"If the B1G wants NYC" ....from MSU fans

[okielite]

Good lord. Try to keep up, Simple Jack.

Tulane and SMU are excellent academic institutions, (far, far better than the one you're carrying water for), but two schools in NOLA and Dallas have zero common ground with a large public in New England. A couple of basketball games or a football game ever other year will never change that.

This guy is a carbon copy of that West Virginia kid we just jettisoned.

Wow. Another academic slam. Does it make you feel better to do that? It reminds me of WVU and Louisville fans. I think it must come from being in non power conferences. Those guys love to run around talking about AD budgets, and BCS wins. You guys like to talk about basketball and academic rankings. If it makes you fell better to insult schools with lower academic rankings then so be it. I could care less about those rankings and quite frankly they dont' mean anything to me. I don't get a raise if OSU gets ranked higher next year. Nobody is going to give you a job based only on your schools rankings. My employer does not care where my school is ranked in anything.

Feel free to ban me if you think I deserve it.

You have much more in common with wealthy snobby city kids who go to academic institutions like Tualne and SMU compared to rural kids who attend schools like KSU or OSU. Obviously you dont' get it but it is true. The fact that you pull out academic rankings constantly confirms that you love to look down at school ranked lower than you.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It would probably be easier to just state what the similarities are. Comparing yourself to one of the biggest and most valuable schools in the country is a stretch for just about anybody. Don't be surprised if people dont' consider UConn and UT to be similar.

Lets start with AD budget. Pretty big difference there, likely in the neighborhood of double.
CFB attendance. You draw 20k -40k, they draw nearly 100k.
National Championships, 16 to 50.
In state population. 3.5 million to 26.5 million (I didn't realize Oklahoma has more people than Connecticut)
Your AD is 25% funded by taxpayers, theirs is 0%.
They pay about 3x as much for their FB coach.

I can continue but at the end of the day UConn is nowhere near as valuable as UT. That is not a slam, its' being real. No school really compares well to UT as a whole package.

WTF kind of argument is this? You say UConn is like SMU and Tulane (small, urban, private) based on academics and then pull up a list with regard UT and UConn that is entirely about football attendance, funding and state size. Stay consistent. UT #42 USNEWS. UConn #47. Both public, flagship universities. Both have strong regional followings. Obviously UConn is not UT, but it sure as hell isn't Tulane or Tulsa either. That was the point of my comparison to UT, to show how absurd your comparison to Tulsa and SMU was.

As for overall spending. Here are the numbers. UConn ahead of Baylor, Missouri, WVU and there it is, OSU several spots down. In the current Big 12 (minus A&M) UConn would have the 4th largest athletic budget, after UT, OU and KU. Prior to last year, football attendance averaged around 35k, which is not bad for a 40,000 seat stadium. And yes, that would be last in the Big 12, but not far off of KU or Baylor (and we don't know if they count tickets or people).

 

[Dooley]

Wealthy snobby city kids? I think you're thinking of Yale. They are located in New Haven, CT...about 1 hour from Storrs, CT.

 

[NickyNewark]

So from your perspective you still consider the Big 12 weak and on the verge of collapse?

If you think the big 12 has an inflated view of themselves, it didn't' come from me. I am extremely realistic about where we are at. I don't thin OSU is that valuable to a major conference. I dont' think UConn is that valuable to a major conference, if you were worth big money you would have already been snatched up already. Instead schools like Louisville, WVU, Utah, TCU, and Rutgers got in. Obviously there are many reasons for this but value to TV partners is pretty important.

If you want to believe the Big 1 2is the least of the power conferences so be it. I personally think the Big 12 has advantages over the ACC.

Partial membership is an issue, there is a reason no other power conference has partial members.
There is a reason the SEC partnered with the Big 12 and not the ACC with the sugar bowl. The ACC orange bowl deal is not worth the same as the rose or sugar bowl. Clearly the ACC is at a disadvantage. The ACC payout is not as much as the other power conferences, clearly there is a reason for this. The ACC has a lot of dead weight like Wake and BC. They also have a lot of non power conference FB programs who have 20k and 30k fans at games. With FB being the most important factor, that is a huge disadvantage for ACC having multiple mid major type programs to support.

I personally don't see either the Big 12 or ACC dying.

OutsideTex/Okla Kansas was certainly very desirable along with maybe OSU but some darn decent schools were in a panic! No I'm of the opinion your probably safe for now but not as safe as b4 the ACC GOR.

 

[Fishy]

Holy s---.

Oklahoma State? I thought this kid was an OU fan.

Pray that Texas sits tight, my boy. You're gonna join us in the AAC if they don't.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wealthy snobby city kids? I think you're thinking of Yale. They are located in New Haven, CT...about 1 hour from Storrs, CT.

