Drop football

[TheRealKBuks]

The entire premise of this argument rests on the idea that the conference is to blame for UConn basketball's recent failures. That just isn't true. We recruit at the top of the conference every single year, and yet have never won the regular season title in the conference. We have been a middling team in the conference, and this year will probably finish in the bottom third. How will going to the new Big East and eliminating football change that? Won't we just get slaughtered by a slightly more interesting group of teams than we do now? How about we focus on actually playing well in the American first

That's not the whole picture though. Its how the travel affects the team. Flying all over the country to play in front of that wild Tulane crowd has a negative effect on the team. Our basketball teams have consistently been low energy and the conference holds the lions share of the blame for htat. If we were able to play with higher energy consistently, our records over the past few years would've been improved. With the exception of this years team we have certainly had one of the most talented teams in the AAC with worst travel schedule. Can you deny that the two are connected?

Its disingenuous to act like the conference is the only issue, but to say it doesn't hold the blame for our basketball teams failures is ignoring the elephant in the room.

 

[Husky25]

I just got done with Page 1, but it is not important enough to read on without noting that the OP, In my opinion, likely created an account just to create this thread, as if none of this has been suggested before.

I think Erasmus University - Rotterdam should drop rugby and ice hockey. Teams in Holland play on Curling sheets for crying out loud.

They money saved could better be spent on Motorsports and keeping little kids from freezing while plugging holes in sea barriers.

 

[ZenConn]

We have the largest non P5 athletic department budget by a big margin. We have better markets than most of the remaining players. We have history of success across multiple programs. Unfortunately, our current performance is down considerably in the two most important sports. The UConn women are a unique asset to any league with a network. Our academics are an asset.

All this is true. But in the end, it lies with the fans and their attendance despite who we are playing. The perception was, I don't know if it still holds true, that our football fans didn't travel well. Even in our one (and maybe ever) major bowl, the athletic department had to eat the unsold tickets and we had supposedly only 3000 UConn fans at the game.

Look at Georgia's visit to South Bend this year.

Will UConn football fans ever travel like this?

We already have some posters stating they won't attend games or at least thinking about it because of poor performance.

If you want to play with the big boys, back your team like the big boys and fill up the venues.

 

[huskysupporter]

You mean CT in between NY and Boston with Hartford and New Haven as the 32nd Media market compared to Louisvilles 49?

I’m curious as to what you think factors are. Rutgers got into Big ten. Why? Basketball team is horrid, football team had 2 good years.

 

[August_West]

I’m curious as to what you think factors are. Rutgers got into Big ten. Why? Basketball team is horrid, football team had 2 good years.

Right. So if the were STILL more attractive than us. Whats the point?

 

[Husky25]

Curious that this thread was created on the Men's Basketball Forum instead of the Football one. Those guys over there would tear the OP up. A lot of those posters hate basketball.

Not sure I know of anyone over there or in real life who "hates" basketball...no. Sorry. I do know of one, but he doesn't post on the Boneyard and didn't go to UConn...However, I know of many (myself included) who are tired of hearing from basketball-only-drop-football-beg-Catholic-school conference-for-inclusion posters on the basketball board, as if that will miraculously change the fortunes of the men's basketball program.

The only programs that have a historic rivalry with UConn over there are Villanova, Georgetown, and maybe Providence (mostly based on proximity). The other schools (Pitt,' Cuse, BC, Rutgers, and to a lesser extent ND) are not in that conference and against whom the basketball rivalry only intensified because of football.

...And no. I don't consider there to be a rivalry with Seton Hall, St. Johns, and certainly not DePaul or Marquette.

 

[August_West]

Will UConn football fans ever travel like this?

NEVER

 

[Rico444]

Thank you for a thoughtful answer. Those are my feelings too.

Really we are wishing on a star.

Pretty much. I don't think dropping football and going to the Big East (if the option is even there) is any more ridiculous than bleeding money as an athletic department and hoping for a miracle in conference realignment. That would obviously be ideal, but the odds of it happening are pretty low.

 

[HuskyHawk]

All this is true. But in the end, it lies with the fans and their attendance despite who we are playing. The perception was, I don't know if it still holds true, that our football fans didn't travel well. Even in our one (and maybe ever) major bowl, the athletic department had to eat the unsold tickets and we had supposedly only 3000 UConn fans at the game.

Look at Georgia's visit to South Bend this year.

Will UConn football fans ever travel like this?

