UConn escape plan - The Big East

[NJRedman]

Did you see Rutgers getting a P5 invite? Louisville? TCU? Utah?

No. Yes. Yes. Yes. Most thought Louisville was going to the ACC or Big 12 once the Big East fell apart. TCU was an obvious candidate to leave from the second realignment started with its football success and recruiting ground. Look at TCU's history. Utah was also the best western candidate from a football perspective that didn't diminish the Pac-10/12 brand.

Have you been to Rentschler? Calling it a dump is a little harsh, but it's a very basic stadium nowhere near campus. It's a good size for a stadium, so every seat is solid, but parking is just brutal.

The only conference UConn makes any sense for geographically and academically is the ACC. If it becomes an AAU school, things may change for the Big Ten, but those are also the two worst Power 5 conferences for football and probably won't want a program that's never won more than 9 games and has declined without Randy Edsall. Maybe the Big 12, but it's just so far away from every other school in that league. I guess that's the case with the AAC as well.

Mack, I think you misunderstood my point about Rutgers, Louisvile, TCU, and Utah. I wasn't talking necessarily about whether anyone saw the invites coming at the time they happened but some years in advance. Let's say 10 years in advance.

Rutgers - No one saw this one coming even a day in advance of the announcement.

Louisville - Once West Virginia got the Big XII invite, Louisville was in Limbo. That's where they were expected to get an invite. When it didn't happen, it seemed they were screwed unless the Big XII changed it's mind about 10 members. No one expected the ACC to break it's rule of sticking to teams on the Atlantic Coast. (Notre Dame is the obvious school they'd make an exception for, but that was seen as an exception.) Louisville was also thought to not be acceptable to the ACC because of their academics. Their selection was a surprise.

TCU - for many this was a surprise because the Big XII already had the Texas market locked up. As a smaller private school, it didn't seem that they added anything despite the fact that they have a good football program. Many thought that the Big XII would look to expand their markets since this was an obvious problem with their members outside Texas - especially after they lost Colorado, one of their 2 biggest markets outside Texas.

Utah - Were they really an obvious pick before Urban Meyer turned their football program into a winner? They were the 2nd best program in a state smaller than CT.

Looking 10 years in advance of these schools' selections is important because UConn isn't positioning themselves for an invitation tomorrow. They're taking the long view by investing in their facilities and by upgrading their programs. If Diaco is successful in doing for UConn football what was done at TCU, Utah, Boise, Louisville, etc, would that change their profile in 8-10 years? I would think it would.

As for the UConn stadium, it is off campus. So is Miami's. If everything else is up to par, that won't matter. The stadium is expandable. If UConn can build a winner and demand for tickets increases, they can do what Rutgers did and add 10,000 seats to bring it to 50K. The stadium's infrastructure is still fairly Ne's, so while expanding, they can also give the rest of it a face lift and add other amenities.

Those who want to make UConn appear to be an unattractive candidate are looking for negatives. The basic qualities that conferences are seeking are already there - state flagship in a good size state, excellent academics, good market, devoted following, good financing, high level of commitment both from boosters and from the state. Anything else like the stadium can be built or improved.

One final comment about UConn's market. One this gets brought up, too often the Hartford/New Haven market is referenced, which is nonsense. The entire state is UConn's market as well as some portions of surrounding states. Tell me another state of 3.6 million that has only one state university commanding the state's entire attention in the P5. Other than Ohio, it doesn't exist. As far as markets, there isn't a better expansion candidate out there.

Rutgers was a BCS school from day one and if you notice none of the original BCS schools were left out in the cold. (Temple was booted from the BCS in 2003)

If you didn't see Rutgers getting a seat at the table then you don't know jack about realignment. Guess what, if the B1G expanded with Maryland and UConn then Rutgers would have gotten that call from the ACC. Large land grant research university in the NYC TV market (it is and no matter how much you bitch and complain it's not going to change the fact that it is the only big school in that market.) who has been respectable in football the last decade. They were being taken by a F5 conference. This isn't USF, Temple or Cincy we're talking about here. Rutgers was getting a seat at the table.

[NJRedman]

I also do not want to see UConn back in the Big East. This conference should stay true to its new identity. I also like 10 members in the conference, but if forced to expand, they should stick with basketball schools who are in a position to make a long term commitment.

