GOR's?

[Waquoit]

Pitt hoop is a literally a national joke, I mean choke.

 

[noeynox]

Pitt hoops belongs in the same grouping with RU hoops, not UCONN.

 

[zls44]

Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, Florida, Marquette, Gonzaga, Butler, Uconn, Memphis, Georgetown, Louisville, Villinova, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, and about 20 to 30 more all fall in the group that has had some recent success. Without being a homer, what does UConn's basketball program have to offer that the others don't.

Math must be tough.

 

[The Funster]

of the group that UPitt mentioned: Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, UConn and the Cuse would make up the next tier.

 

[UPitt]

I didn't respond to bash Uconn basketball, I actually think several members of this board do a very good job explaining the realignment landscape. I agree that Pitt and a few others in that group have not accomplished what Uconn has, but I think you may have missed the point. The point is that only a few schools have a basketball team that will drive realignment, and those schools don't include Uconn, Pitt, or the rest of that list. What I trying to explain is that the B1G and ACC are not going to add Uconn because they won 3 titles. Uconn has a lot more to offer that those 3 titles.

I would love to see Uconn added to the ACC. I think Uconn offers a strong eastern school near 2 major cities. They also offer good acedemics and research partners for universities. They also offer TV sets to sell media rights too. These are the positives that will put Uconn in the B1G or ACC.

 

[UPitt]

If realignment was driven by basketball, Georgetown would have been added to the B1G instead of Maryland, and St. Johns over Rutgers.

 

[WestHartHusk]

If realignment was driven by basketball, Georgetown would have been added to the B1G instead of Maryland, and St. Johns over Rutgers.

And UConn over both. We have come to accept that our basketball dominance will not alone get us into a better conference, we are just hoping to maintain it as a "tie-breaker" or "+1" if/when our football programs starts breathing again.

It is worth noting that I have seen several studies where our mens team is about 6 or 7th nationally in terms of fanbase, and of course the women are #1. Again, just plus 1's, but better than negatives.

 

[pj]

If UConn can continue playing basketball at the level Jim Calhoun reached, ie a national championship every 5 years, then UConn basketball by itself would justify a major conference invitation.

But, the large market we bring is the main selling point.

 

[upstater]

Without being a homer, what does UConn's basketball program have to offer that the others don't. Now compare UConn or anyone else in that group to the big 6 mentioned above and think about who you saw more times on ESPN or any other national sports news.

How can you ask that question and then turn around and say you did not intend to knock UConn bball?

Strange.

 

[upstater]

of the group that UPitt mentioned: Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, UConn and the Cuse would make up the next tier.

MSU.

 

[upstater]

I encourage people to revisit the Harris Poll link. Many people here are suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Won 3 national championships.

UConn is a national name for the top talent and most fans. Forde recently put the school in the top 5 of bluebloods. And again--Kansas doesn't have the market. Football territory is worse than UConn's.

Football territory is worse? Are you serious? As an alumn of both schools, I can say that football is much bigger at KU than UConn and in the state of Kansas at the HS level than it is in CT or anywhere in New England. On a per captita basis, Kansas puts out a lot of football talent. Hell, Lawrence High alone is pretty impressive. As bad as the Jayhawks have been lately, the played in and won an Orange bowl in 2008, finishing ranked #8, so they have still done much more than UConn. Historically, there are older Orange Bowl wins and players like Gayle Sayers, John Riggins, Nolan Cromwell, Bobby Douglass and John Hadl (all born or raised in KS by the way).

UConn has a better direct DMA TV market, but KU carries several markets not their own (Lawrence-Topeka), including KC, Wichita and other small ones like Hutchinson. I also saw somewhere that the Jayhawk logo was the single most recognizable logo in all of college sports. They are still ahead on revenue as well.

As a UConn-KU fan, I'd love to see both go to the B1G, but I don't expect it. I think the B1G can afford one net basketball focused or market focused add and the other add must be a strong football program, more in the Nebraska mold.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Completely agree. Win or lose, these are big 6 basketball schools, with Duke to a slightly lesser extent than the rest. These are the only schools that will carry that "National" following win or lose. For everyone else, they have a following if they are winning. Some have a better following than others, but they have to be winning to make the "national" TV coverage. Kentucky and UNC both stunk this year but I heard those two names mentioned more than anyone else. Kentucky made front page of national news when they lose to Robert Morris in the NIT. Then again the following day when they landed the #1 basketball recruit. Then again when Louisville won the title, with everyone comparing Louisville to Kentucky and how Kentucky has reloaded for next year. Because realignment is about football money, only these few schools may be able to have a basketball impact on realignment.

