I want UMass in the league

[UC990411]

Add UMass and Ohio U. Don't know if Ohio would ever leave the MAC though.

What? Why?

 

[noeynox]

Give us and Cincy schools that we could develop somewhat of a regional rivalry with. UCF and USF have each other, Houston and SMU have each other. We have to stop pretending that there are great candidates out there.

The other reason, well, were all throwing at the wall here.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

who the duck care? It's navy, not georgia tech, holy cow this is the ttiest thread in a while

If you want to be a fan of an important school in an important conference, be our guest. There are plenty of message boards that can oblige. This is UConn, and we are in the America 12. Just the way it is.

 

[B1GEast]

If you want to be a fan of an important school in an important conference, be our guest. There are plenty of message boards that can oblige. This is UConn, and we are in the America 12. Just the way it is.

I'm still trying to understand your response, I just don't get it. What exceatly are you trying to say?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'm still trying to understand your response, I just don't get it. What exceatly are you trying to say?

You are not the only one, but the constant conference bashing is getting old. Jumping into a thread where we are discussing the relative merits of UMass and some other detritus, and making a post like "this is the ttiest thread in a while" is just tedious now. There are very few original negative comments to make about UConn's league. We all get that we are not the Big 10, but this is the league UConn is in.

So, back to the topic, when Navy bails, the choices are UMass, UTEP, and some MAC schools.

 

[SubbaBub]

I am trying to understand why this thread is still alive. We are trying to get away from programs like UMass (no offense).

The tobacco road matchups you guys are dreaming of isn't happening. I say this as someone who paid to see every U-Game. One was a good game and the rest sucked. The one was only good because the Huskies decided to show up 20 minutes late.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mark W]

I am trying to understand why this thread is still alive. We are trying to get away from programs like UMass (no offense).

The tobacco road matchups you guys are dreaming of isn't happening. I say this as someone who paid to see every U-Game. One was a good game and the rest sucked. The one was only good because the Huskies decided to show up 20 minutes late.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

As a UMass fan...no offense taken.

I posted on this thread for a couple of pages back, but my point was that I believe UMass would have been a better option than Tulsa and Tulane. Now that those 2 are in, I agree that adding more teams to drain the money pot would be foolish. UConn and Cincy are bound for greener pastures and they should keep this conference as small as possible until they depart. The ESPN contract, although a step up for UMass, is an insult to UConn.

If UConn and Cincy were staying I would still believe that UMass would be wise to enhance their resume and hope for an invite down the road. But once those 2 schools leave, I'm not sure the MAC/A-10 isn't a better option for UMass

 

[Husky25]

...The stadium at McGuirk has the ability to be expanded to an attendance level that will be more than adequate to handle the crowds. Much like your plan to expand yours if the Big or ACC come calling, UMass will do what is necessary for whatever situation they find themselves in.

That's impossible. UConn will have the resources upon getting the call, and Rentschler has the infrastructure in place to add at least 20,000 more seats (I believe the current footings were designed to hold an additional 40,000) UMass does not have this capacity.

 

[Mark W]

That's impossible. UConn will have the resources upon getting the call, and Rentschler has the infrastructure in place to add at least 20,000 more seats (I believe the current footings were designed to hold an additional 40,000) UMass does not have this capacity.

You might be right but that is not what's being said at UMass. I am in no way claiming to know this for a fact, but the planning committee that worked on phase 1 which breaks ground this spring stated that there was a phase 2. That involved closing in one end zone with 6-8 K seats, lowering the field level to add 7-10 rows all the way around, and it was stated that the field was built to accommodate a 2nd tier of seating. Whether they could ever get the money to do that....well, that's another story

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Navy makes over twice as much from CBS Sports than an all sports program will make in the America 12. Why are they even still pretending to come to the Big East?

 

[Vuce]

I just read a note on Twitter that tonight's Umass vs Temple quarterfinal game is not on TV in Massachusetts ecept for a local station in western Mass. It is not available in central or eastern Mass. No local stations in those areas chose to pick it up since it is not available on a cable network. Yeah, they would be a real good addition.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I just read a note on Twitter that tonight's Umass vs Temple quarterfinal game is not on TV in Massachusetts ecept for a local station in western Mass. It is not available in central or eastern Mass. No local stations in those areas chose to pick it up since it is not available on a cable network. Yeah, they would be a real good addition.

You are right. We should just add UTEP instead.

