Hearst Media CT: Hugh Bailey (opinion): UConn's biggest opponent is geography

[huskymedic]

Hugh Bailey (opinion): UConn's biggest opponent is geography

Storrs is too far from the college sports center of gravity, columnist Hugh Bailey writes.

www.ctpost.com

Assisted access link <<

 

[AllHusky]

Hugh Bailey (opinion): UConn's biggest opponent is geography

Storrs is too far from the college sports center of gravity, columnist Hugh Bailey writes.

www.ctpost.com

Assisted access link <<

Luck is opportunity meeting preparation.
BC was lucky
Gene DaFlipper>Jeff Hathaway
Game, set, match
Dave Benedict got here too late, Big Lew(RIP) left too soon.

 

[ZooCougar]

Luck is opportunity meeting preparation.
BC was lucky
Gene DaFlipper>Jeff Hathaway
Game, set, match
Dave Benedict got here too late, Big Lew(RIP) left too soon.

UConn got here too late.

We spent too many years looking like URI and UNH.

Also I think UConn doesn’t offer our desired destinations something they don’t have alresdy.

The ACC already has a basketball program in the northeast with a football team with a low ceiling. It’s called Syracuse.

But they also have BC which is good at nothing.

 

[CCSU97]

UConn got here too late.

We spent too many years looking like URI and UNH.

Yep.

If you had a time machine, you would go back to 1975 and the end of the Yankee Conference. That was the moment and the opportunity lost, when UConn should have elevated the football program to "major college football" as an Independent. But at that time there was absolutely no demand for it on campus or in the State. Back then there was no way to know how the NCAA conference and TV revenues would play out in the next three decades.

Remember, as recently as 1977, UConn is playing basketball as a D-I "major" independent and football in D-II. At this time, Yale (and the Ivy League) Is D-I football and they Elis were just five seasons removed from Top-20 votes.

The period from 1976 to 1981 (when the NCAA I-A/I-AA was finalized) was the time to for UConn to join the football club. By the 1980s and 1990s, the real $$$ part of college football explodes and UConn was still playing URI, Boston University, Maine, Delaware, etc.

The politicians and university administrators in the Land of Steady Habits missed their chance to buy-in because back then there was no demand or desire at the time. And today the cost and risk to invest in “major” college football is exponential larger. No amount of $$$ will solve the problem.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yep.

If you had a time machine, you would go back to 1975 and the end of the Yankee Conference. That was the moment and the opportunity lost, when UConn should have elevated the football program to "major college football" as an Independent. But at that time there was absolutely no demand for it on campus or in the State. Back then there was no way to know how the NCAA conference and TV revenues would play out in the next three decades.

Remember, as recently as 1977, UConn is playing basketball as a D-I "major" independent and football in D-II. At this time, Yale (and the Ivy League) Is D-I football and they Elis were just five seasons removed from Top-20 votes.

The period from 1976 to 1981 (when the NCAA I-A/I-AA was finalized) was the time to for UConn to join the football club. By the 1980s and 1990s, the real $$$ part of college football explodes and UConn was still playing URI, Boston University, Maine, Delaware, etc.

The politicians and university administrators in the Land of Steady Habits missed their chance to buy-in because back then there was no demand or desire at the time. And today the cost and risk to invest in “major” college football is exponential larger. No amount of $$$ will solve the problem.

Land of losers and small time thinkers. That’s UConn in a nutshell.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

That Might have been an. Argument at one time but at this date it’s a non factor
Anyone who buys this BS I’d extremely naive .
I can easily make the case where UConn’s location is a huge plus ,
UConn’s number 1 problem is its lack of investment in the football program enabling to be able to compete even at the most minimal p4 level.
ACC ( we are in their footprint so the geography argument is moot )
They are in a situation where they know they will eventually be raided and will lose programs to the B1G and the SEC thats unavoidable . They can survive that.raid but the real battle will be with the B12 . Securing UConn not only insures against the Big 12 splitting their conference but it puts them in a better position to raid the isolated eastern wing oh increasingly western oriented Big 12
The ACC will need UCF to replace FSU , and WVA officials would prefer to be in an eastern conference .

The B12
A conference with national aspirations requites a Northeast base .
UConn is strategically a good add for them as it takes pressure of their eastern wing and puts them in better position to pick off a Pitt , VT ,and if they go Miami . If that happens it’s over for the ACC

There is an elephant in the room for UConn inclusion but or some reason we’re always looking for an excuse rather than reality.
its not geography
the AAC , BC
As a political consultant use to say “ It thee economy stupid “
if I were consulting UConn ii would say “ It’s football stupid “
and to be more specific it staffing an recruiting reach .

