Aresco Says AAC Will Expand

[crazy horse]

I just don't see the logic behind adding UNT. There's zero benefit to it. Rice is only for the market and UTSA is an up and comer. MWC could care less about UNT. I could see them wanting UTSA and maybe UTEP but this is Aresco firing a shotgun into trying to get every major media market peft to drive up ratings (except UNT which again don't understand).

All so disappointing and just praying SMU is getting an offer anywhere in the P5.

It makes sense if SMU has an offer/plan to go to another conference. If that is the case, it makes sense for AAC to still have a team "near" DFW.

[EastStang]

Fourteen teams. Two teams that might leave at the drop of a hat (us and Memphis). Maybe Aresco has info that we don’t. UNT does not add Dallas market unless we’re gone. Why not wait until we leave to add UNT? Maybe we’re already gone?

[Charleston Pony]

For all the complaining about how these 6 additions will water down the AAC, yes, today that is true and there is no denying we are losing 3 of our strongest conference mates in Cincy, UCF & Houston but SMU has only itself to blame. You have to be blind to see how little interest there has been in SMU athletics and it's hard for me to imagine that some of you don't appreciate how important that is. Yes, SMU sits in a major media market but not many in that market care about SMU. Adding UNT increases the viability of the DFW market for the AAC, like it or not. As for Rice in Houston...not so much but as Aresco has commented, it at least gives our teams an opportunity to become more visible in a hotbed for recruiting.

Bash Aresco all you want but given SMU and the AAC's current circumstances, going for programs situated in large markets at least provides potential and that's about all we can ask for right now. Memphis has to be more disappointed than SMU and I'd put USF high on that list as well, but instead of complaining it's time for SMU to just continue improving in hopes of being "promoted" at some point down the road, but who knows? All of the schools mentioned (except Rice) have significantly higher enrollments than SMU and have potential to outperform us going forward.

As for mentions of App State and Coastal Carolina, while they are currently more attractive football programs than Charlotte and FAU, Boone NC and Myrtle Beach SC are also smaller cities and not easy to get to. Selfishly, I like Charlotte as an up and coming program that has only existed for 8 years. UCF by comparison has been playing at the D-I FBS level for 25 years and look at what they have accomplished. FAU adds another school in FL, again a fertile recruiting ground and I doubt anyone has forgotten the arse whooping they put on our guys in the Boca Raton Bowl game.

While this is not a "done deal" yet, I fully expect the decision makers to follow through on this expansion as a "forward thinking" plan to keep the AAC as the strongest G5 conference. It will be interesting to see if CUSA survives as the SunBelt might come and try to pick off the strongest remaining members.

[ponyboy]

I don’t know that one can reach the conclusion that there’s little interest in SMU. But, yeah, my visceral reaction is that this is a move of desperation on the part of the AAC. Perhaps those teams are the best available in a wait and see world, but there’s little doubt this dilutes our product and may promote the MWC to the best G5 conference.

Hoping right now, more than ever, there’s a plan in place at SMU to secure a P5 bid. One step backwards, two forward for the Ponies? No doubt it’s a step backwards. Sure feels like, as a conference, we should have done nothing rather than add these teams. Underwhelmed and disappointed this morning.

[Water Pony]

Article ranks the 6 Schools applying for membership in the AAC:

https://saturdayblitz.com/2021/10/19/aa ... hip-value/

[birddogger]

For all the complaining about how these 6 additions will water down the AAC, yes, today that is true and there is no denying we are losing 3 of our strongest conference mates in Cincy, UCF & Houston but SMU has only itself to blame. You have to be blind to see how little interest there has been in SMU athletics and it's hard for me to imagine that some of you don't appreciate how important that is. Yes, SMU sits in a major media market but not many in that market care about SMU. Adding UNT increases the viability of the DFW market for the AAC, like it or not. As for Rice in Houston...not so much but as Aresco has commented, it at least gives our teams an opportunity to become more visible in a hotbed for recruiting.

Bash Aresco all you want but given SMU and the AAC's current circumstances, going for programs situated in large markets at least provides potential and that's about all we can ask for right now. Memphis has to be more disappointed than SMU and I'd put USF high on that list as well, but instead of complaining it's time for SMU to just continue improving in hopes of being "promoted" at some point down the road, but who knows? All of the schools mentioned (except Rice) have significantly higher enrollments than SMU and have potential to outperform us going forward.

