AAC

[kfan12]

I'm not a subscriber of the "don't play P5 teams" notion. One thing is certain, we will never achieve anything we don't attempt. While we have seen a dip in performance the last three years and the LSU beatdown is right in our rear view mirror. I don't believe we should settle for mediocre as a goal, even if that is better than what we are now. No guts, no glory. Is that what we want our academy to embrace of the fields of friendly strife?

[neumanna1]

I’m a season ticket holder, but a relatively recent one (since 2017) and since I’m not an alum, and never served, I’ve always felt a little reticent to post here, but I do follow the board. I think joining a conference is definitely a mixed bag for Army, but I wish the detractors would at least concede the reality of the current NCAA climate. I hear people complaining that we’ll be playing against teams like Tulsa and Charlotte every year, but does our current home schedule tend to excite many people? Boston College is a name, no doubt, and I know we have Syracuse on the schedule in future years, but 4 of our 6 six home games this year are Delaware St. (FCS), UMass, Holy Cross (FCS), and Coastal Carolina. Last year’s home games included 2 FCS schools, and the likes of Louisiana-Monroe, and Georgia State. It’s not that some of these schools never have good years, but to act like it’s a major step down from them to AAC teams in terms of prominence and name recognition doesn’t seem to ring true to me. We saw the potential downside of playing 2 FCS teams last year when they came up a win short of bowl eligibility.

There’s 4 independents this year, and I would argue UMass and UConn don’t actually want to be independents, they just don’t have much of a choice. UMass has to be at least somewhat considering dropping back down to FCS. So that leaves Army and Notre Dame in the “voluntarily independent” category at the moment. If Army is able to keep their CBS Sports Network deal for home games (which Navy has done) then that maintains one of the key benefits they had while being an Independent. And as for the whole “what if Army and Navy play in the AAC Championship” thing, I would suggest we wait and see if that ever comes close to happening before worrying about it.

Definitely some possible drawbacks, there’s no denying that. But I really don’t think the decision was made in a vacuum, because the AAC is such a swell conference. I think it was made within the greater context of what the NCAA may look like a few years from now, and the possibility of the only two scheduling options being even more FCS games, or being sent down to places like Texas and LSU so they can have Military Appreciation Day, and beat Army by 40 (or 62).

[wpgrad]

I'm not a subscriber of the "don't play P5 teams" notion. One thing is certain, we will never achieve anything we don't attempt. While we have seen a dip in performance the last three years and the LSU beatdown is right in our rear view mirror. I don't believe we should settle for mediocre as a goal, even if that is better than what we are now. No guts, no glory. Is that what we want our academy to embrace of the fields of friendly strife?

Does that idea only count for football? If not, then we should dump the patriot league immediately so we can embrace the competitive fields of friendly strife in all sports.

[kfan12]

I'm not a subscriber of the "don't play P5 teams" notion. One thing is certain, we will never achieve anything we don't attempt. While we have seen a dip in performance the last three years and the LSU beatdown is right in our rear view mirror. I don't believe we should settle for mediocre as a goal, even if that is better than what we are now. No guts, no glory. Is that what we want our academy to embrace of the fields of friendly strife?

Does that idea only count for football? If not, then we should dump the patriot league immediately so we can embrace the competitive fields of friendly strife in all sports.

I'm not saying we should try to schedule a bunch of P5 games, but having one, even two, a year is something we shouldn't shy away from. And If I recall correctly, we've played Duke, Florida and South Carolina in basketball within the past couple of years, which is about the same as football scheduling P5 football teams

[Coach MC]

Football and basketball are very different entities. I have been involved in coaching basketball at the D1 level for a low major school in a one bid league. Scheduling up is necessary as strength of schedule is a key component of choosing teams for postseason play. Not just NCAA, but NIT (regular season conference champs do get automatic bid), CBI, CIT, etc. Some of these are pay to play, buy the concept remains.