UConn basketball will be fine and will not decline. This year is not a good measure because they are rebuilding a national championship team that lost 3 starters. The current team has hit some bumps, but they will improve as the season progresses and will have a good shot at the tournament by season's end. Ollie is an excellent coach and he will have them peaking at the right time.

UConn is essentially where Louisville was in the old CUSA. With UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, Memphis, and SMU, this is still one of the top 8conferences. With strong OOC scheduling, they will have the SOS they need for the tournament and the marquis games they need to bring in fans.

Why in the world would you NOT want a four time NCAA championship school in the conference? A school with a big name in our key sport who has history with most of it's members and fits our natural foot print? I mean seriously, you lose more and more credibility with each post. Thats like saying you wouldn't like to have kentucky in the league if they decided to drop football and focus purely on BBall. It's a very stupid thing to say. If you like this league and want it to succeed then you should want it's next expansion members (It's just a matter of time before we expand, maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but we will expand someday) to be the best possible programs we can add. You're gung ho on BYU but you don't want UConn.

[Bill Marsh]

I also do not want to see UConn back in the Big East. This conference should stay true to its new identity. I also like 10 members in the conference, but if forced to expand, they should stick with basketball schools who are in a position to make a long term commitment.

UConn basketball will be fine and will not decline. This year is not a good measure because they are rebuilding a national championship team that lost 3 starters. The current team has hit some bumps, but they will improve as the season progresses and will have a good shot at the tournament by season's end. Ollie is an excellent coach and he will have them peaking at the right time.

UConn is essentially where Louisville was in the old CUSA. With UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, Memphis, and SMU, this is still one of the top 8conferences. With strong OOC scheduling, they will have the SOS they need for the tournament and the marquis games they need to bring in fans.

Why in the world would you NOT want a four time NCAA championship school in the conference? A school with a big name in our key sport who has history with most of it's members and fits our natural foot print? I mean seriously, you lose more and more credibility with each post. Thats like saying you wouldn't like to have kentucky in the league if they decided to drop football and focus purely on BBall. It's a very stupid thing to say. If you like this league and want it to succeed then you should want it's next expansion members (It's just a matter of time before we expand, maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but we will expand someday) to be the best possible programs we can add. You're gung ho on BYU but you don't want UConn.

You're the one who's losing credibility when you hypothesize that UConn is dropping football. I live in CT near UConn and you don't. You have no clue as to what's happening at UConn. They are in this for the long haul. You can have fun with your day dreams about UConn becoming available as a basketball-only school, but that's simply being unrealistic and totally uninformed.

I'm not gung ho about BYU. I'm gung ho about Gonzaga. I suggested BYU as a travel partner for Gonzaga, based on the idea that they have a long term commitment to football independence. In that sense, they are similar. To Notre Dame. When I suggested BYU, I also said that I would want assurances from them that they were in fact committed to football independence. If you're going to quote me, a full context of what I said would be helpful.

[billyjack]

Separate from whether or not UConn keeps or drops football...

I wrote on that other freak-a-zoid board that focuses on football, that if the B1G or ACC wanted to get the inside track on NY City, then they should invite UConn. After a couple of additional pages, someone dismissed the need for either conference to "get NYC" (though threads upon threads have been devoted to gaining NYC attention), and then BC and UConn fans started bickering for 8 pages.

Anyway, UConn, as Bill M pointed out (as this has been repeated a bunch of times) has good intangibles that the ACC and B1G crowd has either dismissed or overlooked or has no idea about.

Those good UConn intangibles, again, include:
- full devotion of the state and almost all the entire fan base in the state of Connecticut.
---> this is completely opposite of what UMass has to endure, which gets neglected by the Mass gov't, and has other schools and pro teams to compete for eyeballs with.

- lack of any other school in the state that could compete with UConn.
---> there is no PC, BC, Seton Hall, Villanova, or any urban school that could steal eyeballs from UConn... only Fairfield, Sacred Heart, and Quinnipiac...?

- a ton of money, I mean some of the richest people in the country or continent, living in SW Connecticut... Greenwich, Westport, Southport, etc... insane amounts of wealth... not to mention NW Connecticut... Litchfield, etc... So 3.6 million residents, but an enormous amount of money, advertising potential, etc.

Other thoughts...

- Gotta love the SEC and ACC fans (on the insane CSN website) who criticize UConn for not pumping as much money into their football as possible... the state of Connecticut pays way more to Washington than they take in... at the same time, SEC and ACC states, for the most part, get more back from Washington than they pay out. So these fans' schools basically use Connecticut's money to subsidize their corrupt football programs.

