What the BYU home and home says about realignment (bad news)

[Phoenixhusky]

BYU has serious football fans. I live in Gilbert, Arizona in the East Valley in the Phoenix Metro Area. There is the second biggest population of mormons behind Salt Lake City located here. BYU shirts are everywhere and they have a devoted fanbase. This is a great OOC game and I only see psoitives in it.

 

[freescooter]

Since Manuel finally found an OOC 2014 opponent, does the scheduling of BYU give us an insight into expansion?

If it does, it is not goods news with respect to this:

Assume that UConn has a qualified invite to the Big Ten, or at least has reason to believe it will be invited. There are legions that scoff at such nutso ideas and now they can scoff further.

Would UConn have scheduled an October 31, 2015 game if this was true? It's hard to look at this objectively and think that it would have. Traveling to Utah that late in the season would not be sensible if UConn was playing a full Big Ten slate. Big Ten OOC games are played earlier in the year, much earlier.

In fact, no Big Ten team plays an OOC game in October, never mind the last week of October in 2015. And in 2014, only Indiana plays in October and that's during the first week of October against North Texas State.

So that's 24 teams not doing something UConn will do. That's bad odds.

Um, you might have missed it, but Wisconsin plays BYU next season in November. They are Big 10 and I might add pretty good. While it isn't something most teams do, it also isn't all that unusual. Georgia Tech played BYU last year on he last weekend in October, too. Florida is playing Georgia Southern the 2nd to last game of the season...that is the type of game usually reserved for the 1st two weeks of the season. USC has been playing Notre Dame, a non-conerence game, for decades at the end of October or later. Stanford plays them at the end of the season this year. Teams schedule in ways that make sense for both sides.

To me the bottom line is that it says nothing but it worked for both teams to play that date.

 

[businesslawyer]

Don't disagree.

For your background, Business Lawyer stated above in this thread: "It has been made perfectly clear by people with information that UConn does not have that knowledge."

I was just curious to whom and what he was referring. Do you recall?

Do I think it is likely that Delaney confided in Herbst (pursuant to the terms of an executed confidentiality agreement):

"Connecticut fits our master plan for a 20-team conference. We believe Connecticut's Southern New England presence brings more cable subscription value than does BC's Southern New England presence. We understand and have quantified Connecticut's overall impact on the NYC market; trust me, President Herbst, we fully recognize that component. For what its worth, the SNY Women's contract still baffles me, but all the more power to you. But as you know, we cannot invite Connecticut until we shake loose certain plums currently attached to trees growing in areas along the Eastern seaboard from Virginia down to Georgia. But fear not President Herbst; Connecticut's distribution of Big East exit fees and NCAA credits should put enought food on the table during the course of the 1 to 3 year period of limbo that Connecticut will need to endure prior to us being ready to extend the invite. In the meantime, keep pumping the research growth and your overall focus on academic excellence. Oh, and the hoops practice facility, hockey upgrade and lacrosse comment were nice touches. Keep that stuff coming. A new dawn is upon us, and Connecticut will soon ascend to its rightfull slot helping to anchor the eastern flank of college athletics' preeminent conference."

No, I don't think it is likely.

But I don't think it (or at least something comparable) is impossible either.

Anyway, I'm still interested in an elaboration of Business Lawyer's claim, if anyone is in the know...

There have been (obviously) no official announcements. But if you pay attention to this board and the real media, I think it is fairly certain that UConn had been told by sources within the ACC it believed that it was going to get an invite when MD bailed, and that when that didn't happen they are now left waiting and hoping.

 

[Huskyfan990411]

I really dont understand the need to twist everything into negativity on this board. Everyone screams that we don't have any solid OOC games scheduled for 2014. WM manages to setup a solid home and home with a quality team and now somehow it means that we are screwed out of a conference in the future because the return game is at the end of Oct?

This thread is the biggest reach to bash our AD I have seen yet. If somehow we are in the B1G by 2015 and this date conflicts with a conference game I am sure the 25 million dollar B1G payment will go a long way to buy this game out. Also like many on here have said already, there are bye weeks in conference play. Alabama played W Carolina on Nov 17th last year and Georgia played Ga Southern and Georgia Tech late in the year.

OOC games happen late in the year so please stop trying to twist everything into a negative.

 

[RMoore1999]

There have been (obviously) no official announcements. But if you pay attention to this board and the real media, I think it is fairly certain that UConn had been told by sources within the ACC it believed that it was going to get an invite when MD bailed, and that when that didn't happen they are now left waiting and hoping.

Thanks for the clarification.

I had interpreted "people with information" to mean that you were aware of actual "sources" connected to UConn that intimated that this was so (as opposed to the general media and Boneyard discourse that occurred in the aftermath of Louisville's invite, and from which, many here developed their own conclusions).

I still say if someone like Husky Fan Dan, Txdo Yda or the Dude had stated in July of last year that B1G was moving on Rutgers, the vocal majority of Boneyarders would have called BS, "that could never happen", etc., but such is the way of things for a beaten and scarred fanbase I suppose.

 

[scdono]

Why do people assume we are going to the Big 1G? Listen, I hope we do but everything we do doesn't have a correlation with whether we're going to be invite to Big 1G.

What does it matter that Big 1G teams don't schedule in October? We're NOT in the Big 1G. We need to play better nonconference games!

 

[businesslawyer]

Thanks for the clarification.

