As a guy who grew up with the Big East Conference, it has been nothing short of repugnant to see what realignment has done to the college sports landscape.
Schools such as Connecticut, Cincinnati, Central Florida and South Florida have poured millions of dollars into their athletic programs. And just when it seemed as if the door to financial stability had opened, it snapped shut like a jailhouse cell door.
After Pittsburgh and Syracuse bolted for the ACC — with Louisville to follow — the Big East’s “Catholic 7” bolted for hoops independence, leaving the above-mentioned schools (along with Houston, Memphis, SMU, Temple and, for this year, Louisville and Rutgers) to reconstitute and rename themselves the American Athletic Conference, perceived as nothing more than a glorified Conference USA.
Fair or not, that’s the perception. The first week of the first season of the AAC did nothing to change that perception.
The new league opened 4-5. Some of the losses were simply unacceptable, especially for a conference determined to prove it should be included in the conversation of power conferences.
That was the battle cry that went out this summer when the league held its annual media gathering in Newport, R.I.
“We will have a good chance to show our mettle,” commissioner Mike Aresco said in late July. “Our teams have very good strength of schedule, and that’s going to be an important component in the new college football playoff structure. We’ve already scheduled numerous non-conference games through 2020 against what are termed the ‘power five’ conferences.
“And we want to make that the ‘power six’ conferences.”
The AAC would have been best served by a national power outage over the weekend. Connecticut lost 33-18 at home to Towson, an FCS school that until Saturday had never beaten an FBS school. Towson is a resurgent FCS program, no doubt, but it did not even receive votes in the preseason FCS poll.
South Florida got shredded 53-21 at home by McNeese State, another unranked FCS team. SMU got dusted 41-23 by Texas Tech, a second-tier Big 12 team.
Of the five power conferences, only the Big 12 suffered two losses to FCS teams. Iowa State was edged 28-20 at home by Northern Iowa, an FCS power that was ranked 17th in the preseason poll. And Kansas State suffered a 24-21 home loss to North Dakota State, the No. 1-ranked FCS team.
Those are bad losses but they are not embarrassing ones. The AAC was exposed.
“I don’t see it that way,’’ Aresco said. “I said we were going to be competitive and I think we will be. Give us a couple of years before you judge us.’’
The AAC doesn’t have the luxury of time. It needs to make an impression this season. Cincinnati’s 42-7 rout of Purdue and Central Florida’s 38-7 triumph over Akron were nice, but wins like that won’t set the world on fire.
Before conference play begins, the AAC has a bunch of opportunities to make a statement. Cincinnati plays Illinois. Central Florida plays Penn State and South Carolina. Connecticut plays Michigan. Rutgers plays Arkansas.
“You’ve got to get your share of wins there if you’re going to get people to take notice,” UCF coach George O’Leary said. “That’s how I look at it.
“This is my third conference since I’ve been in [at UCF]. And I believe that’s what you need to do because that’s how other schools are looking at you — not within your conference but outside the conference, how you do.”
Winners
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who needed no validation. He is acknowledged as one of the best in the business, but his game plan in the Hokies’ 35-10 loss to Alabama was brilliant.
Knowing he didn’t have the size and depth in his front seven to knock heads with Bama, Foster used angles, overloads and lateral movement to baffle a Crimson Tide offensive line that broke in three new starters.
Tech held Bama to 96 yards rushing. In its SEC championship game win over Georgia, The Tide rolled for 350 yards on the ground.
* Rutgers coach Kyle Flood’s decision to go for two in overtime of a 52-51 loss at Fresno State. Took some guts and it didn’t pay off, but players love that kind of aggressive, confident decision-making and recruits take note.
Losers
Johnny Manziel. The Heisman Trophy winner narrowly escaped a serious NCAA penalty for allegedly receiving money to sign paraphernalia for autograph dealers. He received a ludicrous half-game suspension, which he served in the opener against Rice.
Once he took the field, he was terrific, throwing touchdown passes on three of his eight attempts. But he proved to be the Lindsay Lohan of the sport, yakking at Rice defenders, miming signing autographs and pointing at the scoreboard, which got him a taunting penalty.
Can’t remember the last time a college player of his status has been so universally despised. Wonder if his teammates are getting tired of their quarterback’s act and realize Manziel is putting them all in a no-win situation?
* The Atlanta Gateway Sheraton Hotel, which on the first weekend of the college football season, lost its ESPN and ESPN2 reception.
* TCU. Specifically, the Horned Frogs’ helmets — thought Red Stripe was Jamaican beer.