This new league would get more money than the remade WAC so yes, New Mexico State would join the proposed league in a heartbeat. Especially since it strengthens relations with schools they can play in football.

(01-12-2021 10:36 PM)Tulsa Guy Wrote:  Invite Boise State, SDSU, and BYU football only and then start a new western basketball/olympic sports conference.

Boise State
San Diego State
BYU
Denver
Seattle
New Mexico State
Hawaii
Gonzaga

Although I am a BYU-to-AAC proponent, I don't think BYU would take the invite. But, I do think BYU would seriously consider a new Olympics sports conference IF it involves Boise and San Diego State and somehow Gonzaga was also interested. If those four schools were involved, they could do a lot better than Denver and Seattle.

But, I think Boise to the WCC is more realistic than a brand new western Olympic sports conference. It's not the same situation, because of history and money, but they can look at the Big East and UConn as a working example of a public university joining a private school conference.

(01-13-2021 03:29 PM)BraveKnight Wrote:  

He says that in passing, quite matter of factly. I'd be interested in how well sourced that factoid is because, while SDSU talks have been speculated, thats hardly proven fact in the public domain.

(01-13-2021 03:46 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 03:29 PM)BraveKnight Wrote:  

He says that in passing, quite matter of factly. I'd be interested in how well sourced that factoid is because, while SDSU talks have been speculated, thats hardly widely held knowledge of fact in the public domain.

Someone in our local media is going to use this to put our AD on the spot...if there is any truth to this it will probably come out by next week.

This is good stuff

Also relevant is that the AAC has already engaged with Boise State and San Diego State about potentially joining. It’d be naïve to not brace for another round of realignment at both the Power Five and Group of Five level.


https://sports.yahoo.com/after-college-f...58001.html

If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Vegas is great for visiting fans, as it fairly easy to travel there. It is also great city to host conference tournaments in particularly hoops.

(01-13-2021 07:46 PM)Aztec Since 88 Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Vegas is great for visiting fans, as it fairly easy to travel there. It is also great city to host conference tournaments in particularly hoops.

True, but other than being a good city---it has zero brand value for football. Remember---its about adding value. Id think the football brand of Air Force is probably the best fit if we are going to add 3--a nice book end for a conference with the name "American" that also has Navy as one of it most well known members. After that---the next best football brand from the MW would probably be Fresno St. I guess there are worse ideas than doubling up in a state like California.

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Personally, I’m rooting for an ArmyFB/Gonzaga combo. A push with BYU imo and sets up for a nice western division

(01-13-2021 07:46 PM)Aztec Since 88 Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Vegas is great for visiting fans, as it fairly easy to travel there. It is also great city to host conference tournaments in particularly hoops.

I've lived in Vegas since 1990, so you know what I'd like. Quick mention to you guys, you travel great. SDSU is actually my first choice amongst you, BYU, and Boise.

Western expansion is going to happen, if for nothing else to keep some of the teams already in from getting plucked.

(01-13-2021 10:39 PM)tigerjamesc Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Personally, I’m rooting for an ArmyFB/Gonzaga combo. A push with BYU imo and sets up for a nice western division

I appreciate your sentiment. My Dad is a WWII Army vet, but do you want to deal with two teams a year blowing your teams knees out with chop blocks? We've got 'Merica' with Navy and that's good enough for me.

I actually think it hurts Navy having so many opportunities to figure out the triple option with another team doing the same thing.

One team in conference doing it is a mystery. Two teams doing it is a pain in the ass and is boring imo.

Dennis Dodds has twitted that adding BYU, Boise, SDSU going the AAC would assure it an auto-bid in an expanded playoff.

Dennis Dodd discussing San Diego to the AAC talk.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-loose...-76232695/

1) Dodd said he's known about it for a month but couldnt get the doucments.

2) Football only

3) He thinks the strategy is to increase AAC value/destabilize the MW/make the AAC virtually the automatic winner of the G5 slot in a 5-1-2 eight team playoff.

4) Says the 3rd teams is a mystery. Has heard rumor that Army is 3rd team.

