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Innovation the Focus for New American Athletic Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti

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Newly appointed American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti has big dreams and aggressive goals for the conference’s future.

On Thursday, for only the second time in the history of the American Athletic Conference, a new commissioner was introduced. Tim Pernetti, a veteran in the college sports and media industry, offered his opening remarks to the assembled media, consummating a pivotal moment of change for a conference that has been a hallmark of consistency and endurance in its 11-year history to date.

Previously under the leadership of Mike Aresco, who was notably unafraid to challenge mainstream narratives, it became clear rather quickly the American Athletic Conference would maintain its unabashed boldness under its second-ever commissioner.

“The status quo I just don’t think is acceptable any longer,” Pernetti said, remarking about how much college athletics has changed since his days as an athlete and an athletic director. In his eyes, if conferences didn’t do all they could to get with the times, they were going to be left behind.

And to that end, not only was Pernetti emphatic about not falling behind, but he views the American Athletic Conference as an engine for change and leadership, a body that is both able to meet opportunities head-on and willing to swim in those uncertain waters.

From private equity, to sponsorship and naming rights, to further expansion of the College Football Playoff, Pernetti repeated multiple times a resounding refrain: “Nothing is off the table.”

“I do think there’s a window ahead of us to do some things differently,” he said. “And quite frankly, [to] resource this conference in a way where the members don’t need to leave.”

Pernetti touched on all sorts of hot-button issues facing the industry today. Rather than obfuscate, he asked questions. What do we want college athletics to look like in the future? Where does this conference fit into that bigger picture?

Through it all, Pernetti maintained one crystal-clear message. “We want this conference to be known as the most innovative conference in collegiate athletics,” he said. “Innovate is an overused word sometimes, but elevating the enterprise to do things differently, to take big swings and naturally, that’s going to require the same factors, grit, resiliency, taking some chances on some things.

“I’m convinced that the group that hired me into this job is ready to do that and I’m excited about that.”

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2024 AAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview

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The 2024 AAC Women’s Basketball Tournament is slated to tip off in Fort Worth, TX this week. Here’s a preview of the action.

The Favorite: Tulsa

Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford rank second and third in the AAC in scoring. No team in the league boasts a tandem as productive as this one has been for the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa has the longest active winning streak in league play, five games, and head-to-head wins over No. 2 Seed North Texas and No. 3 Seed Temple (Tulsa split the season series with Temple 1-1).

The Contenders: North Texas, Temple

North Texas might be the most consistent team in the league. They shoot the ball well and play solid defense almost every game. In total, that’s driven the Mean Green to the top scoring margin in the AAC, outscoring opponents by 11.2 points, which is more than double every team in the league outside of Temple.

As for Temple, the Owls rank second in the AAC in defense, allowing 62.7 points per game. Opponents are shooting just 29 percent from three against the Owls and below 40 percent from the floor. There’s a reason the league standings ended in a three-way tie at the top with these three good teams.

The Dark Horse: South Florida

Once picked as the preseason No. 1 team, South Florida got off to a slow start in league play and fell toward the rest of the pack in the standings. The talent is still there, albeit with some inconsistency in performance from game to game. The Bulls lead the conference in assist/turnover ratio. If they can play clean basketball and keep up their solid defense they could make some noise.

The Wild Card: Memphis

The Tigers were left for dead in mid-February, bottom dwellers in the standings with a 4-11 record. Then something clicked. They ended the season on a 5-1 run, knocking off East Carolina, Rice, Tulane, UTSA and UAB before falling to North Texas. They get a rematch with ECU in Fort Worth. One upset against Tulsa in the next round and their Cinderella dreams might not sound that farfetched.

The Bracket

The opening day of games will take place on Saturday, March 9, with the majority of the teams in action on Sunday, March 10. Here are the first two days of action. The full schedule is available on the conference website. All early-round games can be streamed on ESPN+, with the championship on ESPNU.

First Round | Saturday, March 9

Game 1: No. 13 Wichita State vs. No. 12 Florida Atlantic – 4 p.m. CT
Game 2: No. 14 Tulane vs. No. 11 SMU – 6 p.m. CT

Second Round | Sunday, March 10

Game 3: No. 9 East Carolina vs. No. 8 Memphis – 12 p.m. CT
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 South Florida – 2 p.m. CT
Game 5: No. 10 Rice vs. No. 7 UAB – 6 p.m. CT
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 Charlotte – 8 p.m. CT

https://twitter.com/American_Conf/status/1765556810608431384

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AAC Basketball 2024: Early-February Roundup

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AAC Basketball is in the middle of the conference slate. Here’s where each team stands in early February.

Team NET  KenPom Record
FAU 25 24 18-4 (8-1)
USF 106 114 15-5 (8-1)
Charlotte 95 103 14-7 (8-1)
SMU 46 47 15-7 (6-3)
UAB 131 136 14-8 (6-3)
UNT 82 82 12-9 (5-4)
Memphis 80 77 16-6 (5-4)
ECU 197 190 11-12 (4-6)
Tulane 115 112 13-9 (4-6)
Tulsa 180 171 12-9 (3-6)
Rice 211 196 9-13 (3-6)
UTSA 279 283 8-14 (2-7)
Temple 252 246 8-14 (1-8)
Wichita St 153 156 9-13 (1-8)
Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 2/4/2024

Key Storylines

Tight at the Top

Roughly at the halfway mark, three teams sit tied atop the AAC standings. FAU, the preseason favorite was expected to be there. South Florida (No. 9 preseason) and Charlotte (No. 11) were not. The surprises have made for an interesting race down the stretch with preseason No. 2 Memphis struggling this month with four consecutive conference losses. If you’re marking calendars, circle Feb. 6 (Charlotte at USF), Feb. 18 (FAU at USF) and Mar. 2 (USF at Charlotte).

