New schools 2014-15

[untitled]

If the AAC stays at 11 basketball schools, will we have a round robin schedule with 20 conference games, or is that too many? I really like the round robin format this year, and it would be nice to see Temple, UCONN, Cinci, and Memphis come to Moody every year in the future.

[SMU2007]

I hope Houston continues to improve and Temple bounces back next year. It's too bad to lose Louisville but we have a handful of solid teams that should do well in the tourney for the next few years.

[GRGB]

Completely serious, I wouldn't mind seeing SMU go to the Mountain West. I think it's typically a very strong bball conference, down this year, but won't be for long. They also play good football and schools that make more sense geographically. Probably in the minority since it doesn't have UConn but I think the overall profile of the conference would be better than the AAC and fit what the Ponies are doing better. Top 5 teams in that conference in basketball are pretty good, SMU would be a 6th. And the teams in the conference are recruiting at a high level, UNLV will be back next year. They got hit hard by transfers this year, two of their best players left the program after last year but they have a good influx of new talent coming in this coming year. SDSU and New Mexico are good teams as well.

The other thing is that I think it's more stable. UConn and UC will undoubtedly jump if they ever get an offer to join the ACC or B10, I don't like that personally. Better conference than Mountain West with Louisville in but I think the Mountain West may be better moving forward.

Any thoughts?

There's a reason why Dallas is in the NFC East.

There's a reason why SDSU / BSU wanted to go EAST.

UConn is not going to get into the ACC. They are stuck. Cincy is not likely to get in either, they are in OHIO. Louisville got in bc of FB and BB (and given a choice they'd rather be in the B12).

[GRGB]

I hope Houston continues to improve and Temple bounces back next year. It's too bad to lose Louisville but we have a handful of solid teams that should do well in the tourney for the next few years.

Temple was in the tournament 6 years in a row until this year. They lost to UT by 1 in OT, and didn't they just lose by 3 at Memphis (and they beat us?)

I think they will be the new SMU next year.

[SMU2007]

and didn't they just lose by 3 at Memphis (and they beat us?)

yea, in OT

[sadderbudweiser]

Wichita State? Saint Louis? VCU?

Exactly! Would prefer the latter two….

[OhioBrownFan]

Completely serious, I wouldn't mind seeing SMU go to the Mountain West. I think it's typically a very strong bball conference, down this year, but won't be for long. They also play good football and schools that make more sense geographically. Probably in the minority since it doesn't have UConn but I think the overall profile of the conference would be better than the AAC and fit what the Ponies are doing better. Top 5 teams in that conference in basketball are pretty good, SMU would be a 6th. And the teams in the conference are recruiting at a high level, UNLV will be back next year. They got hit hard by transfers this year, two of their best players left the program after last year but they have a good influx of new talent coming in this coming year. SDSU and New Mexico are good teams as well.

The other thing is that I think it's more stable. UConn and UC will undoubtedly jump if they ever get an offer to join the ACC or B10, I don't like that personally. Better conference than Mountain West with Louisville in but I think the Mountain West may be better moving forward.

Any thoughts?

There's a reason why Dallas is in the NFC East.

There's a reason why SDSU / BSU wanted to go EAST.

UConn is not going to get into the ACC. They are stuck. Cincy is not likely to get in either, they are in OHIO. Louisville got in bc of FB and BB (and given a choice they'd rather be in the B12).

Louisville begged for a B10 bid fwiw. They had been for a long time. Cinci won't ever get into the B10 because OSU will protect that. Same reason Louisville didn't, added no value as far as TV or anything like that. UConn I could see getting an ACC bid when they go to 16. Decent football, good bball, good market.

[Pony147]

So nobody likes the idea of Mountain West it sounds like

This has been discussed ad nauseam over the past several years. Most of the MWC advocates were run off

[OhioBrownFan]

So nobody likes the idea of Mountain West it sounds like

This has been discussed ad nauseam over the past several years. Most of the MWC advocates were run off

Makes sense, I'm not really an advocate but it does have some appealing value. Others make a good point though with Temple playing back to what they should be. Houston should pick it up and the conference should get better from top to bottom.

[SMU2007]

we are definitely adding in some crap however.

[blackoutpony]

OBF I was always an MWC guy (grew up in San Diego), but as I started looking at some of the more advanced metrics and depth of the leagues, I realized that the AAC was a much better spot, especially for FB and also for BB

Someone put out a great article about it sometime in the last year or two. I'll try and find it later

[Charleston Pony]

my guess is that from Turner's perspective, MWC = WAC. As a member of the WAC, SMU saw it's appeal increase in CA and western states but the goal the shifted to increase SMU's eastern exposure. While we focus on athletics, I think Turner's mission is to make SMU more appealing on a national level and AAC is the right fit for that purpose

back to the original post and comment, we have to hope that Tulsa, Tulane and ECU step it up...not to mention UCF & USF. Houston is competitive and a tough win on their home court and I don't worry about Temple, but we are a top heavy conference and that needs to change.

[OhioBrownFan]

OBF I was always an MWC guy (grew up in San Diego), but as I started looking at some of the more advanced metrics and depth of the leagues, I realized that the AAC was a much better spot, especially for FB and also for BB

Someone put out a great article about it sometime in the last year or two. I'll try and find it later

Cool, thanks. Looking forward to it. Definitely interested in hearing more arguments for or against.

[mustangxc]

If Houston can run the table, which they should now that they beat Memphis, they should be an NIT team this season. That is something positive for them to build on and getting Temple back to their level will be huge. AAC = 5 tournament teams + 1-2 NIT teams. That to me is a solid conference.

[SoCal_Pony]

I prefer AAC over WAC. Any perceived upsides to WAC are not worth the move, certainly not in this environment. But since we are talking....

If our FB coach had the passion for his job that LB does, SMU would have won multiple FB conference championships by now (competition in FB much weaker), it would have been SMU, not UCF, that would have played in the Fiesta Bowl this past season (stars aligned perfectly given our schedule) and, since realignment is mostly FB driven, SMU would be as serious a contender as anyone for ACC expansion.