Why football might actually be the biggest winner.

[buddy]

I'm not so sure Memphis gets a P5 bid, their academics are on par with PS 23 in the Bronx.

PS 23 serves an underprivileged area. It is a children's public school up to grade 5. Beautiful new building with committed faculty. Parents are trying their best. Actually rated as one the the better public grammar schools in NY. (Not elite level of course, but I am sure some of their graduates will go on to P5 schools). I would suspect at this time that Memphis will likely be P5 before UConn, based on their positive athletic development. Do you really think the Big 12 will care about academics when they need to expand?

 

[huskyrob1]

PS 23 serves an underprivileged area. It is a children's public school up to grade 5. Beautiful new building with committed faculty. Parents are trying their best. Actually rated as one the the better public grammar schools in NY. (Not elite level of course, but I am sure some of their graduates will go on to P5 schools). I would suspect at this time that Memphis will likely be P5 before UConn, based on their positive athletic development. Do you really think the Big 12 will care about academics when they need to expand?

The Big 12 wouldn't care at all about academics, but the Big Ten definitely would and the ACC also but not to the degree that the Big Ten would. Be careful about school numbers, for example PS 23 in the Bronx is indeed in an underprivileged area, however PS 23 in Yonkers is right next to a very rich area of Yonkers, yet if you walk two blocks in the opposite direction from the school the neighborhood rapidly deteriorates.

 

[freescooter]

I really think that any "regrets of the ACC" about adding Louisville are usually framed by fans of other conferences. Thinking..."I bet that they regret adding these jokers.."

Louisville picked preseason basketball....

...#4 by SI, #4 by CBS, #5 by CBS, #6 by NBC, #6 by SBnation...

...Can they challenge the dookies and heels this year? More likely to be relevant than Louisville academics in a sports league.

Plus they are likely to be severely penalized by the NCAA. Even that group won’t let them get away with blatantly paying players. If you pay a player under the table that is one thing. But to get caught by the feds is a whole different ball game

 

[Pudge]

PS 23 serves an underprivileged area. It is a children's public school up to grade 5. Beautiful new building with committed faculty. Parents are trying their best. Actually rated as one the the better public grammar schools in NY. (Not elite level of course, but I am sure some of their graduates will go on to P5 schools). I would suspect at this time that Memphis will likely be P5 before UConn, based on their positive athletic development. Do you really think the Big 12 will care about academics when they need to expand?

In a weighted rank-order, I bet Memphis is not above the top 4 in desirability for any B12 - and few people think they are going to expand anyhow. There is no way they are above Cincinnati, Houston or the two Florida schools.

This is the Hunger Games aspect of the AAC. We take shots at their academics. But it is all so meaningless.

 

[Guapo]

In a weighted rank-order, I bet Memphis is not above the top 4 in desirability for any B12 - and few people think they are going to expand anyhow. There is no way they are above Cincinnati, Houston or the two Florida schools.

This is the Hunger Games aspect of the AAC. We take shots at their academics. But it is all so meaningless.

Houston, Memphis, Cincy, Houston, the directional Florida’s are never getting a power 5 bid

 

[Marty Jackson]

Florida State, Notre Dame and Auburn in the same year?

And at the Rent!

 

[huskyrob1]

Houston, Memphis, Cincy, Houston, the directional Florida’s are never getting a power 5 bid

That goes double for Houston!!!

 

[RSTuthill]

Possible but not probable. Perhaps a 20% chance of happening. Thus, not a realistic expectation, but not totally impossible either. And things change.

 

[huskymedic]

Possible but not probable. Perhaps a 20% chance of happening. Thus, not a realistic expectation, but not totally impossible either. And things change.

Leave yourself enough wiggle room?

 

[buddy]

The Big 12 wouldn't care at all about academics, but the Big Ten definitely would and the ACC also but not to the degree that the Big Ten would. Be careful about school numbers, for example PS 23 in the Bronx is indeed in an underprivileged area, however PS 23 in Yonkers is right next to a very rich area of Yonkers, yet if you walk two blocks in the opposite direction from the school the neighborhood rapidly deteriorates.

You said PS 23 in the BRONX in your post. Not School 23 in Yonkers there is a big difference. I really think you are living in a fantasy world. Then you call someone a "troll" or not a fan of UConn if they look at things through reality colored glasses. One can be a UConn fan and be realistic of what the future may portend.

 

[RSTuthill]

Leave yourself enough wiggle room?

Should be obvious. If you want a binary prediction the answer is NO. More trying to not hurt the feelings of the rose colored glasses crowd.

 

[SubbaBub]

Here's the thing. Because we played in the AAC, the max number of P5 schools we could play on a yearly basis was 4. Some of you think we will have a hard time scheduling big good programs but I don't think so.

Almost every year, we will play UMass and Army H/H and one FCS school at home, which means that leaves 9 games (3 or 4 home games) to make a great schedule. I fully believe we will continue to be able to schedule low-level P5 schools on a H/H basis, mid-level P5 schools on a 2 for 1 basis, and juggernauts as pay games.

I can legitimately see this being a schedule once we get going as an independent:

1. Indiana (A) H/H
2. Rutgers (H) H/H
3. Purdue (A) H/H
4. Illinois (H) H/H
5. Maryland (A) H/H
6. Florida State (A) 2 for 1
7. Notre Dame (A) pay game
8. BYU (H) H/H
9. Army (A) H/H
10. Holy Cross (H) FCS
11. Auburn (A) pay game
12. UMass (H) H/H


This is realistic. The first six weeks of the season are fairly easy to schedule. I truly believe the Big 10 will continue to consider us a P5 "opponent" and we can get home and homes with 5 teams I mentioned. Florida State would be a 2 for 1. You would take a bye most years in Week 7. It wouldn't have to be Notre Dame but in any given year, a few big schools have an open date about half way through the year (enter Notre Dame in my example) for a body bag game. BYU and Army both admit they have issues scheduling so that is pretty realistic. Auburn being a pay game makes sense because SEC schools take the 2nd to last week of the season as a tune up game, and UMass would be our "rivalry" game at the end of the year. We won't be able to get this the first year, but it meets all of the requirements: 5 home games (some years 6 in our case). Oh, and by the way, we'll play 8 P5 in this scenario.

I'm just pissed we didn't do this 5 years ago.

It is somewhat doable. Yes, we should be able to schedule more P5 games. Getting 4 to come to the Rent every year? hmmmmmm....

The difficulty will be getting them on the schedule regularly. Maryland isn't going to want to play us every year, every other year, or even 4 years. You'll get a H/H or 2 for1 and then you need to find a different team to do the same once that contract is up.

I is also unlikely you will be able to run through the entire B1G. There are maybe 4/5 teams that would come here, that's 4/5 years of scheduling

 

[huskyrob1]

Houston, Memphis, Cincy, Houston, the directional Florida’s are never getting a power 5 bid

I'd put Memphis and UCF near the bottom of these schools with chances to get P5 invites. People who have been to UCF home football games know what I'm talking about. Houston and Cincinnati I can see a remote chance, but Memphis and UCF only get a P5 invite when Bob Diaco gets another major college HC job.