Jeff Jacobs: AAC Needs To Make On-Field Statement

[huskymedic]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-jacobs-column-0805-20150804-column.html#page=1

 

[Drew]

"The three American Co-Champions all took it on the chin in their bowl games"

Except Memphis beat BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl. Are we just not paying attention to facts anymore Mr. Jacobs?

 

[junglehusky]

"Challenger brand"

DRINK!

 

[NavinRJohnson]

What next Jacobs an article on ten NHL coming back to Hartford?

 

[PPKChamp]

If you want to be included (as a conference) as a "power conference" you need to be able to compete with and win against the P5 teams. What do you think the AAC record will be this year versus teams from the P5.. (forgive me if I miss a game or two) (Also included BYU in this list)

Tulane vs Duke (New Orleans)
SMU vs Baylor (Dallas)
Temple vs Penn State (Philly)
Florida State vs USF (Tallahassee)
Louisville vs Houston (Louisville)
Georgia Tech vs Tulane (Atlanta)
Kansas vs Memphis (Lawrence)
Florida vs E. Carolina (Gainesville)
Stanford vs UCF (Palo Alto)
Maryland vs USF (College Park)
Oklahoma vs Tulsa (Norman)
Missouri vs UConn (Columbia)
TCU vs SMU (Fort Worth)
E Carolina vs Virginia Tech (Greenville)
South Carolina vs UCF (Columbia)
Cincinnati vs Miami (Cincinnati)
BYU vs UConn (Provo) [not really a P5 but...]
Notre Dame vs Navy (Notre Dame)
BYU vs E. Carolina (Provo)
USF vs Syracuse (Tampa)
BYU vs Cincinnati (Provo)
Memphis vs Mississippi (Memphis)
Temple vs Notre Dame (Philly)
Houston vs Vanderbilt (Houston)

 

[DCUconnfan]

If you want to be included (as a conference) as a "power conference" you need to be able to compete with and win against the P5 teams. What do you think the AAC record will be this year versus teams from the P5.. (forgive me if I miss a game or two) (Also included BYU in this list)

I'll bite...... grim picture, really. But the more I go over every game, the more I see that it's against top tier teams. If we played the likes of other P5 schools (think the I schools in the B1G, or Kentucky instead of Florida, Iowa State as opposed to Oklahoma, etc.), then that record would be closer to .500

Tulane vs Duke (New Orleans) 0-1
SMU vs Baylor (Dallas) 0-2
Temple vs Penn State (Philly) 0-3 (in a close one)
Florida State vs USF (Tallahassee) 0-4
Louisville vs Houston (Louisville) 1-5
Georgia Tech vs Tulane (Atlanta) 1-6
Kansas vs Memphis (Lawrence) 2-6
Florida vs E. Carolina (Gainesville) 2-7
Stanford vs UCF (Palo Alto) 2-8
Maryland vs USF (College Park) 2-9
Oklahoma vs Tulsa (Norman) 2-10
Missouri vs UConn (Columbia) 2-11
TCU vs SMU (Fort Worth) 2-12
E Carolina vs Virginia Tech (Greenville) 3-12
South Carolina vs UCF (Columbia) 4-12
Cincinnati vs Miami (Cincinnati) 5-12
BYU vs UConn (Provo) [not really a P5 but...] 5-13
Notre Dame vs Navy (Notre Dame) 5-14
BYU vs E. Carolina (Provo) 5-15
USF vs Syracuse (Tampa) 6-15
BYU vs Cincinnati (Provo) 7-15
Memphis vs Mississippi (Memphis) 7-16
Temple vs Notre Dame (Philly) 7-17
Houston vs Vanderbilt (Houston) 8-17

 

[blue93]

If you want to be included (as a conference) as a "power conference" you need to be able to compete with and win against the P5 teams. What do you think the AAC record will be this year versus teams from the P5.. (forgive me if I miss a game or two) (Also included BYU in this list)

Tulane vs Duke (New Orleans)
SMU vs Baylor (Dallas)
Temple vs Penn State (Philly)
Florida State vs USF (Tallahassee)
Louisville vs Houston (Louisville)
Georgia Tech vs Tulane (Atlanta)
Kansas vs Memphis (Lawrence)
Florida vs E. Carolina (Gainesville)
Stanford vs UCF (Palo Alto)
Maryland vs USF (College Park)
Oklahoma vs Tulsa (Norman)
Missouri vs UConn (Columbia)
TCU vs SMU (Fort Worth)
E Carolina vs Virginia Tech (Greenville)
South Carolina vs UCF (Columbia)
Cincinnati vs Miami (Cincinnati)
BYU vs UConn (Provo) [not really a P5 but...]
Notre Dame vs Navy (Notre Dame)
BYU vs E. Carolina (Provo)
USF vs Syracuse (Tampa)
BYU vs Cincinnati (Provo)
Memphis vs Mississippi (Memphis)
Temple vs Notre Dame (Philly)
Houston vs Vanderbilt (Houston)

I bolded the games that I view as at least winnable... and by winnable we'll say 50/50 shot. I found 9, and even some of those may be long shots, but the rest... yikes.

