Assuming SDSU is gone, what's Aresco's next move?

[CL82]

Holy duck, you have got to be kidding. Any of the above and this UMass/Tulsa discussion is making me sick. Let's just go Independent until the current conference structure gets blown up, I can't stomach this any longer.

The Seven Stages of Conference Realignment

1. SHOCK & DENIAL-
You will probably react to learning of the loss of yet another conference member with numbed disbelief. You may deny the reality of the loss at some level, in order to avoid the pain. Belief in a secret plan that will bring UConn to the Big 10 is typical in this stage. This may last for weeks.
2. PAIN & GUILT-
As the shock wears off, it is replaced with the suffering of unbelievable pain. Although excruciating and almost unbearable, it is important that you experience the pain fully, Life feels chaotic and scary during this phase. Expect very little productivity during this stage as reading the Boneyard replaces normal functions such as work, talking with your spouse and bathing.
3. ANGER & BARGAINING-
Frustration gives way to anger, and you may lash out and lay blame for the lack of a decent conference on someone else. Many choose Warde Manual or Jeff Hathaway. This is a time for the release of bottled up emotion. You may rail against fate, questioning "Why UConn ?" You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of your despair ("I will not complain about Syracuse’s cupcake basketball schedule anymore, if you just bring back the original Big East members.")
4. "DEPRESSION", REFLECTION, LONELINESS-
Just when your friends may think you should be getting on with your life, a long period of sad reflection will likely overtake you. Encouragement from others is not helpful to you during this stage of grieving. During this time, you finally realize the true magnitude of your loss, and it depresses you. You may isolate yourself on purpose, and talk of “going independent in football” becomes the norm.
5. THE UPWARD TURN-
As you start to adjust to life without a meaningful conference affiliation, your life becomes a little calmer and more organized. Your physical symptoms lessen, and your "depression" begins to lift slightly. You actually start working at work again and your boss decides that he doesn’t need to fire you or upgrade the internet firewall.
6. RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH-
As you become more functional, your mind starts working again, and you will find yourself seeking realistic solutions to problems posed by life without a decent conference. You will start to work on practical and financial problems and reconstructing your program, such as stadium expansion and focusing on third tier TV rights.
7. ACCEPTANCE & HOPE-
During this, the last of the seven stages of conference realignment, you learn to accept and deal with the reality of your situation. Acceptance does not necessarily mean instant happiness. Given the pain and turmoil you have experienced, you can never return to the carefree, untroubled YOU that existed before this tragedy. But you will find a way forward, unfortunately that may involve trips to Amherst, but you will survive.

 

[UConn07]

This is what I think we should do :

West

Memphis
Houston
SMU
Tulane
Tulsa
Southern Miss

East

UConn
Cincinnati
Temple
ECU
UCF
USF

If Navy still want in, in 2015, add them to the East and someone to the West...Arkanas State if they continue on their path, perhaps...

Are you guys kidding me? We are debating adding Tulsa/UMass and the school of the blind foas the next invites for this conference? Can we just wake up and realize this is the only option to keep this athletic department alive?

Football - Independent
All Others - Follow the C7

Wait until the next round of realignment. Have Cincy/USF follow suit and have guaranteed games aginst those two schools for football (as an example our schedule this year would be):

@Cincy
USF
Maryland
Michigan
@Buffalo
Towson

The rest fill with quality opponents. Do 1-0's if you have to with two more big names. Call up BC, Rutgers, Cuse and Pitt for OOC. Two will bite. We have to be proactive and cannot settle for playing conference basketball games against Tulsa and Tulane. Please - does anyone here or up in Storrs have a pulse?

 

[UConn07]

Let me put the following request out there for all the "Independence" people on this thread. Construct for me a perspective schedule that one might expect UConn to be able to play as an independent in football, including the times of year that we would be able to play the games, so as to fit them into the opponents' league schedules. Do that for me, and maybe I'll be able to shut up about how bad independence would be for us. People are complaining about a schedule of Cincy, Temple, USF, SMU, UCF, Houston, etc., but I'd love to see what they come up with...

