The AAAAAAAC and Advanced Marketing (or Self-Kidding)

[Hall2012]

Now I realize I'm defending Stever here a bit, so don't crucify me - but I think many of you guys are missing his point. Stever isn't trying to say the AAC is performing as well as (or anywhere close to) the Big East. He's just saying the AAC needs to walk before it can run - and despite lacking any impressive wins so far, it's doing much better than in the past by not piling up quite as many bad losses. In the AAC's current state, just winning games, regardless of who they're against, is going to help more than getting pasted by Big East and F5 teams. Once they get the embarrassing losses down to a decent level, then they can start sprinkling in some tough opponents. Right now, it wouldn't make any sense.

Please consider yourself crucified.

So, in other words, the fragile, brand-phobic AAC is taking baby steps to improve its otherwise weak position.

I'm saying that while it's still a garbage league, Stever may have a point in suggesting that it's slightly less garbage than the past few years.

[MarquetteRustler]

Can't believe you guys let stever troll you into a 22 page thread about the AAC.

[stever20]

Now I realize I'm defending Stever here a bit, so don't crucify me - but I think many of you guys are missing his point. Stever isn't trying to say the AAC is performing as well as (or anywhere close to) the Big East. He's just saying the AAC needs to walk before it can run - and despite lacking any impressive wins so far, it's doing much better than in the past by not piling up quite as many bad losses. In the AAC's current state, just winning games, regardless of who they're against, is going to help more than getting pasted by Big East and F5 teams. Once they get the embarrassing losses down to a decent level, then they can start sprinkling in some tough opponents. Right now, it wouldn't make any sense.

Please consider yourself crucified.

So, in other words, the fragile, brand-phobic AAC is taking baby steps to improve its otherwise weak position.

The thing is, it's NOT been baby steps. Is their schedule worse this year than it was last year? Nope. But yet they're 8.5 games better than they were last year right now. It's now clearly seperated from the other non P6 conferences. Even in the RPI which is still too early- they're #9- behind the P6, WAC, Sun Belt(both of which are sub .500 speaking to how early it is). Ahead of the A10, MVC, MWC, WCC.

[MullinMayhem]

By bringing in WSU, the AAC is definitely more credible as a conference but again they are 1 team. UConn has never been the same, Brown is gone from SMU, Memphis is not Memphis anymore, Temple hasn't really done much. Really the only legit teams nationally are WSU and Cincy. WSU will do well but let's remember they will not get automatic blowout wins anymore since they upgraded their conference. They will be tested against UConn, SMU, Memphis, Temple, Cincy, etc. even though I just said some of those are not world beaters, they are a clear step up from what they used to face in the MVC. Plus, not sure why no one mentions this, but Greg Marshall will be snatched away very shortly to a big football school. Who's to say WSU will be the same under another coach? Look what happened to VCU when Shaka left....they are still decent but nowhere near what they were. Keno Davis had Drake ranked not too long ago, then he left for PC and they just fell back to being nobodies.

Above all else though, the biggest weakness regarding the AAC is that EVERY school that wants to focus on football wants out and have no allegiance. UConn, Cincy, Temple, UCF, ECU, Houston, and Memphis would leave at the drop of a hat for an F5 conference. Hell, UConn would leave in a second for the Big East if they would just come to terms with the fact that they will never be great in football. That's what happens when you have a mish mosh of schools with no central value. Ours is private schools focused on basketball. People know the Big East. They know the success and the tradition. They know the schools (and Creighton, Xavier, and Butler are making names for themselves). No one knows what the AAC is or who's in it. I actually come across many people who don't even know UConn is in the AAC. ESPN was recently tipping their caps to the Big East as the top to bottom best conference thus far just as in previous years. You will never hear that with the AAC.

[stever20]

By bringing in WSU, the AAC is definitely more credible as a conference but again they are 1 team. UConn has never been the same, Brown is gone from SMU, Memphis is not Memphis anymore, Temple hasn't really done much. Really the only legit teams nationally are WSU and Cincy. WSU will do well but let's remember they will not get automatic blowout wins anymore since they upgraded their conference. They will be tested against UConn, SMU, Memphis, Temple, Cincy, etc. even though I just said some of those are not world beaters, they are a clear step up from what they used to face in the MVC. Plus, not sure why no one mentions this, but Greg Marshall will be snatched away very shortly to a big football school. Who's to say WSU will be the same under another coach? Look what happened to VCU when Shaka left....they are still decent but nowhere near what they were. Keno Davis had Drake ranked not too long ago, then he left for PC and they just fell back to being nobodies.

