(09-16-2015 04:25 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  Did I miss something? Did North Dakota State announce it was moving to FBS?

Last article I read in January said they had no plans.

http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2015/jan/1...up-to-fbs/

If there are no plans to move up, then for the love of Christmas will the ND State troll quit cluttering FBS realignment threads with silly insertions of ND State into conferences like the American?

You have a great FCS program that draws 18K per game, beats FBS teams from time to time, and is apparently not willing to pay cost of attendance. Learn to enjoy what you have.

Further, if ND State ever decided to move up, I can promise you they won't start off in the American.

A long way of saying: Give it a rest.

I agree with what you are saying but

http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/un...all-sports

North Dakota State announced last week it would provide stipends for athletes in all its sports in 2016-17.

(09-16-2015 06:01 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  Geez. I roll my eyes when it comes to super-conferences. Especially on the G5 level when it goes coast-to-coast (more expensive to less funds).

You could take the Top 12 of the G5 and stack them to make a P5-level conference, YES. What made the Big East fall to G5, you could weed out its worst, and put in the best of the G5s elsewhere. However, teams would be zig-zagging all over the country and wouldn't be worth it. Much fewer visiting fans. BUT a bigger spotlight. Going Super-Large isn't going to strengthen a G5 combo to be P5. Plus, Over-14-sized conferences or more-than-2-divisions is completely nonsensical -- it only begs that they be Divided into separate conferences, going in the Opposite direction, right?

Here's My G5-All-Star-to-P5 Conf, if money weren't an issue:

WEST
- Boise State
- BYU
- Colorado State
- Utah State
- Air Force
- Houston

EAST
- East Carolina
- Cincinnati
- Memphis
- Marshall
- Northern Illinois
- UCF

Although having a GOOD argument to be P5, and considered such by analysts....

... What does Mountain West & AAC do? CUSA & MAC can live without their top 2 teams, but the others are just stripped. You'd have to combine MW & AAC into ANOTHER DUAL COAST conference. And have a couple remaining teams join CUSA/MAC.

You're only taking 4 MW teams and 5 AAC teams. MW still has 8 football/7 full members, and AAC still has 7 full members. MW and AAC would do what they've done every time they've been poached before - backfill.

If a 12-team coast to coast conference came to fruition, I would expect Temple and Navy to get the nod before Northern Illinois and Marshall.

(09-16-2015 04:25 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  Did I miss something? Did North Dakota State announce it was moving to FBS?

Last article I read in January said they had no plans.

http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2015/jan/1...up-to-fbs/

If there are no plans to move up, then for the love of Christmas will the ND State troll quit cluttering FBS realignment threads with silly insertions of ND State into conferences like the American?

You have a great FCS program that draws 18K per game, beats FBS teams from time to time, and is apparently not willing to pay cost of attendance. Learn to enjoy what you have.

Further, if ND State ever decided to move up, I can promise you they won't start off in the American.

A long way of saying: Give it a rest.

Actually North Dakota State have more to offer than some of the AAC and MWC. They are very strong in many sports. They are in the top 100 TV markets for Fargo, and it is growing. They bring a very strong football, a men's basketball team that beat Oklahoma knocking them out in round 2, and a strong wrestling and baseball programs. They could then build a brand new stadium that can seat more than 25,000 with it that can expand even more. Right now, they share the Fargo Dome with an indoor Arena football team that is a pro-league. That is why North Dakota State is more attractive than schools like Tulane right now. There is potential for them to join.

(03-30-2015 09:50 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Now this idea presented in this thread is nice. Perhaps the creator of it has seen my presentations of the future 20 team AAC. Personally it is my belief that the AAC will attempt to try to maintain pace at a step or two behind the Majors while at the same time pushing the other conferences that same distance behind the AAC. I don't think the Academies will be able to keep up with that effort nor will they want to. That is why the inclusion of the academies is a nice feeling ideal but I don't think it is very realistic. They will be allowed to have "P5 schedule strength" so that they can maintain their focused mission while not being forced into becoming profit motivated nor having to stomach facing lower quality programs. The sports programs of the academies are purely about presenting the Services to the young Americans watching sports. They Need to play big programs for that but it goes against their mission to engage in spending wars.

