OT: Delusional AAC Fans

[tcf15]

Found on the AAC board - glad we are no longer associated with this type of dumb.

Why couldn't American build the best College Basketball Conference?

I am watching Requiem Of the Big East on Youtube today and had this idea: Why couldn't American build something like the Old Big East?

We have a group of schools that are playing very well: Houston, Memphis, Cincy, Tulsa and Wichita State. American schools have one thing in common, we are (almost) all located in big markets.

Houston
Memphis
Cincinnati
Orlando
Tampa
New Orleans
Philedelphia
Dallas

That was how the Old Big East was formed in the early 80s, big TV Markets and they all have something in common that they want to play Basketball at a higher level.

Many of our schools have a great pedigree in Basketball also.
Houston: Phi Slamma Jamma
Memphis: the old Memphis State
Temple: John Chaney era
And also Cincinnati

This past year, we could had 3 bids to the NCAA tournament. Is it our schedule that prevents us from having more at-large bids? But we are a pretty darn good Basketball Conference. Look at Big 10 which they had 7 or 8 at large bids. Is it all because of our Strength of Schedule in Non-Conference play?

But on a program level, I can personally see the rise of American Basketball because of the coaches we have in this league and that was how the Old Big East did in the 80s and 90s with their great charismatic coaches:
Kelvin Sampson
Gregg Marshall
Ron Hunter
Frank Haith
Johnny Dawkins
Brian Gregory
and more.

Should we expand Basketball-Only invites to VCU and Dayton? Dayton was simulated to win the NCAA tournament this year and they had the Player of the Year award in Obi Toppin. They are in Dayton, Ohio which is close to Cincinnati and could be a great rivalry with Cincy. VCU has a large national following also and they have great tradition in Men's Hoops.

My personal idea: I'd like to move Conference Championship game to New York City at the end of the year, which is a huge buzz for our fanbase which we can travel well.

I know Men's Basketball is not as revenue generated as Football. But as a Basketball fan myself and for the identity and pedigree of this conference, I want to see a top Basketball playing conference!

And why couldn't we?

 

[CTBasketball]

Children of the poor.

 

[Travelman6]

How cute.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

A motley crew of coaches who got canned for crap at bigger schools and would die to go back to a real conference

 

[QDOG5]

VCU has a large national following also and they have great tradition in Men's Hoops.
[/QUOTE
I follow all college hoops closely but when I read this quote I realized I have no idea what city VCU is located. I'll guess Richmond. Also, aside from the Shaka Smart years I don't recollect any great hoops tradition at VCU. AAC if you think they are an upgrade have at 'em.

 

[jcp33]

Pathetic.

 

[Peacefrog]

So sorry, MSG is spoken for during conference tourney week. I wouldn't think they would want to play somewhere else in the area and compete with the Big East Tournament.

 

[Towney007]

The problem with that is obviously that no one wants to be in the AAC whereas the Big East was a pretty solid band of evangelicals for at least a little while.

The second thing is, they are *in* good markets, but they don't *have* any of them really. It's mostly all B and C level acts to bigger, higher profile, more popular programs in their own markets. I'm not even sure SMU is a top-5 sports school in Texas at all. Texas, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor all have higher profiles, there. Ditto for Tulsa who's playing a super distant third to Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. Almost all of them, really.

I mean the only KIND OF exceptions are Houston and Memphis - but it's a city thing for them, not a regional thing and Memphis isn't a major market and Houston doesn't have enough of theirs to be considered that.

The only places where they've got legit footholds - like Wichita - are worthless to TV execs.

It's just not real life.

Then you've got the idea of the Garden - which is spectacularly stupid on every level. Just gonna be in the Garden or Brooklyn because? Like what's the cultural or regional tie-in? Why compete against the Big East tournament when you're going to get piss plowed? Stay where people can come see you.

Heck - do New Orleans. Do Memphis. Do Dickie's Dallas palace. I dunno. Just that New York makes as much sense for them as flipping Seattle does.

