(03-18-2019 10:08 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I think that's a big thing. This year the AAC wasn't supposed to be good at all... Preseason I think they had 2 tourney teams projected.

Looking ahead- Memphis has #8 recruiting class so far and UConn is #18 so far. Wichita is #45 so far.

Exactly right. No Top 25 teams in the preseason poll.

Next year, look for Temple and UCF to take a step back, but Wichita, Memphis and UConn to take a step forward, and Houston and Cincy to reload.

As long as USF, Tulsa and SMU can keep it in the Top 125 and we only have two terrible teams, we should be a 4-bid league more often than not.

(03-17-2019 07:24 PM)Todor Wrote:  It's almost a scam to list the AAC at large bids as non power conference to make their process look more equitable. Yes, there were 7 this year, but only 4 that weren't AAC.

(03-18-2019 08:48 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-17-2019 08:19 PM)stever20 Wrote:  what exactly did being a power conference label help the Big East this year?

Irrelevant question. Seriously. "Power" is about prestige, not about entrants in a single tournament, much less seeding.

Seeding, btw, is way overrated. If you're not #1 or #2, you have competitive games from the git-go. The top 8 are the only ones with a real advantage.

I mean, compare Seton Hall to AAC champion Cincinnati. Cincy is a 7 seed, Seton Hall is a 10 seed. Seton Hall plays 7 seed Wofford, Cincy plays 10 seed Iowa. Is Wofford really a significantly tougher game than Iowa?

Iowa has wins over PAC champ Oregon and Big 12 champ Iowa State, and Michigan. Wofford lost to every good A5 team they played. So I'm not sure Wofford is really all that much better than Iowa.

lol...and if the Big East had better seeds you really want us to believe you wouldn't have thrown that out as evidence the AAC is not a P7? C'mon. Look, your probably right that it doesnt matter all that much---but its clear the Committee spent a lot of time and research in determining those relative positions. As I ve said before, the AAC continues to sit on the cusp---but the fact they have actually been a multi-bid conference every year ---with 4 bids this year----and have done that without having Memphis, UConn, and Wichita as AAC title contenders---says something about the developing conference depth. With Memphis, Wichita, and UConn all expected to be much better next year---the AAC can expect to be included on more and more "power" lists in the near future.

(03-18-2019 10:41 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 10:08 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I think that's a big thing. This year the AAC wasn't supposed to be good at all... Preseason I think they had 2 tourney teams projected.

Looking ahead- Memphis has #8 recruiting class so far and UConn is #18 so far. Wichita is #45 so far.

Exactly right. No Top 25 teams in the preseason poll.

Next year, look for Temple and UCF to take a step back, but Wichita, Memphis and UConn to take a step forward, and Houston and Cincy to reload.

As long as USF, Tulsa and SMU can keep it in the Top 125 and we only have two terrible teams, we should be a 4-bid league more often than not.

with a real shot at at least 5 bids. The 12 team/18 game schedule can give the AAC 6 teams with at least 10 wins in conference play- meaning if they did well OOC a very realistic shot at making the tournament.

You can try and spin it any way you want, but the only reason they drew the graphic the way they did was so that it looked like the graph of teams was going up this year. The NCAA really wanted their NET ranking system to benefit smaller conference schools. The graphic being flat or down wouldn’t have helped them with that.

Similar to how it is in football, the AAC is kind of in a tier on its own in basketball. Probably with the PAC 12 if we are being honest. It’s clearly better than the other smaller conferences and not in the upper echelon either.

(03-18-2019 10:08 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I think that's a big thing. This year the AAC wasn't supposed to be good at all... Preseason I think they had 2 tourney teams projected.

Looking ahead- Memphis has #8 recruiting class so far and UConn is #18 so far. Wichita is #45 so far.

And structurally you can get good seeds out of the AAC. All but 4 teams had top 70 overall SOS this year to include conference games. Even with 2 teams in the bottom 100. What helps is all 10 of the other teams were top 100..... Only Big Ten and SEC had more top 100 teams.

