AAC about to expand/other realignment news

#2
#2
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#3
#3
Great question, BW. I imagine this somehow makes the AAC more valuable than SB or CUSA but I can't imagine it's by much.
 
#4
#4
2 more thoughts I have here.

If you're Navy, do you really want to stick around in this mess of a conference? AAC clearly couldn't get Army to sign-up. Air force didnt join either. The best 4 programs that bring the biggest exposure for recruiting are gone. I could see them going back Indy.

At some point the Mountain West has to make a move, right? It seems to me snagging the last 2 Texas teams (TX St and UTEP) is a good move. Might get them back to the bargaining table to renegotiate their lowball TV deal. Seems weird to me they just sat back and allowed the AAC to sign most of the TX teams with no fight.
 
#5
#5
UTwild82 said:
2 more thoughts I have here.

If you're Navy, do you really want to stick around in this mess of a conference? AAC clearly couldn't get Army to sign-up. Air force didnt join either. The best 4 programs that bring the biggest exposure for recruiting are gone. I could see them going back Indy.

At some point the Mountain West has to make a move, right? It seems to me snagging the last 2 Texas teams (TX St and UTEP) is a good move. Might get them back to the bargaining table to renegotiate their lowball TV deal. Seems weird to me they just sat back and allowed the AAC to sign most of the TX teams with no fight.
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I think their goal is to see if they can get North Dakota St to move up to FBS.
 
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#6
#6
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#7
#7
bamawriter said:
How does this help? How does this make the AAC anything more than another CUSA? There's no way it actually increases the value of their broadcast rights.
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Pretty much all of the Other 5 have been doing this for a while now; a reshuffling of deck chairs.
 
#8
#8
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#10
#10
Hoosier_Vol said:
Marshall and WKU with App st, UL Lafayette, and Coastal Carolina wouldn’t be terrible.
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I actually liked CUSA's proposal about taking all members of the AAC, CUSA, and Sun Belt and creating three or four new conferences based on geography. Seems like it had the opportunity to create better match-ups.
 
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#11
#11
UTwild82 said:
2 more thoughts I have here.

If you're Navy, do you really want to stick around in this mess of a conference? AAC clearly couldn't get Army to sign-up. Air force didnt join either. The best 4 programs that bring the biggest exposure for recruiting are gone. I could see them going back Indy.

At some point the Mountain West has to make a move, right? It seems to me snagging the last 2 Texas teams (TX St and UTEP) is a good move. Might get them back to the bargaining table to renegotiate their lowball TV deal. Seems weird to me they just sat back and allowed the AAC to sign most of the TX teams with no fight.
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Navy is only a member for football. I’m curious how it’s going to make sense in the future for independents. I’d have to think the major conferences are going to start cutting OOC opponents. And schools like Army and Navy are certainly not ones they’ll schedule. Unfortunately I think they’ll just have to pick a conference even if it’s ****. I also like the idea of splitting up conferences based on geography. Especially from a financial standpoint. It will cut down significantly on travel expenses, which is going to be critical for these programs, and will lead to better rivalries and matchups. They might not get national exposure but will lead to stronger regional interest, Id think
 
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#12
#12
I know Rice sucks, but from a financial perspective do they not have the resources that would make them an attractive addition to the B1G?
 
#13
#13
golfballs said:
I know Rice sucks, but from a financial perspective do they not have the resources that would make them an attractive addition to the B1G?
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Rice is obviously great for geography, but it's a small school that doesn't put a ton of money into athletics. They'd basically be a Vanderbilt in the Big 10.
 
#17
#17
UTSA was a good addition for them. The program has steadily progressed and are now accepted as San Antonio's team. The Roadrunners moved into the Top 25 for the first time in school history this week and will remain a solid program no matter if HFC Jeff Traylor stays or goes. Too many good recruits in that region to suggest otherwise.

 
#18
#18
bamawriter said:
They'd do better in the Big 12 than the Big 10, but they'd be useless to the Big 12. The Big 12 will already have 4 schools in TX, including the largest school in the city of Houston.
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The Big 12 is no longer a power conference. It's like Triple A at best and at that point markets become even less important. Rice might not invest a lot in their football program but at least they have resources to keep it afloat. Once athletic departments have to start paying players a portion of revenue they'll be one of the few operating in the minor conferences that have resources to pull from to remain in business.
 
#19
#19
golfballs said:
The Big 12 is no longer a power conference. It's like Triple A at best and at that point markets become even less important. Rice might not invest a lot in their football program but at least they have resources to keep it afloat. Once athletic departments have to start paying players a portion of revenue they'll be one of the few operating in the minor conferences that have resources to pull from to remain in business.
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I mostly agree with that. I just don't see them as a major priority for any of the Power 5. But, I've been wrong before.
 
#20
#20
bamawriter said:
I mostly agree with that. I just don't see them as a major priority for any of the Power 5. But, I've been wrong before.
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It's obviously going to be a little while before it comes to that point and of course in the meantime Rice has basically no value until that point. It's kind of interesting because IIRC Houston and Cincinnati have two of the most heavily state-funded athletic departments in the country. Will be interesting to see how states respond with funding when a portion of that is going to have to be for player pay.
 
#22
#22
golfballs said:
Just for fun clustered all the AAC, Sun Belt, and CUSA teams plus some of the independents (who will be forced to join confernces IMO) based on distance and put the results on the map:
View attachment 404452
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Looking at that map one thing that jumps out is Marshall belongs in the MAC. They are closer to several MAC schools than any of the others. Could the MAC try to expand with them and WKU? With 6 teams leaving, that conference is certainly more stable than either Sunbelt or CUSA.
 
#23
#23
UTwild82 said:
Looking at that map one thing that jumps out is Marshall belongs in the MAC. They are closer to several MAC schools than any of the others. Could the MAC try to expand with them and WKU? With 6 teams leaving, that conference is certainly more stable than either Sunbelt or CUSA.
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Marshall was in the MAC years ago. Don't know if there are still hard feelings.
 
#25
#25
Ok, so I got bored. Using golfballs map, here's my "won't ever happen and never will because it's about TV dollars not common sense" solution:

Mtn West - adds UTEP and NMSU. These teams join Mtn division, Boise goes to West division.

MAC - adds WKU (goes to west division) and Marshall (goes to East Division).

New AAC
North Division - Old Dominion, Liberty, App St, ECU, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, and MTSU
South Division - GA St, GA Southern, USF, FAU, FIU, UAB, and Troy

New Sunbelt
East Division - South Alabama, Southern Miss, Memphis, Arkansas St, ULM, ULL, and Tulane
West Division - LA Tech, North Texas, SMU, UTSA, TX St, Rice, and Tulsa

Now it's crazy idea time....bring back the Big East football Conference. Now, this will never happen IRL because of how the whole BE and AAC split, but I think it makes sense. It's a very, very limited football conference. Temple and UMass join BE in basketball and football. Villanova (the only current BE team besides UConn that has scholarship football) gets promoted. And Army and Navy (football only) have a place to park their football teams. So it looks like this

UConn, Villanova, Temple, UMass, Navy, and Army.

It's a terrible conference, but that's half the point. It gives BE teams a safe place to park their football teams with no chance of attracting football first programs, which is how the BE wants it.
 
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