Big 12 will make significant push for UConn (merged)

[Woof 101]

There have been some very tragic airplane crashes in history involving college sports teams where players have died.
Let's not make believe that air travel is perfectly safe.

Sorry one can not just let this remark fly, pun intended.
What's the safest form of transportation?

1. Airplane Safety. Airplanes are by far the safest mode of transportation when the number of transported passengers are measured against personal injuries and fatality totals, even though all plane crashes generally receive some form of media attention. ...

A bit off topic as this thread has become. No attack at you @sun but UConn has players from all over the globe. This in multiple sports.
Should they stop recruiting nation / world wide due to a phobia of flying? I think not.

 

[sun]

Sorry one can not just let this remark fly, pun intended.
What's the safest form of transportation?

1. Airplane Safety. Airplanes are by far the safest mode of transportation when the number of transported passengers are measured against personal injuries and fatality totals, even though all plane crashes generally receive some form of media attention. ...

A bit off topic as this thread has become. No attack at you @sun but UConn has players from all over the globe. This in multiple sports.
Should they stop recruiting nation / world wide due to a phobia of flying? I think not.

Planes don't need to crash for passengers to get seriously injured.
This isn't about flying phobia, this is about real life.
That's why they sell flight accident insurance for protection against loss of life & injury during flights.

Dec. 18, 2022

36 injured after ‘rare’ pocket of severe turbulence hits Honolulu-bound plane shortly before landing​

36 injured after ‘rare’ pocket of severe turbulence hits Honolulu-bound plane shortly before landing

The Hawaiian Airlines flight was inbound from Phoenix.

www.hawaiinewsnow.com

 

[cancontent]

I understood your point.
But that doesn't pertain to coaches who may not want the extensive travel associated with changing conferences.
If a coach leaves for another job then it can disrupt the whole program & effect recruiting too.
College coaches aren't necessarily involved with what players do for AAU.
They may fly around plenty while doing their scouting, but then they're also faced with choices about where they prefer to coach.
There's also more sports involved than just basketball.
There's college football players who don't expected to get drafted into the pros.
Not every player in every sport is elite or expects to become a pro athlete or even receives NIL money.
Who speaks up for their interests?
Will the best next prospective UConn HC want to travel as much as the Big 12 schedule requires or will they decide to not even apply for the job?
There's many different perspectives about what's best for athletes, coaches, staff, fans etc...
The money & football are only single parts of all of it.
At what point does it begin to affect player performance & the mental attitude of the everyone involved?

1) My point was specifically about the athletes. With respect to coaches, that's another topic altogether as coaches leave their jobs disrupting programs frequently regardless of travel.

2) Regarding your question about who speaks up for those who won't benefit from NIL or pro opportunities, when has the NCAA or any conference really put the interest of student-athletes ahead of the financial bottom line? This is a question that will never be answered in a way that satisfies anyone.

 

[CL82]

I wouldn’t say we were in it till the end. It was always a long shot and the football program didn’t help our case any. Sometimes the best outcome is doing nothing. It was easy for the PAC12 teams to leave. There were no exit fees.

You might not say it, but it is correct, nonetheless. Connecticut was, quite literally, hours away from joining the big 12. There was a pac 12 meeting to sign their GOR which would have kept it intact. About an hour before hand the rest of the conference was advised by two schools that they were leaving to join the Big Ten (after begrudgingly agreeing to take a half share of big 10 income). If that doesn't happen the Pac 12 stays together, in Connecticut and Colorado, who had already left, would've been the two teams joining the big 12.

It seems like we're doomed to always be a bridesmaid and never a bride.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Planes don't need to crash for passengers to get seriously injured.
This isn't about flying phobia, this is about real life.
That's why they sell flight accident insurance for protection against loss of life & injury during flights.

Dec. 18, 2022

36 injured after ‘rare’ pocket of severe turbulence hits Honolulu-bound plane shortly before landing​

36 injured after ‘rare’ pocket of severe turbulence hits Honolulu-bound plane shortly before landing

The Hawaiian Airlines flight was inbound from Phoenix.

www.hawaiinewsnow.com

How many commercial flights per day in the US?


According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates air traffic in the USA, 42,000 flights use more than 29 million square miles of airspace every day. They help around 2,587,000 passengers fly every day in and out of US Airports.

 

[visitingcock]

Is it time for UConn to pick a conference and "go for it?" Become an unofficial "associate member" of a targeted conference by developing relationships.

Build relationships in a targeted conference by:
Schedule as many football games as possible against teams in one conference. (your weakness)
Schedule as many men's and women's basketball games against those same teams. (your strength)
Make as many "annual games" as possible.

