(06-28-2019 02:10 PM)Banter Wrote: ODU is a sneaky pick. This forum goes on and on about how these potential schools don't generate any excitement, or tip the needle, but A decade ago UC did not tip the needle either.
AAC should expand, but only when/if they find the right school. ODU has about 20,000 students and is in a great area for football and basketball talent. Their stadium may be small, but they pack it. A stadium packed full of 20,000 fans is much better than the empty seats in the 32,000 Gerald Ford Stadium.
We need to find a school that is committed to spending money to try and compete. It's possible that would be ODU, or maybe it is Georgia St or Buffalo. The AAC making an investment at a school with good leadership will go a long way.
In 2006 I could sprawl between multiple rows of seats in the student section, by the time I was a senior I had to buy season tickets. A school who is committed to spending money will eventually "move the needle."
UC is 2006 was a household name because of basketball. They'd been a top 10 basketball program for a decade and a half. They were a national brand even if their football wasn't what it needed to be.
That's not what the FB-centric posters here think!
(But I'm with you).
And that is why I likened them to USF instead of UC in my previous post, completely different animals there.
The Commish is making the rounds. Here is an interview with CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd. Note the section I have highlighted below:
Quote:CBS Sports: What are the emotions right now?
Aresco: "The emotion is determination and matter of factness. We're just moving on. We're a strong conference now. This is nothing like seven years ago [when the league formed]. In terms of strength and membership, we could stay at 11 and be very strong. We're a strong basketball league, very strong. Memphis has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. Houston, with Kelvin [Sampson] now. Wichita State, Cincinnati and the Florida schools. Football, we're very powerful. We could strengthen ourselves. We could stay at 11. We're not sure what we're going to do."
CBS Sports: Is there an indicator which way the new contract might go now that UConn has left? (The AAC signed a TV deal worth $1 billion over 12 years with ESPN beginning in 2020.)
Aresco: "We'll definitely talk to [ESPN] about some adjustments in terms of scheduling. Our football down the road could be better. We've gained value since the deal was done. Look at what USF has done. They now have Alabama, Florida and Miami coming to their stadium [in the future]."
CBS Sports: Do you have a feeling on whether you stay at 11 teams or expand and go to 12?
Aresco: "It's not something we have to do. Unless you can get somebody who enhances our brand and our strength, it's not worth doing. Geography is a factor but not the biggest factor. We didn't take Wichita State [in basketball] because they happen to be close to our schools. We took them because they're a tremendous basketball team. I think we'll have a serious discussion. If we can't find anyone that makes sense, we would stay at 11."
CBS Sports: If you go to 12, how many schools are out there that can bring $6 million-$7 million valuation to the table to become a 12th AAC member? (That's what AAC teams were set to earn in the new ESPN TV contract.)
Aresco: "Probably very few."
CBS Sports: If you keep your championship game with 11 schools, you'd most likely have to get a waiver from the NCAA. How do you approach that?
Aresco: "There are three arguments about getting either a waiver or legislation: One, a conference should be able to determine its champion any way it wants. Two, why would you encourage us to go back to 12 and essentially raid another conference? Third, why would you force us to contract to 10 [to play a round-robin conference schedule]?
"Give us the waiver or pass legislation. We've been talking to the Big Ten. They did it [played with 11 members] for 20 years. … We could play a championship game with our top two teams like the Big 12 … I think we could get that -- have more games between UCF and Memphis and UCF and Houston."
CBS Sports: How surprised were you last week when the news broke?
Aresco: "At that point, I talked to UConn. They were noncommittal about what they were doing. I sort of suspected what was going on by then. Did it come as a huge surprise? No. It's not something I necessarily expected, but it's been percolating for some time."
CBS Sports: Is this situation unique to UConn or a symptom of Group of Five struggles keeping up with the Power Five?
Aresco: "I don't know. UConn occupied a unique place, the one school that didn't get into the P5. It's been tough for them. I'm not losing any sleep about how we dealt with UConn over the years. … We did everything we could knowing they were unhappy about things. Look, I don't know what their attitude is toward football, but it's pretty evident. They just have new priorities now."
