twothousandone said:
Will Memphis, Cincinnati and UConn all remain in the American conference? That's not such a bad basketball conference, if so. Temple certainly has history, if they can recapture it. Brutal travel, though.
Where else would they go, and what incentive do any other conferences have to add them?
Once the ACC settled things regarding revenue sharing and exit fees, it pretty much put a halt to realignment. All other conferences (certainly those that would be a step up from the current and projected AAC membership once all moves are completed in 2015) appear satisfied and stable well into the foreseeable future. They've reached accords with any power-wielding members that have their own TV networks (ex. B12 & TEX). They've renegotiated lucrative new TV deals with national networks. They've pretty much worked things out with cable/satellite providers regarding subscriber fees and regional exposure for their conference TV networks (BTN, SEC, P12, etc). They're all rapidly building out their online streaming. And the ripest realignment fruit was already picked off the tree during the seismic shift.
All three of those schools have significant issues in academics, market dynamics, geographic fit and/or football prowess, no matter how much their supporters and alumni might want to believe otherwise. And that's before we get into the politics within certain conferences (ex. BC urging the ACC to kill any UConn addition). If any of them were going to be invited to new conferences, it would have already happened. When the music finally stopped, the only available chairs were next to Houston, South Florida and SMU. Sucks, but them's the breaks.
As for the AAC not being a bad basketball conference, bear in mind Louisville & Rutgers are both departing this summer while Tulane, Tulsa & East Carolina join. That's not exactly a net gain. The AAC is, and will continue to be, the Island of Misfit Toys. I'm just not sure which member school is Charlie in the Box.
