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Message: [QUOTE="Towney007, post: 3204552, member: 5832"] There's no future in a conference where everyone's goal is to get out as quick as possible. None. The Big East worked originally because it was a group of schools with the same goals and who were all pulling from the same end of the rope. There was a 'up yours' mentality to it. It had geographic identity. It had cultural identity. It worked geographically. It all made sense. But even that took catching lightning in a bottle on the ESPN TV deal. None of that exists in the AAC. No one wants to be here. Everyone - particularly us (which we should take no shame in) - is insanely self-interested. There's no geography. No shared culture. No history, no rivals, no regional history... and whenever anyone says the conference sucks - doesn't matter if you're at Houston or Memphis or UConn.. everyone's nodding in agreement. It's not - in any single way - a sustainable league. And it never has been. That's why when it was basically Conference USA - it didn't work. And that's kind of been my whole point all along with the AAC and why i've always been against waiting it out. SOMEONE was going to go. And that someone was going to be one of the better football programs (Houston/Memphis/Cincinnati/UCF/USF) or UConn. And lose any one of those five and the conference value craters. I mean imagine the Big XII called Cincinnati last week and gave them an invite. They'd 100% take it. And where would our conference be without Cincinnati in it all of a sudden? What if it was Memphis? How much of a blow does the football brand take a hit if the ACC calls up UCF tomorrow and they bolt? Lose anybody in this thing and it's a flipping disaster. And to me, that's why we couldn't wait. We couldn't be the ones sitting here watching someone else go elsewhere. Imagine being stuck in a conference minus any of the sort of respectable programs in it. And I wouldn't be surprised with the UConn move to the Big East - if the Big XII isn't sitting there going 'you know, this is probably the time to do this, they're reeling, they're not getting the money they want, now their TV deal is getting negotiated down... here's the time to get them at a bargain.' At a point, you've just gotta play the cards you've got and to me, the Big East was the best possible move all things considered. Anything involving the AAC is the real gamble. [/QUOTE]

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