In all these alignment rumors, why is the Big East not mentioned?

[FfldCntyFan]

A guy comes up with a stray funny line here or there and thinks he's Jay Leno.

I saw Rutgers ads in the NYC metro area ad-nauseum. I never saw a damned thing from UConn. Our leadership was clueless as to what was happening around them (evidently you also belong in that camp) while Rutgers, a school that had only slightly better geography (and a state that really could care less about the school at that time) spent all of their time spinning everything they could to look better as a conference realignment target.

We had a ton to work with and wasted every bit of it. Take the next few hours to come up with some snarky, semi-intelligent comeback.

 

[Fishy]

"Slightly better geography".

Ah, no. Vastly better geography

You think a marketing campaign can overcome an extra six million people in-state and the NYC media market. There are 7.6M households in the New York City DMA and more than 21,000,000 people. Rutgers is within that footprint and by virtue of adding Rutgers, the Big Ten now has carriage throughout. Our DMA is less than one million households. That is why Rutgers is in the Big Ten and we were never screened.

Rutgers didn't spin their way into a Big Ten bid anymore than we failed to market ourselves into one - it's numbers.

You keep trying to package anecdotal nonsense as an argument and it doesn't work.

 

[CL82]

"Slightly better geography".

Ah, no. Vastly better geography

You think a marketing campaign can overcome an extra six million people in-state and the NYC media market. There are 7.6M households in the New York City DMA and more than 21,000,000 people. Rutgers is within that footprint and by virtue of adding Rutgers, the Big Ten now has carriage throughout. Our DMA is less than one million households. That is why Rutgers is in the Big Ten and we were never screened.

Rutgers didn't spin their way into a Big Ten bid anymore than we failed to market ourselves into one - it's numbers.

You keep trying to package anecdotal nonsense as an argument and it doesn't work.

Fishy how was RU's claim to the 7.6M households in the NYC DMA any better than ours? NJ has about 3M people in the NYC DMA, and we have @ 1M (I think, I'm not sure of the population of Fairfield County is.) But if the goal was the NY DMA (and it's fair to say that it was) then why is our claim worse than RU's, since they got decent carriage fees in the state next store. Why couldn't we have done the same?

There have been articles that say that RU has been actively pursuing the B1G for years so I think FC is correct about that. I agree with you though that in the end AAU membership, being contiguous and having a population density probably carried the day for RU. Their invite was more about carriage fees than anything else.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Somewhere @Johnny is reading this tit for tat and smirking.

 

[Fishy]

There have been articles that say that RU has been actively pursuing the B1G for years so I think FC is correct about that. I agree with you though that in the end AAU membership, being contiguous and having a population density probably carried the day for RU. Their invite was more about carriage fees than anything else.

They're in the footprint, we're not - it's no more complicated than that.

Rutgers was on the early list of schools screened prior to the Nebraska invite - they've always wanted to be in the Big Ten. They simply had the demographics, plus AAU/contiguity to draw return interest.

 

[Kolumbo]

AAU + Contiguous. Rutgers' stadium is closer to NYC than UCONN's campus is to Hartford. Rutgers is essentially in NYC, big picture.

 

[ZooCougar]

AAU + Contiguous. Rutgers' stadium is closer to NYC than UCONN's campus is to Hartford. Rutgers is essentially in NYC, big picture.

The whole continuous thing means nada. It's been debunked by too many people to even bother posting a link for you.

 

[TRest]

The whole continuous thing means nada. It's been debunked by too many people to even bother posting a link for you.

Everybody hopes that is true, but so far every school added has been contiguous. One thing that sometimes get overlooked is that pretty much all of the old Eastern Independents have been taken care of in conference realignment. We were never a member of that club, and only Army, Navy and Temple have been excluded for various reasons.

 

[Kolumbo]

The whole continuous thing means nada. It's been debunked by too many people to even bother posting a link for you.

Contiguous is meaningless but I don't think I've ever seen it debunked. AAU on the other hand is very real. Separates the B1G from the ACC, in a big way.

 

[zls44]

Literally, every single school stabbed UConn in the back after we had carried the conference in basketball for 20 years. But yeah, the basketball schools are the problem.

Please resolve those 2 consecutive sentences.

Our entire athletic program is hanging by a thread right now with no clear path to make it better.

Between $10-18 million in donations this WEEK would seem to indicate otherwise, but idk

 

[nomar]

She is driving a Benz, lives in a 5k sq ft house, and doesn't think 2 seconds about you, and you guys are driving 96 Civics, living with your parents, and telling all your friends that she is the reason your life sucks.

UConn got itself to where it is while people like you celebrate the stupidity that is Warde Manuel no matter how many terrible decisions he makes. Our entire athletic program is hanging by a thread right now with no clear path to make it better. So blaming the problems on me or St. Johns or the Big East is pretty freaking stupid considering.

Maybe you didn't notice in the midst of all your whining, but we just won the Title, dude. We're driving a Maserati.

If the AAC is a '96 Civic, the Big East is a '97 Civic.

 

[Husky25]

... the Big East is a '97 Civic.

With a factory recall that the '96 didn't have.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It's simple.

