(10-29-2019 08:59 AM)panama Wrote: Hate to break it to you but nobody listed in that post screams "P6" and none are "no brainer" additions.
If they were, the AAC would not be doing everything they can to avoid having to add a 12th team.
That said, if forced to add another squad---AppySt, ArkySt, S Miss, Marshall, Georgia St, UAB, LaTech, etc are all going to be considered--hopefully for a "football only" slot.
Further more, as not a single school east of the Rockies makes any sense as a "full member"--it makes zero sense to add any single school as full member. Thats the only "no brainer" aspect of the decision I see.
I don't think that you "get" the point that a bunch of other denizens of this message board have been trying to help you to see.
None of the C-USA and Sun Belt Schools you've listed are likely to get strong consideration, based on Aresco's stated criteria for the AAC.
A couple, such as Marshall FB have had decades of name recognition and success, and would augment the mid-atlantic region, but they're not in a large market and aren't a Flagship. They're not a high ranked academic school or an AAU school. They might be considered as a FB-only add, but they check off few of the AAC's boxes, especially the national brand. Aresco's hope is for a relatively "high-end" national brand, and Marshall doesn't check that important box.
Buffalo checks off more boxes than Marshall or any of the others on the list do, and they would probably only be considered a serious candidate if none of the MWC schools were to show interest.
The AAC has a very large geographical footprint, and it has schools scattered from Wichita to Tampa and from Philadelphia to Houston. That's why the name "American" fits the conference - it covers much of the nation.
However, 7 of the remaining 11 AAC schools are located south of the Mason-Dixon line, leaving the northeast, mid-atlantic and midwest sparsely represented. Adding a well-known Colorado school would expand the footprint to the rocky mountains region, which would have advantages to adding yet another southern school.
If the other arguments don't convince you, the regional argument might make the picture clearer.
This is not meant as a put-down or a criticism. It's just the facts as we understand them from the AAC Commissioner.
It's terrific that many good C-USA and Sun Belt schools would like to be AAC members, and perhaps there will be a surprise.
I honestly think Air Force is top of the list among the AAC fans, by far, because they check the most of Aresco's boxes. If not them, perhaps Colo St or another well-known MWC school would be next on the list.
BTW, if anyone is "avoiding" adding a 12th team, it seems to be Aresco himself who is most averse to adding. The AAC members seem to be more open-minded.
It's not clear whether the AAC members, themselves, would prefer to go divisionless for years on end or to add a team to have two balanced divisions. Once they calculate the extra time and dollars they'll have to spend to go divisionless, which would be something like $1 million per year/per school or more, they might elect to return to divisional play with either 11 or 12 teams. My gut tells me that Aresco wants 11, but the members secretly want 12.
