Any new rumors on the ACC invite?

[Hoophound]

This is definitely an issue. My feeling is that we should be more aggressive in recruiting. Great athletes should get a pass on the academics. Not a complete pass but a pass. They bring great value through their abilities, just like many other students. If you want all eggheads, root for MIT. College is more than just SAT scores. I said, not a complete pass but a pass. These kids need to be respected and they deserve to get an education. If they're trying, they should get a pass.

I've always felt that we should make entry easier for athletes, but then hold them to decent standards when they get here. Basically, "look, we'll let him in and we'll give you lots of academic support, but if the kid can't do the work with all that extra help, he isn't going to be able to stay".

This would allow us to catch up faster in the BCS ranks and would grow the brand and fan base with better football. Boise has built their program on players that wouldn't make the cut academically many places. They keep most of those kids in school. I'm not syaing we should cheat or take anyone that can play, but if you want to play with the big boys, you atleast have to play like the big boys. There are only so many programs outside the top 10-15 or so that can bring in serious talent without making some concessions.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I've always felt that we should make entry easier for athletes, but then hold them to decent standards when they get here. Basically, "look, we'll let him in and we'll give you lots of academic support, but if the kid can't do the work with all that extra help, he isn't going to be able to stay".

This would allow us to catch up faster in the BCS ranks and would grow the brand and fan base with better football. Boise has built their program on players that wouldn't make the cut academically many places. They keep most of those kids in school. I'm not syaing we should cheat or take anyone that can play, but if you want to play with the big boys, you atleast have to play like the big boys. There are only so many programs outside the top 10-15 or so that can bring in serious talent without making some concessions.

Here we begin to see divergent perspectives. If UConn could be Vanderbilt or Boise, which would you choose? I'd be happy to be considered with Vanderbilt, or Duke, or Northwestern. The reality is that the academic stats for our football team have been quite good. I'd like to see it stay that way. I would be very disappointed if they sacrificed that for football success. You can do it the right way. More than other sports, elite performance in football, outside of a few positions, requires intelligence. The team with the best athletes doesn't always win.

 

[gars44]

Here we begin to see divergent perspectives. If UConn could be Vanderbilt or Boise, which would you choose? I'd be happy to be considered with Vanderbilt, or Duke, or Northwestern. The reality is that the academic stats for our football team have been quite good. I'd like to see it stay that way. I would be very disappointed if they sacrificed that for football success. You can do it the right way. More than other sports, elite performance in football, outside of a few positions, requires intelligence. The team with the best athletes doesn't always win.

Call me divergent. Vanderbilt, Duke or Northwestern? They're not doing it the right way. They're not doing it all. They were grandfathered in to their respective conferences. If they were just a start up program, like us, they would be in the same situation as us. No one would want them. Imagine Carnegie Mellon starting a football program right now, or the Univ. of Chicago. Do you think they'd be invited to the B1G?

You know, we would all like to revisit some of our decision-making of our teens, I'm sure. I think it might have been better if I listened to my mother and became a neurosurgeon, like she wanted. You may wish that you went to a more elite institution of higher learning. I guess, I do too. But, and there's always a but, it is what it is. You and me, we made that bed a long time ago.

I would rather see us like Uconn basketball. I would rather talk about things grounded in reality. Jim Calhoun has a lot of problems, no doubt. He plays in the big boy league, with a lot of bad boys. He ain't no Vanderbilt, Duke or Northwestern. He's a lot more like Boise State than those other three. I respect the guy a lot. He brought this program out of nowhere fast. Count me in with Boise State. Can you imagine if we had a program like that? With everything else this state and school brings to the table? We'd be in the B1G next year. The only thing holding us back is our non-competitive football. The lack of a football brand. If we remain at Vanderbilt, Duke or Northwestern levels of football, we might as well just hang it up right now. Those schools were grandfathered in. No one would want them otherwise. If they were just starting a football program, like us, they would be in the same situation as us. Hello. This is about football.

 

[gars44]

There are only so many programs outside the top 10-15 or so that can bring in serious talent without making some concessions.

Hoop, that's the rub. I don't think there are anywhere near that many. Who? Stanford? They come to mind. Who else is a top flight program that doesn't have a scandal or two in their past? These are programs that live at the edge, and often step over. I think the top 10-15 are there because they dwell on the edge and are not afraid of the consequences. They play with fire on a regular basis. Sometimes they get burned.

 

[huskyjawz]

(Just as a point of interest the Bama fight song includes a line about GT but nothing about Auburn).[/quote]

very interesting, and hard to believe.

