meangreen11

You make a valid point, why was he there and why would they make a point to recognize him and have Hank point out our bowl games?? Very odd and concerning footnote in an otherwise excellent event.

Wow tough situation for C-USA. Hope they can make due but it looks like slim pickens in terms of their available options.

I think I read before he's actually a UNT alum as he attended UNT but I do not think he graduated from here and later did from Houston.

The American Athletic Conference officially welcomed UAB and five other schools into the conference Thursday. The AAC will soon have 14 football-playing schools after adding UAB, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice and Texas-San Antonio into the conference. Thursday’s announcement was the culmination of a lot of work to position UAB as a viable candidate should the realignment carousel crank up again. We now know UAB’s future conference affiliation destination. But there are still plenty of important questions that need to be answered. Here’s what you need to know following UAB’s big move on Thursday. The short answer: More money and exposure. We’ll get to the money part in a second, but the AAC has better television rights deals than Conference USA, and should get UAB more national exposure. The football and basketball quality is better in the AAC even after Cincinnati and Houston leave. CUSA turning into a one-bid basketball league has been a source of frustration for UAB fans, and that will no longer be the case in the AAC. Competing against programs like Memphis, South Florida and SMU will give UAB more marquee football games. read more: https://www.al.com/uab/2021/10/everything-you-need-to-know-about-uab-joining-aac.html

Sure is man and glad to have you guys along with us for the ride. Really see a big Texas sized rivalry growing between us.

I agree with you generally but the problem with the Pit is it doesn't have luxury boxes which you need to generate more donations and revenue for the program. Also the University owns it and is very stingy about allowing basketball to use it which is why we had to build the Kuehne practice facility which is available 24 hours. Sometimes doing a remodel is more expensive than just building it from the ground up.

1. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati 2. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy 3. Gus Malzahn, UCF 4. Sonny Dykes, SMU 5. Willie Fritz, Tulane 6. Dana Holgorsen, Houston 7. Philip Montgomery, Tulsa 8. Rod Carey, Temple 9. Ryan Silverfield, Memphis 10. Mike Houston, East Carolina 11. Jeff Scott, South Florida

Count me in! Can't wait to get back to NO.

He pointed out that the DNA of the AAC has always been in big metropolitan cities that have fertile recruiting grounds. The big change that makes this an advantage for the AAC is the advancement of the transfer portal. A majority of the top players will come from big cities and surrounding suburbs like DFW, Houston, etc... The transfer portal is a huge advantage to schools located in big cities as they will get more P5 transfers looking to get back closer to home and family. I think it is a valid point that is often overlooked. SMU and Houston have done a good job of exploiting this and we should as well. All of the AAC schools have advantages in this particular regard.

McMurphy on the GMG pod tonight did not give any indication there was any Big 12 invites pending. We will have SMU and Memphis in the conference for some time it appears.

I agree with your methodology, but I think the problem we are all dealing with around here lately is these recruiting rankings are completely bogus. Yes, if the data was accurate you would have a valid point, but I think we are all realizing that there is no way in hell we are leading the conference in talent acquisition. It just isn't accurate. These recruiting sites like to ramp up expectations for G5 teams so they can sell a few more subscription accounts is my bet. The other thing that renders the recruiting rankings useless is the advancement of the transfer portal. The recruiting service model or formulas just don't work for the G5 teams. They may apply to the top 150 or so players in the country and after that its really a roll of the dice.

You are right but the problem is these conference officals are making big bucks that they would not make in any other job they would be qualified for. Judy probably makes north of $200K! So they will do whatever is in their best interest to continue getting paid for many many years. Even the crappy WAC still pays their conference employee nice salaries and that conference doesn't even play football anymore lol.

Just saw this come across the wire

Should the applications be accepted, the AAC would likely be divided into two divisions. East: Temple, Navy, East Carolina, Charlotte, South Florida, Florida Atlantic and Alabama-Birmingham. West: Memphis, Tulane, Rice, Texas-San Antonio, Southern Methodist, North Texas and Tulsa. C-USA’s television contract provides each member program nearly $400,000 annually, according to the Virginia Pilot. The jump to the AAC could net Charlotte more than $6 million per year, as the American signed a 12-year, $1 billion television deal with ESPN in 2019. The deal provides the conference with $83.3 million annually, with each member university receiving nearly $7 million per year. A clause in the television deal also states that it can be renegotiated with major changes in the conference’s membership. If the deal with ESPN holds, 49ers football games would be televised on ESPN’s family. Basketball games would air across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, with many on the ESPN+ subscription service. read more: https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/charlotte-49ers/article255109447.html

