American Athletic Conference

[RoyalShock]

Shouldn't some schools like Washington State, Oregon State, Purdue, Northwestern, etc... be concerned that their current conference could dump them for a better replacement?

I can't recall the last time a school was kicked out of a conference for a reason other than they didn't meet league requirements. It just doesn't happen.

[1972Shocker]

Louisville has every bit as strong of a case as Kansas, probably a stronger case. Both Kansas and Louisville have three national titles, Kansas has a 44-41 edge on appearances and a 14-10 advantage on F-4's. So you could say Kansas leads by a hair, but... Louisville football kicks Kansas football right in the grapes.

I still think Kansas squeaks in somewhere, but it is a close call. Those that think KU would be a slam dunk addition to the B1G, Pac, SEC or ACC need to look past blind loyalty. If it comes down to a P-4 scenario, It really is going to be a razors edge either way.

An unknown factor is how big will these P-4 conferences want to get. Four 16 team conferences? Four 20 team conferences? What's the word or thought on that.

[Rlh04d]

Shouldn't some schools like Washington State, Oregon State, Purdue, Northwestern, etc... be concerned that their current conference could dump them for a better replacement?

In addition to what RoyalShock said, it's also worth noting that the B1G places significant emphasis on academics, particularly research. Northwestern could never win a game in football again and likely be fine.

[OregonShocker]

I can't recall the last time a school was kicked out of a conference for a reason other than they didn't meet league requirements. It just doesn't happen.

No, but there are ways to make it happen. Adjust league requirements to basically exclude who you want, i.e., "You gotta have a stadium that seats "x" fans; you gotta have a budget with $"X" devoted to football; you gotta provide charters to football games; you gotta have a football TV rating of "x", etc." It could be figured out if someone REALLY wanted to exclude a team.

[Play Angry]

I can't recall the last time a school was kicked out of a conference for a reason other than they didn't meet league requirements. It just doesn't happen.

Temple football in the Big East is the only one in recent memory.

[Jtaylor]

More realignment madness

http://www.scout.com/college/texas/story/1561434-the-next-big-move-in-realignment

[Shocker1976]

http://www.scout.com/college/texas/s...in-realignment

Thanks for posting this link; very interesting and informative read!

[Rlh04d]

No, but there are ways to make it happen. Adjust league requirements to basically exclude who you want, i.e., "You gotta have a stadium that seats "x" fans; you gotta have a budget with $"X" devoted to football; you gotta provide charters to football games; you gotta have a football TV rating of "x", etc." It could be figured out if someone REALLY wanted to exclude a team.

I think there are more "have nots" in most conferences than "haves" who would prevent something like this.

You could adjust the PAC-12 requirements to exclude Washington State, but would Cal, Colorado, Utah, and one or two others in the PAC12 really be that far on the inside of good where they'd be willing to set a precedent that could be used against them?

The "big spenders" in most major conferences tend to be pretty small. You probably only have maybe three major spenders per conference, excluding the SEC, and the rest are mostly just content to be in the mix. The SEC's probably the only conference where the major spenders have real control over the conference.

It's the same with us in the MVC. How much influence can WSU really utilize within the conference, when we're clearly on an island in terms of finances? We have no peer in our conference, and while obviously that's great from an on-court success standpoint, Evansville actually is likely to have more true influence than us during conference politicking, because they have commonalities with more schools that they can build alliances with. Most conferences sort of have to play to their lowest members and hope their highest members can carry them through.

So it could happen, but probably won't. If it did, I'd see it being in the SEC.

[OregonShocker]

I think there are more "have nots" in most conferences than "haves" who would prevent something like this.

You could adjust the PAC-12 requirements to exclude Washington State, but would Cal, Colorado, Utah, and one or two others in the PAC12 really be that far on the inside of good where they'd be willing to set a precedent that could be used against them?

The "big spenders" in most major conferences tend to be pretty small. You probably only have maybe three major spenders per conference, excluding the SEC, and the rest are mostly just content to be in the mix. The SEC's probably the only conference where the major spenders have real control over the conference.

It's the same with us in the MVC. How much influence can WSU really utilize within the conference, when we're clearly on an island in terms of finances? We have no peer in our conference, and while obviously that's great from an on-court success standpoint, Evansville actually is likely to have more true influence than us during conference politicking, because they have commonalities with more schools that they can build alliances with. Most conferences sort of have to play to their lowest members and hope their highest members can carry them through.