As for mentions of App State and Coastal Carolina, while they are currently more attractive football programs than Charlotte and FAU, Boone NC and Myrtle Beach SC are also smaller cities and not easy to get to. Selfishly, I like Charlotte as an up and coming program that has only existed for 8 years. UCF by comparison has been playing at the D-I FBS level for 25 years and look at what they have accomplished. FAU adds another school in FL, again a fertile recruiting ground and I doubt anyone has forgotten the arse whooping they put on our guys in the Boca Raton Bowl game.

While this is not a "done deal" yet, I fully expect the decision makers to follow through on this expansion as a "forward thinking" plan to keep the AAC as the strongest G5 conference. It will be interesting to see if CUSA survives as the SunBelt might come and try to pick off the strongest remaining members.

Agree with Charleston. Many of us are sitting here wondering what these directional schools bring to the table, but let’s be honest--SMU doesn’t offer much more (if any more) than they when it comes to fan support. With the exception of Rice, the student enrollment of each invitee substantially exceeds ours. For example, NTU has 42,000 students, UTSA has 37,000 and each of Charlotte and UAF have around 30,000. So we really aren’t in a position to criticize the expansion in this respect.

The move is a bit more of a headscratcher when it comes to television. With the exception of UTSA, which is the only game in town, none of the invitees will draw large television audiences, but we’re not exactly knocking it out of the park in that category, either. It seems to me that Aresco’s plan is to defend media markets and intrusion by other conferences, most notably the MWC into Texas, so that the AAC can maintain its status as the tallest midget in the Group of 5 (which may become the Gang of 4 if CUSA can’t hang on). He will accomplish both with this expansion, but only by assuring that there are no teams left to poach. In effect, he’s chosen markets and their potential over real viewership and team competitiveness.

He’s also left open the possibility of expanding the AAC to 16 with the addition of CSU and AFA, if he can coerce or bribe them to join. Alternatively, he may planning for the loss of Memphis and SMU if they find greener pastures. This latter possibility is the only plausible explanation I see for Hart’s consent to NTU membership, other than ineptitude (which cannot absolutely be ruled out).

I understand this move from a macro business angle. But I don’t like it as a fan of SMU. The media-driven realignment game is all about making the top 64 and this reorganization does nothing at all to help us make that group. I hope that someone at SMU is playing 3D chess.

[Charleston Pony]

NIL, BOLD and building strong enough programs to win AAC Championships while filling Ford and Moody are the keys for SMU if we ever want to earn an invite to the Big XII which I think is the only hope SMU has of competing at the "highest level" of D-I FBS football again. Our reality is that the SMU administration's reaction to the death penalty and more recent bball probation has landed us alongside Rice instead of being conference mates with the rest of our former SWC mates.

[ponyboy]

I just got a random text from a Houston Cougar friend of mine who’s very much on the inside of the program. He told me, listen, I know this move by the AAC is disappointing, but the plan is to bring SMU and Memphis to the B12. AAC leadership knows it’s going to happen and is trying to proactively backfill.

Take it for what it’s worth, just words. But thought I’d pass it along. Adds a little salve to the wound, for me at least.

[Charleston Pony]

I just got a random text from a Houston Cougar friend of mine who’s very much on the inside of the program. He told me, listen, I know this move by the AAC is disappointing, but the plan is to bring SMU and Memphis to the B12. AAC leadership knows it’s going to happen and is trying to proactively backfill.

Take it for what it’s worth, just words. But thought I’d pass it along. Adds a little salve to the wound, for me at least.

Could be true, but Memphis is the no-brainer and SMU is most likely competing with Boise State and USF who should also be considered. Maybe the entire gang in a 16 member conference?

[ponyboy]

Yeah, maybe.

[SMU_Alum11]

With the assumption that Houston fans are just trying to create a major letdown, I think most of the adds are fine however the defense of NTCC as being a good candidate to bring visibility to us is laughable. If that were the case, why haven't we filled Ford, ever, against them? Because no one with any self respect sees them as a rival or a game of interest. We might as well invite UTA at that point at least they have a basketball program.

My hope is UNT is their DFW replacement for us but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. While rumors of our stadium enhancement and this insider at Houston, logic would suggest that Big12 wouldn't invite us. As that one consultant put out, our best shot would be the ACC inciting us for the market and our academic alignment. There's zero rumors there for that. Big 12 would invite us only as a defensive move against the ACC getting into this market.

