AAC talking to Marshall?

Coach Bill Lewis · October 7, 2021

Looks like the AAC is in discussions with Marshall. Posted on the Sun Belt board.

Rudy · October 7, 2021

Wouldn't surprise me one bit. They're having a tough year, but are typically a good team with a long history. It also wouldn't surprise me for them to be the first to bolt from the wreckage of the Judy Train.

Wag Tag · October 7, 2021

Do you pay the exit fees and entrance fees not knowing who will be in the AAC in 3 years?

MeanGreenTexan · October 7, 2021

27 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

Do you pay the exit fees and entrance fees not knowing who will be in the AAC in 3 years?

The better question: Do you stay pat and hang with Judy & C-USA?

PlummMeanGreen · October 7, 2021

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

The better question: Do you stay pat and hang with Judy & C-USA?

No.

Wonder how many CUSA schools could not come up with exit fees if asked to join the AAC or MWC?

You know the Commissioners of the aforementioned probably already know the answer to that.

Exit fees may need to be reduced in some cases?

🦅

Edited October 7, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

Arkstfan · October 7, 2021

18 hours ago, Coach Bill Lewis said:

Looks like the AAC is in discussions with Marshall. Posted on the Sun Belt board.

Eh it’s a looney Marshall fan who claims media dude Chuck Landon said so on Facebook but there are no links or screenshots to substantiate he has said such thing and he’s certainly not said it on Twitter.

There’s a poll discussion of who people would like to pursue if said is true.

PlummMeanGreen · October 7, 2021

1 minute ago, Arkstfan said:

Eh it’s a looney Marshall fan who claims media dude Chuck Landon said so on Facebook but there are no links or screenshots to substantiate he has said such thing and he’s certainly not said it on Twitter.

There’s a poll discussion of who people would like to pursue if said is true.

Link of that poll?

Monkeypox · October 7, 2021

1 hour ago, Arkstfan said:

Eh it’s a looney Marshall fan who claims media dude Chuck Landon said so on Facebook but there are no links or screenshots to substantiate he has said such thing and he’s certainly not said it on Twitter.

There’s a poll discussion of who people would like to pursue if said is true.

Why do people keep reporting message board banter like it has meaning?

I feel like I should just start a "SEC in Discussions with UNT" thread on reddit or something.

untjim1995 · October 7, 2021

The AAC losing UH, Cincy, and UCF was a tough pill to swallow…especially if they are replacing them with CUSA teams. And if the CUSA teams include pissant markets like Huntington, West Virginia, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, or Ruston, Louisiana in any way, shape, or form, that TV deal is about to get really scalped.

I still worry that the MWC is coming down here to get SMU, Rice, UTSA, and UTEP…I mean, the AAC would easily fill us in SMU’s place, but we would be in a very far flung league with no Texas teams again. But we would no longer be stuck with Judy, so I guess that’s a huge win still.

Arkstfan · October 7, 2021

1 hour ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

Link of that poll?

https://csnbbs.com/thread-931471.html

akriesman · October 8, 2021

5 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

The AAC losing UH, Cincy, and UCF was a tough pill to swallow…especially if they are replacing them with CUSA teams. And if the CUSA teams include pissant markets like Huntington, West Virginia, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, or Ruston, Louisiana in any way, shape, or form, that TV deal is about to get really scalped.

I still worry that the MWC is coming down here to get SMU, Rice, UTSA, and UTEP…I mean, the AAC would easily fill us in SMU’s place, but we would be in a very far flung league with no Texas teams again. But we would no longer be stuck with Judy, so I guess that’s a huge win still.

Isn't it pretty much common knowledge that the MWC has no interest in UTEP ? Also, I doubt that SMU goes to another "equal" conference and pays all those fees to move west. UTSA can't seem to afford moving to the AAC. Would the MWC be any different for UTSA ? (that is a question, not a statement). Rice has plenty of money, but seems more interested in contributing to academics over athletics.

Despite our struggling football team, UNT seems to check a lot of boxes for the MWC.

