OK Mike.

(12-28-2021 06:08 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  Not counting Boise State (and SDSU) ?

Letting Boise go (and refusing to give Chris Peterson's Broncos team an elevated payout) has been crucial to the American Athletic's success. As soon as Craig Thompson gave Boise State preferential treatment, it cut the MWC's legs out from under them.

Mike Aresco made the right move.

That's not a controversial opinion. It's also led to the MWC taking a Fox/CBS deal (in attempt to generate more revenue for those deprived schools), which has further put a wider exposure gap between the AAC and conferences 7-10.

That's all happened.

The MWC believed they would get extra revenue from the NY6 to justify Boise's elevated share. That never happened and the growing discontent in the MWC led Colorado State and Air Force to pursue AAC membership.

(12-28-2021 07:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  OK Mike.

But, seriously, think about this now:

UTSA, UAB, Charlotte, Rice, NT, and FAU...

...will now get significantly better exposure than...

Boise, AFA, Colorado State, SDSU, Fresno and Utah State... (Air Force publicly admitted this)

Those new AAC teams will also be playing ACC and SEC teams in bowls, while the MWC is playing MAC schools.

Regardless of where UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati play.

With the AAC as the vehicle, Aresco has pushed the calls for playoff expansion. The P6 Campaign has been a beacon for the unfairness of the current system.

He's been a crucial administrator in terms of revolutionizing the sport. He'd deserve his HOF spot.

(12-28-2021 07:43 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2021 07:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  OK Mike.

But, seriously, think about this now:

UTSA, UAB, Charlotte, Rice, NT, and FAU...

...will now get significantly better exposure than...

Boise, AFA, Colorado State, SDSU, Fresno and Utah State... (Air Force publicly admitted this)

Those new AAC teams will also be playing ACC and SEC teams in bowls, while the MWC is playing MAC schools.

Regardless of where UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati play.

With the AAC as the vehicle, Aresco has pushed the calls for playoff expansion. The P6 Campaign has been a beacon for the unfairness of the current system.

He's been a crucial administrator in terms of revolutionizing the sport. He'd deserve his HOF spot.

So the whole country will know that those are crappy teams. Hurray!

MWC is 2-0 vs P5 teams in Bowl Games this year.

If anyone can take credit for busting first the BCS, and then getting the public on board with why non-P5 teams need access it is:

1) Boise
2) Boise
3) Boise
4) Utah
5) TCU

.

I don't think he belongs in any hall of fame.

Look what he started out with - a conference with Louisville, UConn, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Houston, SMU, Temple, USF, and Navy...and TCU, SDSU, and Boise State had announced plans to join.

Most of this was arranged by his predecessor, Big East commissioner John Marinatto.

Aresco ended up adding Tulsa, ECU, Tulane, and Wichita State and losing Louisville, Rutgers, TCU, SDSU, Boise State, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.

Not only that, but as those following the discussions about Big 12 Expansion "Round Two" know, he's likely to lose Memphis and SMU (or USF), as well.

The conference's failure to replace UConn during Aresco's tenure proved that its "P6" strategic plan was nothing but empty words. He was pretty good with words, but as we've discovered, he turned out to be "all hat and no cattle."

It wasn't that he didn't try. He always seemed to be busy doing something. He had to, since he paid the salary of a P5 commissioner. It's just that, other than negotiating a pretty good broadcasting agreement with his former employer, ESPN, there aren't many other accomplishments to point to.

Ironically, only 7 of the 12 AAC schools will benefit much from the broadcasting agreement that Aresco negotiated, since it's based around a "ballooning payments" arrangement. Any schools that leave in the first 2-4 years of the agreement end up with far less than the $7M/yr they bargained for.

Assuming that 3 more AAC schools join the Big 12, Tulane, Tulsa, Temple, USF, and ECU will be the only AAC schools that could earn the full $7M/yr that Aresco negotiated. However, ESPN has renegotiated its commitments to the AAC downward every time it has lost a school, and thus, even the 5 AAC remainers may not end up being getting what they bargained for.

.

Look at the monstrosity that the AAC is about to become.

The "P6" was never more than a dream, and for any AAC fans who still dream about the "P6," it has become a nightmare.

.

