Big 12 Non-Expansion: What Does It Mean to the AAC and UConn? | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Big 12 Non-Expansion: What Does It Mean to the AAC and UConn?

ConnHuskBask

Shut Em Down!
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
8,936
Reaction Score
32,588
I just checked my mail. No Big 10 invitation. Maybe tomorrow.

So inviting 12 more mouths to feed from our already small revenue pie is the way to go?

The worst moves to date by the AAC were inviting Tulsa and Tulane due to athletic success, location and national appeal.

The Nelson plan is double down, check that 12x down that plan and get every school in the Mountains, Plains and California that the Pacific 12 and Big 12 won't even look at and somehow that raises the American's profile? Got it.
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
2,472
Reaction Score
4,896
How does the AAC stack up in terms of RPI? If it's better or equal to the Big East then I'll gladly shut up.

One less thing to worry about.

Again Big East #4, American #8, no question Big East better but American not atrocious!

Rank Conference Avg. RPI Avg. SOS SOS Rank Teams
1 Big 12 0.5883 0.5843 1 10
2 Pacific-12 0.5776 0.5777 2 12
3 Atlantic Coast 0.5715 0.5667 3 15
4 Big East 0.5606 0.5569 4 10
5 Big Ten 0.5514 0.5491 6 14
6 Southeastern 0.5496 0.5527 5 14
7 Atlantic 10 0.5361 0.5383 7 14
8 American Athletic 0.5349 0.5332 8 11
9 Colonial Athletic 0.5231 0.5188 9 10
10 Mid-American 0.5179 0.5129 11 12
11 Summit 0.5130 0.5012 13 9
12 Mountain West 0.5122 0.5164 10 11
13 Missouri Valley 0.4978 0.5021 12 10
14 West Coast 0.4953 0.4983 14 10
15 Big West 0.4912 0.4920 15 9
16 Ivy League 0.4897 0.4863 16 8
17 Sun Belt 0.4864 0.4838 17 11
18 Horizon League 0.4863 0.4808 19 9
19 Southern 0.4820 0.4797 20 10
20 Metro Atlantic Athletic 0.4814 0.4838 18 11
21 Ohio Valley 0.4741 0.4745 22 12
22 Conference USA 0.4730 0.4789 21 14
23 America East 0.4685 0.4634 25 9
24 Patriot League 0.4648 0.4658 23 10
25 Big South 0.4639 0.4621 26 11
26 Western Athletic 0.4589 0.4634 24 8
27 Big Sky 0.4538 0.4544 28 12
28 Atlantic Sun 0.4462 0.4596 27 9
29 Southland 0.4387 0.4434 29 13
30 Northeast 0.4377 0.4397 30 10
31 Southwestern Athletic 0.4309 0.4331 31 10
32 Mid-Eastern 0.4200 0.4315 32 13
 
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
5,475
Reaction Score
13,065
I feel you pain brother. Football has sucked for two long. Diaco and Staff have made some questionable calls but having said that, we are seeing improvement. In my opinion UCONN must finish 7-5 and go to a bowl this year. Otherwise all bets are off and Diaco will have to be concerned next year. The program just can't tolerate anymore crappy seasons.

I decided to comment on your points. I appreciate your service to our country and since you gave us your time, I
decided to pay close attention to your thoughts and emotions.

-Basketball in this conference is still atrocious, and it's hard to see that changing much.

Big East is a better basketball conference but atrocious for the AAC is a bit too harsh. Seven of the American's 11 teams (UCONN, Cincy, Houston, Memphis, Temple, SMU and Tulsa) have some tradition in basketball. The Big East teams consisting of Butler, Creighton, Depaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. Johns, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier are sexier seasoned teams. USF and UCF are relatively new to big time Basketball. ECU being in North Carolina has never been a power but I can see them improving. The American has some really good coaches too. Although the Big East is better it is somewhat comforting to see that the NCAA tournament numbers are not that far apart. Obviously UCONN impacts the American's numbers considerably but non the less the comparison leaves some room for optimism.