Not exactly true. Most sites seem to have predicted 4 tourney teams for the AAC. Katz had Memphis in instead of Temple, I believe, others picked the correct 4. Will they be better next year? Tough to say. Losing the big at UCF is a huge blow. He changes games on the defensive end, and they could struggle without him. Houston loses a couple of really goods players. UC could be really strong, but it depends a lot on if Cumberland stays. Memphis has a lot of talent coming in. We'll see how it works out. UConn has a nice class also. There is no reason the AAC can't get 3-4 teams into the NCAAs every year, with the occasional 5.

Next year is long way off. Will the BE be better next year? Not sure. The conference was especially young this year. Only 4 seniors combined on the all-conference teams. Still, Big East had 9 of 10 in top 82 in Net (note, AAC had only 5) and DePaul finished 102. All ten are playing in the post season, even DePaul. So, there is hope.

All will concede the BE has no great teams, but it had a lot of pretty good ones. Will they improve next year? Marquette should be a preseason top 10 team if Howard comes back. They lose no one of significance and they get a transfer and their projected starting shooting guard back from a medical redshirt. Can't say any of the other teams are projected to be great, but you never know.

(03-18-2019 10:57 AM)MU88 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 10:08 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I think that's a big thing. This year the AAC wasn't supposed to be good at all... Preseason I think they had 2 tourney teams projected.

Looking ahead- Memphis has #8 recruiting class so far and UConn is #18 so far. Wichita is #45 so far.

And structurally you can get good seeds out of the AAC. All but 4 teams had top 70 overall SOS this year to include conference games. Even with 2 teams in the bottom 100. What helps is all 10 of the other teams were top 100..... Only Big Ten and SEC had more top 100 teams.

Not exactly true. Most sites seem to have predicted 4 tourney teams for the AAC. Katz had Memphis in instead of Temple, I believe, others picked the correct 4. Will they be better next year? Tough to say. Losing the big at UCF is a huge blow. He changes games on the defensive end, and they could struggle without him. Houston loses a couple of really goods players. UC could be really strong, but it depends a lot on if Cumberland stays. Memphis has a lot of talent coming in. We'll see how it works out. UConn has a nice class also. There is no reason the AAC can't get 3-4 teams into the NCAAs every year, with the occasional 5.

Next year is long way off. Will the BE be better next year? Not sure. The conference was especially young this year. Only 4 seniors combined on the all-conference teams. Still, Big East had 9 of 10 in top 82 in Net (note, AAC had only 5) and DePaul finished 102. All ten are playing in the post season, even DePaul. So, there is hope.

All will concede the BE has no great teams, but it had a lot of pretty good ones. Will they improve next year? Marquette should be a preseason top 10 team if Howard comes back. They lose no one of significance and they get a transfer and their projected starting shooting guard back from a medical redshirt. Can't say any of the other teams are projected to be great, but you never know.

ESPN's conference preview stated that the AAC could be a one bid league. Most others said two and few others said three. Don't recall anyone projecting four before the season started.

(03-18-2019 10:57 AM)MU88 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 10:08 AM)stever20 Wrote:  I think that's a big thing. This year the AAC wasn't supposed to be good at all... Preseason I think they had 2 tourney teams projected.

Looking ahead- Memphis has #8 recruiting class so far and UConn is #18 so far. Wichita is #45 so far.

And structurally you can get good seeds out of the AAC. All but 4 teams had top 70 overall SOS this year to include conference games. Even with 2 teams in the bottom 100. What helps is all 10 of the other teams were top 100..... Only Big Ten and SEC had more top 100 teams.

