AAC & Grant-of-Rights

[upstater]

no need to get personal. but you're right, i only have 2 bachelor and 2 graduate degrees, so this debate is much too esoteric for my tiny brain to comprehend.

so while we're at it, can you please explain why Tulsa and ECSU are such desirable conference affiliates, based on an assessment of their "Full University research and the multiplier effect on things beyond a basketball hoop."

is it because of their "major regional research (READ Medical plus other things)"? as you so eloquently stated.

This has already been stated multiple times.

Going to the BE and getting rid of football kills all hope for a P5 invite.
That is where UConn wants to be, among similar schools to itself.

That being said, UConn has more in common with Cincy and UCF than it does with the BE schools. In fact, Tulsa has more in common with Creighton and Butler than it does with UConn!

 

[Pudge]

Pfft

You still cannot grasp the basics of the comparable argument. BTW ... the prior history of apples and oranges is why the earlier iteration of the Big East was contentious and ended up with the Catholic framework.

Yes. Your degrees proved your point.

Until further notice, we are in the AAC because of the rising Higher Ed research universities. The addition of ECU and Memphis be damned. I think we add Buffalo (the flagship SUNY) before the BE adds a university like us. And Rowan University before we add Fordham.

 

[zls44]

“that’s a really big East you got there”

#WideEast

 

[Fishy]

If UConn ever signs a grant of rights in the American, people need to be fired. The conference has zero leverage over any school that would force them to submit to a GOR against their will.

No one should sign a GOR in this conference. No one. There’s no conference network that requires the commitment of the schools and there is no financial incentive to give up their right to leave the conference for a better deal.

Whatever deal the conference gets should not be affected by the lack of a GOR. Like we have now, there can be a reduction clause that reduces payments should certain schools leave.

This conference is an amalgam of dissimilar schools without even the common thread of geography to bind them. I don’t want to hear anything to the contrary - everyone is here because it’s the best they could do. It’s the best of the “other” conferences.

 

[Hoophound]

Nobody cares about USF, UCF etc. The idea that a good UCF football team is enough for a P5 invite shows you how fast these things can change. Like 4 years ago they were terrible. They have nothing else to offer beyond football but I don’t think you’ll see directionals in the P5 anyway.

UConn basketball is worth more than any of those schools’ football teams. It is just basic math to a network. That’s why we look better than these other schools when the accountants come into the discussion. That’s also why this is all posturing. UConn is critical to the AAC.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Absolutely. There however was one leak that’s sure to get under everyone’s skin: UConn would not be included in AAC group of schools receiving a larger proportion of media dollars due to our lack of current P5 appeal (those most likely to bolt prior to the GOR expiring). Those extra dollars would be tagged for Cincinnati, Memphis, UCF, Houston, and UCF. That’s a non-negotiable for UConn. That kind of slight is grounds for an exit.

It sounds like ESPN is willing to pay more if the AAC can provide a warranty (through a GOR) on the value of the underlying content. Regardless of our recent struggles in football, UConn still represents a major share of the value of the conference to ESPN because of basketball. And even if we’re not an immediate threat to exit to the P5, we’re probably the biggest threat to leave the American in the next few years. If we were to bolt for the Big East, that hurts ESPN worse than losing Houston.

If ESPN is offering extra money for 10-year commitments from certain AAC schools, there’s no way we aren’t on that list. ESPN likes to screw us, but they like to make money doing it. Gratuitously chasing us into the arms of the Big East and Fox is not a profitable strategy for them.

 

[Fishy]

Pfft

You still cannot grasp the basics of the comparable argument. BTW ... the prior history of apples and oranges is why the earlier iteration of the Big East was contentious and ended up with the Catholic framework.

Yes. Your degrees proved your point.

Until further notice, we are in the AAC because of the rising Higher Ed research universities. The addition of ECU and Memphis be damned. I think we add Buffalo (the flagship SUNY) before the BE adds a university like us. And Rowan University before we add Fordham.

You’re not right.

UConn will be in the Big East for a million zillion years before Buffalo is invited to the American.

The academic component of this conference is non-existent.

 

[Ha Who]

If UConn ever signs a grant of rights in the American, people need to be fired. The conference has zero leverage over any school that would force them to submit to a GOR against their will.

No one should sign a GOR in this conference. No one. There’s no conference network that requires the commitment of the schools and there is no financial incentive to give up their right to leave the conference for a better deal.

Whatever deal the conference gets should not be affected by the lack of a GOR. Like we have now, there can be a reduction clause that reduces payments should certain schools leave.

This conference is an amalgam of dissimilar schools without even the common thread of geography to bind them. I don’t want to hear anything to the contrary - everyone is here because it’s the best they could do. It’s the best of the “other” conferences.

Thank you for salvaging this thread

 

[upstater]

You’re not right.

UConn will be in the Big East for a million zillion years before Buffalo is invited to the American.

The academic component of this conference is non-existent.

I think you guys are actually agreeing. Neither stands even a small chance of happening. He was being hyperbolic (which I thought was obvious when he mentioned Rowan University).

 

[Bobol]

Does anyone know when the current media contracts for the following conferences expire:
ACC
AAC
Big East
Big 10
Big 12
?

Thanks.

 

[xclamations]

If we end up having to go back to the Big East, and gonzaga isn't added because its a little unrealistic, i wouldn't mind them adding us and either 1 of Wichita st, Davidson, & VCU. Or all 4. I don't see the point of staying AAC if the top football teams would get the most cake. And they want out anyway. Not that we don't, but it doesn't matter as much because the bad football

 

[zls44]

Pfft

You still cannot grasp the basics of the comparable argument. BTW ... the prior history of apples and oranges is why the earlier iteration of the Big East was contentious and ended up with the Catholic framework.

