Katz on UMass

[Srqhusky]

We start out by adding a bowl game in toronto of the American #10-12 vs Canadian champ in the dudly do right bowl

 

[Husky68]

Other downside:

The NCAA would have to change its rules to allow UToronto, or any other Canadian school, to play in Division I athletics.

Just give them the Alabama State exemption.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It's a combination of two things:

1. We're hyper sensitive
2. We win tons of championships so its fun to kick us when we're down.

Yes but you have it in the wrong order.

 

[UConnJim]

I live in the Boston area. There is no interest in UMass or UMass athletics. The biggest college football game in the Boston area is Havard/Yale. Unlike UConn, the state doesn't care or invest in UMass and most view Western Mass as a different state.

The AAC can't invite a school that gets 15k for football games and that is what UMass draws. That is MAC level. And their home stadium is closer to UConn than UMass. Heck, the Rent is closer to Amherst than Gillette Stadium. In football, they don't bring anything to the party and they are as relevant as East Carolina in basketball.

30 to 40 years ago, UMass and UConn were peer schools. After decades of investment and upgrading they are not.

 

[junglehusky]

People are just talking about it. No one thinks we're adding Toronto. Oh my god.

Not if Pudge shows up in this thread. Toronto to the Americanadian. McGill to the Ivy. UBC to the MWC or Pac.

 

[Waquoit]

I get the sentiment, but knocking a school for playing football off campus is a little like the pot calling kettle black.

Maybe. But the fact remains our stadium is closer to their campus than theirs is.

 

[Steve1981]

UMass fan and agree we have a long way to go to catch-up in the MAC, never mind the AAC. Yes, the State will not fully fund us but as part of the 15oth anniversary, the athletic department's goal is to raise 33 Mil. In the past month we have received a 2.25 Mil and a 2.5 Mill gift so we are now over 20 Mill towards the 33 Mill goal for 2015.

Hope we can get a series going starting in 2015.

Footnote: While not making the NCAA since 1998 is true, we have been in the NIT 3 out of the last 6 years and in the NIT Final 4 two of those years.

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/061013aaa.html

 

[noeynox]

Steve not flaming you here, but NIT, really? Good luck to your teams, hope we play again, but NIT, really?

 

[zls44]

Yes, the State will not fully fund us but as part of the 15oth anniversary, the athletic department's goal is to raise 33 Mil. In the past month we have received a 2.25 Mil and a 2.5 Mill gift so we are now over 20 Mill towards the 33 Mill goal for 2015.

LMAO awww how cute $33 million

Steve, I'm sure you're every bit the Umass fan that the UConn fans here are. The problem is there's only about 5,000 of you and your state legislature refuses to acknowledge your existence.

 

[TRest]

What bothers me about Rutgers is basically its UMass with a bigger football stadium.

 

[Adios]

What bothers me about Rutgers is basically its UMass with a bigger football stadium.

Hey. UMass won a championship in football more recently than 1869.

 

[pj]

Steve not flaming you here, but NIT, really? Good luck to your teams, hope we play again, but NIT, really?

UConn's rise to prominence was heralded by its NIT championship. It is a building block for UMass. Good for them. I too hope we create a football series. I'd rather play UMass and Buffalo than Western Michigan.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

UConn's rise to prominence was heralded by its NIT championship. It is a building block for UMass. Good for them. I too hope we create a football series. I'd rather play UMass and Buffalo than Western Michigan.

Katz seems to be well meaning.
What he doesn't understand is the state of the UConn fan.
Its just one more perceived insult we don't need at this time.
Give us s break.
Acceptance of UMass is a future discussion maybe 3 or 4 years.
I'm not sure Umass spending UConn type football dollars is in their best interest.






Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[uconndogs]

UMASS has not committed to big-time football nearly to the extent UCONN has. It's just a completely different realm. UMASS is in for a long haul in the MAC and they will be lucky if they play UCONN within a 21 point spread over the next 5 years. Whether they are in the MAC or AAC won't change that, so I don't know why the AAC would want them.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Hey anytime you can add the worst football team in the MAC, that also hasn't made the NCAAT since 1998, you gotta do it, right?

