This would be a massive win for UCF and the AAC..

I personally feel that Baylor is overrated. Not to take away from UCF it would still be a great win. I just remember Baylor getting punished by Oklahoma state.

(01-01-2014 11:03 PM)Bearcatbdub Wrote:  I personally feel that Baylor is overrated. Not to take away from UCF it would still be a great win. I just remember Baylor getting punished by Oklahoma state.

Ya I feel you on that it's just baylor has so much speed lol.

I still think our Sugar Bowl draw was the single most unlucky thing to ever happen to us. We go to any of the other BCS bowls and I think we win, but we had to play a team that had 24 players drafted off of it...

We would have lost to just about anyone that night. That team was so unprepared and unfocused heading into that game it didn't matter who we played or where we played them, that was going to be a bowl loss.

(01-02-2014 01:06 AM)subflea Wrote:  We would have lost to just about anyone that night. That team was so unprepared and unfocused heading into that game it didn't matter who we played or where we played them, that was going to be a bowl loss.

Just the worst situation in the world, and we'll get judged for it, but BK never will.

I agree with both Bearcatman and Subflea.

That Florida team was the defending national champion, was ranked #1 all season until their loss to Alabama in the SEC CCG and was loaded with talent (Tebow, Aaron Hernandez, Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Riley Cooper, Carlos Dunlop, both Pouncey Bros, etc.). It was Tebow's swan song-- they would have taken anybody else in the country that night-- including Bama.

That being said, our situation was a mess. We might have been able to beat Georgia Tech who won the ACC that year-- especially if they would have been dumb enough to kick the ball to Mardy like Pitt did that earlier.

Let's not forget we had another chance against VT in the orange bowl and crapped the bed. UCF coming into the AAC and winning it in year one then winning the fiesta bowl actually has me feeling pretty depressed this morning.

We had graduate assistants and players' parents running practices before the Sugar Bowl. The outcome made perfect sense since the team was simply not mentally prepared to play. Last weekend, made far less sense.

AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

(01-02-2014 09:15 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

The issue most people have with the conference is television revenue and bowl tie-ins and access.

(01-02-2014 09:30 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:15 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

The issue most people have with the conference is television revenue and bowl tie-ins and access.

If the conference sticks together those things will probably improve; however, like I posted on the AAC board there is always a chance the Big XII takes a page out of the ACC's playbook and picks up UCF and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati just has to make sure they stay upper tier in the American and things will work.

(01-02-2014 09:30 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:15 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

The issue most people have with the conference is television revenue and bowl tie-ins and access.

That's my beef. I'd love the prospect of growing in the AAC (which looks to have a bright future) if not for the fact that Cincinnati took a paycut to be in this conference.

(01-02-2014 08:27 AM)Racinejake Wrote:  Let's not forget we had another chance against VT in the orange bowl and crapped the bed. UCF coming into the AAC and winning it in year one then winning the fiesta bowl actually has me feeling pretty depressed this morning.

This.

We had our chance against VT and blew it. Started the game up 7-0 and then did nothing for 55 minutes.

When you get a chance you HAVE to take advantage of it. We didn't, and here we sit.

My friends said - you'd better go to these big bowl games, you don't know if you'll have another chance. I took their advice, and I'm glad I did, but I didn't realize that they'd be so right, I assumed we'd have lots of opportunities.

Who knows how long it will be before we play in a big bowl game again...

This win is actually really big for us...

UCF finishes in top 10 (likely) with wins over Baylor, @ Louisville, @ Penn St

UCF gives the AAC a little bit of credibility. And with Fresno St and NIU laying eggs in their bowl games, MWC as a whole has been bad, AAC has a chance to own that "best of the other conferences" spot in the Access Bowls next year.

For ex if Cincy goes 10-2, say with a win over UCF, and a team like Fresno or NIU are 11-1 or 10-2, we may get the nod now because of credibility of the conference.

Important for Houston to win bowl on Saturday. ECU and Tulane help too. The more decent teams we have, the better chance we have at Access Bowls. But UCF's win last night definitely helps us longer term and helps the conference

(01-02-2014 11:21 AM)digibrink Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 08:27 AM)Racinejake Wrote:  Let's not forget we had another chance against VT in the orange bowl and crapped the bed. UCF coming into the AAC and winning it in year one then winning the fiesta bowl actually has me feeling pretty depressed this morning.

This.

We had our chance against VT and blew it. Started the game up 7-0 and then did nothing for 55 minutes.

When you get a chance you HAVE to take advantage of it. We didn't, and here we sit.

My friends said - you'd better go to these big bowl games, you don't know if you'll have another chance. I took their advice, and I'm glad I did, but I didn't realize that they'd be so right, I assumed we'd have lots of opportunities.

Who knows how long it will be before we play in a big bowl game again...

