The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(06-22-2019 09:31 PM)Lush Wrote:  georgia st has kinda grown on me. but i still don't really care about em. the only cusa schools i shrug and say, beats tulane, are marshall and western kentucky. remember, i'm not advocating any of this

5-10 years from now, Georgia State could be an attractive addition. It's a shame they aren't farther along. They have UCF/USF kind of potential with their market, recruiting area, and enrollment growth.

(06-22-2019 09:36 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(06-22-2019 09:31 PM)Lush Wrote:  georgia st has kinda grown on me. but i still don't really care about em. the only cusa schools i shrug and say, beats tulane, are marshall and western kentucky. remember, i'm not advocating any of this

5-10 years from now, Georgia State could be an attractive addition. It's a shame they aren't farther along. They have UCF/USF kind of potential with their market, recruiting area, and enrollment growth.

it seems they've taken some pretty significant leaps lately

Adding Boise St or BYU in football only...

East
Cincinnati
ECU
Navy
Temple
UCF
USF

West
Boise St/BYU
Houston
Memphis
SMU
Tulane
Tulsa

Add Boise and you pretty much cut the jugular to the MWC - one of our closest competitors in the Group of Five. I wonder if BYU is a better long run option as a consistent, viable brand...

Cut Tulsa and get to 10 schools

Buffalo is an AAU member.

The decision needs to be about FOOTBALL and TV Sets.

Need to be at 12 for Champ Game or play round robin which wit 11 means 10 league games.

Did UConn destroy any chance of moving up with future realignment. Seems likely because as bad as the FB is it will get worse as an INDY.

Wish the Koch Bros. would bankroll The Shockers return to FB.

Do zilch.

(06-23-2019 04:41 AM)Ring of Black Wrote:  Do zilch.

Then there will be no Conference Championship Game unless they play unbalanced 5/6 or round robin.

(06-23-2019 06:15 AM)doss2 Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 04:41 AM)Ring of Black Wrote:  Do zilch.

Then there will be no Conference Championship Game unless they play unbalanced 5/6 or round robin.

Exactly why you need at least one team. I doubt Army and BYU would come and even if they did join they wouldn't be ready for 2020.

I prefer Marshall over the other C-USA candidates. Going big and going west would be bold and difficult but its worth a phone call.

If you go west you almost have to have BYU and Gonzaga. SDSU, Boise State, Colorado State are you next choices? It cripples the Mountain West and basically makes the American the defacto G5 winner.

1. Don't rush. When you rush, you make mistakes. (see Tulsa)

2. An "unbalanced" 5/6 division schedule is less than ideal, but is better than adding a school that many might see as a mistake. If we have to live with that for a few years - okay. It does not have to be forever.

3. Remember that additional conference re-alignment may be coming in a few years. Let's not put ourselves in a bad position for when that does happen.

Staying at 5 East, 6 West seems impossible to have each member get 8 conference games, The 6 West need 3 each with East so 18 games, but the East 5 need 4 each which is 20 games.

Play round robin would mean 10 games each and that cannot work because most schools had contracts for 4 Non Conference games. If not round robin or split divisions there is no Champ game.

Hard to boot a team but if possible I say Tulsa as small private and distant with small TV market.

(06-23-2019 10:11 AM)doss2 Wrote:  Staying at 5 East, 6 West seems impossible to have each member get 8 conference games, The 6 West need 3 each with East so 18 games, but the East 5 need 4 each which is 20 games.

Play round robin would mean 10 games each and that cannot work because most schools had contracts for 4 Non Conference games. If not round robin or split divisions there is no Champ game.

Hard to boot a team but if possible I say Tulsa as small private and distant with small TV market.

No one is getting the boot as much as we'd like a "do-over." So, the conference either adds one or stays at 11. I don't want to add one just for the sake of keeping a two division format unless it's Boise, BYU or Army. Otherwise, you just make us closer to CUSA part 3. There's time to do that after 2025...

