(05-09-2022 11:55 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  The MWC might ask SMU if they’re interested or they might decide to stay at 11 in FB and 10 in BB.

With the years on that AAC ESPN contract having another decade to go, there is no chance SMU trades 7 million (and much better exposure windows with ESPN/ABC) for half that (3.5 million) in the MWC and FOX exposure.

Granted, if the AAC got raided that wouldn't be optimal. However, the AAC expanded to 14 teams in part so it had a comfortable cushion. SMU may even get more television exposures out of the deal.

Let us not forget:

The American Athletic Conference had a MUCH deeper expansion pool the last time (relative to the MWC's raid of the WAC - which was their only viable expansion pool), and Aresco passed on a lot of good programs (like Marshall) who were far more valuable than the MWC's actual additions (like SJSU).

The AAC has a long list of teams it could plug in before they reach the MWC's current predicament (which is a remarkable lack of expansion options outside of UTEP, NMSU, and Texas State).

IMO, if the MWC got raided of just 1 team (to a P5), then Air Force would be on the phone to the AAC faster than you can say "thank you drive thru." UTEP would presumably be their response.