Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[willie99]

Worst case, maybe best case, we stay where we are and continue to be part of the national discussion in hoops, a great baseball program, an emerging hockey program, as we excel in other sports as well (even football is moving in the right direction)

Oh the pain, the agony, I can't take it anymore

 

[uconndogs]

that's how we did it in the Big East, not rocket science. Previous poster indicated there'll be nothing left in Texas due to UT being in SEC. That's flat out wrong.

I don't think anyone said that. What makes sense to me is that with NIL and the portal the best talent will reside where the most money can be had. The portal will work both ways. Yes, those that can't get playing time (presumably because those in front of them are more talented) will hit the portal. But, proven talent at programs that do not have the resources (NIL programs) will get poached by those programs that can offer more money. There's plenty of talent to go around, but it's only logical that the best talent will be concentrated where the most money is available.

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm not sure why we are all losing hope here.

It's like you don't know us at all any more.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If the timing is never right it's not a timing issue.

While I don't totally disagree and the football program not being stronger hurts, it is true that when the Big Ten expanded with Maryland and SUNJ it was all about markets and getting Big Ten network added to the cable in those states/DMAs, conversely when the ACC expanded it was far less about markets and more about perceived football commitment because if it's markets New Haven/Hartford is obviously bigger than Louisville.

We just saw UCF, Cincinnati and Houston selected on the basis of their football.. go back to 2011 prior to the AAC.. those programs were well beneath us.

So while I don't necessarily disagree about football there's been a lot of timing and circumstances that just haven't worked out.

 

[John]

Worst case, maybe best case, we stay where we are and continue to be part of the national discussion in hoops, a great baseball program, an emerging hockey program, as we excel in other sports as well (even football is moving in the right direction)

Oh the pain, the agony, I can't take it anymore

unfortunately the Big East is hurting baseball. There was an article about the weak conference impacting their placement in the tournament.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

If/when Tramel or anyone else starts getting quotes from school presidents and conference commissioners then I'll consider the words non-guesswork/non-influence peddling. Until then, sorry.

 

[CTBasketball]

If there's a brass ring you go for the brass ring.

Your comment would be like if after getting knocked off by Florida, UCLA and Mississippi St in consecutive years saying "Why try to reach a final four? You know you are going to keep getting hurt."

Two completely different scenarios.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

You would think B12 decision makers and ADs (not just the commish) and the dingleberry Tramel would pay a visit, even meet with the Gov before flushing our candidacy. Contempt prior to investigation.

 

[Waquoit]

Think about places that get 110k fans into a stadium when they have a 20 mile one lane road coming off the highway (shorter than the Tolland exit which is 8 miles away). How do they do it?

Maybe we can benchmark! Who are you talking about? Not Michigan, my post-game drive to the highway was on an 8-lane road.

 

[Palatine]

College sports are and will be fluid for the foreseeable future. The only strategy is to do what benefits you today. 30 million versus 6 million is a no brainer.

Even if we go to the B12 that will not be the end of changes in the college sport landscape. But it puts us in a better position for whatever comes next. Whatever comes out of these gates, we have a better chance is we stand together. Together we survive.

 

[upstater]

Just so people realize where things are in terms of investment, UConn spends $96m a year on athletics. UCF spends $69m.

Football Bowl Subdivision | College Athletics Database

So anyone arguing about UConn not investing (like the idiot St John's guy on Twitter) is absolutely mistaken.

A lot of Big12 a schools are at $100m. Kansas St is at $82m. The new schools are all below.

 

[upstater]

Maybe we can benchmark! Who are you talking about? Not Michigan, my post-game drive to the highway was on an 8-lane road.

Penn State. It was like this until 2000 when the one lane 20 mile road became a 2 lane 20 mile road.

But even in Ann Arbor (where I lived for 2 years) people showed up the night before.

I had a friend that bought a small house there. One night he came home and found 30 cars parked all over his yard. He was in shock. One of the old timers came up and introduced himself and told him they'd been parking there for decades. He even told him all about the many previous owners of the house. He made so much money that fall, he paid several months of his mortgage. Granted, his yard was destroyed, but that's life owning a house around the football field.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Aaand this is why we needed to get an invite. Once you are out of the club, you are out forever. We’re screwed

Our Mens AND Womens basketball brands SHOULD vastly outweigh what should be reversibly bad recent football play; but we can never ever forget that most of these states and their residents culturally hate the “elitist” “yankee” northeast. That biases their acceptance of our previously-horrible-but-improving football program and should definitely be considered an extra hurdle for us. They don’t care that we were ever in the better half of the once-decent Big East (certainly better than any era of the AAC) for most of our time in the conference.