(06-23-2019 08:15 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  1. Don't rush. When you rush, you make mistakes. (see Tulsa)

2. An "unbalanced" 5/6 division schedule is less than ideal, but is better than adding a school that many might see as a mistake. If we have to live with that for a few years - okay. It does not have to be forever.

3. Remember that additional conference re-alignment may be coming in a few years. Let's not put ourselves in a bad position for when that does happen.

Yes to all three points.

Here's an article with an interesting take using the terms "Harsh Fallout"...

Quote:UConn Leaving The AAC Hints At Harsh Fallout For Wayward League

According to numerous reports, the Connecticut Huskies will be leaving the American Athletic Conference to join the Big East Conference. In turn, it leaves the AAC minus one storied college basketball program... and a school supposedly with a football team.

Jokes aside, while this news is certainly welcomed by the majority of college basketball fans who have fond memories of UConn creating magical moments in Madison Square Garden, this is a significant blow to the AAC — a league largely formed from the desire to chase football money no matter who owned the naming rights to the Big East moniker.

It might be semantics, but UConn never left the Big East. Instead, it was the Catholic Seven that split from Mike Aresco's league (then known as the Big East) as it began to bring in poor basketball programs in the name of football, that reshaped the entire landscape.

The downfall of the Big East was predicted for a few years leading up to the Aresco-Catholic Seven fallout. Sixteen schools left the league prior to the official split, leading Jim Calhoun to suggest a final breaking point between the basketball-only members from Aresco's newer programs was "inevitable."

Summarizing the ordeal in short, the Catholic Seven secured the rights to the Big East name, leaving the rest of the members to rebrand as the American Athletic Conference.

Nevertheless, when the AAC formed, there was hope. Football money was, and still is, king. Basketball can certainly drive in solid revenue for a program. For plenty, it's a cash cow. However, a quality football program can generate so much more to the point it was the literal reason the "old" Big East was willing to bring in lukewarm programs such as the South Florida Bulls.

Unfortunately for UConn, the marriage between their school and the AAC was costing it too much.

Back in January, the school claimed a more than $40 million void in its athletic department budget after the football program lost $8.7 million, men's basketball $5 million and women's basketball more than $3 million in 2018.

While UConn is leaving for what it believes to be greener pastures, the optics don't appear swell for the AAC. Having basketball as the impetus for conference realignment with an athletic department that actually has football is peculiar — painting the foundation of the AAC in poor lighting.

Even with optics aside, if asking someone just a week ago about the American's standing in the realm of college hoops, an optimistic viewpoint would be shared. After all, UConn is a valuable brand and it was about to be coupled with another solid brand back on the uptick, as the Memphis Tigers are entering the 2019-2020 college basketball season with as much hype as any team in the country.

Nonetheless, losing that one, biggest brand they had, is a killer to the AAC from a basketball standpoint. Programs such as the UCF Knights are fine, even if better than given credit for, but no one is going out of their way to consume a team without Tacko Fall. A similar thought can be shared with the SMU Mustangs and Cincinnati Bearcats, though the latter is in a brutal spot since losing Mick Cronin to the UCLA Bruins.

Furthermore, with the league's partnership with ESPN, which UConn voiced concern over back in March, it might become tougher for casual fans to watch the AAC in general. Even though it won't be every game, the league agreed to a 12-year deal with the network to broadcast games on their subscription ESPN+ service. Without UConn's brand attached to this Netflix-for-sports model, it's unlikely fans outside of specific fandom bubbles will voyage through a rarely traversed path to witness Tulsa or Tulane play basketball.

Where exactly does this leave the American?

Ideas are already surfacing about how the league might add a football-only program, then chase an elite college basketball counter. That being said, while nice in theory, why would a program equal — or close — to UConn's stature join a league after the Huskies claimed to have suffered such a massive financial loss since being a member?

