Big 12

[freescooter]

The hell with basketball, soccer, tennis, and field hockey. The whole realignment saga has been about football and only football or so we’ve been led to believe and force fed, and UCLA hasn’t done anything in football EVER!!! They only woke up a little bit once a man named Jim Mora started coaching them. How many times have they finished a season in the top 25??? How many times have they even won the PAC 10 or 12 in football. Hey, you know what, maybe the SEC will extend an invite to Duke to join the SEC, they’re one of the top universities in the country, and has a blue blood basketball program, along with championships in many other sports.

UConn has 16 National Championship Banners in basketball, hanging from the rafters in Gampel, along with stellar results in other sports, yet the knock for years according to everyone who hates UConn has been that they stink in football.

I posted about this somewhere else, too. You might care about basketball dearly. But the people who pay for media rights don’t agree with you. The ACC gets $36+- per team. Notre Dame gets $11 for its basketball. And truthfully they get a premium because of football. Most analyses I have read about media deals say basketball accounts for approximately 20% of the value of a P5 deal. And that sort of tracks the value of the NBE media deal if you assume a $30 million base contract for a full P5 league (B12 is at $31 and 30 was the norm when the NOOB signed with Fox). So yeah, football drives these deals. You might not like it. You might not even like football. You might think basketball is a better game. None of that matters. The folks paying the bill are willing to pay $80 for a football game but only $20 for basketball.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

That's an awful lot to walk away from.

Fiduciary responsibility

 

[businesslawyer]

Growing up in small town Connecticut there was a girl in our high school we used to describe as a “plain Jane”. She didn’t have many dates and ended up settling for the only guy who paid attention. Then, the summer after her first year in college she came home a head turning stunner with long blond hair and “fully formed”. She suddenly became very attractive to several other guys who’d previously ignored her—and now she had choices that seemed well beyond her grasp.
UConn is now more “fully formed”. And more than one of our newly attractive suitors may be noticing. In a collegiate sports world with lots of moving parts, DB and the BOT will determine which choice is our best long term fit and provides the greatest opportunity to reduce the athletic department's growing financial deficit.
I have little doubt that should a handsome P-5 ask us to the party, we’ll find a gracious way to end our current relationship with the status quo.
.

Nonsense. We were turned down in the early 2010s coming off a Fiesta Bowl appearance and playing before over 35k fans every week, with Jim Calhoun presiding over a Kemba team that won a natty for our 3rd in a dozen years, with a women's basketball team that was dominating like few have ever dominated an NCAA sport and a baseball team that had just made a superregional. And we still got passed over while Louisville and Rutgers escaped.

We were your high school girl then and now. LIttle has changed. Which is why I'll believe we're going to be invited to the Big XII when I see it.

 

[noeynox]

Nonsense. We were turned down in the early 2010s coming off a Fiesta Bowl appearance and playing before over 35k fans every week, with Jim Calhoun presiding over a Kemba team that won a natty for our 3rd in a dozen years, with a women's basketball team that was dominating like few have ever dominated an NCAA sport and a baseball team that had just made a superregional. And we still got passed over while Louisville and Rutgers escaped.

We were your high school girl then and now. LIttle has changed. Which is why I'll believe we're going to be invited to the Big XII when I see it.

There was talk of UConn basketball fading into Bolivia once Calhoun stepped down as one of the reasons the ACC passed on UConn. Two national titles you can put that assumption safely to bed.

 

[UDann]

Fire forges steel!

No issues I have my 50 yard line seats ready to take in all the glory

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Cannons people, big old boobies

Phil,

Considering your avatar I was expecting "They're real and they're spectacular".

 

[CONN78SEJ]

UCLA has the 5th largest alumni base in the country that I imagine is largely located in the second biggest metro area in the country. It is also one of the most well known and respected schools in the country, that also has a history in sports. They also play in one of the most well known, iconic stadiums in the world. The consideration of the football team only being in the top 25 in one of the last 4 years or whatever is probably 200th on the priority list when weighing how much they get paid.

When Duke gets invited by the SEC in all sports, maybe then you’ll have a point.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

When Duke gets invited by the SEC in all sports, maybe then you’ll have a point.

I don't think Duke will get into the SEC. There's a remote chance of it joining the B10 or maybe it will stay in the ACC, even if it is revamped. If enough basketball focused schools go into the B12 maybe Duke will follow the likes of UConn.

