Since we had a thread on the ACC, I thought we needed one on the AAC.
I appreciate what they are trying to do with the whole power 6 thing, and I think they realize no one takes them serious, kind of the same with UCF and their claimed national title - though I think their fans believe they were really national champions.
The AAC knows their claims are more to drum up the publicity than for anyone to actually take them serious.
They just signed a new TV deal that pays them significantly less than any P5 conference, but significantly more than any G5 conference, so I do believe they are viewed as a higher tier than the other G5 conferences by networks. And they have better brands for their level than any of the other G5 conferences, minus maybe Boise State in the MWC.
Which brings me to the point of this off-season topic...
What could the AAC do to improve their profile and national perception if they truly did/do believe they belong among the power conferences? I know winning big games is the easy answer, but Boise has had big wins in high profile games over the years and no P5 conference is interested in them.
I think they need to think outside the box, be different in their approach,maybe continue with the pseudo-controversial claims to generate conversation. Get creative with the rules.
Some ideas...
First, since there has been a push for conference autonomy in how the individuals conferences govern themselves, the AAC should allow student athletes from any conference OTHER THAN the AAC to transfer into an AAC school and be eligible to play right away and not have to sit. That would give them some better talent from P5 athletes that want to transfer and not sit.
Second, give all AAC student athletes 5 years to play a full 5 years instead of the 5 years to play 4 years and 4 games.
Third, football players that declare for the draft, but go undrafted can return to school if they do not sign with an agent much like the NBA does. They would also take players from other schools that declare, go undrafted, do not sign with an agent, and would like to then transfer into an AAC school to finish their college career. Again, this brings in talented players that AAC schools might other not be able to recruit straight from high school.
Fourth, do away with divisions except for scheduling purposes during the regular season, and allow the top 2 teams in football each season to face off in the conference championship like the Big 12 does. This still might not ever be enough to garner a spot in the 4-team playoff, but if the playoff expands to 8 like is speculated, and there are two quality teams in the AAC ranked reasonably high that then face each other for the championship, it could theoretically give the AAC a better shot at putting a team in an expanded playoff field.
Fifth, they need to increase the brands they offer for television to try and increase TV contract revenue. Right now the AAC has 12 football members and 12 basketball members, though Navy is a football only member and Wichita State is a member in everything but football. The AAC should bring in Army and Air Force, giving the conference all three military academies, which brings two more national brands. They can both follow the Navy model and compete in football only in the AAC. Also, the AAC should bring in BYU and Boise State for football only. BYU already has a home for its other sports, and Boise could “dump” its other sports in the WCC with BYU. Two more national brands that TV would be interested in showing. That makes them the only FBS level conference with 16 football members. It adds TV appeal with the additional name brands and though no one will ever confuse their contract with any other P5 TV contract, it would definitely improve their per-school haul in terms of TV dollars.
Sixth, create an online TV network like the WWE online network where they can dump all their other sports that networks are not interested in and charge $5-$10 bucks a month to subscribe. That would create additional revenue for their schools. As many states and schools as they would have in their footprint, including associate members like Florida and Vanderbilt that house women’s lacrosse, they would get a lot of subscribers of those schools just based on volume alone. Not every fan of those schools would subscribe, but a good portion would.
Seventh, continue to make brash claims and push the bravado of being a Power 6 conference. Maybe no one will ever believe it, but look how much publicity UCF generated by claiming a title. 3-4 years ago they went winless on the year. Now people actually talk about whether they deserve to be in the playoff or not. It builds the brand.
And eighth, when a school fires a coach, they need to take chances on big name (sometimes controversial) coaches with big personalities that draw attention to their conference. UCF did this with George O’Leary. Bobby Petrino would be a name that comes to mind. Rich Rodriguez. Get name brand coaches that maybe aren’t the most successful in stints with P5 schools, but generate discussion in the media. As the old “double entendre” expression goes, “No publicity is bad publicity.”
By taking these steps, it may not put them on equal footing with P5 conferences, but it will certainly increase their profile and will put them closer to the P5 and further away from the G5.
