Instead, the league raided C-USA for the second time in a decade. The conventional wisdom from industry sources was that the AAC would add UAB and one other program (maybe Army football or Charlotte), then look to add more in the coming years (maybe Air Force and Colorado State would come back into the fold later). Eight years after C-USA made the same future play, will it pay off for the AAC in the even-longer-term? Charlotte football is not even a decade old.Ĭonference USA was panned for its realignment decisions in the early 2010s that proved to be a bust. Same with UTSA and North Texas as the next Houston. There’s hope FAU could become what UCF did. FAU has also won two of the past four conference titles. North Texas, for example, pays head coach Seth Littrell $1.9 million and recently opened an indoor practice facility.īut UAB is the only one with a recent track record of consistent football success, winning two of the past three Conference USA titles and three consecutive division titles. All six schools have also made major investments in football recently through new facilities and/or coaching salaries. North Carolina is also an underrated place for football recruiting, and UAB brings Birmingham, the country’s most passionate college football city. A greater presence in Texas and Florida increases the AAC’s ability to recruit in those states. The six C-USA additions are generally located in major media markets, but they’re more about the recruiting markets and investments into football. Why did the AAC do this?Īfter commissioner Mike Aresco initially talked about adding two or four teams, the AAC instead will go even bigger, increasing to 14 football schools (and 14 in other sports without Navy but with Wichita State). MWC commissioner Craig Thompson always believed it made more sense for them to stay than leave, and they did in the end, though returning to conference meetings after such an open flirtation makes things awkward for a period of time.Īfter conversations with numerous officials throughout the Group of 5, here’s an update on why this happened and what could come next. The American’s decision to add the six Conference USA schools comes after interest in four Mountain West schools ( Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State) was largely rebuffed, though Air Force and CSU showed more interest than the other two.
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