Is it time to start lobbying for the AAC?

untjim1995 · May 10, 2021

7 hours ago, SMUleopold said:

Army has apparently said 'no' early on and that's for the best. The AAC desperately needs a top 10 or even NC presence and Army isn't going to fulfill that. That, and since Army is likely to leave their other sports in the Patriot League with Navy then I don't want another stupid football team/basketball team addition.

Frankly, I'm for leaving BSU in the MWC where there are currently few quality wins and bringing in a top team from the Sunbelt who is positioned to actually challenge the AAC as the 'best of the rest' in the coming future. The SBC could have 3 top 25 teams this year and any discussion over 'quality wins' ends, especially if ULL beats Texas this year.

The problem is that the three SBC teams you talk about provide almost no TV market to the AAC.

PlummMeanGreen · May 10, 2021

7 hours ago, SMUleopold said:

Army has apparently said 'no' early on and that's for the best. The AAC desperately needs a top 10 or even NC presence and Army isn't going to fulfill that. That, and since Army is likely to leave their other sports in the Patriot League with Navy then I don't want another stupid football team/basketball team addition.

Frankly, I'm for leaving BSU in the MWC where there are currently few quality wins and bringing in a top team from the Sunbelt who is positioned to actually challenge the AAC as the 'best of the rest' in the coming future. The SBC could have 3 top 25 teams this year and any discussion over 'quality wins' ends, especially if ULL beats Texas this year.

IMO, the G5 will regularly be producers of conference One Hit Wonders & I see the Sun Belt as just that. Sure there will be a G5 conference with a nice 2 or 3 year run, but then they’ll go back to their former place.
The Covid football season of 2020 never had a legit Top 25 poll. Look at how many P5 poll “regulars” didn’t play a full season allowing the SBC some rare openings? I would say the same thing had CUSA had a similar run.

❇️🦅❇️

Edited May 10, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

El Paso Eagle · May 10, 2021

15 hours ago, Blue Horse said:

So you guys don't want to talk expansion in an expansion thread? Seriously, three mwc schools to the aac is a very strong rumor and has potential huge ramifications for north Texas. I'm not making this up.

Would north texas join a mwc lacking three of its current members? I wouldn't recommend it, but I have real interest as smu was in the wac with a lot of those schools.

Just wondering, with the economic impact in college sports why would the AAC look to widen it's footprint? It's hard to believe the P5 will be adding any teams. More likely to see a reduction in the number of teams considered "Power" and very hard to believe if there was expansion they would bring the entire AAC.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · May 10, 2021

3 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Gee, how many times have we heard "The Sleeping Giant is waking up in Denton" over the last 20 years? Hell, just typing it into the search bar will bring up hundreds of posts.

UNT hasn't done anything to indicate that it's a rising power in football.

What has UH done the past 4 seasons? 2 losing seasons back to back, 2 bowl losses in 2017 and 2018 and that 18 loss was by 56 points.

And what about when SMU joined the American. They were just average, and were awful for the first 3 years in the conference.

UNTLifer · May 10, 2021

35 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

What has UH done the past 4 seasons? 2 losing seasons back to back, 2 bowl losses in 2017 and 2018 and that 18 loss was by 56 points.

And what about when SMU joined the American. They were just average, and were awful for the first 3 years in the conference.

Now you hush with those pesky facts.

SMUleopold · May 10, 2021

2 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Just wondering, with the economic impact in college sports why would the AAC look to widen it's footprint? It's hard to believe the P5 will be adding any teams. More likely to see a reduction in the number of teams considered "Power" and very hard to believe if there was expansion they would bring the entire AAC.

Aresco has said they will replace UConn, and it's worth noting that if the AAC did bring in more than 12 teams then we can renegotiate our TV contract with ESPN. But yeah, it's hard to see aggressive expansion in today's climate.

MrAlien · May 11, 2021

10 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

What has UH done the past 4 seasons? 2 losing seasons back to back, 2 bowl losses in 2017 and 2018 and that 18 loss was by 56 points.