I appreciate what they are trying to do with the whole power 6 thing, and I think they realize no one takes them serious, kind of the same with UCF and their claimed national title - though I think their fans believe they were really national champions.
The AAC knows their claims are more to drum up the publicity than for anyone to actually take them serious.
They just signed a new TV deal that pays them significantly less than any P5 conference, but significantly more than any G5 conference, so I do believe they are viewed as a higher tier than the other G5 conferences by networks. And they have better brands for their level than any of the other G5 conferences, minus maybe Boise State in the MWC.
Which brings me to the point of this off-season topic...
What could the AAC do to improve their profile and national perception if they truly did/do believe they belong among the power conferences? I know winning big games is the easy answer, but Boise has had big wins in high profile games over the years and no P5 conference is interested in them.
I think they need to think outside the box, be different in their approach,maybe continue with the pseudo-controversial claims to generate conversation. Get creative with the rules.
Some ideas...
First, since there has been a push for conference autonomy in how the individuals conferences govern themselves, the AAC should allow student athletes from any conference OTHER THAN the AAC to transfer into an AAC school and be eligible to play right away and not have to sit. That would give them some better talent from P5 athletes that want to transfer and not sit.
Second, give all AAC student athletes 5 years to play a full 5 years instead of the 5 years to play 4 years and 4 games.
Third, football players that declare for the draft, but go undrafted can return to school if they do not sign with an agent much like the NBA does. They would also take players from other schools that declare, go undrafted, do not sign with an agent, and would like to then transfer into an AAC school to finish their college career. Again, this brings in talented players that AAC schools might other not be able to recruit straight from high school.
Fourth, do away with divisions except for scheduling purposes during the regular season, and allow the top 2 teams in football each season to face off in the conference championship like the Big 12 does. This still might not ever be enough to garner a spot in the 4-team playoff, but if the playoff expands to 8 like is speculated, and there are two quality teams in the AAC ranked reasonably high that then face each other for the championship, it could theoretically give the AAC a better shot at putting a team in an expanded playoff field.
Fifth, they need to increase the brands they offer for television to try and increase TV contract revenue. Right now the AAC has 12 football members and 12 basketball members, though Navy is a football only member and Wichita State is a member in everything but football. The AAC should bring in Army and Air Force, giving the conference all three military academies, which brings two more national brands. They can both follow the Navy model and compete in football only in the AAC. Also, the AAC should bring in BYU and Boise State for football only. BYU already has a home for its other sports, and Boise could “dump” its other sports in the WCC with BYU. Two more national brands that TV would be interested in showing. That makes them the only FBS level conference with 16 football members. It adds TV appeal with the additional name brands and though no one will ever confuse their contract with any other P5 TV contract, it would definitely improve their per-school haul in terms of TV dollars.
Sixth, create an online TV network like the WWE online network where they can dump all their other sports that networks are not interested in and charge $5-$10 bucks a month to subscribe. That would create additional revenue for their schools. As many states and schools as they would have in their footprint, including associate members like Florida and Vanderbilt that house women’s lacrosse, they would get a lot of subscribers of those schools just based on volume alone. Not every fan of those schools would subscribe, but a good portion would.
Seventh, continue to make brash claims and push the bravado of being a Power 6 conference. Maybe no one will ever believe it, but look how much publicity UCF generated by claiming a title. 3-4 years ago they went winless on the year. Now people actually talk about whether they deserve to be in the playoff or not. It builds the brand.
And eighth, when a school fires a coach, they need to take chances on big name (sometimes controversial) coaches with big personalities that draw attention to their conference. UCF did this with George O’Leary. Bobby Petrino would be a name that comes to mind. Rich Rodriguez. Get name brand coaches that maybe aren’t the most successful in stints with P5 schools, but generate discussion in the media. As the old “double entendre” expression goes, “No publicity is bad publicity.”
By taking these steps, it may not put them on equal footing with P5 conferences, but it will certainly increase their profile and will put them closer to the P5 and further away from the G5.
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