Let's look at the SEC for example:
You already have a fairly friendly relationship with South Carolina because of wbb. Schedule football and MBB. Heck, go for baseball and softball too. You will probably have to give up the home games in football for a number of years. Do the same for, say Tennessee (though I wouldn't call that relationship "friendly") and one other SEC member. 3 is enough for football. Then schedule as many mbb and wbb games with SEC schools as possible especially annual games . Kentucky mbb and LSU wbb would be fun annual games. Get your AD as heavily involved with conference ADs as possible. Build for the future.

I realize y'all consider the SEC the least likely future and I was just presenting an example. But pick a conference and work on it.

Look for the future instead of the now.

BTW I consider the predictions of an ACC collapse wayyyyyyyyyyyyy premature.

 

[Drumguy]

Is it time for UConn to pick a conference and "go for it?" Become an unofficial "associate member" of a targeted conference by developing relationships.

Build relationships in a targeted conference by:
Schedule as many football games as possible against teams in one conference. (your weakness)
Schedule as many men's and women's basketball games against those same teams. (your strength)
Make as many "annual games" as possible.

Let's look at the SEC for example:
You already have a fairly friendly relationship with South Carolina because of wbb. Schedule football and MBB. Heck, go for baseball and softball too. You will probably have to give up the home games in football for a number of years. Do the same for, say Tennessee (though I wouldn't call that relationship "friendly") and one other SEC member. 3 is enough for football. Then schedule as many mbb and wbb games with SEC schools as possible especially annual games . Kentucky mbb and LSU wbb would be fun annual games. Get your AD as heavily involved with conference ADs as possible. Build for the future.

I realize y'all consider the SEC the least likely future and I was just presenting an example. But pick a conference and work on it.

Look for the future instead of the now.

BTW I consider the predictions of an ACC collapse wayyyyyyyyyyyyy premature.

No offense meant but this isn't a realistic concept.

 

[visitingcock]

No offense meant but this isn't a realistic concept.

Working toward the future is not a realistic concept?

I'll admit the SEC (example only) might be an overreach, but building relationships with a conference should not be unrealistic.

 

[CL82]

teams includes triathlon;
3. Only four Big 12 universities have more than UConn's 23 national championships (ASU, Utah, Colorado and Oklahoma St.);

We have 24 national championships 11 WBB, 5 MBB, 5FH, and 3 in soccer.

 

[CL82]

For the record, Because he's getting posted here a lot lately, MHver is not remotely credible or connected.

 

[CL82]

Boston College blackballed UConn. I don’t know if it’s forever but maybe hard feelings persist on their side after UConn football gave BC a beating last year

In both football and hockey. Just saying.

 

[CL82]

Is it time for UConn to pick a conference and "go for it?"

Sure, we choose the SEC. You take care of the details for us and get back to us when it's done, OK?

 

[KY Card Fan]

We have 24 national championships 11 WBB, 5 MBB, 5FH, and 3 in soccer.

It's all about football. MBB and WBB just do not matter in these machinations. That's why I'm remaining nervous about the ACC - Clemson, FSU and, to a lesser extent, Miami are the football draws in that conference. I don't see them staying.

 

[fireford]

Working toward the future is not a realistic concept?

I'll admit the SEC (example only) might be an overreach, but building relationships with a conference should not be unrealistic.

As an Independent that is in "take what you can get" mode since they are still kind of new to an Independent schedule, this may not always be easy to do.
However, their schedule does seem to be ACC heavy the last couple of years. This year they have NC State, Duke, and BC on the schedule and last year they also played Syracuse. Yet the invitation to join the ACC seems to be still "lost in the mail" for the time being.

 

[Drumguy]

Working toward the future is not a realistic concept?

I'll admit the SEC (example only) might be an overreach, but building relationships with a conference should not be unrealistic.

Look I don't want to get into a pissing match as I do think you are a great contributor and reasonable poster on the Board regarding wbb, but your comment was very naive about realignment. Go spend some time reading the Realignment Board if you are really interested. There's 20+ years of agonizing over being outside the P5 Football TV money.

Other than football, the SEC is not an overreach and there are plenty of dogs in that league for the big guns to beat up on already, including SC, as y'all ain't that wonderful. We already have significant relationships with most of the P4. On the realignment board they pointed out that we have numerous football games scheduled for the next 4-5 years with those leagues - ACC games, BIG games etc. Even though FB hasn't been great there are many P4 schools that are as bad or worse historically We are treated as P4 and have respect from all the leagues, it's simply they don't want to share their TV money.

