Mike Aresco: Strike Now!
- Thread starter Ace of Knights
- Start date
BYU will not join AAC if they can't work it out to join any legit conferences. Air Force, Army , FIU etc would be more of the same we already have. No one is showing up to those games either.
Aresco: AAC’s profile boosted by Big 12 expansion process
http://sportsnola.com/aresco-aacs-profile-boosted-big-12-expansion-process/
http://sportsnola.com/aresco-aacs-profile-boosted-big-12-expansion-process/
Excellent article. And I'm happy to see everyone thinking about the futur of our conference.
That is actually an excellent byproduct of this failed process and a way to flip the field in the AAC's favor.
Aresco 1
Little12 0
BYU would be a huge get for the AAC but it will never happen. What does BYU really gain by joining the AAC, that they couldn't get from joining the Mountain West and staying in their region?
It would also be great to nab Boise State and Colorado State, but for the same reason I don't know if the incentive is there for those schools to increase their travel expenses for an arguably minor improvement in football competition.
More realistic, and an idea I like, is going after UNLV and Nevada -- those schools would have an incentive to join the AAC. Both have strong basketball programs, and would be joining a much better basketball conference in the AAC. Nevada usually has a good football team as well, and UNLV certainly has the potential to build its football brand. With UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, Memphis, UNLV and Nevada, that is Power 6 basketball.
It would also be great to nab Boise State and Colorado State, but for the same reason I don't know if the incentive is there for those schools to increase their travel expenses for an arguably minor improvement in football competition.
More realistic, and an idea I like, is going after UNLV and Nevada -- those schools would have an incentive to join the AAC. Both have strong basketball programs, and would be joining a much better basketball conference in the AAC. Nevada usually has a good football team as well, and UNLV certainly has the potential to build its football brand. With UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, Memphis, UNLV and Nevada, that is Power 6 basketball.
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco: Potential Big 12 expansion a 'colossal distraction'
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...tential-big-12-expansion-colossal-distraction
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...tential-big-12-expansion-colossal-distraction
Good points. That said the only positives left for BYU joining the American would be something because its something new, if they want more of an east coast appeal its the best way to do it because of the TV markets. Theyve already been with the Mountain West, but left after Utah moved to the Pac 12. Both have TV deals with the American Perhaps that should add additional value too.
Snagging the Air Force Academy from the MWC and adding Army would affiliate the American with the Commader in Chief's Trophy and the conference would have the last regular season game with Army/Navy.
I doubt BYU needs anything from the AAC. When at graduate school in FSU 20 plus years ago, the Mormons would gather around their church to watch the game every Sat. and that was before easy access to the Mormon TV channel. They already have a built in base that few other universities have.
More attention to AAC not because of football or production, but because a P5 wanted to take 2-3 of it's best teams, which, eventho there was the attention there was always this statement "None of them really deserve to be invited, none of them are that good." Any attention isn't always good, especially when you have most of the attention being- they don't play P5 football. The only one mentioned as deserving was Houston, and that died quickly.
I have to agree with others on here now, the best way forward for UCF is opening up our own Tier 3 games to new technology. Lead the way, if we have the money to, and screw the Big almost 12. It's laughable that Aresco thinks he can get a new, much better deal from ESPN etc. He'll be lucky to get a few million more per team. What kind of viewership does the AAC have compared to P5?
In the short term you are right but taking the long view we have a huge upside. I hope ESPN and Fox can see that. If they do that should lead to a better deal. I also hope we have the funds to develop the Amazon/Netflix route. I am one of those that cut my cord a long time ago and would gladly pay for a service that allowed me to watch our games on Amazon or Netflix. I live in the PNW and do not have the ability to go watch our games.
It wasn't "None of them really deserved to be invited". It was that the B12 "couldn't come to a consensus on which ones to add". In essence, their were several schools deserving an invite. But each one had their own downside, be it Beliefs (BYU), Location (BYU/Houston/UCF/USF), Academics (Houston), Viewership/Market (Cincy), History (UCF/USF), or Attendance (USF), or Achievements (USF). ...... Why was USF even considered again?
I laughed my ass off on someone taking the long view. Not that that isn't the smart thing to do, but does anyone in the media/Big 12 do that?
