Army. They have too much national marketing respect to ignore. Also, unofficially, it makes the ARMY vs NAVY game a AAC feature.
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See if the Shockers want to invest big time in pigskin, BYU, Colo State, or I prefer no one. B12 model less mouths to feed more cash per school. Stand pat, see what happens. If someone in MWC or CUSA impresses us we can add them later.
Florida Gators are AAC members in womenâs lacrosse. If they wanted to join in all sports thatâd be fine.
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I wonder if there leaving has anything to do with AAC offices relocating to Dallas? Maybe UCONN go their feelings hurt!
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no disrespect, but if Southern Miss, Marshall, or Rice is not worthyâŠUTSA, UMASS, and NIU are not worthy eitherâŠespecially UTSA a UT schoolâŠNO.
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What about Nova (preferred) or Georgetown they just move football to FBS, we go 11 in football during the waiting period.
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Alabama killed them because they were doing too well.
I would add Buffalo in this group too itâs just a meh filler group.
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I guess cheating does pay off then !!!
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Frankly my dear I donât give ah damn!!! âŠ
we are not long for this lousy conf. anyway âŠ
as soon as realignment rolls around ⊠who gives ah hoot and ah holler who the replacement is
But if I had my druthers âŠ
That powerhouse from Minnysoda
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I think his keywords were to invite them when they (further) develop their programs.
That said USM would be middling in our conference. Maybe better. Not saying we should invite them but hard to argue that they are beneath. Theyâd be competitive. So would NIU in pretty short order.
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The three big factors are size of market/potential viewers (why Rutgers and Maryland were invited to the Big 10), national brand (why Nebraska was invited to the Big 10 and why OU is coveted), and competitiveness, i. e., how good have you been lately? The last one is what got Wichita State basketball in the AAC.
Neither Southern Miss nor Marshall has any market to speak of, and the casual fan knows little about either school. Neither program has won enough recently (not many G5 examples; think of Western Michigan putting together a string of seasons similar to 2016) to rise in any meaningful way above the pack. What USM did in C-USA (averaged about 7-8 wins per season) a decade or so ago is meaningless.
I specifically said that UMass and NIU would only be considered if they develop their programs. The reason those schools would draw interest well before a USM or Marshall is because they could potentially deliver large markets, the state of MA for UMass, Chicago in the case of NIU. Doesnât mean I think thatâs fair to programs in small areas, but itâs the way it is.
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Southern Miss - I think youâre selling them a bit short. They had a really bad run which they have mostly recovered from. They wouldnât add enough to justify bringing them in, but theyâd be okay. Main concern honestly is the financial state of their athletics program.
UMass - I just donât see any scenario where things work out there.
Marshall - They have a movie about them and decent support throughout the state (I live on the other side of West Virginia and see a lot of Marshall gear). I worry about their ability to level up and their ceiling isnât particularly high.
UTSA - Enormous potential, but theyâre not good now and Iâm not sure how much I favor taking a chance on them. I donât care that they are in the UT system and donât think itâs a Bama-UAB type situation.
UAB - Too much history there. Weâve seen too much suck.
Rice - No
North Texas - Too hit-and-miss.
Northern Illinois - If ESPN says we need a 12th and we canât get a lot of the ones weâve talked about here, Iâd be happy with them. Would even consider them otherwise provided that their inclusion didnât mean less money for us. Expanded footprint, a state without other good teams but with a lot people. A track record of success with some room to grow. Their finances donât look good, though, from what I understand.
ESPN doesnât seem to think so.
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The only G5s I would add at this time are Army, BYU (not technically a G5), Boise, SDSU, AFA, and possibly a UNM, Fresno, or CSU.depending on who comes with them. In basketball, VCU would be my first choice followed by St. Louis. But except for the two basketball programs, I doubt any of those schools are going to join the American. Could be wrong and hope I am. But assuming Iâm right and we canât get any of them, then I stand pat. I only mention UMass, NIU, and UTSA for down the road IF they pour resources into their athletic programs not dissimilar to what we have done in the past half-decade. And I mention them because IF those schools ever did build facilities and become very competitive, they would add value given the markets theyâre in. I have nothing against Southern Miss, but I just donât think you add a program in the Hattiesburg, MS designated market area, which is about the size of a full TDECU, if you want to elevate your conference.
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Agree, but why not add Boise and Army, as well. All four have national reputations/recognition. If the CFC playoffs expand to 8, the AAC would surely stand a better chance for inclusion.
Best possible additions would probably be BYU for football and some WSU basketball-level other sports addition. Tough to see BYU happening though on travel distance alone w/o other western additions.
I think weâre destined for an old CUSA foe or some MACtion making the move over.
Yeah, sure, why not Duke? Other than they would be giving up P5 money plus paying a kings ransom in exit fees, why not Duke. Heck, why not Alabama?
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âAnd depending on how negotiations with UConn go, as well as with the conferenceâs TV partners, itâs possible the 11 remaining schools could find themselves in a position where theyâre getting more money as an 11-school conference than they would with a 12th team.â
" So what does the AAC do now?
As best as I can gather, they have three options."
http://footballscoop.com/news/uconn-soon-way-american/
âThereâs a lot of moves still to be made here, but it seems like a divorce between UConn and the American could be the best move for all parties.â
No, they donât; the University of Alabama will see to that!
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Maybe we add and maybe we donât. Thereâs no need to add big, huge, public city schools with virtually no school spirit or support (we already have USF). So, no thank you to FIU, FAU, SUNY-Buffalo, UNLV, UNCC, UTSA, UAB, etc. These add no value at all.
And no thank you to anymore tiny private schools nobody cares about like our own Tulsa, Tulane and SMU. The AAC is already heavy in that area.
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