Non-Big East Conference Realignment Thread v. 2017

[Bill Marsh]

http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/wichita-state-getting-serious-evaluation-to-join-american-athletic-conference/

Now Dodd chimes in on Wichita to AAC. Whatever "full membership" means, if it's Wichita only, lol @ AAC footprint for UCONN and Temple.

Great point.

I thought it was a huge mistake for the AAC to add Tulsa instead of UMass. Had they taken UMass instead and then added VCU to balance Navy football in the Cheasapeake region, then they would actually have had a viable East division. UConn can't be happy with the direction the conference has taken.

[marquette]

VCU and/or Dayton would never leave the A10 for the AAC.

Wichita State is not even on the radar of the Presidents of the Big East schools. It is a public commuter school with 14,500 students, very low academic standards, and a 96% acceptance rate. In short, it is the polar opposite of the Big East schools in every institutional category.

The thing is, if VCU were to leave for the AAC, the A10 would be down to Dayton, maybe Rhode Island, and then a huge drop off.

So if VCU were gone, Dayton would be in really deep trouble. The A10 would be lucky to be as good as the MVC was this year if VCU is gone. And it would be a whole hell of a lot harder to keep Archie Miller in a conference like that.

March 7, 2017 Tweet

VCU AD Ed McLaughlin, on recent report AAC may want to add VCU and others: "We have no interest in the American Athletic Conference."

I can see why they might not be interested. My guess is that the AAC is not interested in splitting prior-earned NCAA units with new members. I'm doing this from memory and my memory may be wrong/things may have changed but I believe the A10 has a $1 million exit fee and $350,000/year/school tv contract and a similar but slightly less stockpile of NCAA units than the AAC, of Which A10 schools keep 75% of what they earn. I believe the AAC contract is for $1.7 million/year/school and I haven't heard of any expansion clause and I believe AAC schools keep 50% of what they earn from NCAA units. The AAC schools would have to each take a $75k cut in order to up the tv money for A10 schools. The conference would likely earn more bids but it would also be split more ways and less favorably, so in the long run may or may not benefit the A10 schools but in the short run they would probably lose all of their current NCAA unit money. There might also be a buy-in fee to join the AAC, as I believe there is to join the BE. I can see why there would at least be some hesitation.

[kayako]

I thought it was a huge mistake for the AAC to add Tulsa instead of UMass. Had they taken UMass instead and then added VCU to balance Navy football in the Cheasapeake region, then they would actually have had a viable East division. UConn can't be happy with the direction the conference has taken.

"East division" still stretches from New England to Florida, it's terrible. Yeah, VCU does make a ton of sense, as do Wichita State at this point, but let them keep thinking football. It's good for us. AAC is so close to P5 they can just taste it

[Bill Marsh]

I thought it was a huge mistake for the AAC to add Tulsa instead of UMass. Had they taken UMass instead and then added VCU to balance Navy football in the Cheasapeake region, then they would actually have had a viable East division. UConn can't be happy with the direction the conference has taken.

"East division" still stretches from New England to Florida, it's terrible. Yeah, VCU does make a ton of sense, as do Wichita State at this point, but let them keep thinking football. It's good for us. AAC is so close to P5 they can just taste it

I was thinking an East/North division that would have looked like this:

UMass
UConn
Temple
Navy/VCU
East Carolina
Cincinnati

South/West Division

Central Florida
South Florida
Tulane
Memphis
SMU
Houston

Such an alignment would keep together programs that fit geographically and/or have some shared history.

[GoldenWarrior11]

The biggest mistake the AAC made, in adding C-USA members in Houston, SMU, East Carolina, Memphis, UCF, and Tulane, was creating a brand and image that did not separate itself from Conference USA. They used a similar color scheme, logo, and branding in creating a new identity, and casual fans immediately thought of C-USA (including former C-USA teams in Cincinnati and USF). They should have taken the Metro Conference name and created a new branding. This is a big reason why they are not seriously considered a power conference in football.

[kayako]

I was thinking an East/North division that would have looked like this:

UMass
UConn
Temple
Navy/VCU
East Carolina
Cincinnati

South/West Division

Central Florida
South Florida
Tulane
Memphis
SMU
Houston

Such an alignment would keep together programs that fit geographically and/or have some shared history.

Where does Tulsa go? I'd say UMass is a stretch at this point.

[Bill Marsh]

I was thinking an East/North division that would have looked like this:

UMass
UConn
Temple
Navy/VCU
East Carolina
Cincinnati

South/West Division

Central Florida
South Florida
Tulane
Memphis
SMU
Houston

Such an alignment would keep together programs that fit geographically and/or have some shared history.

Where does Tulsa go? I'd say UMass is a stretch at this point.

My point was that adding Tulsa was a mistake and that UMass should have been the choice instead. So Tulsa is not in the picture that I'm describing.

UMass is a stretch based on performance, but there are other factors. In their favor is that they are the flagship university with an enrollment of 30,000 in a state with a population of almost 7 million and with only 1 other FBS
program in the state.

In contrast, Tulsa is a small private university, which is the 3rd FBS school in a state of 4 million. Their home attendance in football is only 19,000 and in basketball is only 6500. Given the competition in their location, it's unlikely that they'll ever do much better in either sport. Their ceiling is limited.

When the AAC had to add a program, there really were no quality choices. IMO, it would have made more sense to use the opportunity to balance their geography and choose a program with a high ceiling. UMass offered the potential to meet both needs.

[Bill Marsh]

The biggest mistake the AAC made, in adding C-USA members in Houston, SMU, East Carolina, Memphis, UCF, and Tulane, was creating a brand and image that did not separate itself from Conference USA. They used a similar color scheme, logo, and branding in creating a new identity, and casual fans immediately thought of C-USA (including former C-USA teams in Cincinnati and USF). They should have taken the Metro Conference name and created a new branding. This is a big reason why they are not seriously considered a power conference in football.

What was the alternative?

[DudeAnon]

Don't know why I have had such a turn of heart for expansion. But another reason we should expand is: simply more word of mouth. 2 more teams means 2 more teams capable of making headlines.

[UDFlyerNation]

@dudeanon - maybe it has something to do with the AACs interest in Dayton.