Conference Realignment Thread v. 2016

[NJRedman]

If the American loses Houston, Memphis and Cincinnati, does it really matter?
2 were in C-USA three years ago, and the other was okay, but c'mon, Cincinnati is not enough of a player to collapse a conference.

UConn should just continue on for now and try to build the conference up.

Add UMass, Army football, and Rice. Academic prestige rises, and you can help grown some programs and re-energize some old rivalries.

12 in football.
10 in hoops.

Try to improve the conference instead of looking to bail.

Academics bring no new money in though, getting the access bowl bid does. So it would make sense to get the best FB schools out there. Adding 3 terrible FB teams is in my humble opinion would be a disaster.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

If a Public university becomes a member of the Big East, the Public university’s copies of Minutes of important meetings (or excerpts thereof) may be subject to Freedom of Information requests, depending on the relevant legislature of the particular State in question. In Connecticut, the relevant legislature is 31 pages long, is complex, and its implementation has been the subject of numerous State Court challenges.

State of Connecticut - Freedom of Information Commission

THE CONNECTICUT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AS CODIFIED IN CHAPTER 14 OF CONNECTICUT GENERAL STATUTES (INCLUDING 2016 AMENDMENTS)

I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. You can ask for emails and other documents. A face to face meeting isn't covered under that.

A search of relevant articles suggests otherwise...

FOI Commission: UConn Violated Law With Closed-Door Budget Meeting - Hartford Courant - February 24, 2016

The Courant filed its complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission in July, and Courant reporter Matthew Kauffman argued the case before an FOI hearing officer last fall. The hearing officer ruled against the university and her report was accepted by the Commission.

At Wednesday's hearing and in a legal brief, UConn's attorney asked the Commission to reject the proposed decision and offered an unusual compromise in its place. UConn offered to admit that a portion of the executive session violated the Freedom of Information Act and offered to create minutes of the meeting – which the lawyer said eliminated the need for the Commission to make any specific conclusions of law about whether budget data could be withheld. The Courant opposed the proposal and it was rejected by the Commission.

In her Jan. 26 decision, hearing officer Lisa Fein Siegel wrote that UConn "sought to avoid having trustees ask sensitive questions in public, such as questions about eliminating academic programs or certain sports programs, reducing financial aid, or restructuring employee benefits, so that such questions would not 'become something that affects the reputation of the university.' "

Siegel called on UConn to create minutes of the closed-door meeting to "disclose what transpired ... to the same degree as would have been revealed by conducting the session in public."

I have no interest in arguing the specifics concerning the disclosure of Minutes of important meetings, other than to note that face to face meetings (and Minutes thereof) do not receive a blanket exemption from FOI requests in Connecticut.

The general points which I was attempting to convey are that state-run universities are legally required to publicly disclose far more information than private universities, and that decisions to withhold requested information are frequently challenged by the press.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Unlike the secretive Big East AGM, the American Athletic Conference issued an official press release at their AGM, and it was featured in an Associated Press article published in the New York Times:

COMMISSIONER ARESCO'S REMARKS FROM #AMERICANKICKOFF – American Athletic Conference – August 2, 2016

Media Day Central

NEWPORT, R.I. – American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco delivered the following remarks to introduce Tuesday’s portion of The American’s Summer Kickoff and Media Days at the Hyatt Regency Newport.

American Athletic Conference Prepares for Big 12's Expansion – AP/New York Times – August 2, 2016

NEWPORT, R.I. — Everybody in the American Athletic Conference is prepared for the storm. Publicly, nobody is panicking.

The AAC held its annual gathering in New England to eat lobster, kick off its fourth football season and start talking about what happens if the conference loses members to Big 12 expansion.

"I cannot stand here this morning and ignore the recent Big 12 news regarding realignment," Commissioner Mike Aresco said during his State of the Conference address Tuesday. "Although I do want to address it at the outset, I'm not going to dwell on it."

