(10-16-2015 09:34 AM)EvilVodka Wrote: I think the American should actually just focus on talking to Air Force...they'd be a great addition to the conference
Air Force for #13
Air Force would be a great addition. But, they're not going to easily give up three bus-travel road games in all their Olympic sports (CSU, Wyoming, New Mexico).
But, here's how you could realistically do it.
Step 1
Invite
Air Force, CSU, New Mexico
Step 2
Invite
Boise St., SDSU, and UNLV
Before you flame away...
- Air Force to the AMERICAN is a perfect branding play. To have two military academies and the red, white, and blue AAC creates so much synergy, it's hard to overlook the potential. With CSU and New Mexico in the mix, AFA now has every reason to join.
- CSU and AFA deliver the #17 media market and its nearly 1.6 million TV households (more than Orlando and Baltimore).
- CSU is building a new state-of-art on-campus stadium that will seat over 40,000.
http://stadium.colostate.edu/
- New Mexico is a state flagship that delivers a top-50 (and fast growing) Albuquerque media market and its 662K TV households (more than Memphis and New Orleans).
- With AFA, CSU, and New Mexico looking to the AAC, SDSU will be in and Boise St. and UNLV will easily follow.
- SDSU delivers a top-30 media market and over 1 million TV households (more than Hartford and Cincinnati and just below Baltimore and Raleigh-Durham). IMO, if the Chargers leave San Diego, SDSU's value sky rockets!
- UNLV delivers the top-40 Las Vegas market and its 736K TV households (similar to Austin).
- UNLV is planning a new state-of-art football stadium near the Strip with 45K seating capacity.
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com...the-strip/
- Las Vegas is building a brand new state-of-art arena that will hold nearly 19K for basketball. Perfect venue for some AAC bball tournament games:
http://arenalasvegas.com/home.aspx
- UNLV and New Mexico have the highest AD budgets in the MWC. In fact, here is what the new AAC AD budgets would look like (based on 2013 numbers):
UNLV - $64M
UConn - $63M
Cincinnati - $61M
SMU - $52M
USF - $47M
Memphis - $46M
New Mexico - $44M
Navy - $44M
Boise St. - $43M
Houston - $42M
Temple - $41M
UCF - $41M
SDSU - $39M
AFA - $39M
ECU - $35M
CSU - $35M
Tulsa - $42M
Tulane - $29M
- This move decimates the MWC, leaving it with only 6 schools. The MWC would likely back-fill with NMSU and Idaho to get to 8. I'm not sure that the new MWC could attract anyone from C-USA or elsewhere - may be some Big Sky call-ups....
This allows the AAC to place a tight grip on the NY6 access bowl game.
- With 6 new schools, you can simply add a new 6-team division to the current AAC structure:
WEST: AFA, Boise St., CSU, New Mexico, UNLV, SDSU
CENTRAL: Navy, Houston, SMU, Tulsa, Memphis, Tulane
EAST: UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, ECU, UCF, USF
So, minimal disruption to the current schedule formats. For instance, Cincinnati would still play ECU, UConn, Temple, UCF, and USF. But you might replace Tulsa or Houston with SDSU or Air Force. Not really a big deal. Similarly, Memphis would still play Navy, Houston, SMU, Tulsa, and Tulane. You might switch out USF or Temple for UNLV or Boise St. Again, little interruption to the status quo.
And, in the West, Air Force still plays CSU, New Mexico, Boise St., and Navy each year - plus SDSU and UNLV. The only changes to the Falcons' schedule would be switching out Wyoming, Utah St., and perhaps Hawaii or SJSU for the likes of Houston, Memphis, and UConn (not a bad trade!)
The conference championship could be the best two teams (ie, divisions are for scheduling purposes only) or the best two division winners or - with deregulation - it could lead to a 4-team conference championship mini-tournament.
- With 18 teams, the AAC's game inventory increases to about 108 games. That's 50% more inventory. The inventory includes most of the very best TV ratings outside of the P5 (more on that below). The lineup of games for a new AAC TV deal become extremely attractive and a conference TV network becomes very feasible. And the AAC would enjoy direct access to: #3 Philadelphia, #5 DFW, #7 Washington DC, #10 Houston, #11 Tampa, #17 Denver, #19 Orlando, #28 San Diego, #30 Hartford, #36 Cincinnati, #40 Las Vegas, #48 Albuquerque, #50 Memphis, and #51 New Orleans, and #60 Tulsa.