(01-30-2015 04:42 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote: (01-29-2015 08:59 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: (01-29-2015 02:19 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote: I don't think 225 students from the whole of New York State makes you "well known in Buffalo". I lived there 25 years and met exactly *1* OU alumni (who was a contractor working out of Erie PA).
90% of people in Buffalo think "Buckeyes" if you said Ohio U. The 5% who know better are UB fans
I remember when Buffalo first joined the MAC and a UB grad I knew said that he was elated about the move up to big time football and that they are playing schools like Miami and OU now.
When presidents at the G5 level are thinking about what conference they belong in they think first about geography and institutional fit. This crap about my TV deal being bigger than yours because it pays 1.1 million vs. 850,000 I don't think is a prime consideration.
Ohio has a new president who wants athletics to be the very best it can be. That is a stark difference from decades past. Attendance was toward the bottom of the MAC in the 80's and the school had 14,000 students main campus. Now the main campus has 23,000 students by itself and leading MAC in FB/BB attendance.
When UB was thrilled to join the MAC we were moving up from the FCS (well DIAA in those days) and we said what every school coming up from the FCS says.
I also agree with you 100% on the importance of geography and fit over TV markets, especially over *local* tv markets.
I see UB making the moves now that Ohio made 10 years ago and I believe our days of being in the MAC's basement in anything are nearly at an end.
The fact we are the largest, best funded, most comprehensive university among one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the nation will help us even further.
These are the traits I'm seeing among schools in the AAC.
1) Tradition: Every school has played at the top level for 15 years. Every school has played in a Coalition/Alliance/BCS/CFP bowl.
2) Academics: There are 4 private schools in the football conference. Each public school is either large enrollment, large endowment, large research schools. Publics in the AAC have all those characteristics or some combination of them. There are no mid sized regional publics with 12,000 students and a 50 million dollar endowment in that conference.
3) Football Budget: The minimum football budget is around 10,000,000 in the AAC with the average being right around 13,000,000. The only MAC/CUSA/SBC school that is above 8,000,000 is Rice at 10,000,000.
The AAC isn't on a different level than the MAC/CUSA/SBC but they have intangibles in their favor over those conferences.
Rice has the best resume but the problem with Rice is Houston is in the AAC and Houston is unlikely to get a bid to the B12. They just picked up a 30 million dollar donation for an endzone building so the school has potential for deep pockets.
Ohio has decent tradition, academics on par with AAC schools and one of the highest football budgets outside of Rice. However for Ohio to get over the 10 million football budget line it will take a 2 million dollar coach and I don't see Ohio going that high. Maybe 1 million after Solich retires but not 2-3 million like Cincinnati did with Tuberville. Donations have improved to the G5 norm but the deep pockets for athletics aren't there like you find at many AAC schools. Large donations for athletics are more in the 2-3 million range, with a handful of donors stepping up to that level.
Buffalo is solid academically but must do more athletically. Only 2 bowls and 0 zero NCAA appearances to Ohio's 8 bowls and 13 NCAAs. Buffalo getting the FB club seating area is what Ohio put in the early 90's to interest folks with deep pockets. It may be easier for UB to pull a Memphis and get the donors in basketball while funding football the best they can in the interim.
The problem with joining CUSA at this point for an Ohio or a Buffalo is not only is it a lateral move but with a conference that is 20 years old you don't have the sense of being part of something new. If Ohio & Buffalo joined the AAC within the next few years the AAC is still in a formative period and you get that sense of being a charter member to something new and exciting.That is why I would be very surprised to see a MAC school move to CUSA at this point.
A long term AAC with UMass, Buffalo, Temple, Ohio, Old Dominion, Charlotte, ECU, USF, UCF, FIU would make sense from an institutional perspective for those schools to latch onto. Large enrollment publics on or close to the East Coast. No Marshall's, Georgia Southern's or Akron's in that conference.