The Big 12 offers a chance for two or maybe even four schools access to the pot of gold that comes with Power Five inclusion. And most of the 12 schools in the American have expressed interest either publicly or privately in joining. There are no secrets here.

Aresco said contingency plans to deal with possible departures have been discussed. He would not give details, but said the league has considered that it could lose as many as four members, dropping membership to eight.

"All things considered I think we'd like to be back at 12 if we lose some schools because it gives you more (television) inventory," Aresco said. The American is halfway through a six-year television deal with ESPN.

Read on . . .

[BEX]

I wouldn't call the Big East AGM "secretive". It was a private meeting. All their members were there and were under no obligation to discuss League Business with anyone other than among themselves. If you had a meeting and were developing strategy for your business, why would you want to share it with the world when you didn't have to?

[whiteandblue77]

Tha

I wouldn't call the Big East AGM "secretive". It was a private meeting. All their members were there and were under no obligation to discuss League Business with anyone other than among themselves. If you had a meeting and were developing strategy for your business, why would you want to share it with the world when you didn't have to?

... and because we're all private and in one of the richest basketball conference, how could we ever be separated from the Football 5 (or 4 or 3 or whatever happens in the future), as we can easily match whatever they are paying their athletes and join them in any deal I would think, right?

I'm having trouble finding a list of the wealthiest conferences using only Men's basketball revenue

Forbes did a nice report in 2011 and the BE was first wish they would do an updated one...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney ... 9d36946558

[NJRedman]

If a Public university becomes a member of the Big East, the Public university’s copies of Minutes of important meetings (or excerpts thereof) may be subject to Freedom of Information requests, depending on the relevant legislature of the particular State in question. In Connecticut, the relevant legislature is 31 pages long, is complex, and its implementation has been the subject of numerous State Court challenges.

State of Connecticut - Freedom of Information Commission

THE CONNECTICUT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AS CODIFIED IN CHAPTER 14 OF CONNECTICUT GENERAL STATUTES (INCLUDING 2016 AMENDMENTS)

I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. You can ask for emails and other documents. A face to face meeting isn't covered under that.

A search of relevant articles suggests otherwise...

FOI Commission: UConn Violated Law With Closed-Door Budget Meeting - Hartford Courant - February 24, 2016

The Courant filed its complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission in July, and Courant reporter Matthew Kauffman argued the case before an FOI hearing officer last fall. The hearing officer ruled against the university and her report was accepted by the Commission.

At Wednesday's hearing and in a legal brief, UConn's attorney asked the Commission to reject the proposed decision and offered an unusual compromise in its place. UConn offered to admit that a portion of the executive session violated the Freedom of Information Act and offered to create minutes of the meeting – which the lawyer said eliminated the need for the Commission to make any specific conclusions of law about whether budget data could be withheld. The Courant opposed the proposal and it was rejected by the Commission.

In her Jan. 26 decision, hearing officer Lisa Fein Siegel wrote that UConn "sought to avoid having trustees ask sensitive questions in public, such as questions about eliminating academic programs or certain sports programs, reducing financial aid, or restructuring employee benefits, so that such questions would not 'become something that affects the reputation of the university.' "

Siegel called on UConn to create minutes of the closed-door meeting to "disclose what transpired ... to the same degree as would have been revealed by conducting the session in public."

I have no interest in arguing the specifics concerning the disclosure of Minutes of important meetings, other than to note that face to face meetings (and Minutes thereof) do not receive a blanket exemption from FOI requests in Connecticut.

The general points which I was attempting to convey are that state-run universities are legally required to publicly disclose far more information than private universities, and that decisions to withhold requested information are frequently challenged by the press.

Thats great, but it doesn't mean squat. UConn is worth 100 times more to the Big East than Dayton or any other candidate. FOI or not, they make all of us more money. They help our RPI, they help our recruiting, they help sell out MSG every year, they help us in the TV negotiations, they help us earn more NCAA Tourny money, they help us keep a seat at the big boy table. No other candidate could even come close to comparing themselves to UConn and thats not up for debate.