 

[CL82]

It's all about football. MBB and WBB just do not matter in these machinations. That's why I'm remaining nervous about the ACC - Clemson, FSU and, to a lesser extent, Miami are the football draws in that conference. I don't see them staying.

I was just correcting the number of championships. That's some thing a Connecticut fan shouldn't get wrong.

In any event if it's all about football why was 1 - 11 Colorado the first choice to the Big 12? Why did Rutgers, with it outstanding football pedigree, get the nod for the Big 10? People love the phrase "football drives the bus" because that is the source of the revenue for the vast majority of media contracts. (FWIW, That's only true because the NCAA retains the considerable revenue from the March madness tournament every year. In a month, the NCAA makes enough money to fund a huge bureaucratic monstrosity, including paying its president a multi million dollar salary, plus it pays for every championship, at every level of college sports, other than football. It is an enormous amount of money.)

In any event, as shown by the examples above the driving forces of what makes an acceptable candidate in any round of conference consolidation, because it is consolidation not expansion and not even "realignment" because the pool the first tier teams keeps shrinking, varies due to the needs of the various conferences at the time of the consolidation event.

That said, football being more successful certainly would help us.

 

[sun]

How many commercial flights per day in the US?


According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates air traffic in the USA, 42,000 flights use more than 29 million square miles of airspace every day. They help around 2,587,000 passengers fly every day in and out of US Airports.

Excerpts from a NPR article:

How dangerous is turbulence on airplanes? Here's what you need to know​

March 5, 2023
Over the past week, significant turbulence caused one death and one hospitalization on a business jet and seven hospitalizations on a commercial flight....
....From 2009 to 2021, there were 30 passengers and 116 crew members seriously injured because of turbulence out of the millions of people who fly every year according to the FAA data.

The FAA defines serious injuries as those that require hospitalization for more than 48 hours, or result in fractured bones, severe muscle or tendon damage, harm to internal organs or second- or third-degree burns. Airlines aren't required to report more minor injuries, meaning the total number of injuries is underreported.

Climate change is causing more instability in the jet streams and making wind speeds faster, which will cause more turbulence when the skies appear clear. By 2050, pilots around the world can expect to encounter at least twice as much severe clear-air turbulence, Williams found in his research.

Clear-air turbulence is what caused a Lufthansa flight traveling from Texas to Germany to unexpectedly drop 1,000 feet this past week. The sudden turbulence occurred during meal service, when crew and passengers were moving around the cabin. The plane was diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport, and seven people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

In all, about 65,000 flights encounter moderate turbulence every year, and about 5,500 encounter severe turbulence, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Turbulence-related damage, delays and injuries cost airlines up to $500 million per year.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/05/1161196591/turbulence-airplanes-injuries-death-safety

 

[visitingcock]

Look I don't want to get into a pissing match as I do think you are a great contributor and reasonable poster on the Board regarding wbb, but your comment was very naive about realignment. Go spend some time reading the Realignment Board if you are really interested. There's 20+ years of agonizing over being outside the P5 Football TV money.

Other than football, the SEC is not an overreach and there are plenty of dogs in that league for the big guns to beat up on already, including SC, as y'all ain't that wonderful. We already have significant relationships with most of the P4. On the realignment board they pointed out that we have numerous football games scheduled for the next 4-5 years with those leagues - ACC games, BIG games etc. Even though FB hasn't been great there are many P4 schools that are as bad or worse historically We are treated as P4 and have respect from all the leagues, it's simply they don't want to share their TV money.

I do read the realignment board and here's my evaluation. It is reactive rather than proactive. My point is not bsed on "significant relationships with most of the P-4." It's about building a particularly significant relationship with a targeted conference. . BUILD relationships (or in the case of the ACC - repair some relationships, including BC).

No I don't consider the SEC an overreach if you use your basketball strength to build relationships with a

Football: Schedule 3 games per year: One vs Vandy - as often as possible and might even get some home games. One vs. a mid range like SCar (and no we ain't that wonderful). That will probably have to be at SCar every game until y'all can strengthen your program AND ATTENDANCE - but we pay visitors well. (Tennessee has been a mid-range for the past 15 years or so too.) One against a powerhouse like UGA, Bama etc. They pay visitors VERY well. You will be on TV for those games - if only SECTV2

Basketball M and W. Y'all are the gold standard. Home and home with Kentucky would be wonderful. Y'all would own the games. The SEC wants games with y'all. Use it TARGET IT as a bargaining strength.