We already have some posters stating they won't attend games or at least thinking about it because of poor performance.

If you want to play with the big boys, back your team like the big boys and fill up the venues.

We aren't UGA and don't travel that well. But the narrative you parroted about the Fiesta Bowl is completely false. I can't recall the exact numbers, but UConn had a lot of people there. They didn't buy the school tickets because they cost much more than tickets that were available elsewhere. No school going to a BCS bowl under that system ever sold all of its tickets. None of them.

Here is a look at the reality.
Stop judging UConn by Fiesta Bowl ticket sales

 

[Austin316]

This thread spits on all of our former UConn players that laid it all on the line since inception... “I award you no points. And may god have mercy on your soul.”

BLOCK C!!!!!

 

[upstater]

2. Media market

When it comes to media markets, not many schools can boast having 3.6m residents all to themselves.

Couple that with the women's bball popularity in NYC where it draws really good rankings, and UConn has many eyeballs interested in it, and those numbers are higher than many of the P5 schools.

 

[ZenConn]

We aren't UGA and don't travel that well.

Then this is a problem isn't it? How can one expect to be invited to a P5 if we don't travel well?

 

[John]

Then this is a problem isn't it? How can one expect to be invited to a P5 if we don't travel well?

we do travel well - on par with Pitt, Cuse, BC - we are a P5 level school, despite a lot of so-called UConn fans trying to short-sell us into a dead-end low-rent basketball conference masquerading as the former Late Great Big East.

 

[BugsyCT]

If we drop football, what happens with the $100 mil taxpayer-paid stadium sitting on that old runway in East Hartford?

Knock it down and build a strip mall?

 

[ZenConn]

we do travel well - on par with Pitt, Cuse, BC - we are a P5 level school

These schools are already in a P5 and won't be leaving any time soon so I don't think it's much use in comparing with them. The fact and the matter is, we are on the outside looking in and unless there's overwhelming evidence that we should be included into a P5 conference, the doors will stay closed.

With that being said, are we, at least on par with the other programs that are bring considered to be invited to a P5 in terms of fan support? (honest question)

 

[HuskyHawk]

Then this is a problem isn't it? How can one expect to be invited to a P5 if we don't travel well?

Because most P5 teams don't travel well, nor do the teams we would compete with for a spot. We did a great job filling Fenway park this year. It's not a significant factor.

 

[John]

These schools are already in a P5 and won't be leaving any time soon so I don't think it's much use in comparing with them. The fact and the matter is, we are on the outside looking in and unless there's overwhelming evidence that we should be included into a P5 conference, the doors will stay closed.

With that being said, are we, at least on par with the other programs that are bring considered to be invited to a P5 in terms of fan support? (honest question)

Yes - on par if not better. Stop selling UConn short.

 

[ZenConn]

Yes - on par if not better. Stop selling UConn short.

I absolutely want to see us be in a P5 conference, but if our athletic dept is bleeding money from football, why keep it?

I'm not trying to sell UConn short. I'm just applying the same type of logic of some BYers on wanting to get rid of KO at the end of the season.

The reality is things aren't looking rosy with different circumstances including the state budget, people moving away from CT, etc.

Why has our attendance dropped? If we want to be invited, shouldn't it be trending upwards? Is the fanbase fickle enough to not go to games if we aren't good?

 

[ivrytontusker]

This is the myth that causes dumb posts like the OPs. The league is not the problem. We won a NC in this league. Cinci and SMU have been successful nearly every year in this league. UCF has improved dramatically in this league, as has Houston.

Rather, the problem with the league (aside from money) is that three of the four teams that were supposed to carry it, UConn, Memphis and Temple...stink instead. We have let down the league, not the other way around.

Look, I don't like this league very much either, but if UConn, WSU, Cinci, Memphis, Temple, Houston and SMU were all playing closer to their historical high points, it would be a very strong basketball league. Top heavy, sure, but the ACC has always been top heavy as well, and the SEC even more so.

Yes, if all the teams in the AAC were good, then all of the teams in the AAC would be good. The only program in the AAC to have any recent sustained success (i.e. multiple FF appearances) is UConn. The fact that Cincinnati was great in the 1950s is not especially relevant to current conference discussions. Memphis was good under Calipari. So was UMass. So what?

The ACC has four "blue-blood" type programs with 5+ FF appearances (UNC, Duke, Louisville, and Syracuse). It has four others with either multiple FF appearances or a high historical winning % (UVA, NC State, ND, and Georgia Tech).

