Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

Hmmmm...... Maybe

We are also a stronger conference from top to bottom...even in two years when we finally settle in as a conference.

In the long term, what matters most is exposure.

The American wins in that category by most objective standards.

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

This logic only holds up if Louisville or Rutgers is not the champion. For the good of the league another school needs to win the conference in football and the bb conference tournament to lessen the effect of Louisville's defection to the ACC.

(06-18-2013 07:50 AM)firmbizzle Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

This logic only holds up if Louisville or Rutgers is not the champion. For the good of the league another school needs to win the conference in football and the bb conference tournament to lessen the effect of Louisville's defection to the ACC.

Exactly, for the sake of the conference, we need to all root against Rutgers and UofL (not that we weren't going to do that anyway). It would be best for the league if those two struggle and the eventual champ and BCS representative is a school that is not currently scheduled to leave.

This (OP) is very true, but also huge markets, playing in the East where the majority of the country is located, where four P conferences are located. Also (IMHO) stronger programs top to bottom. We're not 'just Boise', many AAC programs have had big success (ranked, big bowl wins, wins against P schools, etc.) recently and can do it again.

But I'm sure the MWC folks will tell us why we're wrong!

(06-18-2013 08:04 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 07:50 AM)firmbizzle Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

This logic only holds up if Louisville or Rutgers is not the champion. For the good of the league another school needs to win the conference in football and the bb conference tournament to lessen the effect of Louisville's defection to the ACC.

Exactly, for the sake of the conference, we need to all root against Rutgers and UofL (not that we weren't going to do that anyway). It would be best for the league if those two struggle and the eventual champ and BCS representative is a school that is not currently scheduled to leave.

I totally agree, but I've also given up rooting against departing schools... instead, like WVU and LV, I'd argue that these schools won a BCS bowl with Big East recruiting, playing a Big East schedule, and they were Big East teams. Makes no difference if they were, at some point in the future, going to leave or not.

Best Team: MWC (Boise)
Best Overall Conference: AAC

Boise is far and away the best team between the two conferences (I don't count Louisville since they are leaving).

The AAC is the better overall conference because while there are other good programs in both FB and BB in the MWC we have a counter to match or exceed each of them. For every UNLV we have a Memphis. For every SDST we have a UCF and on and on.

Our depth is what puts us over the top. Yes we have Tulane, Memphis FB, Temple FB, etc. Not slamming any of those schools just beating the MWC fans to the punches they will pull.

The MWC is a good conference just a little top heavy.

(06-18-2013 08:12 AM)Bull Wrote:  This (OP) is very true, but also huge markets, playing in the East where the majority of the country is located, where four P conferences are located. Also (IMHO) stronger programs top to bottom. We're not 'just Boise', many AAC programs have had big success (ranked, big bowl wins, wins against P schools, etc.) recently and can do it again.

But I'm sure the MWC folks will tell us why we're wrong!

I'm not going to tell you your are wrong....
However, the one thing the MW has now is that the MW will only compete against the PAC-12 for recruits out west for the first time ever. I believe this will impact the lower teams in the conference to get better players than they would before. All the years before there were 3 FBS conferences (PAC, Big West, WAC and then the PAC, WAC and MW). I think after a few recruiting cycles we'll see the MW improve from top to bottom.

(06-18-2013 08:04 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 07:50 AM)firmbizzle Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

This logic only holds up if Louisville or Rutgers is not the champion. For the good of the league another school needs to win the conference in football and the bb conference tournament to lessen the effect of Louisville's defection to the ACC.

Exactly, for the sake of the conference, we need to all root against Rutgers and UofL (not that we weren't going to do that anyway). It would be best for the league if those two struggle and the eventual champ and BCS representative is a school that is not currently scheduled to leave.

No, the members don't need to root against Rutgers or Louisville...what all members need to do is win OOC Football games...basketball will be fine with Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis & Temple...

(06-18-2013 08:31 AM)Maize Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 08:04 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 07:50 AM)firmbizzle Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

This logic only holds up if Louisville or Rutgers is not the champion. For the good of the league another school needs to win the conference in football and the bb conference tournament to lessen the effect of Louisville's defection to the ACC.

Exactly, for the sake of the conference, we need to all root against Rutgers and UofL (not that we weren't going to do that anyway). It would be best for the league if those two struggle and the eventual champ and BCS representative is a school that is not currently scheduled to leave.

No, the members don't need to root against Rutgers or Louisville...what all members need to do is win OOC Football games...basketball will be fine with Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis & Temple...

It is what it is. We certainly all need to win OOC but we also need to show that the league is competive and that Rutgers and UofL are not on some superior level when it comes to football.

As always, I'll be rooting for my Huskies to shock the world (and myself), earn the BCS berth outright and then shock the world again by winning a BCS game.

(06-18-2013 08:26 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 08:12 AM)Bull Wrote:  This (OP) is very true, but also huge markets, playing in the East where the majority of the country is located, where four P conferences are located. Also (IMHO) stronger programs top to bottom. We're not 'just Boise', many AAC programs have had big success (ranked, big bowl wins, wins against P schools, etc.) recently and can do it again.

But I'm sure the MWC folks will tell us why we're wrong!

I'm not going to tell you your are wrong....
However, the one thing the MW has now is that the MW will only compete against the PAC-12 for recruits out west for the first time ever. I believe this will impact the lower teams in the conference to get better players than they would before. All the years before there were 3 FBS conferences (PAC, Big West, WAC and then the PAC, WAC and MW). I think after a few recruiting cycles we'll see the MW improve from top to bottom.

