Should Aresco and the AAC be looking at expansion candidates?

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Army - Air Force - Co State - LaTech

 

We need 2, I'd go ask them... in that order. 

[meangreenfaninno]

2 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Army - Air Force - Co State - LaTech

 

We need 2, I'd go ask them... in that order. 

I think to land Air Force you need to offwr another Western partner for them.

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, meangreenfaninno said:

I think to land Air Force you need to offwr another Western partner for them.

Army 

Air Force 

Colorado State

[NorthTexasWeLove]

5 hours ago, meangreenfaninno said:

I think to land Air Force you need to offwr another Western partner for them.

Co St. 

[C Rod]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:37 AM, El Paso Eagle said:

Army 

Air Force 

Colorado State

Exactly. I think this is Aresco's plan if/when SMU leaves and reduces the number of teams to 13.

Step 1: Get back to 14 teams with Army. The historic Army vs Navy rivalry game becomes a yearly three hour, nationally televised endorsement for the American Athletic Conference. 

Step 2: Add Air Force & CSU. We know Aresco flirted with both schools and they considered a move from the MWC. IMO they make the most sense when adding a 15th & 16th team to the conference because of their brand-awareness, TV markets, and the additional rivalries.

Army vs Navy

Army vs Air Force

Navy vs Air Force

Air Force vs CSU

[Mike Jackson]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:33 AM, meangreenfaninno said:

I think to land Air Force you need to offwr another Western partner for them.

I think having Army come with them alivates that concern.  Air Force's recruitment is unique and national.  They will recruit fine in western states without a western partner coming with them.  Also Army and Navy games becoming conference games frees two non-conference dates for them.  Travel cost aren't an issue either.  They could maintain their rivalry with CSU with one of those out of conference slots and schedule virtually any other MWC team they want home & home out of conference.  With what's going on in the PAC 12 there bound to be a lot of western programs looking to backfill OOC games due to a conference change.  

[SMU2006]

Army, LA Tech, and Texas State are the ones that make the most sense IMO.

[El Paso Eagle]

11 minutes ago, SMU2006 said:

Army, LA Tech, and Texas State are the ones that make the most sense IMO.

• Army, well, because it's Army.
• LA Tech - Based on the last footprint doesn't seem to match, and would he want another CUSA team?
• Texas State fits the last footprint, but would he want another Texas team or look elsewhere?

[MGNation92]

I don't want Army or Air Force simply because I don't want to go against the triple option a couple times a year. Add either of those and we're all but guaranteed one service academy game a year, potentially more.

Yeah they put butts in seats, but is it worth the risk to our players/record?

[NT80]

4 hours ago, SMU2006 said:

Army, LA Tech, and Texas State are the ones that make the most sense IMO.

Army would be a good fit with Navy and ECU.  They are a national brand and bring many visiting fans to away games.  

La Tech has competitive teams but is in a very small market.  They get a lot of mileage out of their limited resources, but it's not enough to add them and deny future space to a MWC program.

Texas State would be like UTSA-lite.   They don't bring the Austin market and are not ready for prime time!  Again, adding a MWC school would be better than them.

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, NT80 said:

Texas State would be like UTSA-lite.   They don't bring the Austin market and are not ready for prime time! 

A lot of people have said similiar about us and the DFW market. A more significant concern, IMO, is their investment plan and commitment to athletics. 

[GrayEagle]

On 2/27/2023 at 11:17 AM, C Rod said:

Exactly. I think this is Aresco's plan if/when SMU leaves and reduces the number of teams to 13.

Step 1: Get back to 14 teams with Army. The historic Army vs Navy rivalry game becomes a yearly three hour, nationally televised endorsement for the American Athletic Conference. 

Step 2: Add Air Force & CSU. We know Aresco flirted with both schools and they considered a move from the MWC. IMO they make the most sense when adding a 15th & 16th team to the conference because of their brand-awareness, TV markets, and the additional rivalries.

Army vs Navy

Army vs Air Force

Navy vs Air Force

Air Force vs CSU

If it came to pass (unlikely but I'm hoping Mike Aresco can pull it off) then our travel partner would be whoever Navy's play every year partner was (to replace SMU) OR maybe we'll abandon the play every year system for Divisions.  Your right about the AAC having the most recognizable and TV friendly teams and markets in the G5.  

[DeepGreen]

No to Texas State-San Marcos!

[GrayEagle]

I believe that we agree that our best position (if we can pull it off) is to have the goal of adding Army, Air Force and Colorado State.  I mistakenly thought that Craig Thompson was still the commissioner of the Mountain West and he would never agree to let Air Force and Colorado State go but if the MWC loses even San Diego State, the two might force the issue to leave the conference.  With the three service academies and the number of large media outlets I think that it's possible that we could get a very good media contract.   

I looked at the Nielsen DMAs for each market of the AAC.  The military academies are really larger than a particular market because they have a national presence but I included them anyway.