The AAC has a bunch of schools which are 'that other program' in their state. WSU is not Kansas; Tulsa is not OU; ECU is not UNC or Duke; USF or UCF is not UF. The only program that is "the school" in state is UConn.

The record of AAC schools other than UConn in the tournament since 2014 is 5-10. The ACC's record in that period is 53-26.

As for winning a title in this league, we won a title with players who were recruited here on the assumption that they'd be playing in the Big East. Most top recruits aren't excited to play Tulsa.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yes, if all the teams in the AAC were good, then all of the teams in the AAC would be good. The only program in the AAC to have any recent sustained success (i.e. multiple FF appearances) is UConn. The fact that Cincinnati was great in the 1950s is not especially relevant to current conference discussions. Memphis was good under Calipari. So was UMass. So what?

The ACC has four "blue-blood" type programs with 5+ FF appearances (UNC, Duke, Louisville, and Syracuse). It has four others with either multiple FF appearances or a high historical winning % (UVA, NC State, ND, and Georgia Tech).

The AAC has a bunch of schools which are 'that other program' in their state. WSU is not Kansas; Tulsa is not OU; ECU is not UNC or Duke; USF or UCF is not UF. The only program that is "the school" in state is UConn.

The record of AAC schools other than UConn in the tournament since 2014 is 5-10. The ACC's record in that period is 53-26.

As for winning a title in this league, we won a title with players who were recruited here on the assumption that they'd be playing in the Big East. Most top recruits aren't excited to play Tulsa.

You are talking about the past. I'm talking about the present. We are one of the worst teams in this league. Middle of the pack at best. WSU is not KU, but at the moment, they are better than KU. Cinci is better than Ohio State. The league isn't holding us back as much as we are holding it back.

 

[StunningSteve]

Yes, if all the teams in the AAC were good, then all of the teams in the AAC would be good. The only program in the AAC to have any recent sustained success (i.e. multiple FF appearances) is UConn. The fact that Cincinnati was great in the 1950s is not especially relevant to current conference discussions. Memphis was good under Calipari. So was UMass. So what?

The ACC has four "blue-blood" type programs with 5+ FF appearances (UNC, Duke, Louisville, and Syracuse). It has four others with either multiple FF appearances or a high historical winning % (UVA, NC State, ND, and Georgia Tech).

The AAC has a bunch of schools which are 'that other program' in their state. WSU is not Kansas; Tulsa is not OU; ECU is not UNC or Duke; USF or UCF is not UF. The only program that is "the school" in state is UConn.

The record of AAC schools other than UConn in the tournament since 2014 is 5-10. The ACC's record in that period is 53-26.

As for winning a title in this league, we won a title with players who were recruited here on the assumption that they'd be playing in the Big East. Most top recruits aren't excited to play Tulsa.

That's dumb. Most Top recruits aren't excited to play the bottom teams in any conference.

 

[UConnNick]

We aren't UGA and don't travel that well. But the narrative you parroted about the Fiesta Bowl is completely false. I can't recall the exact numbers, but UConn had a lot of people there. They didn't buy the school tickets because they cost much more than tickets that were available elsewhere. No school going to a BCS bowl under that system ever sold all of its tickets. None of them.

Here is a look at the reality.
Stop judging UConn by Fiesta Bowl ticket sales

Most eyewitness accounts from fans that attended the Fiesta Bowl estimated the UCONN crowd at 12-15,000, which was respectable considering it required a cross country trip. Our attendance at other bowl games, all of which I attended, was generally respectable as well, considering distance and the fact that they were all lesser tier bowls. The reason our ticket sales through the university were so poor for the Fiesta Bowl had to do with being forced to buy the entire travel package. Those packages are horribly overpriced and they won't unbundle them. They include stuff like ground transportation, R/T airfare, hotels billed at two to three times more than what you can get on the open market, etc. You could arrange your own trip, including all of those items, and buy your game tickets on the secondary market for half what the UCONN package cost. Smart fans went that route so they don't show up on UCONN's ticket sale list. That also had the effect of scattering UCONN fans all over the place in a 75,000 seat stadium, which makes it difficult to accurately estimate how many actually attended.

By comparison, unless a bowl game is in their backyard, BC fans are one of the worst fanbases in the country for traveling to see them play. They did well at the Pinstripe Bowl this year since it's in NYC, but if they have to go much further than 500 miles, which is common, they get friends and family members of the players. Even UCONN blows them away.