Why would we be in a piffing match? We're discussing, not arguing.

 

[visitingcock]

As an Independent that is in "take what you can get" mode since they are still kind of new to an Independent schedule, this may not always be easy to do.
However, their schedule does seem to be ACC heavy the last couple of years. This year they have NC State, Duke, and BC on the schedule and last year they also played Syracuse. Yet the invitation to join the ACC seems to be still "lost in the mail" for the time being.

Use you basketball bargaining power to become more than a "take what you can get" program in all sports - even football.

 

[MSGRET]

Excerpts from a NPR article:

How dangerous is turbulence on airplanes? Here's what you need to know​

March 5, 2023
Over the past week, significant turbulence caused one death and one hospitalization on a business jet and seven hospitalizations on a commercial flight....
....From 2009 to 2021, there were 30 passengers and 116 crew members seriously injured because of turbulence out of the millions of people who fly every year according to the FAA data.

The FAA defines serious injuries as those that require hospitalization for more than 48 hours, or result in fractured bones, severe muscle or tendon damage, harm to internal organs or second- or third-degree burns. Airlines aren't required to report more minor injuries, meaning the total number of injuries is underreported.

Climate change is causing more instability in the jet streams and making wind speeds faster, which will cause more turbulence when the skies appear clear. By 2050, pilots around the world can expect to encounter at least twice as much severe clear-air turbulence, Williams found in his research.

Clear-air turbulence is what caused a Lufthansa flight traveling from Texas to Germany to unexpectedly drop 1,000 feet this past week. The sudden turbulence occurred during meal service, when crew and passengers were moving around the cabin. The plane was diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport, and seven people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

In all, about 65,000 flights encounter moderate turbulence every year, and about 5,500 encounter severe turbulence, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Turbulence-related damage, delays and injuries cost airlines up to $500 million per year.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/05/1161196591/turbulence-airplanes-injuries-death-safety

Get over yourself and your quest to be right about everything. This is about UConn and it's perceived chance of changing conferences, not about airline safety.

 

[sun]

Get over yourself and your quest to be right about everything. This is about UConn and it's perceived chance of changing conferences, not about airline safety.

I've been discussing facts.
You're just being insulting me because you don't like the facts.
You've missed too many points that have been made about why everyone has a different perspective about whether UConn should join the Big 12 or not.
I think that the Huskies pray to God for a safe flight each & every time that they fly.
That would mean that they're aware of the risks.
Do you even care if any of them have experienced turbulence in the past?
It can cause some of them anxiety just to hear about it from others who have experienced it.

 

[cancontent]

I've been discussing facts.
You're just being insulting because you don't like the facts.

There's a risk of fatalities regardless of the mode of transportation used. Wasn't there a golf team that suffered fatalities while driving from a tournament in 2022? In Canada there was the horrible bus accident that took the lives of several people associated with a local hockey team in Saskatchewan. There are examples of all kinds that can be bandied about to make points for every form of transportation.

The travel component isn't going to be a deciding factor in my opinion. UConn has to travel by air to compete at some venues in the Big East. UConn had to travel by air when they were part of the AAC. It can't be avoided regardless of the conference they're part of.

 

[Carnac]

WSU president preparing realignment moves from 'bad spot'​

"Washington State president Kirk Schulz acknowledged his school's athletic program is in "a bad spot" as it faces a harsh new reality in the wake of the Pac-12's defections last week.

Schulz, in his first interview since the conference dwindled to four teams, recalled the tense moments in the Pac-12 presidents call on Friday morning. Entering the day, optimism had emerged that Oregon and Washington might commit to a new television deal and save the league."

SMH. What a "cluster" this has turned out to be. I've got just one question..........going forward, how does Washington State President Kirk Schulz keep his job? This unfolded on HIS watch, and he let it happen.

Schulz: WSU in 'bad spot' after Pac-12 'breakup'

Washington State University president Kirk Schulz said he and AD Pat Chun need "to roll up our sleeves and get to work" in the wake of Pac-12 defections.

www.espn.com

 

[JonathanXIV]

I've been discussing facts.
You're just being insulting me because you don't like the facts.
You've missed too many points that have been made about why everyone has a different perspective about whether UConn should join the Big 12 or not.
I think that the Huskies pray to God for a safe flight each & every time that they fly.
That would mean that they're aware of the risks.
Do you even care if any of them have experienced turbulence in the past?
It can cause some of them anxiety just to hear about it from others who have experienced it.

I think they may also pray for a win. Doesn’t mean they are afraid of losing.