UConn to the Big East? Rumors and Discussion Thread...

[NJRedman]

A couple of observations.
4. The 20 game round robin does not hurt our chances to get NCAA bids. Replacing dregs with UConn is a win for us. The committee has constantly shown they reward those teams that challenge themselves during the season. Thats why Gonzaga is the #4 one seed and Nova is the overall #1.

Maryland in 2014 finished 17-15 in the ACC. had the #10 SOS in the country. Do you know what that got them? Nothing- not even a NIT bid. So how does the committee reward teams like that? Like it or not, your win-loss record matters. Until the committee starts to take teams like Maryland in 2014, I think you are wrong.

Every year is different. Criteria isn't set in stone, do such and such and you get in outside of winning your conference tournament. Each year the criteria shifts. It's clear RPI and SOS matter. Wins against dregs aren't very valuable outside of the number of wins. There is no guarantee a 19-13 Maryland with RPI and SOS drop playing two 200+ RPI teams would have made the NCAA.

[crussomd]

I will repeat my previous statements that I think we should tread extremely carefully breaking up the all private school league we currently have. Unless presented with the perfect opportunity down the road after crazy realignment shakeouts (Duke, WF, ND) we should stay at 10. There is some merit to the argument to UCONN adding value to MSG and at renewal time for fox contract. However, they add instability even with a $50million exit fee and change our brand image. This should be considered carefully more than short term gain. Do you know what the best additions to the Big east would be? Gtown and St Johns being perennially good and tourney teams each year.

[NJRedman]

I will repeat my previous statements that I think we should tread extremely carefully breaking up the all private school league we currently have. Unless presented with the perfect opportunity down the road after crazy realignment shakeouts (Duke, WF, ND) we should stay at 10. There is some merit to the argument to UCONN adding value to MSG and at renewal time for fox contract. However, they add instability even with a $50million exit fee and change our brand image. This should be considered carefully more than short term gain. Do you know what the best additions to the Big east would be? Gtown and St Johns being perennially good and tourney teams each year.

Thats why you make them sign a grant of rights and not an exit fee.

[Dave]

A couple of observations.
4. The 20 game round robin does not hurt our chances to get NCAA bids. Replacing dregs with UConn is a win for us. The committee has constantly shown they reward those teams that challenge themselves during the season. Thats why Gonzaga is the #4 one seed and Nova is the overall #1.

Maryland in 2014 finished 17-15 in the ACC. had the #10 SOS in the country. Do you know what that got them? Nothing- not even a NIT bid. So how does the committee reward teams like that? Like it or not, your win-loss record matters. Until the committee starts to take teams like Maryland in 2014, I think you are wrong.

Every year is different. Criteria isn't set in stone, do such and such and you get in outside of winning your conference tournament. Each year the criteria shifts. It's clear RPI and SOS matter. Wins against dregs aren't very valuable outside of the number of wins. There is no guarantee a 19-13 Maryland with RPI and SOS drop playing two 200+ RPI teams would have made the NCAA.

Look at Cuse 06-07. 20+ wins. Weak SOS. They ended up in the NIT.

[gosports1]

am the only one from the original BE not interested in bringing UConn back? If they dropped FB , maybe. Id much rather see Stjohns return to prominence and PC,SJU and Georgetown become more appealing to the recruits heading to UConn

[GumbyDamnit!]

My $0.02...

1. I'm a big fan of adding UConn. Perhaps they'll fill that villain role in the BE. We're too nice with each other. We need to play teams we hate. It used to be Cuse for me in the oBE. Maybe it becomes UConn. Certainly their fans will help build that resentment soon enough.

2. BE FF's and NC's last 20 years: VU = 2/1, Butler = 2/0; G'town = 1/0, Marq. = 1/0 Total = 6/1 UConn = 5/4 by themselves. Add them and all of a sudden the BE has 3 of the last 6 NC's in conference.

3. Round robin needs to remain. Don't add a 12th and certainly not Dayton or St. Louis or Richmond.

4. Big exit fees.

5. MSG BET will be packed. UConn fans travel well.

6. Not going to lie... I miss the rivalry. There were some epic battles we had with them over the years (Kittles vs Ray Allen, Foye vs Rudy Gay, etc.) and you just can't whitewash them out of your mind as a fan. Just like now I'll always remember Hilliard's 3 at Hinkle 2 years ago, or getting Wragge'd by the Jays, or beating X for the BET Championship a couple years back.

7. Stever, for the life of me I'm struggling trying to figure out what you think is important for a team to make the tourney. In another thread you argued exhaustively about the importance of OOC SOS and how teams can't just schedule cupcakes and not expect it to bite them. Now you argue that replacing two cupcakes with a UConn is a bad idea. "Here's the thing" Stever...quality teams make the dance and questionable teams often don't and only have themselves to blame. If G'town or SHU or PC don't make the tourney this year, they're not going to bemoan that we added Creighton and Butler 4 years ago instead of SLU and UMass. Adding UConn is not going to hurt another team's chances. One of the only reasons Marq is still breathing on the bubble right now is b/c of their wins over Nova and CU. If Nova or CU wasn't in conference would that help or hurt Marq? More quality opponents also mean more chances to get quality wins.

