(12-02-2013 06:10 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Bottom line- AAC is much stronger than CUSA in football, and more importantly overall. Better tv deal, better tv coverage, better football, better basketball, etc.

The 2014 AAC is better than the 2014 CUSA for sure.

However, the 2014 AAC is pretty much the same as CUSA pre-2013. The AAC is what CUSA 1.0 could have been if it had better TV exposure (back when Cincy, Louisville, USF were originally in CUSA).

Central Florida, ECU, South Florida, Houston, SMU, Cincinnati, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis. That's a lot of CUSA pedigree.

There's no arguing that the ESPN TV exposure is good for the AAC, but that easily goes bye-bye if a couple schools move on. And all the schools with new or improved football stadiums and football facilities are looking to bolt ASAP. They're certainly not building those facilities for the AAC.

.

(12-04-2013 01:40 AM)Blackhawk-eye Wrote:  

(12-02-2013 06:10 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Bottom line- AAC is much stronger than CUSA in football, and more importantly overall. Better tv deal, better tv coverage, better football, better basketball, etc.

The 2014 AAC is better than the 2014 CUSA for sure.

However, the 2014 AAC is pretty much the same as CUSA pre-2013. The AAC is what CUSA 1.0 could have been if it had better TV exposure (back when Cincy, Louisville, USF were originally in CUSA).

Central Florida, ECU, South Florida, Houston, SMU, Cincinnati, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis. That's a lot of CUSA pedigree.

There's no arguing that the ESPN TV exposure is good for the AAC, but that easily goes bye-bye if a couple schools move on. And all the schools with new or improved football stadiums and football facilities are looking to bolt ASAP. They're certainly not building those facilities for the AAC.

In the meantime, if all of those AAC teams keep building the facilities to bolt, they'll have something pretty nice.

Yes, those teams have a high CUSA pedigree, but many have expanded since then. Cicny and USF were never in CUSA at the same time as UCF, SMU, Tulsa. UCF is currently seeing unprecidented success, and Cincy never really had success in CUSA to begin with. Their best seasons came in the Big East. A lot of AAC programs are trending up right now...hopefully that TV Exposure keeps it going. SMU/UConn will need new coaches, USF/Mem/Temple's coaches needs time, but all five should begin to rise. Tulsa is the only one i'm worried about right now.

(11-30-2013 03:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 01:48 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  And yet, Despite the media deal, Tulsa jumped at the chance to leave CUSA for the American.

The AAC probably wishes they could take a mulligan on that one.

Shouldn't put too much emphasis on Tulsa's current bad football record. If you think UCF (currently ranked and leading the AAC) was a good addition, keep in mind:

(1) Tulsa's superior football tradition to UCF's, and

(2) The fact that Tulsa leads the UCF series 4-2

This is not to mention Tulsa's strong academics, decent TV market size and sensible geographic fit. Only one year ago, Tulsa won the C-USA championship and defeated Iowa State convincingly in the Liberty Bowl.

(12-01-2013 12:14 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  The Belt offers no advantage over C-USA. That is why every university in the Sun Belt would jump at an invitation to C-USA.............

And every C-USA (or Sunbelt or MAC) school would jump at an invitation to join the AAC.

(12-01-2013 08:06 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  

(12-01-2013 06:54 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  UConn has future home & homes with:

Boise
BYU
Army
Virginia
Tennessee

We have no single games scheduled with a P5 school.

Houston has future home & homes with:

Texas Tech (4 game series)
Arizona
Kansas
Louisville

We have no single games scheduled with a P5 school.

Memphis has future home & home games scheduled with:

UCLA
Ole Miss
Missouri
Tennessee

We have no single games scheduled with a P5 school.

(12-01-2013 01:25 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-01-2013 12:14 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 10:36 PM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 08:55 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 10:39 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  Just stop man. Conference USA is going to be a bottom feeder going forward in football. You know your conference is bad when a FCS move up is in position to win the conference.

Tallgrass is a real Tulsa fan. They will be in the AAC next season, genius. C-USA will be just fine. We have plenty of great bowl locations and had a great conference title race this season. The AAC could end up with only 4 bowl teams, and the Sun Belt will probably have a few bowl eligible teams, like Troy, staying home again this year. I think right now the Belt is still the bottom feeder.

Tallgrass is not a Tulsa fan and any real Tulsa fan will quickly point that he is a Oklahoma State fan trolling and pushing Conference USA. He is more of a conference USA fan than he is anything else.

Bowl games have nothing to do with a conference being a bottom feeder. Being terrible makes you a bottom feeder. All the belt needs to do is keep on improving and the bowl games will follow. Even a UNT fan cannot say that the fact that the belt may have all but one team which is an FCS start up bowl eligible is impressive.

That has been said for a long time and it still has not happened. The Belt offers no advantage over C-USA. That is why every university in the Sun Belt would jump at an invitation to C-USA. Yes the Belt posted some nice records this season. They even won some games from the weaker C-USA teams, but the Belt is not a better conference. ULL is the best team in the Belt, and will play Tulane, probably the 6th or 7th best team in C-USA, in the NO Bowl and I don't think ULL will win that game. If ULL loses the New Orleans Bowl to Tulane, a team ranked 4th in C-USA West, the Sun Belt will look really bad.

