OT: Realignment?

[Greedo]

Bingo! I totally agree.

Now which teams would we have a better chance of beating and generating entertainment? MAC or B1G teams?

I don't think it's that simple. Winning and playing MAC teams on a Wednesday night will draw a smaller crowd than being competitive (sometimes winning, sometimes losing) and playing B1G teams on a Saturday. I think both scenarios are obtainable if we get the right coach. So for that reason we should stay independent.

 

[metsfan2323]

I don't think it's that simple. Winning and playing MAC teams on a Wednesday night will draw a smaller crowd than being competitive (sometimes winning, sometimes losing) and playing B1G teams on a Saturday. I think both scenarios are obtainable if we get the right coach. So for that reason we should stay independent.

I just took a quick look at Buffalo's schedule. They play one Midweek home game this year on a Wednesday. One Midweek home game per year would not be the end of the world.

I actually think the UCONN head coaching job would generate more and better applicants in the MAC. Coaches aren't dumb, if they want to use UCONN as a stepping stone they are going to want to play a winnable schedule. As it currently stands some of the better candidates might view the job as career suicide. We would actually be the Big Fish in the MAC pond.

 

[Ha Who]

Jeez let’s just recreate the Yankee Conference

 

[Hoophound]

Crazy talk. We fly to CT every fall for a game or two. If we join the MAC we will go to zero games, ever. That would be like going FCS to me. You have to cater to the people that actually go to games and I don’t know anyone that regularly attends games that would go for the MAC.

 

[metsfan2323]

Crazy talk. We fly to CT every fall for a game or two. If we join the MAC we will go to zero games, ever. That would be like going FCS to me. You have to cater to the people that actually go to games and I don’t know anyone that regularly attends games that would go for the MAC.

Which games are you going to this year?

 

[phillionaire]

Crazy talk. We fly to CT every fall for a game or two. If we join the MAC we will go to zero games, ever. That would be like going FCS to me. You have to cater to the people that actually go to games and I don’t know anyone that regularly attends games that would go for the MAC.

I would be able to regularly see games closer to home if they joined the MAC since I'm out in Michigan , but I would rather see them play at Michigan, OSU, Purdue, ND, Illinois, Indiana or other big-name midwestern schools that we either have games scheduled with or can get in the future. Joining the MAC has the same effect as going to FCS.

 

[metsfan2323]

Joining the MAC has the same effect as going to FCS.

Bullcrap!

Western Michigan played in the Cotton Bowl 5 years ago. Coastal Carolina is in a league at the same level as the MAC and they are ranked. I don't see any FCS teams doing that.

We would be capable of being Coastal Carolina in the MAC. We would actually draw more fans than they do if we were ranked.

Toledo almost beat Notre Dame last week!

 

[huskymedic]

 

[phillionaire]

Bullcrap!

Western Michigan played in the Cotton Bowl 5 years ago. Coastal Carolina is in a league at the same level as the MAC and they are ranked. I don't see any FCS teams doing that.

We would be capable of being Coastal Carolina in the MAC. We would actually draw more fans than they do if we were ranked.

Toledo almost beat Notre Dame last week!

Lol I wish I was as delusional as you

 

[metsfan2323]

Lol I wish I was as delusional as you

When facts are considered delusional you are the one who is delusional.

 

[phillionaire]

When facts are considered delusional you are the one who is delusional.

Yes the MAC is just going to let us park our football program there and we’re going to likely take a pay cut to join their conference. And then we’re most likely going to have to do home basketball games. I’m sure playing on the road in Ypsilanti or Kalamazoo is going to do wonders for our basketball program.

 

[Hoophound]

Which games are you going to this year?

Wyoming and maybe Houston. This year is unique in that I have to be in New England those weeks so I’m going to the games that coincide. Normally, I’d pick games I wanted to see.

In the last 5 years I’ve seen Cincy, UCF, USF, Tulsa and others. I had tickets for Illinois but gave them away due to other commitments. I would never fly there for a MAC team. I would only go see them play a MAC team if I was going to be there anyway. If we were playing a full MAC schedule, I’d cease fandom. The fun for me is the dream of national relevance. The MAC would kill that dream. I have trouble believing that anyone that experienced the good years would ever suggest the MAC. We had a truly big time environment as recently as 8 years ago.

 

[Vowelguy]

American targeting Mountain West powers among handful of expansion candidates in realignment

The Mountain West could suffer significant blows if the AAC corrals the teams it's targeting

www.cbssports.com

Help me out here.

What does the diluted AAC offer that these schools dont get from the MW?
They should hold together and bring SMU and Memphis on.

 

[CAtlantic]

The conversations, Thompson said, encompass the merits of keeping the current Mountain West intact, evaluating potential expansion targets and whether to stay at 10 football-playing members should a couple schools bolt for the AAC.

