Like it or not, the AAC is in a similiar position as the Big 12 was a few years ago, obviously on a smaller scale and with a little more stability. The P5 conferences are all locked in for at least 6 years. The AAC have quite track record of ratings to get anywhere from 5 to 8 million per team. I simply don't see any scenario where a MWC team adds enough value to not dilute the media share of each team. Where did I hear this before lol?
Also, the whole kicking out members or forming new conferences is the most assinine nonsense I've heard in a while. You don't do that when you are about to get a payday. That would put the new conference in the exact same position AAC was last go around, with no legs to stand on.

(04-29-2018 11:25 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I can’t see any of this happening.

This is just the latest of the dozens of best-of-the-rest conference threads that have been posted here over the past few years. They usually begin with the premise that if the cream of the MWC came over to the AAC, the defectors would earn a much bigger TV paycheck than if they stayed put. Yet there is no objective evidence that any TV network is prepared to pay the AAC a meaningful per-school premium for adding MWC schools, and in the absence of such a premium no MWC member is going to make a move that radically increases its travel costs and takes its student athletes out of class for lengthier periods.

Until there’s a factual basis for assuming someone is willing to bankroll a coast-to-coast AAC, there’s nothing to see here.

AAC is doing fine right now. Only reasons to expand would be Army or Air Force-both add TV ratings- or BYU. Boise is just too far west.

Maybe one other reason would be if two or three schools dropped down and the G5 all went to 14 to become the G4. There are definitely some possibilities to move down or drop-Hawaii, San Jose, ULM, some of the southern commuter schools where the state has put limits on subsidies and a few of the MAC schools.

This conf is fine where we are, we don't need western edge moved west.
We will get 6 to 8 mil next deal, while MWC will do good to make 2 mil.
once that happens we just need one Liberty level bowl for champ/runner up. once that happens we are a true tweener league.

Coast to Coast Conference.

C2C for short.

C2C, get it ? (From sea to shining sea, etc...)

(04-30-2018 07:47 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  This conf is fine where we are, we don't need western edge moved west.
We will get 6 to 8 mil next deal, while MWC will do good to make 2 mil.
once that happens we just need one Liberty level bowl for champ/runner up. once that happens we are a true tweener league.

Who is going to pay the AAC “6 to 8 mil” per school and why?

If there was value in the coast-to-coast conference, wouldn't a P5 have at least kicked the tires on it by now? The one conference whose footprint touches more than two time zones — CUSA — is widely considered to be too unwieldy as constructed. The Big 10 has an adjacent-state requirement, or at least a casual rule. No conference that actually could make a wad of money with a national expansion has so much as hinted at it.

I can see adding strong programs making the AAC better, but that would be the case regardless of where the additions called home. But does anyone honestly think that "national footprint" suddenly elevates everyone in and of itself? And is the payoff enough to offset the travel costs of San Diego State and UConn sending their non-revenue sports across the country?

This feels like the ECHL: It's a minor league that would have the same presence whether their teams spanned the nation or were concentrated in a 200-mile radius. They are what they are. Nobody would think more of them for having an Orlando-Idaho final than they would an Orlando-Florida final (if that were possible). The AAC is better relative to its place in college sports than the ECHL is to pro hockey, but being a "major" conference is going to take an awful lot more than an artificially inflated footprint and aggressive marketing to that effect.

(04-30-2018 08:46 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(04-30-2018 07:47 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  This conf is fine where we are, we don't need western edge moved west.
We will get 6 to 8 mil next deal, while MWC will do good to make 2 mil.
once that happens we just need one Liberty level bowl for champ/runner up. once that happens we are a true tweener league.

Who is going to pay the AAC “6 to 8 mil” per school and why?

We shall see. The track record of ratings puts them in line for that payout.

(04-29-2018 11:16 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:09 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  The way it is proposed here won’t work or happen.

The only way would be to form a new conference, thus able to clear out dead weight. Limit it to 12 so money is worthwhile.

West
Boise
BYU
CSU
SDSU
UH
SMU.

East - you hardcore east fans know it better than I, but think Marshall, So Miss and Troy might be considered in addition to the best AAC schools. My best guess for East:

UCF
USF
SO Miss
Memphis
Cincy
UConn

This is for all sports, thus the inclusion of UConn.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You know... forming a "new" conference every 5 years probably isn't the best long term strategy.

