Conf USA in Talks with UConn, Liberty, NMSU

[RSTuthill]

By any metric, UConn has lost ground in the past decade towards attaining AAU status. There are too many schools in front of UConn that are doing all of the right things. Quite tautological, but AAU status is as far away as a Big 10 invite. In ad ideal world, Utah's admission would provide a road map for UConn, but unfortunately it is not a road that UConn is capable of going down.

Please explain this. The only major barrier, as I understand it, is the level of externally funded research. And that problem is rapidly on its way to solution with Jackson Labs. No?

 

[Storrs South]

From Matt Brown of Extra Points:​

This is my educated guess on where things stand with UConn.​

On Friday, The Athletic reported that C-USA was in negotiations with New Mexico State, Liberty and UConn. UConn officials were quick to push back on that report, saying that while they two sides had exploratory talks, it would not be accurate to call them negotiations. Social media response from UConn fans about the potential move was....very negative.

My theory here is that the Friday report came from Conference USA officials, hoping to project stability for their FCS targets. No FCS team is going to open themselves up to exit fees, increased expenses and short term-instability unless they feel very confident that they're reclassifying to join a strong, stable league. The best way to project that stability would be for C-USA's first expansion additions to be FBS, rather than FCS, institutions.

If that was the strategy, I think it backfired a bit. UConn fans made it quite clear that they would not want to join this league, and the Huskies later accepting an invite will not become more politically difficult, especially if that league includes Liberty (you can sell Liberty as a conference peer in Ruston, no problem. In Storrs? No.)

There is still interest among plenty of other schools in joining Conference USA. UMass has reached out about potentially joining as a football-only member. I'm told New Mexico State is interested, although they have not yet committed to anything. And while the FCS target pool has narrowed a bit over the last week, there are still multiple FCS programs, including Sam Houston, McNeese State, and Tarleton State, that would be interested in joining the league under the right circumstances.

I think it will be difficult, but perhaps not impossible, to get any FCS school to announce they are reclassifying unless the league already has commitments from enough other FBS institutions to ensure that the conference remains viable, at least in the short term.

 

[buddy]

See Syracuse, BC, Miami, Pitt and VTech basketball and football. All of the, have lost a lot of luster over the years.

They may have lost their luster, but they are getting a nice paycheck from ESPN which I believe is being funded to a degree by CT taxpayers.

 

[John]

They may have lost their luster, but they are getting a nice paycheck from ESPN which I believe is being funded to a degree by CT taxpayers.

they are on the right side of the line. We are not.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Florida has rednecks? Not in my neck of the palm trees...

Maybe so, but it has more New Yorkers than New York has.

 

[Kolumbo]

They may have lost their luster, but they are getting a nice paycheck from ESPN which I believe is being funded to a degree by CT taxpayers.

Not really.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Until UConn has AAU accreditation, there is nothing to discuss with the Big Ten.

Better make Nebraska aware of that rule.

 

[giddyup]

Please explain this. The only major barrier, as I understand it, is the level of externally funded research. And that problem is rapidly on its way to solution with Jackson Labs. No?

I think that is correct.

 

[Slasher]

This thread needs to die. This isn't happening.

 

[Urcea]

This thread needs to die. This isn't happening.

fortunately CUSA will likely die before this thread

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Urcea]

they give us 90% of the exit fees

who says no

 

[SubbaBub]

>“We want to try to align ourselves, whether we’re independent or in a conference, to something that is going to help us elevate our recruiting, elevate our fan interest and something that is going to provide an opportunity to compete at a high level,” Benedict said. “Part of that is obviously being able to schedule games that are geographically relevant. That helps you recruit. If you can recruit well, you can be competitive. If you recruit well and you’re competitive, then your fans come — especially if they recognize the opponents you are playing.”

Benedict has discussed with Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod the future of his football program and her conference. That’s it. There are no negotiations taking place. When the phone rings, Benedict answers and he will continue to. For athletic directors far and wide, this has been, and continues to be, a time of information gathering and preparation for whatever is around the corner.<

Say what you want about AD David Benedict but he gets it.

 

[Slasher]

they give us 90% of the exit fees

who says no

I wonder if the conference dissolves once they hit X teams remaining, therefore killing exit fees. I've heard this floated about other conferences in the past.

 

[Urcea]

I wonder if the conference dissolves once they hit X teams remaining, therefore killing exit fees. I've heard this floated about other conferences in the past.

i think they have to vote to dissolve but teams who have indicated a preference to leave do not get a vote. i'm not a lawyer so they'll have to do a dive into their by-laws. if that's the case i'm sure the remaining teams have to at least consider a mighty chunk of change as incentive to keep the band together

 

[Rumrunner]

Since most of us know more about football and basketball than AAU status, what was Utah able to do that we can’t or won’t?

Keep in mind that everyone's favorite Buffalo resident will chime in, with a lot more knowledge than me, and what follows is mostly cribbed from memory:

Utah has its faculty produce more competitively funded federal research dollars. Much more.

There are 66 AAU members. 7 have been admitted in the last 20 years.
There are two phases that are indicators for membership: Phase 1 which is competitively funded research, membership in Nat'l Academies, faculty strength (awards, memberships, citations) and Phase 2 USDA, state and local funding, # of research doctoral degrees, # of science postdoc appointees and strength of undergrad education.

Based on 2019 data (UConn along with most universities saw a massive covid bump in fed gov research dollars in 2020 but this data isn't yet tabulated by the NSF):

There are 130 Very High Research, Tier 1 Universities. 93 are public, 37 private. The 130 who are not in the AAU are UConn's competitors. I won't go through all the metrics because the most important one, competitively funded research is where UConn lags, and has done nothing to improve over the past 10 years.

UConn ranks 84th in Total (Fed and Non-fed research dollars). This total includes the Phase 2 indicators, which are less important than the federal research dollars. This totaled $284M. Total Federal R&D were $159M. For AAU membership, the organization will look at the Federal Research Dollars divided by the number of faculty.

As point of comparison, Utah's Total R&D dollars were $601 M and Federal R&D $302. Utah has 1,215 faculty. $248,000 per faculty member. UConn has 1,537 faculty. $103,000 per faculty.

There are more than 30 schools currently ahead of UConn in FEDERAL Research and Development dollars normalized by faculty not in the AAU.

For a point of comparison, the University of Miami has $212 M in Fed R&D with 1126 faculty. $188,000 per faculty. You can pick a school, any school, and you'll come up with the same result-UConn lags big time in the most important metric. And with UConn's pension scheme, there needs to be real leadership devoted to this problem. But there hasn't been real leadership at UConn for a long time. Just excuses.

 

[businesslawyer]

Keep in mind that everyone's favorite Buffalo resident will chime in, with a lot more knowledge than me, and what follows is mostly cribbed from memory:

Utah has its faculty produce more competitively funded federal research dollars. Much more.

There are 66 AAU members. 7 have been admitted in the last 20 years.
There are two phases that are indicators for membership: Phase 1 which is competitively funded research, membership in Nat'l Academies, faculty strength (awards, memberships, citations) and Phase 2 USDA, state and local funding, # of research doctoral degrees, # of science postdoc appointees and strength of undergrad education.

Based on 2019 data (UConn along with most universities saw a massive covid bump in fed gov research dollars in 2020 but this data isn't yet tabulated by the NSF):

There are 130 Very High Research, Tier 1 Universities. 93 are public, 37 private. The 130 who are not in the AAU are UConn's competitors. I won't go through all the metrics because the most important one, competitively funded research is where UConn lags, and has done nothing to improve over the past 10 years.

UConn ranks 84th in Total (Fed and Non-fed research dollars). This total includes the Phase 2 indicators, which are less important than the federal research dollars. This totaled $284M. Total Federal R&D were $159M. For AAU membership, the organization will look at the Federal Research Dollars divided by the number of faculty.

As point of comparison, Utah's Total R&D dollars were $601 M and Federal R&D $302. Utah has 1,215 faculty. $248,000 per faculty member. UConn has 1,537 faculty. $103,000 per faculty.

There are more than 30 schools currently ahead of UConn in FEDERAL Research and Development dollars normalized by faculty not in the AAU.

For a point of comparison, the University of Miami has $212 M in Fed R&D with 1126 faculty. $188,000 per faculty. You can pick a school, any school, and you'll come up with the same result-UConn lags big time in the most important metric. And with UConn's pension scheme, there needs to be real leadership devoted to this problem. But there hasn't been real leadership at UConn for a long time. Just excuses.

Thank you. Frankly, given the number of Presidents UConn has had over the last 20 years, and the short average tenure, lack of leadership is hardly surprising.

 

[BigTenFan]

We

Thank you. Frankly, given the number of President's UConn has had over the last 20 years, and the short average tenure, lack of leadership is hardly surprising.

Yes-Thank you. Very interesting data.
3 University Presidents currently on the state payroll with a 4th to be named soon.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

We

Yes-Thank you. Very interesting data.
3 University Presidents currently on the state payroll with a 4th to be named soon.

