Dallas News pros and cons of B12 expansion candidates

[FDNY99]

I could see expansion of the stadium becoming a reality should UConn become a Big 12 member.

They will have to. If there is a need to make the stadium bigger beyond the pre-planned expansion they can always shrink down the size of the bench seat to get to 60,000

 

[HuskyBandDad]

They will have to. If there is a need to make the stadium bigger beyond the pre-planned expansion they can always shrink down the size of the bench seat to get to 60,000

No No. How will my fat fit?

 

[uconnell]

They will have to. If there is a need to make the stadium bigger beyond the pre-planned expansion they can always shrink down the size of the bench seat to get to 60,000

Did you go to the game at Michigan? One of the most uncomfortable seating arrangements ever.

 

[UCFBfan]

Did you go to the game at Michigan? One of the most uncomfortable seating arrangements ever.

Penn state isn't much better!

 

[CL82]

Actually, UCONN has played much worse than Rutgers. You have two Big East Championships. We have one. Big deal.

UCONN is one of the few schools that has lost more games in its history then it has won. Traditionally, you are one of the least successful teams in college football. RU has at least won more games than they have lost...and we've played a lot more games than UCONN has.

How do you possibly say we have played it worse? We have been to more bowl games, have more bowl wins...have a better head to head record, and while both teams were in the same league, RU won more league games than UCONN. RU has finished in the top half of league standings more often, and RU has been ranked in the top 20 a lot more also.

RU has has been ranked in the top 10 during two separate seasons while in the same league. UCONN? NEVER!

Nice try, but no one outside the state of Connecticut thinks UCONN has played better than RU. No one.

Outside of Connecticut everyone thinks of Rutgers as the punchline of college athletics who amazingly squanders a huge geographic advantage with mismanagement and ineptitude. Come to think of it, everyone in Connecticut views them that way as well.

 

[CL82]

No No. How will my fat fit?

Snugly?

 

[Ldandy]

How did this end up in the Dallas News discussion about who the Big XII is looking at? No one is looking at Rutgers. The Big Ten has their New Jersey cable boxes, and Rutgers has fulfilled their role. No one is noticing last place in the Big Ten in 90% of their participation. Same was true in the Big East.

Where I disagree with your statement is the part where you say "no one is looking at Rutgers." I think plenty of people are observing schools like Rutgers and BC flail around painfully and because of it are unfairly attaching some of that stench to a solid achiever like UCONN. I wouldn't want a perspective decision maker for conference realignment painting my school with a broad brush of being a Northeastern Athletic train wreck like those two.

 

[MattMang23]

Where I disagree with your statement is the part where you say "no one is looking at Rutgers." I think plenty of people are observing schools like Rutgers and BC flail around painfully and because of it are unfairly attaching some of that stench to a solid achiever like UCONN. I wouldn't want a perspective decision maker for conference realignment painting my school with a broad brush of being a Northeastern Athletic train wreck like those two.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/trads/national-champions.html

If they ever get us confused, these 21 reasons not to should help.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I could see expansion of the stadium becoming a reality should UConn become a Big 12 member.

Sorry did not know what post to reference. UConn football:

We beat ND at their stadium
We embarrassed/dominated the "old ball coach" in a southern stadium Bowl game
We have knocked off UL in one of their prime seasons.
We knocked off UCF is their only prime season.
We made a huge impression on RG3 during his brilliant college career.
We have put many players into the League.

I'm sure other posters have additions to add.

Yes UConn needs a bit better fb fan support, but when we play name schools the fans show up. We still need to demonstrate a bit better fan support for football, but that is kind of a function of opponents and conference.

Do I think UConn would be a huge (and I say HUGE) add to any P5 conference the answer is resoundingly YES.

Give us 2 years after an invite, an annual game against BCU, maybe a game at Giant stadium/Foxboro game against the top blue bloods, and UConn will have the base to DOMINATE the NE area and be in the upper half of any FB conference.

 

[FDNY99]

Did you go to the game at Michigan? One of the most uncomfortable seating arrangements ever.

ND is just as bad also

 

[hamster]

ND is just as bad also

ND was like luxury seating compared to michigan. We could fit 55000 now if we went to Michiganns ass allotment. Every other person has to be leaning forward to fit. It sucked big time

 

[FDNY99]

ND was like luxury seating compared to michigan. We could fit 55000 now if we went to Michiganns ass allotment. Every other person has to be leaning forward to fit. It sucked big time

Yeah I know..I was there. ND was similar to me...and PSU is somewhere between the 2.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Sorry for some of the typos in my first post.
One more thing I forgot to say about UConn and that is this: by most accounts I've come across, UConn is a P5 school stuck in G5 hell. I don't doubt that.

The history on UConn FB is that we just stared playing with the big boys. Until the 70s, we were happy playing UMass, Rhode Island, Maine, and Yale. Now, we are making up for lost time. If we did join the Big 12, we might not beat the Longhorns or the Sooners, but Baylor (and RG3 loved the Rent when he was here with Baylor.) and KU we might beat.