By the way...that attitude is why I never thought that the Big XII would invite UConn and still don't. It is prevalent across the Big XII area, and I certainly noticed it while at KU (though the law school was less that way and had kids from Brown, Harvard etc.). Connecticut was "back east", just a piece in the giant metropolis that extends from Boston to DC. It isn't what they associate themselves with. I think they choked down WVU, but the truth is, culturally, the conference is better off looking west, and going for BYU, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV or Colo State. They really blew it losing Colorado and not inviting Utah sooner.

 

[Dooley]

By the way...that attitude is why I never thought that the Big XII would invite UConn and still don't. It is prevalent across the Big XII area, and I certainly noticed it while at KU (though the law school was less that way and had kids from Brown, Harvard etc.). Connecticut was "back east", just a piece in the giant metropolis that extends from Boston to DC. It isn't what they associate themselves with. I think they choked down WVU, but the truth is, culturally, the conference is better off looking west, and going for BYU, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV or Colo State. They really blew it losing Colorado and not inviting Utah sooner.

Agree. Not the best cultural fit for either side but at this point, if they offered, we should started jumping before the question was over.

I still think we are on a 3-5 year B1G plan. Always have. We are in the beginning of year 2 now. On the to-do list: get to football bowl games, grow endowment, and inch closer to AAU. We have the whole basketball and NYC things restored back to where they should be.

 

[pj]

That is really impressive. Sounds like taxpayers don't mind paying UConn. Good to have that level of support.

There are a whole lot more differences between UT and UConn than just Football. You statement says a lot about where you think UConn is in the pecking order by comparing yourself to UT. KU is by far the closest comparison IMO.

Kansas is arguably the single school most like UConn, both academically and athletically, in the nation.

I think if UConn had been built in a more central location between Hartford and New Haven, so that the medical school would have been on campus and the highway access better, it would have had a chance to become a northeastern equivalent of UT. As things are, however, it just doesn't reach critical mass.

 

[Seaa Blue]

They probably have thought this through and figure that they have enough pull to get enough votes to dissolve the conference if needed.

Care to explain this?

Sure... Easiest way out of a GoR is to dissolve a conference. Easiest way to dissolve the Big 12 is for Texas to announce that it has decided to pursue other options and has talked with some members of the Big 12 about those options. So at that point they have 3 or 4 votes. To the rest of the Big 12 they say that they have talked with the TV people and other conferences and have found a landing with similar payouts for 4 or 5 other members if they want to take the deal. At that point you have 8 votes and the conference is history.

Plan B) An NCAA breakaway. The laws of nature are rewritten and the old laws don't matter so much anymore. 8 schools are part of the breakaway division and vote to dissolve the conference. Or at a minimum, existing TV contracts become less significant in favor of new money by such action.

Basically the bottom line thinking here is that Texas would not have signed a deal that they really thought they were locked into well into the future. It may cost them something, but there surely is a way out.

 

[willie99]

I don't know where UConn gets a reputation for bad academics; UConn is rated 58th in National Universities by USNWR, a solid 15 places above Michigan State at 73rd and 10 spots above Rutgers at 69th.

it's somewhat amusing

some NCST fan was calling us "safety school" in MSG last year and we're ranked ahead of them too

 

[stick]

okielite,

You’re basically Frank the Tank with down syndrome. Either you're just a troll or just plain stupid. Its one thing to make cogent arguments, but to compare UConn to SMU and Tulane in athletic accomplishments is absurd. I’m pretty sure just about any other reasonable message board would have booted you for coming to a party and pissing in the punch bowl. Just in case you didn't understand, that's called a metaphor.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

it's somewhat amusing

some NCST fan was calling us "safety school" in MSG last year and we're ranked ahead of them too

Yeah maybe we are a safety school for the ivies. NCST won't even make that list. Then again, no one will mistaken NCST graduates for Einsteins.

 

[NotreDameJoe]

Why have an elitist attitude toward any school? That reeks of insecurities and seems like it makes you feel better to put other schools down. You should not have to do that just to make yourself feel better about your own school. Those are all well respected academic institutions. No reason to put them down.

Maybe you should follow your own advice

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Kansas is arguably the single school most like UConn, both academically and athletically, in the nation.

I think if UConn had been built in a more central location between Hartford and New Haven, so that the medical school would have been on campus and the highway access better, it would have had a chance to become a northeastern equivalent of UT. As things are, however, it just doesn't reach critical mass.