I did share a belief for a while that the conference should just drop the act and go full-blown Island of misfit toys and grab everyone they could nationally no matter what. That there MIGHt be some growth potential there.

But we just went out and got our own TV deal for football and put together a better, more lucrative schedule. I'm not understanding why anyone in FBS is hiding in one of these pull-apart conferences anymore. There's no point in it.

 

[Fishy]

I would love to see them play

But we just went out and got our own TV deal for football and put together a better, more lucrative schedule. I'm not understanding why anyone in FBS is hiding in one of these pull-apart conferences anymore. There's no point in it.

Because we can do it and most of them can't.

They also don't have a Big East waiting for them.

 

[McLovin]

So let me get this straight... This guy claims their conference has great (big) markets, but then goes on to propose holding the conference tournament in an unaffiliated city thousands of miles away from most of their member schools? Sounds like someone is in denial.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Sadly the OP has some valid points. But they're the same points which have been true since the AAC formed. Yes, Cincy, Houston and Memphis have real strong history and tradition and decent support. Biggest difference about major markets is BE teams were the biggest college team in their market. Most of the AAC are second/third/fourth within their own market. And BE teams were all within 4-5 hours of the biggest market- NYC.
And obviously no way are they getting anything near NYC for their tourney.

With UConn gone, Memphis is the most practical place to have the tourney. It's pretty close to the center of the conference, the city cares about college hoops and there is a decent chance for Memphis to be good on a regular basis. Fans of most schools can make a day car trip to Memphis. Plus, Memphis and Beale St are great for 3-4 of partying and hooping it up.

And with that, I've used up my 2020 GAF/GAS time allotment to AAC membership and path forward.

 

[auror]

And also Cincinnati.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Mentioning Frank Haith in comparison to the characters that were the coaches in the Old Big East is the single most dispectful basketball take I've ever heard.

 

[McLovin]

So let me get this straight... This guy claims their conference has great (big) markets, but then goes on to propose holding the conference tournament in an unaffiliated city thousands of miles away from most of their member schools? Sounds like someone is in denial.

If I were the AAC I would hold my conference tournament in Houston every year. They are a major US city with an beautiful NBA arena and for 4 days would be the only big time sport in town (assuming they get the Rockets arena). Houston is also a major hub for United Airlines so there is a good chance fans from every team in the conference could get a direct flight.

And then fight like hell to get your championship game on Friday or Saturday prime time on either ESPN or ABC. Yes it would compete with NBA prime time, but it’s still better than 3PM Sunday afternoon on ESPN2.

They probably need another few “out of the box” ideas (or gimmicks) to make the tournament (and the rest of the season for that matter) relevant on the level of the power basketball programs.

 

[HobokenHusky]

And also Cincinnati.

HAHA was just about to post that, made me LOL

 

[Chuck]

Why wouldn't a fan hope for the best for their school / conference?

One of the problems I always had with the AAC is that I didn't care about any of the schools. I wanted to beat them, but I didn't hate them, or feel really anything towards them. Playing Tulane was no different than an early season non-conference game. But that also means that now that we're gone, I'm not rooting against them (if it doesn't impact UConn). None of those schools kept us from a P5 invite or tried to otherwise harm us. Some of them tried to get better. We just didn't fit.

Do I think they have any shot at replicating the True Big East? I don't think there is a chance, but I don't mock the desire. They are the old Conference USA. A loose patch work of big schools that will have some success, but not the excitement of a true conference. It's good to see some passion though.

 

[phillionaire]

And also Cincinnati.

What are teams that have blown 20 point leads in the NCAA tournament?

 

[CallMeBruce]

The problem with that is obviously that no one wants to be in the AAC whereas the Big East was a pretty solid band of evangelicals for at least a little while.

The second thing is, they are *in* good markets, but they don't *have* any of them really. It's mostly all B and C level acts to bigger, higher profile, more popular programs in their own markets. I'm not even sure SMU is a top-5 sports school in Texas at all. Texas, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor all have higher profiles, there. Ditto for Tulsa who's playing a super distant third to Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. Almost all of them, really.

