Preach on Brother Aresco.
It’s not the “power” that makes the difference between the 5th and the 6th - that has been proven.
It’s the MONEY.
Just call it what it is….the MONEY FIVE.
The AAC’s record in NY6 bowls is 3-4, which if nothing else has shown that the Big 12 has belonged in a 12-team conversation. All the while being categorized with the MAC in the shorthand. While I’m not going to pretend the AAC is shoulder-to-shoulder with the P5, I think some complaints are pretty reasonable.
Had the league not just gotten busted by realignment I think there could have actually been a “P6” argument insofar as six conferences reliably sending schools to the playoffs.
Post-realignment… well we’ll have to see how it goes. Not counting them out. It isn’t like the AAC was formed with three powers and a bunch of mediocrity. At the start, UH and UCF were two Conference USA teams that had never been to a major bowl in the modern era^ and at the outset it was hard to make an argument that it was a better conference than the MWC. But it became a better conference. I don’t see any reason that it can’t do so again with new schools establishing themselves^^.
I’m not sure any of the G5 conferences will establish the sort of dominance the AAC had, but if any of them does (barring future losses) I think it will be the AAC.
^ While Cincinnati had some notches in its belt when the AAC was formed, it entered the Big East as an unremarkable Conference USA program that the AAC’s predecessor elevated.
^^ This is all football. Basketball is a different story. It started out as a stronger basketball league than it ended. I don’t think they are finished as a multi-bid conference, but it likely won’t be what it originally was. I think it can become a major basketball conference, but its history doesn’t give much reason to believe it will.
Aresco created the “Power 6” mantra, which sort of goes against what he’s saying in this manifesto.
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Yeah kinda got him there.
IMO Aresco is a do nothing waste of time…
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He was the architect of the high-exposure TV deal that I believe gets a lot of credit for the conference’s success. When it comes to making the most of the hand they were dealt, Aresco and the Sun Belt commissioner really stand out.
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Aresco did mess up with one big thing which was giving away the Big East name which had brand. The AAC then had to start over with branding. I still remember when he caved in and thought this is very stupid. It’s like selling coke and you give up the name cola cola and try to sell the same coke. Brands matter bc it takes yrs or decades to build it up. It was an ignorant business decision by him.
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I think that was strictly a Cincinnati-UConn-USF decision.
Aresco and other schools may have been in favor (I was fine with it), but I think it was those three because they got all the money for that.
Watching the Conference USA tournament (also in DFW), the same is not true for North Texas. Really good showing here.
SMU is a terrible local team to be the host team
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Hes correct its not P5/G5 its
P2
Big XII
Waiting to be dissolved 2
Group of 2 (MWC and AAC)
Meh 2 (MAC and Sun Belt)
How are you still FBS 1 (CUSA)
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I agree this was a big mistake
No SMU is not going to bring the local fans to Fort Worth even being 35 miles away.
They are perfect for the PAC10.
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Nevermind North Texas, the Rice-UAB game had more people than that.
100% selling the BIG East name was a colossal mistake. It was a battered brand, but a brand nonetheless.
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I get that AAC should have kept the Big East name from a branding perspective, but Big East was primarily a basketball conference with some schools that were better than decent at football (Miami, Pitt, Syr, WVU, VT, etc).
That tie-in to Madison Square Garden is incredible and the history - wow! (the 30 for 30 on the Big East is awesome). I don’t know if the AAC (as the Big East) would have been able to maintain the MSG tournament given the location of the AAC schools. I think the Catholic 7 knew this, so it meant more for the C7 to take the name and keep the history of the tournament alive.
I don’t think Aresco is wrong because college sports and rivalries are being torn apart by money and television rights. Even though he was a P6 pusher, he’s doing damage control, and I don’t blame him for his current perspective.
The American was a very good football conference and a very mediocre basketball conference. Which is ironic given that when it was formed it was viewed as a potential great basketball conference that also played football.
In terms of basketball, no school other than Houston was better after joining the AAC. Cincinnati, Wichita State, Temple, SMU all could have been very good basketball schools and ended up being mediocre to bad.
Memphis is pretty much Memphis.
American has been a great platform for UH.
But just like CUSA when Louisville, Cincy, TCU, Marquette etc left, it won’t be the same.
MWC hasnt been the same since BYU, Utah and TCU left.
The top “Challenger” conferences are always great platforms for the best programs to move up.
I don’t think Conference USA’s slide was inevitable. The second iteration of that conference supplied all but one of the teams that were the foundation of AAC success. The schools were there for it to be a much better conference than in it was.
Soda…you are talking about soda.