American Athletic Conference

[tropicalshox]

I heard him two days ago.

[ShockerFever]

I heard him two days ago.

Where? On the radio?

[rjl]

Fever, I know this might sound absurd to you, but many in this world have the prescience to know when to shut the hell up and not say a word.

[Rlh04d]

I've seen a lot of threads about us being added on the Big Priest, MWC, AAC, and A-10 forums. VCU fans tend to present us as a package deal on a few of those forums, which I'm all for ;)

I doubt this isn't on the minds of the conferences themselves as well.

As for the MWC, this constant talk about how basketball-only schools ruined the Big East really bothers me. Selective f'ing history. Basketball only schools built the Big East. Teams that left the Big East before the C7: VT, Miami, BC, West Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, Notre Dame. ONE of those was a basketball only school. And when the basketball only schools "left," it was only them, UConn, South Florida, and Cincinnati left. They didn't "leave" ... they kicked those three out. FOOTBALL members destroyed the Big East. I don't get how this lesson is being so twisted against the Catholic 7, who were the ONLY stable part of that conference, and what gave that conference credibility to even become a relevant football conference. This lesson is only applicable to the MWC if they were to add a bunch of basketball-only schools, and then every single member of the conference left and we were the only ones left ... in which case how the hell would that affect them anyway?

The arrogance of MWC fans in thinking that their football will ever matter makes me laugh. They could very well add us and Gonzaga and create one of the top basketball conferences in the country ... and they would literally rather make less money while failing to be relevant in football. The Big East has proven the value of being nationally relevant in basketball versus being irrelevant in football. Football pays more at the higher levels, but basketball pays more at their level. And they won't ever accept it.

End of the day, the MWC will never be a relevant conference, because no one actually wants to be in the MWC. It's a conference full of teams that have no goal but to get into a major conference for football. There is very little interest in making the MWC strong for its own sake. It's a step up from the MVC, certainly, but I think it is lacking majorly in leadership and foresight.

[WolfPackNev]

I've seen a lot of threads about us being added on the Big Priest, MWC, AAC, and A-10 forums. VCU fans tend to present us as a package deal on a few of those forums, which I'm all for ;)

I doubt this isn't on the minds of the conferences themselves as well.

As for the MWC, this constant talk about how basketball-only schools ruined the Big East really bothers me. Selective f'ing history. Basketball only schools built the Big East. Teams that left the Big East before the C7: VT, Miami, BC, West Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, Notre Dame. ONE of those was a basketball only school. And when the basketball only schools "left," it was only them, UConn, South Florida, and Cincinnati left. They didn't "leave" ... they kicked those three out. FOOTBALL members destroyed the Big East. I don't get how this lesson is being so twisted against the Catholic 7, who were the ONLY stable part of that conference, and what gave that conference credibility to even become a relevant football conference. This lesson is only applicable to the MWC if they were to add a bunch of basketball-only schools, and then every single member of the conference left and we were the only ones left ... in which case how the hell would that affect them anyway?

The arrogance of MWC fans in thinking that their football will ever matter makes me laugh. They could very well add us and Gonzaga and create one of the top basketball conferences in the country ... and they would literally rather make less money while failing to be relevant in football. The Big East has proven the value of being nationally relevant in basketball versus being irrelevant in football. Football pays more at the higher levels, but basketball pays more at their level. And they won't ever accept it.

End of the day, the MWC will never be a relevant conference, because no one actually wants to be in the MWC. It's a conference full of teams that have no goal but to get into a major conference for football. There is very little interest in making the MWC strong for its own sake. It's a step up from the MVC, certainly, but I think it is lacking majorly in leadership and foresight.

One thing I find wrong in your post. We fans are not the ones who makes the decisions. So ignore the posts on the other threads.

[lostshocker]

Lostshocker, I'm not so sure you're correct in negating the initiative that a good AD has in steering the ship. Granted, Prez Bardo has the ultimate say, but ADES should be constantly looking for options and presenting them. There is the problem. A lot of us think he's a nice fellow but perhaps a little passive and without vision.

I do agree with '89 that ADES is a good soldier and follows commands well and would certainly look into it if directed by his boss. But is it really Pres Bardo's job to completely understand the lay of the land and all the changing parts of athletic conferences, or is that really the AD's job?

Time to lead ADES.

and we know he has had no discussions gauging other conferences interest in adding WSU how? he could talk to several ad's in multiple conferences and we'd never actually know what they were discussing.

and yes it would be part of bardo's job to understand the lay of the land and all the changing parts of athletic conferences as athletics do impact the rest of the university.

[SubGod22]

I have much more faith in Bardo pushing to get us in a better conference than I do Sexton. Thankful that Bardo is here.

[Cdizzle]

How you folks can look at the current state of the athletic department and find nothing but faults continues to baffle me. The athletic department has NEVER in its history been as strong as it is right now. An AD that wasn't any good couldn't do that. But I suppose when times are good, some people must still find something to complain about. So feel free to continue complaining about what the AD is or isn't doing, despite having no actual clue as to what's going on.

[SubGod22]

How you folks can look at the current state of the athletic department and find nothing but faults continues to baffle me. The athletic department has NEVER in its history been as strong as it is right now. An AD that wasn't any good couldn't do that. But I suppose when times are good, some people must still find something to complain about. So feel free to continue complaining about what the AD is or isn't doing, despite having no actual clue as to what's going on.

How much of that was because he inherited an athletic department in tremendous shape and improving. All Sexton has had to do is maintain and keep things moving in the right direction. Nobody is saying that he's horrible no matter how some of you want to spin it. What people are saying is that they're not sure how strong he really is when it comes down to it. Part of that is because you hear very little coming from him or his department. That porbably because he sucks ass as a public speaker. And that there doesn't help him any.

[Cdizzle]

There is no reason to hear anything from the AD when coaches are staying, teams are winning championships and playing in the post-season, and the marketing department is on point. Good leaders can get things done without being blowhards.

[SubGod22]

Could be. Or he could have taken over an athletic department that was in tremendous shape and improving and he hasn't had to do much of anything.

[rrshock]

Is this thread gonna hit EO thread status? I don't see this issue being resolved in a timely manner.

[Cdizzle]

Could be. Or he could have taken over an athletic department that was in tremendous shape and improving and he hasn't had to do much of anything.

Also possible. I guess my point is two-fold. 1. We don't really know. 2. He definitely hasn't screwed it up.

[SubGod22]

Fair enough. But I think the concerns of others are still valid.

[MadDog]

I think there is one thing almost all of us agree on and that is that we need to be in a better conference, and that we've never been a more attractive option to other conferences than we are right now. Lets don't blow this!