Time to call this g5 salad bowl the “Conference American”
Temple and Navy will give this a try- but could see both exiting in 3 to 5 years. Some of this depends on how the big boys decide to approach OOC scheduling and the expanded playoff.
Recruiting against Temple for football just got easier- provided we make the right hire and get back to some on field competence.
That's exactly how I see it.
Temple for sure and possibly take the Navy route: make a good chunk of cash for 3-5 years with tournament credits from teams that left, plus exit fees from leaving teams, plus buy in fees from new teams, plus lower TV shares for new teams and they will actually be sitting OK $ wise for about that amount of time.
During that period the basketball will crumble pretty badly (it's now a 1 bid league) and football I imagine limps along but unlikely as well as they have done under Rhule and Collins now with a weakened AAC.
Then the money dries up and the AD is looking at two revenue programs with low interest while paying a lot to play at the Linc (an on campus stadium ain't happening).
UConn gave it about 6 years so may it takes Temple 5-7 years instead of 3-5 but I don't think they'll last long term.
The basketball program has only made the NCAA Tournament twice in 8 years in the AAC. They will be lucky to make it that frequently in AAC 2.0.
And as you note for football, while these new teams tap into big recruiting areas, they are playing programs with little brand value. I agree it gives UConn a leg up to go and play a schedule full of P5 opponents and local rivalries over FAU, UTSA, and Rice.