And what about when SMU joined the American. They were just average, and were awful for the first 3 years in the conference.

UH was a #2 seed in NCAA march Madness... Its more then football, basketball brings in a ton on money for these schools

PlummMeanGreen · May 11, 2021

On 5/10/2021 at 10:33 AM, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

What has UH done the past 4 seasons? 2 losing seasons back to back, 2 bowl losses in 2017 and 2018 and that 18 loss was by 56 points.

And what about when SMU joined the American. They were just average, and were awful for the first 3 years in the conference.

NTSN, it’s really not what UH did the last 4 years, but (IMHO) what they did from 1960 to 1970 which was go from zero in 1960 to a Southwest Conference invite in 1970. They also played some decent basketball those 10 years, too.

♦️UH’s entry into the SWC would end that league’s longtime adage of “SWC basketball is what you do between Spring & Fall football.” Eddie Sutton knew what they would have to do at Arkansas now that UH would be in the league. Well, Eddie came through while others In the SWC took awhile longer but they would all be forced to soon follow. (They had no choice).

Since so many schools have to depend on their (sometimes) distant past for future conference consideration (with UH not really being part of that group); anyhow, that still remains part of our favorite school’s problem as far as a future conference upgrade is concerned.

We have to have at least a decade of winning & bowl successes before we can project ourselves for a better conference while “Potential” is an overused word that we need to lose in our MG vocabulary.

❇️🦅❇️

Edited May 11, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

Rudy · May 11, 2021

On 5/8/2021 at 6:17 PM, untjim1995 said:

Because you don’t share TV markets...that’s why it won’t happen. SMU has that power. Nobody else is voting to add us into a TV market they already have.

What kind of "power" over the DFW TV market does $mut have? I must have missed their weekly games on WFAA.

If the AAC decided to expand, I think we could make our case, but I think it is an uphill battle, not because of $mut. Our best chance to move up continues to be the MWC, if they decide to expand.

Cooke County Kid · May 11, 2021

I believe the Mountain West is our next best move and not a bad one. Realign with the four, IH-25 schools in the Mountain Time Zone with a one hour difference. New Mexico, Air Force, Colorado State and Whyoming. Add Rice, La Tech and UTEP and you have a pretty good eastern division. More money and exposure, better competition and travel costs are not unreasonable. We lose the Florida schools and lessen our expenses. They play pretty good basketball in the MWC and have some decent football.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!

PlummMeanGreen · May 11, 2021

4 hours ago, Cooke County Kid said:

I believe the Mountain West is our next best move and not a bad one. Realign with the four, IH-25 schools in the Mountain Time Zone with a one hour difference. New Mexico, Air Force, Colorado State and Whyoming. Add Rice, La Tech and UTEP and you have a pretty good eastern division. More money and exposure, better competition and travel costs are not unreasonable. We lose the Florida schools and lessen our expenses. They play pretty good basketball in the MWC and have some decent football.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!

This above. 👍

The Time Zone issue I believe could be worked out. Like it or not, UTSA would have to be considered. San Antonio is a destination city for tourists, fans & history buffs as in their Spanish missions tour. A la New Orleans Sugar Bowl & their 2’nd bowl the NO’s Bowl, you have SA with their Alamo Bowl & I think they could easily have a 2’nd bowl like the Big Easy’s New Orleans Bowl.
UNT being 25 minutes from DFW Airport & 20 minutes from Alliance (along with its TMS & surrounding hotels) are positives for UNT.
The top shelf venues of the Mean Green Village are also a plus—more than I think we may realize. A new Men’s varsity baseball stadium & a new Super Pit 2.0 near “the Hill” are merely icing on the cake.
One ancient writing said “a nation without dreams will perish.” Well, that will never be a problem for us of the Mean Green Nation because we have no shortage of dreams.

