B12 expansion saga - Survive and advance

[CL82]

So after a moment or two of thinking "aww duck not again," I had a revelation. This round of B12 expansion our challenge was to survive intact. We did. Yeah it would have been great to make B12 money but we were always a bad fit for the B12. We were a long shot that made a great run.

So what happened? Well let's look at it through the lens of March Madness where the goal is to live to play the next game.

Survive: Our conference is intact. Remember that the worst cast scenario was Cinci, Memphis, USF, UCF were all leaving. That would have been devastating.

Advance: Our profile among the illiterati got a huge bump. Basically we got a free nationwide ad campaign. Hopefully we changed the narrative that we will always be available and that we somehow aren't a valuable property and we added one more conference to our potential suitors.

All in all, I'm calling it a win.

 

[UConn990411]

Memphis was never on the Big 12's expansion list. Houston maybe, but Memphis isn't on anyone's radar.

 

[CTMike]

So after a moment or two of thinking "aww duck not again," I had a revelation. This round of B12 expansion our challenge was to survive intact. We did. Yeah it would have been great to make B12 money but we were always a bad fit for the B12. We were a long shot that made a great run.

So what happened? Well let's look at it through the lens of March Madness where the goal is to live to play the next game.

Survive: Our conference is intact. Remember that the worst cast scenario was Cinci, Memphis, USF, UCF were all leaving. That would have been devastating.

Advance: Our profile among the illiterati got a huge bump. Basically we got a free nationwide ad campaign. Hopefully we changed the narrative that we will always be available and that we somehow aren't a valuable property and we added one more conference to our potential suitors.

All in all, I'm calling it a win.

I mean, if we have to talk ourselves in to this... This is the way to rationalize it.

 

[Alum86]

Bad fit for the Big 12 but a good fit in the misfit AAC? if you have watch 9 pm hoop games broadcast from the boonies I take B12.

 

[huskypantz]

I agree with @CL82 . People were talking about UConn and we definitely raised our profile. You know you have a good resume when you stick out like a sore thumb but people still want you.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I think it also quickly thrust Warde and Herbst into an aggressive ad campaign in the NYC market--since the Big 12 talk surged we've seen the whole 'sixth borough' thing take off, we've seen a concerted attempt to better organize alumni organizations (especially in greater NYC) and I think that we'll only become a better choice for P5 schools the longer we're able to develop and implement these strategies. Give the whole '6th borough' thing a few years to set in and our market share could increase in NYC to the point where we're a legitimately viable candidate for the Big Ten. Dominoes are going to shift before long--either UT/OU leave the Big 12, FSU/Clemson leave the ACC, or ND (probably not, but who knows) decides to join the Big Ten. When any of these things happen, we'll see another huge wave of CR and we'll be well prepared.

 

[BUConn10]

I think it also quickly thrust Warde and Herbst into an aggressive ad campaign in the NYC market--since the Big 12 talk surged we've seen the whole 'sixth borough' thing take off, we've seen a concerted attempt to better organize alumni organizations (especially in greater NYC) and I think that we'll only become a better choice for P5 schools the longer we're able to develop and implement these strategies. Give the whole '6th borough' thing a few years to set in and our market share could increase in NYC to the point where we're a legitimately viable candidate for the Big Ten. Dominoes are going to shift before long--either UT/OU leave the Big 12, FSU/Clemson leave the ACC, or ND (probably not, but who knows) decides to join the Big Ten. When any of these things happen, we'll see another huge wave of CR and we'll be well prepared.

Too little too late in my opinion. A few billboards in greater NYC isn't changing the main thing that's holding us back: the perception that we are a joke in football, an absolute bottom barrel, bottom 5 program in FBS. Of course I think that opinion is total BS and completely unfounded, relative to the young age of our program we have achieved more than many football programs of late who have been given the title of "storied". The billboard doesn't offset what the average outside fan thinks of us. People have short memories, and right now all they seem to remember across the country of UConn is being the laughing stock of CR (the unwanted), and having one of the most abysmal seasons of late in PP last year.

The sad thing about that last line is that the fact that they even KNEW about UConn's atrocious season 2 years ago shows that we move the needle. Every year there are a dozen programs in FBS that are simply garbage, unable to win a single game, yet the average ESPN fan has no clue of their existence. Our being a G5 that still gets attention almost hurt us in our most vulnerable time.

 

[Waquoit]

All in all, I'm calling it a win.

Optimism, like the guy who's parachute didn't open thinking "Hey, I'm not dead yet!"

 

[mavblues]

OP may not be far off, if Boren's quotes are to be believed...

 

[uconnphil2016]

Too little too late in my opinion. A few billboards in greater NYC isn't changing the main thing that's holding us back: the perception that we are a joke in football, an absolute bottom barrel, bottom 5 program in FBS. Of course I think that opinion is total BS and completely unfounded, relative to the young age of our program we have achieved more than many football programs of late who have been given the title of "storied". The billboard doesn't offset what the average outside fan thinks of us. People have short memories, and right now all they seem to remember across the country of UConn is being the laughing stock of CR (the unwanted), and having one of the most abysmal seasons of late in PP last year.

The sad thing about that last line is that the fact that they even KNEW about UConn's atrocious season 2 years ago shows that we move the needle. Every year there are a dozen programs in FBS that are simply garbage, unable to win a single game, yet the average ESPN fan has no clue of their existence. Our being a G5 that still gets attention almost hurt us in our most vulnerable time.

I agree--it's nothing we can fix overnight and with a few strategically placed billboards. It's no secret that PP and the downfall of the football program really hurt us, but we're headed in the right direction and the fact that we should have a couple more years before any more substantial CR may be to our benefit. If our football program is able to continue to rebound, and we can field even a consistently decent football team, we'll be so far and away the best option that there won't be a shadow of doubt.

 

[The Funster]

It just seems to me that the B1G and the SEC did in an abrupt turnaround in regards to how they would vote. I just can't see those two giants just capitulating and letting the Big 12 have it's way. Either their is verbiage that we haven't been informed of or they decided they wanted the Big 12 to be in this position because it would benefit the B1G and the SEC in the future. Can't say I know Sankey well but Delany is a fine strategist and will always make his moves with a bigger picture in mind. The obvious guess is that this decision was made to speed up the implosion of the Big 12. No expansion, no new markets like New York, no network. Think wheels within wheels.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Bishop Sankey is making influential decions regarding Conference Realignment?