Bilas on Uconn left out of expansion

[CL82]

Ironically Appropriately, it was Boston college that became irrelevant in all college sports in the past decade.

You can’t be great being afraid of competition. BCU doomed itself.

 

[CL82]

I liked Bilas's comments on blue bloods. He baseically compared Kansas, Kentucky, Duke as being blue bloods in the sense that they are old money. He said UConn is the new blueblood like Gates or Musk.

That’s kind of how I defined the phrase “blue blood” before Duke joined the club for many people. The “blue bloods” were the schools that were good in the 50s. It is such an odd term because it seems to mean different things to different people at different times. We’ve defined ourselves through our play on the court as the best program of the last 25 years. Literally, and it’s not close.

 

[Hoophound]

That’s kind of how I defined the phrase “blue blood” before Duke joined the club for many people. The “blue bloods” were the schools that were good in the 50s. It is such an odd term because it seems to mean different things to different people at different times. We’ve defined ourselves through our play on the court as the best program of the last 25 years. Literally, and it’s not close.

I’ve saw an article stating that UConn has now joined the blue bloods and Villanova was among the group UConn was joining. Probably a Nova fan. However, to your point, it depends who you are talking to.

 

[UconnFanDC]

Lol. Guys com'on. We know if the ACC asked us, we'd join in a heart beat. It's all about the mighty football dollars. The ACC will not fade just like the Big 12 found a way.

 

[Umami Zen]

Bilas believed.. He was right. .Dawgs got it done.

 

[CL82]

Lol. Guys com'on. We know if the ACC asked us, we'd join in a heart beat. It's all about the mighty football dollars. The ACC will not fade just like the Big 12 found a way.

No doubt. The same is true for the big 12. P5 money is a key to remaining relevant.

I am less certain of the ACC’s future survival. It seems like the major media outlets are determined to consolidate big time athletics. Some of the P5 will be on the outside looking in when that process is completed.

 

[hardcorehusky]

The ACC has a Grant of Rights until 2036. No one is leaving until 3 yrs before at best. Adding, who knows? The talk around conference realignment around them, the Big 10 and SEC is premature by years!

 

[ctfjr]

Ironically it was Boston college that became irrelevant in all college sports in the past decade.

couldn't happen to a better school

 

[amory]

There was a time when conference realignment "what ifs" bothered me, but it passed a long time ago. Our situation is what it is. We're winning games in all the big sports. That's more than enough for me after the wasteland we just exited.

 

[CL82]

There was a time when conference realignment "what ifs" bothered me, but it passed a long time ago. Our situation is what it is. We're winning games in all the big sports. That's more than enough for me after the wasteland we just exited.

Agree, but I worry about the future, and how we will keep up in the ever escalating, arms, race of facilities and coaches salaries.

 

[uconndogs]

Honestly, I'm not optimistic about conference re-alignment for UCONN and most of college sports. I don't think we've seen anywhere near the impact that NIL will eventually have on college sports. Athletic departments with the most access to resources will have an enormous advantage and from where we sit today, those athletic departments reside in the SEC and BiG. Many schools will need to make the decision if they even want to compete in that world. Thinking that the world we are in today is going to be anything like the world 5 to 10 years from now is flawed in my opinion. I see a world of professional sport franchises associated with universities and vying for talent much the way free agency works.

 

[Inyatkin]

This is an impossible question. We can (and should) mock the ACC teams for being terrible, but we absolutely would've gone if asked. If we had, would we have avoided the 2017-19 disaster? Would we have a fifth title? No way to know.
Happy to be where we are now, but there's no guarantee the next decision will be any easier.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I liked Bilas's comments on blue bloods. He baseically compared Kansas, Kentucky, Duke as being blue bloods in the sense that they are old money. He said UConn is the new blueblood like Gates or Musk.

Yes to some extent. But if Kansas, Duke and Kentucky are old money what is UCLA ?

 

[amory]

Agree, but I worry about the future, and how we will keep up in the ever escalating, arms, race of facilities and coaches salaries.

It's always a concern. But at least we already have world class facilities, a MBB coach who appears dedicated to UConn and the Big East conference specifically rather than just for the money (although he's paid a lot too). Plus the Big East TV deal is due for renewal at the perfect time to get a nice bump.

There's so much more reason for optimism now than there was even a year or two ago.

 

[Chuck]

Honestly, I'm not optimistic about conference re-alignment for UCONN and most of college sports. I don't think we've seen anywhere near the impact that NIL will eventually have on college sports. Athletic departments with the most access to resources will have an enormous advantage and from where we sit today, those athletic departments reside in the SEC and BiG. Many schools will need to make the decision if they even want to compete in that world. Thinking that the world we are in today is going to be anything like the world 5 to 10 years from now is flawed in my opinion. I see a world of professional sport franchises associated with universities and vying for talent much the way free agency works.

