Big 12

[kibblesnbits]

Continued……

It would even be interesting to compare alumni club sizes for UConn and Big 12 schools across different geographies. I’ll bet that outside of Dallas/FW UConn doesn’t have a significant alumni presence in B12 areas (if you include retirees then add Orlando) and NE is not a major area for the future B12 schools.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

How do I know that… Really?

USC, UCLA to enter Big Ten as full members

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren: “We think that's important for various reasons. They bring a lot of value to our relationship."

theathletic.com

-> USC and UCLA will enter the Big Ten as vested members in 2024, a departure from the league’s previous position of requiring a waiting period for new schools.

“USC and UCLA will come in as full members,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said Tuesday. “We think that’s important for various reasons. They bring a lot of value to our relationship. They bring a lot of panache to our relationship, and we look forward to welcoming them into the Big Ten family here in 2024.” <-

I’ll say it again, UCLA has not done anything in major college sports for decades and they get to waltz into the Big Ten as full members immediately.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Are they really only offering a half share?

I hope not!!!

 

[RSTuthill]

UCLA gets a full share immediately from the Big Ten??? Why? and how do you know that? They’ve not done anything in any major college sport in decades. I know what DB must of said to Yormark, when he heard about UCLA getting a full share “We just won the NC in men’s basketball for the fifth time”, and all you’re offering is a half share????

Well ... looking at it as dispassionately and objectively as possible, doing that locks up LA.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

what happens if the top half of those leave for a revamped ACC?

That's the problem with the situation right now, a lot of ways to be screwed.

Please walk me through all of the details on how this could happen. Please include the size of the ACC after adding 6-8 more schools and the B-12's GOR which runs through 2031

 

[CL82]

I don’t disagree, but that’s the point. We should join a conference if it makes sense on an extended basis and not because of a transient condition like “they are the #1 basketball conference” (today). If the powers that be determine this is our only path to the upper tiers then I’ll support the decision. However, I’m not excited about it because it lacks the critical elements that made college sports attractive to me - rivalries against schools that have a lot in common (geography, student body recruiting base, similar demographics, etc.). Those are what college sports are built on. Old fashioned I know……

I could not agree more! It's like taking a land grant state university and sticking them in a legal with a bunch of small Catholic private colleges. It would always be an odd fit because there isn't enough commonality.

 

[Bonamassa]

UConn maintaining the status quo = Whistling past the graveyard.

 

[freescooter]

Well ... looking at it as dispassionately and objectively as possible, doing that locks up LA.

Right, and similar to when the Dodgers left Brooklyn, they needed the Giants to move west as well to make it viable. The Big 10 needed a west coast partner for USC. UCLA made sense.

 

[RSTuthill]

Right, and similar to when the Dodgers left Brooklyn, they needed the Giants to move west as well to make it viable. The Big 10 needed a west coast partner for USC. UCLA made sense.

You are hitting a little close to home, lad. I have always been a Dodger fan and in fact wear a 59/50 fitted Brooklyn hat occasionally today. Saw two games at Ebbetts Field.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I'm not a big face othe Big 12, but they're a really good baseball conference too. So that'll help the baseball program too.

 

[freescooter]

No, but none of us know what's really going on so my proposal would just be another exercise of spitting into the wind as we've been doing for the last decade. I know what I'd prefer but I'm not going to package that as anything with credibility. I do know that I don't feel any great affinity or enmity for any school in the Big 12 so it's just a big "meh" for me. I think that's why some people call this the AAC+ - not because the schools, athletics and pay day aren't better (or even much better), but that there's no feeling that we have anything in common beyond TV contracts. If you asked me which schools I could see as a rival in a decade it would be, perhaps, KU in hoops. In football I'm sure we'd have interest when whatever school is on top visits, but I don't see any of the current members really becoming a rival.

I think you could say both Cincinnati and West Virginia were becoming football rivals during the old Big East. Cincy might have been had we had a commissioner who basically stopped watching once basketball practice began. And didn’t pay attention after the season ended.

 

[Jimdish255]

Can you lay out a better path to the upper tiers?

Adjusting to reality is really tough for some people. I get it but this isn't new and it's not changing back any time soon. Playing Providence and SJU every year (we still can), MSG (we still can), and memories of wacking BC and Cuse' doesn't help us long term. And not just in hoops men's or women's. We need to play the best and get paid with the best. We can sustain for a little longer but the waves are getting higher we're going to need a bigger boat.

 

[Jimdish255]

what happens if the top half of those leave for a revamped ACC?

That's the problem with the situation right now, a lot of ways to be screwed.