The AAC is 2-0 versus the SEC with wins over Florida and Auburn (going into an upcoming CFP PLAYOFF game against the afformentioned SEC).

Some of you will never give Mike Aresco his deserved props.

How funny that the haters are often the same folks who were adamant that the American Athletic was going to lose their TV deal (which hasn't happened at all). That shows how they just lack perspective about this man.

With Aresco at the helm, that TV deal was cemented, as though the AAC put their hands and autograph at the entrance of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

(12-28-2021 08:01 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  .he "P6" was never more than a dream, and for any AAC fans who still dream about the "P6," it is a nightmare.

Nightmare?

The "P6" is about to grace the stage of the CFP.

You must be a comedian.

Mike Aresco has been a genius in his branding.

The P6 came true.

(12-28-2021 08:36 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  The AAC is 2-0 versus the SEC with wins over Florida and Auburn (going into an upcoming CFP PLAYOFF game against the afformentioned SEC).

Florida and Auburn were great teams?

Florida was 6-6. They were so bad that a mediocre UCF team (#59 according to the Massey Composite*) clobbered them. The game wasn't even close.

Auburn was also just 6-6. They were better than Florida, but by no means an elite team. After all, they lost to 5-6 South Carolina. They were ranked #38 by the Massey Composite* - - not even a top 25 team.

*https://masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm

(12-28-2021 08:36 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  Some of you will never give Mike Aresco his deserved props.

"Deserved props?" I really don't know what he deserves props for, other than being good with words. As I see it, he's "All hat and no cattle."

I do think Mike Aresco tended to work hard, so he gets credit for being active, and he was paid an extremely high salary in return. I don't see any significant accomplishments except the ESPN deal - - and a third of the signatory schools are only going to be paid by ESPN for 2 or 3 seasons of the 12-year deal, max.

Here's what Aresco doesn't deserve props for: the fact that certain AAC teams have been successful.

The school's programs, themselves, like Cincinnati and Houston and UCF deserve the credit for their success.

Other than being a cheerleader, and providing moral support, Aresco had nothing to do with it. All he did was take over a Big East conference with Cincinnati, to which his predecessor, Marinatto (not Aresco) added Houston, Memphis, and UCF.

If someone wants to give somebody other than Cincy and Houston and UCF credit, then the way I see it, 100% of the credit should go to Marinatto, because it was commissioner Marinatto who brought those teams into the conference.

.

(12-28-2021 09:04 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  "Deserved props?" I really don't know what he deserves props for.

Just sayin...

If you are waiting for one of the other FBS leagues (outside of autonomy) to match the accolades the American has accomplished in its first 8 years, you will be waiting FOREVER.

None will ever make a Final Four.

None will ever make a CFP.

Not in 8 years. Not in infinity years.

If that doesn't deserve props, I don't know what does.

If the expanded CFP helps them out, they can thank Mike Aresco.

(12-28-2021 09:04 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  Florida and Auburn were great teams?

Both of those teams (UF & AU) made bowls out of the SEC and were within a hair of beating #1 Alabama (the top seeded team in the CFP).

They also played to Sold Out stadiums in their home state.

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2021 09:04 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  "Deserved props?" I really don't know what he deserves props for.

Just sayin...

If you are waiting for one of the other FBS leagues (outside of autonomy) to match the accolades the American has accomplished in its first 8 years, you will be waiting FOREVER.

None will ever make a Final Four.

That's not a solid prediction. "Ever"? UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico have solid programs with history. Ohio went to a Sweet 16 about 10 years ago. Don't know how you count UMass, but they exist.

The NCAA tournament and the sport of college basketball are strucutred to make statements like yours very hard to defend.

It's foolish to say that the MAC, Mountain West, CUSA and Sun Belt will NEVER produce a Gonzaga, a Butler, a Loyola, a VCU, or a George Mason .

(And it's not exactly brilliant commissionering that a league with Cincinnati, Memphis, Temple, Houston and UConn or Wichita State would have teams in the Final Four occassionally.)

Majority TroyTBoy AAC points are spot on…

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2021 09:04 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  "Deserved props?" I really don't know what he deserves props for.

Just sayin...

If you are waiting for one of the other FBS leagues (outside of autonomy) to match the accolades the American has accomplished in its first 8 years, you will be waiting FOREVER.

