Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

(05-28-2014 09:34 AM)Juan Tibonya Wrote:  The AAC will never be a "power conference" as that term is currently defined. The best we can hope for is the "best of the rest"

I don't know about NEVER, but it will be very difficult. Building fan bases takes winning, and this age of 8 or 9 conference games, SOMEBODY has to be losing (which is 1 reason I still want Army, lol).

But if - over time - schools like Memphis, Temple and USF start drawing big crowds again, it can be done. I watched USF-UCF on national TV 4 or 5 years ago and it was a big-time atmosphere. We need to get our students to be loyal to our schools and somehow (here's the hard part) gain some t-shirt fans. The easiest way to do that is through winning, but like I said, we can't all be winning at the same time.

P5
T2 - tweener 2
G3 - cusa, sunbelt, and mac

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

I think it will be a slow process to create separation. The exposure (90% of our games on national TV) will help our recruiting. Superior recruiting will help on field performance. Superior on field performance will lead to increased ratings and attendance. Increased ratings and attendance will lead to better media money and better bowls. It's a slow cycle of improvement.

We have done well in year one. Lots of work to do. My feeling is to reach our goals, the conference needs to accomplish two things beyond winning on the field.

1). We need to establish a signature bowl for our champion against a #3-5 selection from a power conference. We need a solid destination or our champion in the years they go 10-2 and don't get the G5 BCS slot. Going to the Military Bowl agianst the 6-6 AAC team is an embarrassment. We need to fix that and I'm fairly sure the Miami Bowl is the most likely vehicle to address this major inadequacy. If we establish a solid post season destination for our champ--we give the AAC championship race more context and meaning. Right now, unless we win the G5 BCS slot, a AAC championship doesn't mean much as the 5th place team goes to a bowl nearly as good as the first place team.

2). Increase the average attendance to over 40k. Tulsa and Tulane are unlikely to get there. That means that a few teams need to exceed 40K by a long shot. UConn, UCF, USF, and ECU are good candidates to do that. Houston, Navy, Temple, Memphis, and SMU need to get as close to 40K as possible in order to reach that kind of league average. It's not going to happen overnight. But hitting 40K average would mean we have several programs over 50K and vey few programs in the 20K range. That means we probably start looking much more attractive to bowls and networks.

(05-28-2014 09:44 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

And some of the letdown was over tv contract. He couldn't say we hope to get $2 million or it might have come back $1.5 million. Probably shouldn't have commented, but overall the guy is a great ambassador for the league.

(05-28-2014 09:35 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:08 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 08:49 AM)oliveandblue Wrote:  There are only two things the American can really do at this point.

(1) Remain as the #6 conference, and (2) hopefully re-create the same margin between the AAC and MWC that the Big East once had. The AAC is already on pace for the first goal - but the second will require the bottom half of the AAC to grow a little more over time.

Not really. If you look at last year's football Sagarin rankings, the AAC was #6, and our rating was something like 64.2. The MWC was 7th, but their rating was only about a point behind, around 63. So while we were ahead, it was by a bare margin, not any kind of "separator" margin.

And, that was with two big advantages: Louisville was in the fold, a team that boosted us significantly, and AQ status, neither of which we have going forward.

So I think it's fairest to say that we are launching a battle with the MWC for that #6 slot, and we have work to do to secure it firmly.

whats your obsession with saragin, its just 1 computer

Obsession?

Is Sagarin perfect? Of course not. But it is objective evidence. If you think other computers will produce results more to your liking, go find them.

In my view, this past football season tells us virtually nothing about our battle with the MWC for "tallest midget", because we had two big advantages we won't have going forward: Louisville, and AQ.

But it won't bother me at all if I am wrong. Time will tell.

(05-28-2014 09:53 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:35 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:08 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 08:49 AM)oliveandblue Wrote:  There are only two things the American can really do at this point.

(1) Remain as the #6 conference, and (2) hopefully re-create the same margin between the AAC and MWC that the Big East once had. The AAC is already on pace for the first goal - but the second will require the bottom half of the AAC to grow a little more over time.

Not really. If you look at last year's football Sagarin rankings, the AAC was #6, and our rating was something like 64.2. The MWC was 7th, but their rating was only about a point behind, around 63. So while we were ahead, it was by a bare margin, not any kind of "separator" margin.

And, that was with two big advantages: Louisville was in the fold, a team that boosted us significantly, and AQ status, neither of which we have going forward.

So I think it's fairest to say that we are launching a battle with the MWC for that #6 slot, and we have work to do to secure it firmly.

whats your obsession with saragin, its just 1 computer

Obsession?

Is Sagarin perfect? Of course not. But it is objective evidence. If you think other computers will produce results more to your liking, go find them.

In my view, this past football season tells us virtually nothing about our battle with the MWC for "tallest midget", because we had two big advantages we won't have going forward: Louisville, and AQ.

But it won't bother me at all if I am wrong. Time will tell.

here s the article , doesnt include Louisville (involves all computers, harris and coaches) and most of us weren't AQ, losing AQ is irreelevant

note: they forgot to add tulsa, who finished top 25 twice during that 4 year span (08-012 years), recalculated we are at 62 (not 65)

with the boise drop if last year was included im certain the gap would have been even wider

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college...omparison/

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

This.

Aresco is just doing his best to build the conference into a more valuable entity. This means keeping the membership intact. The AAC has the same problem the Big East had, ALL of the members will jump ship given the opportunity.

(05-28-2014 09:44 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

You have to ask? If you read this board you should know. Check out his statements on bowl games for a starter

(05-28-2014 10:07 AM)UConnFB Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

This.

Aresco is just doing his best to build the conference into a more valuable entity. This means keeping the membership intact.