 

[metsfan2323]

Nonsense. We were turned down in the early 2010s coming off a Fiesta Bowl appearance and playing before over 35k fans every week, with Jim Calhoun presiding over a Kemba team that won a natty for our 3rd in a dozen years, with a women's basketball team that was dominating like few have ever dominated an NCAA sport and a baseball team that had just made a superregional. And we still got passed over while Louisville and Rutgers escaped.

We were your high school girl then and now. LIttle has changed. Which is why I'll believe we're going to be invited to the Big XII when I see it.

A decade ago the ACC was only interested in building up their football offering and we also had BC blocking us.

The current B12 commissioner seems to put a great deal of value on basketball and he openly wants a piece of the NY market. The ACC thought they had the NY market with Syracuse.

Having a highly respected football coach like Mora also helps our cause, a decade ago we had PP as Edsall was already gone when the wheels starting turning.

 

[businesslawyer]

A decade ago the ACC was only interested in building up their football offering and we also had BC blocking us.

The current B12 commissioner seems to put a great deal of value on basketball and he openly wants a piece of the NY market. The ACC thought they had the NY market with Syracuse.

Having a highly respected football coach like Mora also helps our cause, a decade ago we had PP as Edsall was already gone when the wheels starting turning.

Is it possible the world has changed around he high school girl enough for it to matter? Yes, it's possible (although I still don't see it). But thinking that we weren't beautiful back then is counterproductive revisionist history.

 

[Dizzy21]

When Duke gets invited by the SEC in all sports, maybe then you’ll have a point.

Did Duke suddenly triple its enrollment and move to one of the top metro areas in the world? Oh, let me know when that happens and maybe you will have a point.

 

[UCONNRPh]

View attachment 88428
That's an awful lot to walk away from.

Wow haven't seen $50 million anywhere but here---wonder if that will help drive the vote

 

[UCONNRPh]

So UConn has breasts now?

and hips too!

 

[UCONNRPh]

Nonsense. We were turned down in the early 2010s coming off a Fiesta Bowl appearance and playing before over 35k fans every week, with Jim Calhoun presiding over a Kemba team that won a natty for our 3rd in a dozen years, with a women's basketball team that was dominating like few have ever dominated an NCAA sport and a baseball team that had just made a superregional. And we still got passed over while Louisville and Rutgers escaped.

We were your high school girl then and now. LIttle has changed. Which is why I'll believe we're going to be invited to the Big XII when I see it.

I totally agree with you but I am still hurt from what the ACC did to us, (thankyou for being on your "A" game and paying attention Manuel)--thus I do not want ACC at all--I believe only the vets on the boneyard will truly feel the past pain and truly recall. ' Louisville.

Which brings me back to earth and limits my excitement to dream of much more (ie. BIG 12).

On another note apart from realignment dreams, I hate living in ACC territory. Is there anyway we can get Husky baseball to come down here and play in Cary? Many top teams are here ( Campbell, UNC, UNCW, NC State, Duke, ECU, Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina) I will go in a heartbeat. All are within 2&1/2 hours.

C'mon DB

 

[Nostical]

So UConn has breasts now?

We're an Ag school. We have udders.

 

[Stinger92860]

So UConn has breasts now?

Udders

 

[Nostical]

Nonsense. We were your high school girl then and now. Little has changed.

Nonsense? You're forgetting one important thing about our girl. Back then she was much too trusting and very naive. She thought all she had to do was sit demurely on a Caribbean beach, send a selfie and the cute guy would ask her to the prom. But another girl, who shyly had her eye on the same boy from afar, was tipped off and advised by her friend Pat to put on some make up, perfume, spiked heels and tiny red dress and go seek out Mr. Dreamboat at his favorite bar in Greensboro. Yes, our girl may have been pretty back then with a few 'blue ribbons' in her hair, but that other girl in red was a whole lot bolder--and way more "experienced".

 

[RSTuthill]

Nonsense. We were turned down in the early 2010s coming off a Fiesta Bowl appearance and playing before over 35k fans every week, with Jim Calhoun presiding over a Kemba team that won a natty for our 3rd in a dozen years, with a women's basketball team that was dominating like few have ever dominated an NCAA sport and a baseball team that had just made a superregional. And we still got passed over while Louisville and Rutgers escaped.

We were your high school girl then and now. LIttle has changed. Which is why I'll believe we're going to be invited to the Big XII when I see it.

Yeah, I have pondered the very points you have made. There does seem to be a lasting animus against UConn for some reason. Even in basketball where it was recently suggested that the Kansas record eclipses that of UConn (nope, the other way around). The snark that was heard during UConn's earliest football successes in football was a bit puzzling. After Bloomenthal poisoned the well, some of that was understood. But that seems in retrospect, overstated. So what we are left with is that football is a southern sport and UConn is viewed as an arrogant Yankee school.

