(12-07-2017 11:57 AM)YNot Wrote:  

(12-07-2017 11:54 AM)stxrunner Wrote:  

(12-06-2017 04:41 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-06-2017 03:29 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  UConn is between a rock and a hard place. As long as there is even a tiny sliver of hope for a P5 invite down the road, then it simply cannot leave the AAC. P5 membership is based on football and independence simply isn't realistically viable for a school like UConn.

Who says UConn football would have to go independent? They could be football-only in the AAC or basketball-only in the Big East.

No way would the AAC kick UConn football out. We already have the precedent of Wichita State being no football.

Yeah, I'm biased, I'd love to have UConn back in the Big East. But I also know that they have to put their football interests first. I think they could, and still play Big East hoops.

You're going to have to explain why the AAC would keep UConn in as a football only. I see no motivation for the AAC to hold onto that part.

What are the replacement options?

The AAC has poaching power over Conference USA as a general matter. Now, who knows whether they really want any of those schools, but the overall point is that UConn is certainly replaceable from a football perspective (as there are more markets in Texas and Florida that could be added for the AAC). It's basketball (both men's and women's) where UConn has value, so if they take those sports to the Big East, they're not really in that strong of a position for football. We have already seen this play out at a lower level with respect to UMass and the MAC - that league didn't see much value in having UMass for football if it wasn't going to bring its basketball program, so they cut ties entirely.

Maybe the AAC would see things differently than UConn, but I wouldn't count on it. This is certainly a very large risk factor from the UConn perspective.