(04-21-2015 12:47 AM)Savacool Wrote:  It is a top 20 prestigious academic school with a large endowment with unbelievable athletic facilities. I know the problem is Houston does not want it in the AAC and we would be duplicating a Houston market with two teams. I love the Rice baseball team and would love to see them compete against Houston,Tulane,East Carolina,Central Florida and South Florida.

We don't need another school with a large stadium and no fans. We are already stocked up with those.

If we are putting together a debate team or an academic conference Rice would be good. Not athletics, minus their baseball they are not appealing IMO. We already have a large presence in Texas.

I have no desire to add Rice to this league. That would be too many smallish private schools for one conference, and they're just barely larger than Tulsa, our smallest school now. Tulane and SMU are both small privates, but we're more than twice the size of Rice overall.

You have to have a critical mass of large schools if you want to be a major conference.

Honestly, I wish that there weren't any private schools in the conference.

Trade Tulane for USM
Trade SMU for LA Tech
Trade Tulsa for ULL or maybe even Ark State.

All 3 are better long term in terms of fans, rivalries and athletics overall.

(04-21-2015 10:36 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Honestly, I wish that there weren't any private schools in the conference.

Trade Tulane for USM
Trade SMU for LA Tech
Trade Tulsa for ULL or maybe even Ark State.

All 3 are better long term in terms of fans, rivalries and athletics overall.

Yeah yeah. Like it or not, university presidents will always want to have a certain number of selective private schools in their conferences to raise their academic profiles by association. Even the SEC has Vanderbilt.

A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

(04-21-2015 10:47 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

Nothing is stopping you from realizing your dream.

(04-21-2015 10:47 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

Gross

(04-21-2015 10:48 AM)Pony94 Wrote:  

(04-21-2015 10:47 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

Nothing is stopping you from realizing your dream.

ECU obviously wouldn't be a part of it.

They've got a beautiful campus, a ridiculously amazing academic reputation, nice facilities (minus the football stadium), but their athletic programs are of C-USA level, unfortunately.

I was in Houston a few weeks ago visiting a friend of mine, (first time in Texas) and I was blown away by how nice Rice was. They even have a few little underground pubs on-campus.

(04-21-2015 10:36 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Honestly, I wish that there weren't any private schools in the conference.

Trade Tulane for USM
Trade SMU for LA Tech
Trade Tulsa for ULL or maybe even Ark State.

All 3 are better long term in terms of fans, rivalries and athletics overall.

Very thankful you don't run things...

(04-21-2015 10:47 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

So you would dump SMU basketball and improving football for that sh*t?!?


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(04-21-2015 10:47 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

Only if we bring Montana. Solid combo.

(04-21-2015 10:18 AM)oldtiger Wrote:  

(04-21-2015 09:21 AM)oliveandblue Wrote:  Alas, the classic public vs. private debate.

Of course Tulane would love to be in a conference with Rice again - but Tulane is ONE vote.

The AAC needs wins and/or big fanbases. The reason people slated the Tulane and Tulsa additions is the same reason why people don't like the thought of Rice.

All three provide unique and special benefits. Unfortunately, they don't solve the "we need to win" issue (although that can change) nor the "we need BIG viewership" issue (this probably won't improve much since these are small universities).

All three can afford to play FBS, provide a good market, and have good to elite academic qualities. All three have a long-standing Division I tradition.

Unfortunately, all three are poor fits for the conference. In truth, they either need to be independent OR grouped with each other. These types of schools are an even WORSE fit in the other G5 leagues!

The AAC is a C-/D+ fit for Tulane and Tulsa - but with nobody else coming even close it will be important for the two programs to make do with what they have.

I don't believe that there is a private VS public debate.

(04-21-2015 10:33 AM)rollgreenwave Wrote:  I have no desire to add Rice to this league. That would be too many smallish private schools for one conference, and they're just barely larger than Tulsa, our smallest school now. Tulane and SMU are both small privates, but we're more than twice the size of Rice overall.

You have to have a critical mass of large schools if you want to be a major conference.

Alright, so I change my above response to oliveandblue's comment.

There is a private VS public debate/discrimination. I just didn't realize that it was within the "private" fan's clan. :)

humor, humor humor....perhaps bad humor; but absolutely no harm meant.

(04-21-2015 10:47 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  A west division of Houston, Memphis, USM, LA Tech, ULL and Ark State would be awesome for the fans / rivalries.

Only if you make the east ECU, UNCC, ODU App State, Marshall, and WKU, and leave all those additional teams out of the AAC.

(04-21-2015 07:06 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  I would like to see Tulane in the Sunbelt.

Trade Tulane for the Cajuns. Lol.


One could only dream.

Sorry but, Rice has been declared Athletically ineligible.

(04-21-2015 09:51 AM)HoustonRocks Wrote:  Rice has no support. Much of the faculty would like to close sports.

They have very low attendance.

Their fans do not even contribute to a message board.

The only thing they have going for them is academics, but the AAC is a sports conference.

Err, umm...

csnbbs.com/forum-444.html

(04-21-2015 10:45 AM)rollgreenwave Wrote:  Yeah yeah. Like it or not, university presidents will always want to have a certain number of selective private schools in their conferences to raise their academic profiles by association. Even the SEC has Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt is grandfathered into their conference. Tulane and Sewannee would be too had they stayed in the SEC as would Idaho and Montana in the PAC/PCC, Chicago in the B1G and Davidson had they decided to join the ACC 60 years ago.

If we want to improve the AAC's academic posture, then we should assimilate the Ivy League. If we want to improve its football reputation, then why not invite the Steelers?

(04-21-2015 10:36 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Honestly, I wish that there weren't any private schools in the conference.

Trade Tulane for USM
Trade SMU for LA Tech
Trade Tulsa for ULL or maybe even Ark State.

All 3 are better long term in terms of fans, rivalries and athletics overall.

And where would ECU go, considering Tulane was more accomplished in our c. 20 years in C-USA together in every sport than ECU, except football (and even in football, our heights > ECU's heights).
You have a sunbelt mentality, go for the best minor bowl team, with no concept of academics or history or institutional quality or strength.