CBS Sports: Where do you think UConn football ends up now?
Aresco: "I can't say. The one thing I can tell you, they won't be playing in our conference [after 2019]."
CBS Sports: Have any particulars been discussed on UConn's buyout? (League bylaws state any departing member has to give 27-month notice and pay $10 million.)
Aresco: "We'll strictly abide by the bylaws. They are going to have to approach us on that. If they want to leave earlier, something has be negotiated on that."
CBS Sports: It was only five years ago UConn won the national championship in the league's first season.
Aresco: "It's a tribute to what these schools have done the last six years. It's ironic. The first year of the conference, they won the national championship. For whatever reason, as our basketball got better, unfortunately, they struggled."
^^^^
Forgive my insecurities but it just bothers me that we still aren't at the top of the heap for football in our conference. I realize Aresco is making general comments in the interest of the league, and UCF has certainly earned it, but count my hand as raised that with the momentum we had going into the American I just thought we'd be a consistent football power. This is still fallout from the Granpappy Mummified Coach we had recently. He did tremendous damage to our program folks. Enter Coach Fick Year 3. I know we're getting there, and I hate to keep harping on it, but this year we really need to assert ourselves in conference play and take the conference chip. It would do wonders for our ascent and getting mentioned as a football power again in the same vein as UCF and Boise St.
(06-28-2019 04:57 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote: ^^^^
Forgive my insecurities but it just bothers me that we still aren't at the top of the heap for football in our conference. I realize Aresco is making general comments in the interest of the league, and UCF has certainly earned it, but count my hand as raised that with the momentum we had going into the American I just thought we'd be a consistent football power. This is still fallout from the Granpappy Mummified Coach we had recently. He did tremendous damage to our program folks. Enter Coach Fick Year 3. I know we're getting there, and I hate to keep harping on it, but this year we really need to assert ourselves in conference play and take the conference chip. It would do wonders for our ascent and getting mentioned as a football power again in the same vein as UCF and Boise St.
I think what he is saying is UCF being in east limits thier ability to play the top west teams every season. No divisions allows them to schedule those games which do really good tv ratings. Honestly we haven’t had enough games with Houston or Memphis actually matter, maybe this year changes that.
If the AAC adds a school, it needs to be a school that won't destroy your conference reputation if they pull off an upset or end up winning the league. Imagine how disastrous it would be if we invited ODU or Georgia State and they ended up winning the conference championship in their first three years. It would cannibalize the league because of the perception of the school. When UConn won the conference in football with a record barely above .500, it hurt the perception.
(06-28-2019 04:57 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote: ^^^^
Forgive my insecurities but it just bothers me that we still aren't at the top of the heap for football in our conference. I realize Aresco is making general comments in the interest of the league, and UCF has certainly earned it, but count my hand as raised that with the momentum we had going into the American I just thought we'd be a consistent football power. This is still fallout from the Granpappy Mummified Coach we had recently. He did tremendous damage to our program folks. Enter Coach Fick Year 3. I know we're getting there, and I hate to keep harping on it, but this year we really need to assert ourselves in conference play and take the conference chip. It would do wonders for our ascent and getting mentioned as a football power again in the same vein as UCF and Boise St.
There are a lot of good teams. Even if we beat Temple last year (should have won) we were not beating UCF. If their QB doesn't get hurt they would have beaten LSU. We will be better prepared for them this season IMHO.
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)Aresco Wrote: "I don't know. UConn occupied a unique place, the one school that didn't get into the P5. It's been tough for them. I'm not losing any sleep about how we dealt with UConn over the years. … We did everything we could knowing they were unhappy about things. Look, I don't know what their attitude is toward football, but it's pretty evident. They just have new priorities now."
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)Aresco Wrote: "I don't know. UConn occupied a unique place, the one school that didn't get into the P5. It's been tough for them. I'm not losing any sleep about how we dealt with UConn over the years. … We did everything we could knowing they were unhappy about things. Look, I don't know what their attitude is toward football, but it's pretty evident. They just have new priorities now."