Memphis Free Fall

Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers are firmly in the danger zone when it comes to their postseason hopes. If they want to make the NCAA Tournament without an automatic berth, they more or less have to be flawless for the remainder of the regular season. Even then, that might not be enough.

Flip flopped

A lot has changed since early October. South Florida was picked to finish ninth in the league in the preseason. They entered this past weekend tied for first place. Sitting at 8-1 in conference play, they have absolutely proved some doubters wrong. On the other side of the ledger, Tulane is not living up to lofty preseason expectations. The Green Wave are 4-6 in league play despite being picked to finish third in the preseason.

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AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announces retirement

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On an otherwise quiet Thursday morning, AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announced his forthcoming retirement. He will be missed.

In today’s media landscape, few major announcements stay entirely under wraps. Half an hour until the American Athletic Conference office released perhaps it’s most significant statement of the past several seasons, there had been not even a hint of what was to come in the national media. Then, in a swift notice, AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announced his retirement.

Effective May 31, 2024, Aresco will retire from his position atop the AAC, a place he has resided for the past 11 years. To this day, Aresco is the only commissioner in league history, guiding the then Big East and helping it grow into the AAC we know today.

Aresco issued this statement along with the release:

“It has been the supreme privilege of my long career in sports to have had the opportunity to lead this great conference from its reinvention in 2013, and to represent its outstanding student-athletes, coaches and administrators. I am grateful to the Board of Directors for giving me this opportunity to serve. It would take many pages to list this conference’s numerous athletic and academic accomplishments. There have also been some disappointments and difficulties along the way, most notably, the P5-G5 divide, realignment, College Football Playoff access for our deserving teams, and some competitive heartbreak in big games. But these have not affected in any way my enthusiasm in leading this terrific and resilient conference or my optimism for its long-term future. I would like to thank everyone associated with this conference for their significant contributions, and also my friends and colleagues in the college community, for their goodwill and concern for the greater good of the collegiate enterprise.”

You can find the full release here and a roundup of what others in the world of college athletics and media broadcasting had to say about the news here.

On a personal note, although my interactions with Aresco were brief, I was always impressed by his unrelenting confidence and unwavering determination. In a world of haves and have-nots, he never let anyone else define his league. Instead, he brought the fight to their doorsteps, fearless reminding all onlookers his conference was capable and, most importantly, kept receipts.

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AAC Football: Early Transfer Portal Results

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The Transfer Portal opened this week and several AAC Football programs have already been significantly impacted. Here’s where things stand after a week of action.

The first wave of transfers has hit the portal, with some AAC Football programs largely unaffected and others facing massive headwinds to find replacements by the time the Early Signing Period opens on December 20. The following numbers have been taken from 247 Sports Transfer Portal tracker, updated as of Wednesday, December 6.

School Portal Entrants
ECU 21
North Texas 19
Tulsa 13
Charlotte 13
FAU 11
UAB 10
Temple 6
USF 5
SMU 4
UTSA 3
Memphis 3
Tulane 3
Rice 0
Navy 0

State of the AAC

It’s no surprise the programs with the most turnover are the ones that aren’t making any postseason appearances. Of the seven teams with the fewest transfers listed, six are playing in a bowl while the seventh (Navy) still has one regular season game remaining and comes with its own extenuating circumstances.

It’s worth noting Rice does have one player who has announced he’s entering the portal, but not one that likely played into their future: CB Jordan Dunbar who did not play this season.

More: AAC Football Bowl Roundup

North Texas and ECU lead the pack and have been absolutely gutted by outgoing transfers so far. ECU’s demise makes some sense, following a dreadful 2-10 season filled with disappointment and frustration. The exodus in Denton, TX is more puzzling. Eric Morris’ built an impressive offense in year one and had the team on the fringe of bowl eligibility. He won’t be starting from scratch in 2024, but losing so many key pieces certainly won’t help.

Names to Watch

More names could enter before the portal closes, but as of now there are a handful of AAC players that are likely to be coveted assets over the next few weeks:

UTSA DE Trey Moore – The reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year and arguably one of the premier pass rushers in all of college football, Moore is going to be at the top of the list for Power 5 programs across the country and should have his pick of final destinations.

North Texas QB Chandler Rodgers – Rodgers didn’t get any AAC postseason accolades, but that was probably more to blame on the copious amounts of quality QB play in the conference than Rodgers’ abilities. The quarterback transfer market is already brimming, but Rodgers proved this season he can be a starter somewhere.

Temple QB EJ Warner – Injuries and terrible offensive play around Warner kept onlookers from seeing his true ceiling this season. That might allow him to fly a bit under the radar, but any programs that dig a little deeper and assess his skillset should jump at the chance to add him to their QB rooms. He has multiple years of eligibility remaining.

Charlotte LB Nikhai Hill-Green – The No. 2 tackler on a 49ers defense that had plenty of opportunities, the 6–foot-2, 232-pound Hill-Green put plenty on tape this season to earn another shot as a starter elsewhere and should receiver plenty of interest.

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