Thompson wouldn’t say which two are most apt to entertain the AAC’s advances, but several sources inside and outside the conference confirmed they are Air Force and Colorado State — and not San Diego State or Boise State, which seem content to stay in the Mountain West and wait for another round of power conference expansion, most likely with the Big 12. Earlier this year, SDSU Athletic Director John David Wicker called a rumored move to the AAC a “nonstarter.”

Mountain West commissioner pushes back against possible poaching from AAC

Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson has remained relatively quiet as the capricious winds of conference realignment swirl around him, as his counterparts in the American Athletic Conference a…

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

 

[MemphisBlues]

Help me out here.

What does the diluted AAC offer that these schools dont get from the MW?
They should hold together and bring SMU and Memphis on.

It's been mentioned by Dennis Dodd and others that Memphis and Boise State are next in line if the Big 12 expands again. That's a disincentive for either to incur all those conference switching fees.

 

[shizzle787]

Mountain West commissioner pushes back against possible poaching from AAC

Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson has remained relatively quiet as the capricious winds of conference realignment swirl around him, as his counterparts in the American Athletic Conference a…

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

If Air Force and Colorado State move to the AAC, I think both conferences would still have a decent brand and stay at 10.

 

[ScottVib]

I don't doubt that the AAC would like to poach the MWC, as they need to, to keep their TV deal anywhere near $5M per team, per year. That said, the Big XII rumors on a second expansion is going to freeze Boise State in place, you aren't paying MWC exit (and AAC entrance) fees to then a few years later pay the AAC exit (and Big XII entrance) fees. At the same time SMU, knowing that Memphis is a likely goner if the Big XII expands, may well see more stability in a Mountain West conference that might lose one program; the Mountain West could see massive new markets as well by adding SMU and Rice. That would likely solidify the MWC deal at no worse than the $4M/school/year it gets currently even if Boise left (and it would likely be closer to $5M-5.5/school/year if/when Boise is there).

In the scenario where SMU bolts coupled with Memphis' refusal to sign a grant of rights (and they shouldn't) the AAC becomes even more of C-USA 2.0 when they're stuck adding UAB, etc. The league at that point becomes less palatable to Navy who also leaves, slashing the value further... perhaps to the point where Temple has to beg to go back to the A-10 and join the independents themselves. By the end of the shenanigans; I wouldn't be shocked if the AAC's new TV deal looks like a MAC on steroids deal.

 

[ScottVib]

One interesting line from the article:

“They have been told simply by the departure of those three schools, their average annual value drops to mid-$40 million,” Thompson said of the total AAC payout. “The Mountain West is $40 million. It’s a push. So you’re not going there for TV money. What are you going there for?

“When you value and balance brand, revenue and the practicality of playing in downtown Philadelphia and North Carolina and Tampa, is that what you want? You can do whatever you want in football, but you still have to address those other sports and the travel costs and the logistics.”

So you figure that a 10 team league without the departing schools is already just barely ahead of MWC. $12.5M is the MWC exit fee and it doubles if you give less than the required (1 year) notice. The AAC's is $10M with 27 months notice and as UConn showed can escalate significantly if you lessen that. No one is running to pay the exit fees for a low marginal increase.

 

[Vowelguy]

If Air Force and Colorado State move to the AAC, I think both conferences would still have a decent brand and stay at 10.

Lol
Haven’t you been arguing for weeks that the AAC would add Rice?

AAC too unstable to hold at 10. They need to shore up for future losses. Besides the fact that and CSU are pretty snoozer additions. If they can hold together, they go to 12 or 14 I bet. Im surprised Liberty has not been mentioned.

 

[Vowelguy]

One interesting line from the article:


So you figure that a 10 team league without the departing schools is already just barely ahead of MWC. $12.5M is the MWC exit fee and it doubles if you give less than the required (1 year) notice. The AAC's is $10M with 27 months notice and as UConn showed can escalate significantly if you lessen that. No one is running to pay the exit fees for a low marginal increase.

I was really surprised by that line. The AAC dregs are worth that much? Why?

 

[huskymedic]

Sources say Houston and TCU were ‘this close’ to receiving an invite to the Pac-12

https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/article254113023.html

 

[Vowelguy]

Houston? Hahahahaha

 

[UC1995]

If you think our attendance sucks now when we have compelling opponents that we get to play on the weekends/Friday night, think how low the attendance will be playing Miami (OH) in November on a Wednesday night. At least now we're getting games against teams our fan base cares about. I can't see many people showing up for Wednesday night #MACtion.

You could have at least bagged on teams like Bowling Green or Eastern Michigan. Miami (OH) is a great school with more history than most of the MAC teams.

 

[Dooooooomed]

With news of the Colorado State/Air Force move to the AAC all but final...

 

[NowInStorrs]

https://twitter.com/MattBrownEP/status/1439959547452567554?s=20

I don't know how reliable this guy is but more smoke about , CSU, and UAB to the AAC.