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

[LoyalFanCT]

We were literally a top 35 program in the Big East. AAU membership isn't that far around the corner.

the decent ranking was maybe a dozen years ago. as of last season we were a dumpster fire football program I want them to go 8 and 4 this season but that may not even get us in the top 60. Many universities claim AAU is around the corner. We have to dramatically increase research output to be considered for AAU. If we can get into B12 or ACC, improve FB and build academic research for maybe 10 years, we may have a shot at the B10 but don't count on it.

 

[Kolumbo]

We were literally a top 35 program in the Big East. AAU membership isn't that far around the corner.

Keep fighting the good fight Shizzle. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take," or something.

"10. The hiring, 1986: In 1979, UConn was one of seven founding members of the Big East Conference. But before Calhoun took the job, the Huskies averaged a mere 15 wins a season. At his introductory news conference, Calhoun was asked if UConn could -- gasp -- one day become a national power. His response? "It's doable." Yes, yes it was."

 

[UConnTrumbull]

 

[UConn Dan]

I was only half paying attention during that portion. It sounded like he was guessing at that no?

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I was only half paying attention during that portion. It sounded like he was guessing at that no?

Honestly I have no idea. Just thought I would pass it along. Borderline non-key tweet.

 

[Ucxc24]

The longer this is going on the more it just leaves a sour taste. I get the predicament we are in, but we just can’t keep being embarrassed as a program every year or two when the musical chairs start. I have a feeling Yormark is a classic example of “ahead of its time”. The fact that some presidents might be worried about their football image taking a hit before UConn football would even join tells you how far off they are.

 

[UConn Dan]

Honestly I have no idea. Just thought I would pass it along. Borderline non-key tweet.

GoKU suggested that they heard upwards of $15million per year from ESPN to add us. Not sure if true, obviously, and if true more than likely we would share some/most with the other teams until the next contract where we get a more equal share.

 

[gsmooth]

The longer this is going on the more it just leaves a sour taste. I get the predicament we are in, but we just can’t keep being embarrassed as a program every year or two when the musical chairs start. I have a feeling Yormark is a classic example of “ahead of its time”. The fact that some presidents might be worried about their football image taking a hit before UConn football would even join tells you how far off they are.

Yes exactly. The Big 12 presidents really should be listening to Yormark because..

1) he saved the Big 12 by unexpectedly getting a very good TV contract by acting quickly. The Big 12 at the time was at the risk of extinction with the Texas and Oklahoma departures.

AND

2) said contract in #1 ended up looking like a very enticing life raft for the Pac 12 4 corner schools when their own TV contract looked awful and after the Washington and Oregon bolted for the Big 10

Yormark has been several steps ahead of the curve.

 

[Skiblets]

Lamont offers ESPN 50M more per year in tax credits for next 10 years.

ESPN offers Big 12 $20m to add us. CT adds $60 per resident on income tax.

Done

 

[psilotic]

ESPN has hosed UConn virtually every step of the conf. realignment way since 2003. Now we're supposed to believe they're the white knight? Well, they certainly owe a few favors to the flagship U of their home state, that's for sure

 

[huskymedic]

Norlander/Dodd:

UConn to the Big 12? What conference decision-makers, TV partners are considering with potential addition

The Huskies could be in the Big 12 for basketball by 2026 and for football by 2031

www.cbssports.com

-> Does Yormark have the votes?​

It's not clear, but at this stage, indications are that he does not. That's what Monday's presentation was about. Any such expansion requires a "super majority" of Big 12 presidents voting in favor of expansion. That is, at least 12 of the 16 schools must approve.

Discussions are ongoing, but it's worth mentioning that Baylor president Linda Livingstone is the current Big 12 chair of the conference board of directors and the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors. What she thinks matters. CBS Sports reported Monday the current count is 6-2 in favor of the move. That two against might be a conservative estimate. Sources have indicated a handful of schools are either outright "no" votes or highly skeptical of the proposition at this stage.

A reminder, it only takes five votes to nix the move. Additionally, Yormark is trying to steer this issue amid a new group of presidents who don't fully align on this topic. Expansion is always a hot-button issue. Yormark is trying to work his pitch while avoiding disagreement as the Big 12 debuts with 16 teams in the latest era of profound transformation in college athletics.

