2018 Recruiting Class Could Be The Best Yet

[GumbyDamnit!]

gotta absolutely love how folks are ok comparing the Big East to the AAC in recruiting, but don't want to have them in any comparisons during the actual season. Just sayin......

Here's the thing Stever, there really is no comparison at this point. Why do you think that is? I mean I would expect a gap between the conferences, but the past couple of years the AAC has brought in very little top end talent at all. Some of these are (once) proud programs. What's going on in your opinion?

[stever20]

gotta absolutely love how folks are ok comparing the Big East to the AAC in recruiting, but don't want to have them in any comparisons during the actual season. Just sayin......

Here's the thing Stever, there really is no comparison at this point. Why do you think that is? I mean I would expect a gap between the conferences, but the past couple of years the AAC has brought in very little top end talent at all. Some of these are (once) proud programs. What's going on in your opinion?

Really it's been 2 classes that weren't great at all- 2016 and 2017. It'll be interesting to see how this year winds up recruiting wise for them.

I think the big thing will be going forward will be can UConn get back to winning not titles- but not losing those dumb OOC games like they have the last few years. I think last year those early OOC losses just killed the season. And Wichita gives the AAC a golden chance to have a top notch team who can go far in the tourney. And if that happens, recruiting will follow.

I do think similar to the big east, the AAC is getting a good bit of guys transferring in. I mean, the best guy in the AAC last year was probably that guy from SMU- Ojeleye. He transferred in from Duke. Another top 5 player was a guy who transferred in from NC State. Transfer guys aren't really counted in the recruiting battles.

[LMS]

gotta absolutely love how folks are ok comparing the Big East to the AAC in recruiting, but don't want to have them in any comparisons during the actual season. Just sayin......

Here's the thing Stever, there really is no comparison at this point. Why do you think that is? I mean I would expect a gap between the conferences, but the past couple of years the AAC has brought in very little top end talent at all. Some of these are (once) proud programs. What's going on in your opinion?

I actually wonder if Stever is a closet Shockers fan. I drive by the Valley board once in a while and I read the opinion of Wichita St fans about the Big East and there are similarities. Exhibit A: http://www.mvcfans.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 8&start=12

[Savannah Jay]

gotta absolutely love how folks are ok comparing the Big East to the AAC in recruiting, but don't want to have them in any comparisons during the actual season. Just sayin......

Here's the thing Stever, there really is no comparison at this point. Why do you think that is? I mean I would expect a gap between the conferences, but the past couple of years the AAC has brought in very little top end talent at all. Some of these are (once) proud programs. What's going on in your opinion?

No one would be comparing the Big East to the AAC in anything except for your incessant cheerleading for the AAC on the Big East's message board, which triggers a response mechanism in some folks. I am guessing most on here don't give a flying H feck about the AAC. If you spent your time on the AAC board (I assume there is one...maybe not) instead of here then the number of times the AAC comes up in conversation on this board would be almost non-existent.

[GumbyDamnit!]

gotta absolutely love how folks are ok comparing the Big East to the AAC in recruiting, but don't want to have them in any comparisons during the actual season. Just sayin......

Here's the thing Stever, there really is no comparison at this point. Why do you think that is? I mean I would expect a gap between the conferences, but the past couple of years the AAC has brought in very little top end talent at all. Some of these are (once) proud programs. What's going on in your opinion?

Really it's been 2 classes that weren't great at all- 2016 and 2017. It'll be interesting to see how this year winds up recruiting wise for them.

I think the big thing will be going forward will be can UConn get back to winning not titles- but not losing those dumb OOC games like they have the last few years. I think last year those early OOC losses just killed the season. And Wichita gives the AAC a golden chance to have a top notch team who can go far in the tourney. And if that happens, recruiting will follow.

I do think similar to the big east, the AAC is getting a good bit of guys transferring in. I mean, the best guy in the AAC last year was probably that guy from SMU- Ojeleye. He transferred in from Duke. Another top 5 player was a guy who transferred in from NC State. Transfer guys aren't really counted in the recruiting battles.

