Report: Uconn leaving for Big East

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

I personally like UAB. 

maybe UNT or some other school in Texas. maybe Ohio? would give Cinci a natural rival.

 if it's not a $$$ generating brand (Boise, BYU), I'd rather have a school that gives us a recruiting foothold in a football-oriented state. the available northeastern schools just don't add anything to the conference & aren't in talent-rich areas that will yield recruiting benefits.

I'm not sure how far west the conference can go either. if the AAC is adding just one team to replace UConn, having a team west of Texas is going to leave them on an island with huge travel expenses.

[Calibull]

4 minutes ago, TRUTH D. Antagonist said:

I personally like UAB. 

maybe UNT or some other school in Texas. maybe Ohio? would give Cinci a natural rival.

 if it's not a $$$ generating brand (Boise, BYU), I'd rather have a school that gives us a recruiting foothold in a football-oriented state. the available northeastern schools just don't add anything to the conference & aren't in talent-rich areas that will yield recruiting benefits.

I'm not sure how far west the conference can go either. if the AAC is adding just one team to replace UConn, having a team west of Texas is going to leave them on an island with huge travel expenses.

We're in the South East... Where the majority of the talent rich states are. What other talent rich states are there?

Edited June 25, 2019 by Calibull

[Skingraft]

2 minutes ago, Calibull said:

We're in the South East... Where the majority of the talent rich states are. What other talent rich states are there?

New Hampshire has some bad ass loggers I hear

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

5 minutes ago, Calibull said:

We're in the South East... Where the majority of the talent rich states are. What other talent rich states are there?

Texas. 

Alabama, Ohio & Mississippi all rank in the Top 10 of talent-rich states with schools that could potentially be added (not advocating for Southern Piss, but it's there).

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2017/12/18/16780636/best-recruits-2019-state-rankings

football recruiting isn't really a regional thing as much as an in-state thing. being in Tampa isn't necessarily going to attract regional southeastern recruits from Alabama or Mississippi (or Georgia or South Carolina or Virginia) who may want to live away from home but still want a game in front of their friends & family.

adding a team from those states creates more recruiting opportunities than simply going to Alabama & saying "hey come play in Tampa! We're in the Southeast, too!" it creates a bigger presence in those states for our team, our brand & the conference.

of course BYU or Boise would be first choice. otherwise I'd look for teams with other upsides.

[Calibull]

1 hour ago, TRUTH D. Antagonist said:

Texas. 

Alabama, Ohio & Mississippi all rank in the Top 10 of talent-rich states with schools that could potentially be added (not advocating for Southern Piss, but it's there).

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2017/12/18/16780636/best-recruits-2019-state-rankings

football recruiting isn't really a regional thing as much as an in-state thing. being in Tampa isn't necessarily going to attract regional southeastern recruits from Alabama or Mississippi (or Georgia or South Carolina or Virginia) who may want to live away from home but still want a game in front of their friends & family.

adding a team from those states creates more recruiting opportunities than simply going to Alabama & saying "hey come play in Tampa! We're in the Southeast, too!" it creates a bigger presence in those states for our team, our brand & the conference.

of course BYU or Boise would be first choice. otherwise I'd look for teams with other upsides.

We have Houston and SMU in Texas, why would we need a bigger footprint there and all of those other schools are in the southeast.  We have a fair amount of players on the squad from Georgia.  Strong recruits Georgia heavily.  I don't see the reward of bringing in a school from Alabama or Mississippi in because they have a fertile recruiting ground  With the exception of Texas, all of those schools have to recruit outside of their states to be good.   

[Calibull]

But if they add a school, it will be BYU, Army, or Boise St... I don't think they want more.  ESPN is not giving more money so any added teams take away from current teams.  I think it may be BYU because it almost makes sense, they're already renegotiating the deal and that could be actually worked into the current AAC deal without much disruption.  I don't see schools in the NE really appealing to them... they'll go with a known quantity. 

[Grateful Dad]

You know, at one time you could have been run off this board (or at least gotten a talking to from Smazza) if you ever offered the idea that we should be courting peers to join our conference and our peers were the teams we are mentioning now.

On the other hand, ain't nowhere to go but up.

[usf97]

I keep hearing that the AAC will just stay at 11. 

 

I don't really understand how that works but it makes sense. 

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

6 hours ago, Calibull said:

We have Houston and SMU in Texas, why would we need a bigger footprint there and all of those other schools are in the southeast.  We have a fair amount of players on the squad from Georgia.  Strong recruits Georgia heavily.  I don't see the reward of bringing in a school from Alabama or Mississippi in because they have a fertile recruiting ground  With the exception of Texas, all of those schools have to recruit outside of their states to be good.   

LOL I totally forgot about Houston & SMU. that's how much I love this conference.

so UAB or Ohio would probably be my choices if the AAC can't bring in BYU or Boise.

 

someone else mentioned the service academy idea... it doesn't interest me personally & I don't think it adds anything to the quality of football or hoops, but I see the marketing value in playing the patriotism card. I just don't see them bringing much else.

the only other options are expanding further west or staying put.

[puc86]

Dissolution is the only solution.