[pki1998]

The idea that a FOI request would stop us from adding UConn is absurd. So the press can get our bylaws, and our meeting minutes. Who cares? Meeting minutes can be as vague as the conference wants them. For instance, on expansion you could write something like “The league has considered expansion and has determined at this time expansion is not appropriate, the league will consider expansion again at a later date.” That will tell you absolutely nothing.

Now let’s consider what UConn brings to the Big East.
1) Without a doubt they are the best men’s basketball program not in the Big East or a Football Five conference. There is not a realistic expansion candidate that comes close to bringing what UConn does. They are the only expansion candidate that will actually increase the prestige of Big East Basketball
2) Their women’s basketball program is the best in the country. I personally don’t follow the ladies game, but they are a team that actually makes money
3) In terms of media markets, they deliver the entire state of Connecticut. Which should help in the NYC market. I’m not sure if it will help us get a boost in other markets such as Boston, but I would guess it would.
4) The core of the Big East (The Eastern Five Schools) get to bring back a long time conference mate. While nothing has helped get rid of the “New” in front of Big East more than Villanova winning the title, adding UConn would help get rid of this notion. After all we would have 6 of the original 8 members.
5) The risk of not selling out MSG for the tourney goes way down if we can add a school like UConn, their fans used to show up for it in the past, I have to imagine that will do it again.
6) We could add then and still maintain round robin play

Negatives of them joining the Big East
1) They will leave the second the B1G, ACC, or SEC gives an offer. This is true, let’s face it though, wouldn’t any of our teams leave if the ACC wanted them to go to 14 football / 16 all sports? The fact is, we want programs that other conferences would want. Otherwise let’s add Canisus, no one will ever try to steal them from us.
2) FOI request – As stated above, Who cares?

Even if you disagree with my positives, and believe there are more negatives for them joining the Big East, there is one thing that we must consider. UConn is only going to be looking for a home if the following items hold true
1) UConn is stuck in the AAC that has loss the better basketball programs. Say the Big Twelve takes, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston, and one other AAC school. The conference is down to 8 Football Members and 7 Olympic Sport Members. The AAC
2) The AAC focus on adding “football schools” Probably from CUSA…. Nothing there even remotely excites Temple and UCONN. With only 7 Olympic Member, they can block any add (I assume that it takes 75% approval to invite someone in). The other AAC Schools are forced to allow Temple and UCONN (And likely Navy) to choose to exit they league without penalty, or at least a significantly decreased penalty.
3) Temple and UConn unable to find homes in the Power 5 choose to park their football in a G5 Conference, or go independent.

In that scenario, I am sure that both Temple and UConn would prefer membership in the Big East. But if we decline both, their only option is to join the A-10. An A-10 featuring Temple, UConn, Dayton, VCU, Rhode Island, and Saint Joe’s. is going to be a real strong basketball league. No doubt that the Big East is still better, but the GAAP between the Big East and A-10 would get much smaller. Conference expansion is about making yourself stronger, at the expense of your competition. Allowing the ACC to add Temple and UConn would be foolish. You can let Temple go, but allowing UConn to strengthen the A-10 would be foolish.

If it was up to me, and UConn and Temple were available. We would add UConn, Temple, VCU and either Dayton or Saint Louis to get to 14 like the other power conferences.

[hortle]

Are there any downsides to adding UCONN with the general assumption that an invite from the big ten or ACC immediately pulls them away? Its no guarantee an invite from those conferences even comes in the foreseeable future. They just elevate everything from a basketball standpoint. They make the conference schedule more challenging and better statistically for tournament odds. They elevate recruiting for all the other schools. The only scenario I see them hurting us long term with a departure is if we negotiate a new tv contract while they're part of our conference, then leave shortly thereafter.

[DeltaV]

If it was up to me, and UConn and Temple were available. We would add UConn, Temple, VCU and either Dayton or Saint Louis to get to 14 like the other power conferences.

