The gap is big and is going to be very hard to close. The good thing: the ACC is filled with teams who have a history of doing less with more.

(12-28-2014 11:15 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 11:11 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 11:04 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  This year, it obviously is big: In two bowl games, two of our co-champs were soundly beaten by the 9th and 10th place finishers in the ACC. That's not good.

Meanwhile, other ACC teams, three of whom finished higher in the ACC than VT or NC State, are a combined 0-4 in bowls against teams from other P5, and among those teams they lost to, only Arizona State is any good.

So the ACC is 2-0 against our co-champs, 0-3 against mediocre teams from other P5, 0-4 overall. That's a stark difference.

Combine that with the MWC's lousy bowl performance, and those who argue that there is a BIG gap between P5 and G5 have a lot of facts on their side, as of now.

One great year and one below average year do not make for trends.

Last year doesn't count, as we were still an AQ conference in 2013. We don't have Louisville or Rutgers anymore. This year was the first year of the actual, going forward, G5 AAC*.

No, one year isn't a trend. But sadly, we live in a short-run world that doesn't allow for trends and slow but steady long-term growth. We live in an instant gratification, what have you done for me today environment, and perceptions will harden quickly. We have TV contracts up for renewal in a few years, so we need to get better, fast.

* Yes, we add Navy next year, but really, so what? Navy is no better than the typical current AAC team.

Neither was Rutgers. 3-5 AAC last year
Navy/Rutgers trade is a wash based on field performance.

Lol at this thread

Is anyone from the ACC (or any other P5 conference) wondering the same thing about the AAC? I really doubt it.

(12-28-2014 10:36 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 10:28 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:22 PM)MickMack Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:10 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 06:43 PM)ArmoredUpKnight Wrote:  Both UCF and Cincy lost to middle of the pack ACC teams in bowl games.
ECU did well against them in OOC play.

What are your thought? Small gap that's getting bigger each year?

It's a wide gap...this year.

Last year it wasn't as wide. It will fluctuate but the problem is, every year that passes that we get 1 million or whatever our BS contract is and the P5 get 20+ million per team the gap widens.

Add in the crap bowls we have next year against mostly other G5's and the gap widens even more.

This. Our entire conference (save Memphis) experienced a down year. Last year, there were some high quality teams in the conference. Unfortunately, the gap will continue to widen as the difference in revenue and the related recruiting advantage settle in.

One thing I can say though - if you aren't in the American or the Mountain West, I'd be very concerned. If there was ever an opportunity for one of the other G5 conferences to get the access slot, this was the year. Both the AAC and MWC had very down years. But the committee still thought little of best of the rest (namely Marshall). The widening gap will hit the American and the MWC, but it will hit the other G5 conferences much, much sooner.

You hope there'll be separation between MWC/AAC and the three remaining G-5s. All you have to do is look at this year's Bowl Results. CUSA is 4-1 while MWC has already lost 4 and AAC (with the exception of Memphis looks awful) has already dropped 2. CUSA's scheduling of P-5s increases next year. What "Widening Gap"? The only difference between AAC and CUSA is the disparity in our TV Deals. And a Bigger pile of Money in your coffers.

MTSU community college guy coming here to give lecture on crap Conference USA bowl wins. Hey buddy, Conference USA recieved tv coverage this year from a network not even paying to broadcast games. I think you should worry about your own glass house first. Wait until the new COnference USA tv contract is completed. You guys are in for a rude awakening.

For somebody supporting ECU to call MTSU a community college is laughable. You would brand the University of Memphis as a community college if they were still in CUSA! MT and Memphis were founded the same year with the same mission and are governed by the same Board of Regents. More Valedictorians and Salutorians from High Schools in Tennessee attend MT than any public university in the state. The largest capital improvements project in the state just occurred at MT with a $130 million expenditure for a new science building. Where you are concerned just consider me the TRUTH PATROL!

(12-28-2014 01:58 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 10:36 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 10:28 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:22 PM)MickMack Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:10 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  It's a wide gap...this year.

Last year it wasn't as wide. It will fluctuate but the problem is, every year that passes that we get 1 million or whatever our BS contract is and the P5 get 20+ million per team the gap widens.

Add in the crap bowls we have next year against mostly other G5's and the gap widens even more.

This. Our entire conference (save Memphis) experienced a down year. Last year, there were some high quality teams in the conference. Unfortunately, the gap will continue to widen as the difference in revenue and the related recruiting advantage settle in.

One thing I can say though - if you aren't in the American or the Mountain West, I'd be very concerned. If there was ever an opportunity for one of the other G5 conferences to get the access slot, this was the year. Both the AAC and MWC had very down years. But the committee still thought little of best of the rest (namely Marshall). The widening gap will hit the American and the MWC, but it will hit the other G5 conferences much, much sooner.

