B1G

[CTGoonie]

So I wrote Teddy Greenstein at the Chicago Tribune about his recent article saying Uconn wouldn't be a B1G candidate primarily due to stadium size. This is what I wrote:

Mr. Greenstein,
Regarding your recent article about future Big Ten expansion candidates now that the ACC has signed a grant of rights you mention Uconn. It sounds like you have discounted them solely due to stadium size. I just wanted to bring to your attention that the stadium was built with the intention of expanding easily from 40k to 55k if the need arose. If Jim Delany invited Uconn to the Big Ten you can surely expect Uconn would begin the expansion of the stadium before the ink was dry on the contract. Uconn also seems to be a good fit academically and may become an AAU member in the near future. Do you see them as a viable candidate now?

His response was fairly predictable but I thought I would share anyway

I think UConn to the Big Ten is a bit of a stretch, but if Delany & his partners do want to expand again, the school would definitely be part of the conversation. It will help immensely if UConn joins the AAU.

Take care,
Teddy

 

[Adios]

Convinced that we have a shot now?

 

[whaler11]

Convinced that we have a shot now?

Yep, I also have a pretty good feeling about the Powerball ticket in my wallet. Guy at the gas station told me I was due.

 

[Adios]

Yep, I also have a pretty good feeling about the Powerball ticket in my wallet. Guy at the gas station told me I was due.

Hey, I am not going to kill myself if we are stuck in the AAC. I don't have an issue with the Hockey East and would prefer the Hockey East. We still have a better shot at getting into the B1G than you winning the Powerball.

 

[GopherHawk]

Yep, I also have a pretty good feeling about the Powerball ticket in my wallet. Guy at the gas station told me I was due.

No one won the Powerball last night. Sorry, but the person at the gas station is 0-1.

 

[djct1999]

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

 

[whaler11]

No one won the Powerball last night. Sorry, but the person at the gas station is 0-1.

Still a better percentage than WVU board.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

Point,

In that article you linked, Brandon noted that expansion will follow where the alumni are. If you think he is just looking at Michigan alumni v. B1G alumni (which I do) I came across these stats for UM alumni. In sum, B1G can't expand to CA, so where else do you go? I think UM would like to play live every year before its 35,000 alumni between NY and MA, and to help push the already paltry contributions from the region up. I am sure the other B1G schools looks familiar, but I am too lazy too look.

Where the people are: Top 10 states

​

• 
  [ ]Michigan: 211,025
  [ ]California: 41,072
  [ ]Illinois: 26,374
  [ ]New York: 25,360
  [ ]Florida: 16,422
  [ ]Ohio: 14,136
  [ ]Texas: 11,908
  [ ]Massachusetts: 10,632
  [ ]Virginia: 10,344
  [ ]Maryland: 9,704

Where the money is: Top 10 states in alumni giving in fiscal 2012

​

• 
  [ ]Michigan: $107.2M
  [ ]California: $51.4M
  [ ]New York: $33.8M
  [ ]Illinois: $13.7M
  [ ]New Jersey: $11.8M
  [ ]Ohio: $7.3M
  [ ]Florida: $6.5M
  [ ]Pennsylvania: $6.8M
  [ ]Washington: $5.7M
  [ ]Texas: $5.25

Nothing but guess and gut, but I'd bet that a breakdown by county would include Fairfield County; especially Michigan and Wisconsin grads. I really wish UCONN would put a little more effort down here.

 

[UConn9604]

Nothing but guess and gut, but I'd bet that a breakdown by county would include Fairfield County; especially Michigan and Wisconsin grads. I really wish UCONN would put a little more effort down here.

What stuck out to me was this: the 211,025 UM alums who live in Michigan contributed $107.2 million last year, an average of about $508 per alum.

If our Connecticut-based alumni contributed at that rate, we'd bring in about $61.5 million a year -- just from our in-state alumni.

 

[upstater]

What stuck out to me was this: the 211,025 UM alums who live in Michigan contributed $107.2 million last year, an average of about $508 per alum.

If our Connecticut-based alumni contributed at that rate, we'd bring in about $61.5 million a year -- just from our in-state alumni.

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).

 

[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.