(10-21-2020 04:10 PM)Foreverandever Wrote:  

(10-21-2020 03:05 PM)mustangxc Wrote:  The AAC now is far superior to CUSA then. Navy + Memphis >>> Rice + UTEP; also, SMU and Tulane are much better than they were back then. Even our best teams under June Jones weren't as good as the teams we've fielded the last few years.

In 2010 both UCF and Tulsa finished ranked, on tie breaker SMU got in the championship game, the only time it wasn't Houston or Tulsa with which ever one being ranked. ECU and UCF had similar runs in the east with ranked teams as well.

The teams not currently in the AAC were

Marshall ---> Cincy is better but not Tubberville era Cincy
Southern Miss ----> Navy is about the same as USM then, strong respected program
UAB------>USF meh even?
UTEP----->Temple is better UTEP was decent but never consistent.
Rice------> Uconn meh even?

I would say this conference has been a half step better. It definitely has the potential to be much better than that combination but it's not some huge difference right now.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...I gotta respond to the bolded.

In the twelve years before Navy started play in the AAC, 2003-2014, the Midshipmen went 100-54 for a .649 winning percentage. Had a final #24 ranking in there.
(In five seasons in the AAC, the Mids are 44-25, .638 with final rankings of #18 and #20)

I went looking for a twelve year stretch where USM equalled Navy and couldn't find one. I looked on either side of the 1998 10-2 Independence Bowl Champs final #19 and got '77-'88 a total of 81-50-2 for .609 or '88-'99 with additional Liberty Bowl wins for final #19 and #14 and got 82-54-1 for .609.

The Eagles do seem to have the best sustained stretch in their CUSA years:
'97-'08 93-54 for .632, with a #19 and a #14 final ranking
'00-'11 93-59, .612, with a single final ranking of #20

Before you get liquored up on USM success in CUSA, remember that in that 2003-2014 window, Navy had more wins vs BCS auto-qual conference teams or CFP contract-bowl-conference teams as a non-BCS-auto-qual or non-CFP-contract-bowl conference member than anyone else in the country - lower winning percentage than Boise against such opponents but more wins.
That leads me to suggest that in that 12 years of Navy success vs the best USM CUSA stretch, Navy's SoS will be better.

For the G4/USM lurkers, don't get me wrong - love me some USM. Love the anyone-anytime-anywhere aspect of independent years, and they definitely done good in the 7th/8th best conference when they were in CUSA.
But Navy in the Johnson-Niumatalolo era has been significantly better on the field than USM in CUSA or their best independent years.