I would actually lean closer to a lot of the B1G schools – flagship universities that started out in rural areas due to their original focus on agriculture and now have multiple campuses for law, medicine, etc. Iowa in Iowa City, Indiana in Bloomington, Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Michigan St in East Lansing, and Penn St in University Park. Granted, Kansas is along the same mold along with Missouri, Georgia, and even Florida (good academics outside of its athletic department’s reputation).

In retrospect, UConn should have been located right where CCSU is. Right in the middle of the state with good highway (and even train) connections and slightly closer to the money and media in NYC and Fairfield County. New Haven would have even been better with, though now in the middle North/South wise; but, Yale has been in New Haven (1701) before Connecticut was even a state (1788).

 

[pj]

I would actually lean closer to a lot of the B1G schools – flagship universities that started out in rural areas due to their original focus on agriculture and now have multiple campuses for law, medicine, etc. Iowa in Iowa City, Indiana in Bloomington, Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Michigan St in East Lansing, and Penn St in University Park. Granted, Kansas is along the same mold along with Missouri, Georgia, and even Florida (good academics outside of its athletic department’s reputation).

In retrospect, UConn should have been located right where CCSU is. Right in the middle of the state with good highway (and even train) connections and slightly closer to the money and media in NYC and Fairfield County. New Haven would have even been better with, though now in the middle North/South wise; but, Yale has been in New Haven (1701) before Connecticut was even a state (1788).

Those are bigger states though. Kansas is about Connecticut's size and the KU and UConn as parallel in many ways, even down to the federal research grant money being almost identical (and split almost the same between medicine and science). Athletically similar too.

Yes, it would have been great if UConn and Yale could have formed a university-research complex the way UC Berkeley and Stanford or UCLA and Caltech did. If UConn had been located near Yale, say where SCSU is, we would have been in the AAU long ago.

 

[pj]

okielite,

You’re basically Frank the Tank with down syndrome. Either you're just a troll or just plain stupid. Its one thing to make cogent arguments, but to compare UConn to SMU and Tulane in athletic accomplishments is absurd. I’m pretty sure just about any other reasonable message board would have booted you for coming to a party and pissing in the punch bowl. Just in case you didn't understand, that's called a metaphor.

This is exceptionally rude. Okielite has been a pro-UConn advocate on B12 boards. He's neither stupid nor a troll. I don't know how this argument got off the rails but in comparing UConn to SMU and Tulane he was trying to give us a compliment. Those are respected universities with excellent undergraduate academics (and, in the case of Tulane, grad/research academics) whose athletic departments have known success at times in the past. They are not our equal athletically today, but they have aspirations, and are now in the same league with us. They could be as good athletically as Syracuse or BC. In any case, you need to be a more polite host.

 

[RuffRuff]

It's rude because 70% of posters on internet sports boards are defensive, irrational mutants who will argue with no objectivity or rational thinking, fully & blindly biased to the nth degree. No matter where you go, 70% plus of the content on these boards it pure idiocy. If you sneeze in the wrong direction against a fan base, you're tarred and feathered. I like to take that piece as entertainment(laugh at type) and then weed out the good stuff(which on this board is basically 5-6 posters, Fishy obviously one of them).

 

[NickyNewark]

This is exceptionally rude. Okielite has been a pro-UConn advocate on B12 boards. He's neither stupid nor a troll. I don't know how this argument got off the rails but in comparing UConn to SMU and Tulane he was trying to give us a compliment. Those are respected universities with excellent undergraduate academics (and, in the case of Tulane, grad/research academics) whose athletic departments have known success at times in the past. They are not our equal athletically today, but they have aspirations, and are now in the same league with us. They could be as good athletically as Syracuse or BC. In any case, you need to be a more polite host.

Great post pj. I've alway's liked you as a respectable gentleman here posting w/o arrogance or malice towards anyone. I thought some of us were over the top myself but the BY posters compared to most sites are a decent bunch.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

This is exceptionally rude. Okielite has been a pro-UConn advocate on B12 boards. He's neither stupid nor a troll. I don't know how this argument got off the rails but in comparing UConn to SMU and Tulane he was trying to give us a compliment. Those are respected universities with excellent undergraduate academics (and, in the case of Tulane, grad/research academics) whose athletic departments have known success at times in the past. They are not our equal athletically today, but they have aspirations, and are now in the same league with us. They could be as good athletically as Syracuse or BC. In any case, you need to be a more polite host.

I don' t have any problems discussing things with Okilite. I think it is good for us to get an idea what others' perception of us outside our own board. We have little contact with fans from the B12, so I think his takes are good for our board. Besides, we can always use another poster who is pro-Uconn in all the expansion discussions.