AMERICAN..... BIG....EAST
NCAA CHAMPS ..6 ..4
NCAA RUNNER UP..... 5.. 9
NCAA FINAL 4.. 22..... 22
NCAA ELITE 8... 41..... 49
NCAA SWEET 16..... 69..... 87
NCAA APPEARANCES 175....228

-Football arguably is better than in it ever was in the New Big East (NBE). That alone should be enough to get the TV payout higher but probably not high enough.

I am in agreement here. Hoping Mike Aresco's experience in TV will help land a solid TV contract.

-With Big 12 expansion shut down should the AAC actually seize some initiative and raid the best two schools from the MWC?


I hear you but didn't we try that already with Boise State and San Diego State. They would only come if Aresco negotiates a better TV contract and if so, I doubt if the networks would want to pay out more dough similar to the recent Big 8 decision not to expand.

-If the AAC doesn't get serious about improving basketball and improving the members then UConn should give consideration to leaving.

Again I refer you to the numbers above. The American has some tradition but also some emerging teams. No reason why USF, UCF and ECU can't make strides in basketball. I have heard of adding Wichita State, and VCU for example. Not a bad idea but we had that in the Big East and having bball only teams caused problems. Also you may have to split revenue with more teams. Having said that fans would certainly come out to see Wichita State and VCU. If attendance sours they may have to do something dramatic like that.

-The AAC is not powerful enough to tell us to go pound sand if we removed basketball. We could probably get Cincy to go with us just to hold the conference hostage.

Doesn't make sense to leave the American. The American didn't hurt the girls, they still won three championships and the men won one. Basketball is still a big revenue earner for UCONN. The key is scheduling top notch high profile non conference games. I do agree that UCONN fans are not going
to get excited about, Tulane and ECU but then again, Nova and Georgetown are more exciting than Depau and Seton Hall. You are correct the American has to get better overall in basketball or UCONN's attendance numbers will suffer.


As for UConn it is time to stop fooling around with the football program. Diaco needs to feel some heat, and the admin needs to step up and find him some more money to hire some decent assistants.


If Diaco finishes 7-5 or better yet 8-4, Diaco is not going anywhere. He is building a program and Benedict just gave him a raise. If you want to kill the momentum fire these coaches but they are a tight knit group and it's not all on the coaches. The players make the plays.

I'm in the military, I used to plan R&R during combat deployments to see two home games. When I was in Germany for three years, ditto. Not too many other people have flown across the Atlantic as much as I have to watch home games.

Thanks for your service to our country it is much appreciated!


I regularly choose not to watch games now, because it's no longer fun to watch. The program is pretty close to losing me and I'm hardly alone.

I agree watching these games has been brutal and heartbreaking. However I see the program getting better. Diaco is
too enamored with Bryant Sheriffs, however I believe he will get competition from Donovan Williams next spring. Diaco must have had to Redshirt him this year. I am sure he learned a great deal under Sheriffs.

-Hire an OC or someone capable of scouting and recruiting a few good quarterbacks and start playing attractive football. If this program ever developed some sex appeal it would be SO FRICKING EASY to dominate New England and the Region even with Syracuse and BC being P5. They've been around forever and haven't figured it out, that won't change anytime soon.

Perhaps a new OC will help although FV has opened up things lately. I would like to see us dominate the North East. I want to believe that BD and staff are working towards that. I am going to wait out the season. If we improve and go to a bowl, I will be satisfied but 2017 is a year when we are going to have to dominate. I would like to see us win the last 5 games in a row like USF did and then go on a tear next year.

-Restructure ticket pricing, make the best seats affordable to the most loyal fans. I'm sick of seeing the best seats empty. And while it's stupid to bitch about attendance, it's still terrible optics.

I have to admit that I have given some thought to giving up my blue chair backs and heavy seat donation but I do it partly to contribute to the University, plus I hold out hope that one day we will put it all together.


-This is an opportunity. Last time we were rejected football sucked, this time they raider opted to take an appetite suppressant and we dodged a bullet. And by the way FOOTBALL STILL SUCKS and there is very little reassurance that it will get any better.

-Bottom line, fix football and keep it fixed and we will make it back.

