For the realignment junkies

[wardly]

The top two picks most mentioned to move from CUSA to AAC are UAB and FAU. After that its "you pick em". If the AAC chooses another Texas team it will be UTSA because of the market. UNT is just too close to SMU. If you combine CUSA and the Sun Belt  then ULL, Coastal Carolina, and App State have the better teams but are in small markets. The question is does the AAC want to go south grabbing LA. Tech, So. Miss,and UAB as a bridge to USF or look north at Marshall and ODU? Regardless of who they choose the replacement programs won't hold a candle to the 3 that they lost to the Big 12.

[DeepGreen]

4 hours ago, southsideguy said:

but but we have Judy

[untjim1995]

Memphis and USF will go to the Big XII eventually, replacing two teams (KU and someone) who get the golden ticket in a few years.

MWC adds in SMU and UTSA to get to 14 and get into Texas.

AAC, which has Tulsa, Tulane, Temple, ECU, and Navy, invites Army, UNT, Rice, UAB, MUTS, FAU, and Marshall to join.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[southsideguy]

We can speculate all we want but we don't know goes on behind close doors.   Maybe Dykes being friends with SL will help SMUT to get over the hump?   We fire him and no chance.....lol

We could be travel partners in basketball.

Edited September 15, 2021 by southsideguy

[ColoradoEagle]

3 minutes ago, southsideguy said:

We can speculate all we want but we don't know goes on behind close doors.   Maybe Dykes being friends with SL will help SMUT to get over the hump?   We fire him and no chance.....lol

I would guess that Wren and Aresco having a good relationship will help us out.

[UNTLifer]

Don't see the attraction of USF, FAU or utsa.

[UNTcrazy727]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

The top two picks most mentioned to move from CUSA to AAC are UAB and FAU. After that its "you pick em". If the AAC chooses another Texas team it will be UTSA because of the market. UNT is just too close to SMU. If you combine CUSA and the Sun Belt  then ULL, Coastal Carolina, and App State have the better teams but are in small markets. The question is does the AAC want to go south grabbing LA. Tech, So. Miss,and UAB as a bridge to USF or look north at Marshall and ODU? Regardless of who they choose the replacement programs won't hold a candle to the 3 that they lost to the Big 12.

I don't understand why people keep saying the AAC won't consider us because we're too close to SMU, but would take a serious look at schools like LA Tech and Southern Miss. Wouldn't you rather have 2 schools sharing a massive market over a school that isn't even in a market?

Edited September 15, 2021 by UNTcrazy727

[El Paso Eagle]

4 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

Hiring coaches doesn’t seem that hard to me. AState has hired 5 since December of 2010 and four left for raises. 

You guys have done a very good job, I only hope your relator is an Alumni for all of the commissions. 

[untjim1995]

2 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Don't see the attraction of USF, FAU or utsa.

USF has a lot to offer, especially when they are good. They are basically like UCF--when they are good, they are very good. Tampa, Florida is a destination with tons of talent around there. FAU, is basically a few steps down from there. Boca Raton is incredible, but they have almost no following, but do provide a foothold for recruiting and for other teams to enjoy the beauty of that area. UTSA, is basically FAU, but with a huge stadium, huge TV market, great recruiting base, and a destination city for fans.

Networks like them alot--USF has been an original CUSA program for all sports, then got an immediate invite to the old Big East when Miami left to go to the ACC. Similar to UTSA, networks saw a lot of potential in what they were doing, so they got to move up. UTSA basically moved up to CUSA from the SBC after one year, even though their entire program was just a few years old at the time. FAU was basically the same when the SBC lost Utah State, NM State, and Idaho to the old WAC and we needed someone with a pulse to replace them--thus, we got Troy and FAU, as well as FIU, eventually.

