BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

According to this database, the category known as "facilities and equipment" references "debt service," which I believe covers all principal and interest paid during the fiscal year in question. So you won't see the full cost of a facility in one year.
In the CU example, they reported about $8 million in the facilities and equipment category in FY 2005 and nearly $25 million in 2019.

 

What a cool database. Thank you. And I think you are right about the treatment of facility costs.

 

Damn. UAB just thought it was changing conferences.

 

So Conference USA becomes the new AAC ?
Thamel, I think, made a good point about protecting its basketball program's legitimacy by moving to the A-10. Sounds like a good idea, but football rules everything, and that's going to end up crushing a lot of decent hoops programs.

 

It's still a better conference, more money, ESPN instead of Stadium/Facebook, and no more Judy McLeod as commish. Basketball is an upgrade overall, if only by dumping a lot of deadwood at the bottom of the conference. Should still be a multi bid hoops conference.

The AAC board is in meltdown saying everything you'd expect, but first off I don't think that the invitation list gets leaked if all the ducks were not in a row for both sides, including pre-approval by the conference presidents. Second, look for the new AAC schools to get a lower payout for a couple of years as a sop to the pre-existing schools. They've gone for the market/growth model instead of the best programs as things stand, taking Charlotte, FAU, and UTSA. North Texas kind of puzzles me, but I think that the AAC grabbed the best of the Texas schools as a wall against the MWC. They're willing to let UTEP go. I don't think that this deal gets made this way if they didn't already know the new ESPN TV dollar number and accept it.

It gets less puzzling if you look at the money though. The bigger budgets in C-USA got invited, with the exception of ODU. Aresco looks at the growth of UCF as a success, and he's looking to grow several of the newcomers in the same way. While the SMU/Tulane/Tulsa fans are throwing a hissyfit, where else are they going to go? Independent? Risky. There are only so many more spots for the B-12 to fill, and I think that list starts with Memphis and Boise already, so SMU, USF, and whoever else will be fighting with a couple of MWC schools for those.

AAC shapes up something like this:

West?
UTSA
UNT
Rice
Tulsa
SMU
Memphis
Tulane

East?
UAB
FAU
Charlotte
ECU
Temple
USF
Navy


Pretty weak additions from a basketball perspective, although trust me, getting away from FIU and the like still helps.

KenPom:

#71 UAB
#135 North Texas
#144 Rice
#194 FAU
#201 Charlotte
#237 UTSA

NET 2020-2021:

#55 North Texas
#83 UAB
#161 UTSA
#178 FAU
#181 Rice
#231 Charlotte

and then weird invites overall from a football perspective.

Massey:

#32 UTSA
#52 UAB
#84 FAU
#96 Charlotte
#114 Rice
#124 North Texas

 

AAC eyeing 6 Conference USA schools for expansion: Sources


Why these 6 schools?
Vannini: From the beginning, UAB was considered a top candidate, and there was a clear consensus from the AAC on that school. It’s in the strongest college football market in the country, the Blazers have won two of the last three C-USA football championships, and there’s a major investment in the program: a new stadium, a new operations building and a $1.5 million salary for head coach Bill Clark.

Charlotte, UTSA, North Texas and Rice are largely market and investment plays, located in major cities. Again, the AAC would like to further establish itself in Texas after losing Houston. It’s a major recruiting area and the home of the conference headquarters. The move would also keep the Mountain West from getting into those Dallas, San Antonio and Houston markets.

While UTSA is 7-0 and ranked in the Top 25 this year, none of these four schools have much success in their football history, either long (Rice) or short (Charlotte and UTSA). North Texas has a new indoor practice field and the highest coaching salary in C-USA, paying Seth Littrell $1.9 million, so there is money and investment, though Littrell’s tenure may come to an end soon due to struggling on the field. UTSA recently opened a $41 million athletics building.

Rice is also appealing because of its academics, one of the best non-Ivy League schools in the country with an endowment of more than $6 billion, dwarfing everyone else in the G5. Rice also feels it shares a similar school profile to the AAC’s private schools like Tulane, SMU and Tulsa. In particular, Rice and SMU have a long history together dating back to the Southwest Conference.

FAU is a Florida play for the AAC after losing UCF. It’s another strong recruiting state the AAC wants to keep using. There’s investment in the program here as well, as FAU recently opened a $40 million athletics building last year, and its stadium was built in 2011.

 

I just hope that Memphis stays put long enough for us to win The Bones back from them before they jump. A hundred pound bronze rack of ribs is a cool trophy.

 

I guess the North Texas move means SMU no longer has veto power.

The AAC wants UNT not because it expands their footprint in the Metroplex (SMU provides that already), but because it has huge upside. UNT is a huge school (39,000 enrollment) with a colossal but largely untapped alumni base in a DFW football talent hotbed, and the university has committed to growing the athletic program, especially football.

 

Man some of those schools are rough though. FAU and UTSA play in community college gyms. Rice football is like a rich dowager with dementia living in the ruins of a once-grand palace that reeks of cat shit.

 

Leaves UTEP on the outside looking in at the rest of their Texas bretheren. Do I see their animosity toward the Mountain West ebbing?