Question about AAC?

[SchmidtyNole]

I have a question for you guys. You were in the AAC for one year in 2013 before you moved on to the ACC. That year you guys were in the AAC it was a pretty bad conference. UCF and Louisville were pretty much the only solid programs in the conference. It made for horrible strength of schedule problems and problems with perception even though I believe Louisville and UCF were both among the Top 10 teams in the country in 2013. People didn't really give those teams much credit because they were in the AAC.

So then Louisville moves on to the ACC where based on the recruiting you guys have been and are doing you are well on your way to competing for the Atlantic Division title on a yearly basis if you can get over the Clemson/FSU hump. But my question for you is in regards to the AAC.

There is no question that since Louisville left the AAC that conference has gotten much better. Memphis, Temple, Navy, Houston, South Florida, ECU and Cincy are all solid programs. I don't think the AAC is as good as the ACC as a whole and certainly isn't as good at the top, but the AAC does have three ranked teams in the CFP poll, which is as many as the ACC has. The difference is that the three ACC teams are all in the Top 10 while the three ranked AAC teams are all hovering in the 18-25 range.

Do you think the AAC can ever change perception to the point where people will consider the strength of that conference on par with the other Power 5 conferences? They have had some good results this year against the Power 5 conferences.

That leads me to the Peach Bowl where Houston plays FSU. We have a lot of pressure on us because Houston knows that beating us would go a long way to changing the perception of the strength of the AAC relative to the other Power 5 conferences. Similar to the way Boise beating Oklahoma did a few years ago. I don't think there is any question that the AAC is by far the best of the Group of Five conferences. That's what is intriguing about this game.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on the AAC moving forward trying to prove they can play with the Power 5 conferences to help them get a better chance at making the Playoff in the future?

 

[Rollem Cards]

The AAC is us from '96 - '04 and really until '13.

We were good, were wanting to be better, and wanted recognition for it. Even when we went to the BE (a much better Conf than the "experts" said) we were fighting the uphill battle.

Then, as an AAC team, we had to listen to Florida, and how they were "uninterested" in playing us. Especially after we had them down and had hit em in the mouth.

Do not underestimate your opponent. They want you and want you badly, AND have the talent to move the ball on you. They ARE interested, and coming out and trying to intimidate ain't gonna fly. You'll have to beat them physically.

Good luck, and Go 'Noles!!

 

[kozmas]

I don't think the AAC will be good year in and year out. They will be up and down depending upon the coaching. Memphis was awful before Fuentes took over and he is the reason they had the success they did. Now that Fuentes has moved to Va Tech I look for Memphis to disappear again.

Louisville's success was based on huge financial commitments that were made by the administration and the community. I don't know of any school currently in the AAC that spends the type of money UL spends on athletics. Take coaches coming and going and cash flow problems and their programs will be up and down. All that being said, if you play one of their better teams be prepared because the year that they are good they are dangerous.

 

[SchmidtyNole]

The AAC is us from '96 - '04 and really until '13.

We were good, were wanting to be better, and wanted recognition for it. Even when we went to the BE (a much better Conf than the "experts" said) we were fighting the uphill battle.

Then, as an AAC team, we had to listen to Florida, and how they were "uninterested" in playing us. Especially after we had them down and had hit em in the mouth.

Do not underestimate your opponent. They want you and want you badly, AND have the talent to move the ball on you. They ARE interested, and coming out and trying to intimidate ain't gonna fly. You'll have to beat them physically.

Good luck, and Go 'Noles!!

I definitely don't think we'll take them lightly. Jimbo Fisher preaches to our guys to respect every opponent and not take anyone lightly. Houston has proven that they are a good team. The line is only FSU -7 so I expect this to be a very competitive game.

 

[SchmidtyNole]

I don't think the AAC will be good year in and year out. They will be up and down depending upon the coaching. Memphis was awful before Fuentes took over and he is the reason they had the success they did. Now that Fuentes has moved to Va Tech I look for Memphis to disappear again.

Louisville's success was based on huge financial commitments that were made by the administration and the community. I don't know of any school currently in the AAC that spends the type of money UL spends on athletics. Take coaches coming and going and cash flow problems and their programs will be up and down. All that being said, if you play one of their better teams be prepared because the year that they are good they are dangerous.

