UConn to Big East?

[Sir Sci]

AAC’s first call will be to BYU FB-only. That’ll be a quick rejection. Their second call will be to Army FB-only. That’s a coinflip. If Army accepts it’ll come down to VCU, Dayton, or Saint Louis as the non-FB complement.

If Army rejects, that brings the AAC to the all-sports drawing board. Every AAC addition has followed an urban theme (except ECU but they draw 50k for FB when good) so you can rule out Southern Miss, Marshall, WKU, etc.

ODU is building a new stadium, has an AAC-esque budget, and good recruiting territory. UAB is constructing a 50k seat stadium, has past history with conferencemates, and also good recruiting territory. I’d imagine it would come down to those 2.

Honestly, I entirely agree that ODU and UAB would make the most logical replacements for the AAC. ODU is on an upward trajectory while UAB is a good story right now with their revitalized football program in a football crazy state.

[uniguy]

Bradley has no chance of going to the AAC, but I could see a scenario if the dominoes fall right where they end up in the A-10. If they lose a VCU or a Dayton to the AAC, Bradley would be on my shortlist for them. Ahead of Loyola.

[VUGrad1314]

I highly doubt Bradley gets the call over Loyola just based on location. If they want a school in Illinois why not get one in Chicago so that A-10 schools can recruit Chicago even better than they already do?

[uniguy]

I highly doubt Bradley gets the call over Loyola just based on location. If they want a school in Illinois why not get one in Chicago so that A-10 schools can recruit Chicago even better than they already do?

Because Loyola has not been competitive for 30 years with one (very large, very impressive) outlier and does not draw fans well. Not that Bradley has been tearing it up, but they have the best overall support in the MVC right now. Much more potential there.

Has Loyola's addition helped MVC schools recruit Chicago? Honestly don't know.

[VUGrad1314]

I hope so but I don't know either. Isn't that the main point of adding a school in a larger market?

[ColonialBulldog]

I highly doubt Bradley gets the call over Loyola just based on location. If they want a school in Illinois why not get one in Chicago so that A-10 schools can recruit Chicago even better than they already do?

Because Loyola has not been competitive for 30 years with one (very large, very impressive) outlier and does not draw fans well. Not that Bradley has been tearing it up, but they have the best overall support in the MVC right now. Much more potential there.

Has Loyola's addition helped MVC schools recruit Chicago? Honestly don't know.

Eh... that description somewhat fits for most of the recent A-10 additions. George Mason had no history other than their Final Four run. Same for VCU. Davidson? Yeah, they dominated the SoCon forever but really only made their big run with Curry.

As for fan support, VCU obviously has a rabid fanbase but I don't really know if that was the case before they went on their Final Four run. Mason on the other hand struggled with fan support as they were a commuter school.

I guess my point is that a single great run in the tourney is the most important criteria for getting into the A-10.

[uniguy]

I hope so but I don't know either. Isn't that the main point of adding a school in a larger market?

I have always thought market size was over-emphasized at the mid-major level. Bigger conferences do it for cable TV deals, but at our level....I don't know how much of a difference it makes. In fact, I could make an argument that some of the schools at our level are successful, in part, because they are not in a major market. Schools like Bradley, Illinois State, Evansville, Indiana State, Missouri State, UNI, Valpo, etc probably don't get the support they do if they are just one part of a much larger landscape (like Loyola).

I don't think Loyola's lack of overall support is their fault. You're competing with a ton of big-time pro sports teams, big-time entertainment options, and minor league teams. Not to mention a Big Ten and Big East team in your back yard. It is no surprise a Final Four run is what it took to get the city's attention.

[uniguy]

I highly doubt Bradley gets the call over Loyola just based on location. If they want a school in Illinois why not get one in Chicago so that A-10 schools can recruit Chicago even better than they already do?

Because Loyola has not been competitive for 30 years with one (very large, very impressive) outlier and does not draw fans well. Not that Bradley has been tearing it up, but they have the best overall support in the MVC right now. Much more potential there.

Has Loyola's addition helped MVC schools recruit Chicago? Honestly don't know.

Eh... that description somewhat fits for most of the recent A-10 additions. George Mason had no history other than their Final Four run. Same for VCU. Davidson? Yeah, they dominated the SoCon forever but really only made their big run with Curry.

As for fan support, VCU obviously has a rabid fanbase but I don't really know if that was the case before they went on their Final Four run. Mason on the other hand struggled with fan support as they were a commuter school.

I guess my point is that a single great run in the tourney is the most important criteria for getting into the A-10.

Fair enough. If I were them, I'd look at Bradley first. But I see why Loyola could be attractive too.

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/espn-c ... rence.html

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reports in latest newsletter that ESPN now has the right to renegotiate the terms of the 12-year, $1 billion deal it signed with the conference back in March. Ourand writes that ESPN has a clause in the contract that allows it to open up the deal if a school left the conference.

Could force AAC into adding a member to maintain value of the contract. ESPN would benefit by obtaining a property it doesn’t otherwise have.

[Stickboy46]

https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/espn-can-renegotiate-new-aac-tv-deal-with-uconn-leaving-conference.html

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reports in latest newsletter that ESPN now has the right to renegotiate the terms of the 12-year, $1 billion deal it signed with the conference back in March. Ourand writes that ESPN has a clause in the contract that allows it to open up the deal if a school left the conference.

Could force AAC into adding a member to maintain value of the contract. ESPN would benefit by obtaining a property it doesn’t otherwise have.

That's not entirely true. There is a clause, but it's specific to 5 schools and UCONN isn't one of them.

" The $1 billion deal has a clause that would allow ESPN to renegotiate if a member leaves, according to the Sports Business Journal. A source said the clause is specifically tied to five schools (Houston, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Memphis and South Florida), which UConn was not included."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports ... 057439.php