CSNbbs

Why didn't the AAC do everything to grab Air Force AND Army? I would think that it would've been HUGE to get all three service academies. A marketing COUP. Or did they just not want to go to the AAC? What am I missing?

(04-07-2022 09:05 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote: [ -> ]Why didn't the AAC do everything to grab Air Force AND Army? I would think that it would've been HUGE to get all three service academies. A marketing COUP. Or did they just not want to go to the AAC? What am I missing?

I'm sure Army has been courted since at least UConn left. They haven't been interested.

I think they tried everything they could. It didn’t work

And Air Force was invited alongside Colorado State this past year to no avail.

I think that when history looks back at the peak of the AAC (ie when UCF, Houston, Memphis, and Cincinnati were all rolling and UCONN basketball was still a member), the biggest failure that will be assessed will be the inability of the conference to snag the remaining top brands of the “G5”. I know there was a lot of hesitancy to go coast to coast, and the reality is that a lot of MWC programs probably decided against it, but that is really the biggest thing that could have taken the conference to the next level.

Had the AAC been able to add some combination of Army, Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Boise State, and San Diego State, there is a good chance that they don’t suffer defections to the Big 12 and ultimately they become a power conference as well. They were able to get most of the remaining brands together, but just not enough to reach that next level. Once the Big 12 raided, any hope of the service academies joining basically went up in smoke.

(04-07-2022 09:15 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote: [ -> ]I think they tried everything they could. It didn’t work

Yes this is really the true answer on this one.

(04-07-2022 10:00 PM)3BNole Wrote: [ -> ]I think that when history looks back at the peak of the AAC (ie when UCF, Houston, Memphis, and Cincinnati were all rolling and UCONN basketball was still a member), the biggest failure that will be assessed will be the inability of the conference to snag the remaining top brands of the “G5”. I know there was a lot of hesitancy to go coast to coast, and the reality is that a lot of MWC programs probably decided against it, but that is really the biggest thing that could have taken the conference to the next level.

Had the AAC been able to add some combination of Army, Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Boise State, and San Diego State, there is a good chance that they don’t suffer defections to the Big 12 and ultimately they become a power conference as well. They were able to get most of the remaining brands together, but just not enough to reach that next level. Once the Big 12 raided, any hope of the service academies joining basically went up in smoke.

Coast-2-Coast might have saved the value of the AAC TV deal enough to make it worthwhile. If the AAC was eventually going to want C2C they shouldn't have wasted a spot on Tulsa.

It is what it is at this point. I think they'll try to make one more run at AFA if the XII takes two more teams, particularly if they are from the MWC. Boise and CSU leaving would change the value proposition of the MWC greatly.

AAC dose have a nice basketball conference core from UTSA to Wichita to UAB and points in between that for those schools is where they want to be outside the power leagues. They failed to attract Saint Louis and Dayton while they could too and now the A10 has gone out and added Loyola-Chi to make it more attractive for SLU and UD to stay.

The strategy for AFA should be to hope their travel partner gets promoted to the Big 12 to allow for a quick getaway to the American. I think they were afraid of leaving that rivalry behind, and they certainly don’t fit the Big 12 profile. The American will take AFA to backfill a single school loss. I think they are tied at the hip to CSU.

AAC West: SMU, Rice, Tulsa, UNT, UTSA, Tulane, AFA
AAC East: Temple, FAU, Navy, UAB, Charlotte, ECU, Memphis/USF

It works because Navy/AFA would be protected. If they go to 9 conference games, Navy would get a game in Texas every year in addition to trips to Philli/Charlotte/Miami 2/3 years. ECU is also a sellout in Greenville given Norfolk Naval base is just over a two hour drive. What is better for Navy, trips to DFW and Houston every year, forgoing all those east coast markets, or trips to DFW, Houston, and SA every 3-4 years, salvaging all those East coast trips every other year?

Otherwise, Tulane could go East but that doesn’t make sense. All in all, hope that CSU goes to the Big 12 to at least pair 2/3 service academies.

Folks are right that Army and AFA weren't interested, but let's not act like they didn't do it is because the AAC sucked. The fact of the matter is they new they would struggle week to week against the likes of Houston, UCF, Cincinnati, etc who had better athletes, weren't hamstrung by mission, had better nutrition tables and football-centric strength and conditioning staffs, etc.. Army already had a taste of this in CUSA and it was a disaster for them, it set them back at least a decade.

It would have been interesting if back in 1996, SMU, TCU, Rice, Tulsa, Tulane, and the 3 service academies had formed a Magnolia League.

This core could have then been augmented my Denver and other academically focused schools.

Army will never join a conference again for football.

(04-07-2022 11:38 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-07-2022 10:00 PM)3BNole Wrote: [ -> ]I think that when history looks back at the peak of the AAC (ie when UCF, Houston, Memphis, and Cincinnati were all rolling and UCONN basketball was still a member), the biggest failure that will be assessed will be the inability of the conference to snag the remaining top brands of the “G5”. I know there was a lot of hesitancy to go coast to coast, and the reality is that a lot of MWC programs probably decided against it, but that is really the biggest thing that could have taken the conference to the next level.

Had the AAC been able to add some combination of Army, Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Boise State, and San Diego State, there is a good chance that they don’t suffer defections to the Big 12 and ultimately they become a power conference as well. They were able to get most of the remaining brands together, but just not enough to reach that next level. Once the Big 12 raided, any hope of the service academies joining basically went up in smoke.

Coast-2-Coast might have saved the value of the AAC TV deal enough to make it worthwhile. If the AAC was eventually going to want C2C they shouldn't have wasted a spot on Tulsa.

It is what it is at this point. I think they'll try to make one more run at AFA if the XII takes two more teams, particularly if they are from the MWC. Boise and CSU leaving would change the value proposition of the MWC greatly.

AAC dose have a nice basketball conference core from UTSA to Wichita to UAB and points in between that for those schools is where they want to be outside the power leagues. They failed to attract Saint Louis and Dayton while they could too and now the A10 has gone out and added Loyola-Chi to make it more attractive for SLU and UD to stay.

I assume you meant UNT here. UTSA has only had 3 winning seasons in the last 10 years in bball. They were 10-22 in the season that just ended with a NET ranking in the 300's. The AAC has some good bball programs and will be a good conference, however it is taking a hit overall with this round of realignment.