Dom Amore: If Big 12 calls, UConn will have to choose between Big East love and Power Five money.

[superjohn]

I have another perspective to add to this, being second generation of both Italian and Irish immigrants who placed their religion above nearly everything in their lives.

Look at the academic rankings of our school compared to all but the top couple catholic members of our conference. From there, compare how vast the available course study is at UConn when compared to all other member schools and add to that the level of research dollars at UConn when compared to the other members of the conference.

For what can only be labeled as narrow minded thought process built on many decades of programming, there are countless people (including some a generation plus younger than I am) who believe that a private catholic school is automatically superior academically than UConn. The truth is the bulk of our conference members fall short of us I academics.

Culturally we would be far better served being in a conference that primarily consisted of similar institutions. We are a severe outlier here. The similarities are that the fan bases of some of our opponents are in geographic proximity. That is where the similarities begin and end.

It's kind of silly to think national academic rankings are the end all be all but the Big 12 is filled with a pretty lousy collection of academic schools. We're nothing like most of the schools in the Big 12 other than similar size of enrollment to some of them. Despite size the Big East schools and their student bodies have much more in common with UConn than UConn does with the Big 12 schools.

 

[aburks41]

I think that’s the gap in opinion. Some value the importance money will play in us staying relevant. Others think we can continue to be UConn as other ADs lap us in revenue 4-5 times over.

It's working right now, but those people must have missed all of AD David Benedict's tweets over the past year talking about the revenue difference. It's a miracle that we are able to do what we are doing right now. To think that this can remain the case forever is sheer lunacy.

In 10 years from now, P5 schools will have $500M in their pockets from TV money. UConn will have $50M. It will catch up to us eventually.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It's kind of silly to think national academic rankings are the end all be all but the Big 12 is filled with a pretty lousy collection of academic schools. We're nothing like most of the schools in the Big 12 other than similar size of enrollment to some of them. Despite size the Big East schools and their student bodies have much more in common with UConn than UConn does with the Big 12 schools.

Out of curiosity, how much in common do the student bodies of UCLA and USC have with their counterparts at Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin?

Another question, considering that commonality of student bodies is as important as you claim:

How many PC, Seton Hall, Villanova or Georgetown students do you think were also considering UConn (you can give me percentages instead of an actual number)?

How many UConn students were also considering the local BE catholic schools?

I'll wager heavily that less than 10% of each student body would have strongly considered the alternative.

 

[Kolumbo]

I get the argument, and it's not a bad one. There's no way of knowing for sure what's going to happen in the next 10-15 years in conference realignment. I just hate the thought of locking us into a league with no schools anywhere remotely close to us. The quality of schools are much better, but it just reminds me of the square peg, round hole fit when we were in the AAC. The games against Houston were exciting, but didn't compare to Big East games. Cincinnati was obviously fun too, but we had some history with them. The rest of the league games were just godawful. TCU coming to Gampel or the XL will have no juice. When Baylor isn't top 15 that atmosphere will be mediocre too. The Big 12 has been very good the last few years, but they're losing one of their best programs. I don't see how a lateral move in conferences with schools we have zero connection with and are all 500-2500 miles away is anything but a negative for the basketball program. That's why I want to wait, while acknowledging it's a risk, for a better fit.

UConn has value, that's why there's even a chance a good conference that isn't in our footprint is looking into us. I don't believe in the next 5-15 years our value will diminish. I am confident there will be another option down the line.

Good points. UConn has always been in a tough spot.

 

[CL82]

I'm fine with waiting. We don't need to jump right now.

What makes you say that? What makes you confident that we will have another opportunity to become a "P5" institution? I'm not sure that there's another offer out there. (And, to be clear, as things stand right now we don't have any offers.)

It shouldn't matter, but just being branded a "P5" school will change the perception in narrative surrounding us. That alone, independent of the enormous benefit of potentially getting 50 million a year in conference distributions, has tremendous value to us.

The Big 12 interest in Connecticut is well known now. If there really is another P5 conference interested in us, now is the time for them to make that clear. If we find ourselves in a situation where we have one, and only one P5 offer, we take it.

