Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: December 08, 2023, 03:00 IST
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Mike Aresco is retiring as commissioner of the American Athletic Conference on the finish of the present tutorial yr on May 31, after serving throughout a interval of fixed change in faculty athletics whereas championing for his and different leagues outdoors the Power Five.
IRVING, Texas: Mike Aresco is retiring as commissioner of the American Athletic Conference on the finish of the present tutorial yr on May 31, after serving throughout a interval of fixed change in faculty athletics whereas championing for his and different leagues outdoors the Power Five.
Aresco turned the fourth commissioner of the Big East Conference in 2012, and oversaw the reconstitution of that group into the American Athletic Conference a yr later, when the unique seven members of the Big East saved that title and returned to their basketball roots. Aresco introduced his retirement Thursday.
“It would take many pages to list this conference’s numerous athletic and academic accomplishments,” Aresco mentioned in an announcement. “There have also been some disappointments and difficulties along the way, most notably, the P5-G5 divide, realignment, College Football Playoff access for our deserving teams, and some competitive heartbreak in big games.”
The College Football Playoff expands to 12 groups subsequent yr, however that is the tenth season wherein the best-ranked staff from outdoors the Power Five conferences will get right into a New Year’s Six bowl recreation as a part of the CFP mannequin.
Cincinnati was nonetheless within the AAC two years in the past when it turned the primary non-P5 staff to make the 4-staff playoff. The league has had groups in NY6 video games six different occasions, and received three of them.
The 73-yr-previous Aresco described it as a “the supreme privilege of my long career in sports” to guide the American from its reinvention and to characterize its scholar-athletes, coaches and directors.
Before becoming a member of the Big East for its transition, Aresco was government vice current of programming at CBS Sports, dealing with the community’s contract negotiations with the NCAA for the rights to the lads’s basketball event. He additionally negotiated the deal that led to the CBS airing the SEC’s Saturday afternoon centerpiece recreation and soccer championship from 1996 till this yr.
“Mike was a trusted colleague at CBS Sports and played an integral role in the growth of college sports at our network,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus mentioned. “From helping to further March Madness into a national treasure and leading our groundbreaking arrangement with the NCAA in 1999 and later our historic joint venture with Turner Sports, to establishing SEC football as a national television package, his vision was clear and his legacy is secure.”
Aresco had joined CBS in 1996 after 12 years with ESPN, the place the University of Connecticut Law School graduate started as counsel and moved into programming.
Former Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany mentioned Aresco has made his mark as each a TV government and convention commissioner.
“Smart, creative, hard working and honest are appropriate words to describe Mike’s leadership throughout both of his career paths,” Delany mentioned.
East Carolina Chancellor Philip Rogers, chair of the American Athletic Conference’s board of administrators, mentioned Aresco has been a robust, regular and revolutionary commissioner.
“There is no question that he will leave the AAC well-positioned for future success due to his strategic approach to navigating the complex landscape of intercollegiate athletics,” Rogers mentioned.
The American had 14 soccer groups this season, and can keep at that quantity in 2024 when Army joins as a soccer-solely member after SMU leaves for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA joined the AAC this season from Conference USA. Their arrivals got here when Cincinnati, Houston and UCF formally left the American for the Big 12.
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AP faculty soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