❇️🦅❇️

Edited May 11, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

Cooke County Kid · May 11, 2021

Honestly, we all know that the Big XII is going to implode when the new TV deal comes up for negotiations. What happens after that is of upmost importance to UNT. Will we be prepared? We now pretty much have the facilities and we CAN draw the crowds the location is good and I believe we are becoming a "recognized" University. We just need to WIN. If we win good things can happen if we don't I hope you like C-USA. I left UTSA out on purpose.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!

untjim1995 · May 11, 2021

There are so many possibilities to play out, but one thing is certain, a Big XII/PAC 12 blending of some sort has to happen. They both have pieces that are attractive but many that aren’t. The Big XII has performed better at the two Money sports, while the PAC has bigger markets and overall better academics.

My bet is still that the Texoma Four go West, the B1G adds KU and gets Mizzou to jump over from the SEC, and the SEC adds WVU. The MWC comes in and scoops up the two Texas privates, while the AAC gobbles up ISU and KSU.

The AAC would have 13 football members and 14 basketball members. Again, I expect Army to eventually get that last football only invite to even things out. The MWC would be at 14 with TCU and Baylor added.

For us, the question about realignment would basically revolve around answering two questions: is 14 the magic number for the AAC and MWC or would they want 16? And does TV basically control conference affiliation? The answer to both of us could be the real scary part, because there’s a real chance that if the answer to one is 16, but TV controls this still, not only are we stuck, but there could easily be movement without us from CUSA teams leaving.

Cooke County Kid · May 12, 2021

It is time, past time to be proactive. Like I said we have the facilities now, we just have to win games. Maybe we are "courting" the wrong league. If smut stays in the AAC and we cannot get in the only choice left is obvious. Baylor and TCU will not be joining the MWC.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!

Edited May 12, 2021 by Cooke County Kid

Cougar King · May 12, 2021

On 5/10/2021 at 10:33 AM, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

What has UH done the past 4 seasons? 2 losing seasons back to back, 2 bowl losses in 2017 and 2018 and that 18 loss was by 56 points.

And what about when SMU joined the American. They were just average, and were awful for the first 3 years in the conference.

That doesn't matter. We're already in the AAC, UNT is trying to get in the show.

Also, I'm pretty sure we just went to The Final Four a few months ago.

untjim1995 · May 12, 2021

3 hours ago, Cooke County Kid said:

It is time, past time to be proactive. Like I said we have the facilities now, we just have to win games. Maybe we are "courting" the wrong league. If smut stays in the AAC and we cannot get in the only choice left is obvious. Baylor and TCU will not be joining the MWC.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!

Nobody suggests that Baylor and TCU will willingly join the MWC—but if there’s no Big XII anymore, they may not have any other choice...

DentonLurker · May 12, 2021

Before we start talking about 300,000 alum eyeballs and 1,000,000 Denton County residents watching UNT on TV, I'd love to just see 30,000 at Apogee. I can't buy that we bring that much to a TV conversation when we don't even fill the 30,000 seats on Bonnie Brae for home games.

I want UNT to move up in conferences as much as the next guy, but I'm unsold on whether or not this fanbase will get behind this team. Win or lose, the department needs the revenue influx or 30,000 tickets sold for 6 home games each year. That's game-changing stuff. Without that and winning a lot of games, I don't think much else really matters.

Edited May 12, 2021 by DentonLurker

GrandGreen · May 12, 2021

10 hours ago, Cooke County Kid said:

Honestly, we all know that the Big XII is going to implode when the new TV deal comes up for negotiations. What happens after that is of upmost importance to UNT. Will we be prepared? We now pretty much have the facilities and we CAN draw the crowds the location is good and I believe we are becoming a "recognized" University. We just need to WIN. If we win good things can happen if we don't I hope you like C-USA. I left UTSA out on purpose.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES!!!

No, I don't think many if anyone knows what is going to happen with the B12. They have scenarios for expansion of the B12 and they do not include any g5's.

That is just as likely as the B12 losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC or Pacific Coast.

NT's budget is not close to a P5 level and I think NT is maxed out on how much they can get from student fees. Alas, currently nearly all of the AAC teams not in Tulsa would be viewed as better expansion targets by p5 conferences than NT.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · May 12, 2021

18 hours ago, Cougar King said:

That doesn't matter. We're already in the AAC, UNT is trying to get in the show.

