You speak the truth.
What year attendance stats are you looking at? Cincy didn't have a single home game less than 9k this year.
What's sad is Houston. Everyone is talking them up as a potential power conference team, but they spent a bunch of money to renovate the Fertitta Center and their new capacity is 7,039? That screams mid-major.
I'm a Cincinnati guy, not here to flame......... The Big East is a more exciting basketball conference, and the Tournament at MSG is one of the coolest events in college sports. We don't love the AAC. Playing schools like Eastern Carolina, Tulsa, and Tulane is crap. But, if Cincinnati's administration had just destroyed our football program the way Connecticut's has just destroyed their football program we would burn the joint down. However, most of your folks seem pleased with the move and that's all that matters.
Ok makes sense then on those numbers. Cincy played off campus that year which is why they're attendance was less than normal. Surprised the NCAA hasn't released this year's numbers yet. We're way past the season.
Additionally, the loss of UConn will be a recruiting hit for the AAC. Regardless of UConn's record in the last few years, the name still has impact on both TV and in the eyes of recruits. Memphis with Penny's recruits may pick up some of the slack, but the league as a whole just doesn't have the draw to continually attract top recruits. Combined with the tradition of successful coaches taking better jobs and there is not the stability to compete over the long haul with the NBE. Cronin is gone. How long before a team decides that Sampson's success is sufficient to ignore his past violations? If Greg Marshall builds another strong team, how long can he continually brush aside P5 offers?
I neither wanted nor expected the big east thing. upon reflection and further review, I am now fully onboard and excited for the new reality, mostly due to the outpouring of excitement and good vibes exhibited by husky nation for this move. pretty cool. on a more strategic level, it seems as if there are distant rumblings in the business of college sports, and this husky move may prove pioneering, especially with the sny opportunities. as a business, the separation and elevation of the husky brand can scare all competitors in the northeast. I expect bigtime husky football to survive this earthquake, and would prefer an independent program to thrive best. we're different--let's own it.
Nick's right eventually the money differential will make the G5 the minor leagues, but that's true whether we are in the American or the NBE. I'm coming around to the move to the NBE. In the near term I think we will actually come out ahead on a net revenue basis. In the long term? Who knows, but probably not worse than staying in the American.
I think that some of that is that the leaking of the deal caused us to move without our i's dotted and t's crossed. If this came out in a month, with a SNY deal in place, a couple of more home and aways scheduled for football, and a detailed analysis of how we are coming out ahead financially, would you feel so strongly against it?
