AAC commissioner alleges 'double standard' in CFP rankings

[AfricanMustang]

American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said the 13-member College Football Playoff selection committee has ranked the teams in his conference using a "double standard," not just when measured against the Power 5 conferences but also the other Group of 5 leagues.

"Each time I've watched the release of the rankings, I've seen an unfortunate predictability, and why wouldn't I be upset?" Aresco said Wednesday. "I'm not criticizing the committee personally, I've never done that, but what I'm doing is I'm trying to take the committee to task on their methodology and their conclusions. I want to point out the facts. My feeling is this conference has been undervalued and disrespected since the CFP began."

While the lower portion of the committee's top 25 doesn't typically garner much attention, it's vital to the Group of 5 conferences because the highest-ranked champion is guaranteed a lucrative spot in a New Year's Six Bowl. This year, that team will earn a trip to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

No. 18 Memphis is currently the front-runner, followed by No. 19 Cincinnati -- one-loss AAC teams that play each other Nov. 29 and likely again in the conference championship game.

Aresco took particular exception to No. 25 SMU's ranking behind No. 24 Appalachian State this week. He also disagreed with the Mustangs sitting behind No. 20 Boise State and two four-loss Power 5 teams, No. 22 Iowa State and No. 23 USC.

"We've been fighting what I think is a P5 preference," Aresco said. "We've been fighting it for years and we're fighting now a double standard when it comes to evaluating G5 teams."

When asked for a comment in response, CFP executive director Bill Hancock said, "Certainly, I feel that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion."

Aresco had multiple facts at his fingertips in a call with ESPN on Wednesday to help illustrate the strength of the AAC, which is 14-1 this year against the other Group of 5 conferences (4-0 against the Sun Belt, 3-0 against the Mountain West, 6-0 vs. C-USA and 1-1 vs. MAC). The only loss was Temple's loss to Buffalo.

Aresco also said the AAC has 44 wins against Power 5 opponents since 2014, five top-10 wins during that span, and three New Year's Day bowl wins over top-10 teams. He was particularly frustrated SMU wasn't ranked ahead of Appalachian State, considering the Mustangs' lone loss was to a ranked Memphis team.

"Appalachian State loses to Georgia Southern at home," he said. "SMU plays in a much tougher conference. It's not even close."

He also wondered why Boise State, whose only loss was Oct. 19 at BYU, moved up in the ranking and SMU moved down.

"SMU beat TCU on the road and didn't need three overtimes to do it," Aresco quipped.

Aresco is already prepping for the fact that Memphis and Cincinnati will finish with multiple losses because of the regular-season matchup.

"A two-loss champion from our league ... they should be a lock," Aresco said. "If the CFP standard is to identify and rank the best teams -- and it is -- there's no question in my mind that our champion, whoever it turns out to be, will be the best team in the G5 and better than many P5 teams that are ranked ahead of them."

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... f-rankings

[smubrooks]

Glad he’s putting up a fight!

Hopefully it pays off...

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Aresco fights a tough battle but he seems to do it pretty well.

AmericanPow6r!!!

[skyscraper]

He's not wrong. Nice to see him saying something.

[TidePony]

Amen to this!

[Charleston Pony]

And nobody mentions the obvious, i.e., the AAC is not going to be P6 unless/until our member schools start packing 50k plus into our stadiums every week and demonstrate they can add value to television revenue. This doesn't have a lot to do with the quality of the product on the field; it's always been about how many people are interested enough to invest $$$. It's unfortunate that our former SWC mates kicked us to the curb but it wasn't only because we cheated better than they did.

[mr. pony]

And nobody mentions the obvious, i.e., the AAC is not going to be P6 unless/until our member schools start packing 50k plus into our stadiums every week and demonstrate they can add value to television revenue. This doesn't have a lot to do with the quality of the product on the field; it's always been about how many people are interested enough to invest $$$. It's unfortunate that our former SWC mates kicked us to the curb but it wasn't only because we cheated better than they did.

TCU made it back.

[Pony64]

And nobody mentions the obvious, i.e., the AAC is not going to be P6 unless/until our member schools start packing 50k plus into our stadiums every week and demonstrate they can add value to television revenue. This doesn't have a lot to do with the quality of the product on the field; it's always been about how many people are interested enough to invest $$$. It's unfortunate that our former SWC mates kicked us to the curb but it wasn't only because we cheated better than they did.

Take the whole dam mess to court. The only way things will change is to fight back. At least he's doing that, but I'm all for ratcheting things up.

[BUS]

Fight. Fight. Fight
For spirits the best in the land.

[PNW_Stang]

G5 teams’ attendance is severely hurt by the P5 vs G5 label. It hurts scheduling games, hurts recruiting, hurts fam interest. Needs to be a big lawsuit eventually.

[ponyboy]

And nobody mentions the obvious, i.e., the AAC is not going to be P6 unless/until our member schools start packing 50k plus into our stadiums every week and demonstrate they can add value to television revenue. This doesn't have a lot to do with the quality of the product on the field; it's always been about how many people are interested enough to invest $$$. It's unfortunate that our former SWC mates kicked us to the curb but it wasn't only because we cheated better than they did.

It’s a bit of a circular argument. Many P5’s pack stadia because they are P5’s with the corresponding media attention because they are P5’s. Happy to see Aresco fight.

[peruna81]

I am shocked...shocked I say that this is the case. You mean to tell me that they want to keep all the money for themselves?

Golly gee, it sounds just like the NCAA....

[Charleston Pony]

And nobody mentions the obvious, i.e., the AAC is not going to be P6 unless/until our member schools start packing 50k plus into our stadiums every week and demonstrate they can add value to television revenue. This doesn't have a lot to do with the quality of the product on the field; it's always been about how many people are interested enough to invest $$$. It's unfortunate that our former SWC mates kicked us to the curb but it wasn't only because we cheated better than they did.

It’s a bit of a circular argument. Many P5’s pack stadia because they are P5’s with the corresponding media attention because they are P5’s. Happy to see Aresco fight.

Even when SMU had a Top 10 caliber team that was beating our public school SWC mates in Texas Stadium, we relied on Texas, Arkansas, A&M, Tech, etc...to bring half the crowd or we played to a half empty stadium. Russ Potts' marketing blitz helped create a few exceptions, but there is no denying that SMU has one of the smallest fan bases in even the AAC. BYU is the only G5 school that comes to mind that can draw 50k plus no matter who they play. What really hurts is watching schools like Duke and Wake who got "grandfathered" in and still earn big boy gootball money while riding the coattails of their conference mates.

[sbsmith]

BYU is the only G5 school that comes to mind that can draw 50k plus no matter who they play.

BYU is not a G5 school.

[SMU_Alum11]

BYU is the only G5 school that comes to mind that can draw 50k plus no matter who they play.

BYU is not a G5 school.

Its not a P5 either.