5) Doesnt think BYU will be involved.

6) Believes the AAC would largely monopolize the G5 spot in an 8 team playoff if they added Boise and SDSU--mainly because the AAC would probably have 4 or 5 top 25 teams every year. Says thats probably the driver for Aresco looking at this type of expansion.

7) Thinks Pac-12 is superior to AAC due to its TV deal and due to being a power conference---but he also thinks there isnt much difference between the two on the actual football field.

8) Says he thinks the players will get more rights and more input in college sports. One interesting thing he said---he thinks NIL may help teams avoid players sitting out in bowls because NIL buyers/advertisers will have playing in the bowls written into their endorsement contracts.

He didnt say this, its just my speculation----but if the MW is looking at losing 3 rather than just one---that might go a long way toward explaining why the remaining MW teams would have so suddenly softened their stance on ending Boise's special deal.

(01-13-2021 07:56 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:46 PM)Aztec Since 88 Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Vegas is great for visiting fans, as it fairly easy to travel there. It is also great city to host conference tournaments in particularly hoops.

True, but other than being a good city---it has zero brand value for football. Remember---its about adding value. Id think the football brand of Air Force is probably the best fit if we are going to add 3--a nice book end for a conference with the name "American" that also has Navy as one of it most well known members. After that---the next best football brand from the MW would probably be Fresno St. I guess there are worse ideas than doubling up in a state like California.

It's Vegas! They just built a two billion dollar stadium that the Rebels will be calling home. If it was just Vegas then yeah I'd agree with you.

He's talking about a package deal. Boise-SDSU-BYU/Boise-SDSU-UNLV/

Don't get too hung up on yesterday. Think about tomorrow. Fresno? Have you ever been to Fresno? We're talking about now and in the future. Vegas and Memphis were the worst and second worst football programs in the US when Porter was the Memphis coach. Fact.

If Memphis could pull out of that then so could UNLV. Especially with a brand new multi-billion dollar state of the art stadium. Vegas is the sports and entertainment capital of the world. Would you rather have that or ECU and Tulsa? A bad Greenville team or a bad Las Vegas team? Which team has the higher ceiling? C'mon.

(01-14-2021 02:01 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Dennis Dodd discussing San Diego to the AAC talk.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-loose...-76232695/

1) Dodd said he's known about it for a month but couldnt get the doucments.

2) Football only

3) He thinks the strategy is to increase AAC value/destabilize the MW/make the AAC virtually the automatic winner of the G5 slot in a 5-1-2 eight team playoff.

4) Says the 3rd teams is a mystery. Has heard rumor that Army is 3rd team.

5) Doesnt think BYU will be involved.

6) Believes the AAC would largely monopolize the G5 spot in an 8 team playoff if they added Boise and SDSU--mainly because the AAC would probably have 4 or 5 top 25 teams every year. Says thats probably the driver for Aresco looking at this type of expansion.

7) Thinks Pac-12 is superior to AAC due to its TV deal and due to being a power conference---but he also thinks there isnt much difference between the two on the actual football field.

8) Says he thinks the players will get more rights and more input in college sports. One interesting thing he said---he thinks NIL may help teams avoid players sitting out in bowls because NIL buyers/advertisers will have playing in the bowls written into their endorsement contracts.

He didnt say this, its just my speculation----but if the MW is looking at losing 3 rather than just one---that might go a long way toward explaining why the remaining MW teams would have so suddenly softened their stance on ending Boise's special deal.

If they're worried about losing three, then the battle is already over. Kissing Boise's ass to remain status quo means they're already dead. Including Boise. Just a matter of time while the AAC vultures continue to circle. Aresco is going to play this into a game of chicken.

(01-14-2021 02:09 AM)Memphis Yankee Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:56 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:46 PM)Aztec Since 88 Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 07:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  If BYU is not interested but Boise and SDSU are, I wonder who the 3rd team would be (assuming the goal would be an even number).

UNLV fits the metro feel of most of the AAC.

