SMUleopold

Cincy is top 25 especially if they get the QB situation figured out. They play that game later on in the season and there may have been a different result.

Forget the fact that the top three programs are being skimmed off the top, the remaining programs are perennial underachievers who only recently - in the past decade - got decent, and it hurts me to say this but I include SMU in that. There's nothing Memphis has the UNT doesn't. Add the other new AAC teams who UNT has regularly competed against and everyone is basically starting off - at least in big picture metrics - on the same page. The on-the-field product will follow, for good or for bad.

If it makes you feel any better we lost a FR AA in UBIV to Ole Miss, and he carried twice in his first game with them. Might end up being nothing but a backup. Double edged sword and all that. Good luck the rest of the way.

Could have been worse. Could've planted a flag in the middle of your field. Of course if that happened, I'd be worried we lose our HC to you after the season....

About half the starters last year were transfers - the QB, TE, couple of WR's, couple of OL, and the same goes for D. Sonny at least helped created the transfer model, if not outright did it himself, and I don't see any reason to stop. I'm not saying I like the New World, but it is what it is, and it would be stupid to not go with what works and is legal now.

Huh. SMU has a hockey team. Cool. Good lookin' uniforms ya'll got there.

It's more expensive than you think.

You're certainly right. We're no longer in the forties. We're in the twenties and climbing.

Both the number of schools and the specific schools applying scream of ESPN's influence: six new schools, not two or four and all are in major media markets and not in a Boone, Ruston, or Hattiesburg. As such there is a real belief that when it all shakes out the current TV package will stay at $12M/school. If that's the case then the six new schools will effectively have done their jobs.

Yes. Muffy, Bunny and Daddy Moneybags are beside themselves. Daddy had to have three martinis last night. But seriously - few if anybody care. It's SMU: money talks and the rest walks. Just keep the TV money coming in and we'll all hold our noses up in the air when you show up at Ford. Outside of that, congrats if it turns out to be true.

Give them a call. I have a feeling their upcoming non-conference schedules will have an opening soon....

Texas State brought in all transfers last recruiting cycle - not a single HS kid, right? How's that working out for them?

1. No MWC team is going to look to join now anymore than, say, Colorado is interested in joining the Big XII after UT and OU left (not to say that the Buffs did in the first place). You can't take the top programs from a conference and demand the same interest for inclusion. 2. Rice won't be at the top of anybody's list until they choose to actually compete. Let us know when that happens. 3. Aresco has been smart enough to stay away from any stupid hybrid conference, basketball only additions outside of the one common-sense addition of WSU thus far - here's hoping that continues. 4. UTSA has a hot hand now but not sure about long-term stability. We'll see. 5. We'd be smart to find large geographically proximate state schools with the long term potential to win in Football, ie. Louisiana, App State, FIU/FAU, etc. - the same thing we're losing. 6. As with everything I'm sure ESPN will drive the bus, for good or for ill.

Runs out in '25. Most likely they just haven't gotten around to it, there's definitely room on our schedule in the upcoming years. Needs to be played for both schools, hope they're smart enough to make it work.

9-3, 10-2. We're continuing to improve but everyone else on our schedule is as well, including yourselves, and we haven't shown the ability to close out seasons yet. That being said, I'm looking at the 2022 season with big expectations.

Oklahoma spent 75 years in another conference. They can, and will, leave Texas behind if they think it's in their best interest.

Look, nobody would love to see SMU in a P5 conference more than myself but this is not a realistic scenario. You're suggesting bringing two schools with historically weak football teams and no TV markets along to a conference that has nothing culturally in sync with them, at a time when neither school has been mentioned once in conference realignment discussions. This at the same time they are going to kick out a reasonably successful member who has contributed for half a century - the politics of kicking out ASU alone could be overwhelming. No. Hell, why would schools want to join that conference? Texas is going to bitch and complain about their conference but they're making more money than anybody in college athletics and any movement away from there current position threatens that, so all other things being equal they're staying put. I could see OU leaving for the SEC, but that probably means OSU is coming along and the SEC has already said if they expand they want into NC/VA. I could also see CU looking at their move to the PAC 12 as a mistake and considering coming back, but that's also a bit drastic. The Big XII has already recently looked at expansion and gave it a big 'no' so it's probably a mute point unless the corporate gods at ESPN say otherwise. We've got to look at the AAC as our conference for the next generation and better start to build membership around that, otherwise we are going be in a permanent state of limbo until the second coming.

Aresco has said they will replace UConn, and it's worth noting that if the AAC did bring in more than 12 teams then we can renegotiate our TV contract with ESPN. But yeah, it's hard to see aggressive expansion in today's climate.

Army has apparently said 'no' early on and that's for the best. The AAC desperately needs a top 10 or even NC presence and Army isn't going to fulfill that. That, and since Army is likely to leave their other sports in the Patriot League with Navy then I don't want another stupid football team/basketball team addition. Frankly, I'm for leaving BSU in the MWC where there are currently few quality wins and bringing in a top team from the Sunbelt who is positioned to actually challenge the AAC as the 'best of the rest' in the coming future. The SBC could have 3 top 25 teams this year and any discussion over 'quality wins' ends, especially if ULL beats Texas this year.

Guys, the problem isn't us or any other school per se. The problem is ESPN. TV markets run the show now and the rumor is the conference is getting pressure to add school on the West Coast that don't make a lick of sense outside of possible TV eyeballs. It was ESPN that brought Mizzou into the SEC over even founding member Georgia Tech, created the damned Big XII and added f'ing Rutgers and Maryland to a conference with Nebraska and Minnesota. I've stated before that if UNT or any school can add to the TV money that is what will carry the day, and if anyone in here can seriously come up with a way to counter TV money every conference commissioner in the country is waiting for that answer. - some of us want control over our conferences and scheduling back. But to pretend that a single school has more power than a potential 8 figure annual check is unfortunately wrong.

That must be Apogee. Better put that out..... EDIT: Changed to Apogee. Credit given to greenjoe.

He is expected to arrive in June.

It's going to be a boon to some and a anchor to others, but it's not going to be strictly along the 'P5/G5' lines, at least not in football. For every D'eriq King that goes to Miami, there's going to be 3 or 4 McKenzie Miltons/Shane Buechele/Brady Whites/Zach Smith's/Ruder, so I expect more talent to flow down than up. Stanford and Tennessee are getting killed right now with the portal and I imagine that programs that take a down-turn and players see themselves as rats on a sinking ship now have a way out. But region proximity to players coming out of HS could be huge and I can believe that 'G5' programs from talent-rich states could quickly find themselves finding access to large amounts of talent previously untouchable if they can do it the right way.