B1G

[GopherHawk]

A

this talk of stadium size being a major factor is absurd.

Are you saying size doesn't matter?

 

[UConn9604]

It's always interesting to see the breakdowns. For example, the money UConn is getting for the bball facility ($35-40m) counts as contributions. Right there, without anyone else contributing anything, you're already at $500 an alum (Michigan has 2.5 as many students and probably at least 3x as many alums).

Right, but in 2012, we raised a total of about $60 million (see page 3, below) total.

What's also interesting is that Michigan alumni in the other states gave back to their alma mater in even greater proportions. States no. 2-10 on that list included about 166,000 alumni and contributed about $142.3 million (admittedly, the states in each list aren't the same), or about $860 per alum. That's amazing.

If our 120,000 Connecticut alums each gave $508 per year and our 80,000 out-of-state alums gave $860 per year, that's an absurd $130 million per year to the Foundation. Keep in mind that our endowment is only about $312 million, total.

I just think that alumni these big, historic "University of _____" Big Ten schools have established a culture where alumni are naturally drawn to giving back, by rote, when they graduate. (I also think that having big-time football on campus contributed to that culture, too, and our failure to provide it until the 122nd year of our existence is one reason why we're racing uphill against the time value of money.) Sadly, we're not there yet.

http://www.foundation.uconn.edu/cmsdocuments/2012_Annual_Report.pdf

 

[progrocks]

Everyone, from all economic classes, in Michigan goes to Michigan. In CT the rich kids go to private school. That is money that donates to things that is never funneled to UConn

 

[husky91]

And we have no huge whales giving huge donations like Pickens, Phil Knight ir, Plank, etc.

We celebrate smaller donations or when a hoops player with a $72mil deal gives $100k.

Everyone, from all economic classes, in Michigan goes to Michigan. In CT the rich kids go to private school. That is money that donates to things that is never funneled to UConn

 

[auggie22]

The state is on the verge of donating about $1.8b. There are approx 3.5m people donating, at a clip of $550 per. That is pretty good...if you are not a CT tax payer.

 

[upstater]

Everyone, from all economic classes, in Michigan goes to Michigan. In CT the rich kids go to private school. That is money that donates to things that is never funneled to UConn

Good point.
One quibble though--not the poor kids. Way too expensive. That state has established directional schools to make up for the fact that U Mich.'s price tag is out of range for many kids.

 

[upstater]

The state is on the verge of donating about $1.8b. There are approx 3.5m people donating, at a clip of $550 per. That is pretty good...if you are not a CT tax payer.

NY State did this.

Then companies poured $15 billion in private industry around the university in Albany. The ultimate take dwarfed the investment.

How come people never talk about that?

 

[ScottBonz]

I with you Upstater. I use that point all the time when I talk to people about Jackson Labs. You need one or two seeder companies that become a hub for a ton of different companies that want to work close to like minded industry and academics who are doing research. Work or not. You have to give the administration (Uconn and Malloy) some credit for trying to switch things up in CT. Its a risk but its something different that could start a new micro economy in Central CT.

 

[upstater]

I with you Upstater. I use that point all the time when I talk to people about Jackson Labs. You need one or two seeder companies that become a hub for a ton of different companies that want to work close to like minded industry and academics who are doing research. Work or not. You have to give the administration (Uconn and Malloy) some credit for trying to switch things up in CT. Its a risk but its something different that could start a new micro economy in Central CT.

It is a risk. Private or public, there's always a risk of malinvestment. The poorest countries in the world are the ones that never invested, or can't invest. The problematic countries are the ones with a lot of malinvestment. Then there's the top tier that invest wisely. So much of the wealth in this country in the last 50-60 years has been due to cold war spending and investment, especially at the Department of Defense and through the GI Bill. We're communicating on the internet right now because of it. Somehow this is lost on a lot of people.

 

[Adios]

B1G schools have obviously been the Harvards and Yales of the Midwest. With the size of the population in the northeast, I can see UConn becoming the same for this region.

 

[formerlurker]

B1G schools have obviously been the Harvards and Yales of the Midwest. With the size of the population in the northeast, I can see UConn becoming the same for this region.

Be honest. You double up when it says "2 pills every 3-6 hours", right?

 

[upstater]

Be honest. You double up when it says "2 pills every 3-6 hours", right?

