For the sake of argument BYU and Notre Dame are independent. They are not ignored if they finish with a favorable total.
Ask Bill Yeoman about being an independent. UH got to the point in the early 70’s where no one wanted to schedule us. BYU and Notre Dame are special cases.
Independence would be suicide for our non-Football sports (and might be for football). I would doubt the AAC would keep us in if football wasn’t involved and we’d more than likely end up housing all our programs in the Southland. No offense to that fine conference, but that would be a huge step down from where we are currently and a lot less money.
Notre Dame can survive as an independent because they’re Notre Dame and will get the respect of a P5 because of their name. They’ve also had to initiate a scheduling tie-in with the ACC in order to fill their schedule. BYU is surviving, although they struggle, as an independent because they are BYU and ESPN is willing to work with them. They struggle mightily with scheduling and have virtually no shot at a NY6 bowl. No one else (except Army) willingly goes independent because the money just isn’t there. One of the networks would have to be willing to prop us up and we just don’t have the national following for them to do that.
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I like the responses.
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AAC commissioner eyeing Power Six label after his schools struck out with Big 12
Mike Aresco says his conference holds plenty of value on the national level
“We expect to have more TV revenue down the road,” Aresco said. “I can’t make any predictions, but we’re a far more valuable conference. Some of those investments have been made by schools, stadiums have been built, and the question now is sustaining the programs. Without question, we do need more revenue, but you can succeed without spending like P5 schools.”
So how? Will the AAC be the first conference to make a giant leap into the new media market by having a major package with an online entity such as Google, Twitter or Facebook?
“We’re going to explore that,” Aresco said. “I don’t know if the online world will be sufficiently monetized yet. I think for us the question is whether it’s developed fully in the next couple years to provide ancillary or primary coverage, but we’re extremely happy with ESPN and we think we’ve added tremendous value to the league. Look at where we were three-and-a-half years ago. That’s the only reason we don’t have a TV deal with more revenue.”
Good rundown of what Aresco is attempting to do; quite a few details.
After Avoiding Disaster, A Classy Mike Aresco Vows To Make AAC Stronger Than Ever
“The first steps in getting back to where the old Big East once was, in the BCS, the power constellation, is to convince the media and the public competitively we belong there,” Aresco said. "Once that happens, there’s a critical mass and you try to create a fait accompli, so the-powers-that-be says these fellows belong.
“We’re far more valuable than we were three-and-a-half years ago,” Aresco said. “It’s not even close. It’s night and day. We were in disarray. Nobody knew what we had, nobody knew what our teams could do. In the three years since, you’ve seen what we’ve done.”
“We have to make sure we capitalize on the fact that we are a better national brand,” Aresco said. “I think the AAC is now a better brand.”
AAC commish: ‘We have to be the next JetBlue or Southwest’
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/aac-commish-we-have-to-be-the-next-jetblue-or-southwest/2299768
On whether the AAC’s television contract with ESPN (which runs through 2020) can be renegotiated:
“It can be if ESPN is willing to sit down with us. We are going to meet within the next two or three weeks to talk. ESPN has been great to us. … The TV landscape is complex, it really is. We want to do something with ESPN and we think that they recognize our value. We are far more valuable than we were 3 1/2 years ago. It is not even close. It is night and day. We were in disarray, nobody knew what we had. Nobody knew what we were going to do. Three years now, you can see what we have done in terms of winning those big bowl games and having two top-10 teams (Houston in '15, UCF in '13) two of the last three years.”
Aresco dodged several bullets with the BXII non expansion …
So he is currently fighting to save his worthless position as commissioner … and
He is now attempting to get AAC some crumbs from the ESPN table …
None of the advances certain AAC teams made came because of him AND when they made them did he take advantage … nope he was no where to be found trying to advance the AAC cause
Rather than getting crumbs he should be negotiating better bowl tie-ins in the post season.
IF and a big if … he can accomplish that then he will have started to prove his useless worth.
100% agree. There is not one G5 commissioner that has any clout. They sold their soul to the devil. The consequences have just started to come up. I am now convinced that the P4 is coming within a few years if not months.
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Dude, cut the man some slack. With half his teams trying to shove their noses up Bevo’s rear he hasn’t had squat to deal with. I’m amazed he even stuck around.
