The Big Pee is absolutely trending down. They made a little noise with a bounty of at-large bids (winning very few NCAA games) based on a mirage - aka RPI hacking strategy - which was cute (the MVC did the same back in 2006 and finished 4th in RPI in the country). But the general public isn't stupid, they know the Pee is nothing but the dregs of the old Big East and a couple new mid-majors sprinkled in for filler.

Villanova, a poor man's version of UCONN, is now the leader of this new church conference and should be able to continue to win as long as nothing really crazy happens inside the program; i.e. sexual deviancy charges. Eventually the Pee will settle around 2-3 bids a year (in a strong year) with the AAC settling around 4-5. The AAC just has bigger brands than Pee, and while a couple are currently down, they'll be back. If current National Power Wichita State continues on their expected trend, this reality of a 4-5 bid average will happen sooner rather than later.

Considering the fact that the AAC plays football, preference will be made to broadcast AAC games in all sports on the major networks where a contract is signed... over Church League ball. When the Fox Sports contract runs out, it will surely be renegotiated lower as it's been a net loser for Fox. Priest-ball started off with a bang, but fizzled quickly as the brand recognition of the Big East name had an expiration date - which just happens to be quickly approaching. All the low-information basketball fans have been tuning in (after they locate the channel) to Big East games saying, "WTF?! Where is Syracuse, UCONN, Pitt, Notre Dame, Cincy, Louisville, etc." They soon realize they're watching a game of Suburban H.O.R.S.E. between the Omaha BJ's and Seton Fail and they're like... *click* *click* *clickity* *click*


Thoughts?


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