Conference Realignment: What Next?

[butlerguy03]

Tulane left the SEC if that counts.

Yeah, just a couple of years before power conferences really became a thing with live sports. Probably the biggest "doh" moment of all the schools left out of power conferences.

[GoldenWarrior11]

AAC is looking to expand.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... alignment/

AAC is expected to move first on any additional expansion because it lost three valuable pieces and is down to only eight members. If it loses two more members, the AAC's automatic qualification status for the NCAA Tournament could be impacted. Sources also tell CBS Sports that ESPN could rework its media rights deal with the AAC at a lower price due to a membership composition clause in their contract.

Sources say the clause could be activated if the AAC lost UConn, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. UConn left the AAC entirely in 2020, becoming an independent in football while joining the Big East for basketball and other sports.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco is not worried about a reworking of the deal, persons close to those discussions tell CBS Sports. Aresco has been telling constituents that he hopes to keep the value of the conference's media rights payout equal to what it was before Cincinnati, Houston and UCF left for the Big 12. AAC schools are paid approximately $7 million annually as part of a deal signed in 2019 with ESPN.

So Aresco and the AAC are going after Boise, San Diego State, Colorado State, and Air Force, but should that western pod decline, it's UAB, FAU, UTSA, and Rice...

The AAC as a tweener conference is DOA. The most valuable programs have been stripped of the AAC, leaving little left behind to salvage a strong TV contract. Similarly to the post-Big East in 2012, which only had UConn, Cincinnati and USF left behind, and programs like Tulane, ECU, Tulsa, Temple, SMU and the others were added, there is no available programs that realistically maintain, not add, value to the existing TV contract. Despite AAC fanboys in recent weeks arguing that the AAC would be poaching members from the Big 12 (which was adamantly shot down repeatedly), or that the AAC would be acquiring another fabled Western Wing with Boise State, San Diego State, Air Force, Colorado State, etc., the reality is that the AAC, foundationally, is always meant to be on the outside looking in - and it will continue to be a promotional league for C-USA.

To think, there were posters that not only believed but wasted time arguing that the AAC (2013-2020) was on-par with the Big East, or had the value of a power conference, remains laughable.

[Django]

So if the B12 stays in the P5, are Temple, USF (Big East) and SMU (Southwest) the only 3 remaining teams in the G5 that at one time were in a major conference? Then fell off?

Tulane left the SEC if that counts.

Forgot Tulane left the SEC... Call it the New Orleans version of the Curse of the Bambino!

[Omaha1]

Austin Peay leaving the OVC for the Atlantic Sun.

The release the school put out on the move emphasized the ASUN’s bid to become the nation’s top FCS football conference. Jacksonville State, which had been the OVC’s best football program for the last several years, already had announced it was leaving for the ASUN

[Bogg]

The noise today appears to be that Air Force and Colorado State are close to an agreement with the AAC, and that UAB is all but agreed on if the AAC can find a suitable fourth school. If that's the case, and Boise/SDSU stay in the MW, it'll be interesting to see what the MW does.

[GoldenWarrior11]

The noise today appears to be that Air Force and Colorado State are close to an agreement with the AAC, and that UAB is all but agreed on if the AAC can find a suitable fourth school. If that's the case, and Boise/SDSU stay in the MW, it'll be interesting to see what the MW does.

Adding Air Force as a full-member is certainly one way to get ECU, Tulane and USF out of the AAC Basketball basement. If Air Force, Colorado State, Rice and UAB are the four selected to expand with, replacing UConn, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, then AAC Basketball will undoubtedly be taking an even greater step back. Although, other than Memphis and Wichita State, I doubt any of the remaining members really care, as all are football-first athletic departments.

The MWC should have been all over adding Gonzaga/St. Mary's after BYU left. San Diego State, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah State and even Boise State are all better than a majority of the WCC, despite the MWC's bottom (Air Force/SJSU).

[Bogg]

Although, other than Memphis and Wichita State, I doubt any of the remaining members really care, as all are football-first athletic departments.

*sad Temple noises*

What a mess they've made of that program...

[ArmyVet]

Austin Peay leaving the OVC for the Atlantic Sun.

The release the school put out on the move emphasized the ASUN’s bid to become the nation’s top FCS football conference. Jacksonville State, which had been the OVC’s best football program for the last several years, already had announced it was leaving for the ASUN

Belmont is apparently leaving the OVC for the Missouri Valley Conference.

[kayako]

Austin Peay leaving the OVC for the Atlantic Sun.

The release the school put out on the move emphasized the ASUN’s bid to become the nation’s top FCS football conference. Jacksonville State, which had been the OVC’s best football program for the last several years, already had announced it was leaving for the ASUN

Belmont is apparently leaving the OVC for the Missouri Valley Conference.

Belmont's move was inevitable with its extreme outlier of a basketball budget. Probably a strong A10 candidate if they're in position to poach down the road. Grand Canyon is another school with an oversized basketball budget, possibly WCC bound.

[ArmyVet]

Belmont's move was inevitable with its extreme outlier of a basketball budget. Probably a strong A10 candidate if they're in position to poach down the road. Grand Canyon is another school with an oversized basketball budget, possibly WCC bound.

I'm not sure the A10 is better than the MVC at this point.