Bowlsby: Big 12 Would Look "East not West"

[UConnDan97]

Technically, weren't we the last ones to do it in 1999?

Technically, we had already announced our move to 1-A:

"Eventually, a new site emerged across the Connecticut River in East Hartford, when Pratt and Whitney donated their land on the old Rentschler Airfield to the state for purposes of building a football stadium. UConn officially began the upgrade process in January, 1999 by applying to join the Big East football conference.[11] They would receive a special waiver from the NCAA in order to play in Memorial Stadium while Rentschler Field was under construction.[12] "

 

[CAHUSKY]

Technically, we had already announced our move to 1-A:

"Eventually, a new site emerged across the Connecticut River in East Hartford, when Pratt and Whitney donated their land on the old Rentschler Airfield to the state for purposes of building a football stadium. UConn officially began the upgrade process in January, 1999 by applying to join the Big East football conference.[11] They would receive a special waiver from the NCAA in order to play in Memorial Stadium while Rentschler Field was under construction.[12] "

But we weren't a div 1 program yet right ?

 

[cheech63]

Yup, I completely agree. It's the first public acknowledgement from Bowlsby that expansion is a possibility. But at the same time, if they take Cincinnati and UCF, I cringe at the thought of who Aresco & Co replace them with.

This patch job of a conference will be completely worthless if Cincinnati and Central Florida hit the road.I already thought that this was a disaster of a conference.What word comes to mind after disaster ??

 

[Stinger92860]

If that happens we have to sit down with BYU, ECU, Boise , Navy, USF, Northern Ill, Memphis, Temple, etc. and create a football only conference. Then we park our olympic sports elsewhere.,

 

[jdb50]

East
UCONN, Navy, Temple, ECU, Memphis, USF
West
BYU, Boise, SDSU, Houston, SMU, Col St

 

[Ha Who]

East
UCONN, Navy, Temple, ECU, Memphis, USF
West
BYU, Boise, SDSU, Houston, SMU, Col St

Unfortunately, I think this is where we are heading. Malloy who never backs down has only been boosting hockey. I don't see any smoke here in the land of steady habits

 

[CTBballfan243]

Unfortunately, I think this is where we are heading. Malloy who never backs down has only been boosting hockey. I don't see any smoke here in the land of steady habits

I agree, we are probably heading for a conference scenario as you described. For basketball the conference would be a disaster. For football, it would be difficult conference for UCONN to win. ECU, Navy, and Memphis would be a handfull.

 

[Phillydave]

Interesting. All those UConn alums at the Izod on Thursday night must live in Manhattan.

Manhattan, or Connecticut.

 

[Phillydave]

I meant the NYC DMA, which includes part of NJ. The same argument that RU fans say when they say things like RU has a presence in CT (the part of the gold coast that falls inside the NYC DMA) when they obviously don't. Obviously, UCONN's alumni around NYC/NJ represented VERY well at the IZOD and I'm guessing that most of those folks live inside the NYC DMA because it was a weeknight game and MUCH easier to get to IZOD for folks who live inside of this map...

Oh I definitely agree with that. I completely agree that Rutgers DOES NOT move the needle in CT, and does not have any real presence in Connecticut either....and that any Rutgers fan that thinks they do is just as wrong as any UCONN fan thinking they have a real presence in NJ.

 

[upstater]

Manhattan, or Connecticut.

If they took the day off work. Otherwise, they're not getting out of 5 and making it to the iZod in 3 hours unless they drive from Fairfield. Ain't happening from Storrs or Hartford.

Why are you so touchy?

By the way, the UConn men and women last year pulled the biggest ratings ever in NYC for any college game. The men did an 11, while the women were close to 5.

 

[CL82]

I'm sorry, but UCONN does NOT deliver ANY of the NJ market. NJ couldn't care less about the state U. of Connecticut.
Maybe there are a handful of people in NJ that are alums of UCONN, and they care.....but that is where it ends.

IF you want to say UCONN delivers part of the NYC market....fine...feel free to make that argument. But UCONN does not move the needle at all in NJ. Not outside the tiny number of UCONN alums that live in NJ.

I live in North Jersey. Before Rutgers went to the B1G I rarely saw an RU flag or tee shirt up here. There's more now but still nothing like UConn's following in Connecticut. I do see UConn flags and UConn gear, however. Quite of bit of it matter of fact. I can think of four houses just in my neighborhood. Are we all Connecticut transplants? Yea, but households are households. I've never seen an Rutgers flag in Connecticut, ever.

 

[CL82]

If they took the day off work. Otherwise, they're not getting out of 5 and making it to the iZod in 3 hours unless they drive from Fairfield. Ain't happening from Storrs or Hartford.

Why are you so touchy?

By the way, the UConn men and women last year pulled the biggest ratings ever in NYC for any college game. The men did an 11, while the women were close to 5.

You can get from SE Connecticut to Izod in 3 hours. I've done it.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If they took the day off work. Otherwise, they're not getting out of 5 and making it to the iZod in 3 hours unless they drive from Fairfield. Ain't happening from Storrs or Hartford.

Why are you so touchy?

By the way, the UConn men and women last year pulled the biggest ratings ever in NYC for any college game. The men did an 11, while the women were close to 5.

Shy of my days as an undergrad (three years on campus, one off) and a brief stretch in the mid 1990's i've lived in Stamford my entire life (54 years). I've been to a ton of events at the Byrne Arena (now Izod center), albeit none since 1992 and I've always viewed the Civic Center (where I've seen more than double the events as the Izod) as a more difficult destination. I believe that you are correct about Hartford and Storrs but I also believe that the Izod is accesible from a bit further away than Fairfield.

