AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
UConn was able to get Wichita State into the conference which makes the AAC significantly deeper in men's basketball. The gap between the AAC and Big East has been cut in half at least by adding WSU.
The best TV deal for UConn is one where they can retain their local TV rights which are worth a lot in Connecticut as the only serious athletic brand in that state. That is worth more to them than anything the Big East association can provide.
The AAC has a lot of large state schools in it. UCF, USF, Temple, Cincinnati, ECU, Houston are all very big schools. They draw pretty good in FB and generally make for a big time atmosphere. That group is not too much different than the average ACC programs.
For all its flaws the AAC has more upside than the Big East and once a better TV contract is locked in that will be the end of BE discussions for UConn.
(10-17-2017 12:58 PM)SMUfan Wrote: [ -> ]https://www.fanragsports.com/rothstein-b...11th-team/
If the AAC loses UConn what school do they add?
They would have to add a school if stuck at 11 so it will be possible to play a conference championship game.
Wichita State was added in the west to balance out travel. Replacement then will have to be in the east (east of Memphis).
The AAC likes consistently strong FB/BB. This is where Western Kentucky is viewed to be fairly attractive. Ohio also fits that mold and could travel partner with Cincinnati. There was a time back when UC was in CUSA they wouldn't have wanted the competition but now they probably wouldn't mind a regional rival.
(10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
They could keep UConn FB only figuring that its better than any MAC/CUSA/SBC football brand they could offer. They are the only ones that can average over 30,000 in home attendance.
(10-17-2017 06:47 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
They could keep UConn FB only figuring that its better than any MAC/CUSA/SBC football brand they could offer. They are the only ones that can average over 30,000 in home attendance.
Unlikely. I do think the AAC would abandon the far NE and allow Temple to be the northeastern most point in the AAC. Keeping UConn football would be like taking Navy basketball and letting Navy football go independent. Where your correct is there isnt a good replacement. Army is the best one because its a football only and allows the conference to add a high quality basketball school.
However, if the AAC media payout jumps to 6 million or so....then a lot of the front range MW schools become viable options---especially Air Force. Colorado St and New Mexico are reasonable alternatives---good schools---decent football attendance----good basketball.
(10-17-2017 02:35 PM)MWC Tex Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 02:31 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 02:18 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote: [ -> ]UConn is not returning to the Big East - at least not until the next AAC contract is decided. Jumping ship now would just be foolish. If UConn really wants to come back to the Big East, that door will still be open down the road, IMO. There's no urgency right now to get back together.
From the Big East's perspective, if the goal is really go to 20 conference games AND keep the round-robin sooner, it makes too much sense to invite Saint Louis after this year (with SLU much improved and no longer being at the bottom of the A-10). Ford has been recruiting very well since he was hired, and he has taken the Fred Hoiberg-route towards building a contender (acquiring lots of transfers). SLU is not only a like-minded institution with Marquette, Xavier and Creighton, but they would also bring a strong media market, and bring added value in terms of additional games during conference play, another conference tournament game in MSG, and add a good travel partner for Creighton in Olympic sports. They also have a fantastic arena that seats 10k, that would be on par with almost all of the other BE facilities.
Exactly. If your goal is to be a strong power conference candidate when realignment heats up again in the mid-2020's----then you dont want your football team to spend the next 7 years wondering around in the same indy wasteland as UMass.
Not to mention, UConn makes more in the AAC than they would in the Big East due to the realignment fund payments. When those realignment payments expire and the new AAC deal is determined---then UConn can accurately access whether a move to the Big East even makes sense. If the AAC gets 3-4 million a year for its media rights---moving to the Big East wouldnt make economic sense. The difference in earnings would be negligible (in fact, with the CFP payments and the liklihood the AAC gets the access bowl fairly often, the AAC probably pays more) and the damage to their football program would be near catastrophic.
But..But...But...BYU says Indy gives them the best chance to be in a Power Conference. So won't that apply to UConn also? 
BYU is losing their shirt as an Indy. Recruiting has fallen off, they lose a lot to current MWC schools. Bronco Mendenhall said a couple years before he left that it was not sustainable, looks like he was right.
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(10-17-2017 07:10 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 06:47 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
They could keep UConn FB only figuring that its better than any MAC/CUSA/SBC football brand they could offer. They are the only ones that can average over 30,000 in home attendance.
Unlikely. I do think the AAC would abandon the far NE and allow Temple to be the northeastern most point in the AAC. Keeping UConn football would be like taking Navy basketball and letting Navy football go independent. Where your correct is there isnt a good replacement. Army is the best one because its a football only and allows the conference to add a high quality basketball school.
However, if the AAC media payout jumps to 6 million or so....then a lot of the front range MW schools become viable options---especially Air Force. Colorado St and New Mexico are reasonable alternatives---good schools---decent football attendance----good basketball.
I don't see the AAC going out west for schools.