If Yormark doesn't have the votes, there probably won't be a vote. That's what the next few weeks about -- presidents sharing information with their ADs and administrators to come up with an institutional opinion. Ideally, any commissioner would want a unanimous vote to assure alignment in the conference. Even though the presidents have the vote on this issue, it would be advantageous for Yormark to have total alignment. That means president and athletic director across the Big 12 board agree to bring in UConn. <-

There is a lot more in the article. Strongly suggest a read before commenting.

 

[hank970]

The reason UConn needs to make this move is to not only get into the P4 now but give themselves a chance to get into the Big 10 in 10-15 years. If the SEC and Big 10 go to 24 schools in the future and UConn is at least average in football in the Big 12 (very plausible given previous performance in BCS league), UConn would have a decent shot to be team #23 or #24. That is why you have to make the move. I don't know if the Big 12 is going to add UConn but I know why some Big 12 schools would be opposed and it's not because of football, it's because they fall behind UConn in the Big 10 pecking order if the Huskies are invited.

Teams never sniffing the Big 10:
UCF
Cincinnati
West Virginia
Iowa State
Kansas State
Baylor
BYU
Oklahoma State
Houston

Teams with a chance:
Texas Tech
TCU

Teams with a real opportunity if the Big 10 goes to 24 (obviously some of these schools could get picked off by the SEC as well):
Kansas
Utah
UConn
Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado

Some of your conjecture has merit, and some is complete bull crap.

 

[Skiblets]

Norlander/Dodd:

UConn to the Big 12? What conference decision-makers, TV partners are considering with potential addition

The Huskies could be in the Big 12 for basketball by 2026 and for football by 2031

www.cbssports.com

-> Does Yormark have the votes?​

It's not clear, but at this stage, indications are that he does not. That's what Monday's presentation was about. Any such expansion requires a "super majority" of Big 12 presidents voting in favor of expansion. That is, at least 12 of the 16 schools must approve. Discussions are ongoing, but it's worth mentioning that Baylor president Linda Livingstone is the current Big 12 chair of the conference board of directors and the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors. What she thinks matters. CBS Sports reported Monday the current count is 6-2 in favor of the move. That two against might be a conservative estimate. Sources have indicated a handful of schools are either outright "no" votes or highly skeptical of the proposition at this stage.

A reminder, it only takes five votes to nix the move. Additionally, Yormark is trying to steer this issue amid a new group of presidents who don't fully align on this topic. Expansion is always a hot-button issue. Yormark is trying to work his pitch while avoiding disagreement as the Big 12 debuts with 16 teams in the latest era of profound transformation in college athletics.

If Yormark doesn't have the votes, there probably won't be a vote. That's what the next few weeks about -- presidents sharing information with their ADs and administrators to come up with an institutional opinion. Ideally, any commissioner would want a unanimous vote to assure alignment in the conference. Even though the presidents have the vote on this issue, it would be advantageous for Yormark to have total alignment. That means president and athletic director across the Big 12 board agree to bring in UConn. <-

There is a lot more in the article. Strongly suggest a read before commenting.

Seems to me that we flew too close to the sun for football in the Big East and then completely fell off the face of the earth. All the skepticism we currently face is the same skepticism we faced when going 1A in football and schools are probably wondering if we can do it again. They'd be taking a flyer on us.

This process just sucks. No other school has remotely been jerked around like this. Not even close. And the lack of leadership from the Board, the multiple Presidents and multiple ineffective ADs, until AD David Benedict is the real core issue, not these other conferences

 

[UConn Dan]

Norlander/Dodd:

UConn to the Big 12? What conference decision-makers, TV partners are considering with potential addition

The Huskies could be in the Big 12 for basketball by 2026 and for football by 2031

www.cbssports.com

-> Does Yormark have the votes?​

It's not clear, but at this stage, indications are that he does not. That's what Monday's presentation was about. Any such expansion requires a "super majority" of Big 12 presidents voting in favor of expansion. That is, at least 12 of the 16 schools must approve.

