CollegeAD: UConn Huskies situation shows why on field results mean little to realignment.

[huskymedic]

Catching up on reading.

Interesting forum for the article:

collegeadJan 06, 10:50am via TweetDeck
EXCLUSIVE: @uconnhuskies situation shows why on field results mean little to realignment.
http://collegead.com/understanding-uconns-power-5-chances-and-how-conferences-measure-success/

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I admit, I quickly skimmed the article but the author seems to contradict himself. Title says on field results mean little but ends by saying if we don't improve its over. So which is it?

 

[Fishy]

The criticism of adding the Huskies instead of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis or even San Diego State is the football factor, the most important element of expansion. Those schools have been competitive in football traditionally and as of late

Ah, yes, the traditional powers San Diego State, Cincinnati, Houston and Memphis...

 

[huskymedic]

I admit, I quickly skimmed the article but the author seems to contradict himself. Title says on field results mean little but ends by saying if we don't improve its over. So which is it?

Not sure it was the author. Thought it might have been a disconnect btwn actual article title "Understanding UCONN’s Power 5 Chances And How Conferences Measure Success" and the social media editor/tweeter.

 

[Jimdish255]

All that aggregation of factoids and context is left hanging and when it seemed like he was making sense and about to provide some insight he devolves to this:

"If the Huskies can string together some bowl appearances and demonstrate a better following of the program, they might have a better opportunity of joining a Power 5 conference by 2020."

Almost as if he didn't read his own piece.

 

[Sportsman5]

The criticism of adding the Huskies instead of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis or even San Diego State is the football factor, the most important element of expansion. Those schools have been competitive in football traditionally and as of late

Ah, yes, the traditional powers San Diego State, Cincinnati, Houston and Memphis...

lololol

 

[Fishy]

The Rutgers’ alumni base there is much larger than UConn’s. Stat guru Nate King tabulated in 2014 that Rutgers has more than 600,000 fans in the New York City market while UConn has only 150,000. Chances are the Big Ten with already 14 teams and Rutgers commanding an East coast presence, UConn won’t be added anytime soon.

1) That'd be Nate Silver.

2) And using the words "Rutgers" and "commanding" in the same sentence will generally make smarter people giggle.

 

[Dooley]

Geez, the perception of UConn football out there is still p1ss poor. Getting better in some pockets of the country, but obviously a looooooong way to go.

I just love the attendance analysis comparing a P5 school with a full time B1G home schedule (not coming off of a 2-10 season) to our 2015 attendance. If you are going to compare RU attendance with UConn attendance, you need to compare apples to apples seasons (i.e. when we were in the Big East together). That's it.

 

[huskymedic]

Geez, the perception of UConn football out there is still p1ss poor. Getting better in some pockets of the country, but obviously a looooooong way to go.

Maybe Mr. Morales needs to be edumacated about UConn w/ some recently developed metrics

>>Javier Morales has worked as a sports journalist for more than 25 years. He reported for The Arizona Daily Star for 13 years. He was the Star’s beat reporter for the Arizona men’s basketball program when the Wildcats won the national title in 1996-97. A 2010 Arizona Press Club award winner, Morales operates the blog site AllSportsTucson.com (Please contact Morales at WildAboutAZCats@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @JavierJMorales)<<

I'm sure he remembers Kemba...

 

[Adios]

The Rutgers’ alumni base there is much larger than UConn’s. Stat guru Nate King tabulated in 2014 that Rutgers has more than 600,000 fans in the New York City market while UConn has only 150,000. Chances are the Big Ten with already 14 teams and Rutgers commanding an East coast presence, UConn won’t be added anytime soon.

1) That'd be Nate Silver.

2) And using the words "Rutgers" and "commanding" in the same sentence will generally make smarter people giggle.

I am pretty sure Rutgers fans would rather watch UConn basketball than Rutgers basketball.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I am pretty sure Rutgers fans would rather watch UConn basketball than Rutgers basketball.

My buddy who graduated from Rutgers owns a #22 (Rudy Gay) UConn jersey.

So, yeah. Haha.

 

[Kolumbo]

The Big East did not rely on past success and UCONN Basketball took full advantage of the opportunity, twice. Some folks have great vision while others have none.

Is he even aware of the AAU and Rutgers' membership?

 

[4in16]

I am pretty sure Rutgers fans would rather watch UConn basketball than Rutgers basketball.

Rutgers AL sure does.

 

[Ldandy]

Geez, the perception of UConn football out there is still p1ss poor. Getting better in some pockets of the country, but obviously a looooooong way to go.