WKU is a situation where the Sun Belt has no alternative but to look bad. WKU beat ASU and should get an invitation to the Go Daddy Bowl. The Belt looks bad if it sends a team that is leaving to that bowl and lets ASU, Troy, ULM and Texas State all sit home during bowl season. But, if the Belt doesn't send WKU they will look like they are manipulating the system.

You can believe what you want, but C-USA isn't a bottom feeder. C-USA is in a much better position then the Sun Belt.

The thing is, Arkansas St finished with a better conference record than WKU.

And lost to Memphis 31 - 7.

(11-30-2013 10:26 AM)Tallgrass Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 10:20 AM)john01992 Wrote:  colorado played at ohio st. for 1 million about 2 years ago

Sort of reminds me of the Will Roger's quote with a twist: When Colorado moved from B12 to PAC-12, it strengthened both conferences.

The same will be said for Kansas one day...

(12-04-2013 12:02 PM)Gray Avenger Wrote:  

(12-01-2013 01:25 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-01-2013 12:14 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 10:36 PM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 08:55 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Tallgrass is a real Tulsa fan. They will be in the AAC next season, genius. C-USA will be just fine. We have plenty of great bowl locations and had a great conference title race this season. The AAC could end up with only 4 bowl teams, and the Sun Belt will probably have a few bowl eligible teams, like Troy, staying home again this year. I think right now the Belt is still the bottom feeder.

Tallgrass is not a Tulsa fan and any real Tulsa fan will quickly point that he is a Oklahoma State fan trolling and pushing Conference USA. He is more of a conference USA fan than he is anything else.

Bowl games have nothing to do with a conference being a bottom feeder. Being terrible makes you a bottom feeder. All the belt needs to do is keep on improving and the bowl games will follow. Even a UNT fan cannot say that the fact that the belt may have all but one team which is an FCS start up bowl eligible is impressive.

That has been said for a long time and it still has not happened. The Belt offers no advantage over C-USA. That is why every university in the Sun Belt would jump at an invitation to C-USA. Yes the Belt posted some nice records this season. They even won some games from the weaker C-USA teams, but the Belt is not a better conference. ULL is the best team in the Belt, and will play Tulane, probably the 6th or 7th best team in C-USA, in the NO Bowl and I don't think ULL will win that game. If ULL loses the New Orleans Bowl to Tulane, a team ranked 4th in C-USA West, the Sun Belt will look really bad.

WKU is a situation where the Sun Belt has no alternative but to look bad. WKU beat ASU and should get an invitation to the Go Daddy Bowl. The Belt looks bad if it sends a team that is leaving to that bowl and lets ASU, Troy, ULM and Texas State all sit home during bowl season. But, if the Belt doesn't send WKU they will look like they are manipulating the system.

You can believe what you want, but C-USA isn't a bottom feeder. C-USA is in a much better position then the Sun Belt.

The thing is, Arkansas St finished with a better conference record than WKU.

And lost to Memphis 31 - 7.

well, it's done now. Arkansas St got the slot.

Sure, the money will go down for the AAC. However, UCF scheduling this game is more about exposure. I honestly do not understand why Michigan would schedule this game...more to lose than win here. Did they not watch South Carolina struggle against a very good UCF team this year?

(12-04-2013 01:18 PM)LSUtah Wrote:  Sure, the money will go down for the AAC. However, UCF scheduling this game is more about exposure. I honestly do not understand why Michigan would schedule this game...more to lose than win here. Did they not watch South Carolina struggle against a very good UCF team this year?

Which is why I argued against posting this info....

Oh well, guess I'm the bad guy.

I think we're going to see top teams in the G5 get actually more and more chances. I mean- for Michigan, if they beat UCF it helps their SOS out some. Right now- they have Hawaii, UCF, and Colorado. In some ways, UCF is their prime OOC game.

(12-04-2013 01:37 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think we're going to see top teams in the G5 get actually more and more chances. I mean- for Michigan, if they beat UCF it helps their SOS out some. Right now- they have Hawaii, UCF, and Colorado. In some ways, UCF is their prime OOC game.

Hawaii is a home and away, UCF is a one and done, Colorado is a historic rival. G5 schools will position themselves differently. UCF will take a one and done. Their conference mates will chose their own path.

(12-04-2013 02:11 PM)Dasville Wrote:  

(12-04-2013 01:37 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I think we're going to see top teams in the G5 get actually more and more chances. I mean- for Michigan, if they beat UCF it helps their SOS out some. Right now- they have Hawaii, UCF, and Colorado. In some ways, UCF is their prime OOC game.

Hawaii is a home and away, UCF is a one and done, Colorado is a historic rival. G5 schools will position themselves differently. UCF will take a one and done. Their conference mates will chose their own path.

Isn't Hawaii one of those games you schedule for the experience though? Plus they can't really afford to not do H and H.