I mean the only KIND OF exceptions are Houston and Memphis - but it's a city thing for them, not a regional thing and Memphis isn't a major market and Houston doesn't have enough of theirs to be considered that.

The only places where they've got legit footholds - like Wichita - are worthless to TV execs.

It's just not real life.

Then you've got the idea of the Garden - which is spectacularly stupid on every level. Just gonna be in the Garden or Brooklyn because? Like what's the cultural or regional tie-in? Why compete against the Big East tournament when you're going to get piss plowed? Stay where people can come see you.

Heck - do New Orleans. Do Memphis. Do Dickie's Dallas palace. I dunno. Just that New York makes as much sense for them as flipping Seattle does.

I did share a belief for a while that the conference should just drop the act and go full-blown Island of misfit toys and grab everyone they could nationally no matter what. That there MIGHt be some growth potential there.

But we just went out and got our own TV deal for football and put together a better, more lucrative schedule. I'm not understanding why anyone in FBS is hiding in one of these pull-apart conferences anymore. There's no point in it.

Granted this was 2014, but this map has the entire country broken up into zip codes, with the top-3 most-popular college football teams in each zip code listed. Only UConn, UCF, and Memphis are #1 in the zip codes in which their schools reside, and UCF and Memphis are both only #1 in the areas immediately surrounding the schools (UConn #1 in ever CT Zip plus a few surrounding ones).

Then you have the next group of schools - Temple, Navy, SMU, Houston, ECU - who are in the top-3 in their immediate area, but only in a few zip codes, and they're not the most popular schools even on their own campuses.

Finally, you have Tulsa, Cincinnati, Tulane, and USF, which aren't in the top-3 anywhere in the country, including the zip codes in which their campuses reside.

So yeah, the AAC is in a lot of good markets, but it has almost no impact on any of those markets, so what's the point?

 

[aburks41]

Heck - do New Orleans. Do Memphis. Do Dickie's Dallas palace. I dunno.

lmao

 

[Waquoit]

I actually went to the AAC tournament in Orlando. We had a drive from Tampa to Stuart that day and went via Orlando for the semis. That was the day after Jalen's shot. There were more scalpers than fans. We had two seats to ourselves in a mid-court, mid-level box for dirt cheap. We left to sit near some fans. The AAC in NYC is delusional.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Sadly the OP has some valid points. But they're the same points which have been true since the AAC formed. Yes, Cincy, Houston and Memphis have real strong history and tradition and decent support. Biggest difference about major markets is BE teams were the biggest college team in their market. Most of the AAC are second/third/fourth within their own market. And BE teams were all within 4-5 hours of the biggest market- NYC.
And obviously no way are they getting anything near NYC for their tourney.

With UConn gone, Memphis is the most practical place to have the tourney. It's pretty close to the center of the conference, the city cares about college hoops and there is a decent chance for Memphis to be good on a regular basis. Fans of most schools can make a day car trip to Memphis. Plus, Memphis and Beale St are great for 3-4 of partying and hooping it up.

And with that, I've used up my 2020 GAF/GAS time allotment to AAC membership and path forward.

There main problem in AAC is not the basketball people it’s The president/ commission‘s total disregard for the sport .
The OP has valid points ,ironically points I made in 2013-14. Along with true divisional play to reduce travel expenses.
It was more doable with UConn as a member our loss has reversed any momentum BB in that league made by added WSU which I applauded.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Also there are no real regional rivalries. The old big east was loaded with big rivalries. Nobody is ever going to give a drop of pee about Memphis vs Houston like they did Cuse vs Uconn St. Johns vs Gtown etc.

 

[UCSouth]

I just want to know why you are still hanging out on AAC Forums?

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I just want to know why you are still hanging out on AAC Forums?

For the schadenfreude, obviously.

 

[willie99]

I like what the author said, nothing wrong at all. They have potential, they're already one of the best football conferences and god knows we didn't help at all with that. Truthfully, we didn't carry our weight after 2014. We could have helped them achieve something more.

In our defense, of course, we do own all the National Titles won by the conference.

I wish them well