 

[ZooCougar]

That Might have been an. Argument at one time but at this date it’s a non factor
Anyone who buys this BS I’d extremely naive .
I can easily make the case where UConn’s location is a huge plus ,
UConn’s number 1 problem is its lack of investment in the football program enabling to be able to compete even at the most minimal p4 level.
ACC ( we are in their footprint so the geography argument is moot )
They are in a situation where they know they will eventually be raided and will lose programs to the B1G and the SEC thats unavoidable . They can survive that.raid but the real battle will be with the B12 . Securing UConn not only insures against the Big 12 splitting their conference but it puts them in a better position to raid the isolated eastern wing oh increasingly western oriented Big 12
The ACC will need UCF to replace FSU , and WVA officials would prefer to be in an eastern conference .

The B12
A conference with national aspirations requites a Northeast base .
UConn is strategically a good add for them as it takes pressure of their eastern wing and puts them in better position to pick off a Pitt , VT ,and if they go Miami . If that happens it’s over for the ACC

There is an elephant in the room for UConn inclusion but or some reason we’re always looking for an excuse rather than reality.
its not geography
the AAC , BC
As a political consultant use to say “ It thee economy stupid “
if I were consulting UConn ii would say “ It’s football stupid “
and to be more specific it staffing an recruiting reach .

We’d have a better chance if we weren’t in the ACC footprint.

We seriously offer nothing that they don’t already have.

I do agree on the lack of football investment though. That’s always the #1 con to adding us.

 

[pepband99]

Said almost exactly this earlier this week, but @JohnFSilver thinks that keeping football independent, when there are no other viable options for our Olympics regardless of football, is the real issue

 

[BigTenFan]

Where will the money come from for Football investment? UConn investment in football is taxpayer money. I don't think there is currently an appetite for public funding of football.

 

[ZooCougar]

Where will the money come from for Football investment? UConn investment in football is taxpayer money. I don't think there is currently an appetite for public funding of football.

Before we talk about spending more. We should ask whether what we are spending is being effective. And how to get more bang for our buck.

We spend more than tons of G5s. But when we are losing to a school like FIU who has to borrow equipment from another school then you have to wonder.

 

[CL82]

UConn got here too late.

We spent too many years looking like URI and UNH.

This, and you can add UMass to this as well.

For too many years, that's what Connecticut envisioned as our peers. By the time the lightbulb went on and we consider ourselves a national program and university, we had dug a incredibly deep hole that we are still struggling to get out of.

 

[pepband99]

Where will the money come from for Football investment? UConn investment in football is taxpayer money. I don't think there is currently an appetite for public funding of football.

How is the additional revenue working out for everyone in the northeast, barring maybe Penn state?

 

[billybud]

How is the additional revenue working out for everyone in the northeast, barring maybe Penn state?

Rutgers fields 27 Div I sports in the B1G. More quantity than quality.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

We’d have a better chance if we weren’t in the ACC footprint.

We seriously offer nothing that they don’t already have.

I do agree on the lack of football investment though. That’s always the #1 con to adding us.

Maybe at this moment, but if the ACC isn’t thinking about the post B1G , SEC raids they will be the next PAC .
SMU made sense
The West coast adds not so much .

 

[Kolumbo]

I've always thought the biggest issue is having 100 professional sports teams. A common feature of UConn tailgates is hearing or watching Yankees or Red Sox games. Or NFL. There is only so much time and money a person can spend on sports entertainment and we are chock full of professional sports around here. And that is also geography related.

 

[buddy]

Where will the money come from for Football investment? UConn investment in football is taxpayer money. I don't think there is currently an appetite for public funding of football.

Remove ESPN tax break and give the money to UConn.

 

[ZooCougar]

Remove ESPN tax break and give the money to UConn.

Or at least tax them enough to make us closer to whole.

 

[AllHusky]

Before we talk about spending more. We should ask whether what we are spending is being effective. And how to get more bang for our buck.

We spend more than tons of G5s. But when we are losing to a school like FIU who has to borrow equipment from another school then you have to wonder.

A while back someone talked about considering the Athletic deficit not a losing proposition, rather a cost of doing business if you want to be a world class State U.

If you build a world class Chemistry Department and Facility, you don't scrimp on the exhaust hoods in the labs. Same as you don't scrimp on the Defensive Coordinators position because the HC was a pretty fair defensive guy. We spend too much time evaluating whether it looks like we can make it(to the P4 level) rather than spend the money and just make it. You probably have to overspend to get to the next level, and understand it is not a 3 or 4 year proposition. Kind of like a marriage, all in until death do you part.

 

[Patman]

This, and you can add UMass to this as well.

For too many years, that's what Connecticut envisioned as our peers. By the time the lightbulb went on and we consider ourselves a national program and university, we had dug a incredibly deep hole that we are still struggling to get out of.

