(11-08-2020 10:24 PM)ken d Wrote: This thread has now been going for about two months. If I understand the premise here, schools in some non-P5 conferences aren't satisfied with the situation that they find themselves in, namely that they aren't automatically included in the Big Boy Club. If the idea is that they shouldn't be excluded because everybody deserves a shot at the perks that go along with that membership (like automatic access to NY6 bowls and lucrative media contracts), then isn't a bit hypocritical to try to create a new conference that would exclude 60% of the schools that are currently in the same boat?
The argument that "we deserve to be included, but these other (lesser) schools don't" is pretty much the same argument that the P5 conferences are making about the so-called "best of the rest".
That is one - but only one - way to look at the situation.
Another way to see it is that the G5 conferences are all trying to move up in every respect, from viewership to attendance to revenue to media exposure. From that standpoint, the AAC is just the first in line.
It's already clear that the MWC is close behind the AAC in their media revenue package, and that the 3 other G5 conferences are generating more revenue as well, through their own network deals.
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Rather than viewing it as an attempt by the AAC to join the exclusive power club, it can be seen as a move forward by all of the G5s.
For example, there has been a steady increase in the number of non-P5 top 25 FB programs over the past five seasons.
Five years ago, there were only about three non-P5 top 25 teams by season's end, but that doubled by 2018 (6 teams), and increased to 7 teams in 2019. Currently, there are 7 non-P5 AP top 25 teams (only two of which are AAC teams), and there are a few other non-P5 teams that are in the top 35 and could move up.
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When you look at the situation from "30,000 feet," it appears that the whole G5 is getting more attention, viewership, etc.
It also appears that the networks realize, increasingly, that in the long run, they will be able to get more bang (net profit) for their buck (games that they broadcast) by promoting the G5/indies than by promoting the P5
(since they have to pay the P5s 5 times as much).