I couldn't agree with you more!
:)
Navy is a football only and ECU was suppose to be. In this day and age G5 conferences have to be flexable and maximize a limited revenue stream
BB NCAA money is huge in the G5. If your a six bid conference that a minimum of close to $6 million over the distribution period without winning a game. UConn's Championship was worth $10million dollars to the AAC and were still being compensated for Louisville NC
The Big East was a power struggle between the basketball schools and the football schools each looking to further their own agenda.
That's much different than a marraige of convinence
UConn was very willing to park all sports but football in the Big East if the Big 12 selected us and apparently the Big East was willing to accommodate that model.
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2012
Messages
405
Reaction Score
458
That's bs. ESPN dictates the term P5.

Its a joke. The line isn't as clear as the networks would like so they are creating an artificial gap.

If there were means testing to be a P5 I might agree. In no way is Wake Forest more valuable than Uconn.

Now, you might not like how the line is constructed, but it's actually a very clear line and there's nothing really artificial about it.

In the BCS era, there were 6 AQ conferences that were provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

In the CFP era, there are now 5 P5 conferences that are provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

That seems pretty clear. Maybe it's not "fair", but it's definitely clear.

Also, it doesn't matter whether Wake Forest is more valuable than UConn or not. Wake Forest is a founding member of the ACC and, just like the founding member of a successful company, they get to enjoy the fruits of that founding status as long as the ACC exists. They were in the right place at the right time. As a comparison, Mark Zuckerberg's personal assistant/secretary that was granted a bunch of Facebook options before their IPO and is surely wealthier now than all of us here on this board combined and then some. If you or I wanted to get the same amount of Facebook stock as a new employee, we'd essentially have to create an entire new line of business for Facebook that generated billions of dollars of revenue. Is that "fair" even if you had a PhD from MIT and an MBA from Harvard with genius math ability while Zuckerberg's PA just happened to answer the right Monster ad back when Facebook was a tiny startup? Well, the point is that first movers and founders get disproportionate rewards. This is a long-winded way of saying that being better than Wake Forest is NOT the standard to get into the P5. Instead, you have to compare yourselves to at least the middle of the pack of the P5 (if not better) because that's really the standard that's going to apply to G5 schools wanting to get in going forward.
 

UConnDan97

predicting undefeated seasons since 1983
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
12,027
Reaction Score
42,264
Now, you might not like how the line is constructed, but it's actually a very clear line and there's nothing really artificial about it.

In the BCS era, there were 6 AQ conferences that were provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

In the CFP era, there are now 5 P5 conferences that are provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

That seems pretty clear. Maybe it's not "fair", but it's definitely clear.

Also, it doesn't matter whether Wake Forest is more valuable than UConn or not. Wake Forest is a founding member of the ACC and, just like the founding member of a successful company, they get to enjoy the fruits of that founding status as long as the ACC exists. They were in the right place at the right time. As a comparison, Mark Zuckerberg's personal assistant/secretary that was granted a bunch of Facebook options before their IPO and is surely wealthier now than all of us here on this board combined and then some. If you or I wanted to get the same amount of Facebook stock as a new employee, we'd essentially have to create an entire new line of business for Facebook that generated billions of dollars of revenue. Is that "fair" even if you had a PhD from MIT and an MBA from Harvard with genius math ability while Zuckerberg's PA just happened to answer the right Monster ad back when Facebook was a tiny startup? Well, the point is that first movers and founders get disproportionate rewards. This is a long-winded way of saying that being better than Wake Forest is NOT the standard to get into the P5. Instead, you have to compare yourselves to at least the middle of the pack of the P5 (if not better) because that's really the standard that's going to apply to G5 schools wanting to get in going forward.

If one creates groups that are differentially rewarded and have differential access based on popularity of certain members within the group, while at the same time purposely limiting the rewards and access of other high-performers not within those groups.......yeah, that's pretty f#$king artificial...
 

WestHartHusk

$3M a Year With March Off
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
4,559
Reaction Score
13,680
So what is the "clear line" for a founding member of a BCS conference whose destruction was set upon by its media "partner"?
 

MattMang23

Adding Nothing to the Conversation
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
5,150
Reaction Score
14,742
Now, you might not like how the line is constructed, but it's actually a very clear line and there's nothing really artificial about it.

