I’m loyal to where I’m at,” Hardaway said. “Obviously, the AAC is a better conference than people are giving it credit for.”

Memphis football opens conference play on Saturday against Navy. Here's a scouting report and score prediction for the game.

Shortly after Oregon State and Washington State secured commitments from four Mountain West members last week to reinvent the Pac-12, OSU athletic director Scott Barnes said he envisioned the conference adding at least two more institutions "as quickly as possible.

New Tulane athletic director Davis Harris, whose degree of interest in changing conferences is not clear, declined comment as per his policy on all realignment issues.