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We REALLY need to get into the Big 12...
Report: Big East is UConn's Plan B if Big 12 bid fails
Report: Big East is UConn's Plan B if Big 12 bid fails By Jerry McGuire Journal Inquirer | 0 comments
Should UConn abandon its aspirations to join a "Power 5" conference? If the Huskies are jilted by the Big 12, should they leave the American Athletic Conference, rejoin their former Catholic school foes in the reconstituted Big East for basketball and accept second-class FBS football status in another league?
Boston-based sportswriter Mark Blaudschun reported Monday on his fledgling pay-to-view website, "it seems more and more likely that UConn WILL NOT be part of the American Athletic Conference" after the Big 12 expansion process shakes out. Blaudschun used the capital letters for emphasis.
Citing "people familiar with the situation", Blaudschun reported UConn "does not want to return to the status quo" if the Big 12 doesn't invite the Huskies and suggested the Big East as a home for UConn's "non-football varsity sports".
Blaudschun followed with a Tuesday commentary advocating UConn's return to the Big East and that the school should pursue football-only membership in the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Conference USA or the Sun Belt, which along with the AAC comprise the so-called "Group of 5", the little brothers to the "Power 5" of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12.
Blaudschun's posts are noteworthy given his history of being first to report breaking UConn athletics news, the most recent examples being the departure of former athletic director Warde Manuel to Michigan and the hiring of AD David Benedict.
Blaudschun's Big East mention prompted reminders on social media that former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese is a paid consultant to UConn president Susan Herbst, who in January said Tranghese advises her on "all matters athletic", with conference realignment believed to be the focus.
Tranghese's contract is reported to be with the UConn Foundation, which is exempt from the state's Freedom of Information laws.
Tranghese continues to wield influence in college athletics through his consulting firm. In March, the Southeastern Conference hired him to help raise the SEC's basketball profile. Benedict came to Storrs in February from SEC member Auburn. Soon after Benedict arrived at UConn, the Huskies scheduled a men’s basketball series with Auburn.
On Monday, Herbst told the Hartford Courant that she would not lobby the Big 12 as many other schools have. She did not address the foundation's ongoing private effort to persuade the Big 12, which included the purchase of full-page newspaper advertising and billboards in the Dallas area in February.
Wednesday, Benedict used Twitter to subtly advocate for the Huskies' Big 12 bid, retweeting a Huskies' fan assertion that "#UConn football has more current NFLers than any (Big 12) candidate school but Boise St. More wins in past 10 yrs over P5 than any school but Cincy".
Blaudschun's website posts also echoed the growing conventional wisdom among national college football media that UConn is a longshot to be invited because the 10-team Big 12 is only going to expand by two -- if it expands at all. That consensus is developing even as the Big 12 is allowing 20 schools to make a video presentation to the league, a process that is drawing scorn from many of the media voices downplaying UConn's Big 12 chances.
Some of the authoritative media voices in the conversation are writers Brett McMurphy and Jake Trotter of ESPN.com -- the digital arm of the Connecticut-based sports network whose business executives are reported to oppose expansion because the massive cost it and Fox would incur (as much as $800 million) if the Big 12 adds members.
Oklahoma sports columnist Berry Tramel, who first reported UConn was being considered for the Big 12 in December, is now suggesting the league may not really be interested in expanding. Tramel's theory is the Big 12 is using expansion as a "smokescreen" to get more money for its 10 schools from ESPN and Fox as a payoff for not expanding.
ESPN, which has received $260 million in tax breaks and credits from the state through the years, has consistently denied it influences the makeup of conferences, and McMurphy has insisted on Twitter his reporting is not influenced by ESPN's business side. Another twist is that Fox also a 12-year, $500 million deal with the Big East for basketball, prompting questions of where it might prefer to see UConn basketball and football.
Report: Big East is UConn's Plan B if Big 12 bid fails
- Posted: Thursday, August 18, 2016 11:10 am | Updated: 12:30 pm, Thu Aug 18, 2016.
Report: Big East is UConn's Plan B if Big 12 bid fails By Jerry McGuire Journal Inquirer | 0 comments
Should UConn abandon its aspirations to join a "Power 5" conference? If the Huskies are jilted by the Big 12, should they leave the American Athletic Conference, rejoin their former Catholic school foes in the reconstituted Big East for basketball and accept second-class FBS football status in another league?
Boston-based sportswriter Mark Blaudschun reported Monday on his fledgling pay-to-view website, "it seems more and more likely that UConn WILL NOT be part of the American Athletic Conference" after the Big 12 expansion process shakes out. Blaudschun used the capital letters for emphasis.
Citing "people familiar with the situation", Blaudschun reported UConn "does not want to return to the status quo" if the Big 12 doesn't invite the Huskies and suggested the Big East as a home for UConn's "non-football varsity sports".
Blaudschun followed with a Tuesday commentary advocating UConn's return to the Big East and that the school should pursue football-only membership in the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Conference USA or the Sun Belt, which along with the AAC comprise the so-called "Group of 5", the little brothers to the "Power 5" of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12.
Blaudschun's posts are noteworthy given his history of being first to report breaking UConn athletics news, the most recent examples being the departure of former athletic director Warde Manuel to Michigan and the hiring of AD David Benedict.
Blaudschun's Big East mention prompted reminders on social media that former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese is a paid consultant to UConn president Susan Herbst, who in January said Tranghese advises her on "all matters athletic", with conference realignment believed to be the focus.
Tranghese's contract is reported to be with the UConn Foundation, which is exempt from the state's Freedom of Information laws.
Tranghese continues to wield influence in college athletics through his consulting firm. In March, the Southeastern Conference hired him to help raise the SEC's basketball profile. Benedict came to Storrs in February from SEC member Auburn. Soon after Benedict arrived at UConn, the Huskies scheduled a men’s basketball series with Auburn.
On Monday, Herbst told the Hartford Courant that she would not lobby the Big 12 as many other schools have. She did not address the foundation's ongoing private effort to persuade the Big 12, which included the purchase of full-page newspaper advertising and billboards in the Dallas area in February.
Wednesday, Benedict used Twitter to subtly advocate for the Huskies' Big 12 bid, retweeting a Huskies' fan assertion that "#UConn football has more current NFLers than any (Big 12) candidate school but Boise St. More wins in past 10 yrs over P5 than any school but Cincy".
Blaudschun's website posts also echoed the growing conventional wisdom among national college football media that UConn is a longshot to be invited because the 10-team Big 12 is only going to expand by two -- if it expands at all. That consensus is developing even as the Big 12 is allowing 20 schools to make a video presentation to the league, a process that is drawing scorn from many of the media voices downplaying UConn's Big 12 chances.
Some of the authoritative media voices in the conversation are writers Brett McMurphy and Jake Trotter of ESPN.com -- the digital arm of the Connecticut-based sports network whose business executives are reported to oppose expansion because the massive cost it and Fox would incur (as much as $800 million) if the Big 12 adds members.
Oklahoma sports columnist Berry Tramel, who first reported UConn was being considered for the Big 12 in December, is now suggesting the league may not really be interested in expanding. Tramel's theory is the Big 12 is using expansion as a "smokescreen" to get more money for its 10 schools from ESPN and Fox as a payoff for not expanding.
ESPN, which has received $260 million in tax breaks and credits from the state through the years, has consistently denied it influences the makeup of conferences, and McMurphy has insisted on Twitter his reporting is not influenced by ESPN's business side. Another twist is that Fox also a 12-year, $500 million deal with the Big East for basketball, prompting questions of where it might prefer to see UConn basketball and football.
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