BTN with another mention of UConn

[B1GALUM]

Although brief, Tom Dienhart mentions UConn in a BTN piece.
http://btn.com/2014/04/09/catch-up-on-these-big-ten-headlines/

The excerpt in italics:

And, I’ll leave you with this thought-provoking piece from the New York Times that wonders: Should the Big Ten have taken UConn instead of Rutgers?

Here is an interesting line from the story: “(The Big Ten) supposedly wanted a foothold for its network in the New York area, but former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese always said that, outside St. John’s, Syracuse and Connecticut were by far the biggest draws in New York.”
So, there is that.

My take: UConn is too good for the AAC. Still stunned no “major” league has taken the Huskies.

Congratulations on the success of your basketball teams this year! I am of the opinion that the dual NCAA basketball championships and subsequent press, questioning why UConn is not in a P5 conference, really leaves the B1G and ACC no choice but to consider additional expansion with UConn.

 

[Vuce]

Yeah the B1G and/or ACC screwed up as we have been saying all along. That said, Rutgers can help Uconn get into the B1G as they are a natural eastern rival in football. But the problem remains there is no one for Uconn to partner with to move to the conference. Yes, Uconn football is in its infancy but it has been every bit as good or better as Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, etc since they joined the Big East. Yeah, yeah basketball doesn't matter BUT college hoops provides content from January through the beginning of April (not just games but pre and post game shows, coaches shows, etc) . And Uconn brings cache and championships with it. The argument can't be made anymore that Uconn will wilt away once Calhoun retires.

Swap out Rutgers with Uconn right now in the B1G. Football is no different as far as the conferences goes. But basketball is enhanced 1000% and all of a sudden you have MSG or Barclays in your sights. You want to create a buzz in NYC? Get Uconn hoops involved. Football will follow. Our university has proven it time and again, you put us on an even playing field (and sometimes lesser) and we will deliver.

Good to see some articles popping up like this.

 

[freescooter]

The Big and the ACC both made the same mistake. I get the ACC making it. they thought BC would bring Boston. I thought the Big would be smarter. I heard Tranghese speak on the NY market one time and he pointed out that there is no NY market in the sense that there is a Dallas market. It is huge but its also disjointed. Where the Big East had success was bringing UConn, Syracuse, St Johns and to a lesser extent Rutgers and Seton Hall together and thus assembling a serious market out of the disparate pieces. But of those pieces, the most significant ones for basketball were the Johnnies, UConn and Syracuse. For football UConn and Syracuse out-stripped Rutgers alone, though at the time Rutgers was awful rather than just bad. But to really have an impact you needed more than just 1 of the parts. You guys have also had a chance to see Rutgers problems up close now, too. They are a train wreck. They've been a train wreck in one form or another for decades. Can you imagine what Delany thought when he read that Rutgers' AD said she hopes the local paper goes out of business? Or when they hired a "graduate" as head coach who never graduated? And those are not even the really bad things they've done. and they are going to carry the New York market? I don't think so. Unless its the market for buffoonery that you're after.

 

[pj]

I can't believe the lack of partner is an insuperable obstacle, as long as the rule change that the ACC seeks, eliminating the "two equal divisions" rule, is adopted, and if the conference is committed to a future expansion to 16, 18, or 20.

A 15-team conference with 3 pods of 5 can schedule just fine. You go by highest playoff/BCS rankings to determine the championship game participants. For the B1G pods might look like: (a) East - UConn/Rutgers/Md/Penn State/Mich St or Ohio St; (b) Central - Ohio State or Mich St/Michigan/Indiana/Purdue/Northwestern; (c) West - Illinois/Wisconsin/Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska. Two strong football programs in each pod. You could have a fixed cross-pod rivalry to keep Mich St-Michigan or Ohio St-Michigan, Illinois-Northwestern, Ohio St-Penn St (or Penn St-Nebraska) an annual event. Four games in pod, one rivalry game, two other games with each other pod; you cycle through your rivalry pod in 2 years (home and home in 4) and through the other pod in 2.5 years (home-and-home in 5).

 

[CTGoonie]

You have to think ESPN would rather the ACC add Uconn alone and pay a little more to the ACC then re-negotiate with the American in a couple years with Uconn as a member. How long was the ESPN contract Aresco signed last year?

 

[noeynox]

If The NCAA Allows Conferences To Decide Which Two Teams Play For The Conference Championship In Football, I. E Setting Up Their Most Likely Team To Get In The Playoff, We Wouldn't Need A Partner As Uneven Divisions Wouldn't Matter.

Also Dienhardt Favorite My Tweet To Him This Morning About The Final Men AP poll.