Thomas Katsouleas, the most recent UConn president, had the knowhow and contacts to help UConn reach AAU status. But he wouldn't play politics with the Board of Trustees. He was former provost at UVA and dean of the engineering school at Duke. Hopefully, whoever follows him can lead UConn to the AAU. We also have Scott Cowen on our Board of Trustees. He was Tulane president and a former chair of the AAU. He has the knowhow how to get UConn elevated in the world of research universities. Is a UConn grad, too.

 

[Storrs South]

 

[Dooooooomed]

Gotta feel for UMass. I know they were pushing hard for an invite.

 

[shizzle787]

Gotta feel for UMass. I know they were pushing hard for an invite.

There's still room for them. At this point, C-USA has 7 schools. They still need an 8th all sports member and probably a 9th school for football-only.

 

[UCFBfan]

There is something of Norma Desmond on this board. The faded forgotten silent film star clutches at the hope of restoring her stardom through the abysmal script she is writing. She is possessed of a false hope for she refuses to see the structural realities that time and circumstance had imposed. In the end, she commits murder rather than face the truth.

UConn has something of a Sophie's choice in this realignment chaos. It could join the remnant of C-USA where it would have a reasonable chance of being competitive. But this would admit the true state to which the football program has fallen. It could remain independent and brand itself as NE New Mexico State with better facilities. It would have a better schedule (for a while anyways) but would consign itself to being beaten by 30 points every week into perpetuity.

And this is where we return to Norma Desmond. The response will be "All we need is the right coach and we can free ourselves from this dilemma." The aging former filmstar desparately clutches at her script. She closes her eyes the structural problems any coach will face and will find incredibly difficult to overcome - not the least of which is a school that has deliberately prioritized basketball.

The insult of a C-USA invite may be keenly felt but it does represent the true state of UConn football. And make no mistake. This is exactly what the basketball mafia wanted. They wanted to castrate the program to vicariously punish football for the collapse of the Big East and to make sure football would never threaten basketball again. They won't admit it but they are quietly satisfied.

I assume that I will now end up like Joe Gillis - face down in the pool with three bullets in the back.

I'm giving you the like for somehow turning UConn football into Sunset Blvd. Well played.

 

[Goatmeat]

Thomas Katsouleas, the most recent UConn president, had the knowhow and contacts to help UConn reach AAU status. But he wouldn't play politics with the Board of Trustees. He was former provost at UVA and dean of the engineering school at Duke. Hopefully, whoever follows him can lead UConn to the AAU. We also have Scott Cowen on our Board of Trustees. He was Tulane president and a former chair of the AAU. He has the knowhow how to get UConn elevated in the world of research universities. Is a UConn grad, too.

UConn will never be AAU. There are so many universities ahead of us in that matter. The northeast is tricky. While it is a strong public university in the northeast, there are 20-30 schools (mostly private) that are stronger academic institution within a 200 mile radius. Schools like Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma don’t face a similar predicament. AAU will never happen here. It’s time to move on. Too many political reasons as well.

 

[Goatmeat]

And unfortunately our independent scheduling, much like our P5 scheduling, continues to dwindle. The island is getting smaller and smaller by the day.

 

[Storrs South]

Not to get this thread going again but in that report it does say this:

There also remains a possibility that FBS independents UConn and UMass could join the league as football-only members, sources said.

 

[huskymedic]

Not to get this thread going again but in that report it does say this:

There also remains a possibility that FBS independents UConn and UMass could join the league as football-only members, sources said.

It’s what you would expect CUSA to say…

…there is no doubt in my mind this was just another CUSA gift to McMurphy just like the story in the Atlantic was the other day.

 

[Storrs South]

It’s what you would expect CUSA to say…

…there is no doubt in my mind this was just another CUSA gift to McMurphy just like the story in the Atlantic was the other day.

I would like to think that but this won't go away and UMass fans seem to think there is something here

 

[Urcea]

I still don’t want to do this, but at this point with the new look conference, any way that Temple would go Olympics in one conference and join UMass and ourselves as FO? Just trying to think of regional options to make this more palatable

 

[Dooooooomed]

I would like to think that but this won't go away and UMass fans seem to think there is something here

So now we're downgrading our football schedule/TV contract AND sacrificing 2 OOC MBB games vs that competition in order to do so... ??? I know AD Dave is being diplomatic, but I'd almost rather he come out and say we aren't interested (particularly if CUSA is leaking this false narrative).