Conference realignment discussion - v. 2015

[handdownmandown]

Check your sarcasm meter, Bill.

[Hoya Hoya Hoya]

I think the most absurd thing I have seen lately is AAC Fans claiming to be P6 haha

[GoldenWarrior11]

While the American is most certainly not a P5 conference, it has clearly separated itself from the G5. However, if/when raids occur for the P5, guess which conference will be ripe for the picking?

That's the unfortunate truth to being in the American, everyone will leave at a moment's notice for a slot in one of the Power 5 conferences, yet everyone will beat their chests saying how much better they are than other conferences.

If the American was a power conference, then schools like UConn, Temple, Houston, East Carolina, UCF, USF and Cincinnati would actually turn down invites (if/when they were to come) from the likes of the ACC, Big 12, B1G or SEC. That, as any casual football fan would say, would NEVER happen.

[NJRedman]

If Temple can sustain this FB success then UConn better watch out for them stealing a spot in the ACC if that conference ever decides it wants to expand. Good football (if they can keep it up), good BBall and right in the heart of Philly. They would be a very attractive option if they become one of the top FB teams in the AAC annually.

[Edrick]

Of course they cannot sustain it in football. Anyway here are the conference football rankings.

1 SEC-WEST (A) = 84.02
2 BIG 12 (A) = 80.00
3 PAC-12(SOUTH) (A) = 79.48
4 PAC-12(NORTH) (A) = 78.32
5 SEC-EAST (A) = 77.03
6 ACC-COASTAL (A) = 76.89
7 BIG TEN-EAST (A) = 75.77
8 BIG TEN-WEST (A) = 75.66
9 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 74.69
10 ACC-ATLANTIC (A) = 74.48
11 AAC WEST (A) = 67.54
12 AAC EAST (A) = 66.89
13 MWC-MOUNTAIN (A) = 64.29
14 MAC-WEST (A) = 63.12
15 MISSOURI VALLEY (AA)= 58.86
16 MWC-WEST (A) = 58.30

The AAC is literally as close to the FCS Missouri Valley as they are to the worst of the P5.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sa ... onference/

Last year, the Missouri Valley was quite a bit better than the AAC.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sa ... onference/

[gosports1]

While the American is most certainly not a P5 conference, it has clearly separated itself from the G5. However, if/when raids occur for the P5, guess which conference will be ripe for the picking?

That's the unfortunate truth to being in the American, everyone will leave at a moment's notice for a slot in one of the Power 5 conferences, yet everyone will beat their chests saying how much better they are than other conferences.

If the American was a power conference, then schools like UConn, Temple, Houston, East Carolina, UCF, USF and Cincinnati would actually turn down invites (if/when they were to come) from the likes of the ACC, Big 12, B1G or SEC. That, as any casual football fan would say, would NEVER happen.

thats always been the problem. Back when there was BIG EAST FB the same issue. All the schools that left were only interested in themselves. Had they had the loyality to stick together that fb league would have been pretty good

[NJRedman]

Of course they cannot sustain it in football. Anyway here are the conference football rankings.

1 SEC-WEST (A) = 84.02
2 BIG 12 (A) = 80.00
3 PAC-12(SOUTH) (A) = 79.48
4 PAC-12(NORTH) (A) = 78.32
5 SEC-EAST (A) = 77.03
6 ACC-COASTAL (A) = 76.89
7 BIG TEN-EAST (A) = 75.77
8 BIG TEN-WEST (A) = 75.66
9 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 74.69
10 ACC-ATLANTIC (A) = 74.48
11 AAC WEST (A) = 67.54
12 AAC EAST (A) = 66.89
13 MWC-MOUNTAIN (A) = 64.29
14 MAC-WEST (A) = 63.12
15 MISSOURI VALLEY (AA)= 58.86
16 MWC-WEST (A) = 58.30

The AAC is literally as close to the FCS Missouri Valley as they are to the worst of the P5.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sa ... onference/

Last year, the Missouri Valley was quite a bit better than the AAC.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sa ... onference/

What do you mean of course they can't sustain it? You do know they have now been bowl eligible under three straight coaches 4 times in the last 6 years. I think they can definitely sustain itself in the upper half of the AAC with a few titles/title game appearances. And if anyone holds a sliver of hope that UConn might one day rejoin us then rooting for Temple to succeed is the way to go. A Temple who becomes an AAC power is a sexy candidate for the ACC,

[AACguy]

I sense some ill will toward the AAC here but generally speaking we are more alike than different. Heck I feel that anyone who isn't included among the P5 leagues should realize that. I will root for the Big East everytime you play a P5 team in any sport and would think many of you would do the same for our football teams.

[NovaBall]

Big east has tons of cash, great media support and exposure, teams with strong fan bases in major markets, and respect from the NCAA tourney selection committee

AAC has a bunch of programs running in the red, no media exposure, lots of rpi poison, and outside of a handful of teams they have programs with no tradition or fans.

They are not similar at all. Big east suffers no disadvantage from the P5 football schools when you view the resources and facilities and fan bases and media exposure from a basketball perspective.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Big east has tons of cash, great media support and exposure, teams with strong fan bases in major markets, and respect from the NCAA tourney selection committee

AAC has a bunch of programs running in the red, no media exposure, lots of rpi poison, and outside of a handful of teams they have programs with no tradition or fans.

They are not similar at all. Big east suffers no disadvantage from the P5 football schools when you view the resources and facilities and fan bases and media exposure from a basketball perspective.

+1, Nova. The Big East is viewed as an equal, basketball-wise, by the P5. The AAC, in all sports, is still viewed as "not good enough" and "beneath" the P5 - however right or wrong that is. Personally, a number of AAC schools are capable of "replacing" some P5 schools, but that's just by opinion. The fact remains that in basketball and football, the AAC has consistently had "drainers" on its conference standing. Whether it has been Tulane, East Carolina, Houston, USF or UCF in basketball, or Tulsa, Tulane, UCF, Connecticut, SMU or USF in football, the league is constantly brought down by the bottom like a burdensome anchor. Top schools, like UConn/Memphis/Cincinnati in basketball or Cincinnati, ECU, or Temple in football, never get the national recognition they deserve because of the affiliation they have with the other schools. It is what it is - and it's why each school would shove their conference members into the ocean without a life preserver in order to be saved by the P5. It's survival of the fittest in the AAC, and only the strong will survive.

There's nothing wrong with any of that, but to say that the Big East and AAC are similar is inaccurate, IMHO. The Big East is stable, strong and building towards a united future. In 10 years, the Big East is much more likely to have the same 10 schools than the schools the AAC currently has today (which has already lost Rutgers and Louisville after Year One).