 

[August_West]

I understand the allure of staying in the Big East, but I think it gets lost on the Pro-Big East fans that this is a completely unsustainable conference for UConn to be in IF we want to continue to act like a P5 Athletic Department.

I heard that 10 years ago. So did you

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I heard that 10 years ago. So did you

The reason things haven't turned against the non P5 schools as quickly as predicted then is the revenue disparity hadn't grown as quickly as expected. If you don't see what the disparity will be four, eight, twelve years down the road you aren't paying attention.

A very quick question: what would your reaction be if Rutgers ends up with triple (or more) the recruiting budget that we have for men's hoops and uses that (along with Pikiell) to build a program that can produce a better basketball product than ours nine out of ten years?

 

[August_West]

The reason things haven't turned against the non P5 schools as quickly as predicted then is the revenue disparity hadn't grown as quickly as expected. If you don't see what the disparity will be four, eight, twelve years down the road you aren't paying attention.

A very quick question: what would your reaction be if Rutgers ends up with triple (or more) the recruiting budget that we have for men's hoops and uses that (along with Pikiell) to build a program that can produce a better basketball product than ours nine out of ten years?

We are getting there. We still have time while all this shakes out.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

We are getting there. We still have time while all this shakes out.

That's what a lot of people said before Saigon fell.

 

[nadav]

Despite size the Big East schools and their student bodies have much more in common with UConn than UConn does with the Big 12 schools.

And who the hell cares about that?

 

[Kolumbo]

What makes you say that? What makes you confident that we will have another opportunity to become a "P5" institution? I'm not sure that there's another offer out there. (And, to be clear, as things stand right now we don't have any offers.)

It shouldn't matter, but just being branded a "P5" school will change the perception in narrative surrounding us. That alone, independent of the enormous benefit of potentially getting 50 million a year in conference distributions, has tremendous value to us.

The Big 12 interest in Connecticut is well known now. If there really is another P5 conference interested in us, now is the time for them to make that clear. If we find ourselves in a situation where we have one, and only one P5 offer, we take it.

Correct. UConn is much better all-around than many current P5 programs. It absolutely has gotta get in da club

 

[aburks41]

What makes you say that? What makes you confident that we will have another opportunity to become a "P5" institution? I'm not sure that there's another offer out there. (And, to be clear, as things stand right now we don't have any offers.)

It shouldn't matter, but just being branded a "P5" school will change the perception in narrative surrounding us. That alone, independent of the enormous benefit of potentially getting 50 million a year in conference distributions, has tremendous value to us.

The Big 12 interest in Connecticut is well known now. If there really is another P5 conference interested in us, now is the time for them to make that clear. If we find ourselves in a situation where we have one, and only one P5 offer, we take it.

I meant something more along the lines of next week vs like 3-5 years from now. If the B12 offer comes tomorrow. Take it. If it takes a few years, fine. There's no discernable difference there in my opinion.

The real key is getting a seat at the table before the ACC moves start. That's the clock we are up against

 

[Greedo]

Honestly, with all of these arguments about culture fit between the Big East and B12, neither conference is a good culture fit for UConn. With the Big East you have proximity, and somewhat more like-minded people. But our institutions are not similar. UConn is a large, land grant university that does not fit in. UConn also does not fit in with the B12. The academics at UConn are far superior to those in the B12, and we are in two very different places culturally.

UConn fits in the ACC and the B1G. There are similar academic institutions and similar cultural fits. The ACC is dead, I don't want to end up there. The question is what gets UConn into the B1G. I think with the direction college sports are heading, staying in the Big East long term will leave us left in the dust. I think in 20 years schools like Villanova will randomly have their surges in the tournament, but will generally be afterthoughts on the national stage.

The debate then becomes, does the B12 give us a better chance of eventually getting into the B1G? Either option is honestly a gamble. We can't precisely predict how the college sports landscape will look 5, 10, 15 years from now. My only hope is that the administration does their due diligence to put us in the best situation to be among the "haves" at the end of the day. The last administration really screwed us on this, but I trust AD Dave moving forward.

Edit to add: It pains me, but I think the Big 12 gives us the best shot. The B1G will want to see football competence in a power conference.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It's kind of silly to think national academic rankings are the end all be all but the Big 12 is filled with a pretty lousy collection of academic schools. We're nothing like most of the schools in the Big 12 other than similar size of enrollment to some of them. Despite size the Big East schools and their student bodies have much more in common with UConn than UConn does with the Big 12 schools.

