Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[NEforceUConn]

I hope nobody actually believes we'll upgrade to 60k + seats. 48-50k is the sweet spot.

I was under the impression that the 40k Rent coul be upgradeed to about 60k without too much difficulty....althought this has been a contoversial point on any threads. My belief is th stadium cn go from 40k to 55-60k with an expanded project with no major reconstruction (sans normal construction payoffs).

 

[huskymedic]

Big 12 reasons UCF should be No. 1 choice for league expansion

 

[UConnNick]

The notice from the Big 12 comes out on Tuesday afternoon right as the American Athletic Conference Media Day finishes up... lol

Or, the announcement is made DURING the AAC meetings, and two or three AD's immediately jump up from the table, shed their suit coats and start dancing around the conference table! One of them better be Benedict, and he better be a Fred Astaire quality dancer.

 

[Robertelamin]

Big 12 reasons UCF should be No. 1 choice for league expansion

I stopped reading after reason #1 was academics.

 

[4in16]

I believe cable boxes matter a lot more than fannies in the seat. Also, when Uconn was in the Big East, they sold out or were close to a sell out on a regular basis. This fan base has dealt with home games against Tulane, Tulsa, etc recently...I think they sell a hell of a lot more tickets against and Ok St. Games against OU and TX easily sell out. If there is something that CT likes, it's teams that win and playing name schools.

I get your point, but for accuracy we haven't even played Tulsa in football because of a scheduling quirk and we've played @ Tulane twice.

 

[UConnNick]

By giving scraps of information that is somewhere between second and fourth hand, you could be a Twitter legend! Especially if you happened to be from West Virginia.

UConn has been unbelievably tight lipped. There are two ways to look at that. We've done a wonderful job, through consulting relationships and Herbst limiting discussion to those that need to know) keeping things quiet. I don't look at that as any good or bad sign. The other possibility is that we've never really be in consideration. We look good on paper to some Twitter trolls, but the reason for the lack of any even small leaks, is that there's nothing really going on. If we don't get in, we'll probably never know which was true.

Regarding your second point, I do know for a fact from reliable sources inside UCONN that our administration has been actively involved in the entire process with the B12. That should eliminate any possibility of us being so far removed as an outlier as to not warrant any efforts being made whatsoever. Almost everybody nationally considers us at least a marginal if not prohibitive favorite among the schools being considered.

Considering what occurred when Louisville managed to upstage us into the ACC, the secret whisper campaign approach we have taken might mean our administration has known all along that we're going to be selected. If you consider the total lack of open politicking from our administraiton this time around, if there were any doubts about our admission, and we ended up not making the cut, the collective fanbase of UConnNation would want the heads of Herbst and Benedict on a platter in the aftermath of another snub, due to the lack of public posturing on our part. It would be plainly viewed as the second time we sat on our hands and watched other schools with lesser credentials out maneuver us. Quite a few of us think that's what hurt us with the Louisville situation because our administration thought we had that one in the bag, when we obviously didn't. Hopefully our present administration is smart enough to recognize the tidal wave of criticism headed their way if they've made a wrong call again, in terms of public perception of the efforts they have made.

For these reasons, I choose to be cautiously optimistic, and I'm a pessimist by nature.

 

[HuskyHoosier]

Logical reasoning. On top of that, we've been able to pull Benedict from auburn and also hire two other high level folks under him. Would we do that staying in the AAC?

Regarding your second point, I do know for a fact from reliable sources inside UCONN that our administration has been actively involved in the entire process with the B12. That should eliminate any possibility of us being so far removed as an outlier as to not warrant any efforts being made whatsoever. Almost everybody nationally considers us at least a marginal if not prohibitive favorite among the schools being considered.

Considering what occurred when Louisville managed to upstage us into the ACC, the secret whisper campaign approach we have taken might mean our administration has known all along that we're going to be selected. If you consider the total lack of open politicking from our administraiton this time around, if there were any doubts about our admission, and we ended up not making the cut, the collective fanbase of UConnNation would want the heads of Herbst and Benedict on a platter in the aftermath of another snub, due to the lack of public posturing on our part. It would be plainly viewed as the second time we sat on our hands and watched other schools with lesser credentials out maneuver us. Quite a few of us think that's what hurt us with the Louisville situation because our administration thought we had that one in the bag, when we obviously didn't. Hopefully our present administration is smart enough to recognize the tidal wave of criticism headed their way if they've made a wrong call again, in terms of public perception of the efforts they have made.

For these reasons, I choose to be cautiously optimistic, and I'm a pessimist by nature.

 

[coachcap]

I was under the impression that the 40k Rent coul be upgradeed to about 60k without too much difficulty....althought this has been a contoversial point on any threads. My belief is th stadium cn go from 40k to 55-60k with an expanded project with no major reconstruction (sans normal construction payoffs).