The SEC consistently has OOC games smack dab in the middle of their SEC schedules.

 

[Fishy]

Academics matter until they don't. West Virginia is in the Big 12 because the ACC laughed at their academic cred.

In our case, academics ceased to be a plus the very second we could use it to our advantage - we lost out to a fast food university because the ACC had to appease its community college in Tallahassee.

But, Northern Illinois...jesus. NIU is an awful idea, only exceeded in its awfulness by the idea of going independent.

We'd die a quick, lonely death as an indy. Impossible scheduling, dismal recruiting, praying for bowl invites that would never come, no television....and when the time came to hire a new coach, no one would answer the phone. I have no idea where we'd stuff the rest of our sports.

Anyone who thinks the C7 is inviting UConn basketball into their little coffee klatch is a dingbat. It is never going to happen - they're not going to drop a $65M a year athletic program into their group of tidy lil schools.

At this point, I like the idea of just staying at ten. No one wants to see a NNNNNBE championship game on a Tuesday night in early December. But, I suspect the new arrivals will want a title game and Aresco will probably want 12 in case he loses two down the road.

 

[UConn07]

The SEC consistently has OOC games smack dab in the middle of their SEC schedules.

Add in the BC game on rivalary weekend and that's another game right there.

 

[UConn07]

Add in the BC game on rivalary weekend and that's another game right there.

If we're afraid to go indy because it will be harder to find opponents, well i'll tell you what - we currently don't have any OOC opponents for 2014 as it stands and we also have no idea who will be in our conf besides cincy/usf/temple. So add temple to that indy sched. this isn't that hard to do.

 

[zls44]

BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.

 

[zls44]

this isn't that hard to do.

I agree, you're doing a bang-up job of being wrong.

Would I rather UConn go independent? Absolutley! Can they? NO!

 

[UConn07]

I agree, you're doing a bang-up job of being wrong.

Would I rather UConn go independent? Absolutley! Can they? NO!

The answer is yes.

 

[zls44]

The answer is yes.

You cannot find 12 teams that will play UConn.

UConn isn't BYU. BYU has a national championship, a large national following, and a giant ESPN contract as well as their own network.

You're comparing apples to wheelbarrows.

 

[UConn07]

You cannot find 12 teams that will play UConn.

UConn isn't BYU. BYU has a national championship, a large national following, and a giant ESPN contract as well as their own network.

You're comparing apples to wheelbarrows.

UConn can keep SNY - they practically run it as is when the Mets take to the offseason with men's and women's basketball. Do you think SNY is going to back out of the deal if UConn goes independent? They will be happy to broadcast UConn/Georgetown basketball games as well as whatever football we get.

 

[zls44]

UConn can keep SNY - they practically run it as is when the Mets take to the offseason with men's and women's basketball. Do you think SNY is going to back out of the deal if UConn goes independent? They will be happy to broadcast UConn/Georgetown basketball games as well as whatever football we get.

It's not about them backing out of the deal. It's about them being able to sublicence Big 12 or ACC or SEC games and get better ratings.

Let me break down your other schedule, BYU:

@ Virginia (ACC)
Texas (Big XII)
Utah (Pac XII)
@ Utah State (regional rivalry)
Georgia Tech (ACC)
@ Houston
Boise State
@ Wisconsin (BIG)
Middle Tennessee State
@ Notre Dame
@ Hawaii
It isn't BYU TV (which is available around the WORLD btw) vs SNY...it's ESPN vs SNY!!!!

Of the major conference teams, maybe you get a deal with one of them. Texas does a deal with BYU as both have independent TV deals with ESPN (LHN/BYU deal). Utah and Boise State are a reigonal rivals. The ACC has no interest in playing UConn, so I doubt you can get an ACC team.

Notre Dame's schedule is set a decade in advance. No dice there.