They would have to engage in that practice if they wanted to compete in such a conference. They are better off as Independents, including the Air Force.

I've argued this regarding the service academies as well. Yet people still that that the ACC and B12 would be great fits for USNA and AFA.

Week 11 Conference Standings for the True American Conference
(Fantasyland)

RED DIVISION (East)
Temple: 5-1 (8-2)
USF: 4-2 (6-4)
Cincinnati: 3-3 (6-4)
UConn: 3-3 (5-5)
ECU: 2-4 (4-6)
UCF: 0-6 (0-10)

WHITE DIVISION (Central)
#19 Houston: 6-0 (10-0)
#21 Memphis: 4-2 (8-2)
*NIU 4-2 (6-4)
Tulsa: 2-4 (5-5)
Tulane: 1-5 (3-7)
SMU: 0-6 (1-9)

BLUE DIVISION (West)
*BYU: 5-1 (7-3)
*San Diego St.: 5-1 (7-3)
*Boise St.: 4-2 (7-3)
*Colorado St.: 3-3 (5-5)
*UNLV: 2-4 (3-7)
*Fresno St.: 2-5 (3-7)

STARS-&-STRIPES DIVISION (Military Academies)
#16 Navy (Central): 6-0 (8-1)
*Air Force (West): 5-1 (7-3)
*Army (East): 0-6 (2-8)

Week 12 Big Games
Memphis at Temple
Air Force at NIU
Boise St. at San Diego St.
Houston at UConn
Cincinnati at USF

Projections:

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Semi-Finals:
December 5, 2015
Temple at Houston
BYU at Navy

Championship:
December 13, 2015
Houston v. Navy

BOWL GAMES
-Fiesta Bowl (NY6): Houston
-Military: Navy v. ACC
-Birmingham: Memphis v. SEC
-Las Vegas: BYU v. PAC 12
-St. Petersburg: Temple v. ACC
-Armed Forces: Air Force v. B1G
-Cactus: Boise St. v. PAC 12
-Miami Beach: USF v. CUSA
-Poinsettia: San Diego St. v. MWC
-Hawaii: Colorado St. v. MWC
-Cure: Cincinnati v. MAC
-New Orleans: NIU v. Sun Belt

Your obsession with the AAC is disturbing.

(03-30-2015 09:50 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  ... I don't think the Academies will be able to keep up with that effort nor will they want to. That is why the inclusion of the academies is a nice feeling ideal but I don't think it is very realistic. ... The sports programs of the academies are purely about presenting the Services to the young Americans watching sports. They Need to play big programs for that but it goes against their mission to engage in spending wars.

They would have to engage in that practice if they wanted to compete in such a conference. They are better off as Independents, including the Air Force. ...

And their first mission is to train future officers for the Armed Forces ... which is why they all play offensive schemes that allow them to compete with lighter weight offensive lines against heavier weight defensive lines, because a normal P5 sized offensive lineman would need to trim down quite a bit to make it through West Point or the Naval Academy (and he'd have quite a time fitting into a jet fighter!)

If you want to make a truly American Conference, you need to take the biggest brands.
East:
UConn
Cincy
USF
Navy
Army
Marshall
West:
Boise State
BYU
Air Force
Houston
SMU
UNLV

NIU is 8-3, not 6-4 (or 7-4 with the win tonight that you would have added)

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(11-19-2015 12:36 AM)shizzle787 Wrote:  If you want to make a truly American Conference, you need to take the biggest brands.
East:
UConn
Cincy
USF
Navy
Army
Marshall
West:
Boise State
BYU
Air Force
Houston
SMU
UNLV

You can't have that exact one, since Army won't join. It would be a repeat of their experience with the former, stronger, version of the CUSA.

Also, I'm not sure that USF is an unequivocally bigger brand than UCF. There may be a bit of recent news bias in that.