Best Jobs in AAC

[tcf15]

Courtesy Jeff Goodman...

American Athletic Conference Chain of Command: Best Jobs in the Conference - Stadium

UConn #1 overall (obviously)

1. UConn (96) – The Huskies have won national titles in 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014, they have had a seemingly endless supply of NBA guys come through Gampel Pavilion, and the program ranks in the top four of the league in eight of the nine categories.

Where they win: Sure, the tradition the last four years has taken a hit, but it’s still UConn. Four national titles in the last two decades. No other program can say that. That gets them in the door with just about any top-100 recruit.

The knock: “Storrs, Connecticut. Have you ever been? It’s in the middle of nowhere. Makes it a little more difficult to close the deal with recruits.” – AAC head coach

Ranked on nine separate categories:

#1 in Tradition (The history of the program)​

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#1 in Media Exposure (Games on national television)​

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#3 in Game Atmosphere (Includes attendance)​

#2 - Cincinnati​

#1 - Wichita State​

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#2 in Facilities (Not just the arena, but also practice facilities, weight room, locker rooms, etc.)​

#1 - Memphis​

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#1 in Selling Pros (Being able to sell not only NBA players, but also those who play overseas)​

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#7 in Admission Requirements (Ranked from easiest to get into to most difficult)​

#8 - Cincinnati​

#9 - Tulsa​

#10 - Temple​

#11 - SMU​

#12 - Tulane​

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#1 in Budget/Resources (Includes coaches’ salaries, recruiting budget, travel budget, private planes, cost of attendance, etc.)​

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#1 in Buy Games (Programs who are bought the fewest number of times will rank first)​

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#4 in Geographical Recruiting Base (Proximity to players)​

#3 - Temple​

#2 - Houston​

#1 - Memphis​

 

[pj]

The knock: “Storrs, Connecticut. Have you ever been? It’s in the middle of nowhere. Makes it a little more difficult to close the deal with recruits.” – AAC head coach

Players who prefer to be in a party zone are not players who will win national championships. I think the player-filtering provided by the boringness of Storrs, Ct contributes to our success. We get guys who want to work on their games. "AAC head coach" can keep his party players.

 

[Guapo]

Um those admission requirements...?

 

[BUConn10]

Um those admission requirements...?

Hey, Jeff Goodman really knows what the elite recruits want.

 

[6xChamps]

Cincinnati has an 86% admission rate vs 53% for UConn..?

 

[Palatine]

I believe we have the #1 recruiting base BY FAR with our proximity to both Boston and New York. Memphis? Houston? Are they joking? Temple should be #2 after us.

 

[Ewekon]

No doubt Tulane tops academically but UConn is second. All SMU is is expensive.

 

[superjohn]

Cincinnati has an 86% admission rate vs 53% for UConn..?

It's a ridiculous thing to put in as a factor in this list. If you're good enough to play at both UConn and Cincy you're getting in no matter what.

 

[Slasher]

Yeah there's no way it's harder to get into Cincinnati than UConn. This is very strange. Cincinnati also has all new facilities and is somehow ranked below SMU and their tiny arena?

ECU pays more for buy games than Cincy and Memphis? The whole list is very strange to me.

 

[JMick]

Um those admission requirements...?

The only thing I can think is that they somehow know what the athlete admission requirements are because they're different than general students

 

[Guapo]

The only thing I can think is that they somehow know what the athlete admission requirements are because they're different than general students

Maybe, but something tells me UC isn’t making it harder for their athletes to get in vs the general student body.

 

[Slasher]

The only thing I can think is that they somehow know what the athlete admission requirements are because they're different than general students

I read the methodology a little closer. It's based on voting by coaches, so some of them probably have no clue on some of these things, they're just guessing.

 

[JMick]

I read the methodology a little closer. It's based on voting by coaches, so some of them probably have no clue on some of these things, they're just guessing.

Oh that explains a lot then lol

 

[Guapo]

“I heard UConn is a crap school!” - ECU coach, probably.

 

[kobe]

even though some of the individual rankings are weird, I think that list is pretty accurate on how I'd rank the jobs. must be pretty sad to be a Temple fan rn. they got passed up by Houston and SMU.

 

[HooperScooper]

Um those admission requirements...?

Yeah that ranking is B.S. I guess the other coaches need to be educated on this subject.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Players who prefer to be in a party zone are not players who will win national championships. I think the player-filtering provided by the boringness of Storrs, Ct contributes to our success. We get guys who want to work on their games. "AAC head coach" can keep his party players.

My dude, these are college students. They don't spend all night, Friday through Sunday, practicing their craft.

 

[UConnStats]

I don't think basketball players at big basketball schools have to look to hard to have fun. Also if you didn't have fun at UConn, I'm not sure what you were doing, but you were doing it wrong.