Sign 'em up. Would love to start kicking their ass twice a year.

[NJRedman]

am the only one from the original BE not interested in bringing UConn back? If they dropped FB , maybe. Id much rather see Stjohns return to prominence and PC,SJU and Georgetown become more appealing to the recruits heading to UConn

Well the other teams return to prominence isn't reliant on who is or isn't in the conference. I want St. John's to compete against the best, win or lose. I'd love to start kicking their butts again. We were going toe to toe with them the last few years the old band was together.

[Michael in Raleigh]

I like the grant of rights idea.

Why isn't there already one in place? Is there any conference any team in this league would leave for? Is there any P5 league that would take a non football school (besides the ACC taking ND, who does have football independently)? It seems like this league is as stable as any in the country, so it might as well be cemented into place.

[Dave]

Counter to most of the comments here, I'd rather have a reasonable exit fee. Maybe $10M - $25M which is really high for basketball. I'm not sure a GOR is fully effective for the Big East.

The Big East does not sponsor football, so I don't know how we can claim a GOR on UConn football. Big East TV is $4.xM per year. Our FS1 deal is unprecedented. In the oBE there was always argument over the split in TV money between the football schools and basketball schools because the TV contracts were for bothe sports. The basketball schools had a smaller annual cut than our current deal.

So a GOR would be a gray area as a P5 contract would be for both Football and Basketball. We could argue the GOR value, but gray areas are not good for settlements. Would a GOR only be good for a basketball cut that would be valued as $4.xM per year or less.

When the C-7 exited the old Big East there was a $110M pool of funds to be distributed. The C-7 took $10M plus the Big East name plus the BET contract with MSG. The (soon to become AAC) kept $100M. There really wasn't an exit fee for us as we exercised a mass exit clause. WVU paid a $20M exit fee. Rutgers $11.5M. Pitt and Cuse $5M each. Ville $11M. That was with football, the higher value. Notre Dame's exit fee was $2.5M. I think the AAC currently has a $10M exit fee (includes football). Missouri and Texas A&M paid $12.5M each to exit the Big 12. This history is just for perspective.

If UConn exited for a P5 they would be getting like $30M a year from a new conference. I think a basketball GOR or exit fee must be reasonable with some type of market relevance to be fully enforceable. It would prevent UConn for leaving for any conference except a P5. This is just the reality of the food chain.

I don't think a GOR is a good fit for our situation, and a $50M exit fee that some have thrown around is just too unprecedented to be reasonable. Let's welcome home our UConn brothers. We left them, not the other way around.

[NJRedman]

Counter to most of the comments here, I'd rather have a reasonable exit fee. Maybe $10M - $25M which is really high for basketball. I'm not sure a GOR is fully effective for the Big East.

The Big East does not sponsor football, so I don't know how we can claim a GOR on UConn football. Big East TV is $4.xM per year. Our FS1 deal is unprecedented. In the oBE there was always argument over the split in TV money between the football schools and basketball schools because the TV contracts were for bothe sports. The basketball schools had a smaller annual cut than our current deal.

So a GOR would be a gray area as a P5 contract would be for both Football and Basketball. We could argue the GOR value, but gray areas are not good for settlements. Would a GOR only be good for a basketball cut that would be valued as $4.xM per year or less.

When the C-7 exited the old Big East there was a $110M pool of funds to be distributed. The C-7 took $10M plus the Big East name plus the BET contract with MSG. The (soon to become AAC) kept $100M. There really wasn't an exit fee for us as we exercised a mass exit clause. WVU paid a $20M exit fee. Rutgers $11.5M. Pitt and Cuse $5M each. Ville $11M. That was with football, the higher value. Notre Dame's exit fee was $2.5M. I think the AAC currently has a $10M exit fee (includes football). Missouri and Texas A&M paid $12.5M each to exit the Big 12. This history is just for perspective.

If UConn exited for a P5 they would be getting like $30M a year from a new conference. I think a basketball GOR or exit fee must be reasonable with some type of market relevance to be fully enforceable. It would prevent UConn for leaving for any conference except a P5. This is just the reality of the food chain.

I don't think a GOR is a good fit for our situation, and a $50M exit fee that some have thrown around is just too unprecedented to be reasonable. Let's welcome home our UConn brothers. We left them, not the other way around.

Yeah there is no grey area. They would sign away there BBall rights to the BE. If UConn comes that pretty much means they aren't playing FBS FB.

Even then if they don't they still can't just leave and break the GoR.