By Al Myatt
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NEWPORT, RI — For American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco, one element of full cost tuition for student-athletes is keeping pace with the Power Five conferences – the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, The Pac-12 and the SEC.

Aresco led off the AAC football media day Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency with wide-ranging remarks and touched on the provisions for payments to athletes that will begin this academic year.

"We have close relationships with the five so-called power conferences and, as I mentioned, we are scheduling many football games against them" Aresco said. "I spent almost all of my television career at ESPN and CBS working with the so-called Power Five, negotiating TV deals with them and programming their games. The people in our conference know them well and have worked with them. We respect them, their traditions, their success on the field, their fan bases and national popularity, their TV ratings. But we also know that our schools look very much like many of theirs, and that we can compete with them. We have generated impressive TV ratings and have strong traditional programs as well as up-and-coming programs."

Aresco and his league don't like the division that has developed in college sports.

"Having said that, I do not like the perceived divide that has developed in college sports, especially in college football," said the AAC commissioner. "I would like to see more media attention, which influences public attention and public opinion, focused on us, not simply on the so-called power five.

"We have schools the country knows, schools with traditions and schools with emerging programs, we have schools in big markets, we have great coaches, we have several new stadiums, we are committed to providing full cost of attendance and other items that promote student-athlete well-being, we are in rich recruiting areas, scholarship limits were preserved in the NCAA Governance redesign; all this means that we will compete at the highest level.

"NCAA Governance redesign, affording as it did autonomy in certain legislative areas to the five big conferences, can be viewed as problematic for us because we are not in the autonomy group. It was essentially a self-selecting process and we are not currently in large part because realignment changed our membership significantly."

Aresco doesn't intend to let the Power Five exclude the AAC. His approach will eventually result in inclusion.

"Although this situation now poses challenges for us, we have no intention of surrendering to it," he said. "How do we deal with this state of affairs? We will be a leader, we will have a vision, we will fight, we will turn perceived problems into opportunities. Nevertheless, we must be careful in articulating our goals. Yes, we would like to be officially in the autonomous group, but we cannot control that at the moment. Therefore our goal is to be in the Power Five conversation as the sixth power conference. That we can control by our performance on and off the field.

"We can gain respect by competing, by winning our share, by the quality of our teams, by our game attendance, by the things we are doing to promote student-athlete well-being. If we look and act like the so-called Power Five, we will be in the conversation and eventually Power Six will enter the media and public lexicon and perceptions. As I said, the autonomy designation is legislative and bureaucratic, it does not mean automatic superiority on the field or on the court. That has to be earned.

"Nevertheless, the autonomy legislative structure is permissive, meaning we can do what the autonomous five do, we can adopt whatever legislation they adopt. Although I cannot stand here and guarantee entrance into that group at the moment, I can stand here and tell you that we will be in that group competitively, that we will continue to earn respect the old-fashioned way, that in the meantime our aim is to be a de facto member of that group by virtue of how we compete on the fields and courts and how we treat our student-athletes off the fields and courts.

"Student-athlete safety and well-being are our highest priorities. They are job one. Our injury and concussion protocols, the results of months of work with medical experts and all of our schools, will be among the best. I believe our educational efforts in this regard with our officials, our coaches and all those who are responsible for player safety, are unprecedented. Our schools are providing full cost of attendance for their student-athletes, as well as many other important benefits.

"And in the end we will not succumb to what my old friend and wonderful gentleman Glen Tuckett, the former long-time athletic director at BYU, calls the tragedy of "success unattended". We will promote our successes and build on them."

Aresco is a proactive commissioner with an understanding of the college athletic landscape. East Carolina and its league couldn't have a better advocate.

Full speed ahead on full costs

Players were enthusiastic about the money they will receive with the full costs provisions which go into effect this year.

ECU linebacker Zeek Bigger knows the Pirates will have to take care of themselves in terms of nutrition and rest for the schedule that includes nine straight games before ECU has an open date.

"I'll be able to buy food," Bigger said.

Inside receiver Isaiah Jones said his mother has already been sending him some recipes.

Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill appreciates the additional investment in his players that full tuition provides.

"As far as we're concerned, it's big," McNeill said. "This league was out in front. To be able to say we can provide full cost of attendance. ... Off the field that's a big move."

Summer workout schedules now serve to hinder players from getting jobs and earning spending money in the offseason.

"I think it's a great thing for the student-athletes," said UConn coach Bob Diaco. "There's a bridge in what some things cost. There's a time frame in relation to their ability to earn money."

ECU will pay football and men's basketball players full shares in the 2015-16 academic year. Athletes in other sports will get a 50 percent share the first year and a full share in subsequent years.

"I don't like the discrepancy, not just in football from university to university but the discrepancy on campus from sport to sport," Diaco said "A McDonalds Big Mac costs the same in Birmingham as it does in Storrs and it does for a tennis player as it does for a football player. I love it. I wish it was more of a consistent number for everyone involved. I think it's very positive."

South Florida coach Willie Taggert would like to see the pending stipends tied to academic performance and foresees some administrative responsibility necessary to assure that the players don't spend their money frivolously.

"I think it's much-needed for our players," Taggert said. "Things change in this world from year in to year out. It was about time to do it for the players today. I was hoping that there was a little more incentive to getting that money pertaining for academics. We all want our kids to graduate. We all want them to have a high GPA (grade point average) and those things. I would like more incentives to get that from an academic standpoint than anything. We do a lot for the kids now but I'm happy for them. It's much-needed.

"We are going to have to do a great job of educating them on how to use the money as well. ... You don't want to give those kids a lot of money right up front. Those guys will walk around with beats and Jordans instead of the things that they really need. We've got to do a great job of communicating and educating them on how to manage their money and hopefully do smart things with it."

Civil Conflict Trophy

Diaco challenged Central Florida to a trophy game (the Civil Conflict) in early June and the initial reaction appeared to be indifference on the part of the Knights.

Diaco explained Tuesday that he respected UCF coach George O'Leary and hoped to build a program like his.

The Huskies upset UCF for UConn's only league win in 2014.

O'Leary said Tuesday he understood where Diaco was coming from at the outset.

"Our rival (South Florida) is 60 miles away," O'Leary said. " ... But put that trophy on the airplane. I'd like a trophy with a clock on it. I don't have one of those."

UConn visits the Knights on Oct. 10.

Bearcats picked in East

Cincinnati was picked as the favorites to win the AAC East Division, followed by UCF, Temple and ECU.

"We've got the target on our back," said Bearcats third-year coach Tommy Tuberville, who mentioned that quarterback Gunner Kiel needed to stay healthy after an injury-plagued freshman season and the defense needed to improve after yielding 34.0 points per game last season.

Memphis was picked in the West Division with Houston and Navy projected to challenge.

McNeill enjoying vessel

Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill helped friend and mentor Donnie Duncan out of a financial bind by buying a boat Duncan had for sale.

"I called Erlene and told her we had a boat," McNeill said.

The ECU coach has been using his craft on the Pamlico River, east of Washington.

"Best thing I ever did," McNeill said. "It's a real getaway."

A Pirate of McNeill's stature should have his own ship.

Time for fun