In the BCS era, there were 6 AQ conferences that were provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

In the CFP era, there are now 5 P5 conferences that are provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

That seems pretty clear. Maybe it's not "fair", but it's definitely clear.

Also, it doesn't matter whether Wake Forest is more valuable than UConn or not. Wake Forest is a founding member of the ACC and, just like the founding member of a successful company, they get to enjoy the fruits of that founding status as long as the ACC exists. They were in the right place at the right time. As a comparison, Mark Zuckerberg's personal assistant/secretary that was granted a bunch of Facebook options before their IPO and is surely wealthier now than all of us here on this board combined and then some. If you or I wanted to get the same amount of Facebook stock as a new employee, we'd essentially have to create an entire new line of business for Facebook that generated billions of dollars of revenue. Is that "fair" even if you had a PhD from MIT and an MBA from Harvard with genius math ability while Zuckerberg's PA just happened to answer the right Monster ad back when Facebook was a tiny startup? Well, the point is that first movers and founders get disproportionate rewards. This is a long-winded way of saying that being better than Wake Forest is NOT the standard to get into the P5. Instead, you have to compare yourselves to at least the middle of the pack of the P5 (if not better) because that's really the standard that's going to apply to G5 schools wanting to get in going forward.

Which is an absurd measure. There is no way that going forward G5 schools will be able to compete with the revenue streams as disproportionate as they are between leagues. Asking these have nots to meet the same metrics as the haves is a self fulfilling prophecy. The haves know it can't happen and so setting the bar at a level that can never be achieved makes it inherently impossible that it will be achieved.
 

SubbaBub

Your stupidity is ruining my country.
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
32,093
Reaction Score
24,542
The Tulane talk was a proxy for holding put against Houston. I'm convinced of that. OU couldn't be against Houston without an alternative school. A disposable one was best if it ever got to horse trading.

Any school against UH + 1 couldn't have UH in theit initial list of acceptable schools.

You also had presidents doing solids for each other by naming there no chance schools to list of finalists. (SMU, et al)
 

MattMang23

Adding Nothing to the Conversation
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
5,150
Reaction Score
14,742
So what is the "clear line" for a founding member of a BCS conference whose destruction was set upon by its media "partner"?

I know how this plays out. Frank tells us that we weren't a founding member of the football league. Then I tell Frank that really no football team other than Cuse and BC were founding members of the Big East because the football league began 14 years after the all sports league and so the first "real Big East teams" (ie football teams) in the league other than Cuse, Pitt (who was there at the start of the football league but was not a founding Big East member) and BC came in as associate members and weren't full Big East members until later.

So the bar then moves arbitrarily again.
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2012
Messages
405
Reaction Score
458
Which is an absurd measure. There is no way that going forward G5 schools will be able to compete with the revenue streams as disproportionate as they are between leagues. Asking these have nots to meet the same metrics as the haves is a self fulfilling prophecy. The haves know it can't happen and so setting the bar at a level that can never be achieved makes it inherently impossible that it will be achieved.

Well, I agree that it's setting the bar at a really high level. The Big 12 just decided not to invite anyone despite having the lowest financial and academic barriers to entry out of any P5 league, so it's even higher for the other power conferences. The bar is only going to get higher from this point forward (which is why alternative options like football independence for UConn, which would have been a terrible idea before yesterday, might now need to be at least considered since the P5 is effectively shutting its doors down for the next generation).
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2012
Messages
405
Reaction Score
458
I know how this plays out. Frank tells us that we weren't a founding member of the football league. Then I tell Frank that really no football team other than Cuse and BC were founding members of the Big East because the football league began 14 years after the all sports league and so the first "real Big East teams" (ie football teams) in the league other than Cuse, Pitt (who was there at the start of the football league but was not a founding Big East member) and BC came in as associate members and weren't full Big East members until later.

So the bar then moves arbitrarily again.

Oh, I wouldn't say it's a different bar. It's more like UConn was a member of a conference that simply failed (just like there are thousands of startups that fail for every Facebook-type success). Some other schools like Syracuse were able to find golden parachutes in time but UConn wasn't able to do so. If the ACC ended up breaking apart, you could certainly see Wake Forest getting left behind. Note that I emphasized that Wake Forest would enjoy its founder status "as long as the ACC exists". There isn't a guarantee that the ACC will exist forever - I'm just saying that Wake has its privileges as long as its league *does* exist. Same thing with a split up Big 12 - schools like Iowa State and Baylor may not have life rafts in that situation.

