(08-12-2023 06:14 PM)RockyMTNTiger Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 04:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 10:10 AM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 09:57 AM)Owls9878 Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 07:45 AM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  It's pretty simple.

Merge the PAC 4 and the AAC.

Split the conference and call it East & West.

Put the PAC 4 with Tulane, Tulsa, SMU, Rice, and Navy. Why Navy? The original agreement with the league and Navy is they wanted to be in the West because they come from all over as a national institution. Otherwise western travel is minimized except for Navy and another crossover if required.

From there grow it from an excellent starting point in status plus you have all time zones covered. It's a go to model in good TV markets with the best platform in sports.

Adds can come at the appropriate time or now if it can be worked out financially.

This makes the most sense from a money and feasibility standpoint. Most importantly you have an existing media partner in the ESPN who would absolutely pay up for this.

I've also seen where an additional media partner could be brought to the table along with ESPN enhancing the deal because of the multiple schools and time slots brought to the table. I'm sure Aresco, Luck, and the P4 can maximize this opportunity which in my opinion is the best one for the future of all parties involved. Beyond this in the future I'd love to have all the academy's added in AFA & Army.

Stanford will kill this as well. There are schools that Stanford don't want that are in the AAC as well. They will make demands that Tulsa, North Texas, FAU, UAB, ECU, Temple, Charlotte etc to be booted before a merger.

Is there any legitimate mechanism to actually accomplish such a rift? That is, other than the "chosen" ones resigning from the conference and paying negotiated and legitimate exit fees. Which would seem to be, the normal way such things are accomplished.

Would we just tell the new guys - Oh sorry, you thought we were serious? Maybe - ghost them and not send Christmas cards? Change all our phone numbers and move the conference office?

I know the world is going full on crazy and ethics and character don't seem to matter much now days - but personally; I hope Aresco has bigger balls and better ethics than that. And while its most certainly a Boy Scout type sentiment - I also hope that legacy members of the conference would come to the defense of the new guys if such a demand were to be made.

Yeah, it is the guys in the ivory tower that are still turning their nose down to schools. They made demands to the MWC to boot out San Jose State, Hawaii and UNR. It would be a surprise that they are making demands to the AAC. Gloria had the balls and said it is all of us, or no merger. The AAC and MWC are in charge. Not Stanford nor California. This could split the PAC 4 down to 2 to 2. Oregon State and Washington State wants the MWC, California we really don't know, Stanford wants the east coast.

(08-11-2023 01:33 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(08-11-2023 01:27 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(08-11-2023 01:20 PM)PredatorUTEP Wrote:  

(08-11-2023 01:17 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I don’t buy it. Between AFA (academics) and CSU (high budget, academically passable), there’s no way they’re passing on the state of Colorado completely.

Agreed. They should be considering all of the military academies to build a good viewership base.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot since the football brands are solid and they have elite academic standards.

To the extent that there’s a hang-up: basketball and non-revenue sports. The service academies provide a lot as football-only members (and maybe that’s an option here), but it’s not the same for all-sports.

Once again, Stanford and Cal don’t look at their non-revenue sports as merely Title IX compliance niceties. They legitimately seek to produce Olympians in their Olympic sports, so they still need to compete against top level competition.

A lot of those Stanford sports already are in (or will be forced to join) other leagues. The Pac12--as a league---simply doesnt sponsor as many sports as Stanford has.

Many individual sports don't qualify through the conferences but are performance based. Golf regionals are based on states so Stanford and Fresno State could compete on the links.

Sometimes the conference meet is just a last chance to get a good time. An oddity is that Mountain West holds its conference meet for swimming in Texas to avoid competing at high altitude where you may have to breathe more often.

(08-12-2023 06:23 PM)jsw3ent Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 12:18 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 12:12 PM)bullet Wrote:  Memphis's problem has always been its academic standing, which is lower than any of the current P5 and its reputation, deserved or not, for cheating.

Cheating? Memphis has done nothing compared to the media and conference darlings who continue to get propped up and have everything glossed over. It's time for that tired trope to go away.

^^THIS^^

When your last two trips to the final 4 get vacated, the stigma sticks.

(08-13-2023 01:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 06:23 PM)jsw3ent Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 12:18 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-12-2023 12:12 PM)bullet Wrote:  Memphis's problem has always been its academic standing, which is lower than any of the current P5 and its reputation, deserved or not, for cheating.

Cheating? Memphis has done nothing compared to the media and conference darlings who continue to get propped up and have everything glossed over. It's time for that tired trope to go away.

^^THIS^^

When your last two trips to the final 4 get vacated, the stigma sticks.

I suppose it's better than having an alcoholic "wife beater" leading a program.