(04-27-2022 09:04 AM)CoastalJuan Wrote: With few exceptions, there seems to be a direct relationship between budgets/revenue and football success. I don't expect that formula to be turned on its head over the next 10 years.
Exactly.
What a bunch of naysayers, worry warts, and nervous nellies!
I never expected to find myself paraphrasing the disgraced former VP, Spiro Agnew, but these words of his seem to capture this episode of collective panic almost perfectly:
“In the (American) today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H Club — the ‘hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.'”
Actual quotation: “In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H Club — the ‘hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.'”
(04-25-2022 07:18 PM)SMUstang Wrote: When you compare the newbies to the teams leaving........
UCF - (FAU - 2 recent C-USA titles)
Cincy - (UAB - High academics, large student body, new stadium)
UH - (UTSA - Games against UH, Army, and UT in 2022, plus 12 wins in 2021)
It shouldn't take too long to replace the teams leaving........
the only one of the newbies with any hoops cred is UAB...that's an issue.
Huh ? To quote an article from today regarding UNT hoops.
"UNT has won three straight Conference USA championships, a 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship, a NCAA Tournament game and a NIT game."
The coach Grant McCasland turned down higher paying offers recently to stay at UNT. He is a stud. As long as McCasland stays, UNT will be highly competitive. Final .NET ranking the last 2 years was 55. Thats not bad and would put them in the upper echelon (not top) of the current AAC the last 2 years. They were as high as 39 this year.
You should nix the CBI championship from the resume. It is not an achievement, but an admission of irrelevancy.
The NIT is the Not Invited Tournament. The Tigers won the NIT two years ago and I am happy with the result, but most Tiger fans would have gladly traded places with WSU.
The CBI and the NIT maybe laudable in CUSA, but not in the AAC. SMH.
No need to be a killjoy. Their CBI championship is something to put on their resume and be proud of, just like USF's 2019 CBI championship.
Besides, it may appear too trivial to mention to some high and mighty Memphis fans, fresh off a NIT championship and a solid performance in the NCAA tourney, but it is a very positive thing for an up and coming program to win the CBI tourney.
No offense, but your post is a good example of how little the CUSA schools bring to the AAC. Do you really think Cincy Houston, and UCF are content with and brag about NIT and CBI appearances? SMH.
(This post was last modified: 04-27-2022 11:32 AM by Tiger1983.)
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
(This post was last modified: 04-27-2022 10:29 AM by KnightLight.)
(04-25-2022 07:18 PM)SMUstang Wrote: When you compare the newbies to the teams leaving........
UCF - (FAU - 2 recent C-USA titles)
Cincy - (UAB - High academics, large student body, new stadium)
UH - (UTSA - Games against UH, Army, and UT in 2022, plus 12 wins in 2021)
It shouldn't take too long to replace the teams leaving........
the only one of the newbies with any hoops cred is UAB...that's an issue.
Huh ? To quote an article from today regarding UNT hoops.
"UNT has won three straight Conference USA championships, a 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship, a NCAA Tournament game and a NIT game."
The coach Grant McCasland turned down higher paying offers recently to stay at UNT. He is a stud. As long as McCasland stays, UNT will be highly competitive. Final .NET ranking the last 2 years was 55. Thats not bad and would put them in the upper echelon (not top) of the current AAC the last 2 years. They were as high as 39 this year.
You should nix the CBI championship from the resume. It is not an achievement, but an admission of irrelevancy.
The NIT is the Not Invited Tournament. The Tigers won the NIT two years ago and I am happy with the result, but most Tiger fans would have gladly traded places with WSU.
The CBI and the NIT maybe laudable in CUSA, but not in the AAC. SMH.
No need to be a killjoy. Their CBI championship is something to put on their resume and be proud of, just like USF's 2019 CBI championship.
Besides, it may appear too trivial to mention to some high and mighty Memphis fans, fresh off a NIT championship and a solid performance in the NCAA tourney, but it is a very positive thing for an up and coming program to win the CBI tourney.
