(05-14-2022 10:20 AM)andybible1995 Wrote: UMass has been screwed over more than any school in the era of conference realignment. A once proud Northeast team that won an FCS national championship in 1998 over Georgia Southern, has now been relegated to the nomadism of being an FBS independent after leaving the MAC.
With that in mind, what if the newly formed AAC had decided to go another direction and add a 12th full member to the conference?
There's no way they would have added UMass, rather than Navy, so
let's consider this alternative:
What if they had added UMass and Navy?, and
What if ESPN's strong interest in establishing a strong presence in the massive northeastern U.S. marketplace would have offset concerns about the UMass football program?
(05-14-2022 10:20 AM)andybible1995 Wrote: Would UMass had been more successful than they are now?
Yes, they probably would have been more successful, in part, because they would have received a lot more broadcasting revenue and played a lot more nationally-televised games. This, in addition to frequent games vs. regional rivals such as Temple, UConn, and Navy would have helped to boost their attendance and recruiting.
With the additional revenue, UMass probably would have expanded their football facilities, and
they probably wouldn't have been permitted to join the conference without agreeing to expand their football stadium or play their games at a larger stadium in the region.
(05-14-2022 10:20 AM)andybible1995 Wrote: Would UConn have remained in the conference?
That seems unlikely, though possible, since adding UMass would have lowered their travel costs by close to 10%, and would have added high attendance regional rivalry FB and MBB games.
(05-14-2022 10:20 AM)andybible1995 Wrote: How would they have adjusted if the realignment moves that have recently occurred IRL still happened in an alternate timeline?
Doubtful that they would have had to adjust. They would have simply remained in the conference, as the others have, and there would be 9, rather than 8 AAC remainers.