Happy Tax Day, everyone. It’s the most wonderful time of the year…if you work for the IRS, or you expect a supersize tax return. For the rest of us, this day annoys us and ignites furious dinner table discussions on the value of our tax dollars (what are they really being used for?). No matter what the government uses our hard-earned money for, none of us can get out of paying our taxes.
What if our favorite college football teams owed their fans taxes for disappointing or underachieving in the previous season, or string of poor seasons?
I decided to answer that hypothetical from the side of the American Athletic Conference, and rank the four AAC football teams that owe their fans the most “taxes” in 2015.
Have an AAC team you believe should be in these rankings? List them in the comments section below, or on social media. State why the team owes its fans more in 2015, and what on-field results fans should realistically expect from them next season.
4. UConn
Why: Huskies head coach Bob Diaco enter’s 2015 with one of the AAC’s toughest challenges: turning this program into a contender. Reminiscing on the Huskies 2007 and 2010 Big East co-championships and 2011 Fiesta Bowl appearance might insinuate that UConn can win as easily as the next program. But when your school is located in a talent-cold state, miles away from major recruiting hotbeds (Texas, Florida, or California), and hasn’t gone bowling in four seasons, climbing back to respectability is a long and painful road. Still, the not-so-distant success the Huskies experienced while in the Big East show that fans in Storrs, Conn., deserve more than a 2-10 season and a season-ending loss to an 0-11 SMU at home.
What They Owe Fans in ’15: Expecting more than four or five wins for UConn in 2015 — even with 17 returning starters — is like expecting Kanye West to be less vain; not happening. But the Huskies owe their fans improvement and need to desist from losing to teams with zeros in the win column by November. A 4-8 season with an upset win seems reachable.
3. Tulsa
Why: Unless you bleed Tulsa gold and blue, you wouldn’t know the Golden Hurricane have the highest all-time winning percentage (.562) among the AAC’s other 11 football members. They also claim 35 conference championships, dating back to the early years of ‘Hurricane football when it played in the Big 4 Conference and the original Missouri Valley Conference. Flipping ahead to the 2000s, Tulsa appeared in eight bowl games from 2003-2012, won two Conference USA titles, and won at least a share of the C-USA West Division a record five times. Tulsa’s recent success made it an attractive option for membership in the AAC when the conference was trying to rebuild itself from the dysfunctional Big East era. After going 2-10 in 2014, perhaps AAC commissioner Mike Aresco is having buyers remorse. Former Baylor OC, new Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery will try to lead the ‘Hurricane to more victories in 2015 by boosting turbulence in the offensive attack.
What They Owe Fans in ’15: The Golden Hurricane can satisfy fans with a five-win season in ’15, and a more competitive team. Five of Tulsa’s 10 losses were by 20 or more points, and only one loss (37-34 to Texas State in OT) was by less than 10 points. A bowl game in Montgomery’s initial campaign is unrealistic. However, staying on the field with the opponent for more than a half is an attainable goal.
2. South Florida
Why: South Florida earned six consecutive bowl trips from 2005-2010 — a major feat for a program only in existence since 1997. During that time, the Bulls beat traditionally strong teams, such as Miami (Fla.), Florida State, Louisville, West Virginia, and Auburn. Post-2010 USF football falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. Bulls fans have suffered through four-straight losing seasons, after enjoying six-straight seasons ending with a bowl, including an ugly 2-10 2013 campaign — Willie Taggart’s first as head coach. USF is 6-18 in Taggart’s two seasons, which is also its record in the AAC’s two-year existence. To exemplify USF’s accumulated debt to its fans even further, the Bulls have finished with the best or second-best recruiting class in their conference (Big East/AAC) the last four years, according to 247Sports.
What They Owe Fans in ’15: South Florida owes its fans a bowl game in 2015. Winning only four games last season doesn’t call for celebrating, but winning two more games than in the previous season marks improvement. Finishing 6-6, preferably 7-5 (don’t be Temple, USF), would be enough to satisfy Bulls fans until 2016, and keeps Taggart, who’s clearly on the hot seat, his job.
1. East Carolina
Why: The Pirates were the talk of the AAC in 2014, until their post-November collapse where they lost four of their final six games after starting the season 6-0 and ranked as high as No. 18 in the major polls. The Pirates were on a straight path to be the inaugural New Year’s Six participant from the Group of Five conferences. What makes their late-season slide to 8-5 even worse is the last-second Hail Mary loss to UCF that won the Knights a share of the AAC title on ECU’s home field. The devastating loss to UCF, alone, makes the ’14 season one of the more disappointing in Pirates history. It also stings knowing the famed Pirates Shane Carden and Justin Hardy weren’t able to win a conference title while in Greenville, N.C.
What They Owe Fans in ’15: ECU owes its fans at least a 9-3 regular season and a spot in the first-ever AAC Championship Game. A daunting task for a team replacing many key contributors off last season’s underachieving unit. No Carden, no conference title? Probably not, but after last season’s collapse, Pirates fans deserve a gallant effort from their team to win the East Division.
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