You hope there'll be separation between MWC/AAC and the three remaining G-5s. All you have to do is look at this year's Bowl Results. CUSA is 4-1 while MWC has already lost 4 and AAC (with the exception of Memphis looks awful) has already dropped 2. CUSA's scheduling of P-5s increases next year. What "Widening Gap"? The only difference between AAC and CUSA is the disparity in our TV Deals. And a Bigger pile of Money in your coffers.

MTSU community college guy coming here to give lecture on crap Conference USA bowl wins. Hey buddy, Conference USA recieved tv coverage this year from a network not even paying to broadcast games. I think you should worry about your own glass house first. Wait until the new COnference USA tv contract is completed. You guys are in for a rude awakening.

For somebody supporting ECU to call MTSU a community college is laughable. You would brand the University of Memphis as a community college if they were still in CUSA! MT and Memphis were founded the same year with the same mission and are governed by the same Board of Regents. More Valedictorians and Salutorians from High Schools in Tennessee attend MT than any public university in the state. The largest capital improvements project in the state just occurred at MT with a $130 million expenditure for a new science building. Where you are concerned just consider me the TRUTH PATROL!

Memphis endowment = 220 million
MTSU endowment = 75 million

Memphis athletic budget = 47 million (40% from student fees)
MTSU athletic budget = 27 million (72% from student fees)

http://asumag.com/building-structure/uni...ion-center

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/...l?page=all

http://actioncenter.copdfoundation.org/a....undefined

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/...grant.html

(12-28-2014 01:58 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 10:36 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 10:28 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:22 PM)MickMack Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:10 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  It's a wide gap...this year.

Last year it wasn't as wide. It will fluctuate but the problem is, every year that passes that we get 1 million or whatever our BS contract is and the P5 get 20+ million per team the gap widens.

Add in the crap bowls we have next year against mostly other G5's and the gap widens even more.

This. Our entire conference (save Memphis) experienced a down year. Last year, there were some high quality teams in the conference. Unfortunately, the gap will continue to widen as the difference in revenue and the related recruiting advantage settle in.

One thing I can say though - if you aren't in the American or the Mountain West, I'd be very concerned. If there was ever an opportunity for one of the other G5 conferences to get the access slot, this was the year. Both the AAC and MWC had very down years. But the committee still thought little of best of the rest (namely Marshall). The widening gap will hit the American and the MWC, but it will hit the other G5 conferences much, much sooner.

You hope there'll be separation between MWC/AAC and the three remaining G-5s. All you have to do is look at this year's Bowl Results. CUSA is 4-1 while MWC has already lost 4 and AAC (with the exception of Memphis looks awful) has already dropped 2. CUSA's scheduling of P-5s increases next year. What "Widening Gap"? The only difference between AAC and CUSA is the disparity in our TV Deals. And a Bigger pile of Money in your coffers.

MTSU community college guy coming here to give lecture on crap Conference USA bowl wins. Hey buddy, Conference USA recieved tv coverage this year from a network not even paying to broadcast games. I think you should worry about your own glass house first. Wait until the new COnference USA tv contract is completed. You guys are in for a rude awakening.

For somebody supporting ECU to call MTSU a community college is laughable. You would brand the University of Memphis as a community college if they were still in CUSA! MT and Memphis were founded the same year with the same mission and are governed by the same Board of Regents. More Valedictorians and Salutorians from High Schools in Tennessee attend MT than any public university in the state. The largest capital improvements project in the state just occurred at MT with a $130 million expenditure for a new science building. Where you are concerned just consider me the TRUTH PATROL!

You guys have a beautiful high school stadium. Were you one of the 25 people that were in attendance for the ECU game. Oh,and is it fun to still be in the Sun Belt,MTSU was one of the reasonsECU said hell no to Conf USA.No way our program would want to stay in the same conference.You know that though right, Truth Patrol.

(12-27-2014 07:21 PM)msm96wolf Wrote:  About 70 Million dollars this season. Good luck trying to renegotiate the TV contract early. Sorry, couldn't resist.

(12-27-2014 10:44 AM)msm96wolf Wrote:  

42-14 #statement


Shame that even with all that money y'all can't be competitive with a ecu whatever that is.

(12-28-2014 02:18 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 01:58 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 10:36 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 10:28 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 08:22 PM)MickMack Wrote:  This. Our entire conference (save Memphis) experienced a down year. Last year, there were some high quality teams in the conference. Unfortunately, the gap will continue to widen as the difference in revenue and the related recruiting advantage settle in.

