NCAA Conference Re-Draft Project: Air Force Flies High In Round 11
by Cory Williams on Aug 3, 2011 8:50 PM MST
in SB Nation Conference Re-Draft Project
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PrintThis is a serious situation, and I'm not going to dance around the subject. We've drafted Air Force in the 11th round of the SB Nation Conference Re-Draft Project.
Here's the rundown for Round 11, and some analysis on the subject.
Round 11
-- Twelve Pack: Purdue
-- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Texas Tech
-- The Empire: Hawaii
-- Conference TMZ: Mississippi State
-- House of a Thousand Sanctions: Air Force
Complete draft board below, thanks to BC Interruption:
| BCI | BHGP | TSK | BECB | HoS | RCR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. Texas | 2. Florida | 3. Alabama | 4. Ohio State | 5. USC | 6. LSU |
| 2 | 12. Georgia | 11. Penn State | 10. Oklahoma | 9. Florida State | 8. Notre Dame | 7. Michigan |
| 3 | 13. U.C.L.A. | 14. Virginia Tech | 15. Nebraska | 16. Louisville | 17. Oregon | 18. North Carolina |
| 4 | 24. Wisconsin | 23. Miami (Fla.) | 22. Texas A&M | 21. Michigan State | 20. Tennessee | 19. Stanford |
| 5 | 25. Washington | 26. Auburn | 27. Arizona | 28. West Virginia | 29. Syracuse | 30. Arkansas |
| 6 | 36. Duke | 35. Kansas | 34. California | 33. Maryland | 32. Kentucky | 31. Iowa |
| 7 | 37. Clemson | 38. Illinois | 39. UConn | 40. Missouri | 41. Pittsburgh | 42. Oklahoma State |
| 8 | 48. Virginia | 47. TCU | 46. Arizona State | 45. Utah | 44. BYU | 43. South Carolina |
| 9 | 49. Boston College | 50. Colorado | 51. Oregon State | 52. Boise State | 53. Vanderbilt | 54. Georgia Tech |
| 10 | 60. Minnesota | 59. Indiana | 58. South Florida | 57. Cincinnati | 56. N.C. State | 55. Ole Miss |
| 11 | 61. Purdue | 62. Texas Tech | 63. Hawaii | 64. Mississippi St. | 65. Air Force |
Comissioners and Conference names: BCI: Twelve Pack; BHGP: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; TSK: The Empire (working title); BECB: Conference TMZ; HoS: House of a Thousand Sanctions; RCR: The Cult Of Les Miles.
I won't lie to you guys, I was particularly stung by the Big Ten run that occurred in between our picks, with Indiana, Minnesota and Purdue all coming off the board. Minnesota was a team I really wanted in my corner, and their new stadium is absolutely stunning (saw it a few years back while they were building and I was extremely impressed).
With that said, I don't think any of those schools are, in a word, relevant. This is a sports conference and we've built a damn good one. Did you know that Air Force finished 92nd overall in the Directors' Cup in 2011?
Not only does the United States Air Force Academy boast a legitimate football team, but they also accrued points in fencing, track & field, wrestling, mens' gymnastics, and mens' hockey. This is a well-rounded institution.
On top of that? They are a Service Academy. The United States loves its military, and the Air Force is essential to protecting our everyday freedom. These young men and women deserve the national spotlight of playing in the best fake conference in the country.
Air Force provides us with a footprint in Colorado and gives BYU a logical regional rival. I promise you, these guys don't like each other.
With just one spot left in a normal 12-team conference, where should House of a Thousand Sanctions go next? Help us fill out the remaining spot(s) in the comments below. We're not opposed to further expansion.
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What's left
ACC – Wake Forest
Big East – Rutgers, all non-football members (except ND) if taking them is even allowed
Big 10 – Northwestern
Big 12 – Baylor
Pac 12 – Washington State
SEC – none
Notable others – Army, Navy, San Diego State, Houston, UCF
If this were a real conference, I’d vote for San Diego State, if only so that the Orange would play out here fairly frequently, though I’m not sure on the merits – good basketball, sometimes good football, great locale, but minimal fan support. Practically speaking, if Navy gets past RCR you almost have to take them, though I think I’d pass on Army.
having another service academy for an AFA rival would be cool
but I think that San Diego State is really strong on potential, with the size of their metro area and what they’ve shown recently in both football and basketball. Similarly for UCF, actually.
