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Originally posted by DanielBryan
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And lets stop with the Valley BS. We're still in a better place. There are adds out there that can help and have potential. Yes, we do have to look at potential. Remember that with more exposure/prestige can come better results. Not guaranteed, but some schools make it happen.
Being able to pull the front range schools I'd consider a win.
Picking the best of the MWC would be a win.
I'm not sure how many the AAC would look to add, but having a combination of Buffalo, UAB, Liberty, North Texas/UTSA, one of the Louisiana's could be a win.
And I'm only considering the basketball side of these. But I think there is football potential with most of these as well.
Are these adds Houston, Cincy and UCF? Not really, but those three aren't OU and Texas either.
I don't see a AAC/MWC merger as someone else already pointed out that their commissioner is an arrogant jackass that I believe most MWC fans even hate. Some sort of scheduling alliance could occur to try and help boost each conference, but these have also been the top two "other" conferences in football that have competed for that top spot, so who knows.
I was hoping ESPN would be able to make enough concessions to help us maintain membership as we can be pretty certain the B8 isn't getting anywhere close to what they were getting once OU/TX leave.
Back to us, I'm not sure we can pick the best of the MWC. It would be great to do so, but I don't know if the money will be there to make sense for the extra travel. The front range schools could be a possibility. RMS makes it sound like CSU has been interested in the past and that would increase the likelihood of AFA. Those two, along with New Mexico and Wyoming have a pretty long history together and would as a whole be solid adds to both major sports.
Liberty would absolutely jump at the chance. They have the money and drive to continue getting better. The only thing hurting them now is politics because of their founder. I honestly believe the Flames would be a net benefit to both sports long term.
I think Buffalo could be a solid grab and may be the most likely MAC school to jump. Not that there are a lot of great MAC options.
I've seen someone mention one of the FxU schools. That doesn't excite me but I understand the desire to have a FL presence along with USF or in case USF ends up leaving (doubtful).
UAB I think would be a solid long term add as they appear invested in athletics and have a good market, even if it is dominated by Bama.
Ark State doesn't excite me but they have some solid football history. I guess at lest they'd be close.
North Texas shares the same metro as SMU. That could be their downside, but they also have solid potential in both sports. UTSA has had some decent success in football I think, considering they've only been playing a few years. I know, at least early on, they were getting tremendous fan support as they're in a football starved region of the state.
What's been going on at UTEP the past decade? They used to be one of those tweener schools for moving up but haven't heard anyone talk about them in a while.
The Louisiana schools mentioned seem ok for now, but I'm not sure how much upside they have as a whole. Wouldn't be at the top of my lists, but could be ok additions to fill out the conference if we need an extra add.
Army/VCU would be a HR, but Army has an open invitation and has for years and have shown no interest. Someone else already brought up the concerns for VCU. They're in a pretty good place within the A10.
Charlotte seems like a school you would think would have potential, but they are in a state with a lot of big competition which complicates things for them.
App St would be a solid football addition. Underwhelming for basketball.
UMass is a school often talked about, but they've really shown next to nothing in either sport or much of a dedication to them.
Rice is an academic powerhouse, but has never shown much interest in athletics. If they would make a commitment to that, I'd say they move towards to top of the list. But I don't think that they will.
I'm sure there are a couple of others that we could consider, but I think this covers most of the options, reasonable and more dream worthy.
I do think at lest pulling in CSU/AFA would be big. One, I wouldn't mind that road trip from time to time. Two, having an AFA/Navy football game every year would only be good for the TV deal. People love the academies and networks will pay for them. Another reason Army is so wanted by the AAC. But outside of that, there are pros and cons to consider for all of these.
If I had to pick four, I might just go simple and say the front range schools as a collective.
Outside of that, I'd take the CSU/AFA combo and then maybe go with UAB and Liberty. Though it's also hard not to have another Texas school. So if we need a fifth, just pick a Texas school.
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