UC's best wins came against WVU, Pitt, and Oregon State. UC missed their opportunity to get a signature win in a major bowl game or against non-conference power. UC gets two chances next season to beat a brand name. UC need to be competitive with Ohio State and beat Miami (Fl) to have a chance at the access bowl next season.

(01-02-2014 11:31 AM)thebearcat Wrote:  This win is actually really big for us...

UCF finishes in top 10 (likely) with wins over Baylor, @ Louisville, @ Penn St

UCF gives the AAC a little bit of credibility. And with Fresno St and NIU laying eggs in their bowl games, MWC as a whole has been bad, AAC has a chance to own that "best of the other conferences" spot in the Access Bowls next year.

For ex if Cincy goes 10-2, say with a win over UCF, and a team like Fresno or NIU are 11-1 or 10-2, we may get the nod now because of credibility of the conference.

Important for Houston to win bowl on Saturday. ECU and Tulane help too. The more decent teams we have, the better chance we have at Access Bowls. But UCF's win last night definitely helps us longer term and helps the conference

Under the current dynamic, I do not think there is any chance to grow within the aAC because the bowls have shut down access to this conference. The only decent bowl that avails itself to the AAc is the Access Bowl. I think we have three opportunities (Military, BBV and one other)to play the bottom of the P5 each year. Not exactly an opportunity to distinguish ourselves. The best thing that can happen to the AAC is a 16 team playoff. Potentially, our conference could score two great bowls in this scenario with reasonable access to the lower tier bowls.

(01-02-2014 09:34 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:30 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:15 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

The issue most people have with the conference is television revenue and bowl tie-ins and access.

If the conference sticks together those things will probably improve; however, like I posted on the AAC board there is always a chance the Big XII takes a page out of the ACC's playbook and picks up UCF and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati just has to make sure they stay upper tier in the American and things will work.

Careful touting the rise of UCF.

Although picking up UCF and UC would be the ideal scenario, there is a chance that UCF leap frogs UC. And it turns out to be UCF and BYU (or someone else). I would think the Big 12 would want to stake claim in Florida before they would Ohio. The upper hand that UC has is the closer proximity to WVA (and better basketball). I haven't checked the numbers, but I thought the Orlando TV market was about the same as Cincy.

(01-02-2014 11:56 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:34 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:30 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:15 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

The issue most people have with the conference is television revenue and bowl tie-ins and access.

If the conference sticks together those things will probably improve; however, like I posted on the AAC board there is always a chance the Big XII takes a page out of the ACC's playbook and picks up UCF and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati just has to make sure they stay upper tier in the American and things will work.

Careful touting the rise of UCF.

Although picking up UCF and UC would be the ideal scenario, there is a chance that UCF leap frogs UC. And it turns out to be UCF and BYU (or someone else). I would think the Big 12 would want to stake claim in Florida before they would Ohio. The upper hand that UC has is the closer proximity to WVA (and better basketball). I haven't checked the numbers, but I thought the Orlando TV market was about the same as Cincy.

Orlando's TV market is bigger... they are #19 whereas Cincinnati is #34.

(01-02-2014 11:56 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:34 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:30 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-02-2014 09:15 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  AAC football is actually better than most people think. UConn and USF will improve too. Its not the cakewalk conference for the Bearcats.

The issue most people have with the conference is television revenue and bowl tie-ins and access.

If the conference sticks together those things will probably improve; however, like I posted on the AAC board there is always a chance the Big XII takes a page out of the ACC's playbook and picks up UCF and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati just has to make sure they stay upper tier in the American and things will work.

Careful touting the rise of UCF.

Although picking up UCF and UC would be the ideal scenario, there is a chance that UCF leap frogs UC. And it turns out to be UCF and BYU (or someone else). I would think the Big 12 would want to stake claim in Florida before they would Ohio. The upper hand that UC has is the closer proximity to WVA (and better basketball). I haven't checked the numbers, but I thought the Orlando TV market was about the same as Cincy.

UCF could pass Cincinnati but the Big XII would be foolish to grab just BYU and UCF. If the American only loses UCF the league would still be in solid shape. Basketball wouldn't take a hit and there is always the chance USF recaptures some its former magic and becomes the hot school in Florida.

If that every played out, the American would be wise to grab UMass instead of trying to find another Florida replacement. There is some value in basketball plus the northeast is still one region that isn't dominated by one single conference. While it would stink to be passed up again, I don't believe it would change things for UC.

Edit: There is one worst case scenario that does scare me.

Big XII grabs UCF and BYU to go 12 and they stop there.
The ACC grabs Navy as football only to offset Notre Dame and adds UConn for all sports giving them 16.
At this point the American is left scrambling to backfill with the like UMass, Marshall, NIU, Southern Miss, Rice, or whoever is the hot new C-USA school. My picks would UMass, Marshall, and Southern Miss; however, at that point I would seriously considered adding VCU and Wichita State to save basketball.