With all of the talk on here about moving to another more prestigious conference like the AAC and with the general coaching move speculations, real time moves (Drink) to mid to lower tier conference schools (for more moolah)...and with the debates about who is good and who stinks in the G5 and P5...and with the ongoing debate of who (theoretically) App would or could have beaten this year I ask. Would you or could you see a conference situation where the norm for us is 8-4, a shot at a conference title some years and a decent bowl game? I ask because I read about what seems like crappy P5 teams making crazy coaching moves only to go 7-5 or 8-4 at best due to the difficulty of conference games (like Missouri and now Mississippi State). I am sure that the realistic fans of those schools are not all up in arms with 8-4 finishes and are not delusional to think that they can slug it out with the conference powerhouses. We are being absolutely spoiled rotten at App with our 10+ win seasons, conference titles and the run of no bowl losses. The question about how would we feel when we inevitably do lose a bowl game so I ask, is there a situation that exists where we could handle seasons of 6-6 (down year) to 8-4 (more of a norm)? Unless the bottom falls out it is hard to envision terrible Sunbelt seasons but a move to a more difficult conference could change things.

We would have more money and thus recruit a larger area, have more money for coaches, etc in the AAC so I don't think we struggle if moving up. We would see more good players consider us. It is the same as now. Many thought we would go to the SBC and struggle but if you have an AD with vision and you do a good job of evaluating and recruiting the team will only get better with more resources.

AAC would have tougher competition so I'd be fine with it....as long as it wasn't 4-8. Better conference, better recruits , better payouts and better exposure would help out.

If we averaged going 8-4 in the AAC over an extended period of years, yes, I would be happy. That sounds like a recipe for us to almost always be at the top of our division and one would assume that some of those seasons would turn into 11-1 or 10-2 seasons where we are legitimately fighting for a New Years 6 spot.

I highly doubt we ever get an invite to the AAC

InFor6More wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 03, 2020 3:23 pm

If we averaged going 8-4 in the AAC over an extended period of years, yes, I would be happy. That sounds like a recipe for us to almost always be at the top of our division and one would assume that some of those seasons would turn into 11-1 or 10-2 seasons where we are legitimately fighting for a New Years 6 spot.

This sounds reasonable. If the ceiling is 8-4, then no, I wouldn't like that. But if we're talking a (hopefully rare) floor of 6 or 7 wins and a (hopefully more common) ceiling of 10-11 wins or so, with some 8 and 9 win seasons mixed in, then yeah, that sounds pretty good.

Temple went 8-4 in the AAC this year.
They got smashed by UNC in the Military Bowl. They will finish the season outside the Top 25.

I would not be happy with the season Temple just had.

8-4 in a P5, ok. We should expect 9-10 wins in a defense free AAC.

SayYesToTheRock wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 03, 2020 3:41 pm

Temple went 8-4 in the AAC this year.
They got smashed by UNC in the Military Bowl. They will finish the season outside the Top 25.

I would not be happy with the season Temple just had.

Very valid points. However, Temple is no App State when it comes to football.

With a move to the AAC, I believe we would become relatively better coinciding with the change in conference in quality. Teams wouldn’t be striving to be the Boise State, the UCF, the Houston, the Cincinnati of the G5. They would be striving to be the App State of the G5.

With the talent we've had the last few years, and next year, I think we would be a 10+ game winner in the AAC. With the more money exposure, better bowls, I'd take my chances for a better conference. We have a history of doing football right since the Working days - over 35 years, no reason to think we'd derail by moving to better competition each week, but rise to the challenge.

We are feeding into the AAC is P6 from their commissioner with this thread. I have seen very little in the bowl games this year that makes me think AAC is that much better than we are. I say we still go 11-1, at worst 10-2 in the AAC this yea.

8-4 in the AAC would get us a bowl game against a good opponent. 12-1 got us the runner up of CUSA. We have to be undefeated every year for a possibility at the cotton bowl, otherwise the best we can hope for is the NO bowl against the CUSA 2nd place.
I would trade a couple wins every year for a better bowl and more money

it'd take us 6 months in the AAC to start this same thread about the SEC. Greener grass. But I guess I'm OK with that.

To the topic. No, I'm not satisfied with no stinking 8-4. We should be 13-1 in the AAC.

I’d be ok with 8-4...once every 10 years maybe

mike87 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 03, 2020 4:51 pm

it'd take us 6 months in the AAC to start this same thread about the SEC. Greener grass. But I guess I'm OK with that.

To the topic. No, I'm not satisfied with no stinking 8-4. We should be 13-1 in the AAC.

Nothing wrong with wanting better.

I am not blown away by the AAC's bowl tie ins.

Here are the AAC's tie-ins (with their last 3 opponents)

• Birmingham Bowl vs. BC, Wake, Texas Tech

• Military Bowl vs. UNC, VT, UVA

• Gasparillia Bowl vs. Marshall, Marshall, FIU

• Boca Raton Bowl vs. FAU, UAB, FAU

• Cure Bowl vs. Georgia Southern, ULL, Georgia State

• Frisco Bowl vs. Louisiana Tech, Kent State

• Hawaii Bowl vs. BYU, Hawaii, Fresno State

So, the AAC's two "best" bowls are against 6-6 P5 teams. Not great. I'd rather be paired up against other 10+ win G5 champs.

This stuff is just silly. Let's hold out for that SEC invite.

AppStFan1 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 03, 2020 3:10 pm

We would have more money and thus recruit a larger area, have more money for coaches, etc in the AAC so I don't think we struggle if moving up. We would see more good players consider us. It is the same as now. Many thought we would go to the SBC and struggle but if you have an AD with vision and you do a good job of evaluating and recruiting the team will only get better with more resources.

How do you figure that we would have more money? The media payout for being in the AAC wouldn’t come close to covering the necessary increase neede to the overall athletic budget.

Based on the reaction a good number of people have had on this board to Satterfield’s slow start as HC, hiring of Ted Roof (aka giving up too many points in early games this past season), and the meltdown after back to back losses to The Stink; I would predict we can’t handle loosing more than a game or 2 a year in any conference. What if we lose to Wake Forest and Wisconsin next season? How much love would Coach Clark still get might be a better question.