End in sight for Louisville in the American Athletic Conference

Goodbye American Athletic Conference.

A few more baseball and softball games, followed by conference tournaments, and the University of Louisville will be leaving you. Bigger and better things ahead — off to the Atlantic Coast Conference,  a certified member of the Big Five club, with big name foes, much broader exposure and recognition, and multimillion-dollar pay days.

UofL is leaving with mostly fond memories of our association, the long-time rivalries with Cincinnati and Memphis, the series with UConn and South Florida, the decisive football game with Central Florida, that unbelievable basketball game at Southern Methodist. Rutgers, of course, is off to the Big Ten, fumbling and bumbling on its way out the door and won’t be missed at all.

UofL has so much in common with you, pursuing national respect in an often cynical and class-structured universe. The challenges of gaining acceptance are huge and never-ending. There are opportunities to break through the clutter, as UConn basketball winning the national championship, for example, and UCF’s BCS Fiesta Bowl win over Baylor. Treasure those moments.

What Cardinal fans won’t miss are the immense scheduling difficulties inherent with the conference, the lack of respect from the good old boys and the sports media, always eager to label outsiders as mid-majors and largely irrelevant.  With the reshaping of the college football landscape, and consequently everything else in college athletics, the AAC has all but officially relegated to secondary status. That’s likely going to affect your economic challenges and recruiting prospects for years to come.

Were it not for the Big Ten’s inexplicable fascination with Maryland, the University of Louisville would still be mired with you, still awaiting an invitation from the plodding Big 12 Conference. Not fun being left out in the cold, wondering about the future, struggling to survive. Thanks to Tom Jurich’s persistence over the past decade, however, UofL was viewed as the most attractive addition to the ACC when the conference had to make a move, a milestone rewarding the faithful, elevating Louisville athletics to a whole new level.

UofL has provided a blueprint for ambitious AAC members, creating and investing in a vision, building quality facilities, pursuing the best coaches, and getting fans intimately involved. An administration that recognizes the value of athletics in advancing a school’s pursuit of academic progress.

Change is constant, technology forever evolving, shaping the the medium and the markets, and college athletic conferences seem to always be subject to reengineering or realignment. Dreams do come true through creative approaches and innovative thinking, making the right decisions, rolling up the sleeves and cultivating the fertile ground of corporate and fan support.