another read on : uconn's future

[husky99]

UConn can't afford sentiment
Journal Inquirer

 

[Vuce]

Good article, well said.

 

[ctchamps]

Article says it all. I still think the ACC is a lousy football conference however.

 

[EricLA]

Article says it all. I still think the ACC is a lousy football conference however.

i don't disagree that it will be the weakest of the 4 major conferences, but still better than what's left over in the big east...

 

[8893]

i don't disagree that it will be the weakest of the 4 major conferences, but still better than what's left over in the big east...

Yep. I'll gladly take the weakest of the four major football conferences in exchange for being in the undisputed strongest basketball conference. That actually suits our school quite well IMO.

 

[ctchamps]

i don't disagree that it will be the weakest of the 4 major conferences, but still better than what's left over in the big east...

That will only be the case if FSU and VT stay.

 

[EricLA]

Yep. I'll gladly take the weakest of the four major football conferences in exchange for being in the undisputed strongest basketball conference. That actually suits our school quite well IMO.

not even close. football rules. it drives the decisions for everyone. you may be happy with it, but most people would not.

 

[husky99]

Thought it was an interesting breakdown

 

[UconnDon]

That will only be the case if FSU and VT stay.

An alternative to the present thinking is for UConn to adopt the Villanova approach - continue with national excellence in basketball, and to enjoy interscholastic footbal at a lower level - eg., Army, Navy, Colgate, Ivies.

And why not??? We are a state-supported institution. The re-creation of UConn's football aims to attempt to participate in BCS competition is really unnecessary. BB supports itself, it's football that demands $$$ in order to compete on a national level. And football shares big money with some of those schools who do compete on that level. But, to whom is it necessary??

I'm sure the Villanova fans appreciate their brand of competitive football and do not need the agony of raising major funds to support the program's growth. We at UConn have no glorious history on the gridiron, and existed quite well competing with Maine, NH, etc. So why beat our brains out and create $$ angst to go somewhere that's totally unnecessary?

Maybe we should re-think about some of our extra-curricular ambitions at our state school.

 

[ctchamps]

An alternative to the present thinking is for UConn to adopt the Villanova approach - continue with national excellence in basketball, and to enjoy interscholastic footbal at a lower level - eg., Army, Navy, Colgate, Ivies.

And why not??? We are a state-supported institution. The re-creation of UConn's football aims to attempt to participate in BCS competition is really unnecessary. BB supports itself, it's football that demands $$$ in order to compete on a national level. And football shares big money with some of those schools who do compete on that level. But, to whom is it necessary??

I'm sure the Villanova fans appreciate their brand of competitive football and do not need the agony of raising major funds to support the program's growth. We at UConn have no glorious history on the gridiron, and existed quite well competing with Maine, NH, etc. So why beat our brains out and create $$ angst to go somewhere that's totally unnecessary?

Maybe we should re-think about some of our extra-curricular ambitions at our state school.

It may come down to this because all the other options have been exhausted. And I'm sure many people will consider this a defeat. It's not my first choice but I think the world suffers from a lot worse problems than this.

 

[Scalito]

My biggest fear is that we harm our basketball program in an attempt to salvage football. If the Big East splits, I'd rather go independent in football and stick with the basketball only schools than end up playing East Carolina and TCU twice a year.

 

[noeynox]

My biggest fear is that we harm our basketball program in an attempt to salvage football. If the Big East splits, I'd rather go independent in football and stick with the basketball only schools than end up playing East Carolina and TCU twice a year.

Your biggest fears will be realized if the "super 64" one day break away from the NCAA, and your left playing the likes of Butler in the final four.

 

[SAMCRO]

An alternative to the present thinking is for UConn to adopt the Villanova approach - continue with national excellence in basketball, and to enjoy interscholastic footbal at a lower level - eg., Army, Navy, Colgate, Ivies.

And why not??? We are a state-supported institution. The re-creation of UConn's football aims to attempt to participate in BCS competition is really unnecessary. BB supports itself, it's football that demands $$$ in order to compete on a national level. And football shares big money with some of those schools who do compete on that level. But, to whom is it necessary??

I'm sure the Villanova fans appreciate their brand of competitive football and do not need the agony of raising major funds to support the program's growth. We at UConn have no glorious history on the gridiron, and existed quite well competing with Maine, NH, etc. So why beat our brains out and create $$ angst to go somewhere that's totally unnecessary?

Maybe we should re-think about some of our extra-curricular ambitions at our state school.

Mods, can we add a "does not like this" option for each thread.

 

[freescooter]

Uconndon,

You are all wet. You can build and maintain a nationally relevent basketball program without a good conference. Butler, Gonzaga, are two examples. That is far more difficult with football. Even if you're good, Texas Christian and Bosie St are examples, you end up getting shunted aside in the polls and the chase for the national championship. And we're not going back to 1AA football. Jeez. I have to wonder if you have any clue as to what is going on. Heck even UMass is upgrading, to the MAC, because they've concluded that 1AA is a loser and 1A, even at the MAC level is more appropriate for their alumni and for the university's prestige. And unless it is otherwise impossible, we aren't staying with the basketball schools...The Villanova example is another which misses the point. UCONN is a very different animal than Villanova institutionally. We are a major national research university. They are a mid-sized to small, primarily undergraduate regional school.Their peers are Providence and Fairfield. Ours are other major public universities. And your take on Villanova's view on football is wrong, too. they are trying to figure a way to upgrade. And their "fans" all 4000 or so, mostly support that.

 

[CTMike]

An alternative to the present thinking is for UConn to adopt the Villanova approach - continue with national excellence in basketball, and to enjoy interscholastic footbal at a lower level - eg., Army, Navy, Colgate, Ivies.