Not exactly true. Most sites seem to have predicted 4 tourney teams for the AAC. Katz had Memphis in instead of Temple, I believe, others picked the correct 4. Will they be better next year? Tough to say. Losing the big at UCF is a huge blow. He changes games on the defensive end, and they could struggle without him. Houston loses a couple of really goods players. UC could be really strong, but it depends a lot on if Cumberland stays. Memphis has a lot of talent coming in. We'll see how it works out. UConn has a nice class also. There is no reason the AAC can't get 3-4 teams into the NCAAs every year, with the occasional 5.

Next year is long way off. Will the BE be better next year? Not sure. The conference was especially young this year. Only 4 seniors combined on the all-conference teams. Still, Big East had 9 of 10 in top 82 in Net (note, AAC had only 5) and DePaul finished 102. All ten are playing in the post season, even DePaul. So, there is hope.

All will concede the BE has no great teams, but it had a lot of pretty good ones. Will they improve next year? Marquette should be a preseason top 10 team if Howard comes back. They lose no one of significance and they get a transfer and their projected starting shooting guard back from a medical redshirt. Can't say any of the other teams are projected to be great, but you never know.

not sure what sites you saw saying 4. I know Lunardi's 1st bracket(it's so nice they have the archives there) had 2 teams in- UCF as a 10 seed and Cincy as a 8 seed. That's it.

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

(03-18-2019 03:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

FBS is irrelevant to the topic at hand. The Big East is a power basketball conference.

(03-18-2019 03:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

The Big Least may not be, but what do you think about the Big East???

(03-18-2019 04:48 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 03:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

The Big Least may not be, but what do you think about the Big East???

He must have been talking about the Big West.

(03-18-2019 04:48 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 03:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

The Big Least may not be, but what do you think about the Big East???

Big East is a great basketball conference.

(03-18-2019 04:48 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 03:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

The Big Least may not be, but what do you think about the Big East???

Little Brothers to the power conferences to the FBS schools. When the split into 2 divisions for all sports? Big East would be 1AA in men's basketball. It is a way for the power schools to break away from the Big East and other lowly D1 conferences.

(03-18-2019 04:56 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 04:48 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 03:52 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:05 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 06:59 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  P7 football:
ACC
AAC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

P7 men's basketball:
AAC
ACC
Big 10
Big 12
MWC
PAC 12
SEC

1-AA mens basketball P4:
A10
Big Least
Summit
WAC

Only a moron really thinks the MWC is power in basketball... Sorry this isn't 5-10 years ago... MWC has 2 teams playing basketball... out of 11. Meanwhile the Big EAST has 9 of their 10 teams playing in the NCAA or NIT. In a down year.

Big Least do not have FBS in football, so they are not in the power conferences at all.

The Big Least may not be, but what do you think about the Big East???

Little Brothers to the power conferences to the FBS schools. When the split into 2 divisions for all sports? Big East would be 1AA in men's basketball. It is a way for the power schools to break away from the Big East and other lowly D1 conferences.

(03-18-2019 10:44 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:48 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-17-2019 08:19 PM)stever20 Wrote:  what exactly did being a power conference label help the Big East this year?

Irrelevant question. Seriously. "Power" is about prestige, not about entrants in a single tournament, much less seeding.

Seeding, btw, is way overrated. If you're not #1 or #2, you have competitive games from the git-go. The top 8 are the only ones with a real advantage.

I mean, compare Seton Hall to AAC champion Cincinnati. Cincy is a 7 seed, Seton Hall is a 10 seed. Seton Hall plays 7 seed Wofford, Cincy plays 10 seed Iowa. Is Wofford really a significantly tougher game than Iowa?

Iowa has wins over PAC champ Oregon and Big 12 champ Iowa State, and Michigan. Wofford lost to every good A5 team they played. So I'm not sure Wofford is really all that much better than Iowa.

lol...and if the Big East had better seeds you really want us to believe you wouldn't have thrown that out as evidence the AAC is not a P7?

Nope. The evidence that the AAC isn't a "power" league is that fact that before this year, the AAC had never been rated higher than any of the consensus P6 leagues in RPI. Not once, ever, in 5 years. So it had never proven to be one of that group.

