(10-14-2021 06:54 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:59 PM)Bigtom12 Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:50 PM)Goronic Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 12:56 PM)forphase1 Wrote:  Interesting quote. I take that partly that schools like Marshall and App State aren't in consideration, as we are more 'established' and are solid products. Sounds like they are chasing markets and 'potential', like CUSA did last time around. Didn't work out very good for us then, and I doubt it works out well for the AAC this time. If true, then I expect Marshall to join the Sun Belt. Last I heard if the AAC doesn't invite us, we are Sun Belt bound. So we will see what happens. Going to be an interesting few weeks if nothing else.

I don't know...to the AAC perhaps App State and Marshall are 'lessor' schools that can rise up.

However, I think they stick to the metro model and get UAB, Buffalo, Rice, etc.

I also don't think they pull JMU straight from FCS to FBS, BUT I think after the dust settles JMU will be in the FBS, just not in the AAC, probably in CUSA.

It all depends on what are lesser schools to Aresco. I would like to think not as established in sports, or the public rural institution if it’s the second one then he thinks schools like Tulane, and Temple, or better than Louisiana, and App State.

I think he have to be talking about atheletics as a whole or ones without a conference that have big budgets like Liberty, JMU, and Rice

First off---thats not a quote. That "lesser school" stuff is the writers take on Aresco's strategy. What Aresco actually is quoted as saying is the conference has been very effective at elevating schools to a higher level (primarily through the upgraded exposure provided by the ESPN TV deal). Most of those CUSA schools had spent about a decade on CBS-Sports Network (that had maybe 35 million subscribers a the time) and Fox-RSN's with virtually no nationwide ABC/ESPN/FOX-OTA coverage. The last round the AAC/Big East did in fact take "lesser schools" (the Big East was a AQ conference at the time) and moved them to the Big East/AAC where they were elevated--largely due to the power of solid national TV exposure where nearly every game was on a national network (ESPN/ABC/CBS-Sports Network). There is no doubt that UCF and Memphis are MUCH bigger football brands now than they were in 2011 when they were invited.

What is being missed is virtually every team invited was performing at high level in football at the time the invitation was extended. Just fewer people were paying attention to it. The two exceptions to high football performance were Tulane (which was clearly invited for its AAU level academics and market) and Memphis (which offered an elite level basketball program that appealed to C7 who were still part of the Big East/AAC at the time of the invite). So---with few exceptions, the Big East/AAC basically they took the football top off the conferences they could poach from and "elevated their brands" over the the 8 years they were in the conference. I would be shocked if more than 1 out of the 4 selections by the AAC are poor performing football programs. I could see one school being a market/academics play---but I wont be surprised if all 4 are high performing football programs (as that was the formula last time).

Okay so who stands out with the current parity that exist? None of your rant deflection matters to the Sun Belt. We're all football first small town Us none of which Aresco has any interest in entertaining. Aresco's concerns are legit. Take USM. Their the perfect example of a small town U that has struggled to move the needle. To much risk at this level to hang your hat on any small marketz adds.

The game changer is when you put all those small town traditional Us in one conference. Rivalries. Add to that a tight southeastern footprint and you have what has propelled the Sun Belt into it's current position.

(10-14-2021 04:28 PM)TealNation Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 04:12 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 03:21 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 02:52 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  Here's the play: Keith are you listening?

Wait for the AAC to take the weakest teams in our conference because they're stupid and attracted to big markets. Replace them with brand power, on-field quality, and regional fan interest (ie Marshall and USM). Then wait for the Big12 to gut the AAC further, devaluing the AAC's media deal even more. Continue growing the Sun Belt's brand and stature then invite ECU. Bob's your uncle, the SBC is the G5's SEC.

Cute idea, you guys gonna pony up 10 million for ECU to leave the AAC? I'll go ahead and promise ECU ain't no matter what the AAC ends up looking like. If you want ECU in the Sun-Belt you are gonna need to dream up some good AAC dissolving scenarios, because there's no scenario that the Sun-Belt would get a strong enough TV deal to make it actually financially viable to pay that exit fee.

Fine. Enjoy being stuck on your island with the rum running out.

I don't take that as a diss at the SBC. I think ECU is legit STUCK in the AAC. They couldn't feasibly leave if they wanted to. Reminds me of a musical artist stuck in a bad record contract, they know they shouldn't be in. Also, this should give similar minded institutions something to really weigh in on.