Back to it, schools that seem like a

Good add:
1) UTSA

Average adds:
2) UAB
3) FAU

Questionable:
4) Charlotte
5) Rice

Terrible:
6) UNT

If there's not threat of SMU/Memphis leaving, I would have just added everyone but UNT and Charlotte. Those two could be added any time because no one is talking to them.

What is either disgusting or interesting is that both SMU and Memphis were on the committee to look at expansion. While I don't trust Hart, I trust that Memphis wouldn't have wanted this unless they knew they were out.

[Charleston Pony]

I don't understand all the UNT hate. They've played in 5 bowl games since 2013. By comparison, SMU has played in 6 if we go back to 2009 and the June Jones era. Their stadium capacity and attendance is about the same as ours. In hoops, UNT finished 18-10 with a better net (55) than SMU (59) last year. We've dominated them head to head over the years, but have always played in a stronger conference which lends itself to recruiting advantages. I see UNT as another metroplex rival behind TCU and wish the 3 schools played round robin for the metroplex mayors trophy every year.

[Topper]

Charlotte and UNT I could live without. Memphis will be gone soon. I would prefer UTEP to any of the mentioned teams with the exception of Rice which at least is located in Houston where local kids can have a couple of games at home during their careers in the AAC. I don't see any of these teams adding viewership value to the conference and I certainly don't see them helping our attendance. The Big 12 isn't much but I still think that Kansas and Iowa State may eventually wind up in the Big 10 leaving the need to fill the void with SMU and someone else. I really don't see us winding up there unless those two AAU schools bolt.

[SMU_Alum11]

I don't understand all the UNT hate. They've played in 5 bowl games since 2013. By comparison, SMU has played in 6 if we go back to 2009 and the June Jones era. Their stadium capacity and attendance is about the same as ours. In hoops, UNT finished 18-10 with a better net (55) than SMU (59) last year. We've dominated them head to head over the years, but have always played in a stronger conference which lends itself to recruiting advantages. I see UNT as another metroplex rival behind TCU and wish the 3 schools played round robin for the metroplex mayors trophy every year.

NTCC is a rival to us in football then Texas and Kansas must be rivals as well. We have a higher win percentage comparatively.

Losing to UNT is a death sentence to our schedule and a win is expected not only expected but by 2-3 TDs minimum. I'll count myself as one of the young alums but it's a general consensus in all things we hold ourselves higher than them.

NTCC does have a big student base, albeit could care less about football, but could become a problem in the future if they get the right donors, coaches and staff for us in future realignment hence why it's in our best interests not to have them in the same conference.

The list can go on but if we have to play against them then it's essentially an expectation of any coach that if they lose to them they're going the same way as Chad in Arkansas.

[MeanGreenChris]

Going to chime in as a UNT fan here because some of these comments are ridiculous. I have two family members who played at SMU who have nothing but respect for the program. They had always seen them as cross town rivals. Why are some of you so concerned about playing UNT in football once a year when you... already play UNT in football once a year? We have a more recent NCAA tournament win than SMU, and do well in Olympic sports. If this is solely an athletic comparison, SMU hasn't shown much in football aside from the last two years and is just as up and down as UNT has been since 2000. Consistent recruiting in DFW is tough given the competition and UNT and SMU both know this very well.

If this is some type of institutional or anti-commuter school bias, I can tell you that, while acknowledging SMU is a fine academic institution, SMU's reputation over UNT isn't as pronounced as some think. Let me illustrate: if the goal of a higher education these days is essentially job training and attainment, do you realistically believe a SMU candidate will be seen as head and shoulders better than a UNT candidate? There is of course some subjectivity there, but overall this isn't like comparing an Ivy League school to all of the rest. UNT is a massive state school with its own system and SMU is a small private in a big city. Both have pros and cons. UNT has a much larger alumni base in DFW (where presumably our overlapping job hunts are happening) at a fifth of the tuition cost. UNT is an R1 research institution (higher than SMU) and has been climbing in the rankings in recent years. I'll grant that SMU has better input metrics (SAT, GPA, etc.), but they are also filling less spots and can be more selective given their small private focus.

I'm taking a defensive posture here because everyone I talk to at UNT is thrilled to be in the same conference as SMU. Aside from a few snarky "snooty SMU fan" comments it's been nothing but positive. Our concern is that there is actually some headway from big SMU donors to block our entrance into the AAC. This isn't unprecedented, but I think SMU had a much better argument in the SWC days than it does now. Here's to hoping there's no truth to those rumors, and look forward to joining y'all.