I would say that UNT and UTSA would be front runners for the MVC, IF they expand. But, I am not sure about UTSA now that they turned down the AAC because of financial reasons (allegedly). Rice may still in the picture for the MWC. But, Rice seems to fit the AAC better with the other private schools (just MHO). Nobody mentions Texas State. But, I would assume they would be outliers at this point.

I honestly like playing UTSA, UTEP, Rice, La Tech, USM and UAB. It's too bad CUSA wasn't advancing as a conference, because the regional fit right now is pretty good for us (I am still convinced Judy has something to do with the negative conference appeal).

What a mess. I just wish the AAC would make their mind up already. I guess the same goes for the Big 12.

Edited October 8, 2021 by akriesman

outoftown · October 8, 2021

10 hours ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

No.

Wonder how many CUSA schools could not come up with exit fees if asked to join the AAC or MWC?
Exit fees may need to be reduced in some cases?

No conference is going to reduce exit fees because the school isn't capable to leave otherwise. In fact those exit fees are there to keep institutions in the conferences and at least give the remaining members good money if institutions leave anyway. A commissioner /conference who is afraid of instability is definitely not going to lower that fee any time soon.

Entry fees however might tumble if conferences really need new members. For the AAC this may be a step they need to take, seeing as the MWC schools rebuffed them.

Edited October 8, 2021 by outoftown

PlummMeanGreen · October 8, 2021

6 hours ago, akriesman said:

Isn't it pretty much common knowledge that the MWC has no interest in UTEP ? Also, I doubt that SMU goes to another "equal" conference and pays all those fees to move west. UTSA can't seem to afford moving to the AAC. Would the MWC be any different for UTSA ? (that is a question, not a statement). Rice has plenty of money, but seems more interested in contributing to academics over athletics.

Despite our struggling football team, UNT seems to check a lot of boxes for the MWC.

I would say that UNT and UTSA would be front runners for the MVC, IF they expand. But, I am not sure about UTSA now that they turned down the AAC because of financial reasons (allegedly). Rice may still in the picture for the MWC. But, Rice seems to fit the AAC better with the other private schools (just MHO). Nobody mentions Texas State. But, I would assume they would be outliers at this point.

I honestly like playing UTSA, UTEP, Rice, La Tech, USM and UAB. It's too bad CUSA wasn't advancing as a conference, because the regional fit right now is pretty good for us (I am still convinced Judy has something to do with the negative conference appeal).

What a mess. I just wish the AAC would make their mind up already. I guess the same goes for the Big 12.

Agree, it is a mess.

Has UTSA even been offered an AAC spot for them to turn down? If so, I missed that sports news item (which wouldn’t be the first time for me).

What is the CUSA exit fee, too? I thought at one time it was $15 million?

🦅

keith · October 8, 2021

On 10/6/2021 at 10:49 PM, Coach Bill Lewis said:

Looks like the AAC is in discussions with Marshall. Posted on the Sun Belt board.

I would assume there is a lot of due diligence going on between the "conference" and potential candidates. It's a well practiced mating dance. While the conference leadership (and possibly ADs of the current members) may make recommendations or put forward candidates for consideration, the presidents of the universities are the ultimate decision makers. You have to get in the minds of the presidents to make sense of the decision making progress.

At this level of any organizations, the decision maker rarely relies exclusively or even materially on the recommendations of their direct employees (in this case, conference leadership, ADs, etc.). They want to avoid any potential blow-back of a bad decision where they followed their subordinate's advice. After all, they hired (or kept on) these subordinates and they are a direct reflection of the president's judgement and leadership abilities. They have worked their entire careers to get where they are and have likely become a bit risk averse as they want to either keep their current position of move to a "bigger" university. They are responsible for the overall university and are probably somewhat annoyed that athletics takes on such a prominent role. This is an institution of higher learning, damn it, not a sports factory!

