A case for football independence, Part II

[okielite]

You've never seen The Big Lebowski? That's a shame. It's pure art. The "royal you" means "you" in general as in You all, or in your terms Y'all.

Unfortunately I have not.


I understand you perfectly. I just reiterated my thoughts on independence. It's not a last resort, IMO. It's a not going to happen. I get that UConn may be supporting the AAC, but aren't FSU, Clemson, Duke, and UNC supporting the ACC? Aren't Texas and OU are supporting the Big 12? Michigan, OSU, and MSU supporting the Big Ten? It is what it is.

To some degree I see your point but I dont' know that it is quite comparable. Literally Tulsa is likely not worth 1 million on a TV contract. A 2% share of Oklahoma is pretty worthless to TV executives. Tiny fanbase, no national appeal, etc... I think about 5 million of the 6 they will earn will be subsidized by UConn.

The scenario you lay out cannot happen until the current deal expires. At that point, who knows what sort of options the conference or the programs hold.

Agreed.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Okie is right that the AAC is a giant monetary leech sucking on UConn. That being said, now is not the time. Football independence is a desperation move. We just won a men's basketball title, and will hopefully win a women's title tonight. We just hired a fantastic new football coach and staff (including strength). We have new facilities and new facilities about to come on line. Hockey is joining the top league next season. We have some cash from the Big East, and a little from our tournament run (which also will not hurt us with Nike or sales of shirts, hats etc.). We are not desperate.

The right play now is to see these things pay dividends. To win at football in the fall and go to a bowl while landing some better recruits. To have another top 10 soccer team. Another top 10 field hockey team. Another top 10 men's hoop team and top 1 women's team next season. All while increasing enrollment, increasing research grants and filling the Rent and winning the hearts and minds. The plan is in place...let's stick to the plan. If 2-3 more years go by, then we may need to take more drastic measures. But we can do it from a position of strength. With a much stronger football program along with top hoops, soccer and improving hockey and baseball.

 

[UkonCornelius]

That's never going to happen. This thread is pointless

 

[djct1999]

I really believe that an invite to the P5 is coming shortly. UConn was caught in the perfect storm of horrible football under Pasqualoni and the common perception of mens basketball implosion. In 18 short months, the narrative has changed. Basketball has cemented itself as elite and the Diaco hire opened eyes as well. UConn is too good to be left out of realignment and adding them to any conference will be well received. Infinitely better than 18 months ago.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

At least guys like Husky25 are consistent in "protecting" football at all costs. The argument against the Big East was that it wasn't a significant upgrade. Now you are arguing that even putting basketball in a better conference and taking more money for hoops alone than the entire program makes still doesn't justify going independent for football.

Essentially, you are saying that a football schedule with Memphis, Tulane and Tulsa is more important than millions of additional dollars and protecting the hoops programs. Good to know.

 

[HuskyHawk]

At least guys like Husky25 are consistent in "protecting" football at all costs. The argument against the Big East was that it wasn't a significant upgrade. Now you are arguing that even putting basketball in a better conference and taking more money for hoops alone than the entire program makes still doesn't justify going independent for football.

Essentially, you are saying that a football schedule with Memphis, Tulane and Tulsa is more important than millions of additional dollars and protecting the hoops programs. Good to know.

Yes, it is for now..because it means throwing away the football program and any shot at being in a P5 conference all around. There may come a time when that changes. Hoops is fine for the foreseeable future.

 

[Carl Spackler]

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yes, it is for now..because it means throwing away the football program and any shot at being in a P5 conference all around. There may come a time when that changes. Hoops is fine for the foreseeable future.

It will be a lot easier to jump to a P5 if UConn is making more than $2MM a year in media rights revenue. If you don't want to go to the P5, play in a southern mid-major league.

 

[ZooCougar]

Please kill this thread. OMFG, this is such a stupid and uninformed plan.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It will be a lot easier to jump to a P5 if UConn is making more than $2MM a year in media rights revenue. If you don't want to go to the P5, play in a southern mid-major league.

It will be a lot easier to jump after we win a bowl game and show we can compete again under Diaco. They know we can make money.

 

[metsfan2323]

Nelson we'll agree to this when you become the decision maker for the ACC, so move to North Carolina and get busy. We'll wait for you.

 

[ZooCougar]

It will be a lot easier to jump to a P5 if UConn is making more than $2MM a year in media rights revenue. If you don't want to go to the P5, play in a southern mid-major league.