Can it be Michigan? That's tough. Can it be Wisconsin? It's reachable. The build out of these schools happened in the 1950s and 1960s. Penn State occurred in the 1970s. We are either in the infancy of major universities such as these or we could be at the end. Assuming we continue to fund higher education, and given that we've only been funding it for a half-century, there is plenty of time for UConn to catch up.

In Europe, universities such as Bologna have been around since the 1200s.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Everyone, from all economic classes, in Michigan goes to Michigan. In CT the rich kids go to private school. That is money that donates to things that is never funneled to UConn

Based on my own experience in Michigan, U of M is basically a private school. Only the top 1% and/or the very well connected go to Ann Arbor as over a third (36%) are from out-of-state. This gives U of M a very elite vibe, especially to those who live within Michigan. The next tier of students goes to Michigan State (9% out-of-state), which is a very good school, just not U of M. It’s somewhat similar to Yale versus UConn (23% out-of-state) in Connecticut. The rest of Michigan goes to Western, Eastern, Central, Grand Valley…or Ohio State.

 

[SectionKK]

B1G schools have obviously been the Harvards and Yales of the Midwest. With the size of the population in the northeast, I can see UConn becoming the same for this region.

I'm pretty sure Harvard and Yale are the Harvard and Yale of the Northeast.

 

[UPitt]

Based on my own experience in Michigan, U of M is basically a private school. Only the top 1% and/or the very well connected go to Ann Arbor as over a third (36%) are from out-of-state. This gives U of M a very elite vibe, especially to those who live within Michigan. The next tier of students goes to Michigan State (9% out-of-state), which is a very good school, just not U of M. It’s somewhat similar to Yale versus UConn (23% out-of-state) in Connecticut. The rest of Michigan goes to Western, Eastern, Central, Grand Valley…or Ohio State.

U of M is much more closely related to Uconn than Yale. From the Midwest, only the U of Chicago can be compared to Yale, with Northwestern a tier below. Within the new B1G footprint, Penn, and a few schools in NYC and DC can be compared, but still are not Yale.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm pretty sure Harvard and Yale are the Harvard and Yale of the Northeast.

And Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, Amherst, Williams, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, etc. There is no place else in the country like the Northeast and New England in particular. St. Louis has Washington U and Chicago has U Chicago and Northwestern, but that's pretty much it for elite private schools in the midwest. The prejudice against public higher education (and even high school) is much, much stronger here.

It is vastly more difficult to build a highly selective public U in New England. The only real positive is a group of HS kids with very high test scores compared to the national average, across the region. CT has bucked the regional trend by even attempting it, and UConn has improved as a result.

 

[B1GALUM]

The rest of Michigan goes to Western, Eastern, Central, Grand Valley…or Ohio State.

Couldn't resist a jab at Ohio State, huh?

 

[FAIRTIDES]

And Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, Amherst, Williams, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, etc. There is no place else in the country like the Northeast and New England in particular. St. Louis has Washington U and Chicago has U Chicago and Northwestern, but that's pretty much it for elite private schools in the midwest. The prejudice against public higher education (and even high school) is much, much stronger here.

It is vastly more difficult to build a highly selective public U in New England. The only real positive is a group of HS kids with very high test scores compared to the national average, across the region. CT has bucked the regional trend by even attempting it, and UConn has improved as a result.

It's fairly recent, but UCONN, as reported in the "Greenwich Time," has become the number-one destination for, at least, the last three Greenwich High School graduating classes. I can't prove it, but I've been told that the situation is similar in other wealthy gold coast towns. The reason? The demonstrable improvement in UCONN's academic standing and, it can't be ignored, visibility generated by the athletic programs. These are the kids that used to go to the UM's, UNC's, UW's, and UVA's.

 

[woomba]

I think undergrad education wise UConn's already at the level at your typical Big Ten university.

The big areas still lacking is the overall level of research and football spending...maybe in another decade or so.

 

[Hoophound]

It's fairly recent, but UCONN, as reported in the "Greenwich Time," has become the number-one destination for, at least, the last three Greenwich High School graduating classes. I can't prove it, but I've been told that the situation is similar in other wealthy gold coast towns. The reason? The demonstrable improvement in UCONN's academic standing and, it can't be ignored, visibility generated by the athletic programs. These are the kids that used to go to the UM's, UNC's, UW's, and UVA's.