 

[Adios]

Our football program isn't in it's infancy really. We've played Rutgers 33 times. They've lost to us 5 times before we stepped up to the FBS level. Since we've gone to the upper D1 tier, we're .500 against Rutgers, 6-6.

 

[Gfunk]

I've actually written to Dinehardt about UConn to the BIG - to be fair w/confidentiality, won't repost his response. He's not an Internet alias.

But he endorsed UConn to the BIG in terms of personal opinion, & he really went out of his way to say he has no say in the matter. But in practical terms, he stated the BIG needs a 16 to go along, more so than AAU. I told him I'm not buying the requirement for 16 right away.

As for AAU, I've said enough about the overstatement related to this treehouse club. Educationally, I think the BIG prefers greater research allocations - UConn is really close here.

Anyways

 

[huskyrob1]

Our football program isn't in it's infancy really. We've played Rutgers 33 times. They've lost to us 5 times before we stepped up to the FBS level. Since we've gone to the upper D1 tier, we're .500 against Rutgers, 6-6.

It is in its infancy in the sense that we finally have a good, flexible and likable coach who is young and hungry AND can recruit. Nobody liked Randy Edsall either in or out of state, the recruits, their coaches, and their parents didn't like him or nor did they buy his selling of the program, and Pasqualoni was inflexible, senile, had an outdated football philosophy, and couldn't recognize talent when he had it in his lap or separate it from Youtube hype.

 

[Adios]

It is in its infancy in the sense that we finally have a good, flexible and likable coach who is young and hungry AND can recruit. Nobody liked Randy Edsall either in or out of state, the recruits, their coaches, and their parents didn't like him or nor did they buy his selling of the program, and Pasqualoni was inflexible, senile, had an outdated football philosophy, and couldn't recognize talent when he had it in his lap or separate it from Youtube hype.

Perhaps perception-wise if we are aiming for the crystal football.

I am not even into numerology but the numbers I am seeing in relation to our history with Rutgers football says we are going to the B1G. Not sure on what the "5" would mean. Maybe the 5 represents how many men's basketball titles we'll have by the time the B1G invites us.

 

[whaler11]

For a guy nobody liked he sure won a lot of games and sent a lot of guys to the NFL.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It is in its infancy in the sense that we finally have a good, flexible and likable coach who is young and hungry AND can recruit. Nobody liked Randy Edsall either in or out of state, the recruits and their parents didn't like him or nor did they buy his selling of the program, and Pasqualoni was inflexible, senile, had an outdated football philosophy, and couldn't recognize talent when he had it in his lap or separate it from Youtube hype.

Lighten up Francis. Man. LIkeable? Likeable doesn't win games.

Edsall had a 74-70 record at UCONN with 2 conference co-championships. 3-2 in bowls. Pasqualoni was 13-23 at UCONN. No bowls. No championships. Skip Holtz was 34-23 with one conference championship and an 0-1 record in the 1-AA playoffs. Tom Jackson was 62-57 with 3 conference co-titles but never made it to the playoffs.

That's 183-173 overall in basically the second century of time that UCONN has been playing football. UCONN football was played for 100 years prior to that - but the current century definitely is more successful and we have elevated to the top level of intercollegiate football, and have done well here.


Diaco has an 0-0 record as a head coach. Has he got things pointing in a positive direction, does the program feel like it has potential to win under Diaco? Sure. He's still 0-0 with no chamiponships as of now.

I'm looking forward to seeing what he can achieve.

 

[B1GALUM]

Yeah the B1G and/or ACC screwed up as we have been saying all along. That said, Rutgers can help Uconn get into the B1G as they are a natural eastern rival in football. But the problem remains there is no one for Uconn to partner with to move to the conference. Yes, Uconn football is in its infancy but it has been every bit as good or better as Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, etc since they joined the Big East. Yeah, yeah basketball doesn't matter BUT college hoops provides content from January through the beginning of April (not just games but pre and post game shows, coaches shows, etc) . And Uconn brings cache and championships with it. The argument can't be made anymore that Uconn will wilt away once Calhoun retires.

Swap out Rutgers with Uconn right now in the B1G. Football is no different as far as the conferences goes. But basketball is enhanced 1000% and all of a sudden you have MSG or Barclays in your sights. You want to create a buzz in NYC? Get Uconn hoops involved. Football will follow. Our university has proven it time and again, you put us on an even playing field (and sometimes lesser) and we will deliver.

Good to see some articles popping up like this.