Yes, Aresco and the membership have fundamentally different interests. Aresco wants each of us to build our programs up, but remain in the AAC. All of us want to build our programs up, but leave the AAC.

(05-28-2014 10:11 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:44 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

You have to ask? If you read this board you should know. Check out his statements on bowl games for a starter

Yes, Aresco is the dictionary-definition of "all hat, no cattle".

(05-28-2014 10:11 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:44 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

You have to ask? If you read this board you should know.

thats what im saying, this board is filled with "expectations" none of which has been said by aresco, and when they don't come to fruition so blame it on aresco who never even promised that

even this thread he says "we can" "one day" if we start positioning ourselves today ..not "we will"

(05-28-2014 10:17 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 10:11 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:44 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

You have to ask? If you read this board you should know.

thats what im saying, this board is filled with "expectations" none of which has been said by aresco, and when they don't come to fruition so blame it on aresco who never even promised that

Aresco is a politician, so he chooses his words carefully, like Bill Clinton used to. He talks optimistically so that people will assume he made a promise - that's so you support him and so he can claim credit if a good thing happens, but actually parses his words carefully so he can later deny having done so if they don't.

But there's no doubt that Aresco talked optimistically about major things like media dollars, retaining AQ, and bowl ties, all of which didn't come to fruition.

And the bottom line is, whether he actually "promised" good things or not, his job is to deliver good things, and on that he's been ...

All hat, no cattle.

If this league hadn't accomplish anything in year one, who knows what haters (quo) spinners would of being spouting off now.

The AAC is building a solid foundation/equity, faster then any conference has ever done. This league will be fine.

(05-28-2014 10:04 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:53 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:35 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:08 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 08:49 AM)oliveandblue Wrote:  There are only two things the American can really do at this point.

(1) Remain as the #6 conference, and (2) hopefully re-create the same margin between the AAC and MWC that the Big East once had. The AAC is already on pace for the first goal - but the second will require the bottom half of the AAC to grow a little more over time.

Not really. If you look at last year's football Sagarin rankings, the AAC was #6, and our rating was something like 64.2. The MWC was 7th, but their rating was only about a point behind, around 63. So while we were ahead, it was by a bare margin, not any kind of "separator" margin.

And, that was with two big advantages: Louisville was in the fold, a team that boosted us significantly, and AQ status, neither of which we have going forward.

So I think it's fairest to say that we are launching a battle with the MWC for that #6 slot, and we have work to do to secure it firmly.

whats your obsession with saragin, its just 1 computer

Obsession?

Is Sagarin perfect? Of course not. But it is objective evidence. If you think other computers will produce results more to your liking, go find them.

In my view, this past football season tells us virtually nothing about our battle with the MWC for "tallest midget", because we had two big advantages we won't have going forward: Louisville, and AQ.

But it won't bother me at all if I am wrong. Time will tell.

here s the article.....

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college...omparison/

Thanks, that was an interesting read. I sure hope Stewart is correct, but 2013 went about as well for us as could be expected, and yet we were barely ahead of the MWC.

We'll see what happens in the future.

You guys are too hard on the former BE and current AAC commissioners. They were in no win situations, the former held hostage by the BE BB schools and the later by the P5.

(05-28-2014 08:18 AM)CommuterBob Wrote:  The national preception of the AAC last year was "why is this conference AQ? It shouldn't be. They've lost all their best teams." Now it's "this conference is G5 (non-AQ)."

The AAC got snubbed by the NCAA selection committees for both baseball and basketball. The AAC has kind of walked this tightrope between power/non-power all year and has been pushed to fall on the non-power side.

Insightful.

In basketball, the NCAA committee seeded American teams by their RPI, not their national rank:

Louisville, ranked 5th, 20th RPI, 4 seed
Cincy, ranked 12th, 21st RPI, 5 seed
Memphis, ranked 19th, 36th RPI, 8 seed
UConn, ranked 21st, 22nd RPI, 7 seed
SMU, ranked 23rd, 55th RPI, snubbed

In baseball, they ignored RPI in UH's seeding, and they ignored RPI in snubbing #48 UCF in favor of #54 Cal St Fullerton, #49 Clemson.

Seems we can't win with the selection committee this year. This is telling in how highly regarded our league is by those who matter, and the relative lack of gravitas of our commissioner and ADs.

We had no one on the basketball selection committee in 2014. And we have no one on it next year.

We had no one on the baseball selection committee. The chair of that committee is the Big West commissioner. See Cal St Fullerton.

The closest thing we have to a representative on the football playoff committee is Mike Tranghese, who was commissioner of the old Big East until 2009. He's familiar with Cincy, UConn & USF I guess. The MWC rep is the retired Air Force super. (The other G5 conferences have no representation.)

I liked the way Aresco said this:

... "We shouldn't be professionalizing what we do, we should be doing things for student-athletes. We can do more. We have greater resources — and even our conference has greater resources than people think — and we know the equity guys have more and there's nothing wrong with that. But you don't want it to became disengaged from the student body of the university. You want to do it within reason." ...

(05-28-2014 09:44 AM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 09:40 AM)SMUmustangs Wrote:  Sorry, but I lost confidence in anything Aresco says a long time ago.

why? what has he said that has made you say that?
literally to date he hasnt said anything false or lead us astray...
if you literally wrote them out youd find out it was more your expectations that were let down for what "you asssumed ' should get and not what aresco said

Are you serious? Go back and read what Aresco was saying to the media in October 2012. Everything he bragged about was taken away piece by piece over the next few months.

He overpromised and underdelivered on the TV money. He then overpromised and underdelivered on bowl games.

No one of any real power conducts their business in the press. Aresco is a lightweight.