Probably not. But assuming the Big 12 collapses or experiences a mass exodus of teams at the end of the current contract, then this would be the opportunity to create that "new conference". Using the Big 12 leftovers you would have solid core of centralize schools and you could just east and west wings to them.

Baylor
Houston
SMU
Tulane
CSU
BYU
Boise State
SDSU

ISU
Cincy
Memphis
UCONN
Navy
ECU
USF
UCF

Not pretty but it shapes up as a more sensible "best of the rest" conference than just slapping a few MWC schools to the AAC or vice versa.

(04-30-2018 11:20 AM)Baylorbears11 Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:16 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:09 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  The way it is proposed here won’t work or happen.

The only way would be to form a new conference, thus able to clear out dead weight. Limit it to 12 so money is worthwhile.

West
Boise
BYU
CSU
SDSU
UH
SMU.

East - you hardcore east fans know it better than I, but think Marshall, So Miss and Troy might be considered in addition to the best AAC schools. My best guess for East:

UCF
USF
SO Miss
Memphis
Cincy
UConn

This is for all sports, thus the inclusion of UConn.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You know... forming a "new" conference every 5 years probably isn't the best long term strategy.

Probably not. But assuming the Big 12 collapses or experiences a mass exodus of teams at the end of the current contract, then this would be the opportunity to create that "new conference". Using the Big 12 leftovers you would have solid core of centralize schools and you could just east and west wings to them.

Baylor
Houston
SMU
Tulane
CSU
BYU
Boise State
SDSU

ISU
Cincy
Memphis
UCONN
Navy
ECU
USF
UCF

Not pretty but it shapes up as a more sensible "best of the rest" conference than just slapping a few MWC schools to the AAC or vice versa.

I'm pretty sure UCONN would jump from that ship, maybe Cincy too.

(04-30-2018 11:24 AM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-30-2018 11:20 AM)Baylorbears11 Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:16 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:09 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  The way it is proposed here won’t work or happen.

The only way would be to form a new conference, thus able to clear out dead weight. Limit it to 12 so money is worthwhile.

West
Boise
BYU
CSU
SDSU
UH
SMU.

East - you hardcore east fans know it better than I, but think Marshall, So Miss and Troy might be considered in addition to the best AAC schools. My best guess for East:

UCF
USF
SO Miss
Memphis
Cincy
UConn

This is for all sports, thus the inclusion of UConn.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You know... forming a "new" conference every 5 years probably isn't the best long term strategy.

Probably not. But assuming the Big 12 collapses or experiences a mass exodus of teams at the end of the current contract, then this would be the opportunity to create that "new conference". Using the Big 12 leftovers you would have solid core of centralize schools and you could just east and west wings to them.

Baylor
Houston
SMU
Tulane
CSU
BYU
Boise State
SDSU

ISU
Cincy
Memphis
UCONN
Navy
ECU
USF
UCF

Not pretty but it shapes up as a more sensible "best of the rest" conference than just slapping a few MWC schools to the AAC or vice versa.

I'm pretty sure UCONN would jump from that ship, maybe Cincy too.

Jump to where? UCONN and cincy are not gonna give their football the death penalty

What’s the incentive for eastern schools (and schools with smaller athletic budgets) to vote for trips to Colorado and Idaho? If they want to play in Cali once every four or five years they can schedule an OOC game. Cross-country conferences are the deadest of all horses to beat.

The American is a good enough conference as it is. Army and BYU want to be independent and AF wants to play their regional rivals. Realistic candidates need to prove they can add value before being invited, see Wichita State for example. UMass is trying to do so as an independent right now, and their basketball may see some improvement with their new coach. UTSA is one school to keep an eye on. They seem to fit the UCF/USF/Houston mold.

(04-29-2018 08:55 PM)Pony94 Wrote:  David, we are adding Arkansas Tech and I heard that will get us $54,000,000/team

Arkansas tech is really the glue that holds the AAC all over idea together.

(04-30-2018 11:20 AM)Baylorbears11 Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:16 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-29-2018 11:09 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  The way it is proposed here won’t work or happen.

The only way would be to form a new conference, thus able to clear out dead weight. Limit it to 12 so money is worthwhile.

West
Boise
BYU
CSU
SDSU
UH
SMU.