I had interpreted "people with information" to mean that you were aware of actual "sources" connected to UConn that intimated that this was so (as opposed to the general media and Boneyard discourse that occurred in the aftermath of Louisville's invite, and from which, many here developed their own conclusions).

I still say if someone like Husky Fan Dan, Txdo Yda or the Dude had stated in July of last year that B1G was moving on Rutgers, the vocal majority of Boneyarders would have called BS, "that could never happen", etc., but such is the way of things for a beaten and scarred fanbase I suppose.

There are people who post here who do have sources . Obviously, you have to be able to discern which ones you believe from those whom you think are just full of it.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Oh the horror..no drinking at the tailgate! You guys do realize that an on campus football stadium means no alcohol served during games. Didn't realize that was a pre-requisite for fun!

BYU is a quality OOC opponent and means nothing about realignment, but you people can continue to cry about nothing because you have nothing better to do.

1. We start the 2014 season on the first night of college football on national television against an opponent that draws a ton of eyes to TV sets. Great marketing.
2. A conference can schedule around an OOC opponent on one weekend in October..one has nothing to do with the other.

But continue your gloom and doom...

Am I suggesting doom and gloom? I was simply providing options as someone who has been there

 

[Dann]

the beer in stadium is a interesting topic to chat about at some point. i dont think many here know about the b10 stance and how thats recently getting challenged. its very possible to sell on campus stadiums wise if approved. we simply dont have a on campus place to sell it....

as for byu, the beer thing is a nonissue becuase u know this isgning up for the game. just wait until warde finds out there are no dunkin donuts in utah. then we will know what the buyout is for the return trip.

 

[ZooCougar]

Thanks. Monitoring.

Since Manuel finally found an OOC 2014 opponent, does the scheduling of BYU give us an insight into expansion?

If it does, it is not goods news with respect to this:

Assume that UConn has a qualified invite to the Big Ten, or at least has reason to believe it will be invited. There are legions that scoff at such nutso ideas and now they can scoff further.

Would UConn have scheduled an October 31, 2015 game if this was true? It's hard to look at this objectively and think that it would have. Traveling to Utah that late in the season would not be sensible if UConn was playing a full Big Ten slate. Big Ten OOC games are played earlier in the year, much earlier.

In fact, no Big Ten team plays an OOC game in October, never mind the last week of October in 2015. And in 2014, only Indiana plays in October and that's during the first week of October against North Texas State.

So that's 24 teams not doing something UConn will do. That's bad odds.

Perhaps Manuel's role is purely to monitor the situation and therefore he no other responsibilities regarding realignment and UConn's athletic future, and that it is only handled by Herbst and her chief of staff, rachel rubin. So he scheduled a late season OOC game without knowing UConn's future. With the gang of three in charge, that very well may be plausible.

 

[housekeys]

There are people who post here who do have sources . Obviously, you have to be able to discern which ones you believe from those whom you think are just full of it.

You think there are people on this board who have sources on conference realignment? (which is the topic we are talking about). Then, unless those sources are Herbst and Manuel or at their level, those posters are not much in the know than anyone else. I do agree there are people posting who do have sources on other issues (recruiting etc.) and therefore their opinion on CR is more reputable. As for being full of it, did you honestly discern that Rutgers rumors to the B1G were true?

 

[businesslawyer]

You think there are people on this board who have sources on conference realignment? (which is the topic we are talking about). Then, unless those sources are Herbst and Manuel or at their level, those posters are not much in the know than anyone else. I do agree there are people posting who do have sources on other issues (recruiting etc.) and therefore their opinion on CR is more reputable. As for being full of it, did you honestly discern that Rutgers rumors to the B1G were true?

As to your last question, no. I didn't believe that until ESPN ran with it a day or two before the official announcement. LOL, I'm not sure I believe it yet.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you visit Utah in 2014, you'll miss the game.

I don't think the game has anything to reveal about expansion - it's a good game that I think has some television appeal. If something changes conference-wise, adjustments can be made and cash can change hands.

We're going to go out to Provo if for nothing other reason than I want to see some of you try to tailgate with just juice and soda.

They have local craft beer at Olive Garden in SLC...but man the rules at the bar are weird.

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

This is going to be huge because we need marquee games to attract ticket sales. While I think the NBE is going to be more exciting then some believe, at least in football, it's not going to be enough to attract the casual fan. However, I think there will be a huge uptick in season tix this year because of the schedule and if UConn can impress and win, a lot of those season tickets may be renwed. This will be one of the most important seasons for UConn in many ways, but winning and putting on an enjoyable show for all the season ticket holders will be huge.

I 100% agree with this statement we need to prove that our football program is good enough to play in the big 10 or the acc for that matter so it will be a huge year just for that case. But we definitely need to have a better year than Cincinnati to show to other confrences that were better than them

 

[Alum86]

A home and home with BYU is an easy feat to accomplish, so long as you're willing to travel to utah at the end of the season. See Southern Miss. BYU struggles to find quality opponents to do what UConn agreed to. If anything, it is a sign of UConn's weakness, not strength. However it sure beats playing Nobody U at the Rent. So it's a win win for fans of meaningful games.

That's a bummer....(the price of a home early game is a late season game) clearly Warde went-a-beggin.....

 

[RS9999X]

Its a decent game that will get decent coverage.

That's what a BYU UConn Home and Home says. It might be the best game among the not Big Five Conference programs in that year.

Cincy plays BYU in 2015 and 2016. What does that say about UConn's chances of getting into the BiG?