The AAC has an opportunity to make a statement in the coming weeks

[champs99and04]

In my completely unsubstantiated opinion, it seems like the AAC has taken a step forward in year three of its existence. The top hasn't improved, necessarily (still no teams in the top 25), but the middle and the bottom appear to have gotten stronger. Look through the standings and only Tulane and UCF have been uncompetitive - even USF hung with FSU for a while, though if you want to toss them in the uncompetitive category based on their loss to what looks to be a pretty bad Maryland team I wouldn't blame you.

I'm too lazy to look it up...but I'd be interested to see what the AAC's record is against the spread compared to other conferences. Have they outperformed expectations or am I just imagining it?

Regardless, the AAC will likely never be thought of in the same regard as the P5, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to frame the narrative in a manner that allows their best teams to garner serious consideration nationally. In other words, if everything broke perfectly, you would like the conference to evolve to a point where their best teams are considered playoff dark horses.

Take Temple this season - their schedule is hardly murderers row, but they play two teams - Penn State and Notre Dame - that could conceivably have great seasons. So say Penn State challenges for the Big Ten crown, Notre Dame remains in the top ten all year, and maybe a couple other AAC teams - we'll say Memphis and Cincinnati for argument sake - sneak into the top 25. Suddenly, an undefeated Temple team has to be at least mentioned as a candidate, right?

Now obviously the chances of that all happening are slim to none, but the point is that it would be cool if the AAC could get to a point where they were considered a quasi-power conference. Even if you just win enough to where they call it the P5 and a half, that's something.

Anyhow, here are the games - in chronological order - that could play a big role in defining the conferences reputation.

Miami @ Cincinnati - 10/1

UConn @ BYU - 10/2

Syracuse @ USF - 10/10

Navy @ Notre Dame - 10/10

Cincinnati @ BYU - 10/16

Ole Miss @ Memphis - 10/17

Vanderbilt @ Houston - 10/31

Notre Dame @ Temple - 10/31

Obviously some of these games are more meaningful than others, but if the AAC could go .500 - and maybe steal one of the Notre Dame games and/or Ole Miss - that would be a positive. Am I crazy to be paying attention to this stuff? How many do we see the conference winning?

 

[Adios]

No, it's perfectly ok, since we're stuck in this mish-mash of a conference right now. The AAC's rep in football is not so bad. If we win all these games, we'll nearly be on top of the ACC.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm torn on this subject. I suppose as a fail-safe we must, grudgingly, hope the American gets better, in case we are stuck here. But I really don't have any fondness for any team in the league, nor can I work up much hatred.

 

[BlueandOG]

Listen, I am with you 100%. One of my favorite parts of college football is rooting for conference colleagues. Why else would I watch Vandy play Houston? I also liked how Navy waved the AAC flag after the Navy flag when they scored (which was way too often). It was a classy move. I encourage UConn to do the same. It shows the other conferences we're loyal to our conference mates. We should be passionately loyal to the American right up to the moment we're invited to the B1G. After all, loyalty has limits. I love my wife and have never strayed, but she and I both know that if Gisele dumps Tom and knocks on my door, I won't even bring a suitcase.

 

[Confident Carl]

In my completely unsubstantiated opinion, it seems like the AAC has taken a step forward in year three of its existence. The top hasn't improved, necessarily (still no teams in the top 25), but the middle and the bottom appear to have gotten stronger. Look through the standings and only Tulane and UCF have been uncompetitive - even USF hung with FSU for a while, though if you want to toss them in the uncompetitive category based on their loss to what looks to be a pretty bad Maryland team I wouldn't blame you.

I'm too lazy to look it up...but I'd be interested to see what the AAC's record is against the spread compared to other conferences. Have they outperformed expectations or am I just imagining it?

Regardless, the AAC will likely never be thought of in the same regard as the P5, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to frame the narrative in a manner that allows their best teams to garner serious consideration nationally. In other words, if everything broke perfectly, you would like the conference to evolve to a point where their best teams are considered playoff dark horses.

Take Temple this season - their schedule is hardly murderers row, but they play two teams - Penn State and Notre Dame - that could conceivably have great seasons. So say Penn State challenges for the Big Ten crown, Notre Dame remains in the top ten all year, and maybe a couple other AAC teams - we'll say Memphis and Cincinnati for argument sake - sneak into the top 25. Suddenly, an undefeated Temple team has to be at least mentioned as a candidate, right?

Now obviously the chances of that all happening are slim to none, but the point is that it would be cool if the AAC could get to a point where they were considered a quasi-power conference. Even if you just win enough to where they call it the P5 and a half, that's something.

Anyhow, here are the games - in chronological order - that could play a big role in defining the conferences reputation.

Miami @ Cincinnati - 10/1

UConn @ BYU - 10/2

Syracuse @ USF - 10/10

Navy @ Notre Dame - 10/10

Cincinnati @ BYU - 10/16

Ole Miss @ Memphis - 10/17

Vanderbilt @ Houston - 10/31

Notre Dame @ Temple - 10/31

Obviously some of these games are more meaningful than others, but if the AAC could go .500 - and maybe steal one of the Notre Dame games and/or Ole Miss - that would be a positive. Am I crazy to be paying attention to this stuff? How many do we see the conference winning?