TV controls the entire game. They control college presidents, conference commissioners, and bowl committees. They build these conferences to meet their advertising demand and programming needs. Its why you will never see college football teams that share a direct market ever in a conference again. FAU and FIU are as close as that paradigm will go--and that's almost exclusively because we have a complete dumbass as a commissioner that keeps her job for reasons of pure wokeness, nothing more. Rice and UH aren't gonna be in a conference ever again--same with TCU and SMU, too, which sadly includes us, as well. Unless or until networks view us above the two private schools in the DFW area, we are just flat out stuck behind them, as we always have been. Hell, SMU somehow has managed to get sympathy and "Cachet" from ESPN for the Death Penalty from over 30 years ago that was more than earned and deserved. Its yet another reason why so many North Texas grads just give up--they want to follow but the losing beats them down, playing in a conference that is the worst beats them down, and playing teams that very, very few people care about or have heard of just beats them down. They choose the pro team or pro-lite team around here to follow and adopt as theirs, thus spending money and energy on them, versus giving anything back to the place that gave them their degree. Its how you can have over 40k students, over 300k local alumni, be within an hour for several million people, yet play in a stadium that fits under 31k and has never been sold out one time.

 

[untjim1995]

17 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

I don't understand why people keep saying the AAC won't consider us because we're too close to SMU, but would take a serious look at schools like LA Tech and Southern Miss. Wouldn't you rather have 2 schools sharing a massive market over a school that isn't even in a market?

Sadly, the answer is yes. Otherwise, it would've already happened. The AAC won't consider those two either--they bring nothing to the conference. Schools like UAB and MUTS are the ones to watch, just as UTSA and FAU are, too...

[wardly]

15 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

I don't understand why people keep saying the AAC won't consider us because we're too close to SMU, but would take a serious look at schools like LA Tech and Southern Miss. Wouldn't you rather have 2 schools sharing a massive market over a school that isn't even in a market?

No, and La. Tech and So. Miss are in very small markets so they should not make the cut. Given their population I wonder how they got in CUSA. FAU give the AAC a presence  in a large Florida market along with USF. The Bulls and Memphis should be invited to Big 12 when they next expand. Just a 'guess and by golly."

[ColoradoEagle]

31 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Don't see the attraction of USF, FAU or utsa.

Did you mean FIU (USF)? I'd agree on all of those. FIU plays football in a soccer stadium, and not a very good one. Basketball is in a high school level gym. No IPF. The one thing they have on us is much higher rated academics.

People keep throwing UTSA out as "The San Antonio media market!" They're in a metro of 2.5m where they're the only football in town and they barely outdraw us. In the end, they do outdraw us, but it's negligible and is far outweighed by their negatives (no football stadium, young program, basketball is a glorified high school gym, no IPF, etc). They're slightly below us academically.

FAU is another school with lackluster facilities. Football stadium is fine, basketball is a HS level gym, and again no IPF. They're no better or worse than us academically.

Edited September 15, 2021 by ColoradoEagle

[untjim1995]

3 minutes ago, wardly said:

No, and La. Tech and So. Miss are in very small markets so they should not make the cut. Given their population I wonder how they got in CUSA. FAU give the AAC a presence  in a large Florida market along with USF. The Bulls and Memphis should be invited to Big 12 when they next expand. Just a 'guess and by golly."

Southern Miss is a CUSA legacy. I believe they and UAB are the only ones that are inaugural members still left from CUSA 1.0 that had UH, Cincy, Memphis, Louisville, East Carolina, and Tulane. Eventually, UCF and Marshall got invited, too, as their moves up from 1-AA were far superior to ours in the 90s.

La Tech is the real anomaly. I'm glad they are in CUSA with us, but they have absolutely nothing in common with us, UTSA, FIU, Charlotte, and ODU, all of whom were invited together. Other than LT and WKU, everyone else we have invited, FAU and MUTS, have no market at all.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

29 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

I don't understand why people keep saying the AAC won't consider us because we're too close to SMU, but would take a serious look at schools like LA Tech and Southern Miss. Wouldn't you rather have 2 schools sharing a massive market over a school that isn't even in a market?