- UConn joining the ACC, to me, would be much more of a threat to our Metro-NY eyeballs that any of the other schemes they've drawn up. The Barclays Brooklyn ACC Tourney is not a threat. Inviting Pitt does nothing to help the ACC gain NYC. The Syracuse invitation gained a just a little if anything. The combination of Syracuse with UConn, though, could possibly make some NYC inroads. Luckily, enough Syracuse fans convinced the ACC brass that they alone could deliver NYC.

[NJRedman]

I also do not want to see UConn back in the Big East. This conference should stay true to its new identity. I also like 10 members in the conference, but if forced to expand, they should stick with basketball schools who are in a position to make a long term commitment.

UConn basketball will be fine and will not decline. This year is not a good measure because they are rebuilding a national championship team that lost 3 starters. The current team has hit some bumps, but they will improve as the season progresses and will have a good shot at the tournament by season's end. Ollie is an excellent coach and he will have them peaking at the right time.

UConn is essentially where Louisville was in the old CUSA. With UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, Memphis, and SMU, this is still one of the top 8conferences. With strong OOC scheduling, they will have the SOS they need for the tournament and the marquis games they need to bring in fans.

Why in the world would you NOT want a four time NCAA championship school in the conference? A school with a big name in our key sport who has history with most of it's members and fits our natural foot print? I mean seriously, you lose more and more credibility with each post. Thats like saying you wouldn't like to have kentucky in the league if they decided to drop football and focus purely on BBall. It's a very stupid thing to say. If you like this league and want it to succeed then you should want it's next expansion members (It's just a matter of time before we expand, maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but we will expand someday) to be the best possible programs we can add. You're gung ho on BYU but you don't want UConn.

You're the one who's losing credibility when you hypothesize that UConn is dropping football. I live in CT near UConn and you don't. You have no clue as to what's happening at UConn. They are in this for the long haul. You can have fun with your day dreams about UConn becoming available as a basketball-only school, but that's simply being unrealistic and totally uninformed.

I'm not gung ho about BYU. I'm gung ho about Gonzaga. I suggested BYU as a travel partner for Gonzaga, based on the idea that they have a long term commitment to football independence. In that sense, they are similar. To Notre Dame. When I suggested BYU, I also said that I would want assurances from them that they were in fact committed to football independence. If you're going to quote me, a full context of what I said would be helpful.

You're an idiot. It's not about if they will or will not drop football, you said I DON'T WANT UCONN IN THE BIG EAST!!!!! Thats not saying i think they will drop FB or they wont drop FB. Thats you saying YOU DON'T WANT THEM REGARDLESS!!! I know critical thinking is hard for you but this isn't very hard and no one else is going to agree with you about that. Certainly not the presidents because the day UConn says they are dropping or deemphisizing FB the presidents of the BE will be on the phone offering them a spot. Who knows what the school will actually do but if they are available you'd be an idiot not to want them.

Well i live closer to BYU than you so I can say they will accept any F5 offer that comes their way. They are NOT like ND because they are NOT considered a F5 school like ND is, they are considered a G5 school. They would make a mountain of more money and get a ton of more exposure playing in a F5 conference and your lack of knowledge about anything sports shows that you don't understand college FB or college sports realignment.

Please tell us all again how BYU who is making 1.3-1.5 mil per home game a season from their ESPN deal would turn down the Big XII who is currently handing out 20 mil a school a year just for the TV contract pay outs and don't take into account the playoff money. Tell us all how they are happier playing Army and idaho in November because they can't schedule anyone that late because of the conference schedules of 99% of every other FBS school? The fact that it has been so hard to schedule late season games for independents that Notre Dame had to strike a deal with the ACC to make it easier on them to get quality opponents late in the year. Yeah, you're right. BYU doesn't want any part of that money, or the playoff or playing quality opponents. Like I said previously, you're an idiot who doesn't understand colligate sports and your opinions are are as valued as the Russian ruble.

[billyjack]

Gotta say, Bill Marsh and NJRedman are 2 of my favorite posters, so I'm enjoying this Holy Land sparring.

I feel like Charlie Sheen in Platoon... pulled between Barnes and Elias... and I'm gonna say Bill M is the Willem Dafoe character, and Redman is Tom Berenger...