 

[Bill Sussman]

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-uconn-men-women-final-four-0404-20140403,0,3139762.story

"We are taking advantage of every opportunity we have, like at Madison Square Garden last weekend. Fairfield County? New York City? We are New York's college team," Herbst said. "I don't know that it could be any more evident than it was in the Garden [at the NCAA men's regional last weekend]. We had a lot going on there, as well, last weekend [marketing initiatives].

 

[Dooley]

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-uconn-men-women-final-four-0404-20140403,0,3139762.story

Good read. I don't know why it just clicked with me while reading this article, but what Herbst says is true. Our fanbase is essentially divided this weekend (we are all pulling for one another...just in different parts of the country).

Other schools don't have to "worry"about this. Kentucky (and other schools) women don't draw a certain fanbase demographic away from the men come tourney time so they can all be unified in supporting the men's team.

WBB is not for me but it is for a large chunk of our fanbase. It's tough to get a true read on fan support at these venues since our fans are split between Dallas and Nashville. That said, it's a wonderful opportunity to show large numbers in both cities. What would be even better is have both fanbases unify and support football with packed Rent and Yankee Stadium this year.

 

[okielite]

okielite,

You’re basically Frank the Tank with down syndrome. Either you're just a troll or just plain stupid. Its one thing to make cogent arguments, but to compare UConn to SMU and Tulane in athletic accomplishments is absurd. I’m pretty sure just about any other reasonable message board would have booted you for coming to a party and pissing in the punch bowl. Just in case you didn't understand, that's called a metaphor.

Wow.
First. I never said that and you know it. I said academically. Which is true. Clearly nobody can match UConn WBB and few are close in BB.
Second. Do some checking on SMU before you open your mouth and make a fool of yourself. If you had thier FB history you would be in the B1G.
Third. It is completely unnecessary to lower yourself to personal insults for no reason. If anybody deserves to be booted it whoud be you for the childish name calling. Not to mention you are adding nothing to the conversation, simply a personal attack. The predictable response for sensitive fans who like being internet tough guys while hiding behind your computer. I have been extremely complimentary of UConn and indicated several times that you should be in a power conference and if possible the Big 12.

 

[okielite]

Maybe you should follow your own advice

Outside of a few things I generally do. There are a few schools who annoy me for things they have tried to coverup. Montana, PSU, and Notre Dame to name a few.

I think after reading the discussion on the topic it shoud be obvious to you that I am not alone in my feelings. In fact you were faced with a hurge amount of information and in the end had to give up when it was proven that these things did indeed happen. Surely you dont' want to rehash that discussion?

In may ways you invite it with things like your avi, rubbing your indepndence in everyones face. You don't see BYU or other fans of independent schools doing the same thing, not to mention you are 99% members of the ACC which is a slap in the face to them as well. Dont' be surprised by the reaction you got.

 

[NotreDameJoe]

Outside of a few things I generally do. There are a few schools who annoy me for things they have tried to coverup. Montana, PSU, and Notre Dame to name a few.

I think after reading the discussion on the topic it shoud be obvious to you that I am not alone in my feelings. In fact you were faced with a hurge amount of information and in the end had to give up when it was proven that these things did indeed happen. Surely you dont' want to rehash that discussion?

In may ways you invite it with things like your avi, rubbing your indepndence in everyones face. You don't see BYU or other fans of independent schools doing the same thing, not to mention you are 99% members of the ACC which is a slap in the face to them as well. Dont' be surprised by the reaction you got.

Lol, should I stay in the closet? I never expect anyone to like the most hated school in college sports, trash talk is just part of sports. If you want to have derangement syndrome over a school your team doesn't even play then that's your priority.

On the message boards, correcting misinformation is just a chore [for example, 5/12 =/= 99%]. It's obvious those with NDS won't change their opinions but there are plenty of neutral observers who might get the wrong facts.

 

[okielite]

Lol, should I stay in the closet? I never expect anyone to like the most hated school in college sports, trash talk is just part of sports. If you want to have derangement syndrome over a school your team doesn't even play then that's your priority.

On the message boards, correcting misinformation is just a chore [for example, 5/12 =/= 99%]. It's obvious those with NDS won't change their opinions but there are plenty of neutral observers who might get the wrong facts.

I really don't care what you do. If you want to come out of the closet so be it.

Interestingly enough you were the one spreading misinformation and pretending that none of this stuff happened at ND. Luckily there were several posters who know better and were able to prove that indeed these horrible things did happen, articles in reputable news sources confirm this. Pretending things never happened and trying to cover up issues never works out in the long run.

It's kinda like the PSU people who still think their problems are nothing but a witch hunt and that nobody at PSU did any wrong. They claim the Freech report was bogus and that this was all just made up.

Strange how being a fan of a school makes you oblivious to what is obvious to those on the outside looking in.