(10-12-2019 06:19 PM)Pony94 Wrote: (10-12-2019 06:16 PM)jedclampett Wrote: (10-12-2019 03:30 PM)HuskyU Wrote: (10-12-2019 03:26 PM)Shannon Panther Wrote: My guess is that you get a 2 year waiver. You are at 11 due to circumstances beyond your control. But the Big boys all had to expand or play a round robin. They aren't giving the AAC any permanent advantage. So eventually you will have to contract by 1 and go to a round robin or add 1 to get to 12. Buffalo would be a good geographic and athletic match. BYU is the home run pick, but I doubt you can convince them. Boise would be a kill shot to the Mountain West, but I doubt it makes financial sense for Boise.
But was it beyond their control? UCONN suggested keeping its football there. And you can't say the AAC doesn't do partial memberships...
That is a legit point. In requesting a waiver, Aresco is basically asking the NCAA to overlook (and give their full assent to) the way the AAC has thus far rejected UConn for next season.
The NCAA is being put in a tough position on this. If they grant a waiver to the AAC, they are essentially rubber-stamping and giving full assent to the ejection of UConn. Question: Do they really want to give the green light to all conferences to eject a school for opting out for certain sports? There could be legal complications if UConn should threaten a lawsuit.
If they don't grant the waiver, the AAC itself - and potentially ESPN - could seek legal redress, insofar as waivers have been granted to conferences in the past. Question: Is the AAC's case unique, because the only reason the conference would drop to 11 in FB is that the AAC forced the drop by booting out UConn FB?
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The most Solomonic decision that the NCAA could make would be to allow UConn FB to remain for at least another season or two, giving them time to make the transition to indy status, etc. Ideally, the AAC would add a 12th FB team within the next 2-3 years.
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UConn probably could have helped their situation by making a more gradual transition to the BE, which would have given the AAC more time to find a 12th school for each sport.
So if the AAC does get a hard time for dismissing UConn FB, a counter-argument could be that the difficult situation the parties are dealing with was caused by UConn, not by the AAC.
I'd say both parties made mistakes. UConn was wrong to pull out so quickly, putting the AAC in a bind. The AAC was wrong to boot UConn FB without giving them time to make a transition. Also, the AAC shot itself in the foot by booting UConn so quickly, without having a solid candidate to take UConn's place.
Wtf are you talking about?
This is just a speculative point I'm raising for discussion purposes.
I'm asking interested readers, especially if they have any expertise in contractual matters, whether they think that UConn would have a case if they protest the rejection of their FB program.
It's entirely possible that no one would be having lawyers in on the discussions, but it is an interesting question for people interested in contracts in college sports.
I briefly presented, above, a brief but balanced argument from the AAC side, the UConn side, and the NCAA side.
My guess is that NCAA will strive to be a "Solomon" in this matter in some way, or at least that they could. 100% victory for the AAC would be to get an indefinite waiver. 100% victory for UConn would be to remain in AAC FB until they can find another conference to play in, or at least for the 2020 season. 100% victory for the NCAA would be to help the AAC without setting a precedent that any conference can boot any program the way that UConn FB is on its way to being booted.
One last question: Does anyone know whether - as far as contractual matters go - the contracts between AAC and each AAC member include any provisos or stipulations that would pertain to this issue??
Clearly, there are provisos for withdrawal (early or more gradually) from the conferences. But maybe there aren't any provisos for a school withdrawing only their BB & olympic sports. However, if there are such points in the contract, then UConn might have no case at all or basis for petitioning the NCAA.
Hopefully, it's in the contract that the AAC could do what it did in booting UCcnn FB. That would be enough to settle everything.