The AAC seems more intent on trying to scoop up as much BB/FB value as what exists in the east. It has squeezed the MVC for Wichita St and the A10 for Temple two of the best basketball properties in those conferences. It was able to get Navy to sign on in FB a program which had never been a conference before.
I also think with Wichita, Tulsa, Memphis and Cincinnati in the AAC they want to keep a Midwest component to the basketball conference since its a popular sport in that footprint.
(10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
What are you talking about? No way in hell are we keeping their football.
(10-17-2017 07:52 PM)jaredf29 Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
What are you talking about? No way in hell are we keeping their football.
Agreed. If UConn goes to the BE for hoops they better go Indy for fooseball because they would be out of the AAC.
(10-17-2017 06:42 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 12:58 PM)SMUfan Wrote: [ -> ]https://www.fanragsports.com/rothstein-b...11th-team/
If the AAC loses UConn what school do they add?
They would have to add a school if stuck at 11 so it will be possible to play a conference championship game.
Wichita State was added in the west to balance out travel. Replacement then will have to be in the east (east of Memphis).
The AAC likes consistently strong FB/BB. This is where Western Kentucky is viewed to be fairly attractive. Ohio also fits that mold and could travel partner with Cincinnati. There was a time back when UC was in CUSA they wouldn't have wanted the competition but now they probably wouldn't mind a regional rival.
I believe you are the best reply so far.
What do you think about Southern Miss, Marshall, MTSU and as crazy as it sounds GA State and UAB?
I have no doubt whatsoever UCONN will at some point be in the BIG East.Their is a budget bloodbath being played out now in the state and the University system as a whole along with UCONN athletics is a big part of state budget cuts/negotiations...the cuts probably will not be as massive as the state legislature wants because they are going to have to come to some compromise with the Governor..whatever the case noway do I see the UCONN athletic department not taking a hit in some fashion...my view is that hit will be trimming some of the fat from the FB program..the subsidy to athletics is unsustainable bottom line...the ship has sailed in terms of UCONN ever hoping to land in Power 5, it's not going to happen..The Big East is a natural fit and saves lots of money all the way around..what happens to the FB program I ave no idea, I suppose they could go Indy and play a Army type schedule in terms of opponents..who knows..I sure don't....it would be good for UCONN and the AAC both in my opinion....Always be mindful FB drives everything, NOT Basketball....UCONN offers nothing in terms of FB, not to the AAC and certainly not a Power 5 conference. I would challenge anybody to make a case a of justifying a min of 25 mill and a max of 35 plus mill per year payout to UCONN, a program with something like 15 years at the D1 FB level and to my knowledge (which could be wrong) probably has historical attendance of below 30,000. The reason UofL and WVU are where they are is 100% related to FB, NOT BB.
Imagine the schedule-
home with Akron
at Boston College
at Syracuse
at Rutgers
home with Buffalo
home with Delaware
home with Maine
at Liberty
at Idaho
home BYU
at New Mexico State
home UMass
And, of course, no bowl game to play for.
(10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
No the American would not.
(10-17-2017 05:51 PM)templefootballfan Wrote: [ -> ]AAC would keep Conn fb only
plenty of BB only out there
I presume you mean "plenty of FB-only out there", since BB-only is against NCAA Div1 rules.
With respect to the notion, what chess said:
(10-17-2017 10:54 PM)chess Wrote: [ -> ]No the American would not.
(10-17-2017 10:18 PM)Bigdog731 Wrote: [ -> ]...the subsidy to athletics is unsustainable bottom line...the ship has sailed in terms of UCONN ever hoping to land in Power 5, it's not going to happen..The Big East is a natural fit and saves lots of money all the way around ... what happens to the FB program I have no idea, I suppose they could go Indy and play a Army type schedule in terms of opponents ... who knows ... I sure don't ...
The MAC would take them in a heartbeat on the same FB-only deal offered to Temple/Umass. UConn is the only school were I am confident they would ... I'm not even 100% sure they'd take Temple back on the same deal!
(And then would take UMass back FB-only as the division-balancing school ... the same role it was to play vis-à-vis Temple, which never happened because of Temple's departure.)
And that would be a lot more effective at supporting actual cost savings in their FB program than going independent would be, given the financial sweeteners they would sometimes have to pay to ensure enough home games.
But it requires at least tacitly admitting the kinds of things that Athletic Departments don't like admitting ... the same way that BYU resists joining the MWC because Utah is in the P5, and they cannot stomach admitting that BYU is in a lower tier than Utah.
(10-17-2017 09:44 PM)SMUfan Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 06:42 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 12:58 PM)SMUfan Wrote: [ -> ]https://www.fanragsports.com/rothstein-b...11th-team/
If the AAC loses UConn what school do they add?
They would have to add a school if stuck at 11 so it will be possible to play a conference championship game.
Wichita State was added in the west to balance out travel. Replacement then will have to be in the east (east of Memphis).
