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Conference Membership Discussion

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The guys on the morning show on ESPNU SiriusXM seemed to think it was more likely the league stays at 11 in the short-term because they "couldn't find a viable member who would add value to the conference" over staying at 11.  The other leagues like the Big 12 (who don't have 12), the Big 10 (who have more than 10), etc. have proven in the past that you don't really have to have 12+ teams, and the change in rules now allow leagues with fewer than 12 to still have a conference championship.  For what it is worth, those guys thought the most viable options were BYU or Army (football-only).  The others they mentioned in the past few days were App State and Charlotte.

So as Shane has said numerous times, it is all about money.  The schools will not want to add another school and divide the total by 12 rather than 11 unless that 12th school can INCREASE what each school gets in the end OR if ESPN does drastically reduce the TV contract.  I am not arguing if FAU or Charlotte or ODU or App State or Georgia Southern or … (the list keeps going of who "could" be in the running) can or can't do that, but that will be pretty much the only thing that the AAC will be looking at.  In the end, adding a school would mean that university's athletics have at least 1 sport that would bring the same kind of prestige/notoriety/value that UConn basketball did - and that is not going to be a very long list.

That being said, they'll probably add somebody nobody is talking about by next week!
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Well kicking UCONN out for being football only rules out schools like BYU, Air Force and Boise because travel in non revenue sports would kill 'em.

Would Army go in, they seem to like their independent status even though they actually make the most sense.


To me is sounds like ESPN has NO INTENTION of paying that contract to only 11 teams, especially since they lost UCONN men's and women's basketball! So NOW ANY 12th member will help keep the AAC value IF they provide a NAME or A MARKET.
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I think there's tremendous value in adding us even the Universidad. Us against UCF and USF every year can be very lucrative. I've been following college sports for a long time. And I think I've found the problem. The problem is that we don't have any signature wins. If we beat UCF this year, or USF next year, everyone's going to be talking about us moving up. We'll show everyone how much value we bring. I believe things could play out the next few years that we become a big tv draw. Why not, we have the best weather in the country, and a great location with great uniforms and a diverse student population. Most of the articles that came out the last couple days have a lot of candidates above us and don't have us at all. It's all about getting a signature win and making the top 25. The AAC will want us if they think us against UCF and USF every year will be popular.
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jgf2017 said

I think there's tremendous value in adding us even the Universidad. Us against UCF and USF every year can be very lucrative. I've been following college sports for a long time. And I think I've found the problem. The problem is that we don't have any signature wins. If we beat UCF this year, or USF next year, everyone's going to be talking about us moving up. We'll show everyone how much value we bring. I believe things could play out the next few years that we become a big tv draw. Why not, we have the best weather in the country, and a great location with great uniforms and a diverse student population. Most of the articles that came out the last couple days have a lot of candidates above us and don't have us at all. It's all about getting a signature win and making the top 25. The AAC will want us if they think us against UCF and USF every year will be popular.
Posted On: Jun 26th 2019, 11:41 PM #386966

You really think us simply beating USF next year will "get everyone talking?"

I have explained this and spoke to someone in athletics recently that confirms what I have been saying.

We are very far away donor wise, facility wise, winning wise.  We are heading in the right direction, but we are so far away a couple of big wins or nice seasons doesn't change that.

Weather, uniforms, diversity etc matter 0.0.

Note on the weather: I have been to probably 10 FAU games in the last 4 seasons where I have been rained on or sat through a lightning delay.  

Navy AD Gladchuk: "It means there’s one less distribution to make. It means we get a little more of the revenue sharing. Anyone that comes in has got to be a plus rather than a fiscal detriment.”

When FAU entered C-USA the TV contract dropped 75 percent (it was not all on us) the AAC will notice.


 
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We don't have any signature wins, you ain't wrong. But we also don't have enough normal wins. And we're still only talking about football (and sure, football membership only…).

It'd be great to go to the AAC. There's money there (for us). But I still believe our focus should be improving CUSA. Or building over years to join the ACC with our (hold for the vomit in my mouth) sister school down south.

I don't know what to say about cool uniforms. But. What's stopping us from playing UCF or USF (UM or UF?!) every year, here as we stand?