Vegas is great for visiting fans, as it fairly easy to travel there. It is also great city to host conference tournaments in particularly hoops.

True, but other than being a good city---it has zero brand value for football. Remember---its about adding value. Id think the football brand of Air Force is probably the best fit if we are going to add 3--a nice book end for a conference with the name "American" that also has Navy as one of it most well known members. After that---the next best football brand from the MW would probably be Fresno St. I guess there are worse ideas than doubling up in a state like California.

It's Vegas! They just built a two billion dollar stadium that the Rebels will be calling home. If it was just Vegas then yeah I'd agree with you.

He's talking about a package deal. Boise-SDSU-BYU/Boise-SDSU-UNLV/

Don't get too hung up on yesterday. Think about tomorrow. Fresno? Have you ever been to Fresno? We're talking about now and in the future. Vegas and Memphis were the worst and second worst football programs in the US when Porter was the Memphis coach. Fact.

If Memphis could pull out of that then so could UNLV. Especially with a brand new multi-billion dollar state of the art stadium. Vegas is the sports and entertainment capital of the world. Would you rather have that or ECU and Tulsa? A bad Greenville team or a bad Las Vegas team? Which team has the higher ceiling? C'mon.

Lol...Honestly, I can’t think of a less important factor than it’s appeal as a travel destination.

The AAC is a made for tv league. It’s about brand, media value, and competitive value. There are 2 million people in Vegas and around 3 million in the whole state. Fresno only has about half a million people, but it’s in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, which has about 4 million people and no pro sports. A second California school helps build interest in a state with 37 million people and gives you 6 extra potential late night starts per year—which has value to ESPN.

I get that UNLV could improve, but we are talking about trying to dominate the G5 slot. UNLV doesn’t do crap for that. Yeah, they are getting a new stadium—but they are also getting an 800 pound NFL gorilla that will suck most of the air out of the sports landscape in Vegas. UNLV barely gets support with no competition—what happens to their season ticket base when the NFL becomes an option for season tickets? That massive NFL stadium might not be the panacea you think it will be. UNLV has the real potential to end up facing what Tulane dealt with playing before small crowds in the Superdome. A small crowd in a massive stadium isn’t the best college football atmosphere.

(01-14-2021 02:01 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Dennis Dodd discussing San Diego to the AAC talk.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/139-loose...-76232695/

1) Dodd said he's known about it for a month but couldnt get the doucments.

2) Football only

3) He thinks the strategy is to increase AAC value/destabilize the MW/make the AAC virtually the automatic winner of the G5 slot in a 5-1-2 eight team playoff.

4) Says the 3rd teams is a mystery. Has heard rumor that Army is 3rd team.

5) Doesnt think BYU will be involved.

6) Believes the AAC would largely monopolize the G5 spot in an 8 team playoff if they added Boise and SDSU--mainly because the AAC would probably have 4 or 5 top 25 teams every year. Says thats probably the driver for Aresco looking at this type of expansion.

7) Thinks Pac-12 is superior to AAC due to its TV deal and due to being a power conference---but he also thinks there isnt much difference between the two on the actual football field.

8) Says he thinks the players will get more rights and more input in college sports. One interesting thing he said---he thinks NIL may help teams avoid players sitting out in bowls because NIL buyers/advertisers will have playing in the bowls written into their endorsement contracts.

He didnt say this, its just my speculation----but if the MW is looking at losing 3 rather than just one---that might go a long way toward explaining why the remaining MW teams would have so suddenly softened their stance on ending Boise's special deal.

For the first time in a long time I'm starting to believe there's something actually going to happen this time and I think it's going to be a much bigger deal than we are all expecting. When unrelated sports journalists start to comment and speculate on this stuff out of nowhere, that signals to me that they are hearing things from actual people and connected sources that are involved.

.

We're very unaccustomed to so many of these kinds of developments in such a short time...even if they're just possibilities at this point...

One wonders whether the biggest threat that the AAC leadership perceives is not from the MWC, but from the Sun Belt...

...or perhaps from both?