Is the B1G realistic?

[BoatShow]

After the title I was expecting the thread to be "...in thinking that Rutgers isnt going to destroy their league."

 

[The Viking]

Half of them are worried that we'll suck at football forever and the other half is scared to death that we won't.

That might be the best one-liner on this entire site that explains us not getting into the ACC.

Kudos.

 

[Adios]

Half of them are worried that we'll suck at football forever and the other half is scared to death that we won't.

That's a compliment. At least the latter half of the statement.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Half of them are worried that we'll suck at football forever and the other half is scared to death that we won't.

A line worth stealing. Classic

 

[UConNation]

We are a flagship public university in a market that the B1G desperately wants to tap into more. I personally think we are on a 3-5 year plan to get into the B1G. Here are the things that currently hurt us and what UCONN is doing to address them:

1. No AAU. This is probably the biggest deterrent but UCONN already measures favorably to other AAU institutions based on a few metrics. President Herbst recently secured $1.5B in state aid to, in large part, expand research. We are one of a very few U.S. universities in the Universistas 21 (global research version of the AAU) and now that Ohio State just accepted membership, I hope we can use that as a network opportunity.

2. Low endowment figure (currently around $340M) in comparison with other B1G schools (Rutgers is around $900M I think). President Herbst hired Emory's fundraiser who helped raise over $1B to Emory's endowment and UCONN has added a few houses in the greater Hartford area to "wine and dine" potential donors. Herbst has said that her goal is to get UCONN's endowment closer to $1B.

3. Football program and venue. Aside from TV market growth potential, football is the primary (but not sole) driver in CR. Jeff Hathaway's uninspired, awful hire of Paul Pasqualoni derailed one of the once fastest growing football programs in the country. UCONN also plays in a small off-campus stadium that is not thought of too favorably by fans outside of Connecticut. Warde Manuel's hiring of Bob Diaco is a big, first step in turning football competitive once again. He increased the Assistant coach salary pool and, as a result, Diaco assembled a fantastic staff full of former recruiting coordinators. I think Diaco will be able to recruit fairly well despite the AAC disadvantage that must be overcome. I also think that the program will win again. We already have more former players in the NFL today than Syracuse, Pitt, and Louisville. The goal though is bowl games. We don't need a National Championship contender…we just need a solid 7-win program to bring fans back to the Rent. Which leads me to the stadium issue: UCONN needs to either look into plans to expand the Rent at some point OR look into building a new on-campus stadium (although there are significant hurdles with this). We all know that Rentschler Field was built with the footings to accommodate an expansion of 10-15,000 seats, so the sooner the program wins and the fans come back, the sooner UCONN can talk expansion.

4. Post-APR/Calhoun establishment. While football is the primary driver, the B1G also needs other content to air when football season is not in progress. There is no questioning the prestige and history of both basketball programs but there is some question around the country of whether UCONN MBB can get back to a championship caliber program after Calhoun's retirement and APR mess (once again, thanks to Hathaway). I think Ollie was the best hire to restore UCONN basketball. It's a shame that UCONN has to prove itself all over again but it does. Ollie is a UCONN guy and loves the school and he will bust his tail to win. He also has pull with former Huskies who can help him in restoring/continuing the proud tradition.

Personally, I think UCONN will be in the B1G in the next 3-5 years. I think Rutgers was added first simply because of market and football recruiting location. The B1G's goal is to gain NYC eyeballs. Adding UCONN would give them more NYC access, as well as exposure in Boston and locking in our own #31 market where there is no competition of other college or professional sports. Adding UCONN BB could also bode well for scheduling future basketball events (perhaps a conference tournament?) in NYC. But UCONN has some work to do first: get closer to AAU, increase endowment, win football games and draw fans, and consistently show MBB can win post-Calhoun.

Fellas, fellas, fellas... don't anyone worry about the size of our football stadium or where it's located. When I win Warren Buffets $1B for a perfect bracket in a couple of months, I will personally sit down with SH and WM to talk about renaming our football stadium "The Boneyard" and moving it to Storrs.

 

[John]

Then they will cease to exist in 100 years?

I'm afraid of the region becoming a black hole vortex that sucks in the entire east coast.

 

[Dooley]

Fellas, fellas, fellas... don't anyone worry about the size of our football stadium or where it's located. When I win Warren Buffets $1B for a perfect bracket in a couple of months, I will personally sit down with SH and WM to talk about renaming our football stadium "The Boneyard" and moving it to Storrs.

I have the same daydream if I won this thing or MegaMillions. UCONN would have a new 65,000 on-campus football stadium in the design similar to Quest Field to capitalize acoustics. WIth whatever is leftover, Gampel would get a facelift and an expansion and the rest would go into the endowment.

 

[John]

I have the same daydream if I won this thing or MegaMillions. UCONN would have a new 65,000 on-campus football stadium in the design similar to Quest Field to capitalize acoustics. WIth whatever is leftover, Gampel would get a facelift and an expansion and the rest would go into the endowment.

you gonna fund the access road to get 65K people to and from the stadium too?

 

[Dooley]

you gonna fund the access road to get 65K people to and from the stadium too?

If I win Warren Buffet's $1B, I'm going to build rails that go from Hartford to Storrs. There will also be a direct line from my house to Storrs.