What was that famous quote from Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow on the band signing the worst record contract of all time? “When somebody throws you a life raft you don’t care what color it is”. Something like that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(10-14-2021 01:16 PM)Troy_Fan_15 Wrote:  Using the USA Today numbers Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, and Old Dominion are the only teams with budgets currently in the $40M or greater range.

ODU at $49M and a city population of 230K and a metro population of 1.047M should then be a good fit for the AAC. The issue is their football stadium only holds 22.8K. Would the AAC be okay with that? They have good support though and are rebuilding their football team.

We all assume UAB is in. The question is do they expand by 2 or 4. I think I would take UAB and ODU if I were the AAC looking at teams in the C-USA.

Tulane stadium is about that size. No problem there I would think

(10-14-2021 09:33 PM)garmen1960 Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:16 PM)Troy_Fan_15 Wrote:  Using the USA Today numbers Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, and Old Dominion are the only teams with budgets currently in the $40M or greater range.

ODU at $49M and a city population of 230K and a metro population of 1.047M should then be a good fit for the AAC. The issue is their football stadium only holds 22.8K. Would the AAC be okay with that? They have good support though and are rebuilding their football team.

We all assume UAB is in. The question is do they expand by 2 or 4. I think I would take UAB and ODU if I were the AAC looking at teams in the C-USA.

Tulane stadium is about that size. No problem there I would think

And they still can't fill it.

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(10-14-2021 05:39 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 03:46 PM)statefanatic Wrote:  I know we would sell more tickets playing AAC teams than we do Belt teams. If stAte gets the invite we are gone. Our fans and donors would rather see teams like SMU, Memphis, Tulsa, Tulane and ECU than any Belt team. I believe our new AD is fighting for us to get an AAC invite. He was the AD at Memphis when they went to the AAC. He knows all the AD's at the other schools.

It’s sort of that fighting just hard enough so donors think you’re trying thing. We know we have zero chance but we’ll show interest thing

Admin is fully committed to the SBC

I gauntee our admin would jump if invited. They wouldn't have lowered tickets to $5 for the Coastal game trying to get more in attendance to impress the AAC. Was also told we gave them the grand tour of our new facilities and the AAC was very impressed. Our basketball arena holds 10k and they liked that. The one down side was baseball facilities but we told them we were gonna upgrade and add Softball. You don't show off all your facilities and future plans if your not interested. We also had donors making promises to improve our budget. Told the AAC we could do so much more with a higher conference payout also. We did a hard sell. Will it work? I have no clue.

So is stAte now the odds on favorite to get the AAC invite???

(10-14-2021 10:08 PM)Usajags Wrote:  So is stAte now the odds on favorite to get the AAC invite???

Doubt it! Just stating our admin put on a show for the AAC when they came to visit. Also stating our AD is fighting hard for an invite. Their are many teams better suited for the AAC than us. I'd say we are in the top 20 of teams being considered. Top 20 meaning we are 20.

(10-14-2021 08:42 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 06:54 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:59 PM)Bigtom12 Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:50 PM)Goronic Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 12:56 PM)forphase1 Wrote:  Interesting quote. I take that partly that schools like Marshall and App State aren't in consideration, as we are more 'established' and are solid products. Sounds like they are chasing markets and 'potential', like CUSA did last time around. Didn't work out very good for us then, and I doubt it works out well for the AAC this time. If true, then I expect Marshall to join the Sun Belt. Last I heard if the AAC doesn't invite us, we are Sun Belt bound. So we will see what happens. Going to be an interesting few weeks if nothing else.

I don't know...to the AAC perhaps App State and Marshall are 'lessor' schools that can rise up.

However, I think they stick to the metro model and get UAB, Buffalo, Rice, etc.

I also don't think they pull JMU straight from FCS to FBS, BUT I think after the dust settles JMU will be in the FBS, just not in the AAC, probably in CUSA.

It all depends on what are lesser schools to Aresco. I would like to think not as established in sports, or the public rural institution if it’s the second one then he thinks schools like Tulane, and Temple, or better than Louisiana, and App State.

I think he have to be talking about atheletics as a whole or ones without a conference that have big budgets like Liberty, JMU, and Rice

First off---thats not a quote. That "lesser school" stuff is the writers take on Aresco's strategy. What Aresco actually is quoted as saying is the conference has been very effective at elevating schools to a higher level (primarily through the upgraded exposure provided by the ESPN TV deal). Most of those CUSA schools had spent about a decade on CBS-Sports Network (that had maybe 35 million subscribers a the time) and Fox-RSN's with virtually no nationwide ABC/ESPN/FOX-OTA coverage. The last round the AAC/Big East did in fact take "lesser schools" (the Big East was a AQ conference at the time) and moved them to the Big East/AAC where they were elevated--largely due to the power of solid national TV exposure where nearly every game was on a national network (ESPN/ABC/CBS-Sports Network). There is no doubt that UCF and Memphis are MUCH bigger football brands now than they were in 2011 when they were invited.

