AAC Basketball: What does league do in wake of UConn’s exit?

Western Kentucky

WKU has a great basketball tradition, decent enough facilities, and the best mascot in college basketball, but I don’t think they would bring enough to the conference to warrant an invitation. Bowling Green would become maybe the lowest-profile city in the league, football attendance isn’t great, and despite names like Charles Bassey and Taveion Hollingsworth, Rick Stansbury hasn’t yet put a winner on the court.

Marshall

I’m surprised to see Marshall’s name come up as much as it does. Another small market and small town, a school with almost zero basketball tradition, an athletics budget that would be dwarfed by the next smallest in the conference. I have plenty of respect for Marshall, but I think they’re better off competing in C-USA for now.

Massachusetts

I was always intrigued by the idea of UMass, a major New England flagship with a history of basketball success and valuable presence in Boston. Combining them with UConn, and maybe even URI to secure every lower New England flagship, was an interesting thought experiment.

Contrary to what a lot of fans in Amherst seem to believe right now, that a place should be set for UMass at the AAC table with the loss of a similar-profile school only ninety miles away, UConn’s absence makes UMass’s membership significantly less likely. And without a major commitment from the athletic department regarding their football facility, they probably weren’t a serious candidate either way. McGuirk is one of the least FBS-suitable stadiums in college football’s top subdivision.

Westward expansion

I’ve always thought this was a bad idea, from the time the AAC first targeted some Mountain West schools when the conference was founded. The American is already one of, if not the most geographically spread conference in college sports. Going west would further dilute the conference’s cultural identity, expand what I can only assume are already monumental travel costs, and all for schools that may or may not be competitive in either revenue sport. Schools like San Diego State, Brigham Young, UNLV and Boise State might have decent resumés if distance wasn’t a factor, but none of them are enough of a slam-dunk to warrant an exception.

Add multiple schools

AAC expansion has always been a popular topic for a reason. The patchwork conference has had a hard time forming a cohesive identity, building a strong culture, and has twelve members in every sport, a number shy of most power conferences that they’re trying to catch up with. With UConn leaving, maybe the conference decides to scoop up three new schools instead of one.

This will be an attractive idea to a lot of fans, but I think the dent in the revenue created by a massive expansion project like that would likely mean it would have little support from school presidents and athletic directors. Just about any addition, aside from perhaps VCU on the basketball side, would carry some sort of sizable risk for the conference.

Gambling with three new conference members probably isn’t the prudent thing to do right now, especially considering these candidates have little chance to be snatched by a power conference in the coming years. They’ll all probably be available when the next wave of realignment gets underway.