It is good to see some articles popping up like this. UConn fans and alums, along with some supportive visitors, have rightly questioned over and over again on this board why UConn is not in a P5 conference. I think it is significant that this question has moved beyond message boards and into the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, etc. I imagine, with this type of press, Delany will at least be directly asked privately and perhaps publicly at some point about UConn as a B1G expansion candidate. However, even if the question is never asked, then I think this type of press cannot help but at least place the question of UConn as a B1G expansion candidate in his mind. He has spoken over and over again about a desire for B1G expansion eastward and a B1G presence in NYC. He cannot ignore the success of UConn in the NCAA tournament and the presence in NYC demonstrated by UConn fans during the tournament if this desire remains an integral part of his vision for the B1G conference.

 

[NickyNewark]

The Big and the ACC both made the same mistake. I get the ACC making it. they thought BC would bring Boston. I thought the Big would be smarter. I heard Tranghese speak on the NY market one time and he pointed out that there is no NY market in the sense that there is a Dallas market. It is huge but its also disjointed. Where the Big East had success was bringing UConn, Syracuse, St Johns and to a lesser extent Rutgers and Seton Hall together and thus assembling a serious market out of the disparate pieces. But of those pieces, the most significant ones for basketball were the Johnnies, UConn and Syracuse. For football UConn and Syracuse out-stripped Rutgers alone, though at the time Rutgers was awful rather than just bad. But to really have an impact you needed more than just 1 of the parts. You guys have also had a chance to see Rutgers problems up close now, too. They are a train wreck. They've been a train wreck in one form or another for decades. Can you imagine what Delany thought when he read that Rutgers' AD said she hopes the local paper goes out of business? Or when they hired a "graduate" as head coach who never graduated? And those are not even the really bad things they've done. and they are going to carry the New York market? I don't think so. Unless its the market for buffoonery that you're after.

Trouble is freescooter their already in and are the NY/NJ market whereas Uconn is and certainly before RU was voted in not even contiginous to the B1G.It was no secret important people were working on RU to the B1G before you guys even went D1. Its all about relationship building and with the ACC privates we know that's not helping you're cause.Uconn for better or worse is looked upon as a NE or Boston area team in B1G country similar to BC. Outside FF county which feels more like NY its basically true! It won't help joining the almost defunct Star Ledger(Politi) sell clicks or ESPin's sorrow at losing more than they bargained for when manipulating CR in the BE but it instead blew up in there face(pocket)!! Yes newspapers are failing,laying off and GOB so even the AAP had to chime in but RU needed Barchi to assimilate the medical and dental school...so were stuck with him for now. Griping about RU won't help anyones cause but might backfire? Many of us are just making headway with helping change perception with the RU fanbase and gaining support for you guys. Hang on its just a matter of time.Tranghese is/was always a BB guy and his agenda was well known...a PC hack. Always supported the BB side and stemmed BE FB growth.

 

[Adios]

It is good to see some articles popping up like this. UConn fans and alums, along with some supportive visitors, have rightly questioned over and over again on this board why UConn is not in a P5 conference. I think it is significant that this question has moved beyond message boards and into the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, etc. I imagine, with this type of press, Delany will at least be directly asked privately and perhaps publicly at some point about UConn as a B1G expansion candidate. However, even if the question is never asked, then I think this type of press cannot help but at least place the question of UConn as a B1G expansion candidate in his mind. He has spoken over and over again about a desire for B1G expansion eastward and a B1G presence in NYC. He cannot ignore the success of UConn in the NCAA tournament and the presence in NYC demonstrated by UConn fans during the tournament if this desire remains an integral part of his vision for the B1G conference.

UConn in the B1G would be kind of reminiscent of the Ivy League days here. It would sell too easily.

 

[Carl Spackler]

UConn in the B1G would be kind of reminiscent of the Ivy League days here. It would sell too easily.

I agree. Yale Bowl was not originally constructed a century ago to hold 70,000 because of anticipation of division 1A seating requirements established in the 1970s. The Ivy League stopped it all a long time ago. The Big 10 would easily - EASILY - bring those kinds of football attendance numbers back. Rentschler field would be ready to expand well beyond it's already expandable capability within one season of Big 10 play.

This kind of thing probably isn't well understood in the mid-west though.

 

[SubbaBub]

Need the status quo to end more than anything. As for swapping out, the biggest head scratcher was the ACC wanting Syracuse. You can make a case for Pitt, BC, RU, even UL as programs and markets of value.

I know the dome, 44, melo, and Boeheim. But an overpriced private school 5, count'em 5, hours ride from NYC in frozen bumblefukc is a real headscratcher as a futures play. It's almost as if they don't teach analytic thinking in the south.

 

[Carl Spackler]

For the big 10 folks and others reading, that might be wondering legitimately why UCONN is not in another conference, the reason is basically very simple. Loyalty to the Big East conference to the point of our own fault. UCONN leadership was loyal to the big east, rather than for many years, trying to get out of it, or abuse it for their own need like many other programs that have come and gone.