Army                         New York #1

Temple                     Philadelphia #4

North Texas             Dallas-Fort Worth #5

Rice                          Houston #8

South Florida          Tampa-St. Petersburg #13

Colorado State       Denver #16

Charlotte                 Charlotte #22

Navy                       Baltimore #28

UTSA                      San Antonio #31

Florida Atlantic       West Palm Beach #39

UAB                        Birmingham #45

Tulane                    New Orleans #50

Memphis                Memphis #51

Tulsa                      Tulsa #61

Air Force                Colorado Springs #82

East Carolina         Greenville-New Bern #102

 

These TV markets would give access to approximately 27,400,000 TV households.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by GrayEagle

[outoftown]

You can look. But I have more and more doubts that SMU will be leaving or able to leave someplace that is really better than the AAC. But looking into air-force colorado state could make sense. And whenever army wants to join a conference, the AAC should definitely listen. It is Arrescos job to look into these things. But right now, I actually think the AAC will look more attractive to its members next month than it did last month, because its becoming more obvious that the other options will not be all that great.

[meangreenfaninno]

On 3/3/2023 at 2:18 AM, GrayEagle said:

I believe that we agree that our best position (if we can pull it off) is to have the goal of adding Army, Air Force and Colorado State.  I mistakenly thought that Craig Thompson was still the commissioner of the Mountain West and he would never agree to let Air Force and Colorado State go but if the MWC loses even San Diego State, the two might force the issue to leave the conference.  With the three service academies and the number of large media outlets I think that it's possible that we could get a very good media contract.   

I looked at the Nielsen DMAs for each market of the AAC.  The military academies are really larger than a particular market because they have a national presence but I included them anyway.

Army                         New York #1

Temple                     Philadelphia #4

North Texas             Dallas-Fort Worth #5

Rice                          Houston #8

South Florida          Tampa-St. Petersburg #13

Colorado State       Denver #16

Charlotte                 Charlotte #22

Navy                       Baltimore #28

UTSA                      San Antonio #31

Florida Atlantic       West Palm Beach #39

UAB                        Birmingham #45

Tulane                    New Orleans #50

Memphis                Memphis #51

Tulsa                      Tulsa #61

Air Force                Colorado Springs #82

East Carolina         Greenville-New Bern #102

 

These TV markets would give access to approximately 27,400,000 TV households.

 

 

 

 

Good analysis.  I disagree that Colorado State gets the Denver market.

[C Rod]

12 hours ago, meangreenfaninno said:

Good analysis.  I disagree that Colorado State gets the Denver market.

CSU games are broadcast on TV and also on ESPN radio in Denver so yes, CSU opens up the Denver market for new viewership and recruiting.

Sad to say but I’d argue CSU is a bigger draw in the Denver market than UNT is in DFW market.

[GrayEagle]

On 2/24/2023 at 6:53 AM, 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. 

If I recall correctly, it was one dirty player.  He speared our player directly in the side of his helmet.  It was called targeting at first, then reversed.  Army seemingly got the call reversed because of who they were.  Our future army officers play by the rules.  If I'm not mistaken he later had a late hit on a play near the goal line.  I believe that he did get penalized for that one but he should have already been removed from the game.  I don't foresee that happening again.

[UNTLifer]

16 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

If I recall correctly, it was one dirty player.  He speared our player directly in the side of his helmet.  It was called targeting at first, then reversed.  Army seemingly got the call reversed because of who they were.  Our future army officers play by the rules.  If I'm not mistaken he later had a late hit on a play near the goal line.  I believe that he did get penalized for that one but he should have already been removed from the game.  I don't foresee that happening again.

That did happen but didn't lead to our cancellation of the series.  Littrell didn't like the blocking scheme of their OL, which is a lot of cut blocking, which could lead to injuries.  Changing your entire game preparation for one team each year coupled with the increased chances of injury due to their scheme led to the cancellation.

[UNT Mean Green]

Do any of the Sun Belt schools move the needle, like a James Madison or a Liberty?

[cousin oliver]

54 minutes ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Do any of the Sun Belt schools move the needle, like a James Madison or a Liberty?

I think that Texas State would be the most interesting out of the Belt but UTSA would be against that.

[Green Otaku]

49 minutes ago, cousin oliver said:

I think that Texas State would be the most interesting out of the Belt but UTSA would be against that.

I would too. Between DFW, Houston, and SA we have the major population centers of Texas covered. It'd serve the league better if some new markets were opened up. Temple is also on a bit of an island, if we can get someone out there to help them out that would be good. Army or UMass, the only thing about UMass is they don't fit the large market style the AAC has been going for. UConn would be ideal, but there's no way they join the AAC. 

[El Paso Eagle]

14 minutes ago, Green Otaku said:

I would too. Between DFW, Houston, and SA we have the major population centers of Texas covered. It'd serve the league better if some new markets were opened up. Temple is also on a bit of an island, if we can get someone out there to help them out that would be good. Army or UMass, the only thing about UMass is they don't fit the large market style the AAC has been going for. UConn would be ideal, but there's no way they join the AAC. 

Football only like Navy?

[Green Otaku]

36 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Football only like Navy?

UConn? I think they are happy being able to schedule who they want, plus for independents it's a little more complicated. They'd have to buy out/re-schedule their entire schedules. The AAC would also miss out on their most valuable part, basketball. I just don't see that as beneficial to either side. 

[Dpony14]

Yall do remember that UCONN was in the AAC just a few years ago right? No chance they come back.