Aresco Says AAC Will Expand

[Pony ^]

Has there been any comment from Turner or Hart on the invitations and benefits for the AAC yet?

probably not, Probably because there is none.

Besides being in such a bad league, SMU has a real shot at winning conference titles. That's it

[shadowman]

wp--pls explain "rice"

It gives us a shot to get the Mayor's Cup back!

I assume Rice still has it, since they won the last meeting between us back in 2012.

We have played Rice 90 times and the overall series is pretty close, SMU 48 wins, Rice 41 wins, 1 tie.

Will be nice to play them again.

[HubbaHubba]

Has there been any comment from Turner or Hart on the invitations and benefits for the AAC yet?

probably not, Probably because there is none.

Besides being in such a bad league, SMU has a real shot at winning conference titles. That's it

This ↑.
What else are they going to say; "It was too much work to look for somebody better", "The big kids didn't like us so we had to invite the little kids to come play", "We weren't paying attention and this was the best we could do without trying", "We lack confidence in our own programs so much we had to invite these teams to make us feel good", "Better than an open date", "They followed us home. Can we keep them?"

[Water Pony]

wp--pls explain "rice"

This is my Hail Mary.

Rice will benefit from joining the AAC by committing the resources needed to compete in a stronger conference. With a competitive Rice partnered with the Mustangs, we would be an interesting option for the PAC 12. The appeal is two high caliber universities in two major Texas markets that the West Coast schools could travel to.

Both schools compare favorably to the PAC !2 members academically and with our endowments. This is important to University Presidents. Plus, they gain 10-12 games in the Central Time Zone.

[mtrout]

SMU's failure to win consistently and to build a fan base leaves us on the outside looking in but not completely. If the D-I FBS playoffs are expanded to 12 schools with the champion of the 6th highest rated conference is included, we probably have a better chance the AAC could achieve that 6th place ranking AND that SMU could win the AAC than we would winning the Big XII, so it's too early to throw in the towel. It sure sounds like several on this forum, who are probably among SMU's most loyal fans, have already given up. If that's the case, it just sums up where SMU stands in the world of college athletics.

Case in point. We're about to be 7-0 in football and there's 3000 fans left in the 4th Q. TV guys are like "zoom in, zoom in! don't show the stands." lol

Reminds me of a home game vs Rice in 2010. Speaking of...

[SMU_Alum11]

Step 1 - we lost schools that drive revenue
Step 2 - we tried to add schools that would enhance revenue (MWC) and it didn't work
Step 3 - find schools that are committed to athletics (hopefully Rice actually follows through) and in large metro areas to stabilize the financial contracts.
Step 4 - Commit to SMU, USF, and Memphis that they will get paid at the same level they are today as well as the exit fees from the other schools.

The big difference between this conference and what was formerly CUSA is that we are still taking home $7M per year instead of $500K per year from a TV contract. And all of the schools involved are committing to athletics spend in order to grow the prestige of the conference.

Paying an exit fee to go to a conference that would give us less than 7M per year makes no sense at all.

The game still hasn't changed - win, win, win. Get attention. Go to a high end conference. Rice is in this group for a reason. If they commit to investing in athletics, they are an expansion partner into PAC or Big 10.

All this makes perfect sense but why on God's green earth did we invite Dentons Community College?

[peruna81]

Aresco was on the Paul Finebaum radio show this afternoon as I was driving up for the game...Finebaum was clear that the new teams didn't generate buzz or equivalency to the loss of the AAc teams. Aresco kept the party line, said that in time this alignment will "footprint" the AAC as a "national conference".

Ahem...

[Mustangs_Maroons]

Turner and Hart’s aspiration perhaps with SMU in this new league is akin to being the tallest midget…we were trending better and now are in the path back to irrelevancy.

Seeing the schools (with the obvious exception of Rice) that have joined us makes you almost want to take a shower. I want nothing to do with these schools.

[SMU_Alum11]

Aresco was on the Paul Finebaum radio show this afternoon as I was driving up for the game...Finebaum was clear that the new teams didn't generate buzz or equivalency to the loss of the AAc teams. Aresco kept the party line, said that in time this alignment will "footprint" the AAC as a "national conference".

Ahem...

Aresco looks like an absolute moron but not as dumb looking as Hart looks like right now. The NTCC add should get him fired immediately.

[Charleston Pony]

And we will all look foolish if the AAC does get stronger because of the schools invited. Can't underestimate the impact of relaxed transfer rules and these schools being in major metro areas. It's all about finding the right coaches and we are fortunate to have one right now.

[redpony]

It's all about finding the right coaches and we are fortunate to have one right now.

and our coaching situation is likely to be temporary. I doubt if Sonny and the others want to coach in a conference that is now even below the sunbelt group. MWC just kicked us down thanks to little rickey and aresco. could we call this DP2?

[SMU_Alum11]

And we will all look foolish if the AAC does get stronger because of the schools invited. Can't underestimate the impact of relaxed transfer rules and these schools being in major metro areas. It's all about finding the right coaches and we are fortunate to have one right now.

Right but not NTCC. Denton isn't a metro area....there's no reason for that pick.

[Charleston Pony]

And we will all look foolish if the AAC does get stronger because of the schools invited. Can't underestimate the impact of relaxed transfer rules and these schools being in major metro areas. It's all about finding the right coaches and we are fortunate to have one right now.

Right but not NTCC. Denton isn't a metro area....there's no reason for that pick.

DFW area kids who want to "come home" and don't get offered by TCU or SMU may well decide UNT is a good option.

[SMU_Alum11]

Right but what's the benefit to adding NTCC to us and the AAC?

[SMUstang]

Besides blocking the MWC from expanding into Texas and insuring that the AAC is the 6th best conference?