What is being missed is virtually every team invited was performing at high level in football at the time the invitation was extended. Just fewer people were paying attention to it. The two exceptions to high football performance were Tulane (which was clearly invited for its AAU level academics and market) and Memphis (which offered an elite level basketball program that appealed to C7 who were still part of the Big East/AAC at the time of the invite). So---with few exceptions, the Big East/AAC basically they took the football top off the conferences they could poach from and "elevated their brands" over the the 8 years they were in the conference. I would be shocked if more than 1 out of the 4 selections by the AAC are poor performing football programs. I could see one school being a market/academics play---but I wont be surprised if all 4 are high performing football programs (as that was the formula last time).

Okay so who stands out with the current parity that exist? None of your rant deflection matters to the Sun Belt. We're all football first small town Us none of which Aresco has any interest in entertaining. Aresco's concerns are legit. Take USM. Their the perfect example of a small town U that has struggled to move the needle. To much risk at this level to hang your hat on any small marketz adds.

The game changer is when you put all those small town traditional Us in one conference. Rivalries. Add to that a tight southeastern footprint and you have what has propelled the Sun Belt into it's current position.

lol--rant?

You still missed the main points. Point one was that "lesser school" crap is not an Aresco quote. The other main point is that all but 2 of the schools added to the BigEast/AAC since 2011 were high performing football programs when their was issued. In other words---the idea that Aresco and the AAC presidents are not interested in adding good high performing football programs is very likely incorrect. Id be shocked if some of the top performers in the Sunbelt are not getting a hard look.

(10-14-2021 09:02 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 04:28 PM)TealNation Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 04:12 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 03:21 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 02:52 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  Here's the play: Keith are you listening?

Wait for the AAC to take the weakest teams in our conference because they're stupid and attracted to big markets. Replace them with brand power, on-field quality, and regional fan interest (ie Marshall and USM). Then wait for the Big12 to gut the AAC further, devaluing the AAC's media deal even more. Continue growing the Sun Belt's brand and stature then invite ECU. Bob's your uncle, the SBC is the G5's SEC.

Cute idea, you guys gonna pony up 10 million for ECU to leave the AAC? I'll go ahead and promise ECU ain't no matter what the AAC ends up looking like. If you want ECU in the Sun-Belt you are gonna need to dream up some good AAC dissolving scenarios, because there's no scenario that the Sun-Belt would get a strong enough TV deal to make it actually financially viable to pay that exit fee.

Fine. Enjoy being stuck on your island with the rum running out.

I don't take that as a diss at the SBC. I think ECU is legit STUCK in the AAC. They couldn't feasibly leave if they wanted to. Reminds me of a musical artist stuck in a bad record contract, they know they shouldn't be in. Also, this should give similar minded institutions something to really weigh in on.

What was that famous quote from Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow on the band signing the worst record contract of all time? “When somebody throws you a life raft you don’t care what color it is”. Something like that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The AAC isn’t CUSA. If ECU had gotten left in CUSA and was still in that husk and all this was going on obviously they’d push to get in the AAC first, but after that I suspect if they didn’t get it they’d seriously entertain the Sun Belt. That’s a completely different situation though.

(10-14-2021 10:14 PM)statefanatic Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 10:08 PM)Usajags Wrote:  So is stAte now the odds on favorite to get the AAC invite???

Doubt it! Just stating our admin put on a show for the AAC when they came to visit. Also stating our AD is fighting hard for an invite. Their are many teams better suited for the AAC than us. I'd say we are in the top 20 of teams being considered. Top 20 meaning we are 20.

Top 20. Wouldn’t that include pretty much everyone that hasn’t already told them no???

Y’all realize how far the AAC is falling when they are now scrambling to find teams to join them, and they are still pushing the “P6” mantra with whoever they end up with.

(10-15-2021 07:08 AM)Usajags Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 10:14 PM)statefanatic Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 10:08 PM)Usajags Wrote:  So is stAte now the odds on favorite to get the AAC invite???