You are too hung up on US News. Take a look at a global evaluator and you see how things change. So many schools moved up by gaming the system (including Florida State, Villanova and BC). Some schools can't. QS has UConn at 62, KU at 65. Colorado at 59, Utah at 69 (if B12 can get them). THE is rather different still. Large state universities, are more similar to each other than to small Catholic liberal arts schools. It's not a perfect fit by any means. The ACC remains the best fit by far.

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[FfldCntyFan]

It's kind of silly to think national academic rankings are the end all be all but the Big 12 is filled with a pretty lousy collection of academic schools. We're nothing like most of the schools in the Big 12 other than similar size of enrollment to some of them. Despite size the Big East schools and their student bodies have much more in common with UConn than UConn does with the Big 12 schools.

I grew up in Stamford, a city unique in that it had some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world and a number of housing projects. Having culture commonality requires far more than merely living in a relative geographic proximity.

The Cove (where I grew up) was (to be kind) blue collar during the 1960's and 1970's (I was born in 1960). I described my ethnicity earlier in this thread. Basically the entirety of the Cove at that time was of similar background.

We had far more in common on nearly every level with African Americans who lived in the projects and whose families migrated from the South from the mid 1950's through the early 1960's than we did with the white kids from Shippan or the upper Ridges.

If you think that because Georgetown is in DC and Nova is just outside Ohilly their student bodies would have tremendous similarities to UConn's you're missing quite a bit.

 

[Greedo]

I grew up in Stamford, a city unique in that it had some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world and a number of housing projects. Having culture commonality requires far more than merely living in a relative geographic proximity.

The Cove (where I grew up) was (to be kind) blue collar during the 1960's and 1970's (I was born in 1960). I described my ethnicity earlier in this thread. Basically the entirety of the Cove at that time was of similar background.

We had far more in common on nearly every level with African Americans who lived in the projects and whose families migrated from the South from the mid 1950's through the early 1960's than we did with the white kids from Shippan or the upper Ridges.

If you think that because Georgetown is in DC and Nova is just outside Ohilly their student bodies would have tremendous similarities to UConn's you're missing quite a bit.

After I graduated from UConn I went to grad school at Villanova. The undergrad student bodies are nothing alike. They call it Vanillanova for a reason.

I also TA’ed at Villanova and can definitively say the undergrad courses in my field at UConn were harder.

 

[Huskyforlife]

The amount of bad faith arguments from the pro Big East people are wild.

The crowds will still be electric when Kansas/Baylor/Other ranked B12 team comes to town. Houston wasn’t even this version of Houston yet, and our crowds for them were still great, even with Hurleys rebuilding teams.

If one more person brings up cultural fit as a serious concern, it should start being one month bans on this website. People said Louisville wouldn’t get into the ACC because their academics didn’t fit in, I promise nobody cares that much.

When the B12 inevitably expands with whatever schools, it’ll lock itself into that top 3 basketball conference spot for good. They’re looking at schools like UConn/Louisville/Arizona/Syracuse/SDSU/Gonzaga that are upper tier basketball brands. The Commissioner has made it clear that basketball is a priority for them. Anyone saying the Big East might end up being better in the long run is dishonest or ignorant.

 

[EZPass]

The amount of bad faith arguments from the pro Big East people are wild.

The crowds will still be electric when Kansas/Baylor/Other ranked B12 team comes to town. Houston wasn’t even this version of Houston yet, and our crowds for them were still great, even with Hurleys rebuilding teams.

If one more person brings up cultural fit as a serious concern, it should start being one month bans on this website. People said Louisville wouldn’t get into the ACC because their academics didn’t fit in, I promise nobody cares that much.

When the B12 inevitably expands with whatever schools, it’ll lock itself into that top 3 basketball conference spot for good. They’re looking at schools like UConn/Louisville/Arizona/Syracuse/SDSU/Gonzaga that are upper tier basketball brands. The Commissioner has made it clear that basketball is a priority for them. Anyone saying the Big East might end up being better in the long run is dishonest or ignorant.

