American targeting MWC Powers Among Others For Expansion

[UNTcrazy727]

American targeting Mountain West powers among handful of expansion candidates in realignment

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AAC candidates

• Air Force: Service academy partner with Navy, already an AAC member.
• Boise State: Established football excellence. Possible travel partner for other Western candidates. Might have to decide between the AAC now or Big 12 down the line.
• Colorado State: One of the best new stadiums in the country. The football program is struggling, and CSU doesn't exactly deliver the Denver market.
• San Diego State: New stadium, beautiful city, West Coast talent. But if the AAC stays (somewhat) intact, why would SDSU leave the best remaining Group of Five league? Its only other option would be a Big 12 that wants to expand beyond 14. Travel would be an issue.
• UAB: The city of Birmingham, coach Bill Clark and athletic director Mark Ingram deserve tremendous credit for making the program attractive since it was shut down in 2014.
• FAU: A Sunshine State replacement for UCF. Lane Kiffin showed the Owls' potential winning two conference titles in three years.
• UTSA: A rising program in a large market that would theoretically replace Houston in the state of Texas.

Other considerations

• Mountain West: North Texas and Tulsa are under consideration by the MWC. That could be a proactive move if the AAC takes some MWC teams. However, depending on which way realignment moves, the Mountain West could become the dominant Group of Five conference itself if it stays intact as there may be no combination of schools for the AAC that could make up for losses of Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.

 

[ColoradoEagle]

I would be for Tulsa and North Texas moving to the MWC if only to see the meltdown on ponyfans.

[Wag Tag]

ULM has to go!

[EagleTech]

If the MWC were to lose Boise State, San Diego State, and Air Force, I don’t think leaving to the MWC to backfill would be a good move. CUSA and maybe even the SBC would be better leagues with more potential. The remaining MWC schools would mostly be remote in sparsely populated western states without the potential for growth of some of the CUSA and SBC programs.

[MDH]

Current MWC>re-aligned AAC...why would the stronger MWC teams jump? The WAC-16 expansion is still on the minds of many MWC members and jumping in to a conference with even more eastern teams would be a non-starter.

[UNTcrazy727]

1 minute ago, EagleTech said:

If the MWC were to lose Boise State, San Diego State, and Air Force, I don’t think leaving to the MWC to backfill would be a good move. CUSA and maybe even the SBC would be better leagues with more potential. The remaining MWC schools would mostly be remote in sparsely populated western states without the potential for growth of some of the CUSA and SBC programs.

Agreed, but I don't think the AAC is going to have any luck convincing them to leave.

IMO right now, our best case scenario is the MWC schools saying no, then the AAC raiding CUSA/Sun Belt and the MWC deciding to expand to 14 by adding UNT and someone else.

[UNTLifer]

6 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

IMO right now, our best case scenario is the MWC schools saying no, then the AAC raiding CUSA/Sun Belt and the MWC deciding to expand to 14 by adding UNT and someone else.

I would hope, if this scenario were to hold true, that we were one of the CUSA programs the AAC raided.  That would be better and more regional that then Big West Part Deaux.

[DeepGreen]

So the AAC is going after Mountain West teams.  Air Force, Boise State, and whoever else is 2-3 time zones away.  College football has really become a stupid sport.  In some cases flying coast to coast for a game?  Stupid!!!

[greenminer]

 

[Wag Tag]

I wonder if this forces the Big12 to start adding more teams now.?

[Mean Green Matt]

I gotta admit despite the time zone issues there is something weirdly exciting about joining the mountain west. 

[El Paso Eagle]

10 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

I wonder if this forces the Big12 to start adding more teams now.?

I still think they add Memphis and someone from the West (UNLV, San Diego, Boise)

 

[untjim1995]

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

I would hope, if this scenario were to hold true, that we were one of the CUSA programs the AAC raided.  That would be better and more regional that then Big West Part Deaux.

@MeanGreenTexanand @PlummMeanGreen--this is exactly what I've been trying to tell you both. This mindset represents the clear majority of this board and fanbase. They like close games to drive to and beating deadlines for our game to be in a newspaper on Sunday morning, since its still 1998 and everything is still the same as it was back then--when we played in the Big West with Nevada, Boise State, Idaho, Utah State, and NMSU. I mean, clearly that mix is basically the same as playing SDSU, Hawaii, Fresno State, San Jose State, Utah State, Colorado State, AFA, Wyoming, UNM, Boise State, Nevada, and UNLV.

So frustrating--but I clearly recognize that I am in the minority here on the MWC...

[UNTcrazy727]

3 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

@MeanGreenTexanand @PlummMeanGreen--this is exactly what I've been trying to tell you both. This mindset represents the clear majority of this board and fanbase. They like close games to drive to and beating deadlines for our game to be in a newspaper on Sunday morning, since its still 1998 and everything is still the same as it was back then--when we played in the Big West with Nevada, Boise State, Idaho, Utah State, and NMSU. I mean, clearly that mix is basically the same as playing SDSU, Hawaii, Fresno State, San Jose State, Utah State, Colorado State, AFA, Wyoming, UNM, Boise State, Nevada, and UNLV.

So frustrating--but I clearly recognize that I am in the minority here on the MWC...

If the AAC were to raid 2-3 teams from CUSA I don't think you would be in the minority for long. 