To me it’s more that our only appeal would be market, and the revenue and facilities that come with that. But if you want market, they already have a team in DFW. Those teams are consistently winning programs, that’s what they bring that we don’t. 

[MeanGreenTeeth]

Everybody on here worried about whose going to AAC or MWC or whatever...Am I alone at looking at what's left in any of the remaining conferences and being underwhelmed? Sure some conferences are better than others, but it's really marginal.  I can't imagine the everyday fan or student really caring about any of these teams.   Play East Carolina, Temple, or USF?  Whoopdeedoo.  For the average UNT student, we might as well be playing Howard Payne.   

[ColoradoEagle]

20 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

To me it’s more that our only appeal would be market, and the revenue and facilities that come with that. 

We're basically tied for #2 in revenue, have the best facilities, highest paid football coach, and fourth highest paid basketball coach of CUSA/SBC.

For the first time in the history of our athletics, we bring the most commitment, even if the football results have yet to catch up to the investment.

Edited September 15, 2021 by ColoradoEagle

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

5 minutes ago, ColoradoEagle said:

We're basically tied for #2 in revenue, have the best facilities, highest paid football coach, and fourth highest paid basketball coach of CUSA/SBC.

For the first time in the history of our athletics, we bring the most commitment, even if the football results have yet to catch up to the investment.

I get the argument if you're consistently winning even 7-8 games a year like SMU was before it got into the AAC. With what they've just lost they aren't going to want to bring in a team that just showed it's bottom of the AAC stepping in. I hope you're right, I just don't see it happening solely because of those things. Conference promotions in college football have historically been due to success, with the CUSA actually being the only exception I can think of, going for markets (with some schools at least) and seemingly paying the price now.

[Monkeypox]

6 hours ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

Actually it does. Teams want to play other quality teams so they can have a shot at being the top ranked G5 and place themselves in the expanded playoff. That's going to be the top consideration, because even one playoff appearance could catapult a program. If the playoff expansion happened today, the only conferences with a chance would be SBC, MWC and AAC. They are going to all try to keep it that way.

There is no expanded playoff. The board meets next week and they've all but said that, after the move of Texas and OU to the SEC, that particular model is dead and they will have to start over. They are unlikely to even bother voting on it at this time. Even if they did, it would require a UNANIMOUS vote, and more than one member has already stated that they would not vote for it now if it did come up. 

 

 

[NM Green]

I want to leave Judy. If we stay in C USA I like plain southern miss la tech many of the programs we’ve started to build rivalries with. I like western in bball. Rice and utsa are close visits. 
 

Like the above poster said the leftover schools in these conferences are okay but the solution is get rid of Judy. Look at your five year selves not your 2022 self when navigating the new waters.  
 

I believe wren and company are looking beyond the aac and mwc too which they should. We have a lot to offer.

GMG

[ColoradoEagle]

28 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

I get the argument if you're consistently winning even 7-8 games a year like SMU was before it got into the AAC. With what they've just lost they aren't going to want to bring in a team that just showed it's bottom of the AAC stepping in. I hope you're right, I just don't see it happening solely because of those things. Conference promotions in college football have historically been due to success, with the CUSA actually being the only exception I can think of, going for markets (with some schools at least) and seemingly paying the price now.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Memphis and Tulane were mostly terrible immediately leading up to AAC and SMU was middling. Having two 8 win seasons isn't really any different from us having two 9 win seasons. Tulsa was surprisingly competitive.

I know the kneejerk fan reaction is to see who's currently ranked the highest in football and say it's them, but I just don't see it. Troy was regularly stomping our ass before we left the SBC, for example.

In today's landscape, I think you're looking for four things: 1) overall athletic commitment (dollars), 2) facilities, 3) recent success, and 4) geography. Bonus points for media market.