The AAC likes consistently strong FB/BB. This is where Western Kentucky is viewed to be fairly attractive. Ohio also fits that mold and could travel partner with Cincinnati. There was a time back when UC was in CUSA they wouldn't have wanted the competition but now they probably wouldn't mind a regional rival.
I believe you are the best reply so far.
What do you think about Southern Miss, Marshall, MTSU and as crazy as it sounds GA State and UAB?
Southern Miss draw has always been like ECU where they had an unusually big program for a mid major. Well they did anyways. They are only drawing 22,000 behind Arkansas State and Troy both which have caught up on the facilities front. The same goes for Marshall really but they are in a worse position than USM which has decent academics.
Middle Tennessee has nice FB/BB. They definitely work real nice in CUSA squaring up against WKU, UAB, ODU, Charlotte. Definitely some chemistry there. However I don't think they have the tradition the AAC is looking for. More likely they would look at WKU with the deeper basketball tradition.
UAB has a strong rep in basketball but a lousy rep in FB. The AAC is going to be weary of adding a program to a fill a football slot that just a few years prior dropped football.
Georgia State is a school that would love to move up. They have a hard core commuter school rep which is hurting them. Also I believe the name is hurting them because it sounds inappropriate for a hard core commuter school. If the name was UGA-Atlanta it would be perceived as a high end research focused branch like Illinois-Chicago or Missouri-Kansas City. That is the type of school it kind of is but with that name sounds like an Arkansas St or Texas St situation where its a regional college pretending to be a land grant.
Out of the CUSA options WKU is what I think the AAC would be most comfortable with, IMO.
(10-17-2017 11:01 PM)BruceMcF Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 10:18 PM)Bigdog731 Wrote: [ -> ]...the subsidy to athletics is unsustainable bottom line...the ship has sailed in terms of UCONN ever hoping to land in Power 5, it's not going to happen..The Big East is a natural fit and saves lots of money all the way around ... what happens to the FB program I have no idea, I suppose they could go Indy and play a Army type schedule in terms of opponents ... who knows ... I sure don't ...
The MAC would take them in a heartbeat on the same FB-only deal offered to Temple/Umass. UConn is the only school were I am confident they would ... I'm not even 100% sure they'd take Temple back on the same deal!
(And then would take UMass back FB-only as the division-balancing school ... the same role it was to play vis-à-vis Temple, which never happened because of Temple's departure.)
And that would be a lot more effective at supporting actual cost savings in their FB program than going independent would be, given the financial sweeteners they would sometimes have to pay to ensure enough home games.
I totally agree UConn would be worth it to the MAC FB only because not only are they on a FB schedule but also would be on a limited basketball schedule with the MAC.
However for the pairing I would try and reach out to Old Dominion which could move back to the CAA for other sports while putting FB into the MAC. It would be a conference upgrade for their football program from where they are sitting.
The MAC could take back UMass but why not aim a little higher? Especially with the MAC now having a nice deal with ESPN while CUSA is playing on Facebook.
They could add Army football for geographic continuity (replacing UConn) and monopolizing on the Army/Navy crowd.
The real effect then would be if AAC adds another Wichita to maintain 12. Would almost certainly be Dayton or VCU.
(10-17-2017 11:43 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ]The MAC could take back UMass but why not aim a little higher?
Sure, if you have an appreciably higher target to aim for that would be available, sure ... but then I'm waiting for a persuasive argument that ODU FB-only + 2H/2A OOC BBall games is an appreciably higher target.
(10-17-2017 11:01 PM)BruceMcF Wrote: [ -> ]The MAC would take them in a heartbeat on the same FB-only deal offered to Temple/Umass. UConn is the only school were I am confident they would ... I'm not even 100% sure they'd take Temple back on the same deal!
(And then would take UMass back FB-only as the division-balancing school ... the same role it was to play vis-à-vis Temple, which never happened because of Temple's departure.)
And that would be a lot more effective at supporting actual cost savings in their FB program than going independent would be, given the financial sweeteners they would sometimes have to pay to ensure enough home games.
No, they wouldn't.
If it came all the way down to that, the would force the issue with Delaware or Stony Brook to move up and/or even heavily condition Marshall to come back before UConn. NO MORE FOOTBALL ONLY'S! Especially if they are gone with the first Phone call!
Perimeterpost said it best when UMass left: "Have fun dying on the FBS, Independent Vine....."
(10-18-2017 01:19 AM)lance99 Wrote: [ -> ]If it came all the way down to that, the would force the issue with Delaware or Stony Brook to move up and/or even heavily condition Marshall to come back before UConn. NO MORE FOOTBALL ONLY'S! Especially if they are gone with the first Phone call!
That might be the case if the decision is by poll of supporters online. But with the decision made by college Presidents, where they'd go to in terms of "no more" is "no more take one now, look for one to add later ... add the pair at the same time."