I’m sold.

 

[AntG168]

The amount of bad faith arguments from the pro Big East people are wild.

The crowds will still be electric when Kansas/Baylor/Other ranked B12 team comes to town. Houston wasn’t even this version of Houston yet, and our crowds for them were still great, even with Hurleys rebuilding teams.

If one more person brings up cultural fit as a serious concern, it should start being one month bans on this website. People said Louisville wouldn’t get into the ACC because their academics didn’t fit in, I promise nobody cares that much.

When the B12 inevitably expands with whatever schools, it’ll lock itself into that top 3 basketball conference spot for good. They’re looking at schools like UConn/Louisville/Arizona/Syracuse/SDSU/Gonzaga that are upper tier basketball brands. The Commissioner has made it clear that basketball is a priority for them. Anyone saying the Big East might end up being better in the long run is dishonest or ignorant.

I wish I could like this 1 million times

 

[Billy Jack]

For those holding out hope for the B1G, it’s not happening any time soon. The reason is that the amount of research done at UConn is dwarfed by what is done at the vast majority of B1G schools. Research is very important to them because they are not just a sports league but a research alliance as well.

The only exception in the B1G is Nebraska, which does fund research at a similar level to ours. This was an issue when they applied for membership and they did have their opponents. In the end, it was their football pedigree that got them in. If we had their football history and attendance, we’d probably be in too. But we don’t.

Our best shot is the Big XII.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Fwiw, likely just coincidence, but the football team has offered 3 texas and 1 Oklahoma QBs in the last week. Conspiracy time…

 

[UCTitleTown]

The reason things haven't turned against the non P5 schools as quickly as predicted then is the revenue disparity hadn't grown as quickly as expected. If you don't see what the disparity will be four, eight, twelve years down the road you aren't paying attention.

A very quick question: what would your reaction be if Rutgers ends up with triple (or more) the recruiting budget that we have for men's hoops and uses that (along with Pikiell) to build a program that can produce a better basketball product than ours nine out of ten years?

Rutgers had a "great year" and didn't even make the NCAA Tournament. Please wake me when Rutgers is actually successful.

 

[CL82]

Fwiw, likely just coincidence, but the football team has offered 3 texas and 1 Oklahoma QBs in the last week. Conspiracy time…

Conspiracy Kitty says:
“Oh it's always conspiracy time."

 

[HuskyHawk]

For those holding out hope for the B1G, it’s not happening any time soon. The reason is that the amount of research done at UConn is dwarfed by what is done at the vast majority of B1G schools. Research is very important to them because they are not just a sports league but a research alliance as well.

The only exception in the B1G is Nebraska, which does fund research at a similar level to ours. This was an issue when they applied for membership and they did have their opponents. In the end, it was their football pedigree that got them in. If we had their football history and attendance, we’d probably be in too. But we don’t.

Our best shot is the Big XII.

To add some clarity here "any time soon" can be read as "while you are still alive".

As someone with deep ties to old Big 8 country that would be happy with the Big XII, I still think the ACC is a better option for UConn. I simply don't think it is losing any schools, and will need to add some, or at least one to map with Notre Dame and get to 16. But either is vastly superior to staying in the Big East. The Big East is fine for basketball, but limits funding for coaches and continued facility updates even in basketball. For football, it will lead to losing Mora and trying to do everything on the cheap. For Baseball, it's a boat anchor, dragging it down.

 

[BigTenFan]

For those holding out hope for the B1G, it’s not happening any time soon. The reason is that the amount of research done at UConn is dwarfed by what is done at the vast majority of B1G schools. Research is very important to them because they are not just a sports league but a research alliance as well.

The only exception in the B1G is Nebraska, which does fund research at a similar level to ours. This was an issue when they applied for membership and they did have their opponents. In the end, it was their football pedigree that got them in. If we had their football history and attendance, we’d probably be in too. But we don’t.

Our best shot is the Big XII.

Uconn does a fantastic job with their sports programs-They need to do a better job building their National research program and endowment. 2022 endowment was $602million-I am sure that is one of the metrics being looked at for any conference realignment.
The link below is pretty eye-opening as to where Uconn ranks-We are one of the wealthiest states in the country.....not sure why we underperform.