My issue is with playing top 25 level teams and the toll it takes. Forget the outcome of that particular game, are there residual effects for the next few weeks? And every single one of those games will be on the road. Also, there will probably not be any breather games on the schedule for recovery once we get into conference play.

Of course a primary goal is the CIC trophy, but I'm spoiled now. I want a bowl game in some warm weather climate! I've had decades of losing records, and am enjoying the fairly recent success we have enjoyed. I'll take the P5 rivalry game like BC, Syracuse, Wake Forest, and Duke but you can keep the LSU's of the world. A 7-5 or better record, a shot at the CIC trophy, and a bowl game is my idea of an enjoyable year.

[WrekDivr]

I’m a bit surprised at how fast this is happening. We’ll play in The AAC next year. They must have worked through the issue of teams Army had scheduled for future seasons.

[BlackKnight09]

I’m a bit surprised at how fast this is happening. We’ll play in The AAC next year. They must have worked through the issue of teams Army had scheduled for future seasons.

Me too. Was really hoping to go to the UNLV game next season. Never been to Vegas somehow!

[PrideandDream]

So I think being in a conference is the only way for teams to try to stay relevant. I don't love the AAC but not sure we have that many options. We won't get a P5 slot. I generally hate the independent scheduling due to the horrid home schedules it has presented though I understand the flexibility part.

Bottom line though is that everything is a money grab and independents just don't have any collective leverage. Is it that much better in the AAC? Probably not. But I just think we are at a point where options are getting slim and the days of independents will be over once Notre Dame gets squeezed into one. And that is still just a matter of time.

Worst part of this is we are doing so at a time where we look awful. Totally reminds me of our Conf USA move where Sutton had passed his peak then we wound up in conf with Todd Berry and his offense. Good lord.

PD

[RABBLE]

I am of the opinion that we would have no trouble scheduling good teams in the future. I do believe that is not a team in the country that would not love to play Army basically for patriotic reasons for one thing.
Even LSU treated us very well. They even went as far as to camuflage their own end zones for us. A great touch.
The idea of not being able to schedule games is bogus.
WP , like all schools, are simply want a money grab and nothing more. As for the fans, we are only there to augment the TV deals for crowd noise, plus full seats look good on TV.
So what do the fans do? Don't show up, make the place look bad, sponsors won't pay because the excitement will drop and thus the TV deals will also drop. To bring back the fans, schools will lower prices, have smaller teams and the fans will return.
Its the long established rule, The Law od Diminishing Returns.

In the meantime, nothing will change until these cats start to lose the thickness of their wallets.

[PrideandDream]

Here's part of the issue:

Big 10 going to 18 teams
ACC going to 17 teams
SEC going to 16 teams
Big 12 going to 16 teams

So as the P5 conferences get bigger they are going to demand more conference games and less likely to schedule an out of conference game with a team like a Service Academy that could beat you.

It's a little better with the other conferences the MAC, AAC, Conf USA, Sun Belt, and Mountain West but they all have to play conference games too. But the smallest of those is Conf USA with 10 and even the Sun Belt has 14. So those Conferences are going to want interconfertnce play as well. And with future realignments these could get bigger because they are all working to get better TV deals and Name Brand Schools.

I know we could still get schedules together. But I think the P5 opponents will get harder and harder. And I don't mean LSU I mean a lot of the middle to lower tier schools we might like to play every now and then like BC or Wake or Duke or Baylor or Rutgers. Not that the AAC teams are anything to write home about but at least it secures opponents but more importantly allows us to collectively benefit from the conference and its ability to negotiate. Not sure there is a better G5 conference for us. I like the Sun Belt from a competitive stand point but it doesn't have the same broad exposure of the AAC particularly Texas.

Anyway, I don't know that this is a good move or not. Just putting some things out there. Frankly I think it's just a matter of time until FBS splits off the top 70-80 marquee teams and has it's own division and 32 team play off. And I think we are past the point of no return. We will get left out with everyone else and be relegated to a lower tier. And that will be bad for everyone. Hopefully I'm wrong but it gives me plenty to worry about.