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

[Samoo]

Why don't you root for Tulane or Tulsa if you think the AAC is such a great spot for UConn? I bet 90% of UConn fans could not get within 50 miles of Tulsa if they were given a blank map of Oklahoma and asked to mark where Tulsa is.

Unfortunately they couldn't do that for Lawrence, Kansas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Iowa City, Iowa or West Lafeyette, Indiana. Fortunately, the geographic aptitude of UCONN fans means little in this debate.

 

[UConnJim]

Guys, just relax. The only way to a P5 conference is through the AAC period. No logical thinker in power at UConn doesn't see it that way as well.

Is the AAC an ideal long term solution for UConn? Of course not and it's not debatable, but it is the only option right now. As the song goes, "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with". (At least until a P5 invite comes!)

 

[Husky25]

Why don't you root for Tulane or Tulsa if you think the AAC is such a great spot for UConn? I bet 90% of UConn fans could not get within 50 miles of Tulsa if they were given a blank map of Oklahoma and asked to mark where Tulsa is.

-1

1. Most UConn fans DO root for Tulane and Tulsa, provided they aren't playing UConn. Anything that increase Conference success leads to more exposure and that cannot be anything but good...while UConn is in it.

2. Sucker bet. I'd venture a guess that Oklahoma has counties larger than the state of Connecticut. 50 miles is not a large radius.

 

[SAMCRO]

Why don't you root for Tulane or Tulsa if you think the AAC is such a great spot for UConn? I bet 90% of UConn fans could not get within 50 miles of Tulsa if they were given a blank map of Oklahoma and asked to mark where Tulsa is.

I don't think people are saying the AAC is a great spot for UConn (at least I hope they're not). What I am hearing, and agree with, is the AAC is a better option than moving all olympic sports to the BE and taking footbal to Independant status, downgrading back to FCS, or dropping it.

 

[junglehusky]

It's also worth pointing out the fact that whether the NNNBE schools would want UConn in their midst is a giant assumption. We no longer fit with their academic profile as they area almost exclusively private religious institutions. This rift was always there in the old BE, and as the rift grew it led to the catholic 7 splitting off on their own. What incentive do they have to bridge that gap with one of the public state schools they divorced from in the first place?

They already have their fat TV contract with FS1 and have little incentive to expand. Maybe Fox will tell them their ratings suck and they should bite the bullet / split the pie more with teams that can bring viewers, but that won't happen until the end of the contract which is what, 10 years? And given their ratings struggles you know Fox won't hand out another fat payday. At that point they may decide to go back to ESPN simply for the exposure.

The people arguing for UConn to drop football should be honest and say "UConn should drop football and put all sports in the A-10" because that is a more realistic scenario than the Big East.

 

[CallMeBruce]

If you don't think that the NBE would welcome UConn basketball back with open arms, you're on drugs. The fact that they're Catholic schools is not relevant. They split off because they didn't want to have Tulane and Tulsa and ECU on their schedules every year, not because they wanted to stop playing the marquee basketball program in the Big East, and especially not because that school is secular. Given the ratings issues they're having, bringing in a high-profile, nationally-recognized program like UConn with Big East history is exactly what the doctor ordered.

It is, however, a bad move for UConn, unless the AAC is willing to let us park our football team there until we get a better offer, which obviously wouldn't happen.

 

[junglehusky]

Well, I am on (generic) Claratin.

 

[The Funster]

The NBE wouldn't want us back because they know when we get a P5 invite we're going pull all the Olympic sports back out. They separated because they felt they were being yanked around by the FBS schools. They aren't going to welcome UConn back in only for us to leave again.

 

[CallMeBruce]

The NBE wouldn't want us back because they know when we get a P5 invite we're going pull all the Olympic sports back out. They separated because they felt they were being yanked around by the FBS schools. They aren't going to welcome UConn back in only for us to leave again.

They separated because they didn't want to add a bunch of no-name, 250+ RPI basketball programs to their schedules. Even if we were to leave eventually, the Big East is making more money the entire time we're in it. They're not going to turn that down because eventually we might leave for a better league.

 

[CL82]

Just like any other league, I can't see them making an offer to us unless it results in an increase to the per school distribution. I can't see that happening with the NBE. Their product has been show to be unable to support their current deal. That number is going down whether UConn joined them or not unless ESPN loses some of it's current inventory. (Fox isn't getting a good ROI and likely won't reinvest at this $$. ESPN has the advertising base to be able to profit from the content.)

 

[The Funster]

They separated because they didn't want to add a bunch of no-name, 250+ RPI basketball programs to their schedules. Even if we were to leave eventually, the Big East is making more money the entire time we're in it. They're not going to turn that down because eventually we might leave for a better league.

I disagree. They split because they didn't want to deal with FBS schools anymore. They felt that they were burned by all the defections. Did they bring in better basketball profiles than the ones that were available from available FBS schools? Absolutely, but that was more a function of the NBE wanting to put the FBS situation in the rearview mirror for good.

 

[Fishy]

If UConn wanted to join the Big East, assuming such a thing were possible, the last thing that would get in the way is the Fox deal - they would make whatever adjustments they'd have to make to increase the take to accommodate UConn.

 

[UConnDan97]

If UConn wanted to join the Big East, assuming such a thing were possible, the last thing that would get in the way is the Fox deal - they would make whatever adjustments they'd have to make to increase the take to accommodate UConn.

^^^ This!