When the stadium was built, footings were put in place to accommodate additional seating of 10-15,000, which would stretch the capacity to 55,000. Now if you put more bleachers on a permanent basis on the concourse as was done on a temporary basis for the Michigan game, you could theoretically add 4-5,000 additional seats, getting capacity to @60K. If you really wanted to go crazy, SRO tickets could be sold for the areas behind the red line under the upper deck where the troopers & tennis ball Nazis patrol, adding 2-3,000 more fannies into the building, but that is pie in the sky. The fire marshalls would never allow it.

 

[coachcap]

An additional thought. Say capacity was added to my theoretical max. of 63K. Where are you going to park the additional vehicles? Building parking garages would destroy the tailgating atmosphere. Busing from commuter lots in the area might be the only answer.

 

[Waquoit]

Fannies in the seats will not be an issue if we go Big XII. We will fill 40 K the day we start Big XII ball. For 15 years, WVU was the big game and we had good attendance. If this happens, we'll be in a league filled with West Virginia's.

 

[FDNY99]

When the stadium was built, footings were put in place to accommodate additional seating of 10-15,000, which would stretch the capacity to 55,000. Now if you put more bleachers on a permanent basis on the concourse as was done on a temporary basis for the Michigan game, you could theoretically add 4-5,000 additional seats, getting capacity to @60K. If you really wanted to go crazy, SRO tickets could be sold for the areas behind the red line under the upper deck where the troopers & tennis ball Nazis patrol, adding 2-3,000 more fannies into the building, but that is pie in the sky. The fire marshalls would never allow it.

Coach to get from 55K to 60K plus all that is needed to be done is shrink the footprint of the non-chairback seats to the traditional size you see in the rest of the college football world, where you need a shoehorn to sit in your seat. They could easily go from 55K to 65K if that was done.

 

[Waquoit]

Coach to get from 55K to 60K plus all that is needed to be done is shrink the footprint of the non-chairback seats to the traditional size you see in the rest of the college football world, where you need a shoehorn to sit in your seat. They could easily go from 55K to 65K if that was done.

Enough with that BS. Why would you want to alienate paying customers?

 

[FDNY99]

Enough with that BS. Why would you want to alienate paying customers?

If the need is there or a requirement is placed as terms of admission it is an option. Trust me..there is a reason I moved from section 217 in the end zone to Chairbacks at the end of the 2006 season...it was cheaper to pay a seat donation than court fees every season when I got locked up for fighting some idiot drunk who shoehorned himself in with his friends. That was back when there would be 40K in the place, which if we get into the B-12 will happen again!

 

[UConn990411]

Not a popular post - but maybe reality. All it comes down to is fannies in the seats. Now I will say that I have only been to one UConn home game against Army and maybe there was 26k at the game, so I leave it to others to fill in the attendance details. Tell me even with a Big 12 invite and assuming we are in that league with an expanded stadium of 60k how many tickets will be sold for UConn vs OK State.? Specifically how many OK State fans can we count on to show up?

That;s the paradigm. We need more fans and need more opposing team fans. Yes in the Big 12 we sell out maybe for UT and OU (assuming a 60k stadium) but how many show up for TCU? Maybe the 30k locals but TCU is not bringing 20k fans. It's sad, but its not anything different from BCU and Syracuse (or UC, Memphis, UCF, etc.). The opposing team fans will not show up,. And how will Uconn fans travel for away games that are miles apart at Baylor, Kansas, Texas Tech - 2k?

Its sad. But think of UVA which in its last few years gets maybe 40k in a 60k stadium. But if they are playing Clemson or VTech the opposing team brings 20k fans, so the stadium is sold out

So in a real world I do think UConn would do better in a local ACC environment, where competitive games with BCU, Cuse, UNC would bring opposing team fans into the Rent - increasing our 25-35k loyal fans to 45-55 (in a 60k area), but that won't happen with the Big 12. Maybe people watch on TV, and maybe this is no different from Cincy, Memphis, UH, or the Florida schools. But from an outside perspective you relally want to be in a conference where your stadium is full and 10k+ opposing fans are there every game. Take UVA, the attendance playing Duke at home is pitiful, but when Clemson's 20k fans (orV Tech ) travel its full.

So I am not condemning UConn , I think its the same with any team considered for thdeBig 12, but seriously in the short to medium run you need a conference where between the local fans and away fans attending the stadium is rocking. And as important as that how well does Uconn travel. I was at the Meinike Bowl and we traveled well, but if we were playing in UT for the conference champsionship (2 years from now) how many fans would show up?

Sorry to be a debbie downer, and i dont understand why every Patriots game/BoSox is sold out - but we are not there ....yet. But we are NO different from Cincy. UH, UCF, or Memphis in this regard.

I guess I am just saying that the ACC/BIG should understand that: yes relative local fans will travel to the Rent, especailly when we are good - like this coming year, and UConn fans will travel to RU, Maryland, UVA, VTU, Penn State, Cuse, Duke, NC State when the game is on the line to the tune of 10k (so I think). But to think we travel to UT, UH, TCU, KS is a different metric.

