(09-09-2020 02:17 PM)MidknightWhiskey Wrote:  

(09-09-2020 02:01 PM)YNot Wrote:  

(09-09-2020 01:44 PM)MidknightWhiskey Wrote:  

(09-09-2020 11:35 AM)YNot Wrote:  

(09-09-2020 09:51 AM)AztecEmpire Wrote:  One thing that is for sure. AFA's coach has questioned their affiliation with the MW...but that doesn't necessarily mean they will leave and if they do it doesn't mean they join the AAC. I wonder if the solution the AAC adds 1 or 3, not named AFA and Army...and then on top of adding 1 or 3 you extend AFA and Army an affiliated invitation similar to Notre Dame/ACC but for FB only. This would guarantee both academies a minimum number of games (5/6) a season not counting Navy. Considering the poorer quality of academy olys and the long odds to getting them to join as full or partial members, a FB schedule based relationship may be the right fit.

The AAC should have formally affiliated with BYU and Army already. And, actually, nothing would have to really change from the status quo, except that the AAC could promote this affiliation. It's all about branding and perception.

Instead of the ESPN bowl pool - of which BYU and Army already are a part - the AAC could claim that BYU and Army are part of the broader AAC bowl pool, some of which might involve BYU or Army v. AAC matchups. And, the AAC could highlight the various AAC games already on the schedule against BYU and Army as part of the formal affiliation.

So, when BYU plays Navy and Houston this year and Army plays Cincinnati and Tulane (and the various other AAC opponents on future Army and BYU schedules), those games are part of the extended AAC affiliation. It makes these already-scheduled games more meaningful and likely leads to more AAC v. BYU or Army series and helps boost the AAC's prestige and P6 campaign. And, any success by BYU or Army benefits the AAC and vice versa, AAC success benefits BYU and Army, because there is a formal affiliation.

If anyone is expecting a Notre Dame ACC deal they're kidding themselves. ND is the only team that can get a deal like that. The AAC doesn't need to bend over backwards for anyone, we're ahead of the MWC by a significant margin. Teams will either join or they wont, we're fine staying pat at 11 for as long as we need.

It's a re-framing of the status quo. BYU and Army already play AAC schools and are part of the ESPN bowl pool. There's no new, rigid 5-game scheduling requirement or anything like that. Take what's already there and enhance it. Same 11-team AAC structure, same bowl lineup...but associate BYU and Army with the American brand.

With the formal affiliation, the AAC, BYU and Army form a coalition that plays P6 football, including marquee P6 bowl games.

Sure, it might lead to more BYU/Army v. AAC games, but it's a branding move. And, it connects AAC, BYU and Army admins in new ways. The formal affiliation opens up new opportunities for cross-marketing and untapped synergies.

That's a very one sided deal that wouldn't fly. Teams can schedule whoever they want but there's no benefit for the AAC to do a 6 game/year scheduling agreement.

Here is the problem with byu. They don't play well with others. They have always believed that whatever is good for BYU is good for everyone and that is not the case. YNot has been beating this dead horse for years and we've been giving him the same response,,,NO DEAL YOU ARE EITHER IN OR OUT. The AAC feels that BYU would be a great option, but not a needed option to have. We aren't going to allow any team to presume dominance over the others through some one sided scheduling agreement that only helps that team. The problem is that BYU sees themselves as better than the AAC , so they feel that we should jump for joy at the possibility of having any association with them when actually we have the upper hand by our hard earned ascension to a tweener conference and our hard earned stability to be able to say we're fine at 11 members and mean it. So no parasitic halfazz one foot in one foot out deals are necessary. As evidence, didn’t BYU just get a major bump up in the polls by beating an unranked and unprepared AAC member that wasn't even predicted to be in the hunt for the conference championship. That one AAC game alone has done more for BYU than all of those wins against down and out p5 names.