At the end of the day, the schools willing to spend the most money will be the ones to continue moving up, and the ones who are not will be left behind. This is the one constant in all realignments. It's no coincidence that the three highest spending schools (Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati) are the three that were called up to the Big 12.

Edited September 15, 2021 by ColoradoEagle

[Wag Tag]

Who really controls the DFW market. Texas and A&M do. Who is next TCU, Baylor, TT and Houston. I would say it is the same for San Antonio. This is one of the reasons SMU has no invite.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

1 hour ago, Monkeypox said:

There is no expanded playoff. The board meets next week and they've all but said that, after the move of Texas and OU to the SEC, that particular model is dead and they will have to start over. They are unlikely to even bother voting on it at this time. Even if they did, it would require a UNANIMOUS vote, and more than one member has already stated that they would not vote for it now if it did come up. 

 

 

I’m not convinced it’s dead forever. I get folks are salty the SEC is going to dominate for years to come, but eventually they will want the extra money and chance at a playoff that currently only a few blue chips have. 

 

1 hour ago, ColoradoEagle said:

I don't think this is necessarily true. Memphis and Tulane were mostly terrible immediately leading up to AAC and SMU was middling. Having two 8 win seasons isn't really any different from us having two 9 win seasons. Tulsa was surprisingly competitive.

I know the kneejerk fan reaction is to see who's currently ranked the highest in football and say it's them, but I just don't see it. Troy was regularly stomping our ass before we left the SBC, for example.

In today's landscape, I think you're looking for four things: 1) overall athletic commitment (dollars), 2) facilities, 3) recent success, and 4) geography. Bonus points for media market.

At the end of the day, the schools willing to spend the most money will be the ones to continue moving up, and the ones who are not will be left behind. This is the one constant in all realignments. It's no coincidence that the three highest spending schools (Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati) are the three that were called up to the Big 12.

TV markets were more important back then. Those moving to the Big 12 teams have also easily have had the most success. Memphis may be on their way up too due to recent success. If you’re not named Texas, very few schools are moving up due to those things alone. Being middling or having a couple down years is one thing, but we are shaking years of losing stigma as well. 

[MrAlien]

TV markets are different now, besides most mid-major games are going to be on an app that anyone can watch.  SMU having UNT in the same conference would mean rivalry games in multiple sports, that will get butts in seats and eyeballs on screens.  Being that DFW is a top 5 media market, anytime they play lots of people will tune in, probably have the highest rating in the conference just because of the size of the area.  

[meangreenbob]

4 hours ago, wardly said:

The top two picks most mentioned to move from CUSA to AAC are UAB and FAU. After that its "you pick em". If the AAC chooses another Texas team it will be UTSA because of the market. UNT is just too close to SMU. If you combine CUSA and the Sun Belt  then ULL, Coastal Carolina, and App State have the better teams but are in small markets. The question is does the AAC want to go south grabbing LA. Tech, So. Miss,and UAB as a bridge to USF or look north at Marshall and ODU? Regardless of who they choose the replacement programs won't hold a candle to the 3 that they lost to the Big 12.

Remember that SMU and TCU were in the Southwest Conference together for years. 

Actually it would benefit the AAC to have UNT included. There is room for both schools in this market.

it would be the wisest move by the AAC.

The world has changed.  

[ColoradoEagle]

1 hour ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

TV markets were more important back then. Those moving to the Big 12 teams have also easily have had the most success. Memphis may be on their way up too due to recent success. If you’re not named Texas, very few schools are moving up due to those things alone. Being middling or having a couple down years is one thing, but we are shaking years of losing stigma as well. 

We’ve had the same number of wins the past five years as Houston (31). More wins than FIU, ODU, and UTSA. The only potential target that is far and away better recently is App State. 

Regarding the spending, that is what elevated those schools and ensured they kept moving up. ECU, Memphis, and South Florida didn’t make the same commitment and got left behind (for now?).