Aresco Says AAC Will Expand

[SMUstang]

San Diego State may come for all sports given that the MWC may be minus Air Force, Colorado State, and Boise State in 2023. That will surely impact the MWC’s income and SDSU’s share of that income. Plus their opportunity for better exposure in the Eastern and Central time zones,

[Charleston Pony]

I don't think we need to go beyond 12 to make it work. The issue in the past was our unwillingness to bring them on as full members. I also think that part of the attraction for SDSU is to play teams such as Temple and Memphis in basketball so while they want some regional opponents like Colorado State they also want to play the best possible opponents.

I do think the AAC needs to expand to as many as 14 teams if we do go west, simply to reduce travel costs for the entire athletic programs of our members. I haven't seen much mention of Fresno State, but they upset UCLA last night and were yesteryear's Boise State. I remember some great games with them when we were conference mates in the WAC. I wouldn't mind adding 6 full members with SDSU, Boise, Fresno and pick 3 from the remaining MWC schools (UNLV? Nevada? Colorado State? Air Force? Wyoming? New Mexico? - all have pluses and minuses) but I just don't see it happening.

[SMU_Alum11]

I don't think we need to go beyond 12 to make it work. The issue in the past was our unwillingness to bring them on as full members. I also think that part of the attraction for SDSU is to play teams such as Temple and Memphis in basketball so while they want some regional opponents like Colorado State they also want to play the best possible opponents.

I do think the AAC needs to expand to as many as 14 teams if we do go west, simply to reduce travel costs for the entire athletic programs of our members. I haven't seen much mention of Fresno State, but they upset UCLA last night and were yesteryear's Boise State. I remember some great games with them when we were conference mates in the WAC. I wouldn't mind adding 6 full members with SDSU, Boise, Fresno and pick 3 from the remaining MWC schools (UNLV? Nevada? Colorado State? Air Force? Wyoming? New Mexico? - all have pluses and minuses) but I just don't see it happening.

Espn would love it and probably push for this. If we did something bonkers as this, we also have to know revenue share is going to suck but maybe we can steal the top MWC bowl games since they have tie ins to PAC12.

I know the strategy is to pick off #3 and 4 to pressure BSU and SDSU to accept the AAC invite or fear irrelevancy in a soon to be irrelevant conference.

[SMUstang]

In my opinion, a 14 team conference would reduce travel by making in division travel predominate. There would be only 1 home and 1 away cross division football game, and a home and away in division game in basketball, plus one cross division game. Consider a conference with a west division like this: SMU, Tulsa, Navy/Wichita St, Air Force, Colorado St, San Diego St, and Nevada, UNLV or Fresno St. And an east division like this: Tulane, Memphis, UAB, ECU, Temple, USF, and Appalachian St.

[mustangxc]

That 14 team conference actually makes travel worse.

[Charleston Pony]

That 14 team conference actually makes travel worse.

For SMU & Tulsa if we are stuck in the middle of a coast to coast conference the athletic dept budgets would be higher than what they are today and revenue probably reduced or the same, at best

[SMU_Alum11]

That 14 team conference actually makes travel worse.

For SMU & Tulsa if we are stuck in the middle of a coast to coast conference the athletic dept budgets would be higher than what they are today and revenue probably reduced or the same, at best

I don't think so and maybe the conference can allocate us more money for the rise in T&E but I think our TV deal would increase if you got BSU, SDSU, CSU and AF. Big markets and/or big markets with additional time zones. MWC would die off and AAC could make a legit claim to P6 and possibly get MWC bowl games with PAC12.

[Water Pony]

9/28 Report

It appears that American Athletic Conference's first move will be to add Air Force and Colorado State, but not stop there. It appears that MT zone is a factor with these two teams getting to play in CT and ET and AAC adding the Rocky Mountains. Not a significant move, but perhaps indication of what Aresco can sell. It may also add some pressure on Boise State and San Diego, that staying in the MWC will be risk.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/colle ... expansion/

[Mustangs35SMU]

Boise seems pretty hell bent on staying in the MWC until the Big12 comes calling.

