Throw Back Monday - Revisiting AAC vs. C7 Debate

[OkaForPrez]

Since today we find ourselves in a conference with 50% of the teams ranked in the top 25, I thought it would be interesting to dig up some old debates. (And another)

Now that we've seen some of the returns on the FoxSp1 experiment, the lack of ticket sales on the BET, the growth of Larry Brown's SMU program and Cinci's performance this year, how are you feeling?

Obviously we all want P5, but at this point in time, would you rather be in the Big Priest or the "Merican.

 

[SubbaBub]

Neither, FB drives the bus.

 

[Yonick]

According to Lunardi PC is among the last 4 in. G'town is among the last 4 out. PC plays at G'town tonite and is a 4.5 pt. underdog.

My guess is if the Hoyas win, tonite, their roles reverse.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Neither, FB drives the bus.

Obviously we all want P5

 

[upstater]

Neither, FB drives the bus.

C7 has no football.

AND, teams like UCF and Cincy didn't do badly.

 

[metsfan2323]

AAC tournament will be well attended. Louisville, Cincy, and SMU are fairly easy road trips to Memphis.

 

[CTBasketball]

Rather be in the ACC or B10.

But the thing is the top of the AAC is far better than the top of the Big East. But the bottom of the Big East is better than the bottom of the AAC. Half the AAC's teams are triple digit RPI's with USF having the best at 151. The worst RPI in the Big East is Seton Hall at 119.

Next year, the leagues will be similar when UL leaves.

 

[Hi-Low]

The Big East still has more luster and depth but the AAC isn't the disaster it could have been. I am a little leery that SMU stays a program once L Brown leaves and losing L'Ville hurts big time. For the next couple of years the AAC will be ok, but 3-4 years from now if we are still members hopefully Temple, Houston & Fla schools have vastly improved.

 

[aceboon]

I know this is about right now but alot of the C7 schools have great recruiting classes coming in next year, they should be improved over time.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If given the option to play Olympic sports in the Big East and AAC Football we would do that in a second. Anyone who says else is full of it.

 

[champs99and04]

I'd much rather be in the Big East (purely from a basketball standpoint). For this season, at least, the AAC might have a little more depth at the top (SMU, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Memphis are all ranked), but not by much - Nova and Creighton are arguably better than any of the four teams I just mentioned, and aside from those two, there are four other Big East teams (Xavier, Providence, Georgetown, St. John's) with a decent shot at dancing. Even if you compare the top four in each conference - Nova, Creighton, Xavier, Providence in the BE, Cincy, Louisville, SMU, Memphis in the AAC - I believe they're comparable. Villanova is probably a little better than Cincinnati, Louisville and Creighton are roughly equal, SMU is slightly better than Xavier, and Memphis is better than Providence. Would it change our RPI/BPI much if we played those four teams twice this year rather than the ones we've already played? Probably not. The biggest difference is that the games we play against teams in the bottom half of the conference - Houston, South Florida, Central Florida - are glorified exhibitions most of the time. I know Georgetown and Marquette are down this year, but those programs at least resonate with the fans and players. Playing St. John's, Seton Hall, and Providence - all manageable road trips for people in the northeast - is obviously far more appealing as well for obvious reasons.

What worries me the most about the AAC, though, is that this might be the best the conference ever gets. Everything sort of broke perfectly this year - with Cincinnati and Memphis both having strong teams, SMU kind of pulling a horseshoe out of their a** with a HOF coach, and Louisville being held over for a year - and it seems likely it will take a sizable step back next season, even with Temple hopefully re-gaining some level of competency.

And as ace said, the Big East is lapping the AAC on the recruiting trail. Both conferences are probably doomed in the long haul, but with the Big East, at least there's a foundation there of programs with history, solid fan bases, and good coaches. It makes much more sense geographically than the AAC, also, and the fact that they appear to be keeping the league under 12 teams (for now, anyway) lends itself to a round robin format which I've always liked.

 

[metsfan2323]

What worries me the most about the AAC, though, is that this might be the best the conference ever gets. Everything sort of broke perfectly this year - with Cincinnati and Memphis both having strong teams, SMU kind of pulling a horseshoe out of their a* with a HOF coach, and Louisville being held over for a year - and it seems likely it will take a sizable step back next season, even with Temple hopefully re-gaining some level of competency.

And as ace said, the Big East is lapping the AAC on the recruiting trail. Both conferences are probably doomed in the long haul, but with the Big East, at least there's a foundation there of programs with history, solid fan bases, and good coaches. It makes much more sense geographically than the AAC, also, and the fact that they appear to be keeping the league under 12 teams (for now, anyway) lends itself to a round robin format which I've always liked.

Don't tell Creighton and Marquette that the traveling is easier in the Big East. Outside of UCONN the traveling in the AAC isn't much worse than the P5 conferences, we are the outlier. Cuse is racking up the frequent flying miles in the ACC.

The quality of play in the AAC will only get better as rivalries develop and the league generates depth. Recruiting will improve after this season because the league is establishing an identity as a solid basketball league, and we are getting more TV exposure than the Big East. My guess is that this will prove to be the worst recruiting year the AAC ever has.

 

[ctchamps]

I know this is about right now but alot of the C7 schools have great recruiting classes coming in next year, they should be improved over time.

Which is why I'm hoping the AAC does well in the NCAA's this season to give them the boost next recruiting cycle.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Big East is still the Big East. Better RPI overall its just that the teams have pretty much beaten each other up. But its a heck of a strong league, A top 4 RPI conference better than the ACC and AAC. I still root for the Big East and I hope that if the dominoes fall right they will get 5-6 bids this year which will be great for that conference

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If we consistently play Cinci, Memphis and Temple twice a season I could see somewhat of a rivalry developing.

