UConn President Says No Plans To Lobby Big 12

[CallMeBruce]

The 6th Borough campaign was genius and the Texas billboards campaign counts for something right?

Not desperate or pathetic enough.

 

[cttxus]

The only thing that seems to make sense is Suzy has an ace or two up her sleeve should the B12 invite not happen. I'm guessing it's either:
- a conditional invite (i.e. based on continued athletic excellence, attaining AAU status, etc) from another P5 conference within the next few years, and/or
- solid financial commitments from one or more big donors to tide us over should a P5 invite not happen until the next round of CR

Otherwise, all the new personnel, branding and infrastructure investments being made by our (very public) university don't add up.

 

[djct1999]

I love this from Herbst. What else can she say? This is coming though from someone who knows either a) UConn is in b) UConn has a better option or c) UConn is out. I will say that if it is C, she is over estimating UConn Nation. No one will support 8 more years playing in the AAC. Truth is, if we remain in this hell hole, I'd say the over/under for Diaco moving to greener pastures and the Rent averaging less than 20k is 2.9 years. Again, if exapnsion happens and UConn is excluded, its simply a nail in the coffin. There is absolutely no other way to spin it. While I admit that have grown much less optimistic over the past week, I will continue to say that UConn's actions, primarily from the hiring of Tranghese until now makes no sense if we never had a chance.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I'm amazed that some of you idiots think that CR goes in any way like your posts suggest you think it does.

 

[djct1999]

The only thing that seems to make sense is Suzy has an ace or two up her sleeve should the B12 invite not happen. I'm guessing it's either:
- a conditional invite (i.e. based on continued athletic excellence, attaining AAU status, etc) from another P5 conference within the next few years, and/or
- solid financial commitments from one or more big donors to tide us over should a P5 invite not happen until the next round of CR

Otherwise, all the new personnel, branding and infrastructure investments being made by our (very public) university don't add up.

It really doesn't. Not just UConn's investment but the career choices of the people who said yes.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Could this typo about supporting "out" athletes be a nod to BYU's troubles?

"I know people roll their eyes at this, but this is supposed to be fun. You know the athletes are in it because they enjoy it. The fans go because they want to support out athletes and they enjoy it. So everyone, including presidents and deans and faculty, need to step back and remember why we are in it."

I kid, I kid... Or do I?

Eunuchs don't get to have fun, they watch others having it.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I hope this is like a Bill Clinton lie, perhaps a third party lobby job.

 

[pepband99]

Replace ACC with Big 12, wash, rinse and repeat.

This is maddening. I don't watch UConn sports to see coeds engage in an extracurricular activity. I watch UConn because they are my team, my university and I want to see them compete on the national stage in games that actually matter.

Perception does matter; no matter what anyone says. Instead of the bs we win, we have fun, we like to win, how about actually shaping the public perception as opposed to taking a beating.

From the National media you would be led to believe Houston is a perennial top 10 team, that sells out a brand new stadium and is ready to expand the joint, or that Cincinnati brings a storied football and basketball history and is slughtly behind Ohio State in Ohio.

It's not groveling or begging to just state the facts. We own the 30th biggest media market (23rd if you add fairfield county) as the state U. We are neck and neck with Duke, UK, UNC as the preeminent hoop program of the last 30 years. We have begun to rebuild our football program which won a league with five supposed "P5" programs and the storied Cincinnati program twice in our infancy.

Not to mention we spend the most, we make the most and we our by far the best academic school.

Why can't someone from the university sternly acknowledge that.

Not to drive the Warde donuts narrative (as I'm overall pro WM) but during the ACC expansion when they interviewed him and all he could come up with is " I think we're the best candidate but I'm biased" it drove me insane.

Perception is everything and ours in a few short years is shot with this G5 distinction. Someone needs to step up and get this done.

Yep. Even managing not to essentially repeat the inane words from trying placate us after the ACC took a glorified community college over us would have been a better move.

It's like Hilary mentioning a word that rhymes with snowknobs - it's going to pop into people's heads awfully quick.

 

[whaler11]

By far and away the best thing about the CR board is: That a lack of
evidence is used as evidence.

I guess it would be pathetic to have the President of the University say more in public than we are a winning bunch of winners that win and have winning fun while doing it.

God forbid the administration act as if they have any ownership. If they stick with winning winners who win and hey the ball is in their court - never have to be accountable for the end result.

 

[CTBballfan243]

I'll be happy when the whole conferences realignment is over so we can all just enjoy watching UConn football. If are lot in life is to carry the AAC banner then so be it. It's college athletics, not life or death. Yeah it might not be fair but so what. Nobody ever said life was fair. The sun will come up tomorrow and UConn will continue to field athletic teams.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Meh

 

[huskymedic]

I'm curious if this topic came up in the scope of another story/discussion or was the the Education reporter for the Courant sent to discuss Conference Realignment w/ SH? Just one of those things that make me go hmmm.