So it could happen, but probably won't. If it did, I'd see it being in the SEC.

All true; can't argue....but it could happen, especially if you wanted to replace one school with another "better" school. Perhaps you could sway the vote with the line, "We're replacing school X with school Y and as a result your share of the pie will go from Z to Z++++"

[Jatrain]

KU still has the Williams Fund, I believe. It is their equivalent to WSU's SASO.

Yeah, Aargh is so off base on that that I hope that he was just trying to troll. The Willams Fund has nothing to do with Roy Williams. It was established in 1949 (when Roy was still in diapers) by brothers Dick, Skipper and Odd Williams and is the main fundraising arm for the KU AD.

While Roy certainly had issues within the AD that ultimately contributed to his departure, he wasn't controlling the distribution of funds and certainly wasn't controlling the Williams Fund.

[MoValley John]

Yeah, Aargh is so off base on that that I hope that he was just trying to troll. The Willams Fund has nothing to do with Roy Williams. It was established in 1949 (when Roy was still in diapers) by brothers Dick, Skipper and Odd Williams and is the main fundraising arm for the KU AD.

While Roy certainly had issues within the AD that ultimately contributed to his departure, he wasn't controlling the distribution of funds and certainly wasn't controlling the Williams Fund.

I read up a little on this Williams Fund. You are right, it is similar to SASO. At the same time, it also appears that the Williams Fund helps with facility debt expenses and team travel. Those are items that Roy certainly could have objected. I know very little about this fund, so their literature could be misleading, and maybe they only fund scholarships, but if the Williams Fund does more than scholarships, a coach from the marquee program most certainly could have influence on where those funds are directed.

Also, speaking of revenue, football, and how being poor at football could impact a program at Kansas, KU, with all their basketball glory, leads only Baylor in fundraising. Not very impressive at all.

http://williamsfund.com/sports/2014/2/12/wef_0211141654.aspx?path=about

[Kung Wu]

I know very little about this fund, so their literature could be misleading, and maybe they only fund scholarships, but if the Williams Fund does more than scholarships, a coach from the marquee program most certainly could have influence on where those funds are directed.

Wow, $13,600, per student-athlete per year goes to "Facilities Maintenance & Dept Service", for a combined total of $6,800,000 (500 student athletes). Now I don't know what portion of your annual YMCA membership goes toward facilities maintenance but ...

And what's a "Department Service" anyway?

[MoValley John]

And what's a "Department Service" anyway?

That's the "Roy Fund" of which Aargh was unfairly criticized for mentioning.

[Rlh04d]

All true; can't argue....but it could happen, especially if you wanted to replace one school with another "better" school. Perhaps you could sway the vote with the line, "We're replacing school X with school Y and as a result your share of the pie will go from Z to Z++++"

I could see that being more likely to happen once conferences are at a "max number" of members. I'm not sure if anyone has decided what that would be at this point. We have conferences ranging from 10 members to kinda-sorta 15 members at the moment. Both the B1G and SEC are at 14 and I don't get the feeling from them that they've settled on 14 as being the largest number they're willing to expand to.

If there becomes a point where the conferences refuse to expand past, say, 16 teams, at that point kicking schools out might be a legitimate strategy. Right now it's financially rewarding enough just to add more.

[MoValley John]

I could see that being more likely to happen once conferences are at a "max number" of members. I'm not sure if anyone has decided what that would be at this point. We have conferences ranging from 10 members to kinda-sorta 15 members at the moment. Both the B1G and SEC are at 14 and I don't get the feeling from them that they've settled on 14 as being the largest number they're willing to expand to.

If there becomes a point where the conferences refuse to expand past, say, 16 teams, at that point kicking schools out might be a legitimate strategy. Right now it's financially rewarding enough just to add more.

My gut is that they will all be happy at 16. There isn't any low hanging fruit and while adding teams to 16 generates more revenue for everyone, beyond that just divides the pie into more pieces.

As for kicking teams out, it's probably not going to happen. Every conference needs a doormat. There is only one champion, so all you gain by throwing out a doormat is adding another.

The real challenge is being a doormat and trying to sell yourself to another conference.