I just love the attendance analysis comparing a P5 school with a full time B1G home schedule (not coming off of a 2-10 season) to our 2015 attendance. If you are going to compare RU attendance with UConn attendance, you need to compare apples to apples seasons (i.e. when we were in the Big East together). That's it.

There is definitely truth to what you are saying regarding perception. It's honestly impossible to change the minds of the masses as a group, so all you can do is educate people about your school whenever the opportunity arises. Your post with facts about Uconn was excellent, and I believe opened a lot of eyes. I laugh at the fact that one of the biggest haters of all time Okie Lite has even softened his stance on your school. Good on you.

Personally I've never hid the fact that I am a PSU Alum/from a family with an affinity for Penn State. I love my school and defend it whenever I enounter people who spew negative/ incorrect information about it. I realize that the general public is going to believe whatever the media feeds them, but that said I know that I have changed a few minds simply by having a conversation with them. Keep spreading your message that Uconn is a GREAT school with a history of athletic excellence. It's working.

Much like my Lions everything you've achieved had to be built from nothing in the middle of a cow town. Plenty of people that have been gifted far more but accomplished much less will always resent you. Now despite being dealt a bum hand with realignment, Uconn has continued to remain relevant in many sports while excelling in others. The majority of P5 Schools can not make this claim. Keep spreading your message and change perception one mind at a time. Selfishly I hope you all can change minds in The B1G Offices soon.

 

[upstater]

The Rutgers’ alumni base there is much larger than UConn’s. Stat guru Nate King tabulated in 2014 that Rutgers has more than 600,000 fans in the New York City market while UConn has only 150,000. Chances are the Big Ten with already 14 teams and Rutgers commanding an East coast presence, UConn won’t be added anytime soon.

1) That'd be Nate Silver.

2) And using the words "Rutgers" and "commanding" in the same sentence will generally make smarter people giggle.

And Silver based this on Google searches.

 

[CL82]

There is definitely truth to what you are saying regarding perception. It's honestly impossible to change the minds of the masses as a group, so all you can do is educate people about your school whenever the opportunity arises. Your post with facts about Uconn was excellent, and I believe opened a lot of eyes. I laugh at the fact that one of the biggest haters of all time Okie Lite has even softened his stance on your school. Good on you.

Personally I've never hid the fact that I am a PSU Alum/from a family with an affinity for Penn State. I love my school and defend it whenever I enounter people who spew negative/ incorrect information about it. I realize that the general public is going to believe whatever the media feeds them, but that said I know that I have changed a few minds simply by having a conversation with them. Keep spreading your message that Uconn is a GREAT school with a history of athletic excellence. It's working.

Much like my Lions everything you've achieved had to be built from nothing in the middle of a cow town. Plenty of people that have been gifted far more but accomplished much less will always resent you. Now despite being dealt a bum hand with realignment, Uconn has continued to remain relevant in many sports while excelling in others. The majority of P5 Schools can not make this claim. Keep spreading your message and change perception one mind at a time. Selfishly I hope you all can change minds in The B1G Offices soon.

I visited Penn State recently. You people are like cultists in your love for your institution. Color me impressed.

 

[pj]

The Rutgers’ alumni base there is much larger than UConn’s. Stat guru Nate King tabulated in 2014 that Rutgers has more than 600,000 fans in the New York City market while UConn has only 150,000. Chances are the Big Ten with already 14 teams and Rutgers commanding an East coast presence, UConn won’t be added anytime soon.

1) That'd be Nate Silver.

2) And using the words "Rutgers" and "commanding" in the same sentence will generally make smarter people giggle.

It wasn't the "New York City market." It was the New York Television Market (see the story, http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ege-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/?_r=0) with 20.235 million people. Based on the population number, this is actually the New York Metropolitan Statistical Area (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area) they are talking about, and it contains the vast majority of New Jersey (including Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, Essex, Union, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Hunterdon Counties in New Jersey), but only Fairfield County in Connecticut.

So it contains about 20-fold more New Jersey residents than Connecticut residents, yet Rutgers only gets 4-fold more football fans than UConn. I'd say that was a pro-UConn stat.

 

[Marty Jackson]

There is definitely truth to what you are saying regarding perception. It's honestly impossible to change the minds of the masses as a group, so all you can do is educate people about your school whenever the opportunity arises. Your post with facts about Uconn was excellent, and I believe opened a lot of eyes. I laugh at the fact that one of the biggest haters of all time Okie Lite has even softened his stance on your school. Good on you.

Personally I've never hid the fact that I am a PSU Alum/from a family with an affinity for Penn State. I love my school and defend it whenever I enounter people who spew negative/ incorrect information about it. I realize that the general public is going to believe whatever the media feeds them, but that said I know that I have changed a few minds simply by having a conversation with them. Keep spreading your message that Uconn is a GREAT school with a history of athletic excellence. It's working.

Much like my Lions everything you've achieved had to be built from nothing in the middle of a cow town. Plenty of people that have been gifted far more but accomplished much less will always resent you. Now despite being dealt a bum hand with realignment, Uconn has continued to remain relevant in many sports while excelling in others. The majority of P5 Schools can not make this claim. Keep spreading your message and change perception one mind at a time. Selfishly I hope you all can change minds in The B1G Offices soon.

Perception is a very fickle animal, especially when erasures over time.
Uconn BB has been nationally relevant for going on 30 years. Yet, some people who have lived through that still think it's current trend and uconn is merely a flash in the pan simply because it's been so fluid.
There are maybe 5 schools that have had similar success, not over time, but over the existence of their program. Depending on you define success, which is also part of the issue, maybe 10 schools. But for some reason you still have people looking at uconn as a newbie or Johnny come lately.
If this much success, dominance, and championships can't get some people to acknowledge the program's greatness, you can start to understand the uphill climb uconn FB has, where the metrics of success are even more debatable, and time seems to take on a greater meaning.

 

[CL82]

It wasn't the "New York City market." It was the New York Television Market (see the story, http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ege-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/?_r=0) with 20.235 million people. Based on the population number, this is actually the New York Metropolitan Statistical Area (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area) they are talking about, and it contains the vast majority of New Jersey (including Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, Essex, Union, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Hunterdon Counties in New Jersey), but only Fairfield County in Connecticut.

So it contains about 20-fold more New Jersey residents than Connecticut residents, yet Rutgers only gets 4-fold more football fans than UConn. I'd say that was a pro-UConn stat.

Not quite 20 fold, in fact, it is closer to "two fold"
CT population: 3,574,097
NJ population: 8,791,894

 

[CL82]

Perception is a very fickle animal, especially when erasures over time.
Uconn BB has been nationally relevant for going on 30 years. Yet, some people who have lived through that still think it's current trend and uconn is merely a flash in the pan simply because it's been so fluid.
There are maybe 5 schools that have had similar success, not over time, but over the existence of their program. Depending on you define success, which is also part of the issue, maybe 10 schools. But for some reason you still have people looking at uconn as a newbie or Johnny come lately.
If this much success, dominance, and championships can't get some people to acknowledge the program's greatness, you can start to understand the uphill climb uconn FB has, where the metrics of success are even more debatable, and time seems to take on a greater meaning.

Somewhat. I'm hearing blue blood, basketball royalty thrown around about UConn a lot more as of late.

 

[pj]

Not quite 20 fold, in fact, it is closer to "two fold"
CT population: 3,574,097
NJ population: 8,791,894

Those are populations of the whole state. I'm speaking of population in the New York MSA, which was what Silver used to evaluate fan support in NYC.

I put the data here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_statistical_areas) in a spreadsheet and got the following populations by state for the New York TV market:
New York: 13.22 mn
New Jersey: 6.84 mn
Connecticut: 1.97 mn
Pennsylvania: 0.06 mn

Which includes New Haven county in the New York City market and so the numbers are not as favorable to UConn as I thought. It looks like football fan support to population is the same for Rutgers and UConn.

 

[CL82]

Those are populations of the whole state. I'm speaking of population in the New York MSA, which was what Silver used to evaluate fan support in NYC.

Just under a million in in FFC, 8.8 million in all of Jersey, what am I missing?

 

[UConn Dan]

Just under a million in in FFC, 8.8 million in all Jersey, what am I missing?

I think he's claiming fan to population ratio is advantage to UConn.

 

[CL82]

I think he's claiming fan to population ratio is advantage to UConn.

Thank Dan, I understand the point, but I don't see the math working. PJ's a good poster, so I'd guess that I missing something.

 

[pj]

Thank Dan, I understand the point, but I don't see the math working. PJ's a good poster, so I'd guess that I missing something.

I updated my last post with the actual data, instead of the guess in my prior post. The point is that Silver's estimate of fan support in NYC MSA (600k Rutgers, 150k UConn) can be explained almost entirely by in-state fans of the state schools. If 1 out of 10 in-state residents is a fan of the state school football team, and no out-of-state residents are fans, then Silver's numbers get reproduced. The apparently higher support for Rutgers football is merely an artifact of the fact that 4x more New Jersey residents than Connecticut residents are part of the New York MSA.

Silver's numbers are a little disappointing in that, if it is only in-state fans supporting UConn football, there is little reach into NYC proper. But, maybe football can replicate what basketball has done.