The reality is that UConn didn't have much or any control over its conference situation until the ACC was looking for its replacement for Maryland. That was the one time that UConn really had a head-to-head competition with another school and it was a fit that (on paper) was a match. In terms of everything that I've observed and written about regarding conference realignment for nearly a decade, the fact that the ACC picked Louisville over UConn was the only time that I was legitimately surprised at a move at the power conference level. You can look back at posts #5 and #6 on the very first page of the "Key Tweets" thread that was started back in 2012 - they show my Tweets about how I thought it would be a massive mindshift if the ACC picked Louisville over UConn. Now, I understand posthumously why the ACC made that choice, but it still flew in the face of what the ACC purported to have as its expansion criteria for everyone else up until that point in time.

Even this Big 12 expansion process was always going to be a longshot for UConn. I know that it doesn't need to be said here, but that UConn/Louisville showdown for the ACC slot in 2012 really flipped the script on so many different levels.
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
2,472
Reaction Score
4,896
Now, you might not like how the line is constructed, but it's actually a very clear line and there's nothing really artificial about it.

In the BCS era, there were 6 AQ conferences that were provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

In the CFP era, there are now 5 P5 conferences that are provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

That seems pretty clear. Maybe it's not "fair", but it's definitely clear.

Also, it doesn't matter whether Wake Forest is more valuable than UConn or not. Wake Forest is a founding member of the ACC and, just like the founding member of a successful company, they get to enjoy the fruits of that founding status as long as the ACC exists. They were in the right place at the right time. As a comparison, Mark Zuckerberg's personal assistant/secretary that was granted a bunch of Facebook options before their IPO and is surely wealthier now than all of us here on this board combined and then some. If you or I wanted to get the same amount of Facebook stock as a new employee, we'd essentially have to create an entire new line of business for Facebook that generated billions of dollars of revenue. Is that "fair" even if you had a PhD from MIT and an MBA from Harvard with genius math ability while Zuckerberg's PA just happened to answer the right Monster ad back when Facebook was a tiny startup? Well, the point is that first movers and founders get disproportionate rewards. This is a long-winded way of saying that being better than Wake Forest is NOT the standard to get into the P5. Instead, you have to compare yourselves to at least the middle of the pack of the P5 (if not better) because that's really the standard that's going to apply to G5 schools wanting to get in going forward.

Excellent analogy. Sometimes life's just fair.
 

Exit 4

This space for rent
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
10,397
Reaction Score
38,197
Its funny, but I think this board is at the point where so many people have become quite knowledgeable about CRA that FTT's post no longer seem that informative. Yawn, FTT - we already know this stuff.
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
2,472
Reaction Score
4,896
Well, I agree that it's setting the bar at a really high level. The Big 12 just decided not to invite anyone despite having the lowest financial and academic barriers to entry out of any P5 league, so it's even higher for the other power conferences. The bar is only going to get higher from this point forward (which is why alternative options like football independence for UConn, which would have been a terrible idea before yesterday, might now need to be at least considered since the P5 is effectively shutting its doors down for the next generation).

Independent UCONN in football makes no sense. Go ask UMASS. We will gain reliance by winning in this league. You spoke about investing in a start up and reaping the rewards earlier. Well isn't the ACC a start up? I compare it to an emerging growth company. There is a possibility that Mike Aresco could hit pay dirt at contract renewal time. As slim as that possibility may be, UCONN leaving the AAC prematurely eliminates the possibility of making a return on their investment. UMASS would trade places with UCONN in a New York minute!
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
20,513
Reaction Score
44,465
Interesting that merging with a league that makes less than we currently do would somehow increase our value. Seems like it would only devalue what we have.

More content? Sure. Better content? Aside from Boise State football who is it that is driving this content?

The AAC and MW in their current forms (without kicking members out) are in their best possible forms given the circumstances.

Doing something, just for the sake of it isn't always the best idea. You guys want to be in a league where we are flying to San Jose or Wyoming for games?