And why not??? We are a state-supported institution. The re-creation of UConn's football aims to attempt to participate in BCS competition is really unnecessary. BB supports itself, it's football that demands $$$ in order to compete on a national level. And football shares big money with some of those schools who do compete on that level. But, to whom is it necessary??

I'm sure the Villanova fans appreciate their brand of competitive football and do not need the agony of raising major funds to support the program's growth. We at UConn have no glorious history on the gridiron, and existed quite well competing with Maine, NH, etc. So why beat our brains out and create $$ angst to go somewhere that's totally unnecessary?

Maybe we should re-think about some of our extra-curricular ambitions at our state school.

You are right, Don. Why shoot for the stars when we can shoot ourselves in the foot.

 

[uc1974]

Don, it's 2011, not 1981. Football is it, even at Duke, Indiana, Vanderbilt and yes, UConn.

 

[uconNYC]

My biggest fear is that we harm our basketball program in an attempt to salvage football. If the Big East splits, I'd rather go independent in football and stick with the basketball only schools than end up playing East Carolina and TCU twice a year.

Absolutely. The only thing we have right now is the fact that we are still in a top notch basketball and olympic sports conference.

 

[Scalito]

Don, it's 2011, not 1981. Football is it, even at Duke, Indiana, Vanderbilt and yes, UConn.

What does that mean? That football makes more money than basketball? So what?

I personally enjoy college basketball more than college football, and I am therefore more interested in protecting UConn's basketball program. Telling me that football "is it" because ESPN will pay more for football makes no difference to me. I'm not investing in shares of the University of Connecticut, I am cheering for my favorite college team in my favorite college sport. That's it.

 

[Scalito]

Uconndon,

You are all wet. You can build and maintain a nationally relevent basketball program without a good conference. Butler, Gonzaga, are two examples. That is far more difficult with football. Even if you're good, Texas Christian and Bosie St are examples, you end up getting shunted aside in the polls and the chase for the national championship. And we're not going back to 1AA football. Jeez. I have to wonder if you have any clue as to what is going on.

Rather than assuming that you know more than the other guy, you might consider that your priorities are simply different. I would rather see UConn football die than go the way of Butler and Gonzaga basketball-wise. It is true that those two schools are competitive, but how fun is it for their fans to only be relevant in December and March? I would like some relevant basketball games in January and February, thank you very much.

 

[gars44]

An alternative to the present thinking is for UConn to adopt the Villanova approach - continue with national excellence in basketball, and to enjoy interscholastic footbal at a lower level - eg., Army, Navy, Colgate, Ivies.

And why not??? We are a state-supported institution. The re-creation of UConn's football aims to attempt to participate in BCS competition is really unnecessary. BB supports itself, it's football that demands $$$ in order to compete on a national level. And football shares big money with some of those schools who do compete on that level. But, to whom is it necessary??

I'm sure the Villanova fans appreciate their brand of competitive football and do not need the agony of raising major funds to support the program's growth. We at UConn have no glorious history on the gridiron, and existed quite well competing with Maine, NH, etc. So why beat our brains out and create $$ angst to go somewhere that's totally unnecessary?

Maybe we should re-think about some of our extra-curricular ambitions at our state school.

Yikes.

 

[Scalito]

Your biggest fears will be realized if the "super 64" one day break away from the NCAA, and your left playing the likes of Butler in the final four.

No one is going to touch the NCAA tournament. Even if the potential so-called superconferences would want to---and I'd hope to be in one of them of course---Congress would threaten to intervene. And the public would support them.

 

[noeynox]

Jim Calhoun has been as outspoken as anybody about the importance of adding a football program at the highest level. You think that would offer people a clue as to how serious this. Going back to Yankee Conference football is not a serious option.

 

[noeynox]

No one is going to touch the NCAA tournament. Even if the potential so-called superconferences would want to---and I'd hope to be in one of them of course---Congress would threaten to intervene. And the public would support them.

They will just have their own tournament apart from the NCAA tourney. The NCAA tourney will become the equivalent of the NIT, if UCLA, DUKE, UNC and Kentucky, etc. are choosing not to play in it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This nostalgia is getting old. The State and University made a commitment, back with UConn 2000 (in 1995), to putting more distance between UConn and the likes of URI, UNH and UMaine. Because of our wealth of private options, the New England public universities languished in the shadows with weak reputations. It's no coincidence that the move to D1 was announced in 1997. Our targets were schools like UNC, UVA and Michigan. It's not just sports, it's the national profile of the school. Here's what the school said then:

1. Why is the opportunity to upgrade its football program important to the academic future of the University of Connecticut?
The University of Connecticut is moving rapidly in accordance with its Strategic Plan to become one of the nation's premier public universities. The University is developing world class academic programs, implementing the UCONN 2000 plan, expanding its base of private support, and strengthening connections in the Connecticut business community..... Division I-A football will contribute to UConn's standing as a nationally recognized University and help move us into the top ranks of public institutions of higher education. The public tends to judge institutions by their peers; virtually every major public university with a strong academic reputation can also lay claim to a significant athletic program. Major athletic programs at schools like Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia have been helpful to these institutions as they have sought to recruit outstanding students and faculty and they will be helpful to similar efforts here.

 

[Scalito]

They will just have their own tournament apart from the NCAA tourney. The NCAA tourney will become the equivalent of the NIT, if UCLA, DUKE, UNC and Kentucky, etc. are choosing not to play in it.

I understand the threat, but I don't think it would ever happen for a number of reasons, including the threat of congressional action.