How long before the AAC implodes?

[Aargh]

I'm always surprised when I come to this board and see this thread still on the front page.

I was an MVC fan from around 1957 until the Shox left the league, so I have a lot of history that wants me to continue following the league. I remember classic battles against Memphis, Tulsa, and Concinnati in the earlier days of the MVC, so the AAC is a comfortable landing spot.

The AAC may only be a solid conference until the next conference realignment. There's nothing in life that comes without risks. I don't mean to rag on the MVC, but the reality is that winning a bid out of the Valley doesn't get a good seed in the NCAA tourney.

The best the Shox ever did out of the Valley was to have an undefeated season, get a 1 seed, and get Kentucky playing 80 miles from home, with a roster full of lottery picks, in the next round. That's not a good seed - and that was a 1 seed!

In the Valley, we had to get good wins in the non-con part of the schedule. Now we get 16 or so games against teams around the top 100.

If the league either collapses or becomes insignificant in the next realignment shuffle, WSU should be in a position to be a major player in the next realignment that emphasizes programs with better basketball than football programs.

It's likely that either the B12 or the AAC suffers major damage in the next realignment. If it's the B12, then the AAC is in position to pick up their leftovers. If it's the AAC, the AAC is in position to cherry pick the top end of the mid-major conferences.

The politics involved are complex. Texas can't go anywhere without taking Baylor with them. Lots of Baptists in the Texas legislature. OU can't go anywhere without taking OSU with them. The B12 already tried to expand. Cincy, Houston, Memphis, UCF, and other AAC members applied. All were turned down after being invited to submit applications. ESPN told the B12 that none of those schools would improve their revenue package.

SEC schools and B1G schools all have better revenue packages than the B12. Texas and Baylor to the PAC would increase that league's revenue package. OU and OSU to the SEC would increase that league's revenue package.

OU or UT leaving the B12 would significantly reduce the revenues for the remnants of the B12 and the AAC would be a stronger FB conference than the remnants of the B12. We'll know how this story ends in about 5 years.

[Ricardo del Rio]

how in the world did this thread slip to page 2?

[mvfcfan]

The post by Aargh cracks me up. The AAC is never going to poach anyone from the B12 PERIOD. That is pure fantasy land. If TX and OK leave the B12, then the B12 will poach the AAC. Everyone in the AAC would go to the B12 if they were invited regardless if Texas and Okahoma are still in the league.

If the Big 12 begins to collapse it will fill in spots with AAC schools like UCF, Houston, Cincinnati, etc.
The AAC will then backfill with CUSA schools like Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee, Marshall, etc.
The CUSA will then backfill with Sun Belt schools like UL Lafayette, Troy, App State, etc.
The Sun Belt will then try to find more FCS schools that want to be FBS.

Here's the scenario to make this easier. There are 2 conferences:
One has Kansas, K-State, TX Tech, TCU, OK State, West Virginia, Iowa State, and Baylor.
The other has Houston, SMU, Cincy, Tulane, UCF, East Carolina, USF, Memphis,Tulsa, Temple, and WSU/Navy.

Now please tell me which conference is going to poach which one.

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However this goes both ways. MVC fans also need to stop pretending like the AAC is just some God awful conference. They were a 4 bid league last year, while we were a one bid league with a 15 seed. Wichita State probably made the right decision in leaving. I don't know much about ECU, Tulane, and USF; but the other 8 basketball members historically have had good basketball programs.

[Stickboy46]

The post by Aargh cracks me up. The AAC is never going to poach anyone from the B12 PERIOD. That is pure fantasy land. If TX and OK leave the B12, then the B12 will poach the AAC. Everyone in the AAC would go to the B12 if they were invited regardless if Texas and Okahoma are still in the league.

If the Big 12 begins to collapse it will fill in spots with AAC schools like UCF, Houston, Cincinnati, etc.
The AAC will then backfill with CUSA schools like Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee, Marshall, etc.
The CUSA will then backfill with Sun Belt schools like UL Lafayette, Troy, App State, etc.
The Sun Belt will then try to find more FCS schools that want to be FBS.

Here's the scenario to make this easier. There are 2 conferences:
One has Kansas, K-State, TX Tech, TCU, OK State, West Virginia, Iowa State, and Baylor.
The other has Houston, SMU, Cincy, Tulane, UCF, East Carolina, USF, Memphis,Tulsa, Temple, and WSU/Navy.

Now please tell me which conference is going to poach which one.

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However this goes both ways. MVC fans also need to stop pretending like the AAC is just some God awful conference. They were a 4 bid league last year, while we were a one bid league with a 15 seed. Wichita State probably made the right decision in leaving. I don't know much about ECU, Tulane, and USF; but the other 8 basketball members historically have had good basketball programs.

Not going to go into the realignment stuff, but the bolded part.

ECU and Tulane are god awful. There is hope for Tulane as they hired Georgia States Ron Hunter last year.

USF actually finished with a NET of 83. ~50 spots higher than any team in the Valley. They return everyone this year. They might be a tourney team.