 

[Vuce]

Um no, we should just add no one else

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Um no, we should just add no one else

So who in this league fills up the Rent? Temple? Cincinnati? Houston? How about the HCC and Gampel? Walk me through the big games and why fans will turn out for anyone of them.

Unless UConn completely sucks, UMass will be a sellout or very close to one, and the only school in the league that casual fans will care about at all.

 

[Vuce]

Yes let's add them so we can have close to a sell out once every two years. Makes sense

 

[tzznandrew]

So who in this league fills up the Rent? Temple? Cincinnati? Houston? How about the HCC and Gampel? Walk me through the big games and why fans will turn out for anyone of them.

Unless UConn completely sucks, UMass will be a sellout or very close to one, and the only school in the league that casual fans will care about at all.

Disagree. UMass is no different than any number of tty teams I feel ambivalent about paying to see.

That would change if they were good, but they are not.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We desperately need a rival in this league. When we had Rutgers and Syracuse as anchors for the fans, it was possible to generate interest in the rest of the schools even though there was less history or geographic proximity. Pitt and WVU helped because any college football fan in Connecticut had watched those two playing BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, Miami, Penn State and each other over the years.

Now? There is nothing. There is no link to any of these schools in the league. Fans need some reason to care about this random assortment of schools. This league is like picking friends out of the phone book, it isn't going to work. The irony is that the new schools have more history together than the old ones. Cincinnati and Memphis are rivals on day 1. SMU, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa have played each other for years. UCF and USF have a decent amount of history, and both were in the league with ECU. Fans care about who we play.

UConn and Temple have a little history with each other, and none with anyone else.

 

[uconnric]

We desperately need a rival in this league. When we had Rutgers and Syracuse as anchors for the fans, it was possible to generate interest in the rest of the schools even though there was less history or geographic proximity. Pitt and WVU helped because any college football fan in Connecticut had watched those two playing BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, Miami, Penn State and each other over the years.

Now? There is nothing. There is no link to any of these schools in the league. Fans need some reason to care about this random assortment of schools. This league is like picking friends out of the phone book, it isn't going to work. The irony is that the new schools have more history together than the old ones. Cincinnati and Memphis are rivals on day 1. SMU, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa have played each other for years. UCF and USF have a decent amount of history, and both were in the league with ECU. Fans care about who we play.

UConn and Temple have a little history with each other, and none with anyone else.

Is there a way to erase this thread from our collective memories?

 

[tzznandrew]

We desperately need a rival in this league. When we had Rutgers and Syracuse as anchors for the fans, it was possible to generate interest in the rest of the schools even though there was less history or geographic proximity. Pitt and WVU helped because any college football fan in Connecticut had watched those two playing BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, Miami, Penn State and each other over the years.

Now? There is nothing. There is no link to any of these schools in the league. Fans need some reason to care about this random assortment of schools. This league is like picking friends out of the phone book, it isn't going to work. The irony is that the new schools have more history together than the old ones. Cincinnati and Memphis are rivals on day 1. SMU, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa have played each other for years. UCF and USF have a decent amount of history, and both were in the league with ECU. Fans care about who we play.

UConn and Temple have a little history with each other, and none with anyone else.

But UConn-Temple has more of a meaningful football rivalry than UConn-UMass. And Philly is drivable.

I'm more than okay keeping it where it is, and saying Temple is our "rivals" until we get into a real conference.

 

[noeynox]

I think collectively we need to get over our fear of elevating UMass to our level. We are both in mid major leagues at this point. We happen to be better than them in all sports that matter, but Nelson is right here. We need at least one conference game to build around, create some buzz and hate.

Now that our president and AD have all but stated publicly that they are resigned to the fact that this is going to be our league, IM going to do the same until were not in it anymore. Doesn't mean I don't hate it, just means I want to find,something to look forward to.

 

[Husky25]

We desperately need a rival in this league. When we had Rutgers and Syracuse as anchors for the fans, it was possible to generate interest in the rest of the schools even though there was less history or geographic proximity. Pitt and WVU helped because any college football fan in Connecticut had watched those two playing BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, Miami, Penn State and each other over the years.

Now? There is nothing. There is no link to any of these schools in the league. Fans need some reason to care about this random assortment of schools. This league is like picking friends out of the phone book, it isn't going to work. The irony is that the new schools have more history together than the old ones. Cincinnati and Memphis are rivals on day 1. SMU, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa have played each other for years. UCF and USF have a decent amount of history, and both were in the league with ECU. Fans care about who we play.

