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- Jun 2, 2023
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I've seen this conversation pop-up across different threads and thought it needed a better home. I'm ready to move on, but also think its interesting to reflect on what has transpired now that things have cooled off. A couple of my observations:
1) Uconn is in pretty good shape today. We're not in a P5, but compare us to our old rivals: Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, BC and West Virginia. I'd argue that we've built our brand more, have better coaches and more athletic success than the group. Sure those schools benefit from better conference contracts, but from a 'Cuse POV (for example), we were near equals in basketball in the early 2,000's and now Uconn is a truly national brand, a Blue Blood and 'Cuse is in the wilderness. Nobody has even heard of BC at this point. It isn't unreasonable to make the case that "we won" in the end.
2) Schools missed the point. Traditional rivalries really matter. If CR is all about $$$, and $$$ is about eyes on TVs - you have to have exciting athletics. You only get that with games that matter. This I think is why Uconn floundered in the AAC and our old rivals are largely irrelevant today. Nothing would be better for Syracuse and Pitt than to be in the BE and play Uconn in the Garden. Yet I remember when they left the BE they widely declared how they fit better culturally, academically, etc. with the ACC. How's that working out for ya?
3) Getting to a P5 in the long-term is important. Though I'm glad we'll likely have at least a few more years of BE conference tournaments and interesting independent fball schedules, there is too much risk out there to assume we'll be able to keep up with the P5s in the long-term. I'm talking about facilities, coaches, NIL AND issues like access to national championships and tournaments. My assumption is that we need to be looking pretty strong / attractive at least a couple of years before 2036 at the very latest, but maybe much sooner. I think 10 years of decent football play (average years, plus a few years with strong records), crowds and name building would put us in the best position possible for long-term realignment. Building our brand into NY during this time wouldn't hurt. I don't know how to square this with #2 above since I do think changing conferences will ultimately hurt Uconn in a different kind of way. I think this is what is at the heart of the debates we've all had in this forum...we kind of all recognize that while we need the money, we may find that the games don't matter too much anymore and there is less to care about.
4) Change may happen sooner. To me it seems that the B12 may come knocking the next year or two. I also believe the ACC would be foolish to not target Uconn. They're falling behind in numbers and there aren't a hell of a lot of possible schools left.
1) Uconn is in pretty good shape today. We're not in a P5, but compare us to our old rivals: Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, BC and West Virginia. I'd argue that we've built our brand more, have better coaches and more athletic success than the group. Sure those schools benefit from better conference contracts, but from a 'Cuse POV (for example), we were near equals in basketball in the early 2,000's and now Uconn is a truly national brand, a Blue Blood and 'Cuse is in the wilderness. Nobody has even heard of BC at this point. It isn't unreasonable to make the case that "we won" in the end.
2) Schools missed the point. Traditional rivalries really matter. If CR is all about $$$, and $$$ is about eyes on TVs - you have to have exciting athletics. You only get that with games that matter. This I think is why Uconn floundered in the AAC and our old rivals are largely irrelevant today. Nothing would be better for Syracuse and Pitt than to be in the BE and play Uconn in the Garden. Yet I remember when they left the BE they widely declared how they fit better culturally, academically, etc. with the ACC. How's that working out for ya?
3) Getting to a P5 in the long-term is important. Though I'm glad we'll likely have at least a few more years of BE conference tournaments and interesting independent fball schedules, there is too much risk out there to assume we'll be able to keep up with the P5s in the long-term. I'm talking about facilities, coaches, NIL AND issues like access to national championships and tournaments. My assumption is that we need to be looking pretty strong / attractive at least a couple of years before 2036 at the very latest, but maybe much sooner. I think 10 years of decent football play (average years, plus a few years with strong records), crowds and name building would put us in the best position possible for long-term realignment. Building our brand into NY during this time wouldn't hurt. I don't know how to square this with #2 above since I do think changing conferences will ultimately hurt Uconn in a different kind of way. I think this is what is at the heart of the debates we've all had in this forum...we kind of all recognize that while we need the money, we may find that the games don't matter too much anymore and there is less to care about.
4) Change may happen sooner. To me it seems that the B12 may come knocking the next year or two. I also believe the ACC would be foolish to not target Uconn. They're falling behind in numbers and there aren't a hell of a lot of possible schools left.
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