NOTE: Mr. Aresco if you're reading this, that was a joke.

 

[whaler11]

Hey anytime you can add the worst football team in the MAC, that also hasn't made the NCAAT since 1998, you gotta do it, right?

NOTE: Mr. Aresco if you're reading this, that was a joke.

That's the tough part. Once you've added Tulane it's hard to look down your nose at anyone. Tulane makes UMass look like Ohio State.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

That's the tough part. Once you've added Tulane it's hard to look down your nose at anyone. Tulane makes UMass look like Ohio State.

The ineptitude of Tulane's basketball and football programs is startling.

My understanding was that the TV contract necessitated 12 football playing teams for a CCG. That being said, there had to be some value in foregoing the title game in lieu of Tulane, Tulsa and having a round robin basketball schedule?

 

[whaler11]

The ineptitude of Tulane's basketball and football programs is startling.

My understanding was that the TV contract necessitated 12 football playing teams for a CCG. That being said, there had to be some value in foregoing the title game in lieu of Tulane, Tulsa and having a round robin basketball schedule?

It seems impossible that the per team rake is better with 12 instead of 10. How aren't the few teams people might watch diluted by teams the AAC didn't even want?

It seems the championship game would need to be worth 7 figures on it's own. That seems ridiculous looking at the numbers.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It seems impossible that the per team rake is better with 12 instead of 10. How aren't the few teams people might watch diluted by teams the AAC didn't even want?

It seems the championship game would need to be worth 7 figures on it's own. That seems ridiculous looking at the numbers.

Agreed. This brings me back to the idea of combining the best of the AAC and Mtn.West.

How the best of both leagues didn't combine still confuses me. It's like the one time in CR teams didn't act in their self interests was in our scenario.

It's like UConn, Cinci, Boise, SD State are content to let Tulane, Wyoming etc leech off of them.

No clue how all this happened, (of course Boise eventually got their sweetheart deal, but this could've taken place before that).

 

[whaler11]

Agreed. This brings me back to the idea of combining the best of the AAC and Mtn.West.

How the best of both leagues didn't combine still confuses me. It's like the one time in CR teams didn't act in their self interests was in our scenario.

It's like UConn, Cinci, Boise, SD State are content to let Tulane, Wyoming etc leech off of them.

No clue how all this happened, (of course Boise eventually got their sweetheart deal, but this could've taken place before that).

Boise got a deal from Mountain West that should get them 1 to 1.5 million more than the AAC.

The real key was getting an easier trip to the BCS because the MWC deal includes a 50/50 split of BCS money for anyone that qualifies. Substitute access bowl for BCS in future.

Let the marginally tougher AAC beat each other up a bit and dominate New Mexico and Wyoming and gross half that payment even just every third year and they are way ahead.

Had the timing worked better it may not have happened, but Boise was never going to sign without giving MWC a last look once the thing melted down.

 

[pj]

Agreed. This brings me back to the idea of combining the best of the AAC and Mtn.West.

How the best of both leagues didn't combine still confuses me. It's like the one time in CR teams didn't act in their self interests was in our scenario.

It's like UConn, Cinci, Boise, SD State are content to let Tulane, Wyoming etc leech off of them.

No clue how all this happened, (of course Boise eventually got their sweetheart deal, but this could've taken place before that).

Here's why: Missouri spent $7.1 mn on all sports travel using buses to get to SEC destinations (http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_b26d13a4-a0ed-53de-a09d-0aa492d6103b.html). A MW-AAC combo would have cross-country travel by charter and could easily have $15 mn travel costs for all sports. The student-athletes would struggle with classes. Travel time would become a major recruiting negative. As we saw in MW and AAC TV negotiations, TV networks will only pay a few million a year more for the top of these leagues versus the bottom. So you gain $2 mn/yr in revenue but lose $8 mn in travel costs. And the league is more competitive and harder to stand out in.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Boise got a deal from Mountain West that should get them 1 to 1.5 million more than the AAC.

The real key was getting an easier trip to the BCS because the MWC deal includes a 50/50 split of BCS money for anyone that qualifies. Substitute access bowl for BCS in future.

