Why AAC commissioner Mike Aresco supports talk about FBS football breaking away from NCAA

For AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, conference realignment isn't just the elephant in the room. It's another thing threatening to trample the soul of college football.

During his opening remarks at media day Thursday,  Aresco said conference strength is now defined less on the field than by outside factors such as marketing and branding. Marquee schools and money matter more, in his mind, than promoting the well-being of athletes.

All of it leads back to realignment. With Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida leaving for the Big 12 after this season, Aresco worries about the future of the sport more than the health of his conference.

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“We can lament realignment all we want but we have to deal with it. Admittedly, it is a hard, unforgiving business," Aresco said. "Trust is shattered routinely in these situations, feelings are hurt ... although no one can take it personally, it is by no means fun.”

While realignment can't be stopped, Aresco proposed solutions to help the sport deal with a changing landscape. One idea was supporting discussions of FBS football breaking away from the NCAA where FBS representatives could govern the sport in terms of making rules and operating the postseason instead of the NCAA

For Aresco, if all 10 FBS commissioners were represented in discussions on the sport, Aresco said, teams could have equal representation to determine how to react to things instead of a few schools having more power and sway over discussions.

"Football is clearly a separate and distinct entity within the NCAA and could benefit from its own governance structure with the interconnection between the regular season and the College Football Playoff. It may make sense to streamline the governance process through FBS self-governance," Aresco said.

Aresco also reaffirmed his call to expand the playoff. He called it a "shame" that a 12-team playoff was not approved and called it a "a mistake" to adopt a system that excludes three-quarters of FBS teams. He was in favor a 16-team playoff model that's been discussed to allow for more at-large spots that favored schools outside of the Power Five conferences.

With NIL, he wants it to be rooted in a fair market value and called for a structure that's coordinated among all conferences. He's also remained firmly against pay for play or athletes becoming school employees or union members.

"College athletics has never been about paid athletes although benefits have been plentiful and remain plentiful more than ever before. But forces now beyond our control our gathering strength," Aresco said.

However, realignment remained the top concern. Aresco noted that before Cincinnati reached the playoff last year, UCF and Houston would've been playoff contenders in previous seasons. Both teams, he felt, weren't given respect yet now that they've joined the Big 12 by signing "a piece of paper," they're suddenly worthy of playoff consideration.

He noted Memphis had some of the AAC's biggest wins by beating Ole Miss in 2015 and 2019, UCLA in 2017 and Mississippi State last season.

Yet while touting his conference's on-field accomplishments, Aresco conceded that the sport was rapidly changing because what's happening off the field matters more. As a result, the powers that be must decide what they want the sport to look like.

"College football was entertaining and fun. Its popularity is clear and has been clear for some time. But will something irreplaceable be lost in this new world of super conferences and professionalized players?" Aresco asked. "Time will tell, but creating a large group of second- class citizens would not appear to be a healthy development."

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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Why AAC's Mike Aresco supports talk about FBS football leaving NCAA