I was at the Meinke bowl and UConn fans showed up huge, and Swafford should take serious note of that and out continued potential. Now the Birmingham bowl against SC - I have no idea, But we did whip their ass.

And yes I have somewhat inside contacts at the ACC and all I hear is tha they are working hard this summer. God only hopes they understand the potential power of NE football and what it can bring, surley BCU and Cuse (and RU) have played that down - but I for one can see a very bright future!!
n

This is a very old (and incorrect) way of thinking about conference realignment.

 

[buddy]

It is unfortunately how many opposing team fans you bring in to fill up the stadium. I have no metics on this, but distance is a large variable.

Hopefully its just a money grab for the Big 12, and QUESTIONABLY Uconn is the best school available on ANY metric.

I fully expect a ACC invite or all is lost.

I very much doubt the ACC will invite UConn. They have no need to expand now. If Big 12 doesn't work out, then forget about it and say goodbye to college sports.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Except KU has 3 national championships not 1

True but we have four, and at the time they won their second, the idea that we could ever win one would have been grounds for an insanity plea.

 

[JSM1970]

Yes, that's what Villanova did after they never went to major D-1 in football

Football will be a wasteland, cover the upper part of the Rent like they do for A's games

I very much doubt the ACC will invite UConn. They have no need to expand now. If Big 12 doesn't work out, then forget about it and say goodbye to college sports.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Non-stop cities, if anyone actually cares:

Your airport isn't even in your home state.

 

[Fishy]

If the need is there or a requirement is placed as terms of admission it is an option. Trust me..there is a reason I moved from section 217 in the end zone to Chairbacks at the end of the 2006 season...it was cheaper to pay a seat donation than court fees every season when I got locked up for fighting some idiot drunk who shoehorned himself in with his friends. That was back when there would be 40K in the place, which if we get into the B-12 will happen again!

From what I remember back from the old Friends of UConn Football days, 55,000 was the outside number for expanding the stadium. Maybe they can squeeze some extra like the Michigan game, but there might be some serious strain on other aspects of the stadium experience if you get too crazy.

Squeezing people in is just bad business. I'm not even a fan of putting in extra seats for big games - if you want to make sure you get into the Texas/Michigan/Oklahoma/Whoever game, buy season tickets -- that should be the mindset.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Just suprising that Arizona & Arizona State want to leave the PAC 12?! I mean the Big 12 isn't exactly a "stable" thing right now...

They aren't leaving the Pac-12. Each has been a member for nearly four decades and of more importance, membership in that conference is why the two Arizona schools are above the likes of Nevada, New Mexico, et al on so many levels. The P-8 adding them was their life-raft and they've been fully ingrained members for the adult lives of likely every possible decision maker. Additionally, unlike what they would face in many conferences, when Utah & Colorado were added, the P-12 did not keep the four California schools together in one division (as most speculated would happen). In the P-12, members do actually get a fair shake.

 

[Doggie Style]

Coach to get from 55K to 60K plus all that is needed to be done is shrink the footprint of the non-chairback seats to the traditional size you see in the rest of the college football world, where you need a shoehorn to sit in your seat. They could easily go from 55K to 65K if that was done.

THAT would suck!!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

THAT would suck!!

This is just a guess but our bench seats have to be ~20" wide per seat. I'll wager heavily that in most college stadiums, better seats are 16" and in some (upper levels of the Big House & Beaver Stadium for instance) it gets down to as low as 8".

While I would want it to be a last possible move (after all physical additions have been exhausted) I can see adding a couple thousand to our capacity merely by bring bench seat width in slightly.

 

[noeynox]

I hope nobody actually believes we'll upgrade to 60k + seats. 48-50k is the sweet spot.

Also, this is plenty big enough for a big time atmosphere. When the Rent is full now it's a big time atmosphere. Our games against Michigan, Pitt, Baylor etc were raucous crowds.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

They aren't leaving the Pac-12. Each has been a member for nearly four decades and of more importance, membership in that conference is why the two Arizona schools are above the likes of Nevada, New Mexico, et al on so many levels. The P-8 adding them was their life-raft and they've been fully ingrained members for the adult lives of likely every possible decision maker. Additionally, unlike what they would face in many conferences, when Utah & Colorado were added, the P-12 did not keep the four California schools together in one division (as most speculated would happen). In the P-12, members do actually get a fair shake.

If it was even being considered ,it's the best kept secret in AZ
AZ 's population is a mix of refugee
Californian's, RainBirds ( Wash &Ore),Upper Midwesterners,
a few from every place else ,and natives . The former Big 12 states of Nebraska and Colo are also represented.
If they were still there I would take this more seriously .
If the PAC adds
SDSU and CSU are much more likely
San Diago is a huge area and an easy ride from AZ, and if you have Wash State and Oregon state ,why not CSU

 

[Adios]

Whatever just happened at A&M should help our cause since we have the preeminent women's basketball program...

The state of Texas could use some PR.