UConn Smoke

[milwaukeejedi1]

https://the-boneyard.com/threads/uconn-to-the-nbe.144423/

From the post, "I know I'll get crucified for this thread, but just passing along something I heard today, because it came from a very credible source. Largest private donor at Providence, directly involved in their athletic department and knows Tranghese well (who he says UConn hired as a consultant at some point) says he's 95%+ sure that UConn will be joining the NBE in 2021..."

It might not be legit but it is an entertaining thread.

There is a post, UConn back to the BE, on the St Joe's board. I am thoroughly entertained.

https://247sports.com/college/saint-josephs/Board/105444/Contents/U-Conn-back-to-the-BE-132970558/

[Xudash]

https://the-boneyard.com/threads/uconn-to-the-nbe.144423/

From the post, "I know I'll get crucified for this thread, but just passing along something I heard today, because it came from a very credible source. Largest private donor at Providence, directly involved in their athletic department and knows Tranghese well (who he says UConn hired as a consultant at some point) says he's 95%+ sure that UConn will be joining the NBE in 2021..."

It might not be legit but it is an entertaining thread.

There is a post, UConn back to the BE, on the St Joe's board. I am thoroughly entertained.

https://247sports.com/college/saint-josephs/Board/105444/Contents/U-Conn-back-to-the-BE-132970558/

What do we know, or think we know, and what seems plausible at this point:

1. As much as Gonzaga otherwise fits the bill, it doesn't fit the geography.

2. Georgetown appears to have it in for VCU's BE dreams (at least I would like to hear or read a little more about that). And is the "public school" thing an issue?

3. Dayton? 50 miles away from Big Brother and an undistinguished resume is no way to go through life son, or try to make it into the BE. No chance.

4. SLU? Not in the EAST, but: fits the BE institutional profile, St. Louis location, connects up Creighton better, Jesuit, facilities and potential without a resume.

5. UCONN? Brand, fanbase, old rivalries, New England location - all the stuff we know about all too well - coupled with delusional aspirations for football.

We simply STILL do not need to be serious about expansion right now. That changes in the event FOX calls BE NYC headquarters and asks for a 20-game conference slate. Is that happening anytime soon? Does it need to happen now that challenges have been set up with the B1G and Big XII? Key timelines:

- - FOX Contract: 2025.
- - B1G Challenge: played annually until 2022 as part of an eight-year deal.
- - Big XII Challenge: through 2022-23.

It would appear as though we don't have to do anything in the area of expansion, absent some major, impactful event, through 2022.

So, now a couple of questions:

Adoraz made a great point about how the TV people value and put together media agreements, with some programs serving to add value to the package while others tag along at a lesser value within it. On that note, excepting UCONN, can any other alleged expansion candidate improve their brand/resume/standing so significantly in the next 3 to 4 years that they would "move Fox's needle" when it comes to pricing the new media agreement?

Assuming VCU and UD are blocked, are the top two names on the board - at least right now - UCONN and SLU?

- - - - - - - -

It seems to me that the BE will bring UCONN back into the conference in a New York minute should UCONN's football fever break and they resolve football there once and for all.

Absent that happening, it would seem that SLU should be doing everything imaginable to shore-up its resume. SLU will make it that much harder for the Big East and for themselves if they continue to sputter along.

With all that noted, does some crazy dark horse come out of nowhere in the next few years due to media potential and program potential?

[billyjack]

My list as of today, on a scale of 1 to 100...

- 100 Gonzaga.
- 100 UConn with indy football.
- 99 Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
- 68 Dayton.
- 20 VCU.
- 11 San Francisco.
- 9 Northeastern.
- 1 Saint Louis.

- no choosing a team to "be a bridge".

must check the box on half on these:
a top program,
respected history,
big city school,
giant student body,
great attendance numbers
NBA arena available,
competitive-champs in a top 10 conference,
sends players to NBA,
in great recruiting territory.

[xusandy]

Ho-hum, same old same old discussion re expansion. We seem to be divided into the "UConn in a second" camp and the "somebody with a decent institutional fit" camp (most likely SLU.) So what; we here aren't the decision makers on this, and expansion itself seems to most of us to be unlikely anyway. So on to next season!

[GoldenWarrior11]

I have no clue what the legitimacy of this particular rumor is (I would file it under the rest of the UConn-to-the-Big East rumors, which all carry immense speculation, but none provide concrete facts), but to those that say the Big East should not be thinking about expansion right now - that would be an incredibly foolish or shortsighted decision.