Doesn't help that the foot came off the pedal after the 2008/9 recession. I bought into UConn (for grad school) because I thought they were on the rise and I think that perception to a degree was correct. I agree that in the meta-arc they would have been better off moving in say 1995 instead around 2000.

 

[ZooCougar]

A while back someone talked about considering the Athletic deficit not a losing proposition, rather a cost of doing business if you want to be a world class State U.

If you build a world class Chemistry Department and Facility, you don't scrimp on the exhaust hoods in the labs. Same as you don't scrimp on the Defensive Coordinators position because the HC was a pretty fair defensive guy. We spend too much time evaluating whether it looks like we can make it(to the P4 level) rather than spend the money and just make it. You probably have to overspend to get to the next level, and understand it is not a 3 or 4 year proposition. Kind of like a marriage, all in until death do you part.

I agree with that.

But… we still spend more money than a couple schools that kicked our asses this year.

What I am saying is that maybe we aren’t spending effectively.

But make no mistake, Money is what fuels all of this, no way am I saying putting the brakes on spending.

 

[Hoophound]

I agree with that.

But… we still spend more money than a couple schools that kicked our asses this year.

What I am saying is that maybe we aren’t spending effectively.

But make no mistake, Money is what fuels all of this, no way am I saying putting the brakes on spending.

We get a lot of nice stuff for our money. Our athletics department is truly first class. The problem really seems to be limited to finding a coaching staff that can win within the framework provided. JMU, Boise, Fresno, Idaho, the Dakota schools and many others have found coaching staffs that in many cases, make far less than ours, that win. Meanwhile, we have every single advantage over those schools in terms of what we can offer an athlete. It really isn't that complicated, we've just failed to have the right staff. I think Mora, with good coordinators, can do it. This team is competitive and has a lot of good pieces. We just need some solid transfers, an innovative OC and a solid DC that can execute Mora's vision. Part of Jim's issue with the lack of NIL isn't that he thinks we can't be an average team with our current resources, its that he wants to have a really good team that beats ACC schools more often than not. He's looking to be a national player. We can't do that with our current resources.

 

[ZooCougar]

We get a lot of nice stuff for our money. Our athletics department is truly first class. The problem really seems to be limited to finding a coaching staff that can win within the framework provided. JMU, Boise, Fresno, Idaho, the Dakota schools and many others have found coaching staffs that in many cases, make far less than ours, that win. Meanwhile, we have every single advantage over those schools in terms of what we can offer an athlete. It really isn't that complicated, we've just failed to have the right staff. I think Mora, with good coordinators, can do it. This team is competitive and has a lot of good pieces. We just need some solid transfers, an innovative OC and a solid DC that can execute Mora's vision. Part of Jim's issue with the lack of NIL isn't that he thinks we can't be an average team with our current resources, its that he wants to have a really good team that beats ACC schools more often than not. He's looking to be a national player. We can't do that with our current resources.

Disadvantages:

No Conference-That’s a huge negative. It hurts recruiting players and coaches

Terrible reputation/Literally “UConn” People openly calling to downgrade axe the program. Chose to go Indy, Chose to not play football in 2020.

The overall perception of the program is awful. It’s amazing that we got Mora.

Whatever these advantages are, they obviously don’t count for much.

 

[Hoophound]

Disadvantages:

No Conference-That’s a huge negative. It hurts recruiting players and coaches

Terrible reputation/Literally “UConn” People openly calling to downgrade axe the program. Chose to go Indy, Chose to not play football in 2020.

The overall perception of the program is awful. It’s amazing that we got Mora.

Whatever these advantages are, they obviously don’t count for much.

You do realize that the only reason we get so much flack for sucking at football is because we have a big brand? Nobody cares when UMass or Akron suck. It just doesn't matter. People like to laugh at us and want to kill our program because they hate us for our basketball success. They also hated when we had football success.

 

[ZooCougar]

You do realize that the only reason we get so much flack for sucking at football is because we have a big brand? Nobody cares when UMass or Akron suck. It just doesn't matter. People like to laugh at us and want to kill our program because they hate us for our basketball success. They also hated when we had football success.

We don’t get that much flack. People hardly even notice us. We’re just so attuned to it because we are the fans.

We also deserve every bit of the flack we do get. We tried to half ass a football program after getting grandfathered directly into a BCS conference.

With the advantages we were given we had it all and let it slip through our fingers.

 

[billybud]

We don’t get that much flack. People hardly even notice us. We’re just so attuned to it because we are the fans.

We also deserve every bit of the flack we do get. We tried to half ass a football program after getting grandfathered directly into a BCS conference.

With the advantages we were given we had it all and let it slip through our fingers.

Huskies would be in the Big 12 now, I think...with Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF....if football had not slipped.