[untjim1995]

3 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

If the AAC were to raid 2-3 teams from CUSA I don't think you would be in the minority for long. 

I can only dream...

[DeepGreen]

9 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

I can only dream...

If the AAC raids 2-3 teams from CUSA, if given a chance to move, what conference would you prefer to be in?

[ColoradoEagle]

If ESPN really turns the screws, there may no longer be a CUSA.

[Green Otaku]

If the AAC doesn't happen for UNT, we absolutely need to push for the MW. With the AAC reloading there is going to be a period where the MW and AAC battle it out for the best G5. I know people are hesitant going west, but the MW has really solid members from top to bottom and will be miles ahead of what's left in CUSA (maybe even over what a rebuilt AAC will look like). Or did we forget the whipping Utah State gave is in the NM Bowl? 

Not to mention the MW is a monster BB conference. New Mexico, SDSU, UNLV, Nevada, Utah St., always top 25 teams. The last Texas team in the MW is now in the BigXII. If we have the chance to join, we take it and don't look back. 

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

Those who are saying even a depleted MWC wouldn’t be better than CUSA are fooling themselves. Fans being able to go to road games is way down on the list of considerations. CUSA is in the gutter and we’re potentially being offered a lifeline. If this is reliable, of course we would take it. 

[UNTLifer]

28 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

@MeanGreenTexanand @PlummMeanGreen--this is exactly what I've been trying to tell you both. This mindset represents the clear majority of this board and fanbase. They like close games to drive to and beating deadlines for our game to be in a newspaper on Sunday morning, since its still 1998 and everything is still the same as it was back then--when we played in the Big West with Nevada, Boise State, Idaho, Utah State, and NMSU. I mean, clearly that mix is basically the same as playing SDSU, Hawaii, Fresno State, San Jose State, Utah State, Colorado State, AFA, Wyoming, UNM, Boise State, Nevada, and UNLV.

So frustrating--but I clearly recognize that I am in the minority here on the MWC...

I'm sorry, but I would rather play in the AAC with Tulsa, SMU, Memphis, USF, Tulane, ECU, etc... and whoever they can sway from the MWC.  If that falls through, then I would like to go MWC.  I like the aggressive nature of the AAC.

Edited September 16, 2021 by UNTLifer

[TheColonyEagle]

9 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I'm sorry, but I would rather play in the AAC with Tulsa, SMU, Memphis, USF, Tulane, ECU, etc... and whoever they can sway from the MWC.  If that falls through, then I would like to go MWC.  I like the aggressive nature of the AAC.

Agree. 
 

And I’m not opposed to the MWC. However my concern is if Boise and the top teams leave the MWC, it’s not really the MWC anymore. We’re just left with Tulsa and a bunch of teams in another time zone. 

We’ve been through this before. sure we got to go to CUSA but it was CUSA In name only. It wasn’t the same without SMU, UH, Cincy, Memphis, etc.

If Dennis Dodd is reporting it….I’m guessing Wren has talked to them and conversations are going on. Which also tells me the AAC could be falling through. 
 

I just don’t know what being in the MWC gets us if the MWC isn’t as prestigious a conference. Sure it will be better than CUSA but without the top teams….is it good enough to offset extra costs?

[untjim1995]

11 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I'm sorry, but I would rather play in the AAC with Tulsa, SMU, Memphis, USF, Tulane, ECU, etc... and whoever they can sway from the MWC.  If that falls through, then I would like to go MWC.  I like the aggressive nature of the AAC.

Lifer, I like your posts and you've been a great fan here...and that setup would be the ultimate dream of a UNT fan. But please stop with the fantasizing about being in a conference with SMU. For the umpteenth time, networks control conferences and how they are built--have been for a long time. TCU and SMU aren't gonna be in a conference, nor are we gonna be with either of them. UH and Rice will never be in a conference again together. All of these schools are viewed by networks and conference commissioners as sharing the market they are in...Get SMU to leave the AAC like they did with CUSA and we are definitely replacing them. But if they stay in the AAC, our path is somewhere else. ESPN and Fox ain't changing their minds all of a sudden on this.

[Brett Vito]

 

[untjim1995]

1 minute ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Agree. 
 

And I’m not opposed to the MWC. However my concern is if Boise and the top teams leave the MWC, it’s not really the MWC anymore. We’re just left with Tulsa and a bunch of teams in another time zone. 

We’ve been through this before. sure we got to go to CUSA but it was CUSA In name only. It wasn’t the same without SMU, UH, Cincy, Memphis, etc.

If Dennis Dodd is reporting it….I’m guessing Wren has talked to them and conversations are going on. Which also tells me the AAC could be falling through. 
 

I just don’t know what being in the MWC gets us if the MWC isn’t as prestigious a conference. Sure it will be better than CUSA but without the top teams….is it good enough to offset extra costs?

TCU certainly didn't think that way when they left CUSA to go out west--just as SMU and Rice were being invited to join the old CUSA.

But hey, lets not play Fresno State when we can play Florida International. I mean that's a whole other hour we have to deal with if we play them on the road. And I know playing in the Pit against Western Kentucky could just never compete with playing Nevada, UNLV, or UNM...

As time goes on, the more and more I realize that CUSA West is probably just the best place for our fanbase and our program. 

[El Paso Eagle]

While were guessing ... What happens if the B12 comes back and takes Memphis also?