Texas, OSU, MSU, Mich, Florida, Marquette, Gonzaga, Butler, Uconn, Memphis, Georgetown, Louisville, Villinova, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse, and about 20 to 30 more all fall in the group that has had some recent success. Without being a homer, what does UConn's basketball program have to offer that the others don't. Now compare UConn or anyone else in that group to the big 6 mentioned above and think about who you saw more times on ESPN or any other national sports news. Realignment is not about being fair. It is about TV time. TV time is a direct correlation to ratings. Ratings equal dollars. More dollars drives realignment. Thats the loop.
As for Duke, they are the lucky little brother. Duke is only in this group because of UNC. If not for the close proximity to UNC and the ESPN created and overhyped rivalry, Duke would be on the level of Wake Forest.

I'm sorry but Uconn belongs with the blue-blood programs. ESPN will put Uconn on any chance they can.

 

[upstater]

Football territory is worse? Are you serious? As an alumn of both schools, I can say that football is much bigger at KU than UConn and in the state of Kansas at the HS level than it is in CT or anywhere in New England. On a per captita basis, Kansas puts out a lot of football talent. Hell, Lawrence High alone is pretty impressive. As bad as the Jayhawks have been lately, the played in and won an Orange bowl in 2008, finishing ranked #8, so they have still done much more than UConn. Historically, there are older Orange Bowl wins and players like Gayle Sayers, John Riggins, Nolan Cromwell, Bobby Douglass and John Hadl (all born or raised in KS by the way).

UConn has a better direct DMA TV market, but KU carries several markets not their own (Lawrence-Topeka), including KC, Wichita and other small ones like Hutchinson. I also saw somewhere that the Jayhawk logo was the single most recognizable logo in all of college sports. They are still ahead on revenue as well.

As a UConn-KU fan, I'd love to see both go to the B1G, but I don't expect it. I think the B1G can afford one net basketball focused or market focused add and the other add must be a strong football program, more in the Nebraska mold.

You're right that UConn's isn't better. I looked at this map just now:

On the other hand, I disagree with you about revenues and market. You're adding in TV conference revenue to overall revs. so it's like comparing apples to oranges. You need to compare base revs to get a true picture.

 

[pj]

Football territory is better in Kansas mainly because they are close to Texas and Oklahoma. That historical chart upstater showed has Connecticut at 41% of national average and Kansas at 65%, not a huge difference, and Connecticut is on the way up. Connecticut and Kansas have similar state populations. I wouldn't be surprised if Connecticut is producing as many blue chip recruits as Kansas within the next ten years.

But then consider that KU and K-State split their state, while UConn dominates Connecticut and has only two private schools as competition in the 7-state New York / New England area, and UConn has arguably a better local recruiting advantage and better prospects to become a football power than Kansas.

We just have to build the football program, and do whatever investment is necessary to get a better conference affiliation. We can be at Kansas's level.

 

[upstater]

Louisiana is apparently the nuttiest football state in the country. The Waterboy indeed!

 

[HuskyHawk]

You're right that UConn's isn't better. I looked at this map just now:

On the other hand, I disagree with you about revenues and market. You're adding in TV conference revenue to overall revs. so it's like comparing apples to oranges. You need to compare base revs to get a true picture.

Go ahead, do that. Allen Field House holds over 17k, so I am sure the hoop ticket revenue is higher. Football probably is too. As Frank mentioned, 3rd tier rights were higher even than Texas until recently. Women's, UConn leads easily, and in soccer revenue. It doesn't matter really. As of 2008, KU was #15 among all schools in revenue per ESPN. And it does cover the state, regardless of K-State, although allegiances are split (not 50-50).

Look, I went to both schools but follow and root for UConn first. Always have. So I am not at all down on UConn or its prospects. I am mearly pointing out that some of the assumptions folks here make about Kansas are no more valid than the ones we see made about UConn on the Michigan board.

 

[upstater]

Go ahead, do that.

OK, I will.

For 2011 (the latest year in the USA Today database), Kansas's ticket sales are 2x bigger than UConn's. $20m to $10m

All TV rights and licensing for Kansas is at $24.8m. UConn? $24.8m.

Included in that is $12.1 B12 TV money for Kansas and $3.67 in BE TV money for UConn. A difference of almost $9 million.

Guess how much the revenue difference is between Kansas and UConn? Exactly $9 million. This tells me that if UConn were in the B12, it would earn more than Kansas. It already earns more in lower tier rights and licensing.