None will ever make a Final Four. None will ever make a CFP. Not in 8 years. Not in infinity years.

I hope you're wrong about that, but you may be right. To me, the reason for all that is that the Big East/AAC started out as an honest to goodness BB/FB power conference, and became more of a "betweener" conference after Louisville, Rutgers, and UConn left.

If your prediction turns out to be right, I would say it's because none of the other G5s are or were power conferences.

Question: Will none of the others make a final four or a (4-team) CFP?

Regarding the final four, I believe that there will probably be someo Mountain West, CUSA, and/or MAC teams that makes the final four at some point. After all, there have been Ivy League, MVC, and Atlantic 10 teams in the Final Four. Loyola of Chicago (MVC) made it just 3 or 4 years ago. SDSU and Utah State have had some pretty good teams recently, and WKU is #21 on the CBS list of the greatest programs of all time. UTEP and MTSU have had some great teams, and last thing I checked, CSU was undefeated.

Regarding the CFP, if it continued with a 4-team format long enough, I do think a MWC or Sun Belt team could make it into a 4-team CFP, but that it could take 10-15 years before we would see it happen.

What we're going to be looking at now, hopefully, is a 12-team CFP with 1 or possibly 2 non-P5 teams, but not until the AAC/CUSA/Sun Belt teams have been reshuffled.

Will any one G5 conference dominate the CFP going forward the way the AAC has up until now? My guess is no - - that there will be an ongoing battle of the G5s to get their champion into the 12-team CFPs of the future.

What about the 4 semi-finalists? There will be some teams that sneak in to the semifinal round with upset wins, but I'd have to agree that any G5 teams that make it that far will probably come from more than one conference.

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  If that doesn't deserve props, I don't know what does.

I have a different theory. I've never thought a commissioner deserves credit for a conference's success unless he brought in the teams that made it a success, and I believe it was Marinatto, not Aresco who did that.

I would, however, give Aresco props for negotiating the agreement with ESPN. . He's worked hard, and I don't consider him a bad commissioner.

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  If the expanded CFP helps them out, they can thank Mike Aresco.

I'll go along with that. If the expanded CFP helps them out, they can thank Mike Aresco.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the 6 incoming CUSA members. I still am. But I can't complain about UTSA, UAB, or North Texas, because they've done better than Tulane, Tulsa, and USF have done.

With Aresco's guidance, the AAC set up a committee to decide which 6 schools to add. They decided to add "markets," not good programs, and I think that was a mistake that Aresco might have been partially responsible for, because he didn't have the moxy/cojones/nerve that Marinatto had, and I don't think he was half as savvy as Marinatto was.

I could be wrong about this, but I'm afraid that Rice, Charlotte, and FAU will turn out to be bone-headed additions that will could end up hanging around our necks like proverbial albatrosses for years to come.

Why the AAC didn't end up with Marshall, WKU, and Louisiana Tech, instead of those three, is beyond me.

Yet, it has to be admitted that what happened was also partly ESPN's responsibility, because they would only let the AAC add CUSA teams. The Sun Belt was off-limits, since it's an ESPN property - - else we could have gotten App State, Coastal, and Louisiana.

.

(12-05-2021 02:31 AM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  IMO, if Cincinnati secures a spot in the CFP Playoff, that would be the last check mark on Mike Aresco's HOF worthy resume as an Administrator.

No league outside of the "power structure" has both gone to the CFP 4 and the Final 4 (which Aresco has done twice - winning once). Granted, "power structure" is a hazy designation since Aresco's league was part of the power structure when he took the job.

However, when the AAC was rebranded from the OBE, it won at the highest level in both major sports as a non-BCS/non-P5/non-Autonomy.

- That said, the "Access Spot" was created primarily due to Aresco.
- Furthermore, the upcoming expansion of the CFP has largely been driven by the success of the American. Every other non-Autonomy conference has underwhelmed in all the revenue sports.
- Aresco's negotiated 1 Billion dollar ESPN contract brought unprecedented exposure for a league outside of Autonomy. It was also one of the biggest financial raises any league has ever witnessed.
- As an aside, in retrospect that deal secured the future of the AAC; because when the Big 12 poached the AAC, the remaining AAC members kept their media exposure and payouts; and the incoming members were granted access to a long-term pool of money and exposure because Aresco didn't settle on a short-term contract (like many thought he should have).
- The "P6" Campaign has been nothing short of a success. It put a name to the push for access and CFP Expansion. By the most visible measure (the worthiness of a non-Autonomy team to get a spot in the CFP), the committee's approval will validate the campaign.

