(04-20-2021 10:55 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:09 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-19-2021 11:20 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(04-19-2021 10:20 PM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  

(04-19-2021 01:46 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  No offense to the eggheads on the board, but for the AAC they need quality on the field and in brand strength over academic rankings. Its all about ratings and revenue my friend-- and unless Rice is sharing research dollars with AAC members schools, they aren't going to be added.

Exactly what I was thinking. No one scrolls through the channels and chooses which game to watch based on the level of a schools academics.

On the field football performance and BRAND---if good enough---can certainly bring enough value to a conference that university presidents are willing to overlook perceived academic shortcomings (to a degree). Ideally, every conference wants any candidate to have the academics of Rice and the football brand/performance of Ohio St.

I tend to agree with those who have said academics is kind of an either/or thing. For any conference, there is kind of a minimum bar for academics. The bar is at different levels depending on the conference. And all you need to do is meet the bar, exceeding it doesn't mean much. So IMO if the Big 12 is considering expansion, and the informal bar in the minds of the conference presidents is something around 200 in US News rankings, and Memphis is at 180 and SMU is at 80, it really doesn't help SMU that much to be ranked 100 spots ahead - both meet the bar so now it's on to brand and other stuff.

For the AAC, we know that it really doesn't have much of a minimum bar, because the AAC seems to have had talks with Boise about joining for football, and Boise is a 300 - 400 level US News school. That basically includes everyone who the AAC could possibly be considering.

So IMO, for the AAC, academics really won't figure in to this process, if there is an expansion process.

lol...I wouldnt say that. The AAC academic bar is actually pretty high for a G5. As we have discussed---there are simply fewer high level options for the AAC and---given the dearth of viable value adding football options----exceptions can be made for a school that offers a program with extremely high "brand value". So, for a football program like Boise with extremely high proven performance and extremely high brand recognition value for a G5---the academic bar for Boise will be lower than it for a less recognized football program. My sense is--the AAC presidents are comfortable with other national schools that are in that top-200 USNWR range. The vast majority of the AAC sits in that range. So---that top-200 range is basically the bar unless your offering something so valuable that the AAC presidents are willing to make an exception.

The best option would seem to be Army, but after their C-USA experience I doubt if they would consider joining another conference.