[birddogger]

I can understand BSU being hesitant to jump ship to the AAC in anticipation of a better offer from the BIGP6. But SDSU must find itself in a real quandary when (not if) BSU leaves. To the best of my knowledge SDSU is not under consideration for BIGP6 or PAC12 membership and losing conference mates BSU, AFA and CSU would leave it in a real lackluster conference with little competition, other than Fresno. On the other hand, I would understand if SDSU (or a CA politico) might condition its application on the AAC's invitation to another CA partner school. Would Aresco reach out to another school like Fresno or SJSU? If not, what other MWC schools would be a good fit and acceptable to both SDSU and current AAC membership? The other MWC (ex Fresno) just don't have much to offer IMO.

I could see Aresco pursuing Army for football only if the AAC were to add AFA and CSU. This would restore the conference membership to 11 and leave open the possibility of further expansion by later adding BSU (if rejected by BIGP6) and/or SDSU and one other school to bring the conference to 12 or 14 members, depending on how things play out.

In any event, the addition of Army, AFA and CSU (and later BSU or SDSU and one other) would put us, Tulsa and Tulane in the West with more travel time and less TV exposure for road games. We're literally in the middle of a continental conference and I don't see us adding another Texas team (I wish Rice were more competitive) or any of the Louisiana schools.

Without BSU, I don't feel these additions will make for a "better" conference, but it is what it is. I do believe Army would be a great member, however, and it would be my first choice of teams to pursue. But there seems to be media silence about Army, so I'm not optimistic (has anyone heard anything about Army?). Clearly, the AAC needs to replace the three departures to remain viable, even if none of them are cream of the crop.

[SMU_Alum11]

9/28 Report

It appears that American Athletic Conference's first move will be to add Air Force and Colorado State, but not stop there. It appears that MT zone is a factor with these two teams getting to play in CT and ET and AAC adding the Rocky Mountains. Not a significant move, but perhaps indication of what Aresco can sell. It may also add some pressure on Boise State and San Diego, that staying in the MWC will be risk.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/colle ... expansion/

This goes along with what I said earlier and makes sense. Air Force has a significant fan base and both being in Colorado isn't that bad for SMU and Tulsa. I do feel it's a pressure campaign to get BSU and SDSU to jump and maybe the hope is get Fresno and another to jump in and you can make the west (the best MWC) and east (AAC original)

[Charleston Pony]

If true that AFA & CSU are primary targets for Mountain Time Zone, that would put the AAC at 10 members and if Big XII invites Memphis (along with Boise as reported and makes the most sense), the ACC is back to 9 and probably needs 3 more. At that point, you might see SDSU & Fresno and an eastern replacement for Memphis (UAB) invited? Or the AAC goes full boat and also invites more MWC schools to complete a 7 member western division allowing SMU & Tulsa to remain in the eastern division sans Memphis. The world of college football is certainly a mess!

[SMUstang]

My guess is: The AAC will add AFA and CSU and wait to see what the MWC does and what ESPN says. Then they will invite SDSU and UNLV if they get the green light. They might also invite UAB and UTSA in the second round, or wait until a third round to get to 14. If Memphis bails, Army would make a great replacement for them.

[SMU_Alum11]

I feel Memphis our last good partner to get out of the G5. If Memphis leaves, our only hope is if the AAC truly can acquire enough to be considered P6.

[Water Pony]

I feel Memphis our last good partner to get out of the G5. If Memphis leaves, our only hope is if the AAC truly can acquire enough to be considered P6.

If Big12 wants to be predatory, they would take Memphis and Boise State now. Unfortunately, they feel they can ignore SMU. I share what Memphis and SMU should have common cause, but apparently it is every school for themselves.

So, SMU becomes the last touchstone for American Athletic Conference. With that prospect and the unlikelihood that Big12 will invite us, we become the leader of AAC. Given this role, we need to be the thoughtful in restructuring the conference. If Aresco fills in from the East, it is hard to get excited about it; although I do like UAB and Army.

Our option would be to go West with Air Force and Colorado State, both on the Front Range and in the MT. Next, Boise State and San Diego, but if either or both hesitate, I would take two other MWC school, e.g. Fresno State and Nevada. This would gut MWC and force BSU and SDSU to pursue Big 12 and PAC12 respectively. The end result is a AAC that remains the best of the rest of the G5. BTW, I would purse Gonzaga, which might give Memphis reasons to stay and build a strong BB conference too.