I honestly wish they'd do something similar with football to replace the meaningless bowls. I'm not advocating for an arbitrary split between conferences invited to the primary playoff vs. not (which lots of P5 fans want, especially now that the AAC made the playoff). I'm talking about a secondary playoff for teams below the cut line. So if 1-12 make the CFP, 13-25ish (or whatever) play in a secondary tournament. If it's too many games, then break it up into smaller groups.
Main thing is that it would be based on results. So while Cincy-Bama-UGA-Michigan did the CFP last year, Baylor-Ohio State-Oklahoma State-Notre Dame could also play each other for a trophy. Seems like teams/players would be less likely to back out if the matchups were meaningful. Just my $.02
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
12K to 18K fans in attendance during two 11-3 seasons. The exception was the FIU game in 2017 which still didn't sell out.
You certainly can't blame it on television given the bizarre TV deal that CUSA had. That's just pathetic.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
12K to 18K fans in attendance during two 11-3 seasons. The exception was the FIU game in 2017 which still didn't sell out.
You certainly can't blame it on television given the bizarre TV deal that CUSA had. That's just pathetic.
Thats why I ignore those that think FAU will "fly past by usf"...all because FAU has an on-campus stadium and usf does not.
Just because one BUILDS an even small stadium like FAU...fans still may not come if there isn't a diehard culture built up amongst the students, alumni, town, etc...
In Lane Kiffin's 3rd and final year at FAU (had a 11-3 record), FAU sold just 4,852 season tickets....which was still an improvement to what they had prior to his arrival.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
Which is why I would have just added UAB and Rice and stopped at 10. The MWC wasn't going to add Texas schools. It would have meant thinning their already small pie slices from their media deal. No need to add FAU's and Charlotte's of the world. They are like adding and Elvis lamp to your Vermont Woods Studio collection. Be a strong 10 team conference like the former Big 12. Add only the best if you get raided.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
Which is why I would have just added UAB and Rice and stopped at 10. The MWC wasn't going to add Texas schools. It would have meant thinning their already small pie slices from their media deal. No need to add FAU's and Charlotte's of the world. They are like adding and Elvis lamp to your Vermont Woods Studio collection. Be a strong 10 team conference like the former Big 12. Add only the best if you get raided.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
Which is why I would have just added UAB and Rice and stopped at 10. The MWC wasn't going to add Texas schools. It would have meant thinning their already small pie slices from their media deal. No need to add FAU's and Charlotte's of the world. They are like adding and Elvis lamp to your Vermont Woods Studio collection. Be a strong 10 team conference like the former Big 12. Add only the best if you get raided.
Agree, but I opt for UAB and Appy St.
AAC wasn't getting a SBC East school. CUSA was always the target. Using the presumed metric the AAC used to select schools, I believe ODU would've been a better add long term than some of the others. Fertile recruiting ground, decent market, solid fanbase and a bigger budget. Yet they ended up in the SBC. Maybe the goal was to pair them with JMU. ESPN is playing chess.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
Which is why I would have just added UAB and Rice and stopped at 10. The MWC wasn't going to add Texas schools. It would have meant thinning their already small pie slices from their media deal. No need to add FAU's and Charlotte's of the world. They are like adding and Elvis lamp to your Vermont Woods Studio collection. Be a strong 10 team conference like the former Big 12. Add only the best if you get raided.
Agree, but I opt for UAB and Appy St.
Agree with you two and I’m good with UAB and Marshall but Appy St would work. Keep it at 10.
No to Charlotte, FAU and the 3 Texas schools. They don’t have enough fans.
(04-26-2022 03:16 PM)b2b Wrote: Get us out of here. ESPN needs to pump up that Sunbelt TV deal.
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ECU would fit better in the Sun Belt than in the AAC right now. Football will be negligible, baseball will be negligible (both are ECU's strong suits), small market, big fan base. It's a bit like Louisiana - Lafayette in a way except ECU's fan support is quite a bit stronger.
