Aresco thinks AAC should be in ‘Power 6’

NEWPORT, R.I. » It was the latest sales pitch from the commissioner of the American Athletic Conference.

During his opening remarks Tuesday at the league’s football media day, Mike Aresco cited two New Year’s Day bowl wins and 19 victories over the past two years against teams from the Power Five conferences, including Notre Dame, as proof that the AAC deserves more respect. He highlighted the league’s history of producing NFL talent — in fact, 15 players were selected in April’s draft — and bragged about generating strong television ratings.

“This a critical period for the American Athletic Conference, and we approach it with optimism and confidence,” Aresco told members of the media at Gurney’s Newport Resort and Marina. “The conference is clearly on the cusp of great things.”

Aresco wants the AAC to be mentioned in the same breath as the Power Five conferences — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — and has remained steadfast in his quest.

“We want to be accepted eventually as an autonomy Power-Six conference because we believe we already are a Power-Six conference,” he said. “Correspondingly, we want and need a TV/media deal that recognizes what we have achieved and affords us the resources to continue to build the conference and compete successfully.”

Aresco recently unveiled a detailed plan that he hopes can improve the league’s stock. It called for an increase in attendance of 70 percent and 80 percent capacity at football and basketball games, and achievement of graduation rates of at least 90 percent.

The AAC’s push to join the big-boy table of college sports continues during a time of transition for the league. Five new head coaches — Randy Edsall at UConn, Charlie Strong at South Florida, Major Applewhite at Houston, Luke Fickell at Cincinnati and Geoff Collins at Temple — will be front and center this season. Few know what life is like at the Power Five level better than Strong, who was fired after three losing seasons at Texas (1621 record).

South Florida, which finished last season ranked No. 19 in the country, returns 18 starters, including quarterback Quinton Flowers, and is tabbed as the overwhelming favorite in the AAC preseason poll. But the Bulls won’t have the same margin of error as a Power Five school.