Should Aresco and the AAC be looking at expansion candidates?

cousin oliver · February 23, 2023

Just seems like there is so much uncertainty with the PAC12 and I just wonder if it is in the best interest for the AAC to stand pat or be looking and considering some other teams? We have a lot to offer in terms of geography and markets.

GrayEagle · February 23, 2023

The move by SMU is too far a reality that we shouldn't start the exploration process. I'd go ahead and contact the favorite and see if there is any interest; if not the second favorite, etc. San Diego State is also a fait accompli for leaving the Mountain West. If it were my decision I'd invite UTEP to replace them. I don't believe that there are anymore CUSA universities that would meet the profile that the AAC is looking for. My choice is unashamed Army. The conference would still have as much or more prestige. They would be in a much better situation than when they were in before. Navy would be the team that they played every year and we would take whoever Navy's every year team is. Army would have a basketball school that doesn't play football for the rest of its sports. Then Navy and Army could play their other sports in the Patriot Conference. The rest of us could learn to defend the triple-option. The service academies are usually good attendance draws.

NT80 · February 23, 2023

I'd offer Army now and put out feelers for MWC schools. Once the PAC releases it's media rights deal then gears will start to turn with expansion or retraction in the PAC. All the current MWC members hope to get a PAC promotion. If the PAC gets severely raided then they will refill from MWC.. Leftovers from the MWC may be open to AAC invites at that point.

Jonnyeagle · February 24, 2023

1 hour ago, NT80 said:

I'd offer Army now and put out feelers for MWC schools. Once the PAC releases it's media rights deal then gears will start to turn with expansion or retraction in the PAC. All the current MWC members hope to get a PAC promotion. If the PAC gets severely raided then they will refill from MWC.. Leftovers from the MWC may be open to AAC invites at that point.

I'll go one step further and invite Army and Air Force too. Both would benefit from ties to Texas recruiting.

GrayEagle · February 24, 2023

2 hours ago, NT80 said:

I'd offer Army now and put out feelers for MWC schools. Once the PAC releases it's media rights deal then gears will start to turn with expansion or retraction in the PAC. All the current MWC members hope to get a PAC promotion. If the PAC gets severely raided then they will refill from MWC.. Leftovers from the MWC may be open to AAC invites at that point.

We can do that but I have doubts that it would pay off. The only two schools that I would want are Air Force and Colorado State. I understand that both made inquiries to the AAC about joining. When the MWC Commissioner heard about it he asked both to keep the MWC together and I understand that they agreed. They'll have to add one to replace SDSU.

NT80 · February 24, 2023

46 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

We can do that but I have doubts that it would pay off. The only two schools that I would want are Air Force and Colorado State. I understand that both made inquiries to the AAC about joining. When the MWC Commissioner heard about it he asked both to keep the MWC together and I understand that they agreed. They'll have to add one to replace SDSU.

UTEP would be more than willing to join the MWC.

If the PAC loses more schools I saw it mentioned that Fresno St, UNLV, and Boise would be considered.

DentonStang · February 24, 2023

LaTech would bring some football credibility despite having no market

DeepGreen · February 24, 2023

If they would join, Army would be my first choice.

Edited February 24, 2023 by DeepGreen

Mike Jackson · February 24, 2023

The most difficult and best move would be getting Army and Air Force. It benefits the Service Academies and our conference equally.

chrisfisher · February 24, 2023

35 minutes ago, Mike Jackson said:

The most difficult and best move would be getting Army and Air Force. It benefits the Service Academies and our conference equally.

I like that idea of AAC becoming host conference for the major military services - credibility and good attendance draws. However, I recall we actually cancelled our home/home with Army years ago....not sure it was every posted publicly why...but I do recall our player suffering injuries, some serious, due to dirty plays by Army. Don't mean to disparage Army, but this is what I recall happened.

RBP79 · February 24, 2023

11 hours ago, NT80 said:

UTEP would be more than willing to join the MWC.

If the PAC loses more schools I saw it mentioned that Fresno St, UNLV, and Boise would be considered.

Not sure if UTEP fits Aresco's TV market model.

I would add Army to the mix..but they seem to do well as a Independent.

NT80 · February 24, 2023

9 hours ago, chrisfisher said:

I like that idea of AAC becoming host conference for the major military services - credibility and good attendance draws. However, I recall we actually cancelled our home/home with Army years ago....not sure it was every posted publicly why...but I do recall our player suffering injuries, some serious, due to dirty plays by Army. Don't mean to disparage Army, but this is what I recall happened.

Army was difficult to prepare for because of their unique run-only offense. I believe we did cancel some games but they are back on our future schedules... We host Army in 2028 and visit Army in 2029.

Edited February 24, 2023 by NT80

GMG_Dallas · February 24, 2023

10 hours ago, DentonStang said:

LaTech would bring some football credibility despite having no market

We can't afford to keep having our uniforms stolen in Ruston. Hard no for me.

I realize this is the football forum but I'd invite New Mexico over UTEP. They've got a solid basketball program. They're also not too far away from the AAC Texas schools so I think it could work. If we're going to add a school, they should be strong in at least one of the two major sports.

There's several MWC schools that I'd love to be in a conference with but with the current landscape of the AAC, you're looking at some long distance road trips for Navy, Temple, and the rest of the east coast schools.

Edit: upon further review, I've misread the UTEP comments in this thread. Still, if the AAC is to expand more, I'd love a UNM to solidify the basketball side of the conference.

Edited February 24, 2023 by GMG_Dallas

NT80 · February 24, 2023

49 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

Not sure if UTEP fits Aresco's TV market model.