Are you out of your mind?
Break down by geographic pods. The purposes are to be the undisputed best league outside the P5, and secure that NY6, bid every year. Everyone doesn't agree I get it, but it's time to try something different.
 

ConnHuskBask

Shut Em Down!
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
8,936
Reaction Score
32,588
Break down by geographic pods. The purposes are to be the undisputed best league outside the P5, and secure that NY6, bid every year. Everyone doesn't agree I get it, but it's time to try something different.

The American is by far the best non P5 league. It's the AAC+Boise+BYU.

Adding 11 more mouths to feed of schools that spend a fraction of we do does nothing to lessen that.

Everyone knows the AAC isn't a great place for UConn, but somehow adding 12 teams that a) make less than us b) have no national cache aside from Boise Football c) further dilute our schedule makes no sense.

Ride it out until our TV deal is up and if we don't get poached between now and then we should see a marginal increase in our TV deal and could fight to get tier 3 back.
 
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
3,335
Reaction Score
5,054
Now, you might not like how the line is constructed, but it's actually a very clear line and there's nothing really artificial about it.

In the BCS era, there were 6 AQ conferences that were provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

In the CFP era, there are now 5 P5 conferences that are provided with guaranteed access to the top level bowls.

That seems pretty clear. Maybe it's not "fair", but it's definitely clear.

Also, it doesn't matter whether Wake Forest is more valuable than UConn or not. Wake Forest is a founding member of the ACC and, just like the founding member of a successful company, they get to enjoy the fruits of that founding status as long as the ACC exists. They were in the right place at the right time. As a comparison, Mark Zuckerberg's personal assistant/secretary that was granted a bunch of Facebook options before their IPO and is surely wealthier now than all of us here on this board combined and then some. If you or I wanted to get the same amount of Facebook stock as a new employee, we'd essentially have to create an entire new line of business for Facebook that generated billions of dollars of revenue. Is that "fair" even if you had a PhD from MIT and an MBA from Harvard with genius math ability while Zuckerberg's PA just happened to answer the right Monster ad back when Facebook was a tiny startup? Well, the point is that first movers and founders get disproportionate rewards. This is a long-winded way of saying that being better than Wake Forest is NOT the standard to get into the P5. Instead, you have to compare yourselves to at least the middle of the pack of the P5 (if not better) because that's really the standard that's going to apply to G5 schools wanting to get in going forward.
You made comment about the P5 label being valuable to the TV networks. My point is that there is very little difference between your bottom 1/3 of the P5 and much of the schools in the AAC with respect to on field performance.
The only difference is that some have a P5 label and others don't. It's an artificial line that only exists to create a two tier system.
And one that creates significant value for the networks at the cost of schools like Uconn. On top of that, the rules are skewed so that G5 don't even get a chance to compete on a level playing field which only further propagates the notion of P5 superiority. It's crap.

On the open market WF has minimal value vs Uconn. And if schools are willing to collude with networks to artificially deflate the value of other peer schools, how long before they go after the WF's.
It's happening now with the Big12. The little eight are about to get cut out.
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
22,196
Reaction Score
4,335
No. Just look at the results at USF. There is far more evidence that I am right.

No it doesn't. Being an Assistant Coach is very, very different than being a Head Coach. It may be that PP could still be a successful assistant. So what.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
26,122
Reaction Score
31,429
No it doesn't. Being an Assistant Coach is very, very different than being a Head Coach. It may be that PP could still be a successful assistant. So what.

You seriously wouldn't even consider him as an OC? Alrighty then.
 

jbdphi

Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
1,494
Reaction Score
2,788
Most head coaches were successful coordinators first, right?

Don't know if you saw the article prior to our game with them but he doesn't call the plays for USF (Taggart does). While he certainly plays a part in the success of their offense this year, you could easily say that has as much to do with the talent they have on the field as well as the plays called by Taggart.

He himself said he didn't think he earned the UConn Head Coach offer with his performance as Interim.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2015
Messages
1,970
Reaction Score
10,561
Yeah but I almost wonder a bit if it's just kind of time to break a lot of the traditional rules. Because playing by those rules has gotten these teams almost nowhere.

