Long term membership in the AAC is unsustainable as the conference is currently structured. It isn't about football and it isn't about basketball. It's about travel for Olympic sports.

We've all seen the publicity out of Morgantown about the problems they've encountered with travel distances in the Big XII. UConn sits 500 miles east of Morgantown, so imagine how road trips to Texas and Oklahoma will affect them.

Despite their complaints, West Virginia will grin and bear it because the Big XII TV contract and guaranteed BCS money+ auto bid give them tens of millions of reasons to compensate for excessive travel. But the AAC TV contract pays 10% of what the Big XII contract does and the AAC no longer has an auto bid and the BCS money that goes with it. Good luck fighting with the rest of the G5 for that access bowl spot and splitting up the crumbs from the BCS.

It was bad enough when the AAC included Rutgers and Louisville, but replacing Rutgers with Tulsa instead of UMass turned a potential 50 mile road trip for UConn to UMass into a 1500 mile road trip to Oklahoma, compounding the problem enormously. Navy doesn't help travel with anything but football. In fact, their presence blocks the formation of divisions in all sports, which would have helped non-revenue sports a lot.

It's nice to have Temple 233 miles down the road, but that's where potential rivalries begin and end. We know that travel is a problem for West Virginia because they've told us so. Here's how travel miles for WVU and UConn in relation to the other 10 AAC members compare, just to put this into some perspective.

WEST VIRGINIA - UCONN

Iowa St - 861 -- 637 - East Carolina
Kansas -- 900 -- 795 - Cincinnati
K State - 981 -- 1210 - UCF
OK ST - 1083 -- 1232 - Memphis
OU ---- 1137 -- 1259 - USF
TCU --- 1239 -- 1446 - Tulane
Baylor -1298 -- 1495 - Tulsa
Texas - 1399 -- 1691 - SMU
TX Tch -1467 -- 1770 - Houston

Yet UConn wants no part of orphaned UMass?

(04-15-2014 02:30 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  Long term membership in the AAC is unsustainable as the conference is currently structured. It isn't about football and it isn't about basketball. It's about travel for Olympic sports.

We've all seen the publicity out of Morgantown about the problems they've encountered with travel distances in the Big XII. UConn sits 500 miles east of Morgantown, so imagine how road trips to Texas and Oklahoma will affect them.

Despite their complaints, West Virginia will grin and bear it because the Big XII TV contract and guaranteed BCS money+ auto bid give them tens of millions of reasons to compensate for excessive travel. But the AAC TV contract pays 10% of what the Big XII contract does and the AAC no longer has an auto bid and the BCS money that goes with it. Good luck fighting with the rest of the G5 for that access bowl spot and splitting up the crumbs from the BCS.

It was bad enough when the AAC included Rutgers and Louisville, but replacing Rutgers with Tulsa instead of UMass turned a potential 50 mile road trip for UConn to UMass into a 1500 mile road trip to Oklahoma, compounding the problem enormously. Navy doesn't help travel with anything but football. In fact, their presence blocks the formation of divisions in all sports, which would have helped non-revenue sports a lot.

It's nice to have Temple 233 miles down the road, but that's where potential rivalries begin and end. We know that travel is a problem for West Virginia because they've told us so. Here's how travel miles for WVU and UConn in relation to the other 10 AAC members compare, just to put this into some perspective.

WEST VIRGINIA - UCONN

Iowa St - 861 -- 637 - East Carolina
Kansas -- 900 -- 795 - Cincinnati
K State - 981 -- 1210 - UCF
OK ST - 1083 -- 1232 - Memphis
OU ---- 1137 -- 1259 - USF
TCU --- 1239 -- 1446 - Tulane
Baylor -1298 -- 1495 - Tulsa
Texas - 1399 -- 1691 - SMU
TX Tch -1467 -- 1770 - Houston

...so what's the solution? The MAC for football (with UMASS) and the Big East for bball....

(04-15-2014 02:32 PM)esayem Wrote:  Yet UConn wants no part of orphaned UMass?

Yeah hard to shed a lot of tears there.

Besides the idea of unsustainable would mean that UConn eventually is forced to:
1. Give up. (not likely) or
2. Lead the charge for a regionalization movement either by creating a regional league or a regional division.

The fact that UMass seems an improbable addition today to AAC undermines the second option.

The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

(04-15-2014 02:34 PM)Underdog Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:30 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  Long term membership in the AAC is unsustainable as the conference is currently structured. It isn't about football and it isn't about basketball. It's about travel for Olympic sports.

We've all seen the publicity out of Morgantown about the problems they've encountered with travel distances in the Big XII. UConn sits 500 miles east of Morgantown, so imagine how road trips to Texas and Oklahoma will affect them.

