AAC football: 5 programs that should replace UConn as newest member
By John Scimeca
The UConn Huskies are leaving AAC football after six seasons. Who should the conference add as its 12th member in the upcoming seasons?
UConn’s decision to bolt the AAC for the Big East is not a huge surprise. The football team, which will compete as an FBS Independent next fall, has consistently finished near the bottom of the AAC standings in all six years of the conference’s existence. In six seasons, the Huskies had 11 wins and 37 losses in conference play. Since 2013 overall, UConn has compiled an 18-55 record. The 2019 team is projected to be one of the worst of the 130 teams in Division I FBS.
The women’s basketball team absolutely dominated (going undefeated in conference play all six years) and the men’s squad has foundered as of late. With the move to the Big East, UConn can revive old rivalries against St. John’s, Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Villanova.
The Huskies are hastening their exit, even negotiating a higher buyout to pay to the ACC, in order to join the Big East by 2020.
What’s the AAC to do now, then? Here are a few solid candidates that the league should consider. The league has its brand to consider as one of the self-proclaimed “Power Six” conferences, being arguably the most competitive league of the Group of 5 bunch. The AAC also has a solid geographic footprint, ranging from Texas, to Florida, and to the East Coast.
Many have speculated about the candidacy of Army, BYU, and Boise State to be the AAC’s 12th member. Given that Army’s unique rivalry with Navy (and its unique time of the year) could be altered by being part of a conference title chase, the Black Knights seem unlikely. Boise State and BYU would incur massive travel costs to move multiple time zones for mundane conference matchups.
The AAC has many choices on how it chooses to expand. Here are the six best outside-the-box options in replacing UConn as the AAC’s 12th member: