AAC & Grant-of-Rights

[JMick]

If is the key word.

Yeah but if you're not preparing for it, you're going to get left behind. We've been screwed already. We should be employing someone full time to monitor this.

 

[Ha Who]

Yeah but if you're not preparing for it, you're going to get left behind. We've been screwed already. We should be employing someone full time to monitor this.

Didn’t we already try the monitoring route?

 

[JMick]

Didn’t we already try the monitoring route?

Well it sounded like we didn't start until too late. Pina colada and donuts yadda yadda

 

[yukonfan4]

We think alike here, we have to be out front on this for once.

When UCF and Houston leave or UCF, Houston, Cincy, and Memphis all leave what will we all be saying? If there is one thing everyone should have learned by now is be prepared for another kick, the bottom is never really the bottom. Complacency is what got us into this mess, hard to believe some are still advocating for it.

thank you. i think you're the only other person that has voiced an understanding of what will happen within the next 5-6 years.

Save the date: All signs point to 2023 for conference realignment

"But the other three Power 5 conferences have agreements ending roughly around the same time (the SEC's Tier 1 deal with CBS runs through 2023-24). The Big Ten last summer opted for a shorter agreement with Fox and ESPN, which runs through 2022-23. The Pac-12 deal expires after the 2023-24 sports year, and the Big 12's ends the following year."

at least two or three and probably all of: ucf, memphis, houston, cincy and usf will leave the aac by 2025 at the latest.

uconn cannot be stuck in the future aac comprised of tulane, tulsa, temple, ecu, smu, wichita, and navy.

i dont care if i sound like a broken record- at that point the choice between the future aac and big east will be obvious. football be damned.

 

[auggie22]

Off the bat, no AAC or ACC team would schedule UConn as they are wholly owned ESPN properties. SEC, forget about it.

So you're looking at maybe two BIG games, two Big 12 games so say Illinois, Indiana, maybe a Kansas, Iowa State. Then the other independents that would need late in the season scheduling in BYU, Army, and UMass. Throw in an FCS game vs URI. That's 8 games and even that is a stretch.

I'm sure Fox wants UConn in the BE for hoop but not sure they have enough clout to help schedule 12 football games.

I think the opposite is likely true. ESPN properties would be more likely to schedule series games with a fox property ... it would be the only way to reach the fan bases of those fox properties.

 

[Adios]

yeah thats the sum of all fears right there. ucf houston and memphis could slide right in. maybe cincy and usf too and theyd be back to 12 teams

also from the article that started all this- "[along with UCF], Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston and South Florida are the other candidates most likely to be targeted by the power five, according to several well-placed sources."

we'd be left high and dry again.

But not UConn. Holy cow. I'll be nice to all y'all and say no wonder America is going down the drain.

 

[billybud]

We forget that ESPN and Fox share rights with three of the five power conferences...

And they meet each spring to "draft" who gets to televise what.

Fox's Michael Mulvihill on process"

In the college draft, the conferences put together a game schedule [with the dates] but then we and ESPN sit down and actually choose game windows in the Spring where we’ll say — and we have the number one pick in the Big Ten draft — we’re going to take the first selection on November 24th. We pick that date obviously with an eye toward it being Ohio State-Michigan, but we don’t literally take Ohio State-Michigan. We just take the right to have the first choice on November 24th.

And then ESPN will choose the right to have the first choice on a week in September....etc.

 

[Towney007]

I would hope there is a contingency plan for dropping football if memphis or cinci leave the AAC. Because without them, we shouldn't be playing basketball in this league

This is kind of what I keep coming back to. People are looking at this whole thing from the wrong direction - wondering what *we do* with *our programs* and there's just no realistic worldview of what's obviously happening around us. Again.

Football isn't viable in this conference because it's not a conference. It's a refugee camp. There's zero stability and assurances of what this conference will even look like in 2-3 years, never mind 10. And you can't be viable in something that could be something completely different year to year.