East - you hardcore east fans know it better than I, but think Marshall, So Miss and Troy might be considered in addition to the best AAC schools. My best guess for East:

UCF
USF
SO Miss
Memphis
Cincy
UConn

This is for all sports, thus the inclusion of UConn.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You know... forming a "new" conference every 5 years probably isn't the best long term strategy.

Probably not. But assuming the Big 12 collapses or experiences a mass exodus of teams at the end of the current contract, then this would be the opportunity to create that "new conference". Using the Big 12 leftovers you would have solid core of centralize schools and you could just east and west wings to them.

Baylor
Houston
SMU
Tulane
CSU
BYU
Boise State
SDSU

ISU
Cincy
Memphis
UCONN
Navy
ECU
USF
UCF

Not pretty but it shapes up as a more sensible "best of the rest" conference than just slapping a few MWC schools to the AAC or vice versa.

If the big12 collapsed to the point that Baylor and ISU are the only teams left , I would think that the AAC would simply absorb them rather than let those two leftover teams rip the whole conference apart to create some east/West unsustainable bohemeth

(04-30-2018 09:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  If there was value in the coast-to-coast conference, wouldn't a P5 have at least kicked the tires on it by now?

Well we really don't know what sort of information any of the P5 have requested from the World Wide Leader or from Fox or NBC or CBS.

We saw the Pac-10 come pretty close to kicking the tires on such when they were trying to get Texas and friends to make it the first three time zone upper tier league.

It is entirely possible that the data has been gathered and the members looked at it and said the money wasn't worth sticking teams on an airplane to go coast-to-coast. Or they might have concluded that they just didn't care for the appearance of a team boarding an airplane at 1am or 2am Eastern time or worse 3am or 4am to begin their trek home or the idea of an Olympic sport having to spend an additional night before returning home because the options for commercial flights after a game weren't very good. The teams on the Pacific coast may well have concluded that they didn't like the idea of road games in various sports starting at 9am or 9:30am local time to accommodate television.

Maybe they actually haven't looked, but I wouldn't presume it just because nothing has ever leaked.

(04-30-2018 01:51 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(04-30-2018 09:54 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  If there was value in the coast-to-coast conference, wouldn't a P5 have at least kicked the tires on it by now?

Well we really don't know what sort of information any of the P5 have requested from the World Wide Leader or from Fox or NBC or CBS.

We saw the Pac-10 come pretty close to kicking the tires on such when they were trying to get Texas and friends to make it the first three time zone upper tier league.

It is entirely possible that the data has been gathered and the members looked at it and said the money wasn't worth sticking teams on an airplane to go coast-to-coast. Or they might have concluded that they just didn't care for the appearance of a team boarding an airplane at 1am or 2am Eastern time or worse 3am or 4am to begin their trek home or the idea of an Olympic sport having to spend an additional night before returning home because the options for commercial flights after a game weren't very good. The teams on the Pacific coast may well have concluded that they didn't like the idea of road games in various sports starting at 9am or 9:30am local time to accommodate television.

Maybe they actually haven't looked, but I wouldn't presume it just because nothing has ever leaked.

I'm sure there's at least been a cursory glance from most if not all of the P5s, mostly because you tabletop everything. When ODU was looking for a landing spot from a few years ago, they make contact with the conferences you'd expect them to, like CUSA, the MAC and the A-10, but they also spoke to the ACC. The ACC! Obviously they were told "thanks but no thanks," but imagine what this place would have been like if the ACC actually said yes.

That said, I think if there was even a hint at one of the P5s giving consideration to a coast-to-coast footprint, that's the sort of gossip that can't stay under hat for long. Or if it did, it got shot down immediately. I guess my point, which I probably could have expressed more directly, is that if there's no indication that the major conferences have given serious thought to doing a national conference with teams that would seriously move the needle for money, then why would anyone think that the AAC would elevate to that level by adding another four AAC-level programs to be in all four time zones? They might solidify tweener status, but I think they'd still be on the outside of the P5.

A few thoughts regarding the criticisms of this plan:

The travel won't work--Only Wichita St, Tulsa, SMU, and Houston would be assuming much additional travel. Most sports could play almost exclusively divisional schedules with little crossover. 3 of the 4 proposed teams are also MTN time zone, only one away from the Central.