The prospective merger to me - or at least going full blown rogue and adding all of the nation's misfit toys... reminds me in a way a lot of the original Big East's mentality minus the more regional appeal, obviously. You have a lot of different schools with different structures, who are all competitive but considered second tier. I think you can maintain the 'markets' approach if you're selective and as long as you're willing to have a few tomato cans in each of your big sports, I feel like it'd be do-able.

-Boise State is obviously the lynch pin. We're a ferocious football conference with them added.
-San Diego State and UNLV make sense on both the football and hoops fronts.
-Colorado State makes sense for football, but there really isn't a hoops compliment that makes much sense...

...unless you allow a VCU type to take up hoops-only membership.. I'm getting into STUPID fantasy land here, but you're looking at a pretty good hoops conference with:

UConn
Houston
Memphis
Cincinnati
UNLV
San Diego State
Temple
VCU

....All within the conference.. and a really good collection of coaches to go with some of your less competitive programs looking to move the ball forward a bit.

With football you're looking at

Air Force, UConn, Boise State, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, SDSU, UNLV, UCF, USF, Temple, East Carolina..

To me it's a mess of interests, scheduling and some other things... but that's a pretty good conference on both ends of the spectrum. Maybe even Wichita State has some interest as a hoops member..

I'm totally off the rails on a range of fronts, but I think if the American is going to have a fighting chance, then they need to kind of shake the approach up and break a lot of stuff to do it..
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Messages
1,976
Reaction Score
7,769
I'd see if Army and Air Force would be interested in football-only adds a la Navy. I would think having all three service academies in the conference could uniquely enhance the AAC's footprint in a national way. This would further increase the value of the AAC's football product. Perhaps CBS Sports would want to be league-wide exclusive broadcast partners then for all sports. They already have the service academy contract for football, right?
 
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
5,475
Reaction Score
13,065
Yeah but I almost wonder a bit if it's just kind of time to break a lot of the traditional rules. Because playing by those rules has gotten these teams almost nowhere.

The prospective merger to me - or at least going full blown rogue and adding all of the nation's misfit toys... reminds me in a way a lot of the original Big East's mentality minus the more regional appeal, obviously. You have a lot of different schools with different structures, who are all competitive but considered second tier. I think you can maintain the 'markets' approach if you're selective and as long as you're willing to have a few tomato cans in each of your big sports, I feel like it'd be do-able.

-Boise State is obviously the lynch pin. We're a ferocious football counference with them added.
-San Diego State and UNLV make sense on both the football and hoops fronts.
-Colorado State makes sense for football, but there really isn't a hoops compliment that makes much sense...

...unless you allow a VCU type to take up hoops-only membership.. I'm getting into STUPID fantasy land here, but you're looking at a pretty good hoops conference with:

UConn
Houston
Memphis
Cincinnati
UNLV
San Diego State
Temple
VCU

....All within the conference.. and a really good collection of coaches to go with some of your less competitive programs looking to move the ball forward a bit.

With football you're looking at

Air Force, UConn, Boise State, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, SDSU, UNLV, UCF, USF, Temple, East Carolina..

To me it's a mess of interests, scheduling and some other things... but that's a pretty good conference on both ends of the spectrum. Maybe even Wichita State has some interest as a hoops member..

I'm totally off the rails on a range of fronts, but I think if the American is going to have a fighting chance, then they need to kind of shake the approach up and break a lot of stuff to do it..
Wichita Kansas is a short drive to Tulsa (2.5 hours) so even though they have talked MW the AAC is a natural. In case anyone missed it Aresco recently went on record siting schools like UConn and a few others unhappiness with the lack of BB competition. It sounded like something that should be addressed.
I don't necessarily want football adds unless it's to appease a key football member like Navy or media partner.
Let's not pretend any G5 conference actually is a long term school goal and conference collegiality can be achieved . . It's a marraige of convienence to keep your hopes alive .
The only goal is maximizing revenue short term
 

Online statistics

Members online
515
Guests online
3,749
Total visitors
4,264

Forum statistics

Threads
155,777
Messages
4,031,327
Members
9,864
Latest member
Sad Tiger


Top Bottom