If not for Jeff Compher ECU may have been in the conversation for Big 12 expansion right now.
Now they are left in C-USA 10.0 while the Sun Belt has risen to follow something of a mini-SEC model where football was the primary focus and now that investment is paying it's dividends.
The Sun Belt would give ECU more rivalry game potential than they have in the AAC as well. Bring USF and ECU and the Sun Belt has P6 potential. Budget's and TV money would be increasing quite dramatically as the conference has been in an arms race since Georgia Southern came in and swept the board.
If the dividends were literal dividends and not figurative dividends, we'd be on board. We'd be trading down for 1/10th the loot? No idea how much the SBC deal is. Even if the money were close, the AAC would have to start losing the tiebreakers for the NY6 bids.
Here's the thing... By the time the current AAC deal is up and gets renegotiated I can absolutely envision the SBC making more from TV. By then we will have collected the exit fees were due. I hope it works out this way bc I have zero interest in being in a league with any of these Schools except maybe Memphis and Navy. Hopefully a miracle occurs and we end up in whatever the Big 12 becomes
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With few exceptions, there seems to be a direct relationship between budgets/revenue and football success. I don't expect that formula to be turned on its head over the next 10 years.
Oh I'm sure that's the case, especially at the P-level.
But we're in a G-world, and I'm not so sure about that.
I think your school and mine are cases in point: I bet both USF and ECU spent more money on football the past eight years than we ever have in our history - and what do we have to show for it? Mostly bad years.
(04-26-2022 04:32 PM)ericsaid Wrote: ECU would fit better in the Sun Belt than in the AAC right now. Football will be negligible, baseball will be negligible (both are ECU's strong suits), small market, big fan base. It's a bit like Louisiana - Lafayette in a way except ECU's fan support is quite a bit stronger.
If not for Jeff Compher ECU may have been in the conversation for Big 12 expansion right now.
Now they are left in C-USA 10.0 while the Sun Belt has risen to follow something of a mini-SEC model where football was the primary focus and now that investment is paying it's dividends.
The Sun Belt would give ECU more rivalry game potential than they have in the AAC as well. Bring USF and ECU and the Sun Belt has P6 potential. Budget's and TV money would be increasing quite dramatically as the conference has been in an arms race since Georgia Southern came in and swept the board.
If the dividends were literal dividends and not figurative dividends, we'd be on board. We'd be trading down for 1/10th the loot? No idea how much the SBC deal is. Even if the money were close, the AAC would have to start losing the tiebreakers for the NY6 bids.
Here's the thing... By the time the current AAC deal is up and gets renegotiated I can absolutely envision the SBC making more from TV. By then we will have collected the exit fees were due. I hope it works out this way bc I have zero interest in being in a league with any of these Schools except maybe Memphis and Navy. Hopefully a miracle occurs and we end up in whatever the Big 12 becomes
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
With few exceptions, there seems to be a direct relationship between budgets/revenue and football success. I don't expect that formula to be turned on its head over the next 10 years.
Oh I'm sure that's the case, especially at the P-level.
But we're in a G-world, and I'm not so sure about that.
I think your school and mine are cases in point: I bet both USF and ECU spent more money on football the past eight years than we ever have in our history - and what do we have to show for it? Mostly bad years.
Not like the other schools in the AAC have been standing still in their football spending.
USF last 8 years, 4 winning bowl seasons, 4 losing seasons. So no not mostly bad years, 47-49 record
(This post was last modified: 04-27-2022 07:46 PM by Cubanbull1.)
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
Which is why I would have just added UAB and Rice and stopped at 10. The MWC wasn't going to add Texas schools. It would have meant thinning their already small pie slices from their media deal. No need to add FAU's and Charlotte's of the world. They are like adding and Elvis lamp to your Vermont Woods Studio collection. Be a strong 10 team conference like the former Big 12. Add only the best if you get raided.
(04-25-2022 07:18 PM)SMUstang Wrote: When you compare the newbies to the teams leaving........
