AAC ESPN close to a tier 1 deal?

The biggest downside for us going P5 is that there is an excellent chance we will be tethered to the burnt orange devil.

Now no one likes Texas. But if casting our lot with them is what it takes to go P5 though you do it 10 out of 10 times.

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Back to the negotiations I think no news is good news. There could be a bidding war going on right now.

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This. ^^^

Now that the exclusive negotiation window with ESPN has passed, we can finally “talk” (legally) to others. Maybe there’s others interested?

Or maybe simply details to be hammered out like:

NY6 bowls to negotiate with 


Or scheduling alliances to be worked out 


Or Tier 3 stuff 


I wonder if that’s such a bad thing. With our political connections and power now I doubt they’d ever be able to uncouple from us. In another conference we could be easily dumped if ever there was another round of realignment. However, I doubt UH will ever be in the same conference as UT.

tier 3 belongs to the individual schools and not the conference unless there is a conference network.

Really?:warning::exclamation::eyes:
I can’t believe that you believe what you wrote? This goes for others with the same mindset.
Our only goal is to get into a P5.
Do you think for a second that Mr. Fertitta would have invested $tens of M to stay irrelevent and second class citizen?
Our history alone getting into a P5 refutes that mindset. How many SWC’s Championship did we win within five years of joining a P5? You must be pulling our legs. I am confused this is not April 1st and it is not a good joke.

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Lol. It is just a thought. It is nice being one of the most valuable schools in the conference and the value of that conference continues to increase and grow. When seeing conversations about UT and OU leaving the B12, I think to myself it would be foolish for them because they are the top dogs in that conference. In the B1G or SEC they will just be another school. Not to mention a much tougher path to the playoffs.

I was just thinking could the same apply to us. We have an easier path to the NY6 bowl games and with a schedule like we have this upcoming year we could have a legit shot at the playoffs.

I 100% agree with you about the importance of joining a P5 conference but I don’t believe we are irrelevant. I think we are more relevant than Texas Tech, Baylor, KState, KU, Arizona etc. There is a reason why Dana left WVU to come to UH.

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Better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven?

Emphatic NO!!!

Our goal, our sole goal is to get into a P5. PERIOD!!

We have proven that when we have an even playing field we can compete, even dominate. From 1976-1985 how many schools played in 4 major bowls and 3 final fours?

I believe there is a P5 invite coming. It could be because of the TV sets we can bring from the state of Texas, it may be because schools would rather have us in the tent going out than on the outside going in.

While we may not be as dominant as we would like in FB and BB, I believe it is coming. Plus, since the forming of the American Conference, UH has won more conference championships than any other school, which is amazing when you consider we don’t field teams in some sports like some of the other schools.

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Please explain this. A couple of months ago someone posted our conference records since the swc disbanded and we were just middle of the road.

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My guess is he’s including t&f and other sports.

Even if it were a weak sister P6 conference, making somewhat less money and otherwise having a slightly tougher road to the playoffs than the others, I would probably prefer it to any of the alternatives. Except:

  1. There is no P6
  2. The road to the playoffs is nigh-impossible.
  3. It’s a lot less money and not just somewhat less money
  4. Being the weak sister is never going to be a stable arrangement, as the Big East discovered.
  5. If the FBS formally and completely splits it’s is imperative that we be on the right side of that split.

If you go the American Athletic Conference website, it lists conference championships sorted by sport and year. It shows UH with 16 conference titles since the conference was formed, more than any other school.
American Athletic Conference?

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Ah gotcha.

Most people don’t put any stock in sports beyond the revenue generators and there used to be a time when I agreed. But back when Louisville was soliciting the big 12 and ACC for membership they kept bringing up all the conference championships in non revenue sports they had and their standing in the directors cup. So if it’s a feather let’s flaunt it in our cap.

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It is what it is.

The PAC-12 has promoted itself as the conference of champions for years because of all the Olympic, i.e., non-revenue, sports championships it wins. Would I rather wins titles in FB and MBB? Absolutely. But as long as we are truly competitive in all sports and win titles on a regular basis, it helps when other conferences go shopping, especially as our academic profile continues to grow as well.

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Kick out ECU, Tulane, and Tulsa and the AAC would be a P6 conference.

No
 No it wouldn’t. Love the enthusiasm but no it’s not.

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Tulsa and ECU and UConn and SMU are not far from being contenders. Tulane is the only real dog in the conference. The issue isn’t that we have a couple of bad teams, but that we have a lot of meh teams that would be bad in a P5 conference.

They won their bowl game, and their baseball is decent. We need their academic profile as well.

I can tell you Aresco isn’t going to flutter a bunch of nonsense in ESPN’s face again. His negotiations will be heavy on details, weighted towards the upper tier, and politely optimistic.

He was drawn and quartered the first time and has maintained very good relations with ESPN since.

It is not funny. That mindset has polluted our sports program since the SWC imploded. You contradict your own argument. The Schools that you mentioned have access to the cfp because they are P5 Schools. We do not because we are a G5 School. Our goal is to aim for the top. Staying in a G5 equates to nothing. Second best or thank you for participating has never been our goal.

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