Seriously, wtf is your malfunction?

2 million a year is not UConn's valuation. That's our share or what the conference was perceived to be worth TV wise back during the AAC's inception.

In order for your argument to be true then Tulane and Temple would have to be worth the same as UConn.

Do you think that WSU is equal in value to USC? Is Iowa State equal to Texas.

At least you could get creative with your fallacies.

 

[Pat125]

UConn is miles ahead in their basketball programs in the past 15 years (even if you don't include this year) over Notre Dame football, and would be much more deserving of such a sweetheart deal. However, it appears that only conferences in desperation mode are willing to make such deals. Although it's not quite the same thing, even the MAC decided to rid itself of unnecessary partial memberships.

 

[whaler11]

At least guys like Husky25 are consistent in "protecting" football at all costs. The argument against the Big East was that it wasn't a significant upgrade. Now you are arguing that even putting basketball in a better conference and taking more money for hoops alone than the entire program makes still doesn't justify going independent for football.

Essentially, you are saying that a football schedule with Memphis, Tulane and Tulsa is more important than millions of additional dollars and protecting the hoops programs. Good to know.

As long as Kevin Ollie is employed at UConn the basketball program it is already protected.

 

[Husky25]

Yes, it is for now..because it means throwing away the football program and any shot at being in a P5 conference all around. There may come a time when that changes. Hoops is fine for the foreseeable future.

So is football. East Carolina, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston, SMU, UConn (hopefully), Navy comes in next year and Tulane is building up again after some down years (similar to Pitt in the 80's BTW).

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@nelsonmuntz Can you at least lay out a12 game schedule and potential bowl affiliates and who will broadcast these games?

 

[Husky25]

At least guys like Husky25 are consistent in "protecting" football at all costs. The argument against the Big East was that it wasn't a significant upgrade. Now you are arguing that even putting basketball in a better conference and taking more money for hoops alone than the entire program makes still doesn't justify going independent for football.
Essentially, you are saying that a football schedule with Memphis, Tulane and Tulsa is more important than millions of additional dollars and protecting the hoops programs. Good to know.

My goodness, your opinions are insufferable some times (and those times are getting more frequent and closer together).
I am consistent because I operate in the world of fact, logic, and reason. I do not constantly throw out strawmen in order to drag out the same GD arguments. When your strawmen are burnt to a crisp, not only by me but any number of individuals, you move on to the next one.

I could explain it until I'm blue in the face. In fact, I have. My profile is not locked (unlike some other posters on this board). Go back and pull up my theories. On a practical level, the vast majority of them have a shot of happening. The majority of yours, on the other hand, do not. They are (as I said) full of strawmen, unreasonable innuendo, your own opinions presented as fact, and putting words in the mouths of others.

 

[ZooCougar]

So is football. East Carolina, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston, SMU, UConn (hopefully), Navy comes in next year and Tulane is building up again after some down years (similar to Pitt in the 80's BTW).

Football is not fine. We are basically in CUSA now. For basketball, which is a different animal we would be ok even without the NC last night. For football, we now get to enjoy not just a regional hindrance, but more of a conference hindrance as well.

Basically the AAC is a garbage conference that has a Blue Blood basketball program in it through some sort of cosmic accident.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Football is not fine. We are basically in CUSA now. For basketball, which is a different animal we would be ok even without the NC last night. For football, we now get to enjoy not just a regional hindrance, but more of a conference hindrance as well.

Basically the AAC is a garbage conference that has a Blue Blood basketball program in it through some sort of cosmic accident.

I'm somewhere betwee this view and Husky25's. The AAC is not fine. It is also (in my opinion) a better football conference than basketball conference. While there is no team as strong as UConn basketball on the football side, the depth is much better. SMU, Houston, USF, UCF, ECU, Cinci are all at least credible opponents. It isn't garbage. It's the sixth best league on average. But I do think it isn't much of a football downgrade from what we just left, so I don't think it hurts football short term. Long term it will. Basketball is more shielded from this effect and can schedule out of conference games more or less at will. So while the AAC basketball league is worse than the football league, our relative program strenth allows us to survive it...for a time.

But that time isn't endless. Fortunately, I don't think it needs to be and we will have an invite inside two years.