 

[Jimdish255]

Been waiting for Nostical view.

The "fully formed" part was the best

 

[CL82]

Nonsense? You're forgetting one important thing about our girl. Back then she was much too trusting and very naive. She thought all she had to do was sit demurely on a Caribbean beach, send a selfie and the cute guy would ask her to the prom. But another girl, who shyly had her eye on the same boy from afar, was tipped off and advised by her friend Pat to put on some make up, perfume, spiked heels and tiny red dress and go seek out Mr. Dreamboat at his favorite bar in Greensboro. Yes, our girl may have been pretty back then with a few 'blue ribbons' in her hair, but that other girl in red was a whole lot bolder--and way more "experienced".

Wait, now we are aspiring to be teenage girl in a bar in a red dress and spiky heels?

 

[gioff2323]

Wait, now we are aspiring to be teenage girl in a bar in a red dress and spiky heels?

Not teenage. This is a bar that requires its patrons be of legal age. We’re a college girl in a bar with a skirt and cowgirl boots on.

 

[Urcea]

can we move on from this girl analogy lol

 

[Waquoit]

Not teenage. This is a bar that requires its patrons be of legal age. We’re a college girl in a bar with a skirt and cowgirl boots on.

And an optimal waist-to-hip ratio?

 

[CL82]

Not teenage. This is a bar that requires its patrons be of legal age. We’re a college girl in a bar with a skirt and cowgirl boots on.

The premise in the opening post was that she's in high school, so she's either a teenager or she's on the six year plan. Either way, it's not the best look...

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm going back more than four decades but the standard thought process would have been: is she doable? Is she easy?

Depending on how many drinks you had in you the order of importance could change.

 

[CL82]

I'm going back more than four decades but the standard thought process would have been: is she doable? Is she easy?

Depending on how many drinks you had in you the order of importance could change.

She's a high schooler!! Why are you liquoring her up in the first place?

 

[NowInStorrs]

So... Big 12, huh?

 

[Exit 4]

Parker - Stats of War has never had anything nice to say about us (I don’t think anyway)….

 

[FfldCntyFan]

She's a high schooler!! Why are you liquoring her up in the first place?

I thought we were speaking of college chicks, Goff mentioned something about cowboy boots.

And the order of importance depended on how much I had to drink back then.

 

[uconnyankee]

If we accept the 'best case scenario,' by all means we should move to the Big 12 or some other 'P5" conference. However, the impression here is that we would be getting a FULL share almost immediately from the new conference. To my knowledge, that has not happened to any school that has transferred to a new conference. Rutgers made more money than they had previously, but their deficit grew. They are still only getting about half of the full Big 0 payout.

Chances are we'd be getting roughly half of the Big 12 payout - maybe $15M - and some of that would come at the expense of money we are currently generating that would go into the conference pocket. You have the increased travel costs that has been noted. But the greater level of competition significantly reduces the opportunity to make a men's basketball statement as we have in the Big East (although women's basketball would likely not be affected much). Final Fours would be harder to come by.

And do you seriously think we are going to go 5-7, 6-6, 7-5 in a league with Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas Christian, WVU, BYU, not to mention Baylor, UCF, and Cincy (that went to the playoffs a couple years ago)? Even Kansas and K-State would be a major challenge. You can believe that we'll only get better players by affiliation with a more major conference, but there is no guarantee that the Big !2 will even BE a major conference in the next few years. Again, take a look at the reality - what schools that moved to a new conference over the past 20 years are now thriving? Are now in the mix for conference championships - especially in football? BC? Syracuse? Missouri? A&M? Maryland? Rutgers? Colorado?

Don't even get me started on the payouts to the Big East, the entry fees to the new conference - some of which coincides with the payouts from the AAC and Ollie.

Smell the coffee, folks! No matter how much you want to be considered at the same level as Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, that's not who we are. Oh, and that's not who New England is. New England will go bonkers for basketball - always have and always will - but football is not high on the radar. Could we do better? Sure. Mora will have us there soon, I think. But against a decent schedule that gives us a chance at 9-3, 10-2 seasons. One thing you can say about New England. We really LOVE a winner. If we are part of the Big 10, Big 12, AAC (watered down), being a winner in football at least is not in the cards. Being a winner in the bank account isn't either.

Ummm, college football was practically born in CT... Not saying it's as big today as in the south, but to suggest college football doesn't have any roots in the northeast is somewhat ignorant.