Doubt it! Just stating our admin put on a show for the AAC when they came to visit. Also stating our AD is fighting hard for an invite. Their are many teams better suited for the AAC than us. I'd say we are in the top 20 of teams being considered. Top 20 meaning we are 20.

Top 20. Wouldn’t that include pretty much everyone that hasn’t already told them no???

Y’all realize how far the AAC is falling when they are now scrambling to find teams to join them, and they are still pushing the “P6” mantra with whoever they end up with.

I know how bad they've fallen. My opinion doesn't change what our administration would do. The problem is theirs not a team in the Belt that wouldn't join if asked. We are just fans but our schools will do whatever they want.

(10-14-2021 06:54 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:59 PM)Bigtom12 Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:50 PM)Goronic Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 12:56 PM)forphase1 Wrote:  Interesting quote. I take that partly that schools like Marshall and App State aren't in consideration, as we are more 'established' and are solid products. Sounds like they are chasing markets and 'potential', like CUSA did last time around. Didn't work out very good for us then, and I doubt it works out well for the AAC this time. If true, then I expect Marshall to join the Sun Belt. Last I heard if the AAC doesn't invite us, we are Sun Belt bound. So we will see what happens. Going to be an interesting few weeks if nothing else.

I don't know...to the AAC perhaps App State and Marshall are 'lessor' schools that can rise up.

However, I think they stick to the metro model and get UAB, Buffalo, Rice, etc.

I also don't think they pull JMU straight from FCS to FBS, BUT I think after the dust settles JMU will be in the FBS, just not in the AAC, probably in CUSA.

It all depends on what are lesser schools to Aresco. I would like to think not as established in sports, or the public rural institution if it’s the second one then he thinks schools like Tulane, and Temple, or better than Louisiana, and App State.

I think he have to be talking about atheletics as a whole or ones without a conference that have big budgets like Liberty, JMU, and Rice

First off---thats not a quote. That "lesser school" stuff is the writers take on Aresco's strategy. What Aresco actually is quoted as saying is the conference has been very effective at elevating schools to a higher level (primarily through the upgraded exposure provided by the ESPN TV deal). Most of those CUSA schools had spent about a decade on CBS-Sports Network (that had maybe 35 million subscribers a the time) and Fox-RSN's with virtually no nationwide ABC/ESPN/FOX-OTA coverage. The last round the AAC/Big East did in fact take "lesser schools" (the Big East was a AQ conference at the time) and moved them to the Big East/AAC where they were elevated--largely due to the power of solid national TV exposure where nearly every game was on a national network (ESPN/ABC/CBS-Sports Network). There is no doubt that UCF and Memphis are MUCH bigger football brands now than they were in 2011 when they were invited.

What is being missed is virtually every team invited was performing at high level in football at the time the invitation was extended. Just fewer people were paying attention to it. The two exceptions to high football performance were Tulane (which was clearly invited for its AAU level academics and market) and Memphis (which offered an elite level basketball program that appealed to C7 who were still part of the Big East/AAC at the time of the invite). So---with few exceptions, the Big East/AAC basically they took the football top off the conferences they could poach from and "elevated their brands" over the the 8 years they were in the conference. I would be shocked if more than 1 out of the 4 selections by the AAC are poor performing football programs. I could see one school being a market/academics play---but I wont be surprised if all 4 are high performing football programs (as that was the formula last time).

“I think what is sometimes overlooked is what the American Athletic Conference has done in elevating programs that may not have been at the level they’re at now"-You can spin it however way you want, but he is totally saying taking teams that are NOT TO HIS PERCEIVED LEVEL-AKA LESS-than the American teams.

(10-15-2021 07:08 AM)Usajags Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 10:14 PM)statefanatic Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 10:08 PM)Usajags Wrote:  So is stAte now the odds on favorite to get the AAC invite???

Doubt it! Just stating our admin put on a show for the AAC when they came to visit. Also stating our AD is fighting hard for an invite. Their are many teams better suited for the AAC than us. I'd say we are in the top 20 of teams being considered. Top 20 meaning we are 20.

Top 20. Wouldn’t that include pretty much everyone that hasn’t already told them no???

Y’all realize how far the AAC is falling when they are now scrambling to find teams to join them, and they are still pushing the “P6” mantra with whoever they end up with.