It really feels like the B1G is the only conference that would accept us, but that isn’t going to happen for now. Feels like we will just have to wait and see what happens if/when the PAC and ACC dissolve.

Makes one wonder what could have been had we stayed in the AAC, got Mora and improved with him; like just get to Houston’s level. Seems like there is concern that there is a low ceiling with what he can do while we are independent. I believe we don’t win #5 in the AAC, and obviously we would not be attractive in the AAC with only one non-dismal season and would have likely been passed on this expansion regardless; but it’s still something to wonder.

 

[shizzle787]

Inside the Big 12's pursuit of Gonzaga, UConn as Brett Yormark aims to increase league's basketball dominance

Whether Yormark has the support from the rest of the Big 12 remains to be seen

www.cbssports.com

 

[Rocktheworld]

Inside the Big 12's pursuit of Gonzaga, UConn as Brett Yormark aims to increase league's basketball dominance

Whether Yormark has the support from the rest of the Big 12 remains to be seen

www.cbssports.com

This is nice, and the Commissioner can pine for whatever he wants. But it comes down to the schools voting us in, and they culturally dislike us. It’s the ACC all over again; except now, we have an additional 10 years of dismal football and removal from our glory years.

 

[noeynox]

This is nice, and the Commissioner can pine for whatever he wants. But it comes down to the schools voting us in, and they culturally dislike us. It’s the ACC all over again; except now, we have an additional 10 years of dismal football and removal from our glory years.

Time will tell. Why did the ACC culturally "dislike" us?

 

[upstater]

I'm learning so many things about Gonzaga that I never knew before. My god, 5th most popular team in America? UConn at 38?

I find those metrics very hard to believe.

Not to mention that if Mark Few leaves, you might have a Wichita situation on your hands.

 

[HobokenHusky]

I'm learning so many things about Gonzaga that I never knew before. My god, 5th most popular team in America? UConn at 38?

I find those metrics very hard to believe.

Not to mention that if Mark Few leaves, you might have a Wichita situation on your hands.

Assuming this is cherry-picked, very recent (past 10 years) data that doesn't look good for us given the Ollie/AAC years.

 

[Skies2018]

Said another way Storrs CT is 25 mile from the rest of CT. Its not just the students that fill up the rent. Getting to Storrs on game day will be a nightmare. The rent is centrally located for CT and the anortheast. Bring the teams and they will come.

This is such a stupid argument. You think Ames Iowa is easy for fans from across the state to get to? How about Manhattan Kansas or Stillwater Oklahoma? The entire point of college teams is to be played for the school. That’s why allllll these other big state schools have their stadiums on campus despite being in the middle of nowhere. If they can do it so can we. But the school and state continue to make stupid decisions. Doesn’t matter how you try and spin it, an off campus stadium just isn’t the same.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

At least UConn is not the only school getting played here. It looks like the Pac 12 is playing the Big 12 which is playing UConn. To add to UConn's humiliation, the ACC is considering merging with a conference of leftovers on the other side of the continent rather than add UConn.

At UConn's athletic department, they call this "Tuesday".

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Two completely different scenarios.

I believe they are analogous.

 

[HuskyHawk]

At least UConn is not the only school getting played here. It looks like the Pac 12 is playing the Big 12 which is playing UConn. To add to UConn's humiliation, the ACC is considering merging with a conference of leftovers on the other side of the continent rather than add UConn.

At UConn's athletic department, they call this "Tuesday".

This is just further evidence of what I said last week, you're in the club or not in the club. Same with Tramel's comments. It solidifies the crystal clear reality that if you do get a chance to "join the club", you have to take it.

 

[UCTitleTown]

This is nice, and the Commissioner can pine for whatever he wants. But it comes down to the schools voting us in, and they culturally dislike us. It’s the ACC all over again; except now, we have an additional 10 years of dismal football and removal from our glory years.

Maybe we should tell them Connecticut really loves NASCAR???

 

[noeynox]

Assuming this is cherry-picked, very recent (past 10 years) data that doesn't look good for us given the Ollie/AAC years.

:

If the timing is never right it's not a timing issue.

Sue Herbst, Paul Pendergast, Warde Manuel. The holy trinity.

 

[John]

:

Sue Herbst, Paul Pendergast, Warde Manuel. The holy trinity.

and the UConn gilgamesh, Jeff Hathaway