 

[Husky25]

I'm somewhere betwee this view and Husky25's. The AAC is not fine. It is also (in my opinion) a better football conference than basketball conference. While there is no team as strong as UConn basketball on the football side, the depth is much better. SMU, Houston, USF, UCF, ECU, Cinci are all at least credible opponents. It isn't garbage. It's the sixth best league on average. But I do think it isn't much of a football downgrade from what we just left, so I don't think it hurts football short term. Long term it will. Basketball is more shielded from this effect and can schedule out of conference games more or less at will. So while the AAC basketball league is worse than the football league, our relative program strenth allows us to survive it...for a time.

But that time isn't endless. Fortunately, I don't think it needs to be and we will have an invite inside two years.

Much better said than how I did. Thanks. I think the AAC is a tad better than Conference USA, given Cinci's growth and the emergence of UCF and East Carolina. the AAC is probably 1 or 1a in the G5 pecking order along with the Mountain West. Again this is my opinion. It is a downgrade from the old Big East obviously because the AAC no longer has a guaranteed spot in the New Years Day Six and the weaker bowl affiliations, but absent a Big Ten invite, I'm afraid it is what it for the time being. If football drives the bus and UConn were to go independent, it can kiss away 1) exposure (and recruiting), 2) what little bowl affiliation they already have, and 3) Scheduling capabilities. These three factors, among others, nullifies any possible conference upgrade.

 

[Adios]

I'm somewhere betwee this view and Husky25's. The AAC is not fine. It is also (in my opinion) a better football conference than basketball conference. While there is no team as strong as UConn basketball on the football side, the depth is much better. SMU, Houston, USF, UCF, ECU, Cinci are all at least credible opponents. It isn't garbage. It's the sixth best league on average. But I do think it isn't much of a football downgrade from what we just left, so I don't think it hurts football short term. Long term it will. Basketball is more shielded from this effect and can schedule out of conference games more or less at will. So while the AAC basketball league is worse than the football league, our relative program strenth allows us to survive it...for a time.

But that time isn't endless. Fortunately, I don't think it needs to be and we will have an invite inside two years.

It is not a weak league, at all. Basketball programs should not have a problem developing. I expect schools such as ODU, UTSA and maybe UMass to pass through in the future. Believe it or not, ODU is top 50 in winning percentage in basketball. Hopefully, we'll be in a new league by then.

 

[ZooCougar]

It is not a weak league, at all. Basketball programs should not have a problem developing. I expect schools such as ODU, UTSA and maybe UMass to pass through in the future. Believe it or not, ODU is top 50 in winning percentage in basketball. Hopefully, we'll be in a new league by then.

Hopefully it isn't the AAC, at least as long as we are in it.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm somewhere betwee this view and Husky25's. The AAC is not fine. It is also (in my opinion) a better football conference than basketball conference. While there is no team as strong as UConn basketball on the football side, the depth is much better. SMU, Houston, USF, UCF, ECU, Cinci are all at least credible opponents. It isn't garbage. It's the sixth best league on average. But I do think it isn't much of a football downgrade from what we just left, so I don't think it hurts football short term. Long term it will. Basketball is more shielded from this effect and can schedule out of conference games more or less at will. So while the AAC basketball league is worse than the football league, our relative program strenth allows us to survive it...for a time.

But that time isn't endless. Fortunately, I don't think it needs to be and we will have an invite inside two years.

6th best league is an assumption.

In terms of downgrade it is a big one. We don't have an autobid to a "BCS" bowl. Whereas the Big East did. That alone puts us at a disadvantage in recruiting.

If you thought the Big East had a bad stigma, then just wait an see how that AAC stigma works out for football.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Seriously, wtf is your malfunction?

2 million a year is not UConn's valuation. That's our share or what the conference was perceived to be worth TV wise back during the AAC's inception.

In order for your argument to be true then Tulane and Temple would have to be worth the same as UConn.

Do you think that WSU is equal in value to USC? Is Iowa State equal to Texas.

At least you could get creative with your fallacies.

If UConn is making $2MM a year and the program is not doing anything about it, than that is our valuation. If we think we are worth more, then let's figure out a way to make more.

 

[ZooCougar]

If UConn is making $2MM a year and the program is not doing anything about it, than that is our valuation. If we think we are worth more, then let's figure out a way to make more.

No, you see you are going in circles again. UConn is not worth 2 million. And if that were the case, then Iowa State is worth as much as Texas.

You do understand that we have other sources of revenue right?