Then we'll be in that top half. You can throw out a million what-ifs but the reality is staying put equals sliding back at some point. Gino, Hurley and Mora won't be here forever. If nothing else, revenue helps pay for the Coaches we need.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I don’t disagree, but that’s the point. We should join a conference if it makes sense on an extended basis and not because of a transient condition like “they are the #1 basketball conference” (today). If the powers that be determine this is our only path to the upper tiers then I’ll support the decision. However, I’m not excited about it because it lacks the critical elements that made college sports attractive to me - rivalries against schools that have a lot in common (geography, student body recruiting base, similar demographics, etc.). Those are what college sports are built on. Old fashioned I know……

This is entirely thought of on an extended basis. How much longer do you believe the current financial situation within our athletic department is sustainable? Within a handful of years we are going to need to cut more programs if we don't increase our revenues substantially, then this will repeat until there is nothing left.

 

[kibblesnbits]

This is entirely thought of on an extended basis. How much longer do you believe the current financial situation within our athletic department is sustainable? Within a handful of years we are going to need to cut more programs if we don't increase our revenues substantially, then this will repeat until there is nothing left.

Not long. That's why I said I'd support the decision if it's believed to be the only option. All I said was that the Big 12 does not excite me as we (and everyone else apparently) continue to deviate from the things that attracted me to college sports. If it is essentially a minor league with no geographic/demographic rivalries, players adding more frequent flyer miles than I ever acquired in corporate America, rosters being massively remade every year as players transfer multiple times with little allegiance to the school (or the school to them), outright and public buying of players via NILs, etc., then I'll probably just be apathetic about the whole thing.

 

[Stinger92860]

Not long. That's why I said I'd support the decision if it's believed to be the only option. All I said was that the Big 12 does not excite me as we (and everyone else apparently) continue to deviate from the things that attracted me to college sports. If it is essentially a minor league with no geographic/demographic rivalries, players adding more frequent flyer miles than I ever acquired in corporate America, rosters being massively remade every year as players transfer multiple times with little allegiance to the school (or the school to them), outright and public buying of players via NILs, etc., then I'll probably just be apathetic about the whole thing.

Or you can watch the Ivies, who have it right.

 

[RSTuthill]

I’ll say it again, UCLA has not done anything in major college sports for decades and they get to waltz into the Big Ten as full members immediately.

I will say it again. UCLA has a competitive football program, is already P5, and brings LA eyes to the media contract. Same as USC. Its not hard to understand. So they are a poor comparison. Do we know of any G5 or non-Notre Dame independent school that got a full share right off the rip? If so, that is a true comparable and where we should be looking.

 

[RSTuthill]

Are they really only offering a half share?

No one knows what the offer will be or even if there will be one. That was just speculation.

 

[Patman]

Then we'll be in that top half. You can throw out a million what-ifs but the reality is staying put equals sliding back at some point. Gino, Hurley and Mora won't be here forever. If nothing else, revenue helps pay for the Coaches we need.

Geno... and, no, no we won't be in that top half.

 

[RSTuthill]

Or you can watch the Ivies, who have it right.

In the Ivies the compensation package is deferred. But there is indeed a compensation package. Let's not kid ourselves. And it is operative over the entire professional lifetime, not just in college and perhaps five years after for the select few.

 

[GoConn]

If/when the ACC falls apart, the Big 12 would most likely try and get Pitt/Cuse, maybe even BC. UConn needs to get into the Big 12 first, so they wont be leap frogged by those schools and left behind. Thats why IMO, its crucial to get into the Big 12 Now

 

[uconndogs]

I’ll say it again, UCLA has not done anything in major college sports for decades and they get to waltz into the Big Ten as full members immediately.

Conference realignment has almost nothing to do with athletic performance. This is an exercise driven by economics. Big markets potentially drive big revenues.

Conference realignment has even less to do with the wellbeing of student athletes and academics in general. In fact, I think academics are about to get totally disconnected from the equation. In some institutions I'm sure they already are.

 

[Urcea]

If/when the ACC falls apart, the Big 12 would most likely try and get Pitt/Cuse, maybe even BC. UConn needs to get into the Big 12 first, so they wont be leap frogged by those schools and left behind. Thats why IMO, its crucial to get into the Big 12 Now

UConn, Cincy, and WVU can steer that conversation from inside the Big 12 as well. Big selling point to me

 

[Kolumbo]

I’ll say it again, UCLA has not done anything in major college sports for decades and they get to waltz into the Big Ten as full members immediately.

UCLA is AAU, one of the top universities in the country, the largest of the California system, 25 varsity programs, Los Angeles, The Rose Bowl, a blue-blood basketball program which makes the dance just about every year. I wouldn't be surprised if UCLA got 110% its first year.

"UCLA is second to only Stanford University as the school with the most NCAA team championships at 121 NCAA team championships.[2][3] UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.[4]"

 

[WestHartHusk]

If/when the ACC falls apart, the Big 12 would most likely try and get Pitt/Cuse, maybe even BC. UConn needs to get into the Big 12 first, so they wont be leap frogged by those schools and left behind. Thats why IMO, its crucial to get into the Big 12 Now

So we can get in, and block them. Maybe after 15 years of suffering we reconsider.