So, what do decision makers at this level do? They hire the best, most expensive consultants in the industry that can provide an "independent and dispassionate" perspective, boil down the issues and basically tell them what to do. The decisions maker(s) will follow the recommendations of the consultant and essentially let them make the decision for them. This insulates them from any potential negative consequents of the decision. They can simply throw their hands up and say, "what else could we do? We hired the best and brightest consultants in the industry. We looked at this from every angle and followed the advice that was given."

MeanGreenTexan · October 8, 2021

4 minutes ago, keith said:

I would assume there is a lot of due diligence going on between the "conference" and potential candidates. It's a well practiced mating dance. While the conference leadership (and possibly ADs of the current members) may make recommendations or put forward candidates for consideration, the presidents of the universities are the ultimate decision makers. You have to get in the minds of the presidents to make sense of the decision making progress.

...

That's why I'm really liking NT's chances of joining the MWC:

NT's president already has friends there who will likely advocate for us if he asks them to.

wardly · October 8, 2021

3 hours ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

Agree, it is a mess.

Has UTSA even been offered an AAC spot for them to turn down? If so, I missed that sports news item (which wouldn’t be the first time for me).

What is the CUSA exit fee, too? I thought at one time it was $15 million?

🦅

I spend way too much time on conference realignment and so far have not seen anything that indicates UTSA was offered and refused an offer to join the AAC. Perhaps the Roadrunners learned from Rutgers mistake in joining the Big 10. According to an investigation from a New Jersey newspaper Rutgers did not have the athletic facilities comparable to the other Big 10 programs so the their athletic department "borrowed " over $200 million from both the University and the Big 10. About $50 million is owed the Big 10 and annual payments are deducted from their t.v. revenues. The university decided to "forgive" the athletic departments debt , but more millions are needed to get their facilities up to snuff. The bottom line was that when the smoke finally clears it will cost Rutgers at least $250 million to level the playing field as regards bricks and sticks in a conference that they are not competitive in any sport. I don't know what it would cost UTSA to make the necessary improvements in facilities required by the AAC but as my mother would say "it's bigger than a breadbasket".

untjim1995 · October 8, 2021

1 hour ago, wardly said:

I spend way too much time on conference realignment and so far have not seen anything that indicates UTSA was offered and refused an offer to join the AAC. Perhaps the Roadrunners learned from Rutgers mistake in joining the Big 10. According to an investigation from a New Jersey newspaper Rutgers did not have the athletic facilities comparable to the other Big 10 programs so the their athletic department "borrowed " over $200 million from both the University and the Big 10. About $50 million is owed the Big 10 and annual payments are deducted from their t.v. revenues. The university decided to "forgive" the athletic departments debt , but more millions are needed to get their facilities up to snuff. The bottom line was that when the smoke finally clears it will cost Rutgers at least $250 million to level the playing field as regards bricks and sticks in a conference that they are not competitive in any sport. I don't know what it would cost UTSA to make the necessary improvements in facilities required by the AAC but as my mother would say "it's bigger than a breadbasket".

Rutgers just made the NCAA Tournament this past spring, so they are doing better in that sport. Football will be a long ways away, but the B1G makes so much money that it will eventually work itself out for them.

PlummMeanGreen · October 8, 2021

2 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

That's why I'm really liking NT's chances of joining the MWC:

NT's president already has friends there who will likely advocate for us if he asks them to.

🤔 Some will wonder what Aresco & the AAC would think about a UNT/MWC presence in the DFW Metroplex.
•••A rumor from a source not in this area says AAC wouldn’t like the Mountain West Conference to be in DFW (or Texas) at all.
Seems the AAC was all but trying to put the MWC out of business 2 or 3 weeks ago, right? Re-alignment times is really a true contact sport.😆

Some out there are already touting the MWC as the better of the 2 leagues now & in the long term.

🦅

Edited October 8, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

wardly · October 8, 2021

Whether the MWC or AAC is the better conference depends upon which one we are in. I still see no reason for SMU to move West and feel that UNT and RICE or UTSA will get invitation to MWC. However if the Mustangs do move to MWC that opens a spot for UNT in the AAC. Everyone seems to be waiting for the AAC to be proactive while the MWC seems to be reactive. Expansions should happen this month.