(12-12-2018 12:35 AM)Sactowndog Wrote:  

(12-11-2018 12:33 PM)YNot Wrote:  

(12-10-2018 08:01 PM)Ned Low Wrote:  

(12-10-2018 07:28 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Letting Boise go wasn't a mistake. Boise was negotiating as if they were Alabama and not the smurf turf. Letting the tail wag the dog would have been an unmitigated disaster and they were right not to break their backs to keep them.

With that said, if you fast forward to present I think offering full membership to Boise St, BYU, AFA, and SDSU would be a solid move. The AAC has a solid hold on the NY6 and grabbing the Cougars and the best of the MWC ensures that they are the defacto P6.

I agree with the idea of adding teams but I disagree with the teams:

BYU, SDSU, Boise State, Fresno State for all sports. Gonzaga for Olympic sports only.

BYU for all sports is pretty much impossible, at least for the 2020 season. BYU has too many future football games scheduled such that a move before 2023 or 2024 isn't happening because of all the contracts that BYU would have to buyout.

However, invite one other western school for all sports and Gonzaga and BYU for Olympics sports and it could work. Schedule 1-2 more BYU v. expanded AAC football games each season and it would look like a football affiliation. (BYU already has future games with Boise, SDSU, Houston, USF, and ECU). With the B1G and ACC likely wanting CCG deregulation, you wouldn't need two 8-team divisions. Perfect setup for a new TV deal with weekly coast-to-coast kickoffs from 12pm to 10pm ET plus a couple of Thursday or Friday night games.

For Olympic sports, you have 3 regional scheduling groups that would allow for mostly regional schedules and limit cross-country travel to a a reasonable level....while also a perfect set up for a new TV deal with coast-to-coast tipoffs.

WEST: SDSU, Fresno, Gonzaga, Boise, BYU, TBD
CENTRAL: Wichita, Tulsa, SMU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane
EAST: UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, ECU, UCF, USF

10 games against your division (5 home, 5 road), 4 games against each of the other divisions (2 home, 2 road). Stack the schedules so that you only have two 2-game out-of-division road trips each season. Also, stack the schedules for TV and competitiveness, for instance, Gonzaga should play Cincinnati and Wichita more often than ECU and Tulane.

If Nevada was in Vegas instead of Reno they would be the obvious TBD.

It will be one of the two Nevada schools, since there is no other school that would be in the footprint and make sense(and Utah State isn't getting in to fill the final slot unless BYU turns them down.)

(12-12-2018 01:14 PM)whittx Wrote:  

(12-12-2018 12:35 AM)Sactowndog Wrote:  

(12-11-2018 12:33 PM)YNot Wrote:  

(12-10-2018 08:01 PM)Ned Low Wrote:  

(12-10-2018 07:28 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Letting Boise go wasn't a mistake. Boise was negotiating as if they were Alabama and not the smurf turf. Letting the tail wag the dog would have been an unmitigated disaster and they were right not to break their backs to keep them.

With that said, if you fast forward to present I think offering full membership to Boise St, BYU, AFA, and SDSU would be a solid move. The AAC has a solid hold on the NY6 and grabbing the Cougars and the best of the MWC ensures that they are the defacto P6.

I agree with the idea of adding teams but I disagree with the teams:

BYU, SDSU, Boise State, Fresno State for all sports. Gonzaga for Olympic sports only.

BYU for all sports is pretty much impossible, at least for the 2020 season. BYU has too many future football games scheduled such that a move before 2023 or 2024 isn't happening because of all the contracts that BYU would have to buyout.

However, invite one other western school for all sports and Gonzaga and BYU for Olympics sports and it could work. Schedule 1-2 more BYU v. expanded AAC football games each season and it would look like a football affiliation. (BYU already has future games with Boise, SDSU, Houston, USF, and ECU). With the B1G and ACC likely wanting CCG deregulation, you wouldn't need two 8-team divisions. Perfect setup for a new TV deal with weekly coast-to-coast kickoffs from 12pm to 10pm ET plus a couple of Thursday or Friday night games.

For Olympic sports, you have 3 regional scheduling groups that would allow for mostly regional schedules and limit cross-country travel to a a reasonable level....while also a perfect set up for a new TV deal with coast-to-coast tipoffs.