But I might be inclined to go for a basketball-only school at this point. Honestly, the dropoff from Navy to Army (or other schools you could get in round 13) isn’t significant enough to worry about. Get a top basketball-only school while you can and then have your pick of the rest once everyone else has cut off their conference at 12.
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Aug 3, 2011 9:24 PM MST up reply actions
YES Air Force
I love this pick and was hoping they would drop to HoS. The problem with SDSU is they bleed red ink all over the floor, will soon have no stadium, and get no support from it’s fans and alumni. The TV market is covered by LA and outside of sometimes being good in BB they bring little other than a travel location (the only pick worse than this is Hawaii). I like Northwestern, Navy and Wake Forest in that order.
by ev on Aug 3, 2011 9:40 PM MST up reply actions
Here's an interesting list
Neat, huh: http://www.valuesportspicks.com/blog/best-ncaa-college-basketball-schools-teams-history/
10 NCAA Division 1 Schools With Most Wins
Kentucky – 2,023 Wins / 638 Losses
North Carolina – 2,004 Wins / 720 Losses
Kansas – 2,003 Wins / 796 Losses
Duke – 1,912 Wins / 822 Losses
Syracuse – 1,783 Wins / 811 Losses
Temple – 1,740 Wins / 966 Losses
St. John’s – 1,703 Wins / 884 Losses
UCLA – 1,686 Wins / 744 Losses
Notre Dame – 1,674 Wins / 920 Losses
Pennsylvania – 1,664 Wins / 971 Losses
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by Cory Williams on Aug 3, 2011 9:41 PM MST up reply actions
I didn't realize ND had so many wins
Nice list considering who you have in your conference. It tells me you don’t really need to pick a basketball program. It would have been nice to pick up Minnesota, AF or Navy would have dropped to you in the 12th round. I was at TCF Bank Stadium last year for the USC game. What a great stadium, and fans for that matter. Oh well. Think Northwestern…
by ev on Aug 3, 2011 9:58 PM MST up reply actions
Time to pick up Penn! ha
House Of Sparky: An Arizona State Sun Devils blog
SBN Arizona: The ultimate destination for Arizona sports coverage
by Cory Williams on Aug 3, 2011 11:14 PM MST up reply actions
As a Kansas alum
I never miss an opportunity to snub UNC. This is an updated list:
On second thought:
I think UCF might be an underrated pick. Tell Florida recruits that they can play in front of the hometown fans every other year. You already have that covered with Southern Cal and California recruits, so UCF has an edge over SDSU in this regard.
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Aug 4, 2011 11:39 AM MST reply actions
UCF isn't a bad pick, certainly not in round 12.
The only problem with them is does anyone in the state of Florida know they exist?
by ev on Aug 4, 2011 1:18 PM MST up reply actions
If this article is any indication:
Signs point to no.
Ha that's a good article
I would still pick them before SDSU, at least for the HoS conference. They bring some value (Florida), where SDSU doesn’t.
by ev on Aug 4, 2011 2:34 PM MST up reply actions
I'm thinking Navy
It fits with the ‘national brands’ theme, it’s a good rivalry with Notre Dame and you get a game with Air Force every year. Plus, they’ve done fairly well over the last five years.
The question is— will they be there in two picks?
I don't think so, RCR should pick them
with one of their next two picks. Although to be honest they should pick someone like SDSU (I can’t believe I just said that), as Stanford looks like a redheaded stepchild out there all by itself (not that they would mind).
by ev on Aug 4, 2011 3:12 PM MST up reply actions
that's why I said basketball-only school
UCF will still be round in round 13, so why not go ahead and grab Villanova or Georgetown or someone right now.
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Aug 4, 2011 4:52 PM MST up reply actions
BYU fan here...
…Picking up Air Force was huge. Good pick. I like the three following picks:
Baylor, Washington State, San Diego State
Baylor: Excellent academics, brings in the Texas market (which would be huge), have had some decent teams in the past.
Washington State: Having grown up in Oregon and watching Washington State this past year, I think they are improving in football rapidly. This school also has good academics. The rivalry between Oregon and Washington State (while not as good a rivalry as Oregon and UDub) would be good to preserve.
San Diego State: Less than stellar academics, but good basketball and a football program that is decent and has been improving in the past few years. Although their football program is not as good as probably UCF, having basketball and a spot of the California market I think makes them lucrative. Also, San Diego State loathes (I mean LOATHES) BYU.
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