(12-28-2021 09:56 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-28-2021 09:04 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  "Deserved props?" I really don't know what he deserves props for.

Just sayin...

If you are waiting for one of the other FBS leagues (outside of autonomy) to match the accolades the American has accomplished in its first 8 years, you will be waiting FOREVER.

None will ever make a Final Four. None will ever make a CFP. Not in 8 years. Not in infinity years.

I hope you're wrong about that, but you may be right. To me, the reason for all that is that the Big East/AAC started out as an honest to goodness BB/FB power conference, and became more of a "betweener" conference after Louisville, Rutgers, and UConn left.

If your prediction turns out to be right, I would say it's because none of the other G5s are or were power conferences.

Question: Will none of the others make a final four or a (4-team) CFP?

Regarding the final four, I believe that there will probably be someo Mountain West, CUSA, and/or MAC teams that makes the final four at some point. After all, there have been Ivy League, MVC, and Atlantic 10 teams in the Final Four. Loyola of Chicago (MVC) made it just 3 or 4 years ago. SDSU and Utah State have had some pretty good teams recently, and WKU is #21 on the CBS list of the greatest programs of all time. UTEP and MTSU have had some great teams, and last thing I checked, CSU was undefeated.

Regarding the CFP, if it continued with a 4-team format long enough, I do think a MWC or Sun Belt team could make it into a 4-team CFP, but that it could take 10-15 years before we would see it happen.

What we're going to be looking at now, hopefully, is a 12-team CFP with 1 or possibly 2 non-P5 teams, but not until the AAC/CUSA/Sun Belt teams have been reshuffled.

Will any one G5 conference dominate the CFP going forward the way the AAC has up until now? My guess is no - - that there will be an ongoing battle of the G5s to get their champion into the 12-team CFPs of the future.

What about the 4 semi-finalists? There will be some teams that sneak in to the semifinal round with upset wins, but I'd have to agree that any G5 teams that make it that far will probably come from more than one conference.

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  If that doesn't deserve props, I don't know what does.

I have a different theory. I've never thought a commissioner deserves credit for a conference's success unless he brought in the teams that made it a success, and I believe it was Marinatto, not Aresco who did that.

I would, however, give Aresco props for negotiating the agreement with ESPN. . He's worked hard, and I don't consider him a bad commissioner.

(12-28-2021 09:10 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  If the expanded CFP helps them out, they can thank Mike Aresco.

I'll go along with that. If the expanded CFP helps them out, they can thank Mike Aresco.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the 6 incoming CUSA members. I still am. But I can't complain about UTSA, UAB, or North Texas, because they've done better than Tulane, Tulsa, and USF have done.

With Aresco's guidance, the AAC set up a committee to decide which 6 schools to add. They decided to add "markets," not good programs, and I think that was a mistake that Aresco might have been partially responsible for, because he didn't have the moxy/cojones/nerve that Marinatto had, and I don't think he was half as savvy as Marinatto was.

I could be wrong about this, but I'm afraid that Rice, Charlotte, and FAU will turn out to be bone-headed additions that will could end up hanging around our necks like proverbial albatrosses for years to come.

Why the AAC didn't end up with Marshall, WKU, and Louisiana Tech, instead of those three, is beyond me.

Yet, it has to be admitted that what happened was also partly ESPN's responsibility, because they would only let the AAC add CUSA teams. The Sun Belt was off-limits, since it's an ESPN property - - else we could have gotten App State, Coastal, and Louisiana.

.

Mike Aresco gave a great interview heading into March Madness.

He confirms that the incumbent members will see not reduction in their media payouts, and discusses the importance of the AAC needing representation on the NCAA March Madness Selection committee.

He makes note of certain conferences that have gotten more bids but haven't been as productive with those bids as the American.

Mike Aresco on PJ Show 03-10-2022 (Full Interview)

https://943thegame.com/?page_id=292

(04-05-2022 12:05 AM)Once a Knight... Wrote:  As others have said I think Memphis and USF are the "next two".

Aresco said in his interview that part of the reason for going to 14 was to provide a buffer in case of a future raid.

So, I wouldn't expect the American to replace a Memphis/USF if it ever came to that.

A possible exception would be if Colorado State and Air Force contacted the AAC again (considering the MWC deal was short term) and/or Army decides to join a conference in light of CFP Expansion.

Mike Aresco is clearly basing his Commissioner style on HOFer Mike Slive, and one can see Slive's influence in AAC expansion.

(12-28-2021 05:40 PM)TroyTBoy Wrote:  

(12-05-2021 03:47 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  If you dont think Aresco has done a great job, especially when teams like Boise were being stupid and blowing things up, then you need to envision someone else running the conference through those times. It almost certainly would not have been as successful, and likely would have been downright abysmal.

1. Aresco single handidly made the access a reality. All other G4 conferences should thank him. If we ever get to a 6+6 model, you can thank him for that too because that likely would not have happened without the access and successful AAC teams pushing into championship territory.

2. The original ESPN contract was made fun of, but the amount of tv exposure it got the AAC teams directly on network and ESPN/ESPN2 allowed the conference to grow its viewership. To the point where the current AAC contract is now the envy of the G4.

EXACTLY!

Mike Aresco has to be smiling like a Proud Papa as the AAC stands atop the Conference Bowl standings undefeated with 2 wins against the SEC's Auburn and Florida... GOING INTO the CFP Semis with Cincinnati against the SEC's Alabama.

Again, the P6 initiative was genius. No other conference outside of autonomy has remotely achieved on the level of the AAC in the CFP era. It's arguably been a defacto Power league, considering how the American has owned the access spot (a spot that Mike Aresco fought relentlessly to secure - as a concession for the Old Big East's autobid being taken).


HOUSTON>AUBURN
UCF>FLORIDA

Houston beat an Auburn team that unraveled as the season went on. UCF beat a Florida team that was using an interim coach who did not get the head coach position.

In addition, St. Louis never joined the Big East or the AAC.