(12-22-2020 12:00 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-22-2020 11:29 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(12-22-2020 01:39 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-22-2020 01:21 AM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Maybe it's the reason why the AAC has taken their time to fill UConn's replacement otherwise UAB or Old Dominion would've got the call by now. Probably there's been communication on both sides since UConn announced they were going back to the Big East and be an independent in football.....it's just that COVID-19 and the MWC cancelling football season in the summer accelerated those talks.

But the question is, does the AAC really want to get into that mess of football only schools? One thing is to have a service academy as one and another one to have a school that is hundreds of miles that shared a conference for four seasons with SMU and Tulsa. If all sports, the nearest school would be Wichita State and I find it hard to believe the Florida twins, Cincinnati and Temple would like the idea of having their Olympic sport teams travel all the way to Boise.

The WAC would make the most sense. Boise burned those bridges with the Big West in 2012 and probably Idaho would block Boise State in the Big Sky. Boise doesn't fit the WCC profile but maybe BYU might vouch for them. This is more of a "Boise needs the AAC more than the other way around" situation.

The AAC has been very clear on this. There currently appears to be only 4 G5/Indy schools that have the kind of football programs that would instantly add substantial value to the AAC on the very first day they join the conference. Those are BYU, Boise, Army, and probably Air Force. Every other possible addition would be more of a gamble---a project so to speak--where you are gambling on a school's potential--essentially rolling the dice on the chance the school will develop into a "top half of the league" type program and not a bottom of the league anchor. The league did not panic. It wisely opted to not gamble. The AAC has opted not to make a move until one of those 4 value adding programs showed interest--or until another program developed enough organically to make it the type of program that adds value to the league on day one of its membership.

So--to me--its no surprise that the AAC was clearly interested when one of its 4 viable "plug and play" options indicated interest. If Boise can find a place for its olympic sports---this is almost certain to happen.

There's a fifth school that would add immediate value in football: San Diego State. They're not a gamble at all; they've won 90 games in the past 10 years.

And SDSU is getting a new stadium.

And SDSU is the best institutional fit in the G5 except maybe Georgia State, Colorado State, or FIU. Very similar to Temple, Houston, Cincinnati, USF, UCF, Memphis.

And Navy would LOVE playing in San Diego. There's 100,000 active duty sailors and marines stationed there.

And finally: SDSU has great basketball. Anyone would love to have their non-football sports.

But they are even farther away than Boise---and I doubt their brand recognition is nearly as ubiquitous as Boise's. Boise is literally the "go to" college football example for giant killer or BCS Buster. Boise is the original outside the power structure raider of the post-Bowl Coalition era--and has a strong reputation among even casual college fans. The AAC has one open slot. If Boise is interested--its a "no brainer" to take them as a "football only" member. Im not SDSU isnt a nice addition---Im just saying Boise is better.

San Diego is almost the exact same longitude (i.e. east-west) as Boise. It's physically about equidistant for every team. A hundred miles farther for Northern teams. A hundred miles closer for Southern teams.

Also, San Diego is not farther than Boise by plane. San Diego has direct flights to almost everywhere; Boise does not.

So for most athletes (who don't take charter jets), San Diego is much closer.




I agree that SDSU's football quality is not as high as Boise's. But it's higher than Army or Air Force, and equal to BYU.

And SDSU has almost as good brand recognition as those other four due to their basketball success and their location.

Also, SDSU isn't some johnny-come-lately. They've had 9 first-round picks in the NFL draft over the years. Their list of sports alumni is incredibly impressive, headed by Tony Gwynn, Stephen Strasburg, Kawhi Leonard, and Marshall Faulk.