Obviously things can change from year to year, but if this conference comes out and plays OOC like they did last year we'll be having the exact same conversation next year, one year further into the "divide".

 

[PPKChamp]

ah, you are both getting to my point.. If what we need to do as a conference is play and win vs the P5, then we should try and schedule teams that we can compete with and win against. It will do the conference no good for a team to go out and schedule the best of the best but, if we as a conference can beat the Vandy's, Cuse' or other bottom teams of the P5 conferences (lets pick on the ACC) then we can claim that we are at least competitive with the P5. Maybe we will NEVER compete with Alabama/Florida/Ohio, but if we can compete and beat the lesser teams in the P5 we should have a case to be included in the playoffs and national discussions.

 

[PPKChamp]

I'll bite. grim picture, really. But the more I go over every game, the more I see that it's against top tier teams. If we played the likes of other P5 schools (think the I schools in the B1G, or Kentucky instead of Florida, Iowa State as opposed to Oklahoma, etc.), then that record would be closer to .500

Tulane vs Duke (New Orleans) 0-1
SMU vs Baylor (Dallas) 0-2
Temple vs Penn State (Philly) 0-3 (in a close one)
Florida State vs USF (Tallahassee) 0-4
Louisville vs Houston (Louisville) 1-5
Georgia Tech vs Tulane (Atlanta) 1-6
Kansas vs Memphis (Lawrence) 2-6
Florida vs E. Carolina (Gainesville) 2-7
Stanford vs UCF (Palo Alto) 2-8
Maryland vs USF (College Park) 2-9
Oklahoma vs Tulsa (Norman) 2-10
Missouri vs UConn (Columbia) 2-11
TCU vs SMU (Fort Worth) 2-12
E Carolina vs Virginia Tech (Greenville) 3-12
South Carolina vs UCF (Columbia) 4-12
Cincinnati vs Miami (Cincinnati) 5-12
BYU vs UConn (Provo) [not really a P5 but...] 5-13
Notre Dame vs Navy (Notre Dame) 5-14
BYU vs E. Carolina (Provo) 5-15
USF vs Syracuse (Tampa) 6-15
BYU vs Cincinnati (Provo) 7-15
Memphis vs Mississippi (Memphis) 7-16
Temple vs Notre Dame (Philly) 7-17
Houston vs Vanderbilt (Houston) 8-17

Correct, it is all about perception... Lets stop scheduling Florida, Florida St, OK, Stanford, and lets add more Kentucky, Pitt, Cuse, Rutgers... Lets boost our profile against the weaker teams in these conferences, It is a long and difficult journey from mediocre to being really good. There are a lot of teams with happy fan bases without any hope of a national championship.

 

[UCFBfan]

I could care less what the AAC needs right now. (No I'm not bashing the conference with this post) All anyone here needs to care about is how UCONN is going to fix it's needs. To say we're in dire straights is a massive understatement. Diaco better pull rabbits out of his bucket hat.

 

[Jimdish255]

The OOC this year is full of heavyweights and teams like Oklahoma and Stanford on an upswing. Teams in the middle of P5 conferences would get slaughtered in these mostly road games. Wow we really stepped in it and should be hoping for a couple of surprises if we can catch a team or two that's lost a few key guys on offense.

 

[PPKChamp]

the conference needs are our needs. change the heading... WE need to schedule games where we feel can be competitive. Right now I am living off an assumption, and that is the HCBD is the guy to right this ship. I am feeling better about the recruiting, I am feeling betting about the team this year, I am even feeling better that coming out of spring practice we had some separation @ QB. The point I was trying to make was, why are we scheduling Missouri when we should be trying to schedule lower tier teams in the P5. Being able to claim a winning record vs P5 teams is a hell of a lot better than claiming we will play Missouri or Florida or whoever and get crushed.

 

[UCFBfan]

the conference needs are our needs. change the heading... WE need to schedule games where we feel can be competitive. Right now I am living off an assumption, and that is the HCBD is the guy to right this ship. I am feeling better about the recruiting, I am feeling betting about the team this year, I am even feeling better that coming out of spring practice we had some separation @ QB. The point I was trying to make was, why are we scheduling Missouri when we should be trying to schedule lower tier teams in the P5. Being able to claim a winning record vs P5 teams is a hell of a lot better than claiming we will play Missouri or Florida or whoever and get crushed.