There's also the logistics. Or, honestly, the more accurate disregard for it. Conferences were once a haven to logistics, as each league focused its membership base with geography in mind. For the AAC, there's no real rhyme or reason, inserting additional stress on programs that aren't making insane amount of money on travel expenses.

To be fair, it's all conjecture at this point. Nothing is official, even if it's expected, with UConn joining the Big East. There's also a chance, speaking in terms relative to basketball only, the Memphis Tigers become such a transcendent program that this loss can be offset by a single growing commodity.

Relying upon transcendence, however, especially the kind that has no bounds to loyalty, doesn't feel like a great business plan.

Forbes Article

Question gents...IF Boise St agreed to join the conference with the condition that their olympic sports come also do we make that deal?

(06-23-2019 06:29 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Question gents...IF Boise St agreed to join the conference with the condition that their olympic sports come also do we make that deal?

In a NY minute!

(06-23-2019 06:29 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Question gents...IF Boise St agreed to join the conference with the condition that their olympic sports come also do we make that deal?

In a NY minute!

I understand you can't drop schools but it could be one great conference if we lost Tulane, Tulsa and East Carolina and added Utah State, BYU , Boise State and Colorado State. The later four with Wichita and SMU would form the West Division. Temple, UCF , Memphis, Houston ,South Florida and Cincinnati the East in basketball. Houston in football would be in the west division with Navy in the east giving us the twelve teams needed for playoff.

(06-23-2019 06:52 PM)cincybb51 Wrote:  If could be one great conference if we lose Tulane, Tulsa and East Carolina and add Utah State, BYU , Boise State and Colorado State. The later four with Wichita and SMU would form the West Division. Temple, UCF , Memphis, Houston ,South Florida and Cincinnati the East in basketball. Houston in football would be in the west division with Navy in the east giving us the twelve teams needed for playoff.

I agree but Aresco and the other conference members are not going to boot programs out. I was thinking Boise is the best football brand out there IMO and I could see them needing a place to plant their olympic sports and that may be the ticket to get them to join. It would be the "easiest" scenario [the least amount of moving parts] since we're adding only one program and you move Navy to the east division.

(06-23-2019 06:56 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 06:52 PM)cincybb51 Wrote:  If could be one great conference if we lose Tulane, Tulsa and East Carolina and add Utah State, BYU , Boise State and Colorado State. The later four with Wichita and SMU would form the West Division. Temple, UCF , Memphis, Houston ,South Florida and Cincinnati the East in basketball. Houston in football would be in the west division with Navy in the east giving us the twelve teams needed for playoff.

I agree but Aresco and the other conference members are not going to boot programs out. I was thinking Boise is the best football brand out there IMO and I could see them needing a place to plant their olympic sports and that may be the ticket to get them to join. It would be the "easiest" scenario [the least amount of moving parts] since we're adding only one program and you move Navy to the east division.

Navy wants to be in the West to help recruit TX. Other possibilities would be Tulane or Memphis.

(06-23-2019 07:04 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 06:56 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 06:52 PM)cincybb51 Wrote:  If could be one great conference if we lose Tulane, Tulsa and East Carolina and add Utah State, BYU , Boise State and Colorado State. The later four with Wichita and SMU would form the West Division. Temple, UCF , Memphis, Houston ,South Florida and Cincinnati the East in basketball. Houston in football would be in the west division with Navy in the east giving us the twelve teams needed for playoff.

I agree but Aresco and the other conference members are not going to boot programs out. I was thinking Boise is the best football brand out there IMO and I could see them needing a place to plant their olympic sports and that may be the ticket to get them to join. It would be the "easiest" scenario [the least amount of moving parts] since we're adding only one program and you move Navy to the east division.

Navy wants to be in the West to help recruit TX. Other possibilities would be Tulane or Memphis.

We just got rid of UConn and you want Tulane in the East? Memphis, while closer in geography, would seem to over stack the East with UC, UCF, USF, and Temple.