The AAC

[Slasher]

I think travel is overblown. Nearly every team is flying to every game. USF/UCF bus to each other. Is there another example in the league?

 

[gampelcrazies]

Half of “Uconn Nation” doesn’t care about conference play and it shows. They don’t even know who half the teams are so how can you expect to get great attendance for these games. They can’t even fill up Gampel anymore because the fan base out there has just dwindled every year we stay in this conference. I don’t really want to drop football to go to the Big East. But I care a hell of a lot more about basketball than football.

I would say more than half of UConn fans don’t care about this league. Also, I would say that 90% of UConn fans care only about Men’s and Women’s basketball.

 

[yukonfan4]

we can't leave the conference until 2023, at the earliest, so that means at least 4 more years of AAC play. might as well get used to it because all the whinging is counter productive.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Fanbase is more disengaged because Uconn has been losing miserably over past 4 years. That starts to take a toll. Conference is a convenient excuse, but it doesn’t affect the women’s team nor teams like Wichita State, Cincinnati and even Houston. Things will change once we get back to a winning culture, which we will

did u see the amount of people at the game last night? The whole lower section is empty. Either no one at tulsa cares about college basketball or uconn isnt a sexy enough matchup to draw interest anymore. Yeah Uconn has sucked the last few years but no one is getting excited over this conference schedule outside of Cinncy and SMU.

 

[gampelcrazies]

we can't leave the conference until 2023, at the earliest, so that means at least 4 more years of AAC play. might as well get used to it because all the whinging is counter productive.

Says who?

 

[Friendship]

We have to stop acting like we are above the AAC, because we definitely aren't. We are barely competitive in this league. Not saying this can't change, but we are not pulling our own weight right now and it is bringing the conference down.

 

[yukonfan4]

Says who?

to which part?

all of the P5 tv contracts expire between 2023-2025. by all accounts that's when the next CR will occur. we are 100% waiting/hoping for a P5 invite before considering the NBE.

if you're referring to the second part, the whinging isn't helping matters in the meantime, it just makes everyone more frustrated and depressed

 

[gampelcrazies]

to which part?

all of the P5 tv contracts expire between 2023-2025. by all accounts that's when the next CR will occur. we are 100% waiting/hoping for a P5 invite before considering the NBE.

if you're referring to the second part then the whinging isn't helping matters either.

I was referring to 2023. UConn can make any move they want. They don’t have to wait for that if they don’t feel like they will get a P5 invite.

 

[yukonfan4]

They don’t have to wait for that if they don’t feel like they will get a P5 invite.

we are 100% waiting/hoping for a P5 invite before considering the NBE.

if we were just gonna join the NBE there's no reason not to have done so already. we are holding out hope that we can still sneak into a p5. if we cut football there's no turning back.

 

[gampelcrazies]

if we were just gonna join the NBE there's no reason not to have done so already. we are holding out hope that we can still sneak into a p5. if we cut football there's no turning back.

I still don’t think we have to drop football to join the NBE. They can’t stay in the AAC but I think they can land somewhere/independent. Hold out hope.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

did u see the amount of people at the game last night? The whole lower section is empty. Either no one at tulsa cares about college basketball or uconn isnt a sexy enough matchup to draw interest anymore. Yeah Uconn has sucked the last few years but no one is getting excited over this conference schedule outside of Cinncy and SMU.

Tulsa has never had an elite program b-ball culture. Hence no Fanbase showing up regardless of their conference. Go over to Wichita State one day, and you’ll see a stadium packed and that has been packed even when they were in a crappier conference. Cincinnati full house. Houston also now packing it in. SMU when they’re winning. You can’t use as an example teams like Tulsa, ECU or Tulane who have never had any basketball culture, being empty as a result of conference affiliation. It’s very simple, when we start winning again, the house will be packed in the conference affect will be negligible just like it’s negligible for the women’s team, Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State, SMU and Temple.

 

[yukonfan4]

anything and everything that can be said about CR has been said on this board already. except this:

Mass, CT, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Hawaii are the only 7 states whose flagship public university has a BCS level football team and aren't in a P5 conference.

 

[StunningSteve]

Tulsa has never had an elite program b-ball culture. Hence no Fanbase showing up regardless of their conference. Go over to Wichita State one day, and you’ll see a stadium packed and that has been packed even when they were in a crappier conference. Cincinnati full house. Houston also now packing it in. SMU when they’re winning. You can’t use as an example teams like Tulsa, ECU or Tulane who have never had any basketball culture, being empty as a result of conference affiliation. It’s very simple, when we start winning again, the house will be packed in the conference affect will be negligible just like it’s negligible for the women’s team, Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State, SMU and Temple.

Speaking of the Shockers... This was an incredible game last night.

Marshall has had a lot of similar struggles to Dan this year and they pulled it together. Its a process for the best of em.

 

[Ts5034]

I think travel is overblown. Nearly every team is flying to every game. USF/UCF bus to each other. Is there another example in the league?

Geography is another way that UConn was hurt in realignment. Our closest conference memeber is in Philadelphia, which isnt exactly “close”. I miss having a regional conference rival. It was fun going to MSG when we played STJ. It was fun when we played at Seton Hall and had like 10,000 Connecticut people in the building. Hurley even mentioned this in his press conference when he was hired. I rememeber there were bus trips all over the state to games at the Meadowlands. I never went to BC or Providence, but those were obviously easy trips for people in CT.

 

[whaler11]

If the AAC gets four bids (or even three) it’s because the Pac 12 is getting 1.

The league is the exact same it has been every year.

 

[gtcam]

We can't keep making excuses like this. We didn't play a road game until after first semester, and while it's tougher today because the good old days of charters are gone due to the financial problems, it's semester break and they don't fly in just before game time. Plus, they're 18 to 23 year old kids.

If you don't think that the travel has any bearing you are being unrealistic
Age has nothing to do with it
The pros will tell you that after traveling across the country, the next game there is an effect on play

 

[yukonfan4]

@StunningSteve are you really AAC commish Michael Aresco ?

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Here are the KenPoms comparing the last two years. While the AAC lacks the top-end talent that last year had, big improvement in depth.

This year, 10 AAC teams are in the top-150 in KenPom. Thanks to that, the strength of schedule will stay relatively stable within the league, so the KenPoms should stay relatively stable as well.