You schedule those games because they put butts in the seats. Why schedule the Wake Forests of the world when you are basically playing teams on that interest level in conference. UCONN has an interest issue that is not just win or lack of win, related. People wanna see teams they know. Missouri and BYU fill that void.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

There is literally nothing the conference can do to improve it's perception.

The Old Big East, had brand name schools, won BCS bowls, won head to head matchups with now P5 leagues and was still referred to as the Big Least.

Remove the brand name programs, remove auto access to the BCS level game, remove opportunities to play P5 teams, and while your add it, note the teams top to bottom are worse.

The AAC will always be a mid major.

UConn's perception can improve by winning the league, but the league will stay the same.

 

[PPKChamp]

There is literally nothing the conference can do to improve it's perception.

The Old Big East, had brand name schools, won BCS bowls, won head to head matchups with now P5 leagues and was still referred to as the Big Least.

Remove the brand name programs, remove auto access to the BCS level game, remove opportunities to play P5 teams, and while your add it, note the teams top to bottom are worse.

The AAC will always be a mid major.

UConn's perception can improve by winning the league, but the league will stay the same.

Not sure that I agree... if you win a league (based on league scheduling) that contains a bunch of teams that stink (not implying that we don't stink) you are the best of the worse, you won a crappy league, BFD. Now add to that you beat several teams from the P5 conferences, that boosts your strength of schedule and gets you noticed. That would only help your national profile and that would drive attendance and interest in the team.

 

[epark88]

 

[huskymedic]

WE need to schedule games where we feel can be competitive.

The main problem w/ this theory is OOC schedules are done many, many years in advance for the most part. Predicting trajectory of teams years in advance (including your own) is not an exact science.

 

[PPKChamp]

The best line in that whole move "what are we waiting fer!"

 

[31GuardTrap]

If you want to be included (as a conference) as a "power conference" you need to be able to compete with and win against the P5 teams. What do you think the AAC record will be this year versus teams from the P5.. (forgive me if I miss a game or two) (Also included BYU in this list)

Tulane vs Duke (New Orleans) 1-0
SMU vs Baylor (Dallas) 1-1
Temple vs Penn State (Philly) 1-2
Florida State vs USF (Tallahassee) 1-3
Louisville vs Houston (Louisville) 2-3
Georgia Tech vs Tulane (Atlanta) 2-4
Kansas vs Memphis (Lawrence) 3-4
Florida vs E. Carolina (Gainesville) 3-5
Stanford vs UCF (Palo Alto) 3-6
Maryland vs USF (College Park) 3-7
Oklahoma vs Tulsa (Norman) 3-8
Missouri vs UConn (Columbia) 3-9
TCU vs SMU (Fort Worth) 3-10
E Carolina vs Virginia Tech (Greenville) 4-10
South Carolina vs UCF (Columbia) 4-11
Cincinnati vs Miami (Cincinnati) 5-11
BYU vs UConn (Provo) [not really a P5 but...] 5-12
Notre Dame vs Navy (Notre Dame) 5-13
BYU vs E. Carolina (Provo) 5-14
USF vs Syracuse (Tampa) 6-14
BYU vs Cincinnati (Provo) 7-14
Memphis vs Mississippi (Memphis) 8-14
Temple vs Notre Dame (Philly) 8-15
Houston vs Vanderbilt (Houston)

9-15

 

[BlueDogs]

One depressing thread that just reinforces just how badly this came all came off the rails. A decade of blood, sweat and tears down the tubes by incompetence at the top. As bad as I feel for football, watch as the men's BB program slips away into oblivion as recruiting gets harder and harder. 'up here is monumental and the damage will keep on coming until they realize that p5 is not a nice option, it is an existential need. Even if we have to buy are way in somewhere by deferring rev participation or contributing $$, it will pale in comparison to the overall economic damage being done.

 

[Stainmaster]

One depressing thread that just reinforces just how badly this came all came off the rails. A decade of blood, sweat and tears down the tubes by incompetence at the top. As bad as I feel for football, watch as the men's BB program slips away into oblivion as recruiting gets harder and harder. 'up here is monumental and the damage will keep on coming until they realize that p5 is not a nice option, it is an existential need. Even if we have to buy are way in somewhere by deferring rev participation or contributing $$, it will pale in comparison to the overall economic damage being done.

What men's basketball program are you following?

 

[whaler11]

The only one of the first 16 I see the AAC favored in would be Memphis @ Kansas.

Might only be 3 all in - Cinci for Miami and Houston/Vandy.

I'd guess they win 6-7.

 

[Redding Husky]

The AAC should schedule the bottom P5 schools.

 

[whaler11]

The bottom of the P5 is scheduling the MAC, CUSA and the Belt because they want to win 6.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Some schools I'd like to see on the schedule:

Kansas, Northwestern, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Washington, Washington St, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, Pitt, Penn State, BC, NC State.