SJHooper wrote:Hoya Hoya Hoya wrote:Until UCONN drops to FCS this isn't even a debate
I don't care if their buyout is 1B to leave
This does not make sense to me. The WORST case scenario with UConn joining us (obviously if they do they will have to agree to a massive exit fee) is making tons of money and going back to the 10 we have now that we have succeeded with. So how again is this bad? The worst case is we get richer and they leave. How could you not take that? If they join us and we assume they leave in 8 years (or whenever), what is the downside? Recruiting? Lavin did just fine recruiting with SJ in the old Big East with UConn present. Having a public institution? So what? They play football? So? They either park it elsewhere, lower to FCS, or abandon it. They leave if P5 wants them? So what? We get tons of exit fee money and we are back where we started...which was great to begin with.
It seems to me the only reason Big East fans wouldn't want UConn is out of spite not logic. Who knows? Maybe they NEVER get accepted to the B1G in 8 yrs...maybe they never get into a P5 conference and drop football eventually. That would mean they stay long-term in the Big East. Much crazier things have happened. There is zero interest in college football in the Northeast unless it's a front-running fan i.e. Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and even then it's rare to see huge college football fans at all in the tri-state. You have to understand that these Texas schools do not want UConn football either.
Bill Marsh wrote:XU Dash, I'd appreciate any insights you might have on why states like CT are experiencing the budget crises they are. I know that NJ is going through the same thing.declines
I know that the problem is almost entirely on the revenue side. A major factor is the decline in gas prices with an accompanying loss of state gas tax revenues. I think there have also been losses on investments due to Wall Street declines. Beyond that, I'm at a loss.
Thoughts?
Bill Marsh wrote:Xudash wrote:Bill Marsh wrote:I agree that it will be a bumpy ride. They will have to pursue the same path as Louisville did for 22 years, the same path that TCU and Utah did for many years. You're certainly right that this is the choice they face.
My only point is that this can't be analyzed as though we're talking about a minor league sports franchise. UConn thinks of itself as a public Ivy and has been referred to as such in a number of publications. To continue to pursue that path of excellence they want to affiliate with other top tier public research universities. Those schools are almost entirely committed to excellence in major college athletics - including football. The B1G is the most explicit about how integral this is to their larger mission as a University. If you join the B1G, you're also admitted to its research arm, the CIC.
All of the analysis in this thread portraying The Big East as the best option focuses exclusively on the athletic and revenue side of the equation. But to understand where the university is headed, you have to think like a University president, not like an AD. The president is not concerned exclusively about athletics. She is concerned about the larger institution and how athletics fits into that picture, how athletics can help or hinder the accomplishment of institutional goals.
One more point about the state's fiscal health. I invite anyone here to read up on how Pittsburgh went from being a deteriorated mill town after losing steel jobs in the '70's and '80's to becoming one of the most livable and economically successful cities in America. They didn't just cut spending. They looked to the future, figured out what would be the jobs of the future, and planned how to bring those jobs to the city. The University of Pittsburgh played a big role in turning the city around. Pittsburgh rebuilt the local economy by investing in high tech and health care research and innovation. CT is looking to do the same thing for its economy with UConn and the Human Genome Project. UConn is an asset, not a drain. They must invest in UConn if it is going to lead the way out of their current fiscal problems. It would not be wise for them to let such an asset decline. And they know that at the Governor's office just as well as they do at the UConn president's office.
You're preaching to the choir when it comes to Pittsburgh. I lived there, too (was with Mellon for a number of years and then a Merrill Lynch sub, living in Upper St. Clair). What Pittsburgh did was extraordinary, as you pointed out, having been so heavily dependent on heavy industry/steel.
Connecticut has the luxury of having Yale fit into that development picture as well, I would think, but I certainly see where the state would point to its public flagship university to be a major economic driver for the future. With all that mentioned, and admitting that I haven't been close to it in a while now, the state otherwise seems to be making very bad decisions when it comes to economic policy that is focused on business retention and formation. They have to get ALL OF IT RIGHT in order to retain some of the neat new stuff they want to develop out of Storrs, or it will develop and then potentially drain out elsewhere.
p.s. I imagine a drive down or up the Merritt Parkway with the top down would be pretty nice right about now. I loved experiencing the fall season in New England, and the holiday season that followed it.
XU Dash, I'd appreciate any insights you might have on why states like CT are experiencing the budget crises they are. I know that NJ is going through the same thing.declines
I know that the problem is almost entirely on the revenue side. A major factor is the decline in gas prices with an accompanying loss of state gas tax revenues. I think there have also been losses on investments due to Wall Street declines. Beyond that, I'm at a loss.
Thoughts?
Xudash wrote:And then I see this:
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-big-12-expansion-1016-20161013-story.html
And we find a key answer to one question: how much Big East exit fee money do they have left coming to them:
The seven non-football schools from the conference were allowed to keep the Big East name and inherit Madison Square Garden as the host of their postseason men's basketball tournament. But the cost was profound. The schools left their former conference partners — UConn, South Florida and Cincinnati — with more than $100 million to share, but that money is drying up soon. UConn gets $5 million this year and next year before the payout ends.
Universities classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity"[edit]
There are 115 institutions that are classified as "R1: Research Universities (Highest research activity)" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.[2]
HoosierPal wrote:http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/10/14/big-12-expansion-unlikely
According to this SI article, Fox and ESPN might be paying the Big 12 NOT to expand. Wow. What a CF. The anticipated presser on Monday or Tuesday should be interesting.
HoosierPal wrote:http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/10/14/big-12-expansion-unlikely
According to this SI article, Fox and ESPN might be paying the Big 12 NOT to expand. Wow. What a CF. The anticipated presser on Monday or Tuesday should be interesting.
Xudash wrote:HoosierPal wrote:http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/10/14/big-12-expansion-unlikely
According to this SI article, Fox and ESPN might be paying the Big 12 NOT to expand. Wow. What a CF. The anticipated presser on Monday or Tuesday should be interesting.
May have been their end game all along.
It's no different with us not wanting to expand by drawing from the A10 well. They don't want to pull from the G5 well.
And they otherwise took advantage of a negotiating loophole.
The clock probably begins ticking on the Big 12 Conference beginning at 5PM Central on Monday.
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