We would bring a good baseball team with us along with the top women's basketball team and a great men's basketball team. If you invite us, We would even bring our ice hockey team to the Big 12...

 

[HuskyDogArt]

It's like saying the American should expand to 16 with Alabama, Florida, Texas, and USC

You mean we aren't going to add those teams to the AAC...darn it... I thought we were, that was why we didn't join the ACC...

 

[HuskyDogArt]

LOL everyone everywhere thinks UCONN is better than Rutgers. In fact everyone thinks that EVERYBODY is better than Rutgers at everything except losing and embarrassing scandals.

Yale has more National Championships in College Football than RU...I will even add Princeton with more championships than RU.

 

[BUConn10]

The fact that Boise is in the lead in the poll tells me average viewers are complete morons when it comes to CR, and it really makes me wonder the types of people who make these decisions are usually just as clueless as they are, as evidenced by the s***-fiesta the last round of realignment was.

 

[BUConn10]

The fact that TCU rapidly improved in football at the perfect time and quickly landed on its feet during the CR shuffle tells me how reactionary the decision makers are and doesn't give me good intuition about the future of B12 expansion for us. Everyone is so football crazy that a non-existent athletic program like Boise State outside of a couple good years on the smurf blue turf gimmick is even being discussed tells me we are duck*ed.

When B12 expansion talks from Boren's hints began this year we were a major talking point, but now that the "analysts" and Internet blog "talking heads" have picked up the story as of late the tides seem to have shifted. Everyone sees bashing UConn football as an easy, pseudo-intelligent point to make in their forcibly written articles on the issue they know nothing about, I just fear that this bogus perception doesn't taint the minds of the B12's decision makers.

 

[dwalks93]

The fact that TCU rapidly improved in football at the perfect time and quickly landed on its feet during the CR shuffle tells me how reactionary the decision makers are and doesn't give me good intuition about the future of B12 expansion for us. Everyone is so football crazy that a non-existent athletic program like Boise State outside of a couple good years on the smurf blue turf gimmick is even being discussed tells me we are duck*ed.

When B12 expansion talks from Boren's hints began this year we were a major talking point, but now that the "analysts" and Internet blog "talking heads" have picked up the story as of late the tides seem to have shifted. Everyone sees bashing UConn football as an easy, pseudo-intelligent point to make in their forcibly written articles on the issue they know nothing about, I just fear that this bogus perception doesn't taint the minds of the B12's decision makers.

The good news is the B12 has hired several outside firms to crunch the financial numbers of the perspective expansion candidates which indicates any B12 expansion will be a business decision. Also, Boren's comments clearly indicate the rapidly increasing financial divide between the network based conferences (BIG/SEC) and the B12 was a primary factor driving expansion. If there is a B12 expansion it will be for money reasons...not football reasons.

The average dumb fan bases his/her decision on what team should be added by asking "what team would I like to go watch my team play." TCU is a perfect example of a great football program which did nothing to financially help the B12. No disrespect to TCU, they should be proud of what they have accomplished but they were not a financial win for the B12. TCU is truly the anti-Rutgers. I think the B12 understands this lesson now and will not make the same mistake again.

If UConn financially adds more than our expansion competitors we will get the nod if there is expansion. The B12 may not be savable now even with expansion but they certainly cannot afford to pass on the teams which best allow them to make a network.

I truly believe the B12 is following the BIG model and not the ACC model. Fan votes, while insulting and frustrating, will not be the deciding factor. But I agree with your point that suddenly a ton of UConn critics seemed to have materialized. The nice thing about money is... it speaks for itself.

 

[History Geek]

The good news is the B12 has hired several outside firms to crunch the financial numbers of the perspective expansion candidates which indicates any B12 expansion will be a business decision. Also, Boren's comments clearly indicate the rapidly increasing financial divide between the network based conferences (BIG/SEC) and the B12 was a primary factor driving expansion. If there is a B12 expansion it will be for money reasons...not football reasons...

...I truly believe the B12 is following the BIG model and not the ACC model...

This. I'm trying hard to be objective after last time and not to let my national flag blue and white glasses distort my judgement. However, I also truly believe we are the most logical non-P5 option out there for any conference right now.

 

[History Geek]

I also still contend that the Big XII should go all in and take four more with an eye to big eastern markets. Cincy, UConn, Temple (if purely market driven)/Memphis (nod to those hung up on geography) , UCF

 

[Hoophound]

Why would the Big 12 get a network with UConn and Cincy if the ACC can't add UConn and Cincy and get a network? If the answer is that ESPN has them by the balls, then why doesn't the ACC just add UConn and Cincy anyway? I am kind of questioning if these conferences need to grow first, ask ESPN questions later. They added crap markets with their help and now they face major problems. ESPN isn't going to kill the AAC by encouraging our exit. We think the AAC sucks but for ESPN it is a awesome product. Good sports at a great price.

