Even the NFL has started to recognize the quality of players coming out of our league.
NFL Combine invites by conference (Division I FBS)
SEC: 66 participants
ACC: 60
Big Ten: 51
Pac-12: 46
Big 12: 19
AAC: 18
Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West: 11 each
Independents, Sun Belt: 5 each
UH, USF, Temple, Navy and Memphis have all made appearances in the top 25 the last couple of years with Tulsa receiving votes as well. The constant push for us to find another league is no better for the league than having a coach constantly on the search for another job helps the school. At one point there was 6 power conferences so it can happen again.
Just remember when looking at the recruits coming in, we saw several examples of recruits get a higher rating after switching from Houston to Texas. You don’t think that happens to Memphis, UCF, etc? You can’t really compare ratings of non power 5 schools with power 5 schools because of artificial bumps in the ratings. What you can compare is where our conference mates ranked with the other non power 5 schools. Houston, Memphis, UCF and USF were all ranked in the top 6 with Boise State and BYU. That’s not bad company.
Need to get that NY6 slot every year if possible. If Navy beats Temple last year, I think they would have gotten the NY6 slot. Scheduling up is important.
Need to keep looking to upgrade the conference; I like what they are doing with possibly adding Wichita State and Dayton/VCU for basketball/non-revenue sports. Really should continue pushing for 2 more football members that can increase SOS of all teams. BYU should be a target as the way their AD sounded, they may not be too much longer for independence depending on their TV deal with ESPN. Maybe see if folding BYU in can increase our next TV deal. Would love Boise State and/or San Diego State if possible or even Colorado State. Add another big market.
Long shot, but this is the time to make bold moves and separate us from the pack.
BYU (if they would be willing, but right now they make more in TV money than we do in conference) and Army. Army allows us to get a football only member and allows the conference to negotiate the VERY LUCRATIVE Army/Navy game for TV rights. If UConn left, Army would be a good replacement.
Right, from what I’ve seen, BYU makes somewhere in the range of $6M-$9M for their deal with ESPN which runs through 2018 with an ESPN option for 2019. The AAC’s TV deal expires with ESPN in 2019 as well which means something could happen if BYU tires of being an independent or ESPN decides they don’t want to pay that much for BYU without them being attached to a conference.
Army’s a decent choice for the reason you mentioned; that Army-Navy game is lucrative and would help bring in money to the rest of the conference. Army’s improvement last year is a good sign as maybe they would feel that they could compete in the AAC as that’s the reason they dropped out of CUSA. Army would also help with attendance across the conference.
That would make for an interesting dynamic as you could add BYU and Army for football only and Wichita State, Dayton, and VCU for basketball/other sports. That’s a pretty strong conference from a football/basketball standpoint. Is it enough to reach P6 status? If ESPN was willing to push, it might be.
Not sure why people keep targeting BYU. They have a whole religion following them. I’d rather target schools like USM that would do a lot with AAC revenue and wouldn’t be a constant threat to move on to power 5 conferences.
Reason why people keep bring up schools like BYU, Boise State and San Diego State is because those are schools that with the resources could thrive in a power conference. So if the AAC has teams that are just on the verge of being serious contenders for power conference expansion and able to recruit top talent then the AAC could be able to turn itself into a power conference.
Wonder if there’s a way for the AAC and Big East to reunite again. Would help out with power conference perception for the schools.
Especially when the Big East get paid more than the American
92010Coogs
(I took a lie detector test...No I did not)
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The talent is there. So might argue that the talent is everywhere. The Super Bowl rosters prove it year after year. What is not there is the money. EatEmUp summed it up. Unless we get into a P5 we will keep being second class citizens. Just compare the media coverage of P5 vs non P5. It is not even close. It seems that for the sports media we do not even exist. The Army-Navy game is well covered but where is the coverage when Army or Navy play Memphis or others? Its zero coverage. The media is a bunch of hypocrites. Again, you want to get coverage? This is directed at the media. Start a real debate about Houston, BYU and others not being part of a P5. The current P5 vs other conferences is A SCAMThere is no other way to put it. It is a daily insult to all of us. Mr. Fertitta and other major supporters have to be commended to the highest for what they do for us. Just think about about he, Mr. Fertitta really feels when a small12 decides to not invite us? I will keep at it until we are part of a P5. This system is A SCAM, A FARCE OR ANY OTHER WAY YOU WANT TO SAY IT.
My feelings are not directed at you Jimmy. I really enjoy reading your posts but it is directed at every pompous ass that tells you or I that their Team is better than ours. The reality is that they get the money and we do not.
P5 football being “worth” all that money is the scam. It’s funded by a poor tax of TV subscription fees and ads for bad beer and insurance, while teams like ours demonstrate that all the money isn’t required for running the football team, so the money is just lining a few pockets. It’s more corrupt than a third world country. We need to take money out of the game, not add more in.
You don’t go after the entire Big East but the 3 schools with FCS football programs. Villanova (Defending Men’s basketball national Champion), Georgetown and Butler. Adding those 3 athletic programs to help with the American’s basketball prestige along with Wichita State benefits everyone involved. Those 3 schools from the Big East get access to the American’s football revenue along with basketball revenue.
I’m not sure you understand how much money the Big East is making now in basketball revenue. They made an agreement with the AAC in which the AAC got to keep the old Big East tourney dollars for giving up the name. The Big East not only has a nice TV contract, but they are getting plenty of tourney money and only having to split it 8 ways. Splitting non power 5 football revenue 16 ways won’t make up for having to cut their basketball revenue in half.
We don’t need to expand the AAC. We need to promote the AAC within. We need all the schools to stand together.
Is it fair to say this argument doesn’t work for the P5 conferences? Otherwise what would our benefit be in joining a P5 with money being split 16 ways?
The Big East has 10 teams. They currently have a deal with FS1 signed in 2013 for 12 years worth 500 million. That means each team gets 4.16 million a year from their deal and that’s not counting the NCAA tournament money they get for sending teams off to the tournament. They currently have 7 teams that could make the NCAA tournament, 2 of those teams are teams I proposed the American should go after in expansion.
If the American expands and adds Villanova, Georgetown and Butler as full members along with Xavier and Wichita State as non-football members. Add BYU as a football only member and the American can negotiate a much better deal.
Football divisions
West:
Houston
SMU
Tulsa
Tulane
Memphis
Navy
BYU
Cincinnati