[NJRedman]

I wrote on that other freak-a-zoid board that focuses on football, that if the B1G or ACC wanted to get the inside track on NY City, then they should invite UConn. After a couple of additional pages, someone dismissed the need for either conference to "get NYC" (though threads upon threads have been devoted to gaining NYC attention), and then BC and UConn fans started bickering for 8 pages.

Anyway, UConn, as Bill M pointed out (as this has been repeated a bunch of times) has good intangibles that the ACC and B1G crowd has either dismissed or overlooked or has no idea about.

Those good UConn intangibles, again, include:
- full devotion of the state and almost all the entire fan base in the state of Connecticut.
---> this is completely opposite of what UMass has to endure, which gets neglected by the Mass gov't, and has other schools and pro teams to compete for eyeballs with.

- lack of any other school in the state that could compete with UConn.
---> there is no PC, BC, Seton Hall, Villanova, or any urban school that could steal eyeballs from UConn... only Fairfield, Sacred Heart, and Quinnipiac...?

- a ton of money, I mean some of the richest people in the country or continent, living in SW Connecticut... Greenwich, Westport, Southport, etc... insane amounts of wealth... not to mention NW Connecticut... Litchfield, etc... So 3.6 million residents, but an enormous amount of money, advertising potential, etc.

Other thoughts...

- Gotta love the SEC and ACC fans (on the insane CSN website) who criticize UConn for not pumping as much money into their football as possible... the state of Connecticut pays way more to Washington than they take in... at the same time, SEC and ACC states, for the most part, get more back from Washington than they pay out. So these fans' schools basically use Connecticut's money to subsidize their corrupt football programs.

- UConn joining the ACC, to me, would be much more of a threat to our Metro-NY eyeballs that any of the other schemes they've drawn up. The Barclays Brooklyn ACC Tourney is not a threat. Inviting Pitt does nothing to help the ACC gain NYC. The Syracuse invitation gained a just a little if anything. The combination of Syracuse with UConn, though, could possibly make some NYC inroads. Luckily, enough Syracuse fans convinced the ACC brass that they alone could deliver NYC.

There is a ton of money in CT, but most of those people didn't come from CT and didn't go to UConn. Just like NJ, the rich of NYC move to those two states as well as Westchester NY to live in the 'burbs. A lot of them are transplants from other areas or if they are local went to different schools with a lot of Ivy and B1G influence. So while there is money in the state it doesn't mean that money will flow into UConn athletics. A lot of money is in NJ too but it hasn't flowed from those folks into Rutgers coffers.

I agree with the idea that an ACC with Uconn and Cuse int he fold could challenge our hold on NYC but thankfully it looks like they have little interest in adding UConn. The FB schools of the ACC have been pushing to reinforce that side of the conference since the BBall is already strong. So unless UConn can start dominating the AAC we should be fine. If the ACC is looking for a 16th school if ND joins full time don't be shocked in Cincy gets the nod. Good FB program with history with some of those schools and close proximity to UofL. The ACC already went midwest with UofL and ND so thats not that big of a deal and if they can stick it to the Big XII one more time by snatching another expansion prospect out from under them then all the better.

[NJRedman]

Gotta say, Bill Marsh and NJRedman are 2 of my favorite posters, so I'm enjoying this Holy Land sparring.

I feel like Charlie Sheen in Platoon... pulled between Barnes and Elias... and I'm gonna say Bill M is the Willem Dafoe character, and Redman is Tom Berenger...

Hahaha wait, how am I the bad guy?

[billyjack]

Gotta say, Bill Marsh and NJRedman are 2 of my favorite posters, so I'm enjoying this Holy Land sparring.

I feel like Charlie Sheen in Platoon... pulled between Barnes and Elias... and I'm gonna say Bill M is the Willem Dafoe character, and Redman is Tom Berenger...

Hahaha wait, how am I the bad guy?

Heh... more exclamation points means you are more Berenger-like...

[NJRedman]

Gotta say, Bill Marsh and NJRedman are 2 of my favorite posters, so I'm enjoying this Holy Land sparring.

I feel like Charlie Sheen in Platoon... pulled between Barnes and Elias... and I'm gonna say Bill M is the Willem Dafoe character, and Redman is Tom Berenger...

Hahaha wait, how am I the bad guy?

Heh... more exclamation points means you are more Berenger-like...

Yeah, but i'm the more rational one. Also Defoe screamed quite a lot if you recall.



"BillyJack why the f--- didn't you do something?"

"I don't know what the f--- you're talking about Redman."