Watching Temple beat Penn State, Houston offingVille and ECU over VA Tech was exciting,( especially because they left the Big East for the ACC). As bad as UCF is this year they were beating the Gamecocks at halftime. UCONN playing Missou close away was great. I can't wait for UCONN to play Cuse in the coming years. Hopefully we can schedule BC. That would be tremendous for the region. Looking forward to Friday night and BYU. I will have to schedule a later tee off time on Saturday.

Of all the games you listed, every team not only has a chance to beat the spread but also win the game. You are correct, the AAC is developing into a formidable conference from top to bottom.

UCONN will be battle ready when an invite comes from the B1G or ACC. In the meantime, I am enjoying the makeover going on at Storrs in the AAC. Okay call me crazy too!

 

[BugsyCT]

It's no secret that we or any other AAC team would jump at the first ticket out of this conference if a P5 invite came along, and even in this "every man for himself" situation we're all in, it would still be in our best interest to root for our conference mates to improve and win their OOC games. The perception that we're in a strong conference improves everyone's chances of getting a golden ticket to the big boy table.

There aren't many MAC or Sun Belt teams that are on the P5's list of potential add-ons.

 

[NYUConn]

Root against every team but UConn.

It's good for CR optics and it's good because we shouldn't root for any anyone to be better than UConn in our own conference. I felt the latter way when we were in the Big East too.

 

[Jimdish255]

Root against every team but UConn.

It's good for CR optics and it's good because we shouldn't root for any anyone to be better than UConn in our own conference. I felt the latter way when we were in the Big East too.

There's room to push for some conference credibility as long as we're taking care of our own business. That means winning seasons and bowl games. If we're hoping for a B1G invite there are way more important factors than top 25 rankings and AAC Championships. As a fan those are great goals but our university is an academic athletic and media package.

So I'm rooting for Cindy against Miami, Navy for sure and looking ahead to those other games. But let's take care of our business and keep improving and show up against BYU like we did against Mizzou. And with a better kicking game and a few breaks who knows what could happen. Just wish we had caught Navy further down the road. Prepping for them is a killer and then switching to a team like BYU. Coaches have a huge challenge this week.

 

[Dooley]

As soon as one of our conference mates starts winning football games, even if they have nothing else to offer a P5 conference (ex - Memphis), they seem to leapfrog us in CR. We used to have a few Memphis fans come over to our board with the lame "excited to be in the AAC with you guys" posts. Now, we get them to come over to post CR rumors about how they're up next. So you'll forgive me if I don't get too excited to see any of our conference mates win a game.

The AAC is very much a waiting list conference. Every single member in it would spit in each other's faces to get out of it and into a P5 conference. I am only concerned with how we do and how we play and how we position ourselves for a potential B1G/ACC invite. I'll become a full-fledged conference flag bearer, like I used to be in the Big East, once we are in a P5.

 

[NYUConn]

There's room to push for some conference credibility as long as we're taking care of our own business. That means winning seasons and bowl games. If we're hoping for a B1G invite there are way more important factors than top 25 rankings and AAC Championships. As a fan those are great goals but our university is an academic athletic and media package.

So I'm rooting for Cindy against Miami, Navy for sure and looking ahead to those other games. But let's take care of our business and keep improving and show up against BYU like we did against Mizzou. And with a better kicking game and a few breaks who knows what could happen. Just wish we had caught Navy further down the road. Prepping for them is a killer and then switching to a team like BYU. Coaches have a huge challenge this week.

everyone but UConn. That's my stance and I'm sticking to it.

You're argument is 100% valid and understood but I can't bring myself to agree with it.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I got no problem rooting for my AAC bros. We're all stuck in this ship together. Maybe we "deserve" more, but I find that's rather silly thinking. Right here, right now, we're in AAC, and every time one of our AAC bros takes down a more prestigious program, it raises the profile of the conference, and therefore, us. If you have an interest in UConn's rise as a program, then, for now, at least, you have every reason to root for the AAC as well.

 

[BlueandOG]

Root against every team but UConn.

It's good for CR optics and it's good because we shouldn't root for any anyone to be better than UConn in our own conference. I felt the latter way when we were in the Big East too.

This is similar to BC's attitude in not playing us in football. They want to be the only New England football team. This is short-sighted. Just as we want to play BC to promote regional football rivalries and thus improve things for both schools, so too should we cheer for our AAC colleagues. A stronger conference means more visibility, improved competition, better recruiting, better game attendance, and an all-around better experience for our athletes, fans, and university. Plus, it is a win-win. At worst, we are members of a good conference. At best, we increase our chances of getting invited to a better conference.

 

[BlueandOG]

It's no secret that we or any other AAC team would jump at the first ticket out of this conference if a P5 invite came along, and even in this "every man for himself" situation we're all in, it would still be in our best interest to root for our conference mates to improve and win their OOC games. The perception that we're in a strong conference improves everyone's chances of getting a golden ticket to the big boy table.