I only thought of this recently, but there's a bit of a split now. The arms race for facilities will continue to advantage the P5 (or 4, 3, 2) with football money. But the schools can't use that money for NIL. So, a school like Memphis can get decent facilities and probably pay a lot more NIL (judging from FedEx money and assumed past impermissible payments) than many of the P5. Again, as long as your facilities are decent, I can see non-P5 schools keeping up or even surpassing P5 schools (especially in basketball). The schools that will disappear will be those without big benefactors and without P5 money.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Eh they took Oklahoma. They have so much money they don't even care.

Oklahoma is a bigger brand with more history than any team in the ACC. It's not comparable. It's also a state where the SEC had nothing.

The Big 8 merged with the SWC. The SEC has now poached: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma. The SEC already has SC, GA and FL. They don't need Clemson, GT or FSU. They'd probably dump Vandy and Miss State if they could.

 

[CL82]

It's always a concern. But at least we already have world class facilities, a MBB coach who appears dedicated to UConn and the Big East conference specifically rather than just for the money (although he's paid a lot too). Plus the Big East TV deal is due for renewal at the perfect time to get a nice bump.

There's so much more reason for optimism now than there was even a year or two ago.

I agree we’ve given Ackerman all the ammunition she needs to negotiate the best deal possible. In addition to the national championship, Connecticut games have increased the ratings that the Big East receives. I’m just not sure how much value is there. What do you anticipate the next big east deal being? If we ended up making 10 million a school, it would be an extraordinary deal. Realistically, 8 million is probably a more likely number. Wow that doubles our current distribution, it doesn’t allow us to stay connected in competitive with the P5 schools.

 

[Senor Blue]

No doubt. The same is true for the big 12. P5 money is a key to remaining relevant.

I am less certain of the ACC’s future survival. It seems like the major media outlets are determined to consolidate big time athletics. Some of the P5 will be on the outside looking in when that process is completed.

While I agree - UConn made a move for football once and it backfired horribly. However the football money is insane. The ACC isn't going anywhere.

UConn football generated 4.7M in revenue last year against $18.4M in expenses.

While you have to probably double that investment at a minimum to be competitive in the ACC, every program made money or stayed neutral in that conference. If you could go from -$13M to positive or even close to even - that's a lot of nice shiny things for all the athletics programs and staff. But could UConn afford to make that investment up front? Media deals aside - do people in CT care about football?

That said - I think Hurley loves the Big East brand. And I'm pretty sure the millions earned from this last title run would stay with the Big East.

However - the ACC does bring back some old Big East games - Pitt, Louisville, BC, ND, and cute little Orange program. And you get Duke/UNC/Virginia on your schedule twice a year. It wouldn't be like what happened in the AAC. There's still some traditional rivalries, and you still get the Northeast recruiting hotbed with UConn/BC, you get the DMV with Virginia.

You also lose MSG for a tournament. But road travel to Miami in the winter doesn't sound as as Providence.

 

[businesslawyer]

I agree we’ve given Ackerman all the ammunition she needs to negotiate the best deal possible. In addition to the national championship, Connecticut games have increased the ratings that the Big East receives. I’m just not sure how much value is there. What do you anticipate the next big east deal being? If we ended up making 10 million a school, it would be an extraordinary deal. Realistically, 8 million is probably a more likely number. Wow that doubles our current distribution, it doesn’t allow us to stay connected in competitive with the P5 schools.

That all depends on how much the schools allow basketball to access the big bucks at the expense of football. I am not saying that what you fear might not happen. It very well might. But we don’t know that it will happen either.,

 

[CL82]

That all depends on how much the schools allow basketball to access the big bucks at the expense of football. I am not saying that what you fear might not happen. It very well might. But we don’t know that it will happen either.,

True, although I am inclined to believe that most institutions will look to maximize their near term profit. But for football playing schools to give up money to subsidize non-football playing schools, you would need to have football playing schools as part of your conference deal. That’s not the circumstances of the big east conference. Assuming what you suggest is a possibility, that’s probably a net negative for the big east conference, because it would facilitate the movement of “basketball only” schools to the P5 conferences.

 

[businesslawyer]

True, although I am inclined to believe that most institutions will look to maximize their near term profit. But for football playing schools to give up money to subsidize non-football playing schools, you would need to have football playing schools as part of your conference deal. That’s not the circumstances of the big east conference. Assuming what you suggest is a possibility, that’s probably a net negative for the big east conference, because it would facilitate the movement of “basketball only” schools to the P5 conferences.

I may not have been clear. What I’m asking is whether Ohio State is going to allow its basketball program to spend more than a school like us, when doing so subtracts from the money the athletic department can provide to the football program. I was not asking, e.g., how a conference would determine how much of a share a basketball only gets.

 

[Sick Puppy]

Man... If there is one thing that annoys me of the boneyard is the inferiority complex in constant display by so many UConn fans. Its like half of the fan base here internalizes the need to always be catching up to someone else.