The transfer scene is a good point. It is not captured in recruiting rankings. Perhaps that is what will fuel some success over there. The BE has certainly found a lot of success in the transfer market, so there's no reason that the AAC can't do the same.

In UCONN's case though, it has seemed like along with a poor 2016-17 classes they've lost a few guys they were once very high on. 3 guys transferring out just this year. Now they're looking at the JUCO guys. SMH. This is a program that used to compete with the high majors for recruits. Same with Memphis. Say what you will about Pastner but he could recruit at a very high level (as did Calipari before him). Fran Dunphy is really struggling recruiting at Temple. When was the last Top 25-50 kid that they brought in? You may be right that WSU needs to carry that league for a year or two and hope for their success to rub off.

I think the bigger problem for the AAC is branding and identity. Take Temple for example. They are trying so hard to transform from a GREAT BB school into a FB school. They are draining their athletic budgets, cutting every non-revenue generating sport in their wake, trying to grab the brass ring of major college / P5 FB. But I just don't see it ever happening. Same with UCONN. As a BB recruit you might be lured in to the fun of fall weekends on campus at a FB-focused school. But why be a 2nd fiddle at a school like Temple or Memphis where the product is just so-so? The message of the BE resonates with so many kids who want to be the top dogs on campus, deferring to no one. They want to play in a league where there is energy and a buzz, where several teams play March and are on national TV every night. One thing I will concede to you is that it is probably better for the BE to have other conferences that are not FB P5 be successful so there is no change of a breakaway from the NCAA. But I just don't think the AAC is up to the task right now. And their recruiting kind of supports that belief.

[stever20]

UConn really has had 1 bad class. Kind of hard to make broad generalizations about them just off of that.

Temple to me hasn't been a Great BB school. They're on that next level. I mean, they remind me somewhat of Xavier in that they got to the elite 8 5 times from 88-01, but never could break thru. They're a really good program, and really haven't had much of a decline.

AS far as your supposition about guys wanting to be top dogs. I think that's part of why the transfer market has been so strong for the Big East. It's really not shown itself in the freshmen recruiting. I mean, this year only 5 top 50 recruiting classes. Good, but not great.

I think the AAC this season gets a huge boost with Wichita. They took Kentucky to the wire last year. And with how much better the AAC is than the MVC- not to mention that Wichita will see the bad teams only once- they're going to be so much more battle tested going into the tourney- along with the vastly improved SOS.. And the AAC is able to schedule where top teams all get to avoid the bottom teams. Getting 4 or 5 teams in the tourney next year is very possible. they're going to be able to have the final standings where you have 7 or 8 teams finishing with winning records.

[muskienick]

It seems to me that as long as there are 4-5 members of the AAC stretching their necks to see which Conference will be next (among the Power 5 FB leagues) to consider additions. Which ones might want to team with another conference to form top-shelf 16-member conferences? Which teams might be left out in the cold but still better by far than the dregs of the AAC (and looking for the opportunity to create another "Power Conference" with the best of the AAC?

The bottom line is, the AAC's recruiting will always be a couple of rungs below the Power 5 and Big East because of the uncertainty of its future (and the desire of numerous of its members to land somewhere better). As each succeeding year of the AAC's existence pass, their members become more firmly entrenched in mediocrity. And as it was in the demise of the earlier Big East, Football is the cause of its woes.

[GumbyDamnit!]

UConn really has had 1 bad class. Kind of hard to make broad generalizations about them just off of that.

Temple to me hasn't been a Great BB school. They're on that next level. I mean, they remind me somewhat of Xavier in that they got to the elite 8 5 times from 88-01, but never could break thru. They're a really good program, and really haven't had much of a decline.

AS far as your supposition about guys wanting to be top dogs. I think that's part of why the transfer market has been so strong for the Big East. It's really not shown itself in the freshmen recruiting. I mean, this year only 5 top 50 recruiting classes. Good, but not great.

