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This is how the travel costs for basketball and olympic sports could be cut sufficiently to make it possible for the AAC leadership to reverse their decision and grant Boise State the opportunity to join as an all-sports member:

1) Return to divisional play in football.

--This is expected to occur within two years, regardless, when the temporary NCAA waiver permitting non-divisional play expands.

--Each team would play 5 divisional games and only 3 cross-divisional games per year. East division teams would only have to fly to Boise once every four years.

2) Initiate divisional scheduling in basketball and olympic sports.

--Rather than playing 20 conference games, which cuts two games from the OOC schedule and requires the easternmost and westernmost teams to take multiple long-distance flights each year, each team would play 10 divisional games and 6 cross-divisional games.

--Major cost savings would result from limiting the number of cross-divisional basketball and olympic sports events to 1 per opponent/per season.

--Thus, for example, the east coast basketball teams would only have to fly to Boise once every other year, and vice versa.

--Reducing the number of conference games to 16 per season would enable teams to schedule more OOC games with nearby regional opponents, which could stimulate regional interest, boost home attendance, and give the teams' fans more drive-able games to see their teams play on the road, as well as further cutting the number of long distance flights with their costs.

--Another advantage to playing more OOC basketball games is that it would give AAC teams the opportunity to prove their ability to compete with teams from other conferences. This would come in handy when the NCAA tournament selection committee meets each year.

3) Arrange tournament-style quadruple-header weekend competitions for all winter sports teams. Travel costs to and from Boise could be cut still further by making special arrangements to have all winter sports teams travel together on the same plane to play the most distant cross-divisional opponents (Boise, in particular), quadruple-header style over the course of a weekend.

--For example, men's and women's basketball could be played back to back in a double-header.

--It's likely that Boise would agree to making such an adjustment if it was set forth as a condition for joining the conference, because while it would require making special arrangements on both ends, it would lower their travel costs, as well.


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The divisions would be set up somewhat like this:

West:..........................East:

Houston.......................UCF
Tulsa...........................USF
SMU............................Cincy
Boise...........................ECU
Navy*..........................Temple
Tulane^.......................Memphis

*Wichita State would take Navy's place in basketball/olympic sports.

^Apparently, Tulane would play in the West, because Navy's preference is to play in the West division alongside SMU, Tulsa, and Tulane.


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