Despite their complaints, West Virginia will grin and bear it because the Big XII TV contract and guaranteed BCS money+ auto bid give them tens of millions of reasons to compensate for excessive travel. But the AAC TV contract pays 10% of what the Big XII contract does and the AAC no longer has an auto bid and the BCS money that goes with it. Good luck fighting with the rest of the G5 for that access bowl spot and splitting up the crumbs from the BCS.

It was bad enough when the AAC included Rutgers and Louisville, but replacing Rutgers with Tulsa instead of UMass turned a potential 50 mile road trip for UConn to UMass into a 1500 mile road trip to Oklahoma, compounding the problem enormously. Navy doesn't help travel with anything but football. In fact, their presence blocks the formation of divisions in all sports, which would have helped non-revenue sports a lot.

It's nice to have Temple 233 miles down the road, but that's where potential rivalries begin and end. We know that travel is a problem for West Virginia because they've told us so. Here's how travel miles for WVU and UConn in relation to the other 10 AAC members compare, just to put this into some perspective.

WEST VIRGINIA - UCONN

Iowa St - 861 -- 637 - East Carolina
Kansas -- 900 -- 795 - Cincinnati
K State - 981 -- 1210 - UCF
OK ST - 1083 -- 1232 - Memphis
OU ---- 1137 -- 1259 - USF
TCU --- 1239 -- 1446 - Tulane
Baylor -1298 -- 1495 - Tulsa
Texas - 1399 -- 1691 - SMU
TX Tch -1467 -- 1770 - Houston

...so what's the solution? The MAC for football and the Big East for bball?

If the MAC gave UMass an ultimatum wouldn't they also do the same for UConn?

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

I've advocated this for UC since the beginning. UC and UConn stay with the Big East, and go indy in football.

The money would be better. And would an indy schedule really be that much worse than an AAC football schedule? Most AAC schools would probably sign a home-and-home series with us anyways, especially if we included a basketball series with it. Of course if we did that sort of scheduling it would be similar to the AAC, but we'd get more TV money and we'd save travel costs on non-revenue sports.

problem solved

Big east adds uconn, WVU, St Louis, BYU, VCU and cincy
Big 12 adds UCF
Big 12 football only to WVU, UConn, BYU, Cincy

pretty much- this is absolute bull****. You can't discount Temple. if AAC gets a VCU to be in Navy's slot for other sports- the AAC would have 4 teams closer than any Big 12 team...

Also, for UConn- it's not like the Big East is all that close. half the conference is 800 miles away now. Regional conferences are a thing of the past. So it's ok to play at Creighton, but not Tulsa? WTF?

If indy is so easy how come only 4 teams are indy now? It's an idea that is DOA and will NEVER happen.

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

Perhaps so. I readily admit, I'm not keeping up with what's going on in the New Big East. But I think you underestimate the sense of bitterness that has developed over the past couple of years, and the difficulties inherent in getting back together with an ex. Not impossible, but … "welcome them back with open arms"?

And even if that's true, my second point (in bold face) remains. What do you think UConn is waiting for, if that's their objective?

(04-15-2014 02:51 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

I've advocated this for UC since the beginning. UC and UConn stay with the Big East, and go indy in football.

The money would be better. And would an indy schedule really be that much worse than an AAC football schedule? Most AAC schools would probably sign a home-and-home series with us anyways, especially if we included a basketball series with it. Of course if we did that sort of scheduling it would be similar to the AAC, but we'd get more TV money and we'd save travel costs on non-revenue sports.

Both UC and UCONN could forget the access slot to a major bowl. Moreover, the bowl situation would be worse than it is now for both schools. In short, UC and UCONN football programs would regress and become totally irrelevant with no hope of ever getting a P5 invite.....

If UConn was going to do this, they would have done so LAST year before the split. Would have given the C8 a lot more leverage(or C9 with Cincy).

(04-15-2014 02:58 PM)Underdog Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:51 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

I've advocated this for UC since the beginning. UC and UConn stay with the Big East, and go indy in football.

The money would be better. And would an indy schedule really be that much worse than an AAC football schedule? Most AAC schools would probably sign a home-and-home series with us anyways, especially if we included a basketball series with it. Of course if we did that sort of scheduling it would be similar to the AAC, but we'd get more TV money and we'd save travel costs on non-revenue sports.

Both UC and UCONN could forget the access slot to a major bowl. Moreover, the bowl situation would be worse than it is now for both schools. In short, UC and UCONN football programs would regress and become totally irrelevant with no hope of ever getting a P5 invite.....

of course it is. But a certain segment of Cincy and UConn fans fail to see that.

(04-15-2014 02:30 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  Long term membership in the AAC is unsustainable as the conference is currently structured. It isn't about football and it isn't about basketball. It's about travel for Olympic sports.