We'll overcome it. We've got no choice right now but to be loyal to the American Athletic Conference - and we'll see how high we can elevate this conference working with the other programs as long as we're in it. Connecticut Yankees are an incredibly loyal, inventive and hard working culture historically.

 

[djct1999]

Its simple, really. UConn needs to go to Jim Dolan, agree that if they join the big 10, that msg can "franchise" the big 10 tournament, bringing back great hoops to the mecca annually. Warde then needs to get a game at Met Life and Foxboro, count them as home games for UConn, and allow the Big 1o to decide our opponent each year. This would be a home run for the Big 10. It would caputre the northeast and destroy the acc in the process.

 

[UConn9604]

Need the status quo to end more than anything. As for swapping out, the biggest head scratcher was the ACC wanting Syracuse. You can make a case for Pitt, BC, RU, even UL as programs and markets of value.

I know the dome, 44, melo, and Boeheim. But an overpriced private school 5, count'em 5, hours ride from NYC in frozen bumblefukc is a real headscratcher as a futures play. It's almost as if they don't teach analytic thinking in the south.

I thought the same thing, too. Their love affair with Syracuse began with their love affair for Miami a decade earlier. Back when Miami was winning (or finishing second) for national championships, the ACC wanted Miami, which draws very well in the northeast. Miami was interested but not without its northeastern friends Syracuse and BC.

Syracuse would have been taken then, if not for Vernon native Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia, who tied UVa's vote to including Virginia Tech. Because UNC and Duke were adamant against expansion, there were two locked-in no votes -- leaving every single other school in the catbird's seat, since expansion required 7 of 9 votes at the time. Instead, Virginia Tech was added by a 7-2 vote.

BC would have been taken then, too, if not for the fact that N.C. State's President at the time, Marye Anne Fox, also served on Notre Dame's Board of Trustees, and wanted to kick the tires on taking Notre Dame first. BC failed by a 6-3 vote (Duke, UNC, N.C. State).

Miami was so concerned with maintaining its northeastern pipeline that it actually took several days to decide on whether to join the league without Syracuse and BC, or to stay in the Big East with Syracuse and BC. Virginia Tech accepted that invite in about 2.2 seconds, however.

 

[upstater]

The B1G should add Kansas with UConn. Kansas has to know that the time of Texas sitting on its current pile is only temporary.

 

[dayooper]

The B1G should add Kansas with UConn. Kansas has to know that the time of Texas sitting on its current pile is only temporary.

If something is going to happen, we will know in about two years. My thought process is that The Big10 will be renegotiating their tier 1/partial tier 2 media contract in early 2016 (the new one will start in 2017). I believe they want everything settles in this round before that starts.

 

[huskyrob1]

Lighten up Francis. Man. LIkeable? Likeable doesn't win games.

Edsall had a 74-70 record at UCONN with 2 conference co-championships. 3-2 in bowls. Pasqualoni was 13-23 at UCONN. No bowls. No championships. Skip Holtz was 34-23 with one conference championship and an 0-1 record in the 1-AA playoffs. Tom Jackson was 62-57 with 3 conference co-titles but never made it to the playoffs.

That's 183-173 overall in basically the second century of time that UCONN has been playing football. UCONN football was played for 100 years prior to that - but the current century definitely is more successful and we have elevated to the top level of intercollegiate football, and have done well here.


Diaco has an 0-0 record as a head coach. Has he got things pointing in a positive direction, does the program feel like it has potential to win under Diaco? Sure. He's still 0-0 with no chamiponships as of now.

I'm looking forward to seeing what he can achieve.

Likeable does win games. Recruiting is half the battle, maybe more, and a great recruiter is liked by the parents, the recruits high school coaches, and the recruit. Why do you think FHCRE couldn't recruit himself out of a paper bag? No one liked him, and he managed to piss off just about every high school coach in the state of Connecticut. OK Sgt Hulka?

 

[ZooCougar]

Delaney botched B1G expansion. It's not too late to fix it though.

 

[Dooley]

UCONN football and B1G membership is really a chicken/egg argument. UCONN football would explode around here if it had a B1G schedule. The Rent would expand within 15 minutes of the announcement. The timetable to turn around football would expedite considerably in terms of attendance, perception, buzz, recruiting, and eventually, wins. Older UCONN fans did not grow up with UCONN football but certainly recognize all of the B1G teams that would come and play here. They would pay good money to watch that. In another 10-15 years, similar to around the time period that the Whalers left Hartford ironically, the younger people who grew up with the team would have the means to take the support to ridiculous levels.

But until that time, we would reward the B1G for its patience with our young football program by giving it a Top 5 Elite basketball program and full access to scheduling basketball games/tournaments at MSG and extra eyeballs in some very large markets.