Had the UConn/Louisville decision been made in 2011 after the Fiesta Bowl, we would've gotten in over them.

Fast forward two seasons, we're in the tank, Louisville is in the midst of a revival, and were out.

I've gone back and forth and analyzed that decision to death, but that's the reality.

Has the school been promoted as best as it could? Probably not.

Would it have effected CR in anyway? No.

There's no reason for any league to expand right now - which is a good thing given the state of our program.

Keep buying tickets, keep going to away games or NYC games and hopefully, hopefully, that lunatic Diaco can get us back to a bowl bound program the next time the CR plates shift.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Fishy,

You are just flat out wrong on the ACC expansion process. Syracuse and Pitt bring literally nothing to the table and Louisville is a community college that attempted to burn VTech's program to the ground in the 90's. I could see losing to one of those schools, but all 3? Unforgivable.

 

[ZooCougar]

Contiguous is meaningless but I don't think I've ever seen it debunked. AAU on the other hand is very real. Separates the B1G from the ACC, in a big way.

Look harder.

 

[Seaa Blue]

In my mind the NYC office puts to rest any issues with contiguity. If Delany so chooses, it's an easy spin.

On the other hand, Delany laid down a pretty firm line on "AAU".

 

[Kolumbo]

I swear the only reasons we lost out to SU, Pitt, and L-ville are Jim Brown, Dan Marino, and Ted Bridgewater.

 

[Sea Goat]

I swear the only reasons we lost out to SU, Pitt, and L-ville are Jim Brown, Dan Marino, and Ted Bridgewater.

If it were only that simple...

I suppose we could waste more time arguing why we are in the gulag, but where does that get us?

We could start a list that includes everything from the "lawsuit" to Hathaway to Pasqualoni to Hogan to Manuel to the AAU to the NYC DMC. So what?
It is what it is. The only caveat would be if there is a significant detrimental factor remaining in the mix (to wit: Manuel) going forward. If Manuel is a problem currently then obviously he needs to go. But, I am not convinced of that.

We have to get away from the reasons of why we hit the iceberg and try to repair the ship. I maintain our best hope is the B1G and for that we'll need the AAU nod. You've all convinced me that there won't be an exception made for that. As far as the ACC is concerned, it has been a schizophrenic approach to CR. Obviously, we'll take that over the gulag. The conference, however, is so unpredictable in its CR approach, I wouldn't count on anything. The Louisville "add" proved that the ACC will do anything for a perceived short term benefit. So in the meantime, UConn continues to do what it can to be attractive to the AAU/B1G. Forget the new BE - a huge step back and for what?

 

[Kolumbo]

Gulag - it makes me chuckle every time someone writes it.

 

[Sea Goat]

Gulag - it makes me chuckle every time someone writes it.

Listen, I wish it were only a half-way house!

 

[The Funster]

We are in the situation we are in because the ACC did not act in a consistent fashion. If criteria was applied consistently, outside of the first ACC raid on the BE, UConn should have been the one of the choices made by the ACC.

 

[HuskyHawk]

They're in the footprint, we're not - it's no more complicated than that.

Rutgers was on the early list of schools screened prior to the Nebraska invite - they've always wanted to be in the Big Ten. They simply had the demographics, plus AAU/contiguity to draw return interest.

Exactly. Rutgers was rumored to the Big Ten before UConn ever played D1A football. It's been floating out there as a possibility for decades. Syracuse was long rumored as well back then.

Clearly geography/markets became a key value because of the BTN, but Rutgers has been a school that looked like a Big Ten School for a long, long time. UConn doesn't. Even with the changes and research investments, we still profile closer to an ACC school.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Exactly. Rutgers was rumored to the Big Ten before UConn ever played D1A football. It's been floating out there as a possibility for decades. Syracuse was long rumored as well back then.

Clearly geography/markets became a key value because of the BTN, but Rutgers has been a school that looked like a Big Ten School for a long, long time. UConn doesn't. Even with the changes and research investments, we still profile closer to an ACC school.

On Rutgers, I agree. They have been pushing for the B1G since Penn St went to the B1G in 1990, literally. While the B1G did not strong consider Rutgers at that time, the groundwork was laid. ironically, reports have it that after Penn St joined, Missouri and Kansas was looked at By the way, even that far back, the B1G looked at least Missouri and Kansas; but, that idea dies when the XII and SWC merged to form the XII.

As for the ACC, I would disagree. The ACC, while not as divided as the old Big E was, is split between elite private universities (Duke, ND, Wake, Miami), and primarily secondary state universities with the exception of UVA and UNC. Pitt (Penn St), V Tech (UVA), NC State (UNC), Clemson (S Carolina), G Tech (UGA), Florida St (U Florida), and Louisville (Kentucky) are non-flagship state universities. Syracuse is a private universities that advertises itself as 'the' university for New York. UConn is a state flagship university that is clearly targeting AAU status and if that is achieved, would more align with B1G members Rutgers, Maryland, Penn St, Ohio St, etc. academically and philosophically.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Since UConn committed to FBS it has won Four National Championships. Clearly there's a correlation. . .

only four? What about the women's titles...

 

[UConnDan97]

only four? What about the women's titles...

...and Field Hockey...and Men's Soccer...