That leaves games against Houston, MTSU and Hawaii. Insert a random BCS opponent. That's four total games. Add a FCS and you're up to five.

Five. Total. I didn't even GET to home/away games.

BYU had five home games last year and played outside a lot of traditional timeslots. They're 10 times the football school UConn is.

It doesn't work.
It can't work.
It won't work.
It's why BYU is considering abandoning it.

 

[CL82]

BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.
BC will not play UConn.
Pitt will not play UConn.
Syracuse will not play UConn.

Ah so this is how ESPN gets its "partners" to do its evil bidding. Mind control.

 

[zls44]

The reason BC/Syracuse/Pitt would play UConn is ____________________

 

[CL82]

The reason BC/Syracuse/Pitt would play UConn is ____________________

ESPN let's them off the leash to run free every once in a while?

 

[uconNYC]

The reason BC/Syracuse/Pitt would play UConn is ____________________

The reason Michigan and Tennessee would play UConn at the Rent is ________________.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Again, explain to me why Louisville beat out UConn if academics matters? Explain to me why WVU beat out Louisville for the Big12? The answer is simple, but you keep harping on about it like it's true. It isn't true. MONEY is true.

Now if you want to talk about monetary arguments as to why Tulane might work and NIU might not, fine. I'm assuming that some version of numbers is what Aresco based the Tulane move on (even if I don't agree with it). But everyone please stop with the academics. Outside of the B1G, nobody gives a . The reason Boise hasn't been added to the Pac12 is because the Pac12 doesn't believe that Idaho adds anything to their bottom line. Period.

Because it matters but isn't the only factor. There are always lots of factors. First, it matters little to the B12, which doesn't have a strong academic rep as part of their image. So WVU was not much different than the average school in the Big 12. But remember that the ACC rejected WVU based on academics.

As for Louisville, in reading the details, the ACC thought that Louisville had rapidly improving academics, a strong endowment (more than twice UConn's) a high achieving athletics program in football, basketball and soccer, that brought in a lot of money and had a national brand. Then FSU reportedly threatened to leave if they didn't add UL. So they held thier noses and added a school that was worse than NCST, but which may not be worse for very long.

If university presidents are anything, they are snobs. Nobody in the Pac would even let anyone from Boise St. dirty their foyer. There is just no way.

 

[UConnDan97]

It's not about them backing out of the deal. It's about them being able to sublicence Big 12 or ACC or SEC games and get better ratings.

Let me break down your other schedule, BYU:

@ Virginia (ACC)
Texas (Big XII)
Utah (Pac XII)
@ Utah State (regional rivalry)
Georgia Tech (ACC)
@ Houston
Boise State
@ Wisconsin (BIG)
Middle Tennessee State
@ Notre Dame
@ Hawaii
It isn't BYU TV (which is available around the WORLD btw) vs SNY...it's ESPN vs SNY!!!!

Of the major conference teams, maybe you get a deal with one of them. Texas does a deal with BYU as both have independent TV deals with ESPN (LHN/BYU deal). Utah and Boise State are a reigonal rivals. The ACC has no interest in playing UConn, so I doubt you can get an ACC team.

Notre Dame's schedule is set a decade in advance. No dice there.

That leaves games against Houston, MTSU and Hawaii. Insert a random BCS opponent. That's four total games. Add a FCS and you're up to five.

Five. Total. I didn't even GET to home/away games.

BYU had five home games last year and played outside a lot of traditional timeslots. They're 10 times the football school UConn is.

It doesn't work.
It can't work.
It won't work.
It's why BYU is considering abandoning it.

This. This is the reality. People on this board are downright delusional when it comes to being an independent. And you're absolutely right that BYU is really looking hard at abandoning independence. The new "BCS-type" bowl alignment and other bowl tie-ins are practically forcing them to, along with the fact that they will continue to struggle in long-term scheduling of opponents and tv revenues.

If people don't like what our conference schedule will look like in 2014, I'd love for them to take a gander at what it would look like if we were independent...