The big if...is if UConn is available. And I really doubt that they are. They're going to keep their football in the best place possible, until there is absolutely no way that they can get a P5 invite (and I believe that they will eventually be #16 in the ACC). I would bet that they would turn down an offer to join the Big East right now if it came.

And Temple? Really? They're basically a commuter school, and get us nothing. They don't carry Philly, they're not academically rigorous, and they don't fit the profile of the conference. I'd take St. Blows over Temple (and no expansion wins easily over the Hawk). VCU is probably the only public school I would consider as a realistic match; I like the idea of pushing south closer to the heart of the ACC (all those rumbles of the BIG and SEC wanting into Virginia and North Carolina must be for good reason...and because of that I still think Davidson should at least be considered as well).

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

I wouldn't call the Big East AGM "secretive". It was a private meeting.

Fair point. "unpublicized" would have been a better word choice on my part.

All their members were there and were under no obligation to discuss League Business with anyone other than among themselves. If you had a meeting and were developing strategy for your business, why would you want to share it with the world when you didn't have to?

I wouldn’t. The Presidents and Athletic Directors of the Big East (and Ivy League) have the luxury of complete autonomy in deciding among themselves what information they want (and do not want) in the public domain. It is an enviable luxury which will not be given away without all due consideration.

The idea that a FOI request would stop us from adding UConn is absurd. So the press can get our bylaws, and our meeting minutes. Who cares?

The Presidents and Athletic Directors of the Big East schools. By statute, UConn is required to disclose far more information than just its bylaws and meeting minutes. And the goalposts are getting moved every year, with more and more disclosure being required by the State of Connecticut legislature.

UConn Foundation Says 'Transparency' Bills Would Chill Donors – Harford Courant – February 26, 2016

Representatives of the University of Connecticut Foundation made an impassioned argument at a legislative hearing Thursday that any law forcing them to open their records to the public — even if donors' name are excluded — would impede their efforts to raise money.

Daniel Toscano, a member of the foundation board and a donor, said the legislation under consideration, which would make the foundation subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, "will most definitely have a chilling effect on the philanthropy that is essential to building and maintaining a top-notch flagship university."

"As someone who has given significantly to UConn for more than a decade, I can attest to the fact that treating the foundation like a state agency will deter people like me from giving. Even if that is not your intention, I can assure you that it will be perceived very negatively by the very people you want and need to support this great institution."

Bill Would Require UConn Foundation to Reveal Donor Names – Connecticut Journal-Inquirer - April 23, 2016

A bill that would require more public disclosure from the University of Connecticut Foundation awaits action by the House after clearing the Senate earlier this week. The Senate approved the bill 27-8, but not before amending the proposal to remove the Connecticut State College and University system from having to comply.

If approved, the bill would require the UConn Foundation, the school’s nonprofit fundraising arm, to undergo a second audit and release the final report, and to disclose the name of everyone who donates beginning July 1, 2017.

No one can say with any certainty what additional information UConn will be required to publicly disclose in the future.

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UConn is worth 100 times more to the Big East than Dayton or any other candidate.

Ryan Brewer disagrees.

Interesting Wall Street Journal article on the value of college basketball teams ... How Much Is Your College Basketball Team Worth?

Brewer studied 175 of Division I’s 351 teams, accounting for those in major conferences and others that have made the tournament in recent years. Brewer analyzed each program’s revenues and expenses and made cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments and growth projections to calculate what a college team would be worth on the open market, if it could be bought and sold like a professional franchise.


11 – Connecticut ($ 137,900,000)
24 – Dayton ($ 80,600,000)
26 – Xavier ($ 78,100,000)
35 – Marquette ($ 59,600,000)
37 – St. John’s ($ 55,000,000)
51 – DePaul ($ 42,900,000)
52 – Georgetown($ 42,200,000)
54 – Villanova ($ 40,400,000)
73 – Providence ($ 29,700,000)
78 – Creighton ($ 28,100,000)
79 – Seton Hall ($ 27,700,000)
93 – Butler ($ 20,200,000)
96 – Saint Louis ($ 18,600,000)