That could have been the Big almost 12's decision but the majority if not all of the talking heads I heard had the opinion that there wasn't 1 team "worthy". I got very tired of hearing it. Even on the day of the announcement ESPNU was talking about it and said exactly that, none. Houston was the best, but "I'm not convinced that they even win the Houston market. That's Texas country."
According to the leaks, individual candidates weren't even discussed. It was, "Should we discuss expansion?" "The no's have it"
Well clearly the B12 does not do that. My point is that when you sit down and negotiate a new deal you have to take the long view as the contract will span over a long period of time. Our contract is almost up.
B12 does not necessarily have to take "the long" view at this point because they have so much left on their current contract. I am sure that when it comes time for them to renegotiate their contract the landscape will look much different.
There is no long term with the American under the current college football landscape...even as it applies to basketball and baseball.
We need to cash in our success and the only way it will happen is if we negotiate short term/ big money contracts to minimize any value loss due to volatility issues. Look at what happened with CUSA. They lost a couple of schools to the Big East/American and there new TV deal diminished to less than a 500k per school.
With the B12 not expanding I don't see much volatility for the next 8 years. I also don't see the other four P5 conferences doing anything in that timespan. We cover some fairly large markets in our conference. I hope that will lead to a better deal than what we have now. That said, I am not overly optimistic it will happen.
It would be cool if we could pioneer the Hulu/Netflix/Amazon marketplace. Most of us that cut our cords use those services and that sector is growing by the day. TV as we know it is over. It would be awesome if I could watch a game regardless of where I am located and not be dependent on what my local cable company decides to show. The technology is available we just need to find a way to make it happen.
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I rather watch the game at home. Makes it easier for the rest of the family. Except for when we lose... ;-)
Nice take Jets. I would even go with what I feel is a little different in two ways. 1.) Focus not only on football, but also look at the serious strength that the AAC has in basketball with already having UConn, Memphis and Cincy. They need more basketball competition so that we don't lose them. 2.) get a little more aggressive in going after a couple of teams from the "wounded" Big 12.
Kansas and Kansas State are strong in basketball and could be lured over to a new basketball super conference and the tv rights deal that we could attain with such a conference. Here's my alignment. New teams in Bold:
EAST
1. UCF
2. USF
3. Temple
4. UConn
5. ECU
6. Cincy
7. Navy (moved to East for geography reason)
8. U Mass (solid BBall addition, long standing rivalry with Temple)
WEST
1. Memphis
2. Houston
3. Kansas (BBall power, and a better FBall fit in AAC than in Big12)
4. Kansas State (strong BBall, and also a better FBall fit in AAC than in Big12)
5. Southern Mississippi (strong FBall, recent basketball success- NCAA tourney)
6. Tulsa
7. Tulane
8. SMU
RESULT: Probably the best basketball conference in the country (would even rival the ACC) and a solid, improved and exciting football conference with an upward trajectory. Strong Media revenue would come to the conference (largely by building on our existing BBall strength) and hence the two Big12 teams could be induced to relocate instead of dying on the Big12 vine.
I like this analysis...especially in touching on the new media opportunities. Let's make modern technology our friend.
That will not work because Navy will not accept being in the East. They specifically demanded to be on the West division because most of their recruiting takes part out west-midwest. If you take that from them, they will leave and it will look terrible for the AAC as far as PR.
Let me update the two divisions taking into consideration both yours and my models (new member in bold):
EAST
1. UCF
2. USF
3. Temple
4. UConn
5. ECU
6. Cincy
7. Southern Mississippi (strong FBall, recent basketball success- NCAA tourney)
8. U Mass (solid BBall addition, long standing rivalry with Temple)
WEST
1. Memphis
2. Houston
3. Kansas (BBall power, and a better FBall fit in AAC than in Big12)
4. Kansas State (strong BBall, and also a better FBall fit in AAC than in Big12)
5. Navy
6. Tulsa
7. Tulane
8. SMU
Southern Miss and UMass would jump at the opportunity to join, that's not even a challenge. But Kansas and Kansas State won't do anything until they have no other choice and I don't blame them for it. I agree, this would be an amazing basketball conference if that was the case, but doesn't do much for football since UMass and Kansas suck ass.
