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East Coast Mustang wrote:

Junior wrote:wait, is this the current CUSA division or our AAC division?

I think it's been well established that we didn't really "move up" the conference ladder, at least as far as football is concerned. But it's certainly better than being left in the old CUSA, which is what would've happened pre-June/Orsini

yeah, we essentially kicked out rice and utep and invited cincy, louisville, uconn and navy.

Junior wrote:

East Coast Mustang wrote:

Junior wrote:wait, is this the current CUSA division or our AAC division?

I think it's been well established that we didn't really "move up" the conference ladder, at least as far as football is concerned. But it's certainly better than being left in the old CUSA, which is what would've happened pre-June/Orsini

yeah, we essentially kicked out rice and utep and invited cincy, louisville, uconn and navy.

And kicked out UAB and USM. It would make so much more sense if we had kicked out Tulane instead of USM.

definitely. USM has had some quality teams, outside of last year.

Paladin wrote:There really is no sound reason we could not dominate the Western division of the new AAC; our bad if we don't rise to the top and stay there...

I remember that talk when the SWC tanked and we went to the WAC.

Hoping to dominate Tulsa, Tulane, Memphis, 25 years after the DP is pretty sad.

Where would we be without June at this point? My guess is that we still would have made the cut into this new conference. Initially, it did look like we had made some big jump, but gradually we realized that we really just avoided getting kicked out of CUSA.

Not sure about that, 07. But maybe, hell, they let Tulane in.

But remember, JJ played an instrumental role in getting LB here as well. So without JJ we could've been an abysmal football program and terrible basketball program right now. Kind of like....Tulane. Ok, maybe you're right.

East Coast Mustang wrote:Any thoughts? I feel as if this makes the most sense.

East- UCF, USF, Temple, UConn, East Carolina, Navy
West- SMU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane, Tulsa, Cincinnati

Unrelated: Tulane was such a [deleted] addition. I wish we could've gotten BYU instead.

Those are the (geographically) logical division splits, assuming this group holds together. Assuming nobody has any options to bail and this group holds together, the question becomes whether we stick to this number. 12 football but only 11 bball members. Do we play 20 conference bball games (home/home with everyone) and play without divisions? I wouldn't be surprised to see this group make a pitch to add Army for football only and then take on one more all sports member (So Miss would fit in the west and allow Cincy to move east). So much can change before we get to 2015

We can assume Cincinnati will be given special consideration and staying with other teams in the Eastern Time Zone will be granted.

Water Pony wrote:We can assume Cincinnati will be given special consideration and staying with other teams in the Eastern Time Zone will be granted.

Why special consideration for Cincy? In my opinion, all conference members should be treated as equals. This 'special consideration' and bowing to select conf members is what creates rifts and distrust. Along with greed this is why teams left the Big 12/big East and will likely cause issues in the Mtn West with Boise's deal.

Cincy is leaving the first chance they get regardless of which division they are placed in. The decision should be based on what's bet for the AAC.

AAC shouldn't incent U of Cincinnati to be more disappointed with their situation. Their FB program has been the best of the schools left behind in the BE, the new American, for the past decade. Second, forcing them into the Central Time (CT) group can be avoided. That is issue for the BearCats. I am OK with them being eastern oriented.

Couldn't agree more that UC doesn't deserve special status! They will leave if given the chance, so would we. That being said, when you look at a map of the US, they are really closer to the Eastern teams (excluding Florida) than the West. I think Navy may come West to ease any hard feelings. With 3 crossover games, we will play in the East 2 or 3 times a year anyway. And the Eastern teams will do the same in the Central Time Zone.

This still feels like being in a mid-level conference again.

And so it is Sam, but what the heck can we do about it. It's our best option currently. When we joined the Big East I had such high hopes of about 10 mil a year. Oops, things went wrong, but not our fault. We did what we had to and built up some respect in football. Bball looks like it may earn us some more. Now let's just hope someone from the AAC can get in a BCS Bowl and the Final Four each year.

We just need to keep winning, going to bowl games, and beating some legit OOC teams to garner respect and attention. I'm an eternal optimist, I think we have a great chance to do so by knocking off Tech to open the season or TCU in Ft. Worth. And if half of A&M's team gets suspended, we might have a shot there as well.

Tulsa World recommends divisional splits with Cincinnati going West, when Navy joins in 2015.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/ ... 2?subj=708