Enjoy the darn championship damn it. Can we just cut the b.s ACC/B1G/B12 talk for a few days?

Yup. And there are financial and revenue considerations. But yes, there's a distinction there. The inferiority-wanting-to-look-good-and-belong complex is pathetic and feminine.

 

[Palatine]

1st round BC blocked us and 2nd round football powers blocked us. There were reports during second raid about the ACC fearing the Calhoun retirement impact on the program. Not sure where you're seeing moving goalposts, it's consistent with media reports all along.

BC didn't block anything. They went into the ACC hidden in Miami's butt. The idea that could veto anything is a myth, it's beyond absurd. They had zero power. Plus the ACC is built on backyard rivals UNC, Duke, Wake and NC State.

It was all over the press that FSU and Clemson didn't want to water down the football side of the conference. And football ruled -like it always does.

 

[Inyatkin]

Every time someone talks about money for facilities I think about whenever you see a tour of one of those new SEC locker rooms or whatever, where they have clearly run out of things to spend money on. It's like each player has their own space pod or whatever.
I get that it's an issue but at some point there are diminishing returns.

 

[CL82]

I may not have been clear. What I’m asking is whether Ohio State is going to allow its basketball program to spend more than a school like us, when doing so subtracts from the money the athletic department can provide to the football program. I was not asking, e.g., how a conference would determine how much of a share a basketball only gets.

Ah got it. I’m inclined to think athletic director will spread money around, especially in the P2 where the money coming in will be just staggering. I can’t see a Big Ten football coach demanding that all $72 million per year of their media rights distribution be spent on football.

 

[CL82]

BC didn't block anything. They went into the ACC hidden in Miami's butt. The idea that could veto anything is a myth, it's beyond absurd. They had zero power. Plus the ACC is built on backyard rivals UNC, Duke, Wake and NC State.

It was all over the press that FSU and Clemson didn't want to water down the football side of the conference. And football ruled -like it always does.

Well, DiFilippo was there and says, otherwise, but I’m sure you’re right.

You seem to envision the situation as everyone else in the conference, Wantin, Connecticut, and BCU standing up and saying no. What’s been reported is that BCU was a part of the selection committee and they indicated a preference for Pittsburgh over Connecticut based upon the fact that they “wanted to be the New England team.” The other ACC schools didn’t have a strong, feeling one way, or the other, because ESPN was throwing cash at them, regardless, of which Big East school was chosen. Picture being in a conference room and someone is about to order lunch. When they suggest roast beef, if someone says hey, wait a minute I really hate roast beef can we just do turkey everyone would shrug and say fine. I think that was more than dynamic.

 

[uconndogs]

Every time someone talks about money for facilities I think about whenever you see a tour of one of those new SEC locker rooms or whatever, where they have clearly run out of things to spend money on. It's like each player has their own space pod or whatever.
I get that it's an issue but at some point there are diminishing returns.

That money is about to find its way to the "student-athletes" in a very big way. I understand that NIL is not supposed to be coming from the athletic departments currently, but I have to believe that the work arounds on that are well underway and in terms of enforcement I think the NCAA is about to become fully toothless in that regard.

 

[Jbirdp5]

I agree we’ve given Ackerman all the ammunition she needs to negotiate the best deal possible. In addition to the national championship, Connecticut games have increased the ratings that the Big East receives. I’m just not sure how much value is there. What do you anticipate the next big east deal being? If we ended up making 10 million a school, it would be an extraordinary deal. Realistically, 8 million is probably a more likely number. Wow that doubles our current distribution, it doesn’t allow us to stay connected in competitive with the P5 schools.

I agree 10 million is probably a pie in the sky number and even that wouldn’t put us close to the worst of the P5 in terms of money. A little scary when you look at it in those terms.
I love the big east and don’t want to leave but just because the money hasn’t come back to bite us yet doesn’t mean it won’t eventually.

 

[Richmondhsky]

The ACC and BE will have to merge. One side will have football, the other basketball.

Add UConn to the BC, Cuse, Pitt, VT, Virginia, Duke, NC St, Wake, GTech conference and they have balance.

Suspect NC is headed out with Clemson, Miami and FSU.

I’ll go along with most of what you’ve written. However, North Carolina will follow Duke and UVA to the big 10.

 

[SubbaBub]

BC left in 2003. UL's head coach iat the time was just as old as Calhoun. The lie of the day is that Louisville and WV were going to continue as BB powerhouses but UConn was going to fade away?

Listen, these morons can't even remember that UConn didn't leave the Big East. The C7 bolted to form a BB conference and bought the name.

Now, all these Big East is back are based on Villanova's 2 chip from their now retired coach? Naw, that don't fly. Without UConn's domination of the non-confernce, the BE held serve for their 5 bids.