That's kind of how I see it. The cash flows invested in the programs are the biggest obstacle they face in terms of being consistently good year in and year out. Plus, losing their coaches to Power 5 jobs is a big obstacle just like losing Fuentes to VT is an example. Now Herman signing a contract extension for $3.2 million a year is a step in the right direction for them and shows Houston is willing to invest in their program.

 

[cardfaninmemphis]

For the conference to get to the P5 level will take each school investing a lot of money into their athletic programs, and a lot of those schools will have a huge struggle to get the money to invest. Memphis, for example, is a state school, but Tennessee in Knoxville will always get the lion's share of state money. Cincinnati and Houston are in the same boat. So, they will have to find other ways to raise money to fund their programs and get the facilities that will impress the recruits who come to visit.
Navy is altogether different because it is a service academy. If they get some outstanding athletes among the cadets, but they will not take people who are borderline or on the lower end of qualifying.
The next issue is coaches. Memphis and Houston were fortunate that the assistants they hired worked out. Their coaches were on their first job as a head coach, which sometimes works out, and sometimes doesn't. If it does work out, then a P5 program is ready to hire that coach. Memphis had several first time head coaches who bombed before they had Fuente. Fuente went 2-9 his first year before having two good years and being lured away by Va Tech. Memphis probably could have matched what Va Tech offered Fuente, but it wasn't going to keep him there.
The issue after that is facilities. With the money the P5 programs have, they can repeatedly renovate a stadium, a practice facility, a locker room, or spend money on the things that get the boosters and alumni to donate more money to the program. To get high level recruits, the school has to show that recruit that they have the ability to get him to the NFL, and don't forget about showing the recruit how special and important he would be while enrolled at the school. The flashier and fancier your facilities are, the easier it is to show that recruit what he wants to see.
So, let's say you get over these hurdles, and you develop your program with great coaching, decent recruits and the facilities to help them get better. The next thing you need to do is schedule some good competition to prove that you deserve to be among the best. At that point, no high level P5 school would want to play you. After Memphis beat Tennessee in 96 (while Peyton Manning was QB) Tennessee will no longer play Memphis. Memphis' stock as a football team soared this year when they beat Ole Miss. (I wonder how much longer that rivalry will continue.) Temple got noticed by beating Penn State and losing a close one to Notre Dame. P5 schools want to play non-P5 schools to improve their record.
Then, there is one more thing holding them back. In football, everything is driving by polls, which are done by voters. There is a clear bias towards certain schools and towards the SEC in these polls. Somebody posted earlier this week the SEC teams in the pre-season poll compared to those in the final season poll, and the difference was astonishing. At the same time, Houston, Memphis, Navy, and Temple were not ranked in the pre-season top 25 and did not enter those rankings until mid-season. By mid-season, the top 10-15 schools are almost set in stone, so there is no place for a mid-seasons entry to rise into. So, top teams in P5 conferences will end up in the top part of the polls based in large part on pre-season rankings.
So, to sum up, it can be done, but there are a lot of things stacked against them. If the teams in those conferences do consistently perform well enough to be considered a top program, well I hear that the Big 12 may consider expanding in the next few years....

 

[DerVille]

Nope.

We've lived it in Conference USA, the Big East and one year in the AAC.

It was always looked down upon and questioned. I don't think that will ever change.

 

[WV Card]

I'm pretty certain that UofL, Southern Miss, and East Carolina all finished in the top 25 as C-USA members one season back in the early 2000's. Where is C-USA now? I don't think it will come down to the conference as a whole moving forward. It will always just be an opportunity for the individual school. I always felt we emerged from the fray because of the commitment we had to upgrading the total athletic department, facilities, and academics. The other conference members never made that across the board commitment and I doubt that all the AAC members can afford that commitment now either. So, I doubt the AAC will sustain and become a P-5.

 

[cardsfan53]

Schools will only look at being in any other conference beside a power 5 confernce as a stepping stone.

Just look at the Big East conference football in 2006, 3 teams finished in the top 12 of the rankings. 2007 3 teams finished in the top 25 (we had enough talent to be top 25 as well, won't go into what happened that season). 2008 3 teams in top 25 as well, 2009 3 top 25 teams as well.

So I doubt it doesn't matter how well a conference does no way they move into the Power 5 discussion. UCONN and Cincy are for sure looking to split IMO as fast as they can.