UConn and Temple have a little history with each other, and none with anyone else.

So geography is now the sole criteria in forming a rivalry? History has to be developed. Rarely is it thrown together due merely to proximity.

Who's the Celtics' rival? The Lakers, where roughly 3,000 miles separate the two cities. Who's ND's opponent during Rivalry week? The University of Southern California. By your criteria, it should be Indiana or Purdue. How large is the map scale in order to get South Bend and South Central LA on the same screen?
Rivalries are built up over time by playing good close games, with some heartbreakers and other memorable moments thrown in. Getting back to the Celts/Lakers? They are rivals because the Russell/Chamberlain, Havlechik/West, Bird/Magic, and Pierce, Garnett/Bryant, Gasol eras all produced timeless finals match ups over and over. Notre Dame has a Rivalry with Boston College (perhaps currently dormant) because of one afternoon in 1994 and they kept the series going.

Oh...to answer your question, UConn fans will fill the Rent to watch their team play. I, for one, am very interested to see Houston and SMU. Let it play out on the field. If UConn turns out a good product, there'll be no reason to manufacture hype. It'll take care of itself.

 

[tzznandrew]

I think collectively we need to get over our fear of elevating UMass to our level. We are both in mid major leagues at this point. We happen to be better than them in all sports that matter, but Nelson is right here. We need at least one conference game to build around, create some buzz and hate.

Now that our president and AD have all but stated publicly that they are resigned to the fact that this is going to be our league, IM going to do the same until were not in it anymore. Doesn't mean I don't hate it, just means I want to find,something to look forward to.

You are making two assumptions that are both partly wrong.

1. The first is that the sole reason people want to keep UMass out is because we are afraid to elevate them. That may be some people's concerns. But, athletically, they bring nothing to the table, and they would take money out the small pot of money we currently have. It would be better to not bring in another team and call it a day.
2. The other issue is that close proximity does not necessarily make a great rivalry. We weren't rivals with BC or Seton Hall in basketball. What makes a rivalry is good games against the same team, when there is something at stake. Syracuse and Pitt, for example, were rivals for a period, and they are further away than Temple. Cincy is pretty far, but it's not like we were driving to games in Pitt or Syracuse (likely) anyway.

 

[ZooCougar]

You are making two assumptions that are both partly wrong.

1. The first is that the sole reason people want to keep UMass out is because we are afraid to elevate them. That may be some people's concerns. But, athletically, they bring nothing to the table, and they would take money out the small pot of money we currently have. It would be better to not bring in another team and call it a day.
2. The other issue is that close proximity does not necessarily make a great rivalry. We weren't rivals with BC or Seton Hall in basketball. What makes a rivalry is good games against the same team, when there is something at stake. Syracuse and Pitt, for example, were rivals for a period, and they are further away than Temple. Cincy is pretty far, but it's not like we were driving to games in Pitt or Syracuse (likely) anyway.

1. I am against them being a part this conference as long as we are a part of this conference simply because, they bring nothing to the table and haven't done anything to indicate that they will bring anything to the table in the future.

Secondly, if we want to play them, then we should schedule them.

2. Agree that proximity doesn't create rivalry. True rivalries usually are created because there is competition, and it is meaningful and because an element of hatred exists for example Catholics vs. Convicts.

 

[Vuce]

I agree with Zoo Cougar - if we want to play them then schedule them non conference. No need to add them to the league.

 

[Husky25]

You are making two assumptions that are both partly wrong.

1. The first is that the sole reason people want to keep UMass out is because we are afraid to elevate them. That may be some people's concerns. But, athletically, they bring nothing to the table, and they would take money out the small pot of money we currently have. It would be better to not bring in another team and call it a day.
2. The other issue is that close proximity does not necessarily make a great rivalry. We weren't rivals with BC or Seton Hall in basketball. What makes a rivalry is good games against the same team, when there is something at stake. Syracuse and Pitt, for example, were rivals for a period, and they are further away than Temple. Cincy is pretty far, but it's not like we were driving to games in Pitt or Syracuse (likely) anyway.

We weren't rivals with BC in basketball because they were craptastic by comparison, post Huckaby/Curley/Eisley era. UConn beat them 26 times in a row and most of the time it was not pretty.