Discussions are ongoing, but it's worth mentioning that Baylor president Linda Livingstone is the current Big 12 chair of the conference board of directors and the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors. What she thinks matters. CBS Sports reported Monday the current count is 6-2 in favor of the move. That two against might be a conservative estimate. Sources have indicated a handful of schools are either outright "no" votes or highly skeptical of the proposition at this stage.

A reminder, it only takes five votes to nix the move. Additionally, Yormark is trying to steer this issue amid a new group of presidents who don't fully align on this topic. Expansion is always a hot-button issue. Yormark is trying to work his pitch while avoiding disagreement as the Big 12 debuts with 16 teams in the latest era of profound transformation in college athletics.

If Yormark doesn't have the votes, there probably won't be a vote. That's what the next few weeks about -- presidents sharing information with their ADs and administrators to come up with an institutional opinion. Ideally, any commissioner would want a unanimous vote to assure alignment in the conference. Even though the presidents have the vote on this issue, it would be advantageous for Yormark to have total alignment. That means president and athletic director across the Big 12 board agree to bring in UConn. <-

There is a lot more in the article. Strongly suggest a read before commenting.

Agree worth reading !!

"What he's doing is great for the Big 12," one school administrator from the league said of Yormark. "He's got more ideas and initiatives than any commissioner in the country. I support him 100% on the Connecticut opportunity."

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Let's wait to see what the B12 officials say. Some of these news sources tipping off reporters may be athletic directors who hate uconn.

 

[bendm]

Sources have indicated a handful of schools are either outright "no" votes or highly skeptical of the proposition at this stage.

we now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

[jostar1]

Dennis Dodd wrote "Discussions are ongoing, but it's worth mentioning that Baylor president Linda Livingstone is the current Big 12 chair of the conference board of directors and the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors. What she thinks matters".

Dodd throws this in but then doesn't put any context around it.

I think the Baylor AD, Mack Rhoades, is in our corner. Last year, he even came out and said that a G5 school could get pro-rata. He is very close to Brett Yormark. Yormark said that Rhoades was his "sounding board" for 12 months when he first became the commissioner. (Video from last year posted below).

Plus, I would think that the Baylor President being the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors is a plus for us.

 

[UConn Dan]

Dennis Dodd wrote "Discussions are ongoing, but it's worth mentioning that Baylor president Linda Livingstone is the current Big 12 chair of the conference board of directors and the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors. What she thinks matters".

Dodd throws this in but then doesn't put any context around it.

I think the Baylor AD, Mack Rhoades, is in our corner. Last year, he even came out and said that a G5 school could get pro-rata. He is very close to Brett Yormark. Yormark said that Rhoades was his "sounding board" for 12 months when he first became the commissioner. (Video from last year posted below).

Plus, I would think that the Baylor President being the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors is a plus for us.

Yeah I thought that was odd that he pointed that out too.

As an aside, wasn’t there a poster here that was an academic and knew her professionally? Time to put in a call lol

 

[Hamms30]

So let's send Linda, some flowers, syrup and apple cider donuts and close this deal!

 

[Skiblets]

So let's send Linda, some flowers, syrup and apple cider donuts and close this deal!

WE could send her CT's best pizza too but we haven't settled that issue either

 

[psilotic]

Storrs is 14 miles from Bristol?

 

[ZooCougar]

Skiblets, your fingernail clippings are smarter than I will ever be

 

[UConnTrumbull]

900 pages. Hopefully nearing the end of this saga.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Baylor would benefit immensely from UConn WBB

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Norlander/Dodd:

UConn to the Big 12? What conference decision-makers, TV partners are considering with potential addition

The Huskies could be in the Big 12 for basketball by 2026 and for football by 2031

www.cbssports.com

-> Does Yormark have the votes?​

It's not clear, but at this stage, indications are that he does not. That's what Monday's presentation was about. Any such expansion requires a "super majority" of Big 12 presidents voting in favor of expansion. That is, at least 12 of the 16 schools must approve.

Discussions are ongoing, but it's worth mentioning that Baylor president Linda Livingstone is the current Big 12 chair of the conference board of directors and the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors. What she thinks matters. CBS Sports reported Monday the current count is 6-2 in favor of the move. That two against might be a conservative estimate. Sources have indicated a handful of schools are either outright "no" votes or highly skeptical of the proposition at this stage.