The idea that UConn could no longer join the Big East if it wanted to....really? C'mon, fellas. The only thing keeping UConn from joining the Big East is that it would be a very stupid move for UConn to do. Anyone who doesn't believe that it's a stupid idea is, well, I'll let you do the calculus...

 

[junglehusky]

Okay, so I don't have any sources or quotes but I'm confident that part of the calculus was the private vs. state split. That was not because those schools felt religiously motivated to shun the wordly secular schools or whatever, but there was a clear deliniation between the two camps, and the presidents in their camp felt they were able to see eye to eye with each other and with everyone else less so. That plus Fox came along and offered them a proverbial bag of money. I don't claim to know what Fox wants to do. It's probably nothing for now and hope ratings improve. Maybe they'll reassess when the contract is up for renewal. But I don't imagine the coaches at Seton Hall, Providence etc. will relish having to recruit against UConn in their league, and having UConn use their league as a platform, in the same way BC / flipper felt.

 

[HuskyHawk]

^^^ This!

The idea that UConn could no longer join the Big East if it wanted to....really? C'mon, fellas. The only thing keeping UConn from joining the Big East is that it would be a very stupid move for UConn to do. Anyone who doesn't believe that it's a stupid idea is, well, I'll let you do the calculus...

You realize that such people can't do calculus right?

 

[CL82]

If UConn wanted to join the Big East, assuming such a thing were possible, the last thing that would get in the way is the Fox deal - they would make whatever adjustments they'd have to make to increase the take to accommodate UConn.

I doubt it. They already are losing money on the deal and I don't see that the addition of UConn changes that. Which isn't to say that UConn doesn't have value to networks that actually have viewers.

 

[Fishy]

I doubt it. They already are losing money on the deal and I don't see that the addition of UConn changes that. Which isn't to say that UConn doesn't have value to networks that actually have viewers.

Are you kidding?

If you're running a business and it's struggling to grow, the last thing you do when offered a marquee property is stand pat.

The extra money isn't even a rounding error for Fox.

And for those peeps who think the Big East wouldn't let UConn in - forget that.

Once Fox came along with their bag of money, they owned the Big East in the same way that ESPN owns the ACC.

If Fox says "UConn", it's done.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

While privately I am confident that at least a few current BE members would love to have us back, publicly their stance is that they will not consider it if we are still playing FBS football. They believe that they've been burnt too often and too severely in the past due to football and realize that unless we fulfill Waylon's dream and abandon the sport, the possibility will exist for us to get up and leave at any time (as soon as a P-5 conference extends an invitation).

 

[UConnDan97]

Okay, so I don't have any sources or quotes but I'm confident that part of the calculus was the private vs. state split. That was not because those schools felt religiously motivated to shun the wordly secular schools or whatever, but there was a clear deliniation between the two camps, and the presidents in their camp felt they were able to see eye to eye with each other and with everyone else less so. That plus Fox came along and offered them a proverbial bag of money. I don't claim to know what Fox wants to do. It's probably nothing for now and hope ratings improve. Maybe they'll reassess when the contract is up for renewal. But I don't imagine the coaches at Seton Hall, Providence etc. will relish having to recruit against UConn in their league, and having UConn use their league as a platform, in the same way BC / flipper felt.

The differences between private and public, Catholic and secular, football and non-football, were ONLY issues when the old Big East advantages for the C7 dried up. When they were looking at approximately 10 - 12 million dollar tv contract with the old Big East prior to Cuse, Pitt, Rutgers, WVU, and the Ville splitting town, nobody cared a rat's patootie about public versus private. They cared about a large tv contract and crazy amounts of NCAA tourney credit payments.

The nano-second that the aforementioned reality fell apart, they started to talk about "like-minded universities". Money first, brethren second. UConn would get them more money, ergo, they would include us as part of their brethren...

 

[CL82]

Are you kidding?

If you're running a business and it's struggling to grow, the last thing you do when offered a marquee property is stand pat.

The extra money isn't even a rounding error for Fox.

And for those peeps who think the Big East wouldn't let UConn in - forget that.

Once Fox came along with their bag of money, they owned the Big East in the same way that ESPN owns the ACC.

If Fox says "UConn", it's done.

Do you think UConn generates viewership numbers that are significantly different than what Fox gets now? I'm not convinced of that.

 

[UConnDan97]

Do you think UConn generates viewership numbers that are significantly different than what Fox gets now? I'm not convinced of that.

We are the biggest college draw in a state of 3.5 million people, and we have good viewership in NY as evidenced by our SNY contracts and other such data, as well as good viewership in large portions of New England. If you don't think that would significantly change the metrics for Fox's current Big East situation, then I'm not sure what else to say. We would instantly be the biggest draw in the conference upon stepping one foot back into the door...

 

[CL82]

We are the biggest college draw in a state of 3.5 million people, and we have good viewership in NY as evidenced by our SNY contracts and other such data, as well as good viewership in large portions of New England. If you don't think that would significantly change the metrics for Fox's current Big East situation, then I'm not sure what else to say. We would instantly be the biggest draw in the conference upon stepping one foot back into the door...

Know one is watching. Few even know FS1 exists. I'm not sure that UConn can fix that for them.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Know one is watching. Few even know FS1 exists. I'm not sure that UConn can fix that for them.

SNY paid more for our women's games than AAC teams get for all their sports currently. Do you really question our real value ?

 

[The Funster]

No way the NBE takes UConn unless UConn finds a long term home for football.

 

[Stinger92860]

No way the NBE takes UConn unless UConn finds a long term home for football.

Maybe someone on this board has a few ideas on football independence.