There aren't many MAC or Sun Belt teams that are on the P5's list of potential add-ons.

Yes! If we want to remain relevant and increase our chances of being invited to a P5, we have to play strong teams. No one cares about UConn vs. Tulane in hoops. If Tulane becomes good at hoops, people will care. The more eyes on our games, the better. So suck it up and cheer for our AAC bros!

 

[BlueandOG]

everyone but UConn. That's my stance and I'm sticking to it.

You're argument is 100% valid and understood but I can't bring myself to agree with it.

Short sighted and damaging to our long-term prospects. Hate them when they play us, cheer for them when they play anyone else.

 

[tjhusky]

Better AAC helps our SOS which helps national ranking and perception.
We need top be consistently at the top of the conference so we are the ones to get the first (and B1Gest) ticket out of here.

 

[tduconn]

I got no problem rooting for my AAC bros. We're all stuck in this ship together. Maybe we "deserve" more, but I find that's rather silly thinking. Right here, right now, we're in AAC, and every time one of our AAC bros takes down a more prestigious program, it raises the profile of the conference, and therefore, us. If you have an interest in UConn's rise as a program, then, for now, at least, you have every reason to root for the AAC as well.

I'm with those who think a strong conference is good for everyone. Its possible all our AAC foes want out. However if I'm one of the P-5 conferences doing shopping, my eyebrows raise and my hearing becomes better if I'm looking at candidates who beat some conference foes that have strong W-L resumes that might even include wins over P-5's, as does Houston, ECU, Temple, Memphis. Certainly looks better beating teams with 9-3, 8-4 records as opposed to 2-10 through 4-8, or worse.

As has been postulated, UConn can only control what it does.......in my opinion, I would suggest we try to beat some winners, in or out of conference

 

[NYUConn]

Short sighted and damaging to our long-term prospects. Hate them when they play us, cheer for them when they play anyone else.

I forgot that the rest of the AAC performs proportionately to how hard I personally cheer for them.

Good point.

 

[whaler11]

The AAC is 20-16 ATS OOC.

That's per team rankings assuming they are using a legit closing line.

 

[Confident Carl]

It's no secret that we or any other AAC team would jump at the first ticket out of this conference if a P5 invite came along, and even in this "every man for himself" situation we're all in, it would still be in our best interest to root for our conference mates to improve and win their OOC games. The perception that we're in a strong conference improves everyone's chances of getting a golden ticket to the big boy table.

There aren't many MAC or Sun Belt teams that are on the P5's list of potential add-ons.

Everyone at UCONN wants in to the B1G or ACC yesterday. But things could be worse. UMASS wants an AAC invite as bad as we want a B1G invite. I wouldn't want to trade places with UMASS - Independent in Football (after this year) and Atlantic 10 for Bball.

 

[whaler11]

Everyone at UCONN wants in to the B1G or ACC yesterday. But things could be worse. UMASS wants an AAC invite as bad as we want a B1G invite. I wouldn't want to trade places with UMASS - Independent in Football (after this year) and Atlantic 10 for Bball.

Phew. Better off than UMass.

 

[blue93]

I think rooting against the conference because of a fear of being passed again in conference realignment is silly, especially if we continue the upward trajectory we appear to be on right now. I think we'd be in a much better place, conference realignment wise, if we are in the upper tier, even middle of the pack, in a respectable AAC, than we would be if we were the top team in a sun belt-quality conference. It helps the perception of our football program as a whole if we play against (and beat) teams who have proven something on the field against the P5.

If nothing else, I think it's more fun to root against team like Temple or ECU, who have respectable wins under their belt, than teams who can't put a competent team on the field against a P5 team.

In any event, we need to take care of our own business and the rest will work itself out. I hope.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This league will never get any respect nationally, so I'll root for us to be clearly above the rest of the G5, but do I want Cinci, Memphis or UCF winning games and better positioning themselves for P5? Not really.

Had Louisville continued to suck after Kragthorpe, do you think they make it into the ACC over us?

 

[Dooley]

In my CR head, the next competent schools/athletic departments would be invited next. That would be BYU and UConn. I understand that we don't fit in the B12 geographically or culturally, but if we are still stuck in the AAC while schools/ADs like fracking Memphis get in, it will not make me happy.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Listening to one of the morning college fb stations on Sirius, they were talking very positive about the AAC.
The comment was that the difference between the acc and AAC is much much closer than the AAC and the Mwc. Said the programs have all improved, hired great coaches, and performed well. Said the Mwc was really Boise alone.
Good to hear the positive spin for a change.

 

[Stray_Dog]

I got no problem rooting for my AAC bros. We're all stuck in this ship together. Maybe we "deserve" more, but I find that's rather silly thinking. Right here, right now, we're in AAC, and every time one of our AAC bros takes down a more prestigious program, it raises the profile of the conference, and therefore, us. If you have an interest in UConn's rise as a program, then, for now, at least, you have every reason to root for the AAC as well.

...ummm one word, "RUTGERS"