Again, it can't be said enough that no other league outside of autonomy has done anything close to what the AAC teams have achieved.

Mike Aresco deserves his props. When he retires, the resume he's put together as a commissioner has all the trimmings of a HOF-worthy career (i.e. success at the highest level; influential in the development of the sport; visionary, in terms of promoting his leagues achievements; growing a new brand from scratch and landing the biggest media deal outside autonomy).

Discuss.

Thanks, Mike.

(12-05-2021 03:47 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  If you dont think Aresco has done a great job, especially when teams like Boise were being stupid and blowing things up, then you need to envision someone else running the conference through those times. It almost certainly would not have been as successful, and likely would have been downright abysmal.

1. Aresco single handidly made the access a reality. All other G4 conferences should thank him. If we ever get to a 6+6 model, you can thank him for that too because that likely would not have happened without the access and successful AAC teams pushing into championship territory.

2. The original ESPN contract was made fun of, but the amount of tv exposure it got the AAC teams directly on network and ESPN/ESPN2 allowed the conference to grow its viewership. To the point where the current AAC contract is now the envy of the G4.

I detested him until he answered our call. Now he’s the greatest Commissioner in the history of the NCAA.

(12-28-2021 10:50 PM)Rabonchild Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 03:47 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  If you dont think Aresco has done a great job, especially when teams like Boise were being stupid and blowing things up, then you need to envision someone else running the conference through those times. It almost certainly would not have been as successful, and likely would have been downright abysmal.

1. Aresco single handidly made the access a reality. All other G4 conferences should thank him. If we ever get to a 6+6 model, you can thank him for that too because that likely would not have happened without the access and successful AAC teams pushing into championship territory.

2. The original ESPN contract was made fun of, but the amount of tv exposure it got the AAC teams directly on network and ESPN/ESPN2 allowed the conference to grow its viewership. To the point where the current AAC contract is now the envy of the G4.

I detested him until he answered our call. Now he’s the greatest Commissioner in the history of the NCAA.

Hahahahaha

(12-28-2021 10:50 PM)Rabonchild Wrote:  I detested him until he answered our call. Now he’s the greatest Commissioner in the history of the NCAA.

The true greats are always polarizing according to the rooting interests of others. You see it in this thread.

Even now, Mike Aresco is making waves in governance. The Autonomy teams want an automatic bid into the expanded CFP 12 playoff; and it's Mike Aresco, using the success of the American, leading the charge in opposing automatic bids for the A5.

He made a similar stand 8 years ago, when he demanded an access (NY6) bowl spot.

(12-28-2021 06:50 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  The touch for driving away great teams, and downgrading at every opportunity...

This comment made me think of the great "What if"...

What if:

If Texas and Oklahoma didn't jump to the SEC, there is a good likelihood that BYU joins the AAC (coming off the season the AAC just had with its SEC wins and Cincinnati in the CFP).

CFP Expansion was making it inevitable that BYU was going to need to make a decision and Aresco left that 12th AAC spot open for just that inevitability.

The seeds were already planted.

As it turned out, a random jump by 2 teams to the SEC made those 4 (BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston) go the other way.

Aresco played his hand perfectly but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

(12-30-2021 04:06 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2021 06:50 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  The touch for driving away great teams, and downgrading at every opportunity...

This comment made me think of the great "What if"...

What if:

If Texas and Oklahoma didn't jump to the SEC, there is a good likelihood that BYU joins the AAC (coming off the season the AAC just had with its SEC wins and Cincinnati in the CFP).

CFP Expansion was making it inevitable that BYU was going to need to make a decision and Aresco left that 12th AAC spot open for just that inevitability.

The seeds were already planted.

As it turned out, a random jump by 2 teams to the SEC made those 4 (BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston) go the other way.

Aresco played his hand perfectly but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Do you truly believe this?

Simply ludicrous.

This guy is the biggest troll on the board.