WEST: SDSU, Fresno, Gonzaga, Boise, BYU, TBD
CENTRAL: Wichita, Tulsa, SMU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane
EAST: UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, ECU, UCF, USF

10 games against your division (5 home, 5 road), 4 games against each of the other divisions (2 home, 2 road). Stack the schedules so that you only have two 2-game out-of-division road trips each season. Also, stack the schedules for TV and competitiveness, for instance, Gonzaga should play Cincinnati and Wichita more often than ECU and Tulane.

If Nevada was in Vegas instead of Reno they would be the obvious TBD.

It will be one of the two Nevada schools, since there is no other school that would be in the footprint and make sense(and Utah State isn't getting in to fill the final slot unless BYU turns them down.)

Colorado St. and Air Force would also be asked to submit their power-point presentations.

The AAC is just fine without them. Espn gets nothing of value from the adds either. They have Boise in hand for 3 or 4 mil, Cusa and the Belt are virtually free, and MAC not much more. We are going to get paid just as we are.

(12-13-2018 05:14 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  The AAC is just fine without them. Espn gets nothing of value from the adds either. They have Boise in hand for 3 or 4 mil, Cusa and the Belt are virtually free, and MAC not much more. We are going to get paid just as we are.

This is an experiment that was tried. That is the point of the OP, after all. Boise needed a certain payout to make it worth their while, and the average payout with them included couldn't offer that. And they were the highest value Western school at the time. A continent spanning tweener conference didn't add enough media value, and since that time the brand equity of the American has been accumulating, so an even bigger bump is needed to justify disrupting it.

(12-13-2018 05:14 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  The AAC is just fine without them. Espn gets nothing of value from the adds either. They have Boise in hand for 3 or 4 mil, Cusa and the Belt are virtually free, and MAC not much more. We are going to get paid just as we are.

100% agree with you, goodnightfl... American is fine as is... Only one program IMHO worth any trouble for is BYU but even if BYU were to not join the AAC for whatever reason the American has enough exciting solid horses to remain competitive and not miss a beat.

(12-13-2018 08:04 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(12-13-2018 05:14 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  The AAC is just fine without them. Espn gets nothing of value from the adds either. They have Boise in hand for 3 or 4 mil, Cusa and the Belt are virtually free, and MAC not much more. We are going to get paid just as we are.

This is an experiment that was tried. That is the point of the OP, after all. Boise needed a certain payout to make it worth their while, and the average payout with them included couldn't offer that. And they were the highest value Western school at the time. A continent spanning tweener conference didn't add enough media value, and since that time the brand equity of the American has been accumulating, so an even bigger bump is needed to justify disrupting it.

To be fair--both sides blew it. Once the C7 left, Boise and SDSU should have been made full members. Two more western schools should have been offered full memberships. That was a flaw in the AAC western strategy that made the "football only" offers a bad deal.

On Boise's side---going behind the back of the AAC to negotiate a separate indy deal or a special deal with the MW undermined the AAC TV negotiations.

I think a 4 team addition of MW schools could create a very interesting highly valuable nationwide AAC conference---but I think there are now burned bridges and I suspect that ship has probably sailed.

no

(12-13-2018 09:00 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-13-2018 08:04 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(12-13-2018 05:14 PM)goodknightfl Wrote:  The AAC is just fine without them. Espn gets nothing of value from the adds either. They have Boise in hand for 3 or 4 mil, Cusa and the Belt are virtually free, and MAC not much more. We are going to get paid just as we are.

This is an experiment that was tried. That is the point of the OP, after all. Boise needed a certain payout to make it worth their while, and the average payout with them included couldn't offer that. And they were the highest value Western school at the time. A continent spanning tweener conference didn't add enough media value, and since that time the brand equity of the American has been accumulating, so an even bigger bump is needed to justify disrupting it.

To be fair--both sides blew it. Once the C7 left, Boise and SDSU should have been made full members. Two more western schools should have been offered full memberships. That was a flaw in the AAC western strategy that made the "football only" offers a bad deal.

But full memberships for Boise and SDSU would have cost the rest of the AAC quite a bit more in travel costs for their non-revenue teams.

Quote: On Boise's side---going behind the back of the AAC to negotiate a separate indy deal or a special deal with the MW undermined the AAC TV negotiations.

But given that Boise needed more than the AAC was likely to be able to offer as an average deal, and given the low likelihood that the AAC would offer Boise an unequal payout, that does not seem like "blowing it" on Boise State's part, that seems like the prudent course of action.