So this weird. CUSA wants AAC to throw all their teams in a pot and redivide both conference memberships by geography.
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Brent Wyrick
92 Final Four Front Row
@LobotC2DFW -
There's one AAC school not mentioned in C-USA's reorganization Hail Mary to try to survive: Navy.
I don't see Aresco going for this. He's trying to raid C-USA & probably the Sun Belt, and the C-USA commish is throwing this out there to keep her conference from becoming even less relevant than it is now. She talks about saving money by becoming more geographical, which would help most of the schools. However, the main gist is survival.Comment
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The whole geographic realignment thing works better with the Sun Belt and CUSA than it does with the AAC in my opinion. Navy is going to end up independent again I'm betting.Brent Wyrick
92 Final Four Front Row
@LobotC2DFWComment
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Well, Aresco is still talking about P6, so he has no incentive to go for the C-USA proposal. He needs to keep Navy, and then continue with large schools like FAU, LIU, or Texas State. I’m glad we’re moving up, but it still stinks for the AAC.Comment
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Correct me if I am wrong but didn't UAB have to quit football because of pressure by Alabama? I think Alabama wanted to be the only game in town and UAB was starting to become relevent. They cancelled football for a few seasons and then started back up. I do not know why they quit or why they started back up.Comment
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You're correct, but it was more than pressure by U of AL. The state schools are all under one umbrella and UAB was costing $ to be taken from the U of AL, so U of AL actively worked to have their football program (plus a few other UAB sports) shut down at the end of the 2014 season.
There was an uproar (more so, an awakening) and folks started pledging $ to restart the program, which was done in 2017.
I happened to watch their game this weekend, and UAB was playing in a new stadium, Protective Field, which seats 47,000. So they've left Bryant stadium (where UC last played in the 2019 Birmingham Bowl). Evidently, the home side of the field is also the camera side (like Nippert) so the visitors' side was empty, making for bad optics.Last edited by Geaux Juan; 10-13-2021, 06:35 AM.Comment
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Pete Thamel:
Sources: The American Athletic Conference is expected examine expansion this week, with six schools expected to send applications. The AAC is expected to receive an application from – FAU, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, Rice and UAB this week. ... The expectation is that they will be accepted and the AAC will grow to a 14-team football league. (Also 14 teams in hoops.)Comment
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The new American? With the reports coming out of CBS sports and Pete Thamel that the AAC will consider adding six schools. Will it look like this?
AAC East
Temple
East Carolina
South Florida
Memphis
UAB
FAU
Charlotte
AAC West
Tulsa
Tulane
SMU
Navy
UTSA
North Texas
Rice
How does CUSA respond? They will be left with 8 all spread out. Do they add Liberty, NMSU, UCONN, UMASS and perhaps two from the FCS ranks such as JMU?Last edited by True Bearcat; 10-19-2021, 07:54 AM.Comment
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I don't see any way that UConn would join any non-P5 conference, and they aren't getting a bid to one of those. Right now, C-USA is in trouble. They may try to raid the Sun Belt, but who's to say the SBC won't try to pick apart the better remaining schools from C-USA.
Liberty is a possibility. If C-USA were to move against the SBC, I could see them going after App State, Coastal, LA Tech, Louisiana, and perhaps GA State (for their small share of the ATL market). With Liberty, that would make 6 additions, for a total of 14. That would leave the SBC with five schools. Who knows what they'd do in that situation.
Anyway they look at it, the TV money isn't going to get any better.Comment
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Funny how no one seems to be interested in raiding the MAC.Brent Wyrick
92 Final Four Front Row
@LobotC2DFWComment
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It is quite interesting. Who do you take? Buffalo has potential, but nah, Ohio is in the middle of nowhere, and will be suffocated by Ohio State @ Columbus. Northern Illinois? They may be a possibility, but would have to win instantly to get any attention. The MAC just seems to be in a conference that they all love, and no one wants to bother them.Last edited by True Bearcat; 10-19-2021, 09:58 AM.Comment
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The good thing for the MAC commish is that the conference is on an island, far away from almost all of the C-USA & SBC schools. Only Marshall, which is near Athens and OU, would be an exception. The MAC is a Great Lakes-area conference. The other three G5 conferences, excluding the MWC, are stretched out across the south and southwest, with Temple out of place anywhere.Comment
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Thamel: The applications from the six Conference USA schools are trickling into the AAC, according to sources. The application is really a one/two-sentence declaration of interest. The earliest the 6 schools could start in the AAC is 2023-24. An announcement is expected later this week.Comment
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