SET TO MAKE A POWER GRAB
CONFERENCE ISN’T SHY ON ITS DESIRE TO JOIN COLLEGE GAME’S RULING CLASS
In his 23-minute stateof-the-league address at the American Athletic Conference football kickoff this summer, commissioner Mike Aresco said “Power Six” or “P6” 16 times.
While it’s unlikely the AAC will join the five major conferences any time soon, Aresco is making a push for the monikers to become a part of college football’s vocabulary.
As part of the league’s rebranding, the P6 logo was splashed on everything from football helmets to golf balls. And nothing’s official these days without a hashtag: #AMERICANPOW6R.
“This is a critical period for the American Athletic Conference,” Aresco said.
Even so, it’s much calmer than this time a year ago, when the AAC was preparing for a possible raid by the Big 12. Several AAC schools, including the University of Houston, were considered prime expansion candidates. But after three months of speculation, the Big 12 decided to stand pat.
Shortly after, the AAC began the P6 campaign, unveiling a strategic plan with hopes of putting it on par with the socalled Power Five conferences: the SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and Big 12.
Along with the new branding, the AAC’s plan calls for a 70 to 80 percent increase in attendance at football stadiums and basketball arenas, a graduation rate of at least 90 percent, and a more lucrative TV deal.
“We want to be accepted eventually as an autonomy Power Six conference because we believe we are already a Power Six conference,” Aresco said.
Aresco pointed to the AAC’s success against the other major conferences and Notre Dame, which includes 19 wins in the past two seasons. That includes Houston’s wins over Florida State in the Peach Bowl and Oklahoma and Louisville last year.
“A Power Six résumé indeed,” Aresco said of the AAC.
Revenues lacking
But while the AAC has been able to hang on the football field, it lags considerably in revenue compared to the Power Five conferences. Those leagues have billiondollar media rights deals while the AAC’s current deal with ESPN (which runs out in 2020) reportedly has close to a $2 million annual payout per school.
“We currently lack the financial resources of many of the other P6 universities, but we’ll get there,” Aresco said. “We have the will, and … the ability.”
That begins with the AAC’s being in position to again challenge for the New Year’s Six bowl spot reserved for the highest-rated representative from the Group of Five that also includes the Mountain West, Conference USA, MidAmerican and Sun Belt.
West in play
South Florida, which finished last season ranked No. 19 and returns quarterback Quinton Flowers, is the heavy favorite in the AAC preseason poll. While the Bulls are not expected to receive much of a challenge in the East, the West division is again wide open, with Memphis, Houston, Navy and Tulsa expected to contend.
Memphis’ explosive offense returns nine starters, including quarterback Riley Ferguson. UH will have a new quarterback in Kyle Allen and feature All-American Ed Oliver, who is considered one of the top defensive players in the nation. Defending West champion Navy has been a factor the past two seasons and always causes problems with its triple-option offense. Tulsa, which improved from 6-7 to 10-3 in coach Phillip Montgomery’s second season, must sort out its QB situation.
First-year USF coach Charlie Strong — who was fired after three losing seasons at Texas — knows that as far as a national championship is concerned, the margin for error is slim.
“You hear it sometimes, ‘Well, a team can lose two games, and they’ll be in the conversation,’ ” Strong said at AAC media days. “If we have one loss in this conference, we’re not in the conversation.”
Along with competing on the field, the AAC has also had to deal with the loss of several high-profile coaches. Tom Herman (Texas), Matt Rhule (Baylor) and Willie Taggart (Oregon) all left for Power Five schools in the offseason.
The AAC will have five new head coaches this season: Strong, Major Applewhite (UH), Luke Fickell (Cincinnati), Geoff Collins (Temple) and Randy Edsall (Connecticut).