UCF - (FAU - 2 recent C-USA titles)
Cincy - (UAB - High academics, large student body, new stadium)
UH - (UTSA - Games against UH, Army, and UT in 2022, plus 12 wins in 2021)
It shouldn't take too long to replace the teams leaving........
the only one of the newbies with any hoops cred is UAB...that's an issue.
Huh ? To quote an article from today regarding UNT hoops.
"UNT has won three straight Conference USA championships, a 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship, a NCAA Tournament game and a NIT game."
The coach Grant McCasland turned down higher paying offers recently to stay at UNT. He is a stud. As long as McCasland stays, UNT will be highly competitive. Final .NET ranking the last 2 years was 55. Thats not bad and would put them in the upper echelon (not top) of the current AAC the last 2 years. They were as high as 39 this year.
You should nix the CBI championship from the resume. It is not an achievement, but an admission of irrelevancy.
The NIT is the Not Invited Tournament. The Tigers won the NIT two years ago and I am happy with the result, but most Tiger fans would have gladly traded places with WSU.
The CBI and the NIT maybe laudable in CUSA, but not in the AAC. SMH.
I am not saying that UNT is going to come into the AAC and dominate. But, they MAY have the highest ceiling of all CUSA teams. Their athletic department is strong across the board. Here is a good article comparing all current CUSA schools. I don't think a lot of people have been following what has been going on in Denton.
(04-26-2022 04:50 PM)CoastalJuan Wrote: If the dividends were literal dividends and not figurative dividends, we'd be on board. We'd be trading down for 1/10th the loot? No idea how much the SBC deal is. Even if the money were close, the AAC would have to start losing the tiebreakers for the NY6 bids.
Here's the thing... By the time the current AAC deal is up and gets renegotiated I can absolutely envision the SBC making more from TV. By then we will have collected the exit fees were due. I hope it works out this way bc I have zero interest in being in a league with any of these Schools except maybe Memphis and Navy. Hopefully a miracle occurs and we end up in whatever the Big 12 becomes
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With few exceptions, there seems to be a direct relationship between budgets/revenue and football success. I don't expect that formula to be turned on its head over the next 10 years.
Oh I'm sure that's the case, especially at the P-level.
But we're in a G-world, and I'm not so sure about that.
I think your school and mine are cases in point: I bet both USF and ECU spent more money on football the past eight years than we ever have in our history - and what do we have to show for it? Mostly bad years.
Not like the other schools in the AAC have been standing still in their football spending.
USF last 8 years, 4 winning bowl seasons, 4 losing seasons. So no not mostly bad years, 47-49 record
Right, but the trend over those 8 years is bad. The first 4.5 years, we were 40-17. The last 3.5 years, we are 7-32.
That's a steep tumble while spending has kept going up.
(04-26-2022 06:30 PM)b2b Wrote: Here's the thing... By the time the current AAC deal is up and gets renegotiated I can absolutely envision the SBC making more from TV. By then we will have collected the exit fees were due. I hope it works out this way bc I have zero interest in being in a league with any of these Schools except maybe Memphis and Navy. Hopefully a miracle occurs and we end up in whatever the Big 12 becomes
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
With few exceptions, there seems to be a direct relationship between budgets/revenue and football success. I don't expect that formula to be turned on its head over the next 10 years.
Oh I'm sure that's the case, especially at the P-level.
But we're in a G-world, and I'm not so sure about that.
I think your school and mine are cases in point: I bet both USF and ECU spent more money on football the past eight years than we ever have in our history - and what do we have to show for it? Mostly bad years.
Not like the other schools in the AAC have been standing still in their football spending.
USF last 8 years, 4 winning bowl seasons, 4 losing seasons. So no not mostly bad years, 47-49 record
Right, but the trend over those 8 years is bad. The first 4.5 years, we were 40-17. The last 3.5 years, we are 7-32.
That's a steep tumble while spending has kept going up.