BOW before the MASSIVE BRAIN at work HERE

 

[zls44]

ESPN has a majority of the rights for all of the conferences bandied about except the Big East. Which it has none of.

So, if ESPN wants a GOR to ensure it doesn't lose the rights to a school's games, its got to be to the Big East.

Now, which school of the group do you think the Big East wants. UCF or UConn?

 

[zls44]

Does anyone know when the current media contracts for the following conferences expire:
ACC
AAC
Big East
Big 10
Big 12
?

Thanks.

ACC - Summer 2036
AAC - Summer 2020
Big East - Summer 2025
Big 10- Summer 2026 (BTN Summer 2032)
Big 12 - Summer 2025

 

[conorg223]

Does anyone know when the current media contracts for the following conferences expire:
ACC
AAC
Big East
Big 10
Big 12
?

Thanks.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Department rankings + research show it is. It falls in the rankings because of its mission, which is to serve the public.

Cincinnati has 46,000 students. It's a public school. But it gives more support to faculty than Villanova does and so it attracts better faculty, who produce more, which leads to higher rankings in the metrics that look at such things.

USNews just can't account for the fact that 46,000 students will create a difference in the admission standards. It does this repeatedly. There are AAU schools ranked in the 100-200 level for heaven's sake. Meanwhile, the AAU takes a fine-toothed comb and looks at research/publication/citation of every faculty member of every department of every college of every prospective university. Their analysis is thorough--not an accident.

Yes, Kansas is one. State law (and their mission) requires that they accept every Kansas HS kid who hits certain GPA and other metrics. They then flunk out a bunch of those kids. The high acceptance rate, lower test scores and high flunk rate kill them in USNWR. Has nothing to do with quality of education for the ones who belong there.

 

[tcf15]

ESPN has a majority of the rights for all of the conferences bandied about except the Big East. Which it has none of.

So, if ESPN wants a GOR to ensure it doesn't lose the rights to a school's games, its got to be to the Big East.

Now, which school of the group do you think the Big East wants. UCF or UConn?

 

[polycom]

Nobody cares about USF, UCF etc. The idea that a good UCF football team is enough for a P5 invite shows you how fast these things can change. Like 4 years ago they were terrible. They have nothing else to offer beyond football but I don’t think you’ll see directionals in the P5 anyway.

UConn basketball is worth more than any of those schools’ football teams. It is just basic math to a network. That’s why we look better than these other schools when the accountants come into the discussion. That’s also why this is all posturing. UConn is critical to the AAC.

Yeah this is false.

 

[polycom]

If you don’t write $1M+ checks to UConn yearly and you're on the move basketball to the big east and drop football crowd... you need a new hobby. There is no money in going back to the big east for UConn. What would we do with all the money we’ve invested into football? Our hope in CR is UConn getting an invite from a major conference or the landscape of sports at UConn changes forever. Also to the people who are saying we should be like Michigan or UVA or UNC, you should travel to those schools and realize they aren’t culturally similar to UConn at all. Their alumni network run much better than UConn’s and is exponentially tighter than ours not to mention the endowments of those schools.

 

[Pudge]

You’re not right.

UConn will be in the Big East for a million zillion years before Buffalo is invited to the American.

The academic component of this conference is non-existent.

 

[Pudge]

You’re just encouraging the Big East buzzards.

We are not reversing into that collective. As currently constituted.

And I believe - watching Buffalo from a campus visit - you’re discounting something special happening in W NY. Academics PLUS AD plus enrollment marketing.

 

[Madmannsucks]

So IF they stay in the AAC since they have invested tens of millions on top of tens of millions in football, do we think they are just going to drop to FCS(because if you don't like the scores this year, as in independent, you can expect 10 more years like that, with zero leverage for quality opponents at home)....because those are the two options if they go back to the BE.

 

[zls44]

If you don’t write $1M+ checks to UConn yearly... you need a new hobby. There is no money in going back to the big east for UConn. What would we do with all the money we’ve invested into football? Our hope in CR is UConn getting an invite from a major conference or the landscape of sports at UConn changes forever. Also to the people who are saying we should be like Michigan or UVA or UNC, you should travel to those schools and realize they aren’t culturally similar to UConn at all. Their alumni network run much better than UConn’s and is exponentially tighter than ours not to mention the endowments of those schools.

This has an argument for keeping football and an argument for dropping it in the same paragraph

 

[JMick]

So IF they stay in the AAC since they have invested tens of millions on top of tens of millions in football, do we think they are just going to drop to FCS(because if you don't like the scores this year, as in independent, you can expect 10 more years like that, with zero leverage for quality opponents at home)....because those are the two options if they go back to the BE.

Unless we got a scheduling agreement with a conference or two and got a deal with fox for going to the big east. That's a pipe dream though.

 

[Fishy]

You’re just encouraging the Big East buzzards.

We are not reversing into that collective. As currently constituted.

And I believe - watching Buffalo from a campus visit - you’re discounting something special happening in W NY. Academics PLUS AD plus enrollment marketing.

The only thing keeping UConn out of the Big East is the need for a football home. We would be there tomorrow if someone like the MAC offered a spot.

Forget Buffalo. No one cares what they’re doing. If the conference ever expands, it will not be in New York.

They have zero chance of ever getting into the American unless half the conference leaves.