 

[intlzncster]

I absolutely want to see us be in a P5 conference, but if our athletic dept is bleeding money from football, why keep it?

I keep seeing this, but what are the actual numbers? Get rid of the sunk costs, as those are gone either way. Year on year, how much is UCONN losing on football annually?

 

[ZenConn]

Most eyewitness accounts from fans that attended the Fiesta Bowl estimated the UCONN crowd at 12-15,000, which was respectable considering it required a cross country trip. Our attendance at other bowl games, all of which I attended, was generally respectable as well, considering distance and the fact that they were all lesser tier bowls. The reason our ticket sales through the university were so poor for the Fiesta Bowl had to do with being forced to buy the entire travel package. Those packages are horribly overpriced and they won't unbundle them. They include stuff like ground transportation, R/T airfare, hotels billed at two to three times more than what you can get on the open market, etc. You could arrange your own trip, including all of those items, and buy your game tickets on the secondary market for half what the UCONN package cost. Smart fans went that route so they don't show up on UCONN's ticket sale list. That also had the effect of scattering UCONN fans all over the place in a 75,000 seat stadium, which makes it difficult to accurately estimate how many actually attended.

By comparison, unless a bowl game is in their backyard, BC fans are one of the worst fanbases in the country for traveling to see them play. They did well at the Pinstripe Bowl this year since it's in NYC, but if they have to go much further than 500 miles, which is common, they get friends and family members of the players. Even UCONN blows them away.

Thank you for the explanation. Looks like the Athletic Dept is doing a piss poor job in both basketball and football for their fans which is a complete travesty.

 

[UConnNick]

Thank you for the explanation. Looks like the Athletic Dept is doing a piss poor job in both basketball and football for their fans which is a complete travesty.

All the schools market and sell their ticket packages the same way, usually through an outside travel agency. UCONN has used WorldTek Travel. I've been on one package trip with another school and one with UCONN. I'll likely never do it again. I've been to all of UCONN's men's Final Fours and most of the women's.

UCONN is really not doing it much differently than all the other schools do. With the advent of the secondary ticket market over the past 15-20 years, it doesn't make much logical sense anymore to overspend for the entire package when you can buy the game tickets on the secondary market and make your own travel arrangements, probably for less than the package deal costs. The only real drawback is you don't get to sit in the UCONN section at the games. If that's worth it to anyone to pay up to twice as much for the entire trip, then go ahead and spend the money. Most people probably don't think it is.

 

[Husky25]

All the schools market and sell their ticket packages the same way, usually through an outside travel agency. UCONN has used WorldTek Travel. I've been on one package trip with another school and one with UCONN. I'll likely never do it again. I've been to all of UCONN's men's Final Fours and most of the women's.

UCONN is really not doing it much differently than all the other schools do. With the advent of the secondary ticket market over the past 15-20 years, it doesn't make much logical sense anymore to overspend for the entire package when you can buy the game tickets on the secondary market and make your own travel arrangements, probably for less than the package deal costs. The only real drawback is you don't get to sit in the UCONN section at the games. If that's worth it to anyone to pay up to twice as much for the entire trip, then go ahead and spend the money. Most people probably don't think it is.

It was also while most of the country (nay, planet) was just beginning to recover from the worst economic recession that pretty much anyone of sound mind and body could remember. If the choice is to pay the January mortgage payment (that may or may not be already underwater) or pay double the market rate for a football game 3,500 miles away, it really isn't all that difficult.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

One thing that added to the perception problem for that game was that the BCS Championship game was played at the same venue and the participants (Auburn, Oregon) were required to buy tickets to both games (Fiesta, BCS Champ). The Auburn an Oregon fans dumped a ton of tickets on the secondary market below face value (as they didn't care what they got for them).

The discrepancy in price between what the school sold them for vs the open market was far more substantial than what other bowls had to deal with.

 

[LIuconn]

there may be something there as to why we were sent to AZ as opposed to Miami? They really drove the narrative to their desired result

 

[August_West]

we do travel well - on par with Pitt, Cuse, BC - we are a P5 level school, despite a lot of so-called UConn fans trying to short-sell us into a dead-end low-rent basketball conference masquerading as the former Late Great Big East.

We dont even travel well to East fricking Hartford!

 

[John]

We dont even travel well to East fricking Hartford!

H8TER