Let the marginally tougher AAC beat each other up a bit and dominate New Mexico and Wyoming and gross half that payment even just every third year and they are way ahead.

Had the timing worked better it may not have happened, but Boise was never going to sign without giving MWC a last look once the thing melted down.

You can't blame Boise for taking the deal they have in place now, it's a huge win for them.

It would be interesting to me to see how much per year a conference of:

UConn, Cinci, USF, Temple, UCF, Memphis, Navy (fb only)
Boise St, SD St, UNLV, Air Force, Houston, SMU, New Mexico

I mean, you take the properties with some perceived value in both leagues and combine them it has to at least be between 3-4M, no?

It's hands down the 6th best football conference so it would be in the access bowl every year, abd it's a 5-6 bid league for basketball?

idk, who knows. Just feels like this could've all played out better ( aside from the obvious ACC Mess).

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Here's why: Missouri spent $7.1 mn on all sports travel using buses to get to SEC destinations (http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_b26d13a4-a0ed-53de-a09d-0aa492d6103b.html). A MW-AAC combo would have cross-country travel by charter and could easily have $15 mn travel costs for all sports. The student-athletes would struggle with classes. Travel time would become a major recruiting negative. As we saw in MW and AAC TV negotiations, TV networks will only pay a few million a year more for the top of these leagues versus the bottom. So you gain $2 mn/yr in revenue but lose $8 mn in travel costs. And the league is more competitive and harder to stand out in.

IDK, if you played Olympic sports within your division, i think you could mitigate assume of the costs.

 

[B1GALUM]

Here's why: Missouri spent $7.1 mn on all sports travel using buses to get to SEC destinations (http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_b26d13a4-a0ed-53de-a09d-0aa492d6103b.html). A MW-AAC combo would have cross-country travel by charter and could easily have $15 mn travel costs for all sports. The student-athletes would struggle with classes. Travel time would become a major recruiting negative. As we saw in MW and AAC TV negotiations, TV networks will only pay a few million a year more for the top of these leagues versus the bottom. So you gain $2 mn/yr in revenue but lose $8 mn in travel costs. And the league is more competitive and harder to stand out in.

I saw this article as well and am glad you posted it.
Aside from the loss of historical rivalries, travel in terms of financial cost and impact on the student-athletes - those in the Olympic sports in particular - is yet one more drawback of all this conference realignment.
Maryland deal included multimillion-dollar travel subsidy from Big Ten: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...bsidy-worth-tens-maryland-athletic-department
Big 12 agrees to look at WVU's travel problems: http://www.exponent-telegram.com/sports/article_b06ac074-7e3e-11e2-aa76-001a4bcf887a.html
Expanding ACC illuminates concerns with team travel: http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/07/01/expanding-acc-illuminates-concerns-team-travel

 

[woomba]

Travel is a legitimate concern for conf. alignment but the Maryland deal was just a way to disguise a way to sweeten the pot for Maryland to jump ship from the ACC and not really founded on any real travel difficulties.

 

[itgoeslike]

Maryland needed the cash sooner than later and the travel subsidy was one of the ways they "front-loaded" the deal.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Don’t discount the impact of the number of sports that each conference sponsors on the bottom line.

ACC: 25 sports (Men 12, Women 13)​

B1G: 28 sports (Men 14, Women 14)​

PAC: 21 sports (Men 10, Women 11)​

SEC: 21 Sports (Men 9, Women 12)​

XII: 20 Sports (Men 9, Women 11)​

Just another example of the differences between North and South conferences. Texas, which is the richest collegiate athletic programs in the country just sponsors 20 total sports (9 men, 11 women) while Ohio State, which is typically ranked second, sponsors 28 (14 men, 14 women). UConn, by the way, sponsors 22 teams (10 men, 12 women).

 

[CL82]

I'm looking at your avatar of the new logo without the toupee SubbaBub, and I can't believe how many jackasses here actually thought that looked better!

Well at least you wouldn't have to print the wordmark 'UCONN' for it to be recognizable to the casual fan. Just sayin'.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

There's a rule against it?

Yep, it's on page 1,000,375, Article 200,000, Paragraph 2, of the "NCAA Manual."