I was very much on board for the idea of letting the next round of TV rights determine what to do with football, but the way the pieces are falling, that's not the case and realistically, we're not going to turn the program around in that period of time. So we're headed into this period with a program that's *legitimately* worthless. SO while it'd have been great to have the chance to figure out what to do over a few years, sadly it's not gonna happen. It's looking like we're gonna have to make the call way earlier than we wanted to.

Being an independent isn't an option. The MAC isn't an option. The AAC might not be a conference quicker than we think. There's just no path in 2-3 years to make this an interesting buy for a P5 conference and there's no place to put it for a period longer than that which will help grow it. *This conference* isn't a viable place to grow it. It's already leaking money. So you can't go anywhere but you can't stay here.

And that's not even getting into the fact that 'what to do with football' should be like... the third question we ask. First question is - 'what do we do with basketball to protect it and/or succeed in the future?' That's gotta be priority #1.

And I think that question needs to get answered really, really, really quickly. Once that's sorted out, then worry about football.

 

[Point6]

UConn joining the Big East makes the Big East more powerful and solidifies its position as a power basketball conference. Historically, that is the kind of development that the ACC would want to bust up. If we can keep FB independent, the ACC would have an avenue in the future to bust up the BE - i.e., by poaching us. Additionally, put me in the camp that believes hoops will become even more important in the future once colleges start getting sued over football/CTE liability. (Like global warming, its going to happen.)

 

[FriarJ]

Recruiting for Georgetown and StJohns certainly doesn't scream "POWER CONFERENCE"

St Johns was on Gaffney for years and Luther Muhammad longer than that, and BOTH players chose coaches who just took new jobs over going to St Johns.

They are filling up with transfers.

Georgetown is recruiting like its 1986 with their Frankenstein bigmen recruits.

Get out with this BS hype-train about the NBE.

Outside of Nova, there is no discernible difference in conferences... and now that UConn/Memphis are recruiting better than Nova, that narrative is about to change as well.

Providence got schooled by Gregg Marshall with a bunch of unheralded freshmen.

Schooled? He had a senior who toyed with entering the draft last year go off for 30+ (He couldn't miss) and PC lost by 3 Hyping the AAC is fine, more power to you. You don't need to denigrate the BE schools to make your conference look better, the two things are not connected.

 

[superjohn]

Recruiting for Georgetown and StJohns certainly doesn't scream "POWER CONFERENCE"

St Johns was on Gaffney for years and Luther Muhammad longer than that, and BOTH players chose coaches who just took new jobs over going to St Johns.

They are filling up with transfers.

Georgetown is recruiting like its 1986 with their Frankenstein bigmen recruits.

Get out with this BS hype-train about the NBE.

Outside of Nova, there is no discernible difference in conferences... and now that UConn/Memphis are recruiting better than Nova, that narrative is about to change as well.

Providence got schooled by Gregg Marshall with a bunch of unheralded freshmen.

Arguing that the Big East isn't better than the AAC just makes you look dumb. The Big East is a power conference in basketball.

Gerogetown Frankenstein bigs??? Jessie Govan is a million times better than any big on our team and is one of the best bigs in the country.

 

[Towney007]

Arguing that the Big East isn't better than the AAC just makes you look dumb. The Big East is a power conference in basketball.

Gerogetown Frankenstein bigs??? Jessie Govan is a million times better than any big on our team and is one of the best bigs in the country.

The football dream is going to be a hard death for a lot of people to get over.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Arguing that the Big East isn't better than the AAC just makes you look dumb. The Big East is a power conference in basketball.

Gerogetown Frankenstein bigs??? Jessie Govan is a million times better than any big on our team and is one of the best bigs in the country.

It's better, but the gap is narrow, not wide. Most of that gap is because UConn and Memphis have been terrible. Since that seems to be ending, the future can be very different than the past. With or without a GOR the AAC will have a higher payout and better exposure than the Big East as of the next contract.

 

[Travelman6]

There's one thing you are overlooking. I think the US will become a global destination for education even more. The head of the royal family of Mysore in India is a UMass alum. He's only 26.

Nah, I think Europe with tuition rates that AREN´T outrageous will become the next hot spot. Actually, they arleady kind of are for many people from outside Europe with an education (the top Euro-schools) that is comparable to the top places in the states at a fraction of the cost. And you actually spend a decent amount of time in the classroom per week too. Not this 3 or 4 hour, 4 days per week nonsense. Plus many Euro-schools don´t make students take these pointless core classes they completed already in HS. Those who are forward thinking and ready to save will apply to European schools. Germany is even free for non citizens I think, or maybe that was Sweden. Finland has the best EDU model in the world, the world is passing the states by in many respects: EDU, public transit, workers rights, etc. Sorry but true.

 

[superjohn]

The football dream is going to be a hard death for a lot of people to get over.

I get it but a lot of posters here have been pretending the two leagues are on equal footing in basketball or the AAC is even better than the Big East. I don't understand the point of pretending.

 

[yukonfan4]

It's better, but the gap is narrow, not wide. Most of that gap is because UConn and Memphis have been terrible. Since that seems to be ending, the future can be very different than the past. With or without a GOR the AAC will have a higher payout and better exposure than the Big East as of the next contract.

The AAC’s current deal with ESPN is worth $126 million. The next deal will be around $441 million (3.5x the current deal with no GOR) at best

the current FOX-Big East deal is $500 million

No matter what, the AAC as presently constituted isn't going anywhere for at least 4 years, so no one should be arguing about whether the big east is better than the aac right now.

the issue is what happens in 4-6 years when half the AAC teams leave???

Then uconn will be left with only 2 choices:

1. stay in the future AAC with temple, tulsa, tulane, smu, ecu and navy/wichita
or
2. join the big east

 

[Travelman6]

Thanks for the insight of many but reading these 20 pages is just....nauseating and frustrating. I love Uconn but considering their current predicament I don't think things could be worse for Uconn IF THEY TRIED. Well, I guess they could have whiffed on Hurley but in regards to CR the previous is true, couldn´t be worse. CR to this point has been a perfect cocktail of bad luck, bad breaks, not being proactive and being screwed over and just in general, injustice as well as an unclear future to boot. Uconn needs to take the bull by the horn and start planning..well, yesterday. But that has already been said ad nausea. There is no perfect answer and each one has positives but at least one negative. Well, ya, the acc or big10 could come calling, no negatives in that but I am only considering realistic options and again, each one has negatives and is chalk full of risks. I don´t know what they need to do but it might include partnerships followed by screwing those partners over if need be, back door deals, etc. Whatever it takes.

 

[superjohn]

It's better, but the gap is narrow, not wide. Most of that gap is because UConn and Memphis have been terrible. Since that seems to be ending, the future can be very different than the past. With or without a GOR the AAC will have a higher payout and better exposure than the Big East as of the next contract.

You can argue money and other factors but what you're saying just isn't true when it comes to basketball. The Big East got 7 teams in the torunament the past two years, last year they had two #1 seeds, and the champion. It's a basketball conference, it's always been a basketball conference and as much as we want to pretend it took a huge dive after the last round of raids, it didn't. Seemingly most if not all those schools have gotten better and they have stepped up their investments in the programs. The league has the Garden and has cache when it comes to basketball.
When I'm out watching games wearing a UConn hat I always get asked either what happened to our basketball program or told how great the Big East is. I have to explain we aren't in the Big East anymore. instead we are in a conference with a bunch of second rate schools from Texas and Florida. I always get quizzical looks. You have a D1 football team? Why would you be in that league? Why don't you play all those basketball schools anymore? etc.

Say you don't want to give up in football or the belief that football is all that matters and the dream that years from now we'll be invited to the BIG or ACC but let's put to bed that we're currently in a major basketball conference.