I think the AAC this season gets a huge boost with Wichita. They took Kentucky to the wire last year. And with how much better the AAC is than the MVC- not to mention that Wichita will see the bad teams only once- they're going to be so much more battle tested going into the tourney- along with the vastly improved SOS.. And the AAC is able to schedule where top teams all get to avoid the bottom teams. Getting 4 or 5 teams in the tourney next year is very possible. they're going to be able to have the final standings where you have 7 or 8 teams finishing with winning records.

Just when I thought you and I were having a reasonable conversation... So yet again, everything is going to magically fall in place for the AAC and you feel that the BE has not done as well recruiting. WTF are you talking about? In the Rivals, Scout and ESPN Top 25 Team Recruiting rankings the BE has 4 teams included. The AAC has ZERO!!!! How about players? In the last 4 recruiting cycles the AAC has brought in 14 Top 100 players for 12 programs (that includes WSU). Or 0.29 recruits per school per year. Good, right? The BE, who has not been able to "show itself in the freshmen recruiting" has brought in 32 for 10 teams or 0.80 per team. So you can say that the BE is 2.75x more effective recruiting those freshmen than the AAC is. Wow. That's not even close.

RE: Temple. From 1984 to 2001 they made the tournament 17 out of 18 years and won 23 tournament games. Show me a team not named UNC or Duke that came close to that over that same period of time. They are also top 10 all-time in wins. The 7 years prior to the AAC they made it 6 times. But since they've gotten to the AAC: once--a quick first round exit. So maybe you need to reconsider what "decline" means.

What else you got?

[EMT]

UConn really has had 1 bad class. Kind of hard to make broad generalizations about them just off of that.

Temple to me hasn't been a Great BB school. They're on that next level. I mean, they remind me somewhat of Xavier in that they got to the elite 8 5 times from 88-01, but never could break thru. They're a really good program, and really haven't had much of a decline.

AS far as your supposition about guys wanting to be top dogs. I think that's part of why the transfer market has been so strong for the Big East. It's really not shown itself in the freshmen recruiting. I mean, this year only 5 top 50 recruiting classes. Good, but not great.

I think the AAC this season gets a huge boost with Wichita. They took Kentucky to the wire last year. And with how much better the AAC is than the MVC- not to mention that Wichita will see the bad teams only once- they're going to be so much more battle tested going into the tourney- along with the vastly improved SOS.. And the AAC is able to schedule where top teams all get to avoid the bottom teams. Getting 4 or 5 teams in the tourney next year is very possible. they're going to be able to have the final standings where you have 7 or 8 teams finishing with winning records.

Just when I thought you and I were having a reasonable conversation... So yet again, everything is going to magically fall in place for the AAC and you feel that the BE has not done as well recruiting. WTF are you talking about? In the Rivals, Scout and ESPN Top 25 Team Recruiting rankings the BE has 4 teams included. The AAC has ZERO!!!! How about players? In the last 4 recruiting cycles the AAC has brought in 14 Top 100 players for 12 programs (that includes WSU). Or 0.29 recruits per school per year. Good, right? The BE, who has not been able to "show itself in the freshmen recruiting" has brought in 32 for 10 teams or 0.80 per team. So you can say that the BE is 2.75x more effective recruiting those freshmen than the AAC is. Wow. That's not even close.

RE: Temple. From 1984 to 2001 they made the tournament 17 out of 18 years and won 23 tournament games. Show me a team not named UNC or Duke that came close to that over that same period of time. They are also top 10 all-time in wins. The 7 years prior to the AAC they made it 6 times. But since they've gotten to the AAC: once--a quick first round exit. So maybe you need to reconsider what "decline" means.

What else you got?

The BE on a per team basis probably stacks up well against the other P6 conferences.... How come he never speaks of the A10 even though they outperform the AAC every year.

[Xavier4036]

gotta absolutely love how folks are ok comparing the Big East to the AAC in recruiting, but don't want to have them in any comparisons during the actual season. Just sayin......

Stever, PLEASE compare them during the "actual season"

One conference (the Big East) is a consistently Top 3 conference in the country and gets up to 70% of their conference in the NCAA tournament with a national championship and multiple Sweet 16 and Elite 8 runs

The other conference (American Athletic) is the 7th or 8th conference in the country and gets 2-3 teams in the NCAA tournament each year.