From CUSA, North Texas makes the most sense to me. I can't speak to the coolness of their uniforms. But they fit all the crap we'd try to sell'em; and fit as natural rivals to SMU. They'd own east Texas and east Texas is a lot of Texas (about a quarter of it if my math serves).
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You have to understand that you can't just say that location doesn't mean anything. Let's put it this way. If every single college had amazing facilities and everything anyone could ever want, it would come down to location. And if it came down to location, we'd be at or near the top of the list. You think people want to live in east Texas over the tri county area? Orlando, Tampa? No, they'd rather be down here in close proximity to everything. You can't just dismiss that. Location has been a key reason for the success of colleges. You act like hey we don't have what some team in Virginia or the middle of nowhere has. Or we should strive to be like UAB or something. I'm sorry, but I'm way more happy to be down here than in Birmingham, or any other place where these schools are. Do you listen to yourself defending colleges in the middle of nowhere that have been around longer than us and still aren't really ahead of us. The tide is changing. It's just a matter of how long it will take. I fail to see any validity in the oh, have you been to Charlotte lately, the campus is fantastic, etc. No one would rather live in those places than down here. I'm sorry. I'm not in awe of what schools in North Texas, Charlotte, Birmingham, etc. are doing. I’ve been to a lot of these cities too. I never once went to where odu or Charlotte is and been like oh man, I wish I could stay here. Just about every other G5 team further along than us is in a location that’s not even close to as good as ours. We don’t have the facilities now, it’s ok. Those schools are a lot older than us. But there’s no way we don’t eventually catch up
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I loved my time in Boca. I loved my time at FAU (and it was a bizarrely long time). So, be cool brother. We were and are and forever will be on the same team.

The population of Boca is under 100,000. The population of Charlotte is just under 900,000. So. I don't know, maybe people do want to live there? And honestly, Charlotte should stay with us. And maybe we should take on East Carolina?? I wouldn't complain if we could get rid of a geographically, nonsensical conference member in exchange.

Tuscaloosa's got a lot going on (no offense, I live in small-town, Georgia nowadays)… Location means a lot. To recruits (but it shouldn't). To media members. To sponsors and donors (but where are ours?). But it's a drop in the bucket. Harvard's not Harvard because it's in Boston.

FAU is 1.8 miles to the beach and I love that. PBCC is 1.79 miles to the beach.

Holding out for one great season in one sport isn't the answer. We are on to something. Football (even though last season didn't go our way) is on to something. Our baseball is great and the most consistent sport we have (I don't know, volleyball? golf? swimming? we've got one hell of a marine biology program…). Basketball just plugged a finger in the dam (but we need more than that).

Shane's not lying. We need sustained improvement on multiple fronts and even then, we need to fit into the wanting conference's requirements. I'll be happy to go into the AAC now. I'll be happy to go into the ACC in five years. But we need to focus on CUSA and assume we'll always need to focus on CUSA (and that's not a bad thing).

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Media Markets in the US:

5   Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
7   Houston, TX
10   Atlanta
11   Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)
16   Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL
18   Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, FL
23   Charlotte, NC
31   San Antonio, TX
37   West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce, FL

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Guys, I think we’re fine where we are. That first Lane season we saw how much we were talked about nationally. If we keep winning and are constantly contending for Conference Titles, we’ll get our shine in due time. As of right now, I have no problem going 11-3 every year winning the Conference maybe throw in an undefeated season here and there and be a C-USA power. C-USA is a league with a lot of history it’d be nice to write some in our favor before leaving for greener pastures. Let’s just all calm down and get back to winning the league
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I am calm about it and basically agree with Shane and the guys points who think we have no chance - but to me that does not mean we should not be going after it HARD!!!

A move like this would transform the entire University and Athletic Dept. overnight! So why not TRY!!! Why settle for a weak conference?

I was taught and have always taught that if you go into a game or test or whatever thinking you are going to lose or fail, YOU WILL! Just go for it, the window is a least cracked for the moment! And opportunities like this don't come along very often now, do they. Especially in the monopolistic world of College football!
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