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)Aresco Wrote: "I don't know. UConn occupied a unique place, the one school that didn't get into the P5. It's been tough for them. I'm not losing any sleep about how we dealt with UConn over the years. … We did everything we could knowing they were unhappy about things. Look, I don't know what their attitude is toward football, but it's pretty evident. They just have new priorities now."
wtf
Was he drunk?
Believe he means out of original Big East Teams(not ones which came in from Conference USA like us and South Florida) Syracuse, Boston College, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Rutgers all made it into P5.
(This post was last modified: 06-28-2019 08:24 PM by cincybb51.)
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)Aresco Wrote: "I don't know. UConn occupied a unique place, the one school that didn't get into the P5. It's been tough for them. I'm not losing any sleep about how we dealt with UConn over the years. … We did everything we could knowing they were unhappy about things. Look, I don't know what their attitude is toward football, but it's pretty evident. They just have new priorities now."
wtf
Was he drunk?
Believe he means original Big East Teams(not ones which came in from Conference USA like us and South Florida) Syracuse, Boston College, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Rutgers all made it into P5.
That is how I read it. UC has spent way more time hanging out in multiple conferences with Memphis, Tulsa, Tulane, Houston, USF, Wichita State, and ECU. Louisville to the ACC pretty much doomed UConn and dealt a hard blow to UC’s power conference chances.
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)Aresco Wrote: "I don't know. UConn occupied a unique place, the one school that didn't get into the P5. It's been tough for them. I'm not losing any sleep about how we dealt with UConn over the years. … We did everything we could knowing they were unhappy about things. Look, I don't know what their attitude is toward football, but it's pretty evident. They just have new priorities now."
wtf
Was he drunk?
Believe he means original Big East Teams(not ones which came in from Conference USA like us and South Florida) Syracuse, Boston College, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Rutgers all made it into P5.
That is how I read it. UC has spent way more time hanging out in multiple conferences with Memphis, Tulsa, Tulane, Houston, USF, Wichita State, and ECU. Louisville to the ACC pretty much doomed UConn and dealt a hard blow to UC’s power conference chances.
Even UConn fans felt a sort of kinship with UC fans as the ones that were left out. Nobody seemed to notice USF
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)crex043 Wrote: If the AAC adds a school, it needs to be a school that won't destroy your conference reputation if they pull off an upset or end up winning the league. Imagine how disastrous it would be if we invited ODU or Georgia State and they ended up winning the conference championship in their first three years. It would cannibalize the league because of the perception of the school. When UConn won the conference in football with a record barely above .500, it hurt the perception.
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)crex043 Wrote: If the AAC adds a school, it needs to be a school that won't destroy your conference reputation if they pull off an upset or end up winning the league. Imagine how disastrous it would be if we invited ODU or Georgia State and they ended up winning the conference championship in their first three years. It would cannibalize the league because of the perception of the school. When UConn won the conference in football with a record barely above .500, it hurt the perception.
(06-28-2019 05:11 PM)crex043 Wrote: If the AAC adds a school, it needs to be a school that won't destroy your conference reputation if they pull off an upset or end up winning the league. Imagine how disastrous it would be if we invited ODU or Georgia State and they ended up winning the conference championship in their first three years. It would cannibalize the league because of the perception of the school. When UConn won the conference in football with a record barely above .500, it hurt the perception.
So... BYU... And who else?
No one else in the G5.
BYU
+
There are are several MWC teams I'd be good with.
Keep 8 game conference schedule
8 games will not work in 2 divisions of 5/6
UConn FB only - NO WAY
Without a 12th teams must get approval to play Champ game
Will consider FB only
Interested parties may apply at mAresco/aac.com
An argument could be made here for uncoupling MBB and FB and letting the revenue sports associate based on the strength of each individual revenue sport.
This would provide for better rivalries since conferences would be formed "ala carte".
example: Duke MBB--ACC
Duke FB--AAC
UK MBB--SEC
UK FB--Sun Belt
It would honestly give UC a better chance of getting MBB into a power conference.
(This post was last modified: 06-29-2019 09:25 AM by converrl.)