Now this season is different - the AAC beat out the PAC. It performed like a power league. But one season doesn't a Power make. If the AAC does this a couple more times, then yes, it will be a Power league.

The AAC has always, since day one, had the roster of schools that looked like a Power league. The fact that it hasn't been has been a surprise, and a disappointment.

It’s a legacy graphic that they have used since the BCS days. It’s honestly rather lazy because you have to include the American in there as well as the conference continues to earn multiple bids every year. Basically they want to show how many at-large bids each year are earned by mid-majors. The problem with this that the American isn’t a mid-major. Former mid-majors either graduated through a combination of performance and realignment. I don’t view the WCC, A-10, or Mountian West as mid-majors either, at least not their top teams.

Big East 4 teams with 20 plus wins.
AAC 5 teams with 20 + wins
A-10 with 4
C-USA with 6 20 plus wins
MAC with 5 20 plus wins
MVC with 3
MWC with 4 20 plus wins, Utah State and UNR are in the field of 68.
OVC with 4
PAC 12 with 4
SoCon with 4
WCC with 5 20 plus wins

(03-18-2019 08:02 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  Big East 4 teams with 20 plus wins.
AAC 5 teams with 20 + wins
A-10 with 4
C-USA with 6 20 plus wins
MAC with 5 20 plus wins
MVC with 3
MWC with 4 20 plus wins, Utah State and UNR are in the field of 68.
OVC with 4
PAC 12 with 4
SoCon with 4
WCC with 5 20 plus wins

raw wins are one of the most moronic stats out there...

lets take CUSA
Southern Miss won 20- but 4 were vs D2 schools.
UAB won 20- but 2 were d2 schools
LA Tech won 20- but 2 were d2 schools
North Texas won 21- but 3 were d2 schools

so CUSA only had 2 with 20 wins vs D1 schools..

(03-18-2019 09:53 AM)B easy Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 08:48 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-17-2019 08:19 PM)stever20 Wrote:  what exactly did being a power conference label help the Big East this year?

Irrelevant question. Seriously. "Power" is about prestige, not about entrants in a single tournament, much less seeding.

Seeding, btw, is way overrated. If you're not #1 or #2, you have competitive games from the git-go. The top 8 are the only ones with a real advantage.

I mean, compare Seton Hall to AAC champion Cincinnati. Cincy is a 7 seed, Seton Hall is a 10 seed. Seton Hall plays 7 seed Wofford, Cincy plays 10 seed Iowa. Is Wofford really a significantly tougher game than Iowa?

Iowa has wins over PAC champ Oregon and Big 12 champ Iowa State, and Michigan. Wofford lost to every good A5 team they played. So I'm not sure Wofford is really all that much better than Iowa.

I thought it was about money and control? & the AAC is about to get a major pay raise.

Besides, I think the AAC programs are just as prestigious as Big East programs top to bottom. Admittedly, as an ECU fan I don't have room to be boasting about basketball pedigree, although we are finally channelling our resources appropriately in that regard. That said, notwithstanding our futility, Depaul only has one more NCAA appearance than we do since '92. When ECU was in C-USA 1.0 the Blue Demons were one of the few teams we could compete with and were often at the bottom of the standings with us. Hopefully ECU & Tulane can start to turn things around because we're the anomalies in the AAC. The rest of the conference is more than solid now that USF appears to be out of the cellar. I think my Pirates will show improvement next year when Dooley brings in some of his own players.

Moreover, the history and prestige in the AAC is at least tantamount to the Big East IMO. Just look at the accolades of each respective program. Also, the AAC appears to be on an upward trajectory more so than perhaps any other conference, so perception will continue to sway in the AAC's favor moving forward. This was supposed to be a down year for AAC basketball. Next year will be a big year for the AAC!

The AAC is a power conference. Even the football is about on par with the PAC-12 it seems lately since Oregon stopped making the CFB playoff.