We've all seen the publicity out of Morgantown about the problems they've encountered with travel distances in the Big XII. UConn sits 500 miles east of Morgantown, so imagine how road trips to Texas and Oklahoma will affect them.

Despite their complaints, West Virginia will grin and bear it because the Big XII TV contract and guaranteed BCS money+ auto bid give them tens of millions of reasons to compensate for excessive travel. But the AAC TV contract pays 10% of what the Big XII contract does and the AAC no longer has an auto bid and the BCS money that goes with it. Good luck fighting with the rest of the G5 for that access bowl spot and splitting up the crumbs from the BCS.

It was bad enough when the AAC included Rutgers and Louisville, but replacing Rutgers with Tulsa instead of UMass turned a potential 50 mile road trip for UConn to UMass into a 1500 mile road trip to Oklahoma, compounding the problem enormously. Navy doesn't help travel with anything but football. In fact, their presence blocks the formation of divisions in all sports, which would have helped non-revenue sports a lot.

It's nice to have Temple 233 miles down the road, but that's where potential rivalries begin and end. We know that travel is a problem for West Virginia because they've told us so. Here's how travel miles for WVU and UConn in relation to the other 10 AAC members compare, just to put this into some perspective.

WEST VIRGINIA - UCONN

Iowa St - 861 -- 637 - East Carolina
Kansas -- 900 -- 795 - Cincinnati
K State - 981 -- 1210 - UCF
OK ST - 1083 -- 1232 - Memphis
OU ---- 1137 -- 1259 - USF
TCU --- 1239 -- 1446 - Tulane
Baylor -1298 -- 1495 - Tulsa
Texas - 1399 -- 1691 - SMU
TX Tch -1467 -- 1770 - Houston

Travel isn't a problem for WVU from what I've read. Their AD has said that being in the conference added $2 million to travel costs but the payouts and tier 3 rights more than made up for that. The conference worked with them so that they wouldn't have multiple back to back road games-especially in basketball.

Your point about UConn is valid though, because they'll have to make those trips without having anywhere near the type of compensation. That conference will need to do some serious scheduling adjusting probably.

(04-15-2014 02:51 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

I've advocated this for UC since the beginning. UC and UConn stay with the Big East, and go indy in football.

The money would be better. And would an indy schedule really be that much worse than an AAC football schedule? Most AAC schools would probably sign a home-and-home series with us anyways, especially if we included a basketball series with it. Of course if we did that sort of scheduling it would be similar to the AAC, but we'd get more TV money and we'd save travel costs on non-revenue sports.

It would by no means be easy to do but UConn could net more as an indy if they could get their schedule ironed out and join the Big East.

While bowl access would obviously be a concern, last year was an aberration with an unusual number of teams posting three or fewer wins. For example Georgia State had two games last year they lost by a TD or less that if they had won would have reduced the ranks of the bowl eligible by 2. NC State went 0-8 in the ACC and three of the teams that beat them got eligible at 6-6, same deal for 0-8 UVA.

Odds are there will be fewer eligible teams in 2014 than in 2013 but there will be more bowls. Now it might mean playing in some place like Shreveport but any bowl option for UConn short of Pinstripe is going to be a significantly long trip.

...So pitch to add UMASS and Buffalo then.

(04-15-2014 03:08 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  ...So pitch to add UMASS and Buffalo then.

I would be fine with that.

(04-15-2014 02:57 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

Perhaps so. I readily admit, I'm not keeping up with what's going on in the New Big East. But I think you underestimate the sense of bitterness that has developed over the past couple of years, and the difficulties inherent in getting back together with an ex. Not impossible, but … "welcome them back with open arms"?

And even if that's true, my second point (in bold face) remains. What do you think UConn is waiting for, if that's their objective?

I don't think they would be interested unless UConn dropped football. The split league was part of the reason for instability. In addition, UConn would be the only public school.

(04-15-2014 02:51 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:38 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 02:36 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The solution is obvious: Independence in football, A10 or Northeast Conference for all other sports.

I can't believe Auriemma and Warde Manuel haven't arranged for that already.

Pretty sure the Big East would welcome them back with open arms.

I've advocated this for UC since the beginning. UC and UConn stay with the Big East, and go indy in football.

The money would be better. And would an indy schedule really be that much worse than an AAC football schedule? Most AAC schools would probably sign a home-and-home series with us anyways, especially if we included a basketball series with it. Of course if we did that sort of scheduling it would be similar to the AAC, but we'd get more TV money and we'd save travel costs on non-revenue sports.

It probably won't happen. But it could work, because adding all of Cincinnati, UConn, and UMass to the indies would make indy scheduling easier for them and for Army and BYU.