Basketball is what made UConn. I was pumped when we went D1 in football and once upon a time I thought we had a future in the sport, that time has passed and we've been an abject failure. If football is ever a drag on basketball I want no part of it. The way things have gone so far and the way things look in the future UConn will be left in an even worse conference that will drag down everything even further. We simply have to be out ahead on this and be creative.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Here’s a question - does maintaining the football program in its current state even help us get into a P5?

We’ve known all along that we were never going to be invited BECAUSE OF football - it would be a combination of our basketball brand name, geography, TV market, etc. The thought was to keep football good enough to where it wouldn’t be a huge negative.

Well, it is now a huge negative. And there are no signs of things turning around any time soon. We will need to hemorrage money just to maintain the status quo. Football’s operating margin in 2017 was -$13M. And that number is headed the wrong way.

What does that money even do for us at this point? What if we pull the plug, join the Big East, and put some of the money we would have blown on 3+ years of losing football into a war chest for a UConn football “relaunch” in a P5. If another round of realignment arrives, we could commit to spending big immediately on football and have the cash saved up to do just that.

Is this a good plan? No! It’s a bad plan. But it would be far better financially in the short term. It would be a thorn in the side of ESPN and the ACC, which would create value in dislodging us (vs the AAC, where everyone is happy to have us languish). And I’m not sure that a pile of earmarked funds and a “Football Relaunch!” PPT presentation are really any less attractive than where our actual football program is realistically likely to be in 3-4 years.

 

[billybud]

Lunardi's way early brackets....

Bracketology with Joe Lunardi

 

[HuskyHawk]

The AAC’s current deal with ESPN is worth $126 million. The next deal will be around $441 million (3.5x the current deal with no GOR) at best

the current FOX-Big East deal is $500 million

No matter what, the AAC as presently constituted isn't going anywhere for at least 4 years, so no one should be arguing about whether the big east is better than the aac right now.

the issue is what happens in 4-6 years when half the AAC teams leave???

Then uconn will be left with only 2 choices:

1. stay in the future AAC with temple, tulsa, tulane, smu, ecu and navy/wichita
or
2. join the big east

$500 million over a different period of time. It's about $5m per school per year I believe.
Half the AAC teams are not leaving unless there is a massive shakeup. It's ridiculous that so many people are acting like it is a given, especially the scenario where we get left behind.

If that happens then we have the Chaos scenario, which will lead to a feeding frenzy. UConn might be viewed as the top property in the league 4-5 years from now. UCF had a terrible football team 3 years ago. None of this static.

What UConn does is position itself the best it can to win in that chaos scenario. It invests in football, restoring it to respectability. It makes sure that basketball is what it should be at UConn. It invests in ancillary facilities valued by these leagues to show that it has a whole portfolio in the AD. So what have we done?

1. Fired a bad football coach and brought in one who, while not exciting, is known for making his teams tough and competitive.
2. Fired a bad basketball coach and brought in the best available coach on the market. Play level is already improved, as has recruiting.
3. Build a new soccer stadium for our NCAA tournament caliber program.
4. Build a new baseball stadium for our NCAA tournament caliber program.

We are doing the things we should be doing to prepare for this situation.

 

[UConn Dan]

The AAC’s current deal with ESPN is worth $126 million. The next deal will be around $441 million (3.5x the current deal with no GOR) at best

the current FOX-Big East deal is $500 million

No matter what, the AAC as presently constituted isn't going anywhere for at least 4 years, so no one should be arguing about whether the big east is better than the aac right now.

the issue is what happens in 4-6 years when half the AAC teams leave???

Then uconn will be left with only 2 choices:

1. stay in the future AAC with temple, tulsa, tulane, smu, ecu and navy/wichita
or
2. join the big east

First of all, your $441million number is pure speculation.
Second, you're comparing different terms. The Fox-Big East Deal was for 12 years, and the current ESPN-AAC deal was for 6-7 years (depending on the sport).

