I'm in.

Oh, it was touch-and-go there for awhile, with most of it leaning in the direction of "it's time to blow this popsicle stand" as defections, both financial and philosophical, and disillusion mounted. But with the dust finally settling, the landscape somewhat clearing and the college football season looming, I'm in.

American Athletic Conference, you got a believer here. A believer who sees a quality sports organization with solid direction and even a little vision.

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BCS connection? National-title contention? Coast-to-coast recognition? No one knows at this point. The only thing for certain is that something was salvaged from a Big East whose members seemed dead-set on devouring themselves unless they found a better place to migrate -- and that something ain't too bad.

Commissioner Mike Aresco deserves a great deal of credit for that. Just three weeks removed from his one-year anniversary of taking over a sinking ship of a once-ballyhooed conference, mostly in basketball, the former television executive found himself having to plug holes right and left to steady things with the departure of Big East mainstays Pittsburgh and Syracuse. That brought the total number of see-ya-laters to six in football, not to mention Notre Dame in basketball.

Then came the 1-2 punch of Rutgers announcing it would be leaving for the Big 10 and Louisville for the ACC. If all that wasn't enough to knock out Aresco and Co., you'd figure the wintertime decision of the seven Catholic schools to cut ties and go their own way, taking along the Big East brand with them, would have.

Only it didn't.

As we stand here in late July, the remaining members of the Big East -- Connecticut, Cincinnati, South Florida and Temple -- have been joined by Southern Methodist, Houston, Memphis, and Central Florida to form an intriguing mix of metro-situated schools that may have more potential than most would think. If any measure of success occurs, the AAC is poised to have it noticed due to having a presence in major markets -- in the northeast, southwest and southeast.

Aresco realizes the possible gem he has with the Interstate 4 tandem in the Sunshine State. In speaking with the Orlando Sentinel last month, he labeled USF and UCF as beachfront properties -- not so much because of their vicinity to the water, but because of the value they could have in the future. Right now, both are decent and developing grid programs. But they're dynamic universities in great locations -- Tampa and Orlando -- that could prove very attractive to more and more top-notch recruits the better they get.

When all is said and done, the AAC is scheduled to be in its set state by 2015 after Navy joins the circuit for football. Tulsa, Tulane and East Carolina come on board next year, which means a total of 12 teams by the time the Midshipmen hit the field with their conference patch attached to their uniforms. Navy also brings a piece of the D.C. market with it. Tulane does the same with New Orleans, Tulsa with Oklahoma and ECU with North Carolina.

Rutgers and Louisville will play one last season with their former Big East brethren before exiting, and they haven't been treated as outcasts or deserters by any stretch. They remain part of the "family" until they no longer are part of it.

Thing is, through it all, Aresco and Co. have handled things in a classy and professional way that goes against the grain of the backstabbing and finger-pointing we see all too much these days in college athletics. With every curveball thrown his way, the commish hung in there, took his cut and if he missed, he tipped his cap to the author of the pitch.

If anything, he took the stance that we want to be associated with teams that want to be associated with us, and if some teams didn't, that was OK. After all, it was their prerogative.

Meanwhile, the AAC forged ahead, adapting whenever the need arose -- which was often. What has resulted is a stable operation, with some quality programs still on board ... even after Louisville leaves. Cincy and UConn have been to BCS bowls, while USF and UCF seem capable of doing so if they ever fully develop to what Aresco envisions.

It really could evolve into a good football conference.

Kudos to it; I'm in.

http://www.isportstimes.com/articles/809...-track.htm

(07-26-2013 12:15 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  BCS connection? National-title contention? Coast-to-coast recognition? No one knows at this point.

After this season....No, No, and No (except on Wednesday nights). Yes we know...

Sorry, I'm out.

And UC should do everything possible to get out!

I'm not quite ready to jump in with both feet, yet - but I'm willing to give it a serious chance. Rutgers, Pitt and Syracuse are leaving just to get paid to be bottom feeders in new conferences and UofL will be, at best, 3rd in the ACC (lower once Teddy leaves and Coach Strong won't be far behind him).

In the American, UC has a reasonable shot at 10+ wins from now on. With that will come publicity, ranking and, maybe, a future invite. It also give Tubbs time to mature this team into a champion.

What UC needs to do now, is raise the level of ALL their sports (like UofL) and become recognized as a top tier athletic university - we're already a top research institution.

We're not in a P5 conference (yet) but this may be the best place for UC at the moment.

Ah, the continued fallacy that 3rd and 4th tier programs "bring" a city they play in.

(07-26-2013 02:14 PM)MickMack Wrote:  

With the success of the BTN and BTN2, the rights grants by the supposed top 5 conferences, is it possible for the AAC to set up its own regional college football network with the support/financial backing of ESPN? I know it sounds silly and counter to ESPN way of doing business, but FOX and the BIG 10 are making a killing with their joint venture. .