This is critical to our success. We need Gold Coast money flowing into UConn. I mentioned that I expected this phenomena to begin and only accelerate if we are in the B10. Many, many B10 alums in lower Fairfield. This trend is another point to market to the B1G.

 

[The Funster]

NYC metro population (8.3M) is greater than the next two metro areas (LA, Chitown) COMBINED. With Ct part of the TRISTATE AREA why wouldn't anyone be very interested in tapping into this population? Forget about population shifting to the south. This area is still thriving and RICH.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Couldn't resist a jab at Ohio State, huh?

I am neutral on the entire U of M v Ohio State war as a UConn alumni; but, I spent enough time in Michigan to hear all about the world’s largest community college located in Columbus, OH.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

U of M is much more closely related to Uconn than Yale. From the Midwest, only the U of Chicago can be compared to Yale, with Northwestern a tier below. Within the new B1G footprint, Penn, and a few schools in NYC and DC can be compared, but still are not Yale.

I completely agree that academically, U Chicago and then Northwestern are a step above even the top tier of B1G schools. That said, the perception of many in Michigan is that U of M is the Holy Grail while Michigan State is a good, back-up school and the rest are an embarrassment for the elite families.
In CT, it would be the Gold Coast families ping their hopes on Yale while UConn plays the role of a good, back-up school. In Boston, the target is Harvard and MIT while the back-ups are BC, BU, and Tufts while UMass is the school of last resort.

 

[upstater]

I completely agree that academically, U Chicago and then Northwestern are a step above even the top tier of B1G schools. That said, the perception of many in Michigan is that U of M is the Holy Grail while Michigan State is a good, back-up school and the rest are an embarrassment for the elite families.
In CT, it would be the Gold Coast families ping their hopes on Yale while UConn plays the role of a good, back-up school. In Boston, the target is Harvard and MIT while the back-ups are BC, BU, and Tufts while UMass is the school of last resort.

Since U. Chicago is known as a bad bad place for undergrads, I wonder who these families are.

The question of Harvard/MIT in Boston is also strange. These are essentially small schools with worldwide appeal--they bring people from everywhere. Translation: your kid isn't getting into these schools, Mr. Brookline. Even your kid's chances of getting into Tufts are minimal.

But as for UMass, you may be right. The kid will probably end up at Clark long before he steps foot in Amherst (Clark is a decent school--no slight).

 

[B1GALUM]

I am neutral on the entire U of M v Ohio State war as a UConn alumni; but, I spent enough time in Michigan to hear all about the world’s largest community college located in Columbus, OH.

Those residents of Michigan have an outdated view of Ohio State. With respect to admission criteria, Ohio State has a competitive admission process in which students are considered for admission based largely on their academic performance and credentials. All students are considered under competitive standards except Ohio residents applying to an Ohio State regional campus in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, or Newark, or to Ohio State ATI in Wooster.

I will readily admit that the University of Michigan is an excellent public university and Ohio State still has work to do to reach their level. However, the idea that Ohio State is "the world's largest community college located in Columbus, OH" is simply false. I hope that you can appreciate, as an Ohio State alum and an alum of a school in a conference which many associated with UConn would like to join, it is difficult to just ignore such statements. That said, this is your board and the defense of a school in the B1G is not its purpose so I will let it rest at this point.

As I have looked at different schools during B1G expansion, I have come to believe that UConn is an excellent university and as a public research university and basketball brand would be a great fit for the B1G. I think it is ridiculous that UConn has been left on the outside looking in with realignment. I wish all of you well and hope that you eventually find yourself in a conference of which you can be proud to be a member.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Those residents of Michigan have an outdated view of Ohio State. With respect to admission criteria, Ohio State has a competitive admission process in which students are considered for admission based largely on their academic performance and credentials. All students are considered under competitive standards except Ohio residents applying to an Ohio State regional campus in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, or Newark, or to Ohio State ATI in Wooster.

I will readily admit that the University of Michigan is an excellent public university and Ohio State still has work to do to reach their level. However, the idea that Ohio State is "the world's largest community college located in Columbus, OH" is simply false. I hope that you can appreciate, as an Ohio State alum and an alum of a school in a conference which many associated with UConn would like to join, it is difficult to just ignore such statements. That said, this is your board and the defense of a school in the B1G is not its purpose so I will let it rest at this point.