Any expansion plans are not for today or even a year from now; they are for our next TV deal in several years. Our ten-member set-up has been immensely successful for our inaugural reorganization, but the conference and its membership has tremendous potential to expand on its success via new membership that can even further promote our brand and our schools. Whether you are talking about a hypothetical UConn addition, Gonzaga, SLU, etc., any such "discussions" are absolutely off-the-record and informal (but are most certainly occurring behind the scenes). Personally, I would not be shocked at all if UConn - at the secondary communication levels - did not have an ongoing discussion with Big East representatives over the past few years. It would almost certainly end with "Well, what do we do with football" every time. Now that the AAC TV deal has been established well into the 2030's, it would be in UConn's best interest to leverage that against the Big East - "Could you do better?"

I do not believe that Fox would have an interest in providing a special deal for UConn Football in order to assist getting them into the Big East. UConn Football has negative value at this point in time. If UConn made the choice to de-emphasize football or go independent, that would be a different story. However, with where it is today, they need at least another 2-3 years before making another long-term decision for football. If they go another 3 years of 1-11/2-10, then it could quite possibly be that UConn Football is never getting out from the deep hole they're in. It's no secret that they are losing a ton of money due to the lack of success in football.

Institutionally, and as the same as we were in 2013, it would be easiest for expansion if Saint Louis were to continue to build their basketball program with Travis Ford (perhaps another tournament appearance/A-10 championship) for an expansion move to take place in advance of our next deal. We should honestly want a realistic and opportune member to step up; it would only mean more exposure and value to each of our member schools IMO.

[MUPanther]

What I find fascinating are the fans who’ve convinced themselves they have a better media deal than the big east. I’ve seen it from a bunch of aac fans and not just UConn. The delusion needed to convince yourself of that is incredible. Not only do they think that getting 5 million for basketball is somehow worse than getting 7 million for basketball and football combined, but some of them are convinced that 3 games a year on espn and games on espn+ is better exposure than having every single game on fs1. It’d be funny if it weren’t so sad

The exposure things is very odd things to say. The Big East gets 19 on Big Fox and will be getting on 4 games on CBS. The only league close to that numbers is the Big Ten. I guess that is them ripping on FS1.

[kayako]

I don't buy that the double round-robin is the reason why there won't be team #12.

[NJRedman]

I don't buy that the double round-robin is the reason why there won't be team #12.

Exactly, money talks and if our TV partners want us to go to 12 we'll go to 12. I mean even with 12 it's pretty much still a double round robin with a 20 game schedule. You'll play 9 of the other 11 teams twice.

[admin]

- 99 Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Once upon a time - on this board or some other - I questioned whether Carelton was a possibility. It's almost crazy how perfectly they would fit in the Big East.

[Gopher+RamFan]

My list as of today, on a scale of 1 to 100...

- 100 Gonzaga.
- 100 UConn with indy football.
- 99 Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
- 68 Dayton.
- 20 VCU.

must check the box on half on these:
a top program,
respected history,
big city school,
giant student body,
great attendance numbers
NBA arena available,
competitive-champs in a top 10 conference,
sends players to NBA,
in great recruiting territory.

For VCU:
a top program: Depends on the definition of "top" (law school is rubbing off on me).
Respected history: Not sure if it's respected or not.
Big City school: Richmond is ranked 44th on the MSA list, right in front of Louisville and Memphis. Virginia Beach is ranked #37 and as a large state school neighboring the peninsula, it draws a lot from that area (this works for recruiting too).
Giant student body: 31,000 students with another 14,000 employees; Endowment of $1.843 Billion.
Great attendance numbers: Sold out streak from early 2011 (before the Final Four). Top attendance school for the A10 tournament.
NBA arena available: No. Richmond Coliseum is being torn down for a rebuild. Richmond is hoping to attract more talent (concerts, NCAA tournament games etc...) like it did before Charlottesville's new building came into play.
Competitive champs in a top 10 conference: Check, arguably the Flagship of the A-10.
Sends players to the NBA: Check (Larry Sanders, Eric Maynor, Troy Daniels, Treveon Graham, Briante Weber).
In great recruiting territory: Check. Rumor is that Georgetown blocked VCU's NBE bid due to VA Beach/Peninsula recruiting territory (VCU recruits the area very well).

I will add that VCU's media rights contract runs at $2 Million/year. That's on top of the funds received from the Conference rights, as well as NCAA tournament credits that have obviously been consistent in the last decade+ of appearances through 5 different coaches.