Above all else though, the biggest weakness regarding the AAC is that EVERY school that wants to focus on football wants out and have no allegiance. UConn, Cincy, Temple, UCF, ECU, Houston, and Memphis would leave at the drop of a hat for an F5 conference. Hell, UConn would leave in a second for the Big East if they would just come to terms with the fact that they will never be great in football. That's what happens when you have a mish mosh of schools with no central value. Ours is private schools focused on basketball. People know the Big East. They know the success and the tradition. They know the schools (and Creighton and Butler are making names for themselves). No one knows what the AAC is or who's in it. I actually come across many people who don't even know UConn is in the AAC. ESPN was recently tipping their caps to the Big East as the top to bottom best conference thus far just as in previous years. You will never hear that with the AAC.

Several things...
1- there is absolutely NO guarantee at all that Marshall will leave Wichita. Coaches don't have to leave their schools in basketball- several don't. See Gonzaga, Mark Few as a prime example.
2- For Wichita even if they lose some in the AAC, they're going to get rewarded with far better seeding. Remember last year when they go 17-1 in the MVC. What did that get them, a 10 seed? Going 14-4 in the AAC will get them a far better seed in the tournament. And that's huge.
3- Since Brown left SMU, SMU is 34-5. Temple has had injury problems but sure looks good this year so far(with Josh Brown back after a medical redshirt). We'll see about UConn this week in the PK80.
4- There's got to be a place for the teams to go from the AAC. Until that happens, the AAC is going to be great. Folks were saying give it a year or 2 and the AAC will be gone. Here we are on year 5. UConn won't leave the AAC because they aren't going to kill their football.

And the other thing- the AAC is the prime beneficiary of the A10 struggling this year. A10 is right now #10 in KP. If they finish there, that would be their worst finish since 2007 there.

[Edrick]

The AAC is what its going to be. It's always going to be the crappiest 'high major' or king "mid major" based on your perspective. It doesn't have construction to allow for change. It's always going to be the 7th or 8th best conference, which is kind of why people laugh at it. That level isn't laughable in of itself, its laughable when representatives of it (this site included) discuss it in terms of true high majors.

Its a fine league for what it is.

[stever20]

The AAC is what its going to be. It's always going to be the crappiest 'high major' or king "mid major" based on your perspective. It doesn't have construction to allow for change. It's always going to be the 7th or 8th best conference, which is kind of why people laugh at it. That level isn't laughable in of itself, its laughable when representatives of it (this site included) discuss it in terms of true high majors.

Its a fine league for what it is.

I don't think it's a guarantee at all that the AAC will always be 7th best. I mean right now, the gap between the AAC and Pac 12 in KP is less than the gap between the Big East and Big Ten right now. (10.28-8.99 vs 15.55-13.12).

[adoraz]

Well, right now just looked and the AAC is up to #9 in the RPI.

The AAC jumped up 7 spots today. That should tell you how early it is.

And sorry, but when the WAC is #4 in conference RPI with a 12-17 record, that should tell you everything you need to know about the validity of the RPI currently. It'll balance out- but it takes a while.

Got it, let's take the outlier and use it as proof the entire system has no significance at all.

Right now, the top 9:
1 Western Athletic
2 Southeastern
3 Big East
4 Big 12
5 Pacific-12
6 Atlantic Coast
7 Big Ten
8 American Athletic
9 Atlantic 10

Outside of the obvious outlier at #1 (and to your credit, that's a huge WTF) the rest of the list is pretty accurate, no? Yes a few conferences will be moved around, but considering there are 32 conferences and the 8 top conferences are in the top 9, there is SOME validity here.

All I'm saying is if you use logic, RPI, win %, whatever.... it's pretty clear Big East is a major step above the AAC still. But I do agree the AAC has improved with the addition of WSU. I am just skeptical of their long term prospects.

[billyjack]

Stever's original reasoning behind trolling our boards, going back 4 years and 8,260 posts ago, was to explain how the 10 of us were doomed to fail and that we were f-ckin idiots and we all sucked. Since this original crusade of his has proven to be absolutely and completely f-cking wrong, i don't know why he still posts here.

He should focus his energies somewhere else, in some other field of interest. Help develop a cure for the common cold, or come up with a better design for ketchup packets, or freakin take up golf or something.

Instead we're left discussing the freakin AAC, where half the schools' hoops programs could disband tomorrow and 95% of their fans wouldn't notice, and the other 5% wouldn't care. Half the freakin league draws like 3k a game. What a waste of our time.

[Xavier4036]

Steve,

Quit posting about the AAC. No one on this Big East board gives two shits about the American Athletic Conference.

Is the AAC better this year with Wichita State? Sure. It's a low bar when the AAC is coming off a year in which by every objective, factual measure they were more comparable with the MVC, Mountain West, A-10, MAC conferences than the P6.

Again, no one here cares about the AAC. There is no need for you to come and "defend" the AAC on a Big East board. I still think it's so odd you purport to be a Georgetown and Big East fan but any chance you get, you are talking about the AAC - and no other conference. If you are going to constantly talk about another conference, at least talk about one that has a similar level of success and strong programs as the Big East - and that isn't the American.