A reminder, it only takes five votes to nix the move. Additionally, Yormark is trying to steer this issue amid a new group of presidents who don't fully align on this topic. Expansion is always a hot-button issue. Yormark is trying to work his pitch while avoiding disagreement as the Big 12 debuts with 16 teams in the latest era of profound transformation in college athletics.

If Yormark doesn't have the votes, there probably won't be a vote. That's what the next few weeks about -- presidents sharing information with their ADs and administrators to come up with an institutional opinion. Ideally, any commissioner would want a unanimous vote to assure alignment in the conference. Even though the presidents have the vote on this issue, it would be advantageous for Yormark to have total alignment. That means president and athletic director across the Big 12 board agree to bring in UConn. <-

There is a lot more in the article. Strongly suggest a read before commenting.

Dodd misrepresents the real question. The real question is whether the Big 12 wants to take a school as basketball only. The Big 12 is not committing to anything on football. Some schools may not want a basketball-only member, I don’t know, but that is the question from the Big 12’s perspective.

 

[GoKU]

This is not true from everything I've heard. UConn wouldn't take less money, more travel AND a significant investment in football just to join. Yormark has worked on this for a year. UConn increased the Big East media deal, which is why Endeavor gave its pitch. No way ESPN offers them 6 million.

 

[jostar1]

Dodd misrepresents the real question. The real question is whether the Big 12 wants to take a school as basketball only. The Big 12 is not committing to anything on football. Some schools may not want a basketball-only member, I don’t know, but that is the question from the Big 12’s perspective.

You are misrepresenting it. The plan as has been stated in all of the stories is for football to join in 2031 after meeting financial benchmarks. That is what the Big 12 would be committed to.

Per Dodd's prior story:

"CBS Sports confirmed that the plan would be for UConn to join the league in all sports except football by 2026. Football would then join in 2031 after meeting a set of financial benchmarks".

 

[jostar1]

This is not true from everything I've heard. UConn wouldn't take less money, more travel AND a significant investment in football just to join. Yormark has worked on this for a year. UConn increased the Big East media deal, which is why Endeavor gave its pitch. No way ESPN offers them 6 million.

Agree. Matt Norlander estimated it to be $10-$11million.

 

[AllHusky]

Don’t settle Huskies, gotta stay on the slog. Big Ten is possible, gotta show we can compete.

Seems to me that we flew too close to the sun for football in the Big East and then completely fell off the face of the earth. All the skepticism we currently face is the same skepticism we faced when going 1A in football and schools are probably wondering if we can do it again. They'd be taking a flyer on us.

This process just sucks. No other school has remotely been jerked around like this. Not even close. And the lack of leadership from the Board, the multiple Presidents and multiple ineffective ADs, until AD David Benedict is the real core issue, not these other conferences

Nice analogy, pretty damn close to what happened. Felt a little bit like how dare you be competitive already

 

[Padutch5]

Those 15k kids would turn into 20k when their friends from home and other schools show up to tailgate and go to a game!!

How many people are employed at UConn-Storrs within a 25 min drive? My friend works for Dining Services, her husband Employee season ticket discounts. A bunch.

Die hard do what I need to do to go to a game fans. How many season tix we have last year. At least them.

Has anyone been to Penn St Football? Do you know how far those "hometown fans" need to travel to get to the Happy Valley? I was an hour away i Lewisburg. The locals bar was the Towne Tavern(great black diamond steak $11 1984.) Had some Rutgers friends come out for the PSU-Rutty game in '83 or4, saw the Towne Tavern owners in the parking lot, RV, TV, Living Room furniture, they'd been there since Wed for a Saturday game. Half never went inside.

No, we aren't 107,000 Penn St fans in Beaver, but we certainly could be 50 in Storrrs. Build it and they will come, win and more will come.

We just need to get our foot BACK in the door.

Yes, we have been to a number of games at Penn State [by the way The Rent is far better stadium from a fan standpoint.].Before Pa. widened the roads into the stadium fans started arriving on Thursday and didn’t leave until Sunday because of the choked roads. I dont see ct or the towns between Storrs and Rt 91 allowing that traffic or do I see Ct paying to widen the roads.