It’s to be expected that in a recent ESPN interview with the head of the American Athletic Conference, the word “Navy” appears only once. After all, the league begins official operations in just a few days, and commissioner Mike Aresco has 10 current members to worry about. Navy won’t join until 2015, and even then, it’ll be a football-only member. It’s the context of that one mention of the Mids that might make Navy fans shake their heads. When Aresco proposed a few rivalry games that could become cornerstone events for the conference, he led off with South Florida and…
Browsing: Mike Aresco
If the Navy’s still seeking help in its motto department, it need look no further than its academy’s future football conference. The American Athletic Conference has officially debuted its new logo — that’s it on the right — along with a new website, which isn’t shy about touting the league’s impending success. Per the site: The league is about to “write a new chapter in the history of college athletics.” It “excels on every college athletic stage in every major sport.” It’s “The American,” for short, not the “AAC.” That’s too close to the ACC, league officials say. Logos with…
Navy football fans will be tuning into the ESPN family of networks to watch the Mids’ conference debut in 2015, thanks to a seven-year, $130 million deal expected to be approved by conference presidents as early as today. The package reportedly pays $20 million a year for football and basketball rights by the time Navy joins up; right now, the league would have 11 members in 2015, so that’s about $1.8 million per school — less if the league expands to a more stable 12 teams, and even less for Navy, which wouldn’t get any basketball-related revenue. It means less…
It’s been a running joke for the last few years — the ongoing conference realignment in college football could eventually stretch the bounds of common sense to the point where someone would create a “Big East West” division. Well, welcome to that point. For the next two football seasons, the Big East Conference will have eastern and western divisions. Well, sort of — any geographic realignment that puts Philadelphia-based Temple in the same division with San Diego State hasn’t ironed out all the kinks. What does this mean for Navy? And what could it mean for long-rumored Big East expansion…
The Big East commissioner’s plan to ask Navy football to join the conference earlier than the planned 2015 entry date caught many observers by surprise. Including the academy’s athletic director. Chet Gladchuk told The (Annapolis, Md.) Capital that the academy has pointed all its planning toward a 2015 Big East entry — from scheduling to TV deals to a stadium renovation. There’s too much set in motion to change now, Gladchuk told the paper, and Commissioner Mike Aresco’s decision to announce the proposal to the public before telling Annapolis officials means it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Key quote: “I don’t…
Navy fans against the football team’s 2015 move to the Big East conference almost had their wish. Joe Bailey, the conference’s former interim commissioner, told the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit late last week that the league — which will have expanded its football presence to California, Idaho, Tennessee and Texas by the time Navy joins — “has commissioned a study to consider alternative names.” Bailey didn’t give a timetable, but with a study already underway, it seemed a safe bet that by 2015, Navy would not be joining the Big East, but some other newly minted organization with a name…
Five quick hits as football season draws ever closer — you could almost count the days: 1. Turner passes PRT. Bill Wagner at The (Annapolis, Md.) Capital reports Navy senior wideout Brandon Turner returned to the practice field Thursday after passing the academy’s physical readiness test. Linebacker Josh Tate and cornerback Albrey Felder failed the PRT again but will be allowed another attempt, Wagner reported, though there’s no date set. Expect Turner to reappear on the team’s next depth chart. 2. Filling the gaps. Speaking of the Navy depth chart, the current version has a unique feature in the bottom…
A few quick links to today’s news while our picture-a-day countdown helps you remember the good ol’ days. The really, really ol’ days. MRI for Navy WR. Junior Matt Aiken was scheduled to have his right knee looked at after injuring it during Saturday’s Blue-Gold scrimmage, The Washington Post reports. Aiken, tops on the depth chart at wideout, was second on the team in both receptions (13) and yards (201) last season. Ahead of him in both categories was fellow wideout Brandon Turner, who’s missing time for a different reason; Turner’s not on the depth chart. Falcons fall silent. What…