I wouldn’t say that, USF hasn’t really spent on football facilities much in past 8 years, other than practice fields. And yes what happened in those last 3.5 years to cause that big drop? One name for you, Charlie Strong, he decided to change our style to a more power run style which we didn’t have recruits to run and then proceeded to not being able to recruit to run that system.
We are paying for a bad hire and not spending to improve facilities.
Look at what we did in those 8 years football wise?
We redid outside practice fields.
In past year.
Redid football locker rooms
Building IPF
Working on OCS.
USF has spent more in past year on football facilities than in those previous 8 years
(04-26-2022 04:32 PM)ericsaid Wrote: ECU would fit better in the Sun Belt than in the AAC right now. Football will be negligible, baseball will be negligible (both are ECU's strong suits), small market, big fan base. It's a bit like Louisiana - Lafayette in a way except ECU's fan support is quite a bit stronger.
If not for Jeff Compher ECU may have been in the conversation for Big 12 expansion right now.
Now they are left in C-USA 10.0 while the Sun Belt has risen to follow something of a mini-SEC model where football was the primary focus and now that investment is paying it's dividends.
The Sun Belt would give ECU more rivalry game potential than they have in the AAC as well. Bring USF and ECU and the Sun Belt has P6 potential. Budget's and TV money would be increasing quite dramatically as the conference has been in an arms race since Georgia Southern came in and swept the board.
If the dividends were literal dividends and not figurative dividends, we'd be on board. We'd be trading down for 1/10th the loot? No idea how much the SBC deal is. Even if the money were close, the AAC would have to start losing the tiebreakers for the NY6 bids.
Here's the thing... By the time the current AAC deal is up and gets renegotiated I can absolutely envision the SBC making more from TV. By then we will have collected the exit fees were due. I hope it works out this way bc I have zero interest in being in a league with any of these Schools except maybe Memphis and Navy. Hopefully a miracle occurs and we end up in whatever the Big 12 becomes
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
With few exceptions, there seems to be a direct relationship between budgets/revenue and football success. I don't expect that formula to be turned on its head over the next 10 years.
Oh I'm sure that's the case, especially at the P-level.
But we're in a G-world, and I'm not so sure about that.
I think your school and mine are cases in point: I bet both USF and ECU spent more money on football the past eight years than we ever have in our history - and what do we have to show for it? Mostly bad years.
You can check the financials. Yes, we've both spent more than we ever have, but the AAC football results(with very little exception) have fallen almost directly down the budget line.
I'd post the list, but it's behind a paywall now. Last I looked, UCF/Cindy/Houston were spending ~10m more than the rest of us per year.
(04-25-2022 09:37 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote: Does anyone at FAU even give a ****?
That's their biggest challenge...as while FAU has put good football teams on the field in most recent years...almost no one down there cares...from students to alumni to all those retirees in Boca Raton at Del Boca Vista.
FAU couldn't fill half of their small 30,000 seat stadium for Conf Championship Games and their season tix base is so small (hence why visiting UCF Fans can easily buy up half of the home side club seats in the shade because FAU can't sell them as season tickets).
Maybe the move UP to AAC will get a few more people involved...and now they will have a new in-state conf rival, usf...as almost no one down there cares for the FAU vs FIU so-called rivalry.
Exactly right. And much the same can be said for UNC-C, Rice, and UNT. Does anyone care? And the knock on effect is that these schools generate zero interest in our fans.
Which is why I would have just added UAB and Rice and stopped at 10. The MWC wasn't going to add Texas schools. It would have meant thinning their already small pie slices from their media deal. No need to add FAU's and Charlotte's of the world. They are like adding and Elvis lamp to your Vermont Woods Studio collection. Be a strong 10 team conference like the former Big 12. Add only the best if you get raided.
I think we can safely assume that adding a big Texas market would have increased the per school payout of the next MWC deal. They do have California schools (for what that's worth, I think NBA basketball is still a thing out West), but there are also a lot of very sparse states in the footprint. Texas and Florida are both densely populated and those populations actually watch a lot of football.
worry warts, 
and nervous nellies!
