(12-12-2019 05:42 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  Significant competitive accomplishment. Seeing Texas state shaken some sticks and USA adding a shiny new venue and additional investments and improvements around the conference we're in good shape. All points to a solid group taking the challenge seriously and seeing return on investment.

Our problem, as a conference, is that most everyone HAS to schedule money games for P5's. Some teams have to schedule 2. The AAC and MWC don't have to do this currently which makes their OOC play look more respectable. The AAC will boast about having an above .500 record when beating P5's but it doesn't take a deep 5 to look at who they are playing.

We finally get some mid-tier P5 games and Georgia State pulls out the win, Coastal pulls out the win, and App gets two. GS almost had one against a Top 20 Minnesota squad that historically would've been considered average.

The AAC gets their money games against Notre Dame and Ohio State, much like almost every school in the Belt has, and they get their teeth kicked in. But they also have sub-.500 teams to play to balance those out to where people ignore them; and not only do people ignore them, but Navy gets back in the Top 25, only 9 spots below the team that had them down 35-3 at halftime.

If you're a Sun Belt team with one money game, two G5's and an FCS school, and you lose that money game the way Navy did but win out, you'd be lucky to crack the Top 25.