Kathleen Megan

 

[Santini35]

I just wish the headline was a different tone, that is was more like "UConn letting accomplishments speak for themselves" instead of a "were not even gonna try" tone that the Courant seems to put on it

 

[ct06111]

This quote from Boren is from March 2016, but I think he still believes it and UConn is doing what they want...

http://newsok.com/how-david-boren-f...rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

On potential expansion targets: “We’re all talking with each other. We’ve agreed not to speculate about any one school or another school that might get in. But we have some good choices. We’ve all agreed to be very confidential about schools. We don’t want to let some school{Cincinnati, BYU, Houston} get a lot of publicity and they’re ‘oh, they’re about to get in the Big 12,’ and maybe they don’t get in. We don’t want to have any of that. So we’re trying to keep that all in-house.”

 

[Tenspro2002]

In a few months we'll have the answer.

If we get in, then our stoic demeanor now means that playing it cool was the right thing to do. Herbst will have proven herself a measured, disciplined leader, and UConn athletics is set for at least the next 10 years.
If we're not in, then failing to play the game like Cincy, Houston, Memphis, etc. will have backfired, Herbst will have proven herself tone-deaf and weak, and UConn athletics is finished.

For now it's all just speculation.

 

[don356]

She should call Santa Ono for a makeover.

 

[CTBballfan243]

UConn athletics will not be finished. They will still be playing D1 athletics. It might not be a power league but it will still be D1. People just need to relax and continue supporting UConn athletics. Let's be real, we probably have a better chance of qualifying for a bowl game in the AAC than we would in any P5 league. And you're kidding yourself if you think UConn would ever make the 4 team playoff in football.

 

[politics]

I just wish the headline was a different tone, that is was more like "UConn letting accomplishments speak for themselves" instead of a "were not even gonna try" tone that the Courant seems to put on it

mentioned elsewhere but a fail by reporter for not asking about the video presentations thing she mentions in the story. 99.9 percent SH says "not going to comment on any efforts" blah blah blah. Can only image the reaction here if she said "no we haven't nor will we be doing any presentations."

 

[CJS87]

Yeah, let's go have fun in the CAA. It's the unwillingness to address our tenuous position in the national landscape that drove me nuts when we got passed over the last time. Most of our competitors have taken on facility upgrades with the express purpose to make themselves more attractive in the next round of realignment. We seem to be resting on our laurels. And I know the difference between perception and reality, just do something different to change the perception.

Are you kidding me? Get your head out of the sand. UConn and the state have spent millions facilities ($90M rent; $50M football complex ; $30M bb complex. And they've hired numerous dept staff.). Put YOUR money where your mouth is a donate to athletics and get your butt at the games. And stop winning!

 

[WestHartHusk]

UConn athletics will not be finished. They will still be playing D1 athletics. It might not be a power league but it will still be D1. People just need to relax and continue supporting UConn athletics. Let's be real, we probably have a better chance of qualifying for a bowl game in the AAC than we would in any P5 league. And you're kidding yourself if you think UConn would ever make the 4 team playoff in football.

Post + Handle =

 

[UC313]

UConn athletics will not be finished. They will still be playing D1 athletics. It might not be a power league but it will still be D1. People just need to relax and continue supporting UConn athletics. Let's be real, we probably have a better chance of qualifying for a bowl game in the AAC than we would in any P5 league. And you're kidding yourself if you think UConn would ever make the 4 team playoff in football.

Bring on the banhammer.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

UConn athletics will not be finished. They will still be playing D1 athletics. It might not be a power league but it will still be D1. People just need to relax and continue supporting UConn athletics. Let's be real, we probably have a better chance of qualifying for a bowl game in the AAC than we would in any P5 league. And you're kidding yourself if you think UConn would ever make the 4 team playoff in football.

I'm not sure many people in the country aside from a few fan bases actually measure success by making the 4 team playoff.

Could UConn ever challenge for a conference title though? Who knows, Wake, Kansas, among others have made BCS games in the past. Hell, WE'VE made a BCS game in the past.

Figthing top programs for bowls is what its all about. To put a ceiling on our program after 15 years when we've already accomplished a lot is way premature.

 

[huskymedic]

I just wish the headline was a different tone, that is was more like "UConn letting accomplishments speak for themselves" instead of a "were not even gonna try" tone that the Courant seems to put on it

Interesting take:

Greg Welch@ArtDirectorBYU 1 hour ago
This is why it's tough to say anything. UConn says we're going to let B12 decide and gets "we won't lobby" headline.

Greg Welch@ArtDirectorBYU1 hour ago
You say something like "we don't need the governor writing tweets for us" and it turns into "UConn isn't trying/doesn't care."

 

[ASweet3781]

"We're here to have fun."

 

[Jarhead_1775]

You hear that, Herbst? Whaler's loyalty is conditional upon your performance rating. Oh, sure, you might think it's unfair to judge you based on things out of your control, like the past failures of former Athletic Directors or the thousands of miles of distance from the B12, but none of that matters -- what matters is that our continued fandom is contingent upon your success. We will hold this program hostage! That's how good of fans we are.

All kidding aside, I have no problem with this statement. We're a long shot here, and she knows it. I don't think #begharder is a real strategy. You present your excellence to the best of your ability and accept that you can't control all of the variables, and remind yourself that what matters most isn't pleasing the Whalers of the world, but making sure you provide a world class athletic and educational experience for these kids.

If you do that, you create excellence, and all the rest follows. We didn't start off as champions of the Big East. We became that because we strive for excellence. And that's what matters. If you do that, the success follows.

Hear, hear!!!!