(10-12-2019 03:30 PM)HuskyU Wrote: (10-12-2019 03:26 PM)Shannon Panther Wrote: My guess is that you get a 2 year waiver. You are at 11 due to circumstances beyond your control. But the Big boys all had to expand or play a round robin. They aren't giving the AAC any permanent advantage. So eventually you will have to contract by 1 and go to a round robin or add 1 to get to 12. Buffalo would be a good geographic and athletic match. BYU is the home run pick, but I doubt you can convince them. Boise would be a kill shot to the Mountain West, but I doubt it makes financial sense for Boise.
But was it beyond their control? UCONN suggested keeping its football there. And you can't say the AAC doesn't do partial memberships...
That is a legit point. In requesting a waiver, Aresco is basically asking the NCAA to overlook (and give their full assent to) the way the AAC has thus far rejected UConn for next season.
The NCAA is being put in a tough position on this. If they grant a waiver to the AAC, they are essentially rubber-stamping and giving full assent to the ejection of UConn. Question: Do they really want to give the green light to all conferences to eject a school for opting out for certain sports? There could be legal complications if UConn should threaten a lawsuit.
If they don't grant the waiver, the AAC itself - and potentially ESPN - could seek legal redress, insofar as waivers have been granted to conferences in the past. Question: Is the AAC's case unique, because the only reason the conference would drop to 11 in FB is that the AAC forced the drop by booting out UConn FB?
-----------
The most Solomonic decision that the NCAA could make would be to allow UConn FB to remain for at least another season or two, giving them time to make the transition to indy status, etc. Ideally, the AAC would add a 12th FB team within the next 2-3 years.
-----------
UConn probably could have helped their situation by making a more gradual transition to the BE, which would have given the AAC more time to find a 12th school for each sport.
So if the AAC does get a hard time for dismissing UConn FB, a counter-argument could be that the difficult situation the parties are dealing with was caused by UConn, not by the AAC.
I'd say both parties made mistakes. UConn was wrong to pull out so quickly, putting the AAC in a bind. The AAC was wrong to boot UConn FB without giving them time to make a transition. Also, the AAC shot itself in the foot by booting UConn so quickly, without having a solid candidate to take UConn's place.