There's not likely to be any real difference in recruiting league wide for the MW. Its always been the Pac-12 took the best athletes and the other weestern non-AQs then fought over what was left. It's not as if any western schools disappeared--they just moved from the WAC to the MW. What may happen is the old WAC teams will be on a more level recruiting ground with the other MW teams. Since the pool of talent isn't changing, any improvement in the recruiting of the bottom of the MW likely will come at the expense of the top teams of the Mountain West.

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

I do like the idea that due to being an official BCS-AQ conference this year, from here on--the AAC will be made up primarily of "ex-AQ" schools. Yeah, I know, most were only AQ for one year---but that's one year more than ANY Mountain West school. The fact remains, like late season call ups to Major League Baeball, most AAC schools will have had a cup of coffee as part of the AQ big leagues.

At the end of the day it's that top to bottom competitiveness that has hurt the Big East in the past. We need our champ to consistently go 10-2 or better.

(06-18-2013 08:56 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 08:26 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 08:12 AM)Bull Wrote:  This (OP) is very true, but also huge markets, playing in the East where the majority of the country is located, where four P conferences are located. Also (IMHO) stronger programs top to bottom. We're not 'just Boise', many AAC programs have had big success (ranked, big bowl wins, wins against P schools, etc.) recently and can do it again.

But I'm sure the MWC folks will tell us why we're wrong!

I'm not going to tell you your are wrong....
However, the one thing the MW has now is that the MW will only compete against the PAC-12 for recruits out west for the first time ever. I believe this will impact the lower teams in the conference to get better players than they would before. All the years before there were 3 FBS conferences (PAC, Big West, WAC and then the PAC, WAC and MW). I think after a few recruiting cycles we'll see the MW improve from top to bottom.

There's not likely to be any real difference in recruiting league wide for the MW. Its always been the Pac-12 took the best athletes and the other weestern non-AQs then fought over what was left. It's not as if any western schools disappeared--they just moved from the WAC to the MW. What may happen is the old WAC teams will be on a more level recruiting ground with the other MW teams. Since the pool of talent isn't changing, any improvement in the recruiting of the bottom of the MW likely will come at the expense of the top teams of the Mountain West.

I hear what you are saying but I think we'll see some perception changes after a few recruiting cycles to see if my theory is correct.

(06-18-2013 07:23 AM)NewEnglandBull Wrote:  We are also a stronger conference from top to bottom...even in two years when we finally settle in as a conference.

That is true, but it is sort of a double edged sword. If the AAC champion has 2 or 3 losses every year while the MWC champ 1 loss (or fewer), they will have the edge in public perceptions. However, that is my only concern. I still like the advantages that we have in larger markets, greater population density, better basketball, the temporary AQ tag, better exposure, earlier time zones, better academics, larger fanbases and greater strength OOC. One more thing: we have schools with great potential which are about to have advantages like they have never had before. Not so with the MWC schools.

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

I suspect that the conference will be called the "Big East" in the media this fall, for football. In any event, I also suspect that the "American" will be disparaged by the media for having an AQ bid this year, much as the Big East was, and thus no useful publicity will be derived from it, certainly nothing that will carry over into the playoff era and make recruits more likely to sign with us, etc.

I know, one can argue "the only bad publicity is no publicity", but still ...

(06-18-2013 08:31 AM)Maize Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 08:04 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 07:50 AM)firmbizzle Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 06:00 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  Why the American will have the edge on the Mountain West going forward into the new playoff system?

One simple, much maligned answer, the BCS.

The American, much to the chagrin of the other P5, is a BCS Conference. It's champion will get a BCS Bowl regardless unlike the Mountain West's champion. The casual fan this fall will see The American mentioned in the same breath as the other P5 this year. History will record The American as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference.

Might seem small but if The American must build a new perception, beginning life as a BCS Automatic Qualifier Conference, even for the last year, is not too shabby.

This logic only holds up if Louisville or Rutgers is not the champion. For the good of the league another school needs to win the conference in football and the bb conference tournament to lessen the effect of Louisville's defection to the ACC.

Exactly, for the sake of the conference, we need to all root against Rutgers and UofL (not that we weren't going to do that anyway). It would be best for the league if those two struggle and the eventual champ and BCS representative is a school that is not currently scheduled to leave.

No, the members don't need to root against Rutgers or Louisville...what all members need to do is win OOC Football games...basketball will be fine with Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis & Temple...

What would make the league look better long term is if someone that is actually going to be in the league wins the league. The actual best thing that could happen would be one of the new additions winning the league like UCF. Obviously my interests and your interests aren't the same so I wouldn't expect you do agree, but if Louisville just had their way with all the AAC teams and especially the new additions that would make a bad impression. However, if the opposite happened and the new additions did well against Rutgers and Louisville that would give the perception that maybe the league didn't get a lot weaker in football. Perception is reality and the perception is this league lost almost all it's strength in football and replaced it with much weaker programs. In the long term you are right that OOC wins will do the most to change that, but short term beating Louisville and Rutgers would be a good start.

(06-18-2013 08:14 AM)Bull Wrote:  I totally agree, but I've also given up rooting against departing schools... instead, like WVU and LV, I'd argue that these schools won a BCS bowl with Big East recruiting, playing a Big East schedule, and they were Big East teams. Makes no difference if they were, at some point in the future, going to leave or not.

Good move. I've never rooted against departing schools. That just plays into the hands of the conference they are joining, let's them grab glory they shouldn't have.

E.g., in 2011, WVU's wipeout of Clemson wasn't a Big 12 win, it was a Big East win and should have been celebrated as such. Ditto for Louisville's pounding of Florida in this past Sugar Bowl: A 100% Big East win that we deserve all the conference credit for.