As I have looked at different schools during B1G expansion, I have come to believe that UConn is an excellent university and as a public research university and basketball brand would be a great fit for the B1G. I think it is ridiculous that UConn has been left on the outside looking in with realignment. I wish all of you well and hope that you eventually find yourself in a conference of which you can be proud to be a member.

Not to speak for Conehead, but I don't think he was expressing any personal opinion, nor that of anyone on this board. I think he was just telling us what people in Michigan think. If you go to the Cuse board right now I'm sure they would express the same opinion about us, and such is life on these message boards. I think if you took a poll right now you would find about 95% of UConn administration, students and fans happy to associate ourselves with Ohio State.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Since U. Chicago is known as a bad bad place for undergrads, I wonder who these families are.

The question of Harvard/MIT in Boston is also strange. These are essentially small schools with worldwide appeal--they bring people from everywhere. Translation: your kid isn't getting into these schools, Mr. Brookline. Even your kid's chances of getting into Tufts are minimal.

But as for UMass, you may be right. The kid will probably end up at Clark long before he steps foot in Amherst (Clark is a decent school--no slight).

Most people in Boston are looking at BC, BU and probably at a lower level, Northeastern. Maybe Tufts, Bentley, Babson, Brandeis, Wellesley, which are all pretty exclusive. Most know they won't be going to Harvard and very few want to go to MIT.

 

[Durks07]

Those residents of Michigan have an outdated view of Ohio State. With respect to admission criteria, Ohio State has a competitive admission process in which students are considered for admission based largely on their academic performance and credentials. All students are considered under competitive standards except Ohio residents applying to an Ohio State regional campus in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, or Newark, or to Ohio State ATI in Wooster.

I will readily admit that the University of Michigan is an excellent public university and Ohio State still has work to do to reach their level. However, the idea that Ohio State is "the world's largest community college located in Columbus, OH" is simply false. I hope that you can appreciate, as an Ohio State alum and an alum of a school in a conference which many associated with UConn would like to join, it is difficult to just ignore such statements. That said, this is your board and the defense of a school in the B1G is not its purpose so I will let it rest at this point.

As I have looked at different schools during B1G expansion, I have come to believe that UConn is an excellent university and as a public research university and basketball brand would be a great fit for the B1G. I think it is ridiculous that UConn has been left on the outside looking in with realignment. I wish all of you well and hope that you eventually find yourself in a conference of which you can be proud to be a member.

If you don't live in the immediate area of a school, you don't generally know what it is all about. I applied to colleges 6 years ago, and actually applied to OSU. I did not get it, but I would have been thrilled to have gone. OSU is an excellent school, and it is regarded as such. U of M may have the edge, but they are in a class that only a handful of public universities are in (think Texas and UVA). As far as the other schools go, OSU is clearly in the second (if you want to call it that tier). If it comes down to a choice between going to Ohio State or Indiana, or Iowa, Alabama, Mississippi, etc., there are few schools that OSU would not get the edge against.

I was fortunate to get into UConn, and honestly, am grateful that I did. What UConn was when I applied, and what is becoming is incredible. UConn is now in that vein of schools where you would absolutely choose UConn over many of the others, and while it was starting to get there when I was accepted and attended, it is becoming more so even faster than I imagined. If I applied to UConn now with the grades I had in high school, I would be sweating bullets as to whether I would be accepted, and I was in the top 40% of a very good high school.

Just as an aside, don't take anything regarding what any of us says about other schools personally. One thing I have found glaringly obvious during this whole realignment process is that we really do not know much about schools in different regions of the country very well. For example (not to insult these schools), when I was looking into colleges, I never in a million years could have been talked into Iowa or Indiana as a realistic college to go to. Now, while I still regard UConn more highly, I wouldn't say anything bad about them. It is really all about where you grow up, and know the most about.

 

[upstater]

Most people in Boston are looking at BC, BU and probably at a lower level, Northeastern. Maybe Tufts, Bentley, Babson, Brandeis, Wellesley, which are all pretty exclusive. Most know they won't be going to Harvard and very few want to go to MIT.

Are Bentley and Babson exclusive? Hmmm. I know Tufts is.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Are Bentley and Babson exclusive? Hmmm. I know Tufts is.

Babson yes to a certain degree for undergrad. Bentley, not as much.