 

[UConnDan97]

Because it matters but isn't the only factor. There are always lots of factors. First, it matters little to the B12, which doesn't have a strong academic rep as part of their image. So WVU was not much different than the average school in the Big 12. But remember that the ACC rejected WVU based on academics.

As for Louisville, in reading the details, the ACC thought that Louisville had rapidly improving academics, a strong endowment (more than twice UConn's) a high achieving athletics program in football, basketball and soccer, that brought in a lot of money and had a national brand. Then FSU reportedly threatened to leave if they didn't add UL. So they held thier noses and added a school that was worse than NCST, but which may not be worse for very long.

If university presidents are anything, they are snobs. Nobody in the Pac would even let anyone from Boise St. dirty their foyer. There is just no way.

The ACC accepted Louisville because Florida State and Clemson said they needed a "football school." Don't tell me about "rapidly improving academics" at Louisville, because you are embarrassing yourself. The perception was that they were a much better football school than us. Period. End of story. That's why they are going to the ACC and we aren't.

And university presidents are less snobs than they are mindful of where the money is going to come from...

 

[UConnDan97]

Nobody in the Pac would even let anyone from Boise St. dirty their foyer. There is just no way.

Not to keep harping on the issue, since this is the last post I'll make today in the "academics doesn't matter" department, but here is the ranking of one of the most recent additions to the PAC12 (you know, those snobs who wouldn't let anyone "dirty their foyer"):

Utah - ranked #125

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-utah-3675

How does that Nelly song go? Oh yeah, "Hey....must be the money!"

 

[HuskyHawk]

The ACC accepted Louisville because Florida State and Clemson said they needed a "football school." Don't tell me about "rapidly improving academics" at Louisville, because you are embarrassing yourself. The perception was that they were a much better football school than us. Period. End of story. That's why they are going to the ACC and we aren't.

And university presidents are less snobs than they are mindful of where the money is going to come from...

And to close the deal, Louisville evidently did a ton of sales work on how they have improved research grants, academic facilities, endowment and so on. Is it all a bill of goods? Probably. But they needed to upsell academics the same way UConn needed to upsell football, and they did. I don't think UL was a slam dunk. Are the folks at Duke and UNC holding their noses? I have no doubt. Just like Susan Herbst is doing with respect to Memphis, Houston and maybe ECU. By the way...I think the Tulane add has her fingerprints all over it. A straight academic add if ever there was one.

 

[UConnDan97]

And to close the deal, Louisville evidently did a ton of sales work on how they have improved research grants, academic facilities, endowment and so on. Is it all a bill of goods? Probably. But they needed to upsell academics the same way UConn needed to upsell football, and they did. I don't think UL was a slam dunk. Are the folks at Duke and UNC holding their noses? I have no doubt. Just like Susan Herbst is doing with respect to Memphis, Houston and maybe ECU. By the way...I think the Tulane add has her fingerprints all over it. A straight academic add if ever there was one.

Now you've got it!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Not to keep harping on the issue, since this is the last post I'll make today in the "academics doesn't matter" department, but here is the ranking of one of the most recent additions to the PAC12 (you know, those snobs who wouldn't let anyone "dirty their foyer"):

Utah - ranked #125

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-utah-3675

How does that Nelly song go? Oh yeah, "Hey....must be the money!"

And on a academic map, with Stanford as earth and Utah at #125 as the moon, Boise is Pluto.

 

[UConnDan97]

And on a academic map, with Stanford as earth and Utah at #125 as the moon, Boise is Pluto.

Just so long as you admit that the Pac12 had to leave Earth's orbit in their last round of additions. Now you can drop the academic pretense...

 

[zls44]

The reason Michigan and Tennessee would play UConn at the Rent is ________________.

Michigan didn't want to. They were desperate for a last-minute opponent for their stadium re-dedication and UConn held out to get that game. Tennessee negotiated it as part of a MBB series.

BC/SU/Pitt dont'/won't play UConn in basketball.

Next.