 

[huskyjawz]

Call me divergent. Vanderbilt, Duke or Northwestern? They're not doing it the right way. They're not doing it all. They were grandfathered in to their respective conferences. If they were just a start up program, like us, they would be in the same situation as us. No one would want them. Imagine Carnegie Mellon starting a football program right now, or the Univ. of Chicago. Do you think they'd be invited to the B1G?

You know, we would all like to revisit some of our decision-making of our teens, I'm sure. I think it might have been better if I listened to my mother and became a neurosurgeon, like she wanted. You may wish that you went to a more elite institution of higher learning. I guess, I do too. But, and there's always a but, it is what it is. You and me, we made that bed a long time ago.

I would rather see us like Uconn basketball. I would rather talk about things grounded in reality. Jim Calhoun has a lot of problems, no doubt. He plays in the big boy league, with a lot of bad boys. He ain't no Vanderbilt, Duke or Northwestern. He's a lot more like Boise State than those other three. I respect the guy a lot. He brought this program out of nowhere fast. Count me in with Boise State. Can you imagine if we had a program like that? With everything else this state and school brings to the table? We'd be in the B1G next year. The only thing holding us back is our non-competitive football. The lack of a football brand. If we remain at Vanderbilt, Duke or Northwestern levels of football, we might as well just hang it up right now. Those schools were grandfathered in. No one would want them otherwise. If they were just starting a football program, like us, they would be in the same situation as us. Hello. This is about football.

i don't think anyone is suggesting we aspire to be vandy/duke/nw in football. the point is that it's possible to excel academically even if you are in a conference with lesser academic institutions.

 

[Hoophound]

Hoop, that's the rub. I don't think there are anywhere near that many. Who? Stanford? They come to mind. Who else is a top flight program that doesn't have a scandal or two in their past? These are programs that live at the edge, and often step over. I think the top 10-15 are there because they dwell on the edge and are not afraid of the consequences. They play with fire on a regular basis. Sometimes they get burned.

Yea, I don't either. I count about 7 (UF, ND, USC, TX, tOSU, Bama, LSU) but I didn't feel like getting into a debate about who should be on my list.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Here we begin to see divergent perspectives. If UConn could be Vanderbilt or Boise, which would you choose? I'd be happy to be considered with Vanderbilt, or Duke, or Northwestern. The reality is that the academic stats for our football team have been quite good. I'd like to see it stay that way. I would be very disappointed if they sacrificed that for football success. You can do it the right way. More than other sports, elite performance in football, outside of a few positions, requires intelligence. The team with the best athletes doesn't always win.

Maybe just me, but I don't give a what Moe Petrus gets in COMM101 or what Johnny Mac gets in HIST207, as long as they're eligible on Saturdays

 

[Sky ball]

I propose that the UConn trustees immediately approve a new name for the university. The University of Far Northern Georgia at Storrs. Plant some hedges at the Rent (renamed "The Love Shack"). We've already got a dog. Then play up our key in-state rivalry with UGA, and a new annual neutral site game with Florida at the Citrus Bowl around Christmas, since half of Connecticut (I mean the state of Far North Georgia) is in Orlando then anyway. Our SEC invite would be in the mail. Just fire up some B-52s tunes and wait.

HH,

The move should be to Northeast Tennessee as it was once, for a short time in 1784, the State of Franklin. They actually elected a govenor and legislature but a small war with Tennessee squashed the movement. Therfore the new name would be The University of Franklin or Franklin State University. This keeps us as the flagship school and not a directional or #2 in a state.

 

[John Greene]

(Just as a point of interest the Bama fight song includes a line about GT but nothing about Auburn).

very interesting, and hard to believe.[/quote]
It is for most people. The line is "Send the Yellowjackets to a watery grave". Before GT left for the ACC the GT/UA rivalary was second only to the TN/UA rivalry in the minds of many older Bama fans. UA and AU did not play each other from 1907 to 1948 for various reasons.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Maybe just me, but I don't give a **** what Moe Petrus gets in COMM101 or what Johnny Mac gets in HIST207, as long as they're eligible on Saturdays

You're not alone, but I suspect some of us are fans of the university generally more than the football team. I'm excited about Soccer getting a #3 seed. Don Donigan was the BMOC in my day (now the coach at RU). It may depend in part on whether you have a UConn degree or not. My degree has gone up in value since '88. I don't really want it to head in the opposite direction. I would much prefer that UConn was a top academic school, with a great basketball team and a mediocre football team, than a UConn with mediocre academics and a great football team. I don't need them to be LSU. There are a lot of schools that pull this off, but I think it makes your success more variable year to year.

 

[husky10]

The service academies are some of the most prestigious schools in the country the schools that we are looking to bring in are not all bad academically.