Congrats!!! What an exciting day it must be to be a UCF fan. From D3 to the BIG12, what an accomplishment. And even better, it was earned on the field (obviously the Orlando market and giant enrollment don’t hurt either).

Enjoy the promise land, this App fan will be cheering for you.

ah59396 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 11:55 pm

Congrats!!! What an exciting day it must be to be a UCF fan. From D3 to the BIG12, what an accomplishment. And even better, it was earned on the field (obviously the Orlando market and giant enrollment don’t hurt either).

Enjoy the promise land, this App fan will be cheering for you.

Absolutely. UCF maximized all their natural advantages and no one can say they didn’t earn an invite on merit.
Guess it’ll now be harder to get a H/H with them but maybe we’ll see them on the schedule sometime.

Appreciate the support from a great fan base like App's! It's a crazy exciting time I still can't fully believe. Hopefully this new Big 12 fares better than the old Big East but the call-up is still a great opportunity.

Wishing the best for App going forward as well. Not sure if that means a rebuilt AAC or continuing to strengthen a SBC that's been on the rise.

In this current expand or bust or die environment it seems the ACC was asleep at the wheel on getting UCF with everything it can offer a top conference. Now they are sleeping on The pseudo Mountaineers of West Virginia.

citroknight wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 09, 2021 7:04 am

Appreciate the support from a great fan base like App's! It's a crazy exciting time I still can't fully believe. Hopefully this new Big 12 fares better than the old Big East but the call-up is still a great opportunity.

Wishing the best for App going forward as well. Not sure if that means a rebuilt AAC or continuing to strengthen a SBC that's been on the rise.

So I have a question for you. With the departure of Cincy, UCF and Houston, do you think that the AAC is a more attractive conference than the SBC? From a competition standpoint, and if UCF were looking to join either, which one looks better to you?

AppSt94 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 09, 2021 7:37 am

citroknight wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 09, 2021 7:04 am

Appreciate the support from a great fan base like App's! It's a crazy exciting time I still can't fully believe. Hopefully this new Big 12 fares better than the old Big East but the call-up is still a great opportunity.

Wishing the best for App going forward as well. Not sure if that means a rebuilt AAC or continuing to strengthen a SBC that's been on the rise.

So I have a question for you. With the departure of Cincy, UCF and Houston, do you think that the AAC is a more attractive conference than the SBC? From a competition standpoint, and if UCF were looking to join either, which one looks better to you?

Tough question but pretty much the same one UCF had to answer when considering a Big 12 that lost its 2 marquee programs vs staying in the AAC.

To me it boiled down to a few things I'll list below in no particular order:

1. The money for the bigger name conference will drop compared to before, but it could potentially still be higher than staying the current conference.

2. The brand name and bowl agreements for the bigger name conference are stronger. Bowl lineup could always change but at least through the duration of existing contracts, going to the new conference means an upgrade.

3. Not looking at it solely through the lense of the teams that were left behind (the Big 12 8 and now the AAC 8) but almost framing it as those 8 plus the best candidates vs the best candidates and their existing conference mates. If I framed it as both left behind 8s as the weakest, I'd rather my weakest teams be OK State, TCU, WVU, etc. Instead of Tulsa, Tulane, ECU.

4. Not getting left behind. If the option is enticing enough for other top tier teams of your existing conference, you take it with them because if you don't go, someone else will. Which makes me feel for Memphis because they did the work and now are the class of a depleted AAC.

With all that said, I think it's not a slam dunk but it can be a better conference than the SB. It really hinges on the AAC making the right adds. Something like App, UAB, Louisiana, and FAU or Marshall. This way you'd feel good about other strong brands coming with you and also kneecap the conferences below you a bit in order to create separation. The Big 12 was able to kneecap the AAC from catching or passing it by taking the Big 3 from it.