 

[StunningSteve]

even though some of the individual rankings are weird, I think that list is pretty accurate on how I'd rank the jobs. must be pretty sad to be a Temple fan rn. they got passed up by Houston and SMU.

That sounds like recency bias.

Houston under Kelvin Sampson and SMU under Larry Brown/Tim Jankovich have been doing more for the conference since 2013. Not to begrudge them their spotlight, they've both been solid for the league.

Temple should be higher on that list. IMO, a more valid way of composing this list would be a simple rank order of historical relevance (achievements). Houston should stay up there but SMU should move further down.

 

[Travelman6]

I believe we have the #1 recruiting base BY FAR with our proximity to both Boston and New York. Memphis? Houston? Are they joking? Temple should be #2 after us.

Isn't Houston the 3rd largest city in the USA (behind just NYC and LA) in the second (or third?) largest state in the country and near Dallas-Forthworth, Austin and San Antonio, all of which are also large cities? I think that would explain it perfectly. I think Houston at 2 is fine. Philly is also huge, near DC, NYC and Boston.

 

[HawkHusky]

Temple should definitely be in the top half.

 

[Kemba429]

I agree with most of this list except for one. We dont have the best tradition. That belongs to Cincy. Every year I have to tune in to their yearly tradition of losing in the first two rounds.

 

[intlzncster]

I agree with most of this list except for one. We dont have the best tradition. That belongs to Cincy. Every year I have to tune in to their yearly tradition of losing in the first two rounds.

I still can't believe last year. How can you not go through up what was it, 22? in the second half? Mick just gets so goshdarn tight in those situations and the team follows suit. Guy needs to do yoga, meditation and take some Ativan in high pressure spots.

 

[kemba]

My dude, these are college students. They don't spend all night, Friday through Sunday, practicing their craft.

Right but i think the point is you can have a lot of fun partying at UConn or really any school, so if best night life is having a major impact on your decision, it probably says a lot about your priorities.

 

[MDHuskFan]

I believe we have the #1 recruiting base BY FAR with our proximity to both Boston and New York. Memphis? Houston? Are they joking? Temple should be #2 after us.

I think the recruiting base is right if you look strictly geographically. The Texas recruits and Ga/Memphis/Ky recruits are beyond solid. Only difference is that we compete geographically with St John’s, Rutgers, Syracuse for kids that geography matters to. We are 1 or 2 in that list depending on what kids prioritize. Meanwhile, the Texas schools are competing with Texas, A&M,TCU, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, LSU (I know that’s a larger geographical territory, but that’s where all the elites seem to draw from). Memphis has to go against KY, LVille, Indiana, duke, NC and Florida.

IMO the players in those areas may be better, but our appeal in ours vs our competition is better. Just an opinion....

 

[Travelman6]

I still can't believe last year. How can you not go through up what was it, 22? in the second half? Mick just gets so goshdarn tight in those situations and the team follows suit. Guy needs to do yoga, meditation and take some Ativan in high pressure spots.

Incredible game for all the wrong reasons if you are a cincy fan...to choke that one away, wow....I like Nevada but they had no business winning that and only did with an epic collapse. I would think that was a top 10 collapse in college ball history. Yah, it was not that 30 point come back (LSU and Kentucky I think) but the stakes were higher and I can really only think of ISU and Nothern Iowa (I think) overcoming like 14 points in 45 seconds and Duke/Maryland for the acc championship as being bigger off the top of my head.

 

[willie99]

Academic rating is weird, especially since we're at the top of the conference in terms of academic ranking.

As for proximity to recruits; (1) they must be using a narrow radius (2) we recruit NATIONALLY

 

[intlzncster]

Academic rating is weird, especially since we're at the top of the conference in terms of academic ranking.

In the top group, but not the top. Tulane, at least, is ahead of UCONN.

 

[NatiHuskiFan]

Maybe, but something tells me UC isn’t making it harder for their athletes to get in vs the general student body.

Although it’s been 12-13 years since my time at Univ of Cincy, I was a TA for an undergraduate psych course that had basketball players in it and the course work they turned in just made me shake my head

 

[NatiHuskiFan]

Incredible game for all the wrong reasons if you are a cincy fan...to choke that one away, wow....I like Nevada but they had no business winning that and only did with an epic collapse. I would think that was a top 10 collapse in college ball history. Yah, it was not that 30 point come back (LSU and Kentucky I think) but the stakes were higher and I can really only think of ISU and Nothern Iowa (I think) overcoming like 14 points in 45 seconds and Duke/Maryland for the acc championship as being bigger off the top of my head.

It was rough watching it with my fiancé and our friends.... although I don’t care quite as much as I would have if it was UConn it was happening to. It’s almost become expected here with the Reds, Bengals... and Bearcats