. By the time the contracts are up UCONN football should be primed to kick some ACC or B1G teeth in on both sides of the field.
 
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1. Make the most of what you have in the AAC, it could be worse (sun belt, etc).
2. Now's the time to develop the offense, we really need to get better in that dept. I've been watching UCONN for years and we still can't over the good ol' Danny O years. The defense is pretty good, year in and out.
3. By the time the contracts are up UCONN football should be primed to kick some ACC or B1G teeth in on both sides of the field.
They're gonna need revenue to survive til then. The idea with a merger would be to offer twice as much content. UConn should never be asked to go to CA, in that scenario unless they desired such a trip.

Now Aresco sounds confident they will make more money. They could double the current TV payout and that still won't come close to being enough to keep pace.

One thing I agree with Nelson is that they gotta look outside the box to find a more profitable way of doing business. We will see what happens.
 
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I normally hate fantasy realignment threads, but they should divide by pods, and quite possibly play non conference games against one another. We've already seen p5 schools do the former and play non conf games against conference foes.

It's a lot of inventory, and you can get some quality match ups. Perhaps add a couple other G5 schools they think would be decent adds.

A lot of great thoughts here, everyone should keep the ideas flowing because I do believe this is the write track. First and foremost, unfortunately it's all about the money. So I say go contra to what the Big 12 did and EXPAND and welcome teams that are worthy of P6 status! We have undoubtedly the best TV conference commish in the country so he needs to test the waters with the networks to see what combination of teams in a new restructured, truly national American Athletic conference is most desirable. If reeling in any of the Mountain West's better programs, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Air Force, or UNLV, plus of course independent BYU makes sense to the Networks and a big money TV contract then do what they say because as we all know too well by now, they control the game. Once Aresco has an idea of what the "right" expanded AAC conference is and what kind of dollars it will reap, then go to the schools that make the most sense and do the deal. The AAC, especially with Aresco at the helm is in a great position to pull this off. Here is what a possible expanded American could look like.

HOW COULD THIS NOT BE CALLED A POWER 6 CONFERENCE
New 16 Team American Athletic Conference

EAST

UCONN
TEMPLE
CINCINATTI
ECU
NAVY
UCF
USF
MEMPHIS

WEST

HOUSTON
SMU
TULSA
TULANE

They would pick from a selection of teams based on a combination of factors, FOOTBALL(most important) travel partners, TV markets, basketball prowess, etc.

The best candidates in my opinion would be:

BYU
Boise State
Colorado State
Air Force
San Diego State
UNLV

There are some pretty good basketball schools in there.

If Aresco could fetch 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 per team in a truly National conference like this it would be easy to reel any of these teams in.

Finally, I am well aware that the sports networks are already paying for this content on the cheap and if bringing BYU into the Mountain West was that enticing they would jump on it. The point of this expansion idea is that the 4 strongest Western teams make an expanded American all that much better.
 
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ConnHuskBask

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Some of you guys need to take a step back and just deal with the reality that our current situation is the best for us outside of the P5.

UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego state ain't saving the future of UConn athletics.
 
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Some of you guys need to take a step back and just deal with the reality that our current situation is the best for us outside of the P5.

UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego state ain't saving the future of UConn athletics.
It is, but the revenue somehow has to increase dramatically. There is no surviving this at the current TV payout and resemble anything remotely close to a P5 program in 10 years. Status quo isn't going to cut it.
 

ConnHuskBask

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It is, but the revenue somehow has to increase dramatically. There is no surviving this at the current TV payout and resemble anything remotely close to a P5 program in 10 years. Status quo isn't going to cut it.

I don't disagree at all with you on any of those points. I know we're all scrambling for ideas but the reality is that it's AAC, P5, or bust.
 
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A lot of great thoughts here, everyone should keep the ideas flowing because I do believe this is the write track. First and foremost, unfortunately it's all about the money. So I say go contra to what the Big 12 did and EXPAND and welcome teams that are worthy of P6 status! We have undoubtedly the best TV conference commish in the country so he needs to test the waters with the networks to see what combination of teams in a new restructured, truly national American Athletic conference is most desirable. If reeling in any of the Mountain West's better programs, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Air Force, or UNLV, plus of course independent BYU makes sense to the Networks and a big money TV contract then do what they say because as we all know too well by now, they control the game. Once Aresco has an idea of what the "right" expanded AAC conference is and what kind of dollars it will reap, then go to the schools that make the most sense and do the deal. The AAC, especially with Aresco at the helm is in a great position to pull this off. Here is what a possible expanded American could look like.

HOW COULD THIS NOT BE CALLED A POWER 6 CONFERENCE
New 16 Team American Athletic Conference

EAST

UCONN
TEMPLE
CINCINATTI
ECU
NAVY
UCF
USF
MEMPHIS

WEST

HOUSTON
SMU
TULSA
TULANE

They would pick from a selection of teams based on a combination of factors, FOOTBALL(most important) travel partners, TV markets, basketball prowess, etc.

The best candidates in my opinion would be:

BYU
Boise State
Colorado State
Air Force
San Diego State
UNLV

There are some pretty good basketball schools in there.

If Aresco could fetch 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 per team in a truly National conference like this it would be easy to reel any of these teams in.

Finally, I am well aware that the sports networks are already paying for this content on the cheap and if bringing BYU into the Mountain West was that enticing they would jump on it. The point of this expansion idea is that the 4 strongest Western teams make an expanded American all that much better.
I think 10-15 million is overly optimistic. I think they will have to sell their games over various platforms to be able to get their full value whatever that is. If people haven't noticed P5 coaches and AD's have openly talked about scheduling exclusively against each other for "fair, competitive" purposes. A confederation of the best schools outside the P5 should help with scheduling, and could lessen travel issues if grouped regionally.
 
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I don't disagree at all with you on any of those points. I know we're all scrambling for ideas but the reality is that it's AAC, P5, or bust.
Then I would expect to bust. With the current P5 contracts set in stone, no one is getting elevated out of the G5 anytime soon. Jeff Jacobs called it "the sad, long road to irrelavency", I just can't see how standing pat, hoping for better is a reasonable way to look at things. We've tried that approach and watched Louisville get picked ahead of us, the Big 12 decide to not expand, and our entire conference get picked to the bone. I guess we will see.
 

Husky25

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HOW COULD THIS NOT BE CALLED A POWER 6 CONFERENCE

It depends what a network would pay for it. $164M per year will barely cut it, let alone over 10 years. Also the CFP committee would have to consider it on par with the other P5 leagues as well as the P5 leagues also needing to view the 6th conference as a peer when they don't view each other as peers. the final hurdle of perception is the media which actually brings it full circle. What will a network pay?
 
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