I say this with peace and love, where are all these AAC teams going? No matter how bad our football is, they don't move the needle more than UConn.

UConn needs to worry about UConn, and winning, and supporting it's programs. If/when the split of major college athletics happens, the Big East is not going to be in the haves, they will be the have-nots. So those mourning or souring on the "UConn football dream", you'll also be mourning the loss of playing major college basketball.

We'll see where this all shakes out in 10 years, but the Big East is not currently our solution.

 

[yukonfan4]

let's just all agree that hurley can/will win chip #5 before the next conference realignment, and be done with it.

 

[kansashusky]

So are we still in the AAC?

 

[Chief00]

How did UCF do it without a 5 year plan? Just curious.

 

[UConn Dan]

The last thing I will mention. Would you rather be paid $5million a year in the Big East and buried on FS1 and FS2 where absolutely no one is watching, or (currrently) be paid less in the AAC and be on ESPN/2/U 15 times a year and get much needed exposure (maybe even more when we're consistently back in the top 25).

These are all things that need to be matrixed and accounted for. More exposure = more Nike money/ more IMG money, etc.

 

[superjohn]

$500 million over a different period of time. It's about $5m per school per year I believe.
Half the AAC teams are not leaving unless there is a massive shakeup. It's ridiculous that so many people are acting like it is a given, especially the scenario where we get left behind.

If that happens then we have the Chaos scenario, which will lead to a feeding frenzy. UConn might be viewed as the top property in the league 4-5 years from now. UCF had a terrible football team 3 years ago. None of this static.

What UConn does is position itself the best it can to win in that chaos scenario. It invests in football, restoring it to respectability. It makes sure that basketball is what it should be at UConn. It invests in ancillary facilities valued by these leagues to show that it has a whole portfolio in the AD. So what have we done?

1. Fired a bad football coach and brought in one who, while not exciting, is known for making his teams tough and competitive.
2. Fired a bad basketball coach and brought in the best available coach on the market. Play level is already improved, as has recruiting.
3. Build a new soccer stadium for our NCAA tournament caliber program.
4. Build a new baseball stadium for our NCAA tournament caliber program.

We are doing the things we should be doing to prepare for this situation.

We are doing the things we should be doing to prepare for this situation?

Not investing in football? Instead of having respectability, having the worst team in D1 football? Not firing the guy who says it will take like 5 years from now to even be competitive?

How exactly have we made ourselves more attractive than we were when we went to the Fiesta Bowl and were winning basketball championships?

 

[HawkHusky]

The last thing I will mention. Would you rather be paid $5million a year in the Big East and buried on FS1 and FS2 where absolutely no one is watching, or (currrently) be paid less in the AAC and be on ESPN/2/U 15 times a year and get much needed exposure (maybe even more when we're consistently back in the top 25).

These are all things that need to be matrixed and accounted for. More expsoure = more Nike money/ more IMG money, etc.

We would have a bunch of games on Fox.

 

[Walker11]

I don't really follow conference alignment so excuse my ignorance. Isn't the presumed long term plan of the P5 schools to go to 16 each and possibly separate themselves from the rest of the schools, keeping all that money to themselves? In that case, it would be ACC or bust and while our chances would be slim, the only hope we have is to get our football program to be just mediocre enough to be their most viable option. We have by far the best brand remaining, albeit with the worst football program.

I have a hard time imagining an NCAA tournament without allowing schools like UConn and Nova being eligible but isn't this the long term worry?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Everyone here is acting like UConn football has never won a damn thing in it's history.

It wasn't that long ago that we won 33 games over a 4 year period and including two conference titles against programs that we supposedly can't or won't be able to ever compete against again.

The last handful of seasons have been brutal in losing our league, going through multiple coaches, but this idea we can never compete is a defeatist attitude.

Someday we may need to kill the program for financial reasons, but I'll be damned if it's to play Creighton, Butler and St. John's twice a year.