 

[John]

If I win Warren Buffet's $1B, I'm going to build rails that go from Hartford to Storrs. There will also be a direct line from my house to Storrs.

really? I'm going to build a Star Trek transporter pad that goes from my house right to my seat, and I'm going to create cheerleader androids that bring me my beer during the game.

 

[Dooley]

really? I'm going to build a Star Trek transporter pad that goes from my house right to my seat, and I'm going to create cheerleader androids that bring me my beer during the game.

Now we're talking! The only difficult decision appears to be who to model your cheerleader androids after: Emily Noonan or Kate Upton?

 

[UConNation]

I have the same daydream if I won this thing or MegaMillions. UCONN would have a new 65,000 on-campus football stadium in the design similar to Quest Field to capitalize acoustics. WIth whatever is leftover, Gampel would get a facelift and an expansion and the rest would go into the endowment.

Seriously though... aside from greatly expanding The Rent, I would want to see Gampel expanded and MUCH MUCH more of the lower seating devoted to student seating. The one thing DOOK has done right, is designing their basketball stadium/seating plan

 

[businesslawyer]

Nonsense.

We were never cracking the FSU/Miami/GT/BC blockade - likely never will given that they now have Pitt and Syracuse with 'em.

Other than BC, the other schools will support us the moment ESPN or their media consultants tell them there is materially more money to be made by adding us than either standing pat or adding someone else. That simple.

 

[John]

Now we're talking! The only difficult decision appears to be who to model your cheerleader androids after: Emily Noonan or Kate Upton?

I've been instruted not to talk about Emily anymore, so I won't answer that question, but I think you know what my answer would be if I were answering that question.

 

[Palatine]

Seriously though... aside from greatly expanding The Rent, I would want to see Gampel expanded and MUCH MUCH more of the lower seating devoted to student seating. The one thing DOOK has done right, is designing their basketball stadium/seating plan

Forget expanding Gampel. Just have someone fix the huge shreds of material hanging from the ceiling.

 

[storrsroars]

Now we're talking! The only difficult decision appears to be who to model your cheerleader androids after: Emily Noonan or Kate Upton?

I go with neither. There's a better choice:

And why stop with just stadiums and infrastructure? Don't you care about the players? Wouldn't you feel good all over if during an interview, the reporter asked, "Who's that standing next to you?" and Shabazz looked into the camera and said, "Why THAT'S my personal ball washer."

 

[CL82]

I've been instruted not to talk about Emily anymore, so I won't answer that question, but I think you know what my answer would be if I were answering that question.

By whom, the judge who issued the restraining order?

 

[John]

By whom, the judge who issued the restraining order?

no by the self-appointed group moderators around here.

 

[Dooley]

no by the self-appointed group moderators around here.

Oh, sorry John. I didn't realize that had happened. I retract my earlier joke. My bad.

 

[Danzz]

In one word YES we are a prime candidate for the B1G but we need a partner to make 16 teams. With the exception of the SEC every conference is wrapped in a grant of rights so it's challenging. This thread belongs on the CR board

Partner is correct. One team moves and it creates an opportunity similar to what happened when Maryland moved to the BIG. We came in second to Louisville on that one when we were probably the favorite to go to the ACC.
The CR board has been pretty inactive the last time I visited so this thread is fine here IMO.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

UConn is not part of the "Association of American Universities", which all Big Ten teams are.
These are the Top Public Research Universities in the United States.

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/Tyler Phommachanh/big-ten.htm

You can see which schools are members here:
Private: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/AAU-Private.htm
Public: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/aau-public.htm

Not sure if UConn would be considered.

Public: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/aau-public.htm
Stony Brook University-State University of New York

 

[buddy]

Public: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/aau-public.htm
Stony Brook University-State University of New York

Public: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/aau-public.htm
Stony Brook University-State University of New York

Nebraska is not a member. Academics make no difference in conference realignment.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Nebraska is not a member. Academics make no difference in conference realignment.

Academics matter for us and only for the B1G or the PAC.

When you haveNebraska's football pedigree academics don't matter so much.
AZ first law of Academics regarding CR,
Academics are inversely proportional to your football reputation.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

1. No AAU. This is probably the biggest deterrent but UCONN already measures favorably to other AAU institutions based on a few metrics. President Herbst recently secured $1.5B in state aid to, in large part, expand research. We are one of a very few U.S. universities in the Universistas 21 (global research version of the AAU) and now that Ohio State just accepted membership, I hope we can use that as a network opportunity.

I believe the global version of the AAU would be the University Research Association?!?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universities_Research_Association


But I'm sure Connecticut's future is bright whether it joins the AAU or not. Its a great school with great students and students athletes. If the alumni and fans keep supporting it, it will make out of the storm

I never understood this crappy requirement of schools to be part of the AAU to be members of the Big Ten. If its about athletics and money then why try to fool people to believe this is an academic oriented initiative

It sort of reminds of me of beauty pageants where the main factor is physical appearance, and what every one cares about... but they add these stupid requirements like "Personality, intelligence, talents" and other crap they don't really give a damn about.

 

[husky8273]

AAU and Nebraska is not an AAU member.

Nebraska was a member of AAU when they joined the Big 10 and lost that status after they joined.