The ACC needs New York and Ohio and it only makes sense that they'd add UConn and Cincy to hurt the Big 12. That would leave two spots open for ND and TX. In the process, they'd protect Miami. If the Big 12 had UCF, USF, Temple and ECU as their best remaining options in the east, they'd wither and die rather than expand.

 

[FDNY99]

Why would the Big 12 get a network with UConn and Cincy if the ACC can't add UConn and Cincy and get a network? If the answer is that ESPN has them by the balls, then why doesn't the ACC just add UConn and Cincy anyway? I am kind of questioning if these conferences need to grow first, ask ESPN questions later. They added crap markets with their help and now they face major problems. ESPN isn't going to kill the AAC by encouraging our exit. We think the AAC sucks but for ESPN it is a awesome product. Good sports at a great price.

The ACC needs New York and Ohio and it only makes sense that they'd add UConn and Cincy to hurt the Big 12. That would leave two spots open for ND and TX. In the process, they'd protect Miami. If the Big 12 had UCF, USF, Temple and ECU as their best remaining options in the east, they'd wither and die rather than expand.

The ACC network issue is simple. The ACC sold their 2nd their rights to Raycom; so ESPN who produces the programming isn't going to buy to back from Raycom then pay the ACC schools to put it on a network.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2013/05/20/Media/ACC-net.aspx

 

[UT4Big12]

The good news is the B12 has hired several outside firms to crunch the financial numbers of the perspective expansion candidates which indicates any B12 expansion will be a business decision. Also, Boren's comments clearly indicate the rapidly increasing financial divide between the network based conferences (BIG/SEC) and the B12 was a primary factor driving expansion. If there is a B12 expansion it will be for money reasons...not football reasons.

The average dumb fan bases his/her decision on what team should be added by asking "what team would I like to go watch my team play." TCU is a perfect example of a great football program which did nothing to financially help the B12. No disrespect to TCU, they should be proud of what they have accomplished but they were not a financial win for the B12. TCU is truly the anti-Rutgers. I think the B12 understands this lesson now and will not make the same mistake again.

If UConn financially adds more than our expansion competitors we will get the nod if there is expansion. The B12 may not be savable now even with expansion but they certainly cannot afford to pass on the teams which best allow them to make a network.

I truly believe the B12 is following the BIG model and not the ACC model. Fan votes, while insulting and frustrating, will not be the deciding factor. But I agree with your point that suddenly a ton of UConn critics seemed to have materialized. The nice thing about money is... it speaks for itself.

I just have just one comment on TCU.
Prior to its Big 12 invitation, TCU had more success as an athletic program than Texas A&M had as a Big 12 member. Remember, TCU was on its way to joining the Big East (which at that time was an AQ conference). ESPN saw TCU as an excellent replacement for Texas A&M without causing the conference to lose any revenue. The situation was basically a very good athletic program replacing one that was leaving.

As for what UConn or any of the other expansion candidates bring, that has been the on-going debate on Big 12 message boards. Fans of AAC schools seem to have no problem chiming in to defend their school. They have no problem claiming their school would be the best fit for the conference.

Our current 13 year, $2.6 billion contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox are for a 10 school league. Those contracts are set to expire in 2024-2025.
With NCAA deregulation of CCG rules, the Big 12 can now have a conference championship game if it chooses to do so.

ESPN and Fox have given no indication the Big 12 contracts would be renegotiated if more schools are brought in. Therein lies the problem. That would mean the current members would have to agree to take a loss in revenue for the remainder of the contract period in order to subsidize the new members.

The discussion of having a Big 12 Conference network is just that at this point. Texas has given no indication that it is willing to give up its $300 million/20 year deal with ESPN and ESPN has already gone on record in saying that it has a special partnership with Texas and it doesn't see that changing. The Longhorn Network is expected to turn a profit this year.
The other thing that complicates the situation is the fact that Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor have separate Tier 3 media deals with Fox. West Virginia, Kansas and Kansas State have monetized their Tier 3 rights in other ways. They would all have to wait until their contracts expire before a conference network could even be discussed or realized.

By the way, it is not likely the Big 12 would go beyond 12 if the administrators do decide to expand.

 

[UCFBfan]

Honestly, besides getting an invite to the Big 12, the best thing that could happen to UConn is nothing happening. If the AAC stays intact for the time being it would not be the end of the world for us. Money would suck and become an issue but we would still be stuck with Cincy and whoever else the other school may have been that was added.

I can't see why the Big 12 would expand if there isn't a network being started. Like you said UT, the money is being split 10 ways and there isn't any hint that the money would be upped if they did add any schools.

So I hope that if they expand UConn is added. However, I'd not be totally crushed if the Big 12 decides to do nothing and stay at 10.

 

[Stinger92860]

Did you go to the game at Michigan? One of the most uncomfortable seating arrangements ever.

It was horrible.