BullyPulpit

They should enter the season ranked somewhere between #8 and #12. They have two easy warm-up games (Miami (OH) and Murray State). Then, they go on the road to play last season's surprise team Indiana. If Indiana beats Iowa on the road to start the season (a matchup for two top 15 teams) their game against Cincy would likely be a #8 versus #9 affair. Then, they get media darling Notre Dame, whom, if undefeated, would have already knocked off fellow top 20 Wisconsin. Win that game, and it will be REALLY hard to keep an undefeated Cincy out of the CFP in favor of a 2-loss P5 team. The betting mar

It give our media partners more options to fill airtime with watchable games, that is what I was referencing more than anything. Also, maybe there would be more East Coast interest if you have a more easterly team playing at SDSU or Boise. Just a thought.

I think some are dismissing the potential media rights side of this. The AAC would be able to provide their partners programing with kickoffs beginning at 12 pm and going all the way to 10:30 pm. No other conference in the nation would be able to offer that to their media partners. It gives the overlords at ESPN the flexibility to air conference games whenever they wish.

If the MWC is refusing BSU preferential payment from its new TV deal, then there is no way that BSU is going to stick around in that conference. That is the only thing that kept them from jumping ot the AAC the last go-around. A 14 team AAC would look like this: West: San Diego St., Boise St., UNLV (or another MWC team), Tulsa, SMU, Houston, and Tulane East: USF, UCF, ECU, Cincy, Memphis, Navy, and Temple

I would have to imagine that our media partners would be part of these discussions. No teams would be added if they don't add money. An AAC with these teams would be right there competitively with the PAC 12 and Big 12. It could end up being a three tier system. POWER 3 - SEC, ACC, BIG 10 BIG 3 - Big 12, PAC 12, AAC G4 - CUSA, Sun Belt, MAC, MWC

Planning and being positioned in the event you do lose a couple of teams could be seen as the same thing. I don't think anything is imminent, but the last thing this conference could afford right now is losing 2 or 3 teams and then scrambling to cobble together enough members to keep going. Be proactive in expansion. Expanding by 3 makes the most sense in the even a P5 comes along and decides to take 2 from the AAC. BSU added all of the value to the MWC tv deal. Now, we would be in a position to renegotiate with ESPN and at least make a little bit more per team under a reworked deal. We never

I'm fine with this. We need stability in the conference.

This is actually a pretty great draw for USF. Only 13 teams competing in the region (some have 14). 3 of the teams pretty much have no chance of advancing, meaning that 10 teams are competing for 5 spots in the next round. 6 of those 10 are ranked by Sagarin between #32 and #49 in the nation. (USF is #36). USF will only have to slightly outperform their seeding to advance. Play like they did in Day 1 of the AAC Tourney and they are in. Play like they did on Days 2 and 3, they are in....trouble.

I disagree that it is 100% about finances. I think all of their decisions take financial impact into consideration, but they also make competitive decisions. If they didn't, they wouldn't have had the sustained success they have had over the course of the last 13 years or so. They might not be good enough to win it all most years, but I will take a well-run, consistent, competitive team that is almost always in the post-season mix. I hate the owners for what they are doing with the stadium fiasco, but I can't really complain about the way they have structured the team.

I don't think Toronto's pitching can keep up their performance for the rest of the season. I see them as overachieving slightly to this point. I think they end up between 78 and 82 wins, which is pretty solid for a young team with only 1 legit starter.

If the Yankees are within 2 or 3 games of the Red Sox come the trade deadline the arms race could be exceptional. The Rays are lucky in that they can fortify their roster from the minors. They also have a few middle infield pieces that they could potentially trade for a significant return. Trading Willy Adames might yield a quality bullpen arm and a couple of prospects for the Rays. As much as I dislike the Red Sox and Yankees, MLB is more fun when they are both good/great at the same time. I just love that my Rays get to be the thorn in their arrogant fanbases' sides (present company exclu

They are playing better than anyone expected and, if Renfroe can stay hot, they have a solid lineup. It will be interesting to see how Sale looks when he returns. If they are in the mix come the trade deadline it will be interesting to see how aggressive they get.

I don't mind them easing him in. Confidence and workload are a big deal to a young pitcher. The Rays philosophy seems to be that each pitcher has a certain number of pitches/innings for the time that they have them under contractual control and they seem to make decisions based upon that, in addition to the other advanced metrics they employ. They seem to like the 1-2 punch that Shane and Patino give them right now, and you can't really argue with the results (albeit with only 2 games to go off of). If the bats and the pitching ever get hot at the same time, this is one of the best teams i

Pretty awesome for the players that they will get to go to Hawaii. Hoping for a softer schedule at the start of the season that gradually increases in difficulty closer to conference play.

Their numbers are inflated by SEC fans that were following what the account and its fans were Tweeting. One NY6 Bowl appearance and a good social media manager and we will catch up with them. We are already in a shockingly good place all things considered.