One thing I can say though - if you aren't in the American or the Mountain West, I'd be very concerned. If there was ever an opportunity for one of the other G5 conferences to get the access slot, this was the year. Both the AAC and MWC had very down years. But the committee still thought little of best of the rest (namely Marshall). The widening gap will hit the American and the MWC, but it will hit the other G5 conferences much, much sooner.

You hope there'll be separation between MWC/AAC and the three remaining G-5s. All you have to do is look at this year's Bowl Results. CUSA is 4-1 while MWC has already lost 4 and AAC (with the exception of Memphis looks awful) has already dropped 2. CUSA's scheduling of P-5s increases next year. What "Widening Gap"? The only difference between AAC and CUSA is the disparity in our TV Deals. And a Bigger pile of Money in your coffers.

MTSU community college guy coming here to give lecture on crap Conference USA bowl wins. Hey buddy, Conference USA recieved tv coverage this year from a network not even paying to broadcast games. I think you should worry about your own glass house first. Wait until the new COnference USA tv contract is completed. You guys are in for a rude awakening.

For somebody supporting ECU to call MTSU a community college is laughable. You would brand the University of Memphis as a community college if they were still in CUSA! MT and Memphis were founded the same year with the same mission and are governed by the same Board of Regents. More Valedictorians and Salutorians from High Schools in Tennessee attend MT than any public university in the state. The largest capital improvements project in the state just occurred at MT with a $130 million expenditure for a new science building. Where you are concerned just consider me the TRUTH PATROL!

You guys have a beautiful high school stadium.

So, you think we should have spent some of the $130 Million on upgrading the 30,000 seat Stadium? Maybe, but in 2009 Forbes Magazine ranked MTSU as one of the top 100 NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES. I'd say w have our priorities in order.

Smh. I do think there is a wider gap between both extremes of the conf in football. For example fsu and Ucf are miles apart right now. Middle of the acc down to the bottom is not. Look at any metric you would like and the top 5 AAC could be swapped with the bottom half of the acc for a net gain. Academics are a differentiator but that's about it. For those using Ucf as an example remember we replaced our complete oline and our starting qb and running back and should have beaten penn state. Anybody who watched Ucf this year knows that we didn't bring our a game and still played to within a touchdown. I think the same can be said of uc and for the most part ecu. It will be interesting to see if they can reload post Shane Carden. People act like we were blown out. We were 9 and 4 and probably should have been 10 an 3. I am ok with the mizzou loss given the state of our oline and new starting qb. In short I do think our top vs their bottom half are equitable. I have no illusions that we are fsu or Clemson level yet but I do think Miami is squarely within our sights for now.

(12-28-2014 02:37 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 02:18 PM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 01:58 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2014 10:36 AM)baruna falls Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 10:28 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  You hope there'll be separation between MWC/AAC and the three remaining G-5s. All you have to do is look at this year's Bowl Results. CUSA is 4-1 while MWC has already lost 4 and AAC (with the exception of Memphis looks awful) has already dropped 2. CUSA's scheduling of P-5s increases next year. What "Widening Gap"? The only difference between AAC and CUSA is the disparity in our TV Deals. And a Bigger pile of Money in your coffers.

MTSU community college guy coming here to give lecture on crap Conference USA bowl wins. Hey buddy, Conference USA recieved tv coverage this year from a network not even paying to broadcast games. I think you should worry about your own glass house first. Wait until the new COnference USA tv contract is completed. You guys are in for a rude awakening.

For somebody supporting ECU to call MTSU a community college is laughable. You would brand the University of Memphis as a community college if they were still in CUSA! MT and Memphis were founded the same year with the same mission and are governed by the same Board of Regents. More Valedictorians and Salutorians from High Schools in Tennessee attend MT than any public university in the state. The largest capital improvements project in the state just occurred at MT with a $130 million expenditure for a new science building. Where you are concerned just consider me the TRUTH PATROL!

You guys have a beautiful high school stadium.

So, you think we should have spent some of the $130 Million on upgrading the 30,000 seat Stadium? Maybe, but in 2009 Forbes Magazine ranked MTSU as one of the top 100 NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES. I'd say w have our priorities in order.

I think i am very glad ECU is not in a conference with MT.

(12-27-2014 06:43 PM)ArmoredUpKnight Wrote:  Both UCF and Cincy lost to middle of the pack ACC teams in bowl games.
ECU did well against them in OOC play.

What are your thought? Small gap that's getting bigger each year?

The gap isn't huge, but it is there. Our secondary played terribly against a NC State team that was really peaking. #We simply never developed a running game this season and it really haunted us in the bowl game.

I am not sure about Cincy. Tuberville missed a chance at a safety (why would the man not ask for an instant replay) towards the end of the game that might have shifted momentum. Beamer has had 22 straight winning seasons for a reason. VT is hard to beat.