The future of Conference USA is in limbo with six of its members looking to join the American Athletic Conference. According to multiple national media outlets and first reported by Yahoo! Sports, UAB, Florida Atlantic, Rice, North Texas, UTSA and Charlotte are expected to apply for membership into the AAC as soon as this week. The six schools would almost certainly be accepted, leaving behind Marshall as one of eight remaining members in C-USA. The other remaining C-USA members are: Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, UTEP and Western Kentucky. Early Tuesday afternoon, interim Marshall Athletic Director Jeff O’Malley offered a two-part statement on social media that read: With the news that broke yesterday, I want to assure our fans that we have worked and will continue to work to position Marshall in the best possible way. The one thing I’ve learned throughout this process is that Marshall University has a tremendous brand and one of the best fan bases in the country. Although the climate is changing, I’m very excited about the future of Marshall Athletics. Marshall President Jerome A. Gilbert also offered a statement on social media later Tuesday. It read: I am working closely with AD O’Malley to determine what is best for Marshall athletics. We are in a strong position. I am confident that we can achieve a good result for the Herd. read more: https://wvmetronews.com/2021/10/19/future-unknown-for-marshall-athletics-with-c-usa-likely-to-lose-6-members-to-aac/

Once North Texas, Rice, UTSA, UAB, Charlotte, and Florida Atlantic officially leave C-USA, the conference will be left with eight schools: UTEP Louisiana Tech Southern Miss Middle Tennessee Western Kentucky Marshall Florida International Old Dominion UTEP's closest university is LA Tech and Ruston is 889 miles away from El Paso. Here is the rest of the breakdown: Hattiesburg, MS: 1,125 miles Murfreesborough, TN: 1,325 miles Bowling Green, KY: 1,360 miles Huntington, WV: 1,635 miles Miami, FL: 1,931 miles Norfolk, VA: 1,982 miles As you can tell, UTEP does not fit into the new C-USA from a travel standpoint. However, only Miami and Norfolk have large enough airports that C-USA teams fly into. The rest fly into neighboring cities and then bus into each college town. At least El Paso has an airport large enough to accommodate every team in the league. What happens next is the million-dollar question. If you judge by the Tweets from Jeff O'Malley, the interim Athletic Director of Marshall, he makes no mention whatsoever of a commitment to C-USA. Read More: What is Next for C-USA and UTEP After AAC Rumored Expansion | https://krod.com/what-is-next-for-c-usa-and-utep-after-aac-rumored-expansion/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Speaking to the Roadrunners before Tuesday’s practice about reports that UTSA is in line for a move to the American Athletic Conference, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor kept the message simple. “I’m literally like, ‘This is what’s been reported, this is what our statement is, and until we hear anything else, that’s it,’” Traylor said. “That’s how I handled it with them. Just like I did with (the media).” read more: https://www.expressnews.com/sports/colleges/utsa/amp/UTSA-coach-Jeff-Traylor-is-mum-on-reported-jump-16546907.php

In his statement on Tuesday, Hemphill said that ODU is looking to work with Conference USA leadership to save the league and bring its footprint closer to Norfolk. If those current members stay, Conference USA could add FCS power James Madison (a former Colonial Athletic Association rival of ODU whose athletic director Jeff Bourne also supports a more regionalized conference) and Liberty University, which is currently competing in FBS as an independent, to bring the conference to 10 teams. Then Conference USA’s eastern division could feature ODU, JMU, Liberty, Marshall and Western Kentucky/Middle Tennessee. Southern Miss. Louisiana Tech, FIU, UTEP and Western Kentucky/MTSU could make up a western division. So while the conference would still stretch to Texas and Florida, ODU could have at least two closer opponents overall, cutting down on travel. read more: https://www.wavy.com/news/national/odu-trying-to-salvage-conference-usa-bring-in-members-of-regional-benefit-after-report-that-6-teams-are-leaving/amp/

I’ll take a couple stickers lol!

I think it’s probably too late for them to change anything but just in case I would be cool with getting this paperwork done quickly.

You were absolutely right. I think a lot of the SMU hate and misunderstanding comes from our elders that dealt with a different SMU in a different era.