 

[RioDog]

This patch job of a conference will be completely worthless if Cincinnati and Central Florida hit the road.I already thought that this was a disaster of a conference.What word comes to mind after disaster ??

Desolation.

 

[NickyNewark]

Desolation.

deciminate

 

[Stinger92860]

Manhattan, or Connecticut.

And I know quite a few from New Jersey.

 

[auggie22]

I'm sorry, but UCONN does NOT deliver ANY of the NJ market. NJ couldn't care less about the state U. of Connecticut.
Maybe there are a handful of people in NJ that are alums of UCONN, and they care.....but that is where it ends.

IF you want to say UCONN delivers part of the NYC market....fine...feel free to make that argument. But UCONN does not move the needle at all in NJ. Not outside the tiny number of UCONN alums that live in NJ.

When you play sports well for a long period of time, you accumulate fans. Even those that are not alumns. i have read many an article of nyc and jersey hoops prospects who say they rooted for UCONN growing up.

I find it hilarious that a Rutgers fan cannot piece this together without help.

 

[upstater]

You can get from SE Connecticut to Izod in 3 hours. I've done it.

At rush hour?

I could get to Izod from New Haven in 1 1/2 hours. In no traffic.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It still amazes me how many people STILL don't get this fact...and it IS a fact...

No it is not. Georgetown, Nova and others will continue to do just fine. There is a reason why there are twice as many schools playing basketball at the highest level than football. It's much, much cheaper. UConn could survive just fine with an FCS football program.

That said, I don't want to throw in the towel. I waited long enough for the school to upgrade, I am not ready to give up.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I live in North Jersey. Before Rutgers went to the B1G I rarely saw an RU flag or tee shirt up here. There's more now but still nothing like UConn's following in Connecticut. I do see UConn flags and UConn gear, however. Quite of bit of it matter of fact. I can think of four houses just in my neighborhood. Are we all Connecticut transplants? Yea, but households are households. I've never seen an Rutgers flag in Connecticut, ever.

I live in NNJ, also; but, it is a town (borough) in which many kids after college and time in NYC move back to to raise a family and thus I am not surprised that I mostly see Rutgers flags around town with Penn State as the next most popular plus. Beyond that I see Army, Princeton, Cornell, Quinnipiac, a few BC (they recruit heavily both athletes and non-athletes from the local catholic schools) and odd number of Clemson, and of course Colorado (my co-coach in soccer was a ski bum in high school, thus that choice). Plus, of course, many cars have decals from the local non-D1 schools like Montclair St, Ramapo, & William Patterson. I have yet to see a Syracuse sticker yet.

 

[Phillydave]

If they took the day off work. Otherwise, they're not getting out of 5 and making it to the iZod in 3 hours unless they drive from Fairfield. Ain't happening from Storrs or Hartford.

Why are you so touchy?

By the way, the UConn men and women last year pulled the biggest ratings ever in NYC for any college game. The men did an 11, while the women were close to 5.

I'm not touchy...just a realist. UCONN has exactly the kind of fans that WOULD take off early...or take the day off altogether, to travel 2-3 hours to see the number one team in the country play their extremely established program.

Why are you so opinionated to think otherwise?

 

[Phillydave]

When you play sports well for a long period of time, you accumulate fans. Even those that are not alumns. i have read many an article of nyc and jersey hoops prospects who say they rooted for UCONN growing up.

I find it hilarious that a Rutgers fan cannot piece this together without help.

If you want to think that UCONN has a presence in NJ.....go for it. You'd be very wrong....but have at it.

I lived in NJ for 42 years up until a few years ago, in towns in Monmouth County (Central Jersey) Ocean Country (Central/South) Middlesex County (Central NJ) and Bergen County (North Jersey) and I didn't know a single UCONN fan or alum. I never saw people wearing shirts or flying flags outside their homes. There may be a few fans , but you'd have to be on the lookout all year long to find one.

Just like Rutgers is insignificant in the state of Connecticut, UCONN is equally insignificant in the state of NJ.

That is the reality.

 

[OkaForPrez]

I'm not touchy...just a realist. UCONN has exactly the kind of fans that WOULD take off early...or take the day off altogether, to travel 2-3 hours to see the number one team in the country play their extremely established program.

Why are you so opinionated to think otherwise?

What would you guess to be the number of active alumni for UConn in the state of New Jersey?

 

[Phillydave]

What would you guess to be the number of active alumni for UConn in the state of New Jersey?

I have no idea. I have ever seen a UCONN fan wearing a shirt, or flying a flag outside their home, or with a UCONN decal on their car. I would say the number is so insignificant that it does not move the needle at all.

I'm not saying that to disparage your school. It's just that UCONN is the state U. of Connecticut, NOT NJ.

I'm sure there are som alumni in New Jersey, but it is such a tiny portion of the population that it wouldn't even register percentage-wise.

 

[UConn Dan]

When you play sports well for a long period of time, you accumulate fans. Even those that are not alumns. i have read many an article of nyc and jersey hoops prospects who say they rooted for UCONN growing up.

I find it hilarious that a Rutgers fan cannot piece this together without help.

Back in March 2012, I was in northeast PA (Wilkes-barre / Scranton) over the weekend that Pitt was playing at UConn. We found ourselves at a restaurant where the game was on. As I went up to the TV to watch the end of the game, local kids (age 10-13) were cheering on our huskies to the win. One kid approached and asked another, "why are you rooting for UConn?" He replied, "because they are the best; they are champions!" Winning breeds fans regardless of where they are located. Fans of some teams just can't relate and that breeds hate.

Purely anecdotal, but true nonetheless.