If the AAC were just offering invites with no conditions they wouldn't have any struggles finding takers. Finding institutional fits who can meet the facilities and budget standards of the rest of the league is the problem. Whether I necessarily like it or not "institutional fits" with the AAC are national tier Universities in large markets aside from ECU. ECU met the low end of their academic standards and at the time in 2012 had been to bowl games in 5 of the previous 6 seasons, had been playing FBS football since the D1A/1AA split with long standing relationships with pretty much the entire league, and was averaging 47k per game in the stands. All that and ECU still got added after Tulane and was forced to accept a FB only. Whether I like it or not I'll eat my hat if a school who resides in a smaller market than ECU gets added.

(10-15-2021 07:02 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 09:02 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 04:28 PM)TealNation Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 04:12 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 03:21 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Cute idea, you guys gonna pony up 10 million for ECU to leave the AAC? I'll go ahead and promise ECU ain't no matter what the AAC ends up looking like. If you want ECU in the Sun-Belt you are gonna need to dream up some good AAC dissolving scenarios, because there's no scenario that the Sun-Belt would get a strong enough TV deal to make it actually financially viable to pay that exit fee.

Fine. Enjoy being stuck on your island with the rum running out.

I don't take that as a diss at the SBC. I think ECU is legit STUCK in the AAC. They couldn't feasibly leave if they wanted to. Reminds me of a musical artist stuck in a bad record contract, they know they shouldn't be in. Also, this should give similar minded institutions something to really weigh in on.

What was that famous quote from Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow on the band signing the worst record contract of all time? “When somebody throws you a life raft you don’t care what color it is”. Something like that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The AAC isn’t CUSA. If ECU had gotten left in CUSA and was still in that husk and all this was going on obviously they’d push to get in the AAC first, but after that I suspect if they didn’t get it they’d seriously entertain the Sun Belt. That’s a completely different situation though.

The tone I had when writing my original post obviously didn’t come through and was generally facetious and fanciful. In my alternate reality 10 years from now the AAC is a shell of its former self and the sun belt has continued on its upward trajectory with 0 speed bumps. ECU would be clamoring to get into a league with App, Marshall, and Coastal no matter the cost. Take contracts and buyouts out of the equation it would be a powerful quartet of programs.

(10-14-2021 10:08 PM)Usajags Wrote:  So is stAte now the odds on favorite to get the AAC invite???

Not even top 10.

Doesn’t mean Chancellor Damphousse if given the chance to align AState with Memphis, Tulsa, SMU, Tulane wouldn’t take it.

Same reasoning USM, UL, USA would use.

(10-14-2021 10:16 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 08:42 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 06:54 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:59 PM)Bigtom12 Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 01:50 PM)Goronic Wrote:  I don't know...to the AAC perhaps App State and Marshall are 'lessor' schools that can rise up.

However, I think they stick to the metro model and get UAB, Buffalo, Rice, etc.

I also don't think they pull JMU straight from FCS to FBS, BUT I think after the dust settles JMU will be in the FBS, just not in the AAC, probably in CUSA.

It all depends on what are lesser schools to Aresco. I would like to think not as established in sports, or the public rural institution if it’s the second one then he thinks schools like Tulane, and Temple, or better than Louisiana, and App State.

I think he have to be talking about atheletics as a whole or ones without a conference that have big budgets like Liberty, JMU, and Rice

First off---thats not a quote. That "lesser school" stuff is the writers take on Aresco's strategy. What Aresco actually is quoted as saying is the conference has been very effective at elevating schools to a higher level (primarily through the upgraded exposure provided by the ESPN TV deal). Most of those CUSA schools had spent about a decade on CBS-Sports Network (that had maybe 35 million subscribers a the time) and Fox-RSN's with virtually no nationwide ABC/ESPN/FOX-OTA coverage. The last round the AAC/Big East did in fact take "lesser schools" (the Big East was a AQ conference at the time) and moved them to the Big East/AAC where they were elevated--largely due to the power of solid national TV exposure where nearly every game was on a national network (ESPN/ABC/CBS-Sports Network). There is no doubt that UCF and Memphis are MUCH bigger football brands now than they were in 2011 when they were invited.

What is being missed is virtually every team invited was performing at high level in football at the time the invitation was extended. Just fewer people were paying attention to it. The two exceptions to high football performance were Tulane (which was clearly invited for its AAU level academics and market) and Memphis (which offered an elite level basketball program that appealed to C7 who were still part of the Big East/AAC at the time of the invite). So---with few exceptions, the Big East/AAC basically they took the football top off the conferences they could poach from and "elevated their brands" over the the 8 years they were in the conference. I would be shocked if more than 1 out of the 4 selections by the AAC are poor performing football programs. I could see one school being a market/academics play---but I wont be surprised if all 4 are high performing football programs (as that was the formula last time).