AFA wouldn't be interested--Yes, they weren't interested in orphaning their Olympic sports in the Summit for a FB only invite but this is a full membership invite and that's a lot different. They've had a few years to mull over the idea and how such a move could benefit them.

BYU wouldn't be interested--They need a conference for scheduling purposes and going to the MWC would be admitting defeat but the AAC with a national presence and a stranglehold on the G5 NY6 spot would give them access to the big bowls and a steady bowl revenue stream.

An expanded AAC wouldn't be a lock for NY6--Who's gonna challenge them? C-USA? SBC? Someone out of a weakened MWC? I doubt it. The MAC might be able to produce an undefeated or one loss team but the AAC is always going to look better. They'd have 16 solid tweener schools with minimal cross division play so there is a very high likelihood that that both East and West can produce multiple teams jockeying for the NY6 spot.

TV won't value this league--I can't speak to this one for certain but I think they offer a good value and would be able to get a tv partner into a lot of different markets and they'd have three programs in Navy, AFA, and BYU with national followings.

I like AAC's current program lineup no need to expand unless of course tv networks push ($$$) for it.

(04-30-2018 05:37 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  A few thoughts regarding the criticisms of this plan:

The travel won't work--Only Wichita St, Tulsa, SMU, and Houston would be assuming much additional travel. Most sports could play almost exclusively divisional schedules with little crossover. 3 of the 4 proposed teams are also MTN time zone, only one away from the Central.

And also the Mountain West schools, which will be adding more trips to the East Coast. Plus do Houston and SMU want to be that westward-facing with their regular in-conference games?

Quote:AFA wouldn't be interested--Yes, they weren't interested in orphaning their Olympic sports in the Summit for a FB only invite but this is a full membership invite and that's a lot different. They've had a few years to mull over the idea and how such a move could benefit them.

Would the AAC want Air Force for non-football sports? Their basketball has been not great for a long time. Plus the Front Range schools are pretty tightknit, as is my understanding; not sure if Air Force wants to leave Colorado State, Wyoming and New Mexico behind.

Quote:BYU wouldn't be interested--They need a conference for scheduling purposes and going to the MWC would be admitting defeat but the AAC with a national presence and a stranglehold on the G5 NY6 spot would give them access to the big bowls and a steady bowl revenue stream.

The moment BYU accepts full membership to a non-P5 conference is the moment they announce to the world that they accept demotion to being Utah's little sibling in the state.

Quote:An expanded AAC wouldn't be a lock for NY6--Who's gonna challenge them? C-USA? SBC? Someone out of a weakened MWC? I doubt it. The MAC might be able to produce an undefeated or one loss team but the AAC is always going to look better. They'd have 16 solid tweener schools with minimal cross division play so there is a very high likelihood that that both East and West can produce multiple teams jockeying for the NY6 spot.

They'd certainly have a better chance of getting the NY6 spot but it's not a foregone conclusion. The AAC has been the best of the G5 leagues but the MAC managed to get there, and an undefeated MAC/CUSA/MWC/Sun Belt team would still be in the mix.

Quote:TV won't value this league--I can't speak to this one for certain but I think they offer a good value and would be able to get a tv partner into a lot of different markets and they'd have three programs in Navy, AFA, and BYU with national followings.

I'm guessing the AAC will have their next contract in hand before they could embark on a massive expansion like this, so unless the contract is scaleable for added teams like the Big East's FOX contract apparently is, they may not have cause to go up.

(04-30-2018 08:35 AM)thespiritof1976 Wrote:  Coast to Coast Conference.

C2C for short.

C2C, get it ? (From sea to shining sea, etc...)

Wait, what about me?

(04-30-2018 07:22 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(04-30-2018 05:37 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  A few thoughts regarding the criticisms of this plan:

The travel won't work--Only Wichita St, Tulsa, SMU, and Houston would be assuming much additional travel. Most sports could play almost exclusively divisional schedules with little crossover. 3 of the 4 proposed teams are also MTN time zone, only one away from the Central.

And also the Mountain West schools, which will be adding more trips to the East Coast. Plus do Houston and SMU want to be that westward-facing with their regular in-conference games?

That’s a major point. If SMU, UH, Tulane, and Tulsa wanted to play western schools, they would have pursued that path. They didn’t, and two of the aforementioned left the WAC to join an eastern/central conference (C-USA) and the other two had no interest in the WAC in the first place.