I would add Army to the mix..but they seem to do well as a Independent.

I only mentioned UTEP as a replacement for the MWC, because of them losing SDSU. No to AAC invite.

Mike Jackson · February 24, 2023

4 hours ago, chrisfisher said:

I like that idea of AAC becoming host conference for the major military services - credibility and good attendance draws. However, I recall we actually cancelled our home/home with Army years ago....not sure it was every posted publicly why...but I do recall our player suffering injuries, some serious, due to dirty plays by Army. Don't mean to disparage Army, but this is what I recall happened.

With Navy already in the conference I think it make preparation more routine. If you prepare for a triple option team every year players can adapt and keep that muscle memory fresh. And even if you have a year without one of those service Academies on your conference schedule you may be able to schedule a FCS team that runs triple option just to stay in practice defending it. *I am not sure if any FCS team runs triple option but if there is one, we could definitely find it. I think an Ivy League School run it. It would be cool to get one of those schools to Apogee.

MeanGreenGlory · February 24, 2023

I currently agree with the service academies. Having Navy, Army, and Air Force in the same conference—the American Conference nonetheless—would be great for many reasons.

However, the recent FSU/ACC development adds an interesting wrinkle. The ACC is more aligned with the AAC footprint than the MWC and PAC12. If the ACC crumbles, some solid programs may be looking for a new home, and the AAC would be the next best option. Alternatively, if the ACC needs to backfill, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to expand their footprint and reach into Texas. Food for thought for the AD.

meangreenfaninno · February 24, 2023

3 hours ago, NT80 said:

Army was difficult to prepare for because of their unique run-only offense. I believe we did cancel some games but they are back on our future schedules... We host Army in 2028 and visit Army on 2029.

Someone on here posted this was a Seth demand from Wren that we drop tge Army series and I always thought it was dumb. Army always brought a good crowd to Apogee. UTSA immediately picked up the series from us for that exact reason.

NT80 · February 24, 2023

2 hours ago, MeanGreenGlory said:

I currently agree with the service academies. Having Navy, Army, and Air Force in the same conference—the American Conference nonetheless—would be great for many reasons.

However, the recent FSU/ACC development adds an interesting wrinkle. The ACC is more aligned with the AAC footprint than the MWC and PAC12. If the ACC crumbles, some solid programs may be looking for a new home, and the AAC would be the next best option. Alternatively, if the ACC needs to backfill, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to expand their footprint and reach into Texas. Food for thought for the AD.

I saw a west coast article proposing a PAC/ACC merger if both lose programs. Something renamed like the Atlantic Pacific Athletic Conference.

I think if the ACC starts to crumble, because of it's "P5" status (eyeroll) they will try to just purge from the AAC or Big12 (WVU, Cincy, UCF) for refills.

Green Otaku · February 24, 2023

3 hours ago, MeanGreenGlory said:

I currently agree with the service academies. Having Navy, Army, and Air Force in the same conference—the American Conference nonetheless—would be great for many reasons.

However, the recent FSU/ACC development adds an interesting wrinkle. The ACC is more aligned with the AAC footprint than the MWC and PAC12. If the ACC crumbles, some solid programs may be looking for a new home, and the AAC would be the next best option. Alternatively, if the ACC needs to backfill, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to expand their footprint and reach into Texas. Food for thought for the AD.

I don't know how to search old posts, but I was trying to find a post I made a year or so ago about the ACC being a possibility in the next shake up. That we would have about a decade to make our case and show we could by like UCF or Houston, and make a real investment into athletics.

If teams leave the ACC the AAC will become the prime target to backfill unless they can get UCF/WV/Cincy to join. I don't see a way the AAC poaches the ACC.

Green Otaku · February 24, 2023

10 hours ago, chrisfisher said:

I like that idea of AAC becoming host conference for the major military services - credibility and good attendance draws. However, I recall we actually cancelled our home/home with Army years ago....not sure it was every posted publicly why...but I do recall our player suffering injuries, some serious, due to dirty plays by Army. Don't mean to disparage Army, but this is what I recall happened.

IIRC it's because they use cut blocks, from wiki for those who don't know:

Quote

cut blocking is an offensive line technique that consists of an offensive player knocking a defensive player down by hitting his knees. The technique, which was initially instilled by Bobb McKittrick, the offensive line coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1999,^[2] is often criticized as being "dirty."

There's a higher risk of injury to players .

meanrob · February 24, 2023

25 minutes ago, Green Otaku said:

IIRC it's because they use cut blocks, from wiki for those who don't know:

There's a higher risk of injury to players .

So we won’t have a non conference game with a program who uses this but we’ll be in the same conference with a program that uses this. Makes sense.

Stix · February 25, 2023

3 hours ago, NT80 said:

saw a west coast article proposing a PAC/ACC merger if both lose programs. Something renamed like the Atlantic Pacific Athletic Conference.

DeepGreen · February 25, 2023

4 hours ago, NT80 said:

saw a west coast article proposing a PAC/ACC merger if both lose programs.

Do people realize that travel from the West Coast to the East Coast is a bitch! And costly. PAC/ACC merger is crazy talk.

Green Otaku · February 25, 2023

4 hours ago, meanrob said:

So we won’t have a non conference game with a program who uses this but we’ll be in the same conference with a program that uses this. Makes sense.

Haha, we didn't really have a choice about that though, vs voluntarily scheduling them.

meangreenfaninno · February 25, 2023

5 hours ago, meanrob said:

So we won’t have a non conference game with a program who uses this but we’ll be in the same conference with a program that uses this. Makes sense.

Great point!