Dude, you sure know how to spin stories! You defend UT more vigorously than most of the UT trolls I know!
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Are you going to contribute anything relevant? You donât want UH to get more money since our conference doesnât have a network? Refute instead of being blinded.
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We are national relevant again in multiple sports. We are an important member of a conference that values us. Track, Basketball, Football and Baseball are in good to great shape.
I wouldnât give that up to be a minor member of a money conference.
I would like the AAC to grow in stature and money.
Same here, if it werenât for the tens of millions of dollars associated with the decision, and the very real possibility that there could be a split that weâll be on the wrong side of.
But yes. I want the AAC to be the conference that makes people say âWhat about theâŠâ when it comes to separating the P5 and the G5.
Bowenâs presentation included documents stating that the athletic department estimates it will receive $5 million next year in conference distribution, as well as $8.5 million in fiscal years 2021-23. The increase is due to the American Athletic Conferenceâs new media rights contract, which Bowen said he expects to be announced by the end of the month.
But university President M. David Rudd emphasized during the meeting those numbers are placeholders that donât reflect the actual terms of the new deal. Rudd is part of the committee that helped the AAC during its negotiations.
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Thatâs pretty much SOP, no one official going to talk about the deal until itâs signed and delivered.
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.commercialappeal.com/amp/3136191002
âUniversity of Memphis Athletic Director Tom Bowen has agreed to a six-month extension of his current contract while he and the school negotiate a new multi-year agreement and await news from the American Athletic Conference about its media rights deal.â
âAs part of a presentation to the universityâs Board of Trustees last week, the Memphis athletic department estimated distributions from the AAC could increase from around $3.3 million to $8.5 million over the next three years due to the new media rights deal.â
âRudd, however, noted during the board meeting those figures are placeholders and donât reflect the actual terms of the deal.â
Iâm beginning to wonder if ESPN offered a deal that the negotiating team (which Memphis is part of) liked and Memphis started leaking before all the presidents in the conference signed off on it.
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Think Renu pulled a Lee Corso on ESPN? Not so fast my friend.
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Possible that there were some that balked. Could be over some small details or I could be off; just strange that what seemed like something imminent is now being dragged out.
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Totally just a theory maybe we have a tier 1 and 2 deal done with ESPN but they balked at ESPN+ for tier 3 and are shopping that around to the other networks or even researching creating their own streaming network.
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or Memphis getting too excited to keep the bretheren together since they know Tulane was more attractive than them the last go around. Only Memphis was talking deal up.
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This makes a ton of sense, Memphis is the only one talking so I think you could be right about then being too darn chatty right now.
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Negotiations
Weâre often on the same page regarding UH athletics, but I would give up the AAC for ANY P5 in the blink of an eye. No G5 conference is ever going to get to a level playing field with any P5. The $$$, exposure, recruiting, opportunities to win a national championship (though I do think we can do that in basketball just fine and as much or more as a Gonzaga), attendance boosts, etc. would be invaluable for a program running a multi-million dollar deficit and in the same state as five other universities that can claim P5 status.
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I sometimes have this thought as well. It might be better to continue to build with the conference we are in or create the best of the rest league with BYU, Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State. We would be an influential member with mutual respect throughout the league. Going to a âP5â conference where we may have a great season (undefeated or 1 loss) will happen once in a blue moon could hurt our fan base. IMO knocking on the door of the playoffs often (being nationally relevant) would be better than being a member of a âP5â and forgotten about. Even if we have no chance of making the playoffs it is still great to be in the conversation.
Sam I hear you, money fixes a lot of problems.
But with that said, I really like the AAC. I like all of the schools in it and I feel we are all pulling in the same direction.
I am not naive enough to not think that if a P5 offer comes we arenât jumping on it. But in the meantime I really like where we are.
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Thatâs a given. UH would accept a P5 invite before they finished the sentence inviting us. I bet we have draft press releases and contracts just in case somewhere.
Itâs not something we can control though. The only thing we can do is better our house and current conference.
In Mens BB this absolutely can be a top tier conference. Imagine what it will be like when Memphis and UConn get their crap together and Tulane (especially) and ECU stop sucking. Drop those two off and I bet the AAC would look better than the Big East across all rating systems right now. Hell, the AAC is already above the Pac12. Get that conference wide non-conf win % up and it could pull a Big12 and end up the top RPI conference. That is possibleâŠabsolutely possible.
Why canât the AAC do the same in football? For part of 2016 the AAC was higher in RPI than the Pac12. Donât get me wrongâŠits a tougher ask in football and a longer way to go but its possible. But I could see this ending up as a stepping stone contract and the next one more of an âon parâ with P5âŠas long as the top 2 arenât culled that isâŠ
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There is no downside to us being in a âP5â conference. None. There would be a short adjustment period, but as long as our administration continues to value athletics, the added resources and exposure will only push us upward.
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