Also, I'm pretty sure we just went to The Final Four a few months ago.

Football. This is about football.

And y’all have done nothing the past few years.

UNTLifer · May 12, 2021

20 hours ago, Cougar King said:

That doesn't matter. We're already in the AAC, UNT is trying to get in the show.

Also, I'm pretty sure we just went to The Final Four a few months ago.

"The show"? Now that is damn funny.

CFBTalk · May 12, 2021

2 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Football. This is about football.

And y’all have done nothing the past few years.

If that’s the case, why tf should y’all be in the aac 😂

Didn’t y’all get destroyed by SMU and a Trash D’eriq Kingless Houston Team at home.

untjim1995 · May 13, 2021

17 hours ago, CFBTalk said:

If that’s the case, why tf should y’all be in the aac 😂

Didn’t y’all get destroyed by SMU and a Trash D’eriq Kingless Houston Team at home.

Yes, we did. UH's size advantage was staggering--yall would have mud-holed us last year, too, if Covid hadn't thankfully cancelled that game.

Look, we would love to be in the AAC because it would allow us to have better competition and better recruiting. But it would take years for us to get competitive in that league. Hell, we can't even compete physically with La Tech, UAB, or USM in our own division now. But the AAC represents a level that is, frankly, the highest level we could realistically ever reach. And, sadly, the AAC represents the ceiling for you guys at UH, too. We are all just left behind. And that's the bitter truth. We would love to be at your level one day--whether we can do that or not is really yet to be seen. Your advantages in endowment, fanbase size, history of success in both revenue sports, and location in the Energy Capital of the USA are all more than we can even admit, but they are all very real. But in the end, you guys, like SMU, are still stuck in the same situation we are, being G5s that will never be allowed to join the club.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · May 13, 2021

12 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Yes, we did. UH's size advantage was staggering--yall would have mud-holed us last year, too, if Covid hadn't thankfully cancelled that game.

Look, we would love to be in the AAC because it would allow us to have better competition and better recruiting. But it would take years for us to get competitive in that league. Hell, we can't even compete physically with La Tech, UAB, or USM in our own division now. But the AAC represents a level that is, frankly, the highest level we could realistically ever reach. And, sadly, the AAC represents the ceiling for you guys at UH, too. We are all just left behind. And that's the bitter truth. We would love to be at your level one day--whether we can do that or not is really yet to be seen. Your advantages in endowment, fanbase size, history of success in both revenue sports, and location in the Energy Capital of the USA are all more than we can even admit, but they are all very real. But in the end, you guys, like SMU, are still stuck in the same situation we are, being G5s that will never be allowed to join the club.

I think this years team has way more size than previously, and can compete with anyone in the CUSA no doubt.

If we could have at least 2 years of solid success, I don’t see why we couldn’t compete at the AAC. Teams like SMU, Tulane, UConn, and Tulsa were not very good going in, and struggled in the first few years.

GreenGang45 · May 13, 2021

On 5/10/2021 at 10:33 AM, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

What has UH done the past 4 seasons? 2 losing seasons back to back, 2 bowl losses in 2017 and 2018 and that 18 loss was by 56 points.

And what about when SMU joined the American. They were just average, and were awful for the first 3 years in the conference.

Any recruit in the state of Texas will chose UH and SMU over UNT and it’s not because the conference . UH beat our heads in 2019 and smu beat our head in the last 2 yrs. don’t bite off more than you can chew we’re not ready for the aac .

GreenGang45 · May 13, 2021

22 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I think this years team has way more size than previously, and can compete with anyone in the CUSA no doubt.

If we could have at least 2 years of solid success, I don’t see why we couldn’t compete at the AAC. Teams like SMU, Tulane, UConn, and Tulsa were not very good going in, and struggled in the first few years.

@NorthTexasSportsNetwork you’re one optimistic guy lol