Now that we’re past that 3-ring circus he can at least sit down with prospects including ESPN and have them take him and the AAC somewhat seriously. Hey, it’s progress.
Building this conference has been a lot like making a stew. Up until now the AAC has pretty much been just a collection of ingredients in a big pot of water together. We hardly knew one another and were more like a collection of survivors clinging to a life raft.
Now Aresco can begin to start cooking and work to turn this collection of ingredients into a singular entity with its own identity. Only now can he sit down with reps from media and bowls and be taken seriously. But he still needs the support and backing of the schools of this fledgling conference in order to succeed. In the words of the song, if you can’t be with the one you love you better darn well learn to love the one you are with.
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Aresco wants to build something substantial?
Let’s start with taking the P5 to court and have him try to break the cartel. Let’s see how he does with that. He has zero chance in creating a P6. His only option is to convince Orin Hatch to restart his plea against the status quo. Since Utah was so conveniently added to the PAC I highly doubt that they will be sharing creme brulee together. Lets be optimistic here, maybe Fox has something up their sleeves. They are the big losers in this.
I’m quite sure this won’t be an easy process and will no doubt runn into some big bumps in the road. On the other hand, what would you expect the guy to do? Fans here are posting lambasting him because he couldn’t do anything with half his teams trying to run out the back door. I’m with you on the law suit. Actually it was the president of Tulane (can’t remember his name) who started the lawsuit thing. I was in email contact with him and he was moving forward when Katrina hit NOLA. That ended that. I doubt if we could get any traction trying for legal action. The deck is stacked against us with alums from the BCS/P5 programs in both Congress and the state legislatures around the country.
I think the best Aresco can do is to start building a case for upgrading the AAC. He might even get ESPN to agree to renegotiate their deal with us to save them from a bigger contract later. Who knows? Maybe even position the conference for an upgrade with the next round of realignment. I’m not so sure the Big 12 will fold so waiting for that seems pointless. Back in the 50’s the old Big 8 was often referred to as OU and the 7 Dwarfs because OU built that long winning streak beating up on conference schools which couldn’t compete in the old Lone Star Conference, let alone the SWC as it existed then. Point is both UT and OU like being the big dogs surrounded by a bunch of serfs. Another reason they didn’t want UH. We kicked ass in the SWC and OU got a taste of that this year. They don’t seem to want the competition.
So, I encourage Mr. Aresco to proceed and explore any and all options. Who knows? He might turn over a rock and find a nugget of gold.
Thought this was a good graphic and added it in here due to the poster’s tag:
Adding two small private schools like Tulsa and Tulane killed the AAC. Replace those schools with large state funded schools and the AAC could claim P6 status.
Have you not learned from history? Boise State bailed on the Big East once TCU left because they were offered football only. If we bring in West Coast teams with good football programs, it will need to be four, so we can go to four team divisions in the other sports.
The cartel will never allow it. More than likely we are heading toward a P4 system or Super conferences. We just have to find a way to be a part of it.
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The AAC needs to expand. They need to become the first 20 team conference. Add Army, Air Force, New Mexico, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, UNLV and UTEP/UTSA. Every team is a full member. For football the divisions are made east and west with Air Force joining Army and Navy in the east to keep the Commander in chief trophy in the AAC. Schedule is a 9 game intra-division round Robin schedule with 3 non conference games. For all other sports there will be Four 5-team divisions/pods.
Football divisions
East:
Army
Uconn
Temple
Navy
Air Force
USF
UCF
Memphis
ECU
Cincinnati
West:
Houston
SMU
Tulsa
Tulane
New Mexico
San Diego State
Colorado State
Boise State
UNLV
UTEP/UTSA
All other sports divisions/pods:
Pacific division:
San Diego State
UNLV
Boise State
Air Force
Colorado State
Southwest division:
Houston
SMU
Tulsa
New Mexico
UTEP/UTSA
Central division:
Memphis
Cincinnati
Tulane
UCF
USF
Atlantic division:
Army
Uconn
Temple
Navy
ECU
Makes scheduling a lot easier on all sports.
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easier
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Sounds good but it would kill us in football with TV. Playing a Western schedule would have many of our games starting at 9PM CST to accommodate TV. Not likely we would get many earlier slots since they are already booked.