The only thing I didn't like about the 16 team Big East was that without playing home and homes, rivalry games were limited.

Realistically the best number for ahh conference is 9 teams. 8 home/8 away games in hoops and then a true round robin in football with an equal home/ away split.

 

[Danzz]

The Big East still has more luster and depth but the AAC isn't the disaster it could have been. I am a little leery that SMU stays a program once L Brown leaves and losing L'Ville hurts big time. For the next couple of years the AAC will be ok, but 3-4 years from now if we are still members hopefully Temple, Houston & Fla schools have vastly improved.

Yeah, those are my feelings about SMU. Larry Brown is the draw not the school or the conference.

 

[upstater]

In college basketball, you only need a recruiting bonanza once every couple years. Not each and every year. The recruiting that teams like Houston and SMU have already done will serve them well. Players like House and Knowles at Houston are just freshman, and they'll be around a while. SMU are also young pups. Memphis and UConn will continue to recruit well. Cincy already is reproducing the sort of player they already have with a couple top 100s. So, as for recruiting, I don't think we're going to see a fall off in the AAC. If anything, recruiting for these schols should improve. My big question mark is Temple. Will Dunphy be able to rope in the same quality?

 

[upstater]

Yeah, those are my feelings about SMU. Larry Brown is the draw not the school or the conference.

If Larry Brown were coaching at Texas Tech or Kansas st., he wouldn't be drawing the same quality kids. Yes, he's a big name, but he's roping in Dallas area talent. One of the big reasons for this is the school's location.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Don't tell Creighton and Marquette that the traveling is easier in the Big East. Outside of UCONN the traveling in the AAC isn't much worse than the P5 conferences, we are the outlier. Cuse is racking up the frequent flying miles in the ACC.

The quality of play in the AAC will only get better as rivalries develop and the league generates depth. Recruiting will improve after this season because the league is establishing an identity as a solid basketball league, and we are getting more TV exposure than the Big East. My guess is that this will prove to be the worst recruiting year the AAC ever has.

Every Big East basketball game is on national TV whether on FS1 or some other network. I think they have fairly good exposure also

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This is no contest. The Big East is the #4 conference this year, and if Georgetown was playing an AAC schedule, they would have 17 wins by now. The AAC is lucky to have the top teams knocking each other off at just the right rate plus a lot of easy wins against the bottom half of the league to keep the top 5 teams ranked. The AAC is NOT a better conference than the Big East by any measure of total conference strength. And we are about to replace Louisville and Rutgers for Tulane, ECU and Tulsa. Rutgers is as bad as any of those three, but we have replaced 2 marquee games against Louisville a year with a bunch of exhibition games.

Why on earth the AAC added Tulane or Tulsa instead of UMass baffles me.

 

[upstater]

Every Big East basketball game is on national TV whether on FS1 or some other network. I think they have fairly good exposure also

How can you have good exposure when some of those games are getting 4,000 viewers? Good exposure is when hundreds of thousands watch your games.

 

[upstater]

This is no contest. The Big East is the #4 conference this year, and if Georgetown was playing an AAC schedule, they would have 17 wins by now. The AAC is lucky to have the top teams knocking each other off at just the right rate plus a lot of easy wins against the bottom half of the league to keep the top 5 teams ranked. The AAC is NOT a better conference than the Big East by any measure of total conference strength. And we are about to replace Louisville and Rutgers for Tulane, ECU and Tulsa. Rutgers is as bad as any of those three, but we have replaced 2 marquee games against Louisville a year with a bunch of exhibition games.

Why on earth the AAC added Tulane or Tulsa instead of UMass baffles me.

Georgetown has 6 losses in the BE. Of those losses, only Seton Hall and Marquette count as losses to teams outside the top 50. Unless you really think teams like Providence and Xavier are better than UConn or SMU, I don't see that many extra wins for G'town. The losses to Villanova and Creighton would be losses to Ville and Cincy.

 

[kobe]

This is no contest. The Big East is the #4 conference this year, and if Georgetown was playing an AAC schedule, they would have 17 wins by now. The AAC is lucky to have the top teams knocking each other off at just the right rate plus a lot of easy wins against the bottom half of the league to keep the top 5 teams ranked. The AAC is NOT a better conference than the Big East by any measure of total conference strength. And we are about to replace Louisville and Rutgers for Tulane, ECU and Tulsa. Rutgers is as bad as any of those three, but we have replaced 2 marquee games against Louisville a year with a bunch of exhibition games.

Why on earth the AAC added Tulane or Tulsa instead of UMass baffles me.

The AAC leadership became obsessed with a championship game in football. I would have preferred a 10 team all-sports conference. If they really wanted the championship game, then add Navy and Army as football only schools. There was NO need to add Tulsa. This is what the league should look like:

Cincinnati- history of success
Connecticut- history of success
Central Florida- cellar dweller, but have some highly rated recruits
East Carolina- cellar dweller
Memphis- history of success
South Florida- if Collins is healthy, they are an NIT/Bubble team IMO
Temple- history of success
Houston- talented, should be a top 100 RPI team
SMU- on the rise, will be the favorite to win the league
Tulane- cellar dweller

Adding Tulsa may go down as one of the worst decisions in the illustrious history of the Big East/American Conference. They add absolutely nothing. At least Tulane has a good recruiting area and gives me an excuse to fill up their court/stadium when we play them.

 

[selles]

I know this is about right now but alot of the C7 schools have great recruiting classes coming in next year, they should be improved over time.

For the fake Big East and the AAC, I think recruiting classes matter for specific teams - to keep or make them relevant - I don't think they matter for the league as a whole. The C7 and the AAC will be the same in the future - dominant teams in the conference will have respect, everything below that won't.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Georgetown just won tonight! The Big East will most likely have five bids. even six possible if St. Johns continues to play well