Okay so who stands out with the current parity that exist? None of your rant deflection matters to the Sun Belt. We're all football first small town Us none of which Aresco has any interest in entertaining. Aresco's concerns are legit. Take USM. Their the perfect example of a small town U that has struggled to move the needle. To much risk at this level to hang your hat on any small marketz adds.

The game changer is when you put all those small town traditional Us in one conference. Rivalries. Add to that a tight southeastern footprint and you have what has propelled the Sun Belt into it's current position.

lol--rant?

You still missed the main points. Point one was that "lesser school" crap is not an Aresco quote. The other main point is that all but 2 of the schools added to the BigEast/AAC since 2011 were high performing football programs when their was issued. In other words---the idea that Aresco and the AAC presidents are not interested in adding good high performing football programs is very likely incorrect. Id be shocked if some of the top performers in the Sunbelt are not getting a hard look.

AAC had a good supply of football successful, high rep academic, schools in large metros.

We don’t actually know what factors carried the greatest weight because outside of Tulane everyone had some really recent success.

This time we learn what is most important because no one checks all the boxes

(10-14-2021 06:47 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 06:13 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  If Aresco truly believes what he's saying and joining the AAC is like winning the lottery nothing matters more than marketz. We'll find out soon enough if the Sun Belt experiment of traditional football focused small town universities will ultimately succeed or the marketz experiment has any merit. Aresco will be forcing the idea front and center. Who he'll be after is pretty obvious. Welcome USM and Marshall. We have a significant opportunity to prove him wrong.

There's just such a huge difference between schools in large urban centers who have lots of support (San Diego State, Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) and those who are just in large urban areas without the support (Charlotte, UTSA, FIU, [Redacted]). Markets without the merit mean nothing.

Your argument went out of the window when you mentioned San Diego State, they are currently averaging 9303 per game.

(10-15-2021 08:34 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 06:47 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 06:13 PM)Oldyeller Wrote:  If Aresco truly believes what he's saying and joining the AAC is like winning the lottery nothing matters more than marketz. We'll find out soon enough if the Sun Belt experiment of traditional football focused small town universities will ultimately succeed or the marketz experiment has any merit. Aresco will be forcing the idea front and center. Who he'll be after is pretty obvious. Welcome USM and Marshall. We have a significant opportunity to prove him wrong.

There's just such a huge difference between schools in large urban centers who have lots of support (San Diego State, Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) and those who are just in large urban areas without the support (Charlotte, UTSA, FIU, [Redacted]). Markets without the merit mean nothing.

Your argument went out of the window when you mentioned San Diego State, they are currently averaging 9303 per game.

They are currently playing their home games in a stadium that's over 100 miles away.

https://mwwire.com/2020/09/15/san-diego-...in-carson/

It was easy for us to say we will stick together when it seemed like the AAC was going to take UAB and a couple MWC teams. Now that basically every team is in play, it is a free for all. I would have to think UTEP is the only one they won't consider because of location. I would think the only reason a school would say no or back out would be that they can't afford to make the move.

Teams that should have no problem coming up with the money:

UAB
Buffalo
Rice
Louisiana

Teams that can probably make it work:
UNT
CCU
TXST
FAU
UTSA
App
GSU
Charlotte
Marshall
ODU

All these options have red flags too. Rice sucks at sports. TXST is horrible at football. UTSA has HORRIBLE facilities outside football. Charlotte can't sell out a home game against Duke in a 15k stadium.

Then you have other teams like stAte listed above doing whatever they can to flirt with the AAC.

I think it would be interesting to start getting leaks of teams that are saying "we just can't make the numbers work, we are out."

(10-14-2021 11:17 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-14-2021 11:00 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  Overall nothing new in the article but I thought the quote alone was worth the thread

https://www.smudailycampus.com/sports/aa...conference

"Aresco instead pointed to a new model. Instead of bringing in established schools, he believes the conference can survive by bringing in lesser schools and raising their profile once they are in the conference.

“I think what is sometimes overlooked is what the American Athletic Conference has done in elevating programs that may not have been at the level they’re at now,” Aresco said. “In terms of the conference, our goals and vision have not changed. I think once we reconstitute we’re going to continue our approach. As in trying to become an autonomous six conference.”

Link didn't work for me, but what I take from that quote is the AAC is going to end up taking schools that probably have accomplished almost nothing.......

Yeah that what lessor usually implies.