http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/m...ms/2256950
More Power for the AAC's football programs?
TAMPA — Clearly, the resurgence of Bulls football hasn't satiated all appetites. Many fans remain hungry, or more specifically, power hungry. The pangs won't dissipate until the Big 12, or another initiate in the Power Five fraternity, beckon.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby's recent subtle hints of expansion in his 10-team league, as perhaps the most expeditious way of launching a conference title game, has only stoked the aspirations of Bulls fans desperate for the cachet that comes with Power Five membership.
But maybe, just maybe, USF constituents are viewing this backwards, from the perspective of USF propelling into the Power Five.
Why can't the Power Five come to USF?
To stretch the notion, what's to stop the American Athletic Conference from becoming the sixth "power" league?
"It's a legislative matter," USF athletic director Mark Harlan said Sunday. "And that's something I know our commissioner (Mike Aresco) has been very vocal about … exploring all ways that that could come about."
Which is to say, it's more plausible than pipe dream.
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As it stands, leagues outside the Power Five (aka the "Group of Five") can adopt the same rules as those within that elite quintet of conferences. But that's like having your Thanksgiving dinner at the kitchen counter; the AAC wants to be at the table. That would require some political maneuvering.
But today, converting such a power play doesn't seem as daunting as it might have in August.
"We'd have to work with the NCAA Board of Trustees and all that group to re-look at that legislation to see if more members could come into that autonomous group," Harlan said.
"And then I think overall, it's just working with our media partners and looking at the value of the current deal and seeing if we can all re-look at that to kind of reward all the things that we're doing."