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

[JohnFSilver]

Are you kidding? Look at the last rounds of realignment. AAC schools UCF, Cincy, and SMU got seats. It almost looks like it's better to be in the AAC than not. Lol. I kid, kinda

UConn region is a major negative. It isn’t just location, football prowess, it is people don’t want to associate with a New England Public, no matter how good the academics get.

It’s cultural.

 

[noeynox]

Maybe they did care, but look at what happened. Hired Edsall 2.0 at about half the salary of the previous coach. That does not happen at any school. Had the head coach fund a pay raise for the OC out of his pocket. Left the AAC with a limited plan for football. Cancelled the 2020 football season. We pay both the men’s basketball coach and women’s basketball coach salaries that are not more, but multiple times what the head football coach makes.

How does that scream UConn cares about football?

Spot on. On here pointing out the obvious makes people mad.

 

[Kolumbo]

We really probably shouldn’t have left the AAC. There are plenty of teams (JMU Tulane UTSA) that are having a ton of fun and great brand-building moments right now despite being in minor conferences.

And now I really don’t even blame the ACC and Big12 for not wanting us. This is fully self inflicted. We joined the AAC and just stopped caring about football for like a decade. Then we made a ton of noise to go to the big east - football be damned. And now we want other people in football centric conferences to take us seriously? I mean if I was a neutral observer - I certainly wouldn’t. It’s really upsetting to me that the 2014-2022 state and school administrations really ranked our long-term athletic prospects.

I believe a common misunderstanding and a very important distinction because even you as a UConn fan are misrepresenting what happened. Of course the rest of the country doesn't get it. UConn did not join the AAC and then leave and because people believe that is what UConn did, it hurts UConn's rep. UConn was in the Big East which quickly degraded and turned into a southern based AAC made up of programs no one in New England cared about. It was a tough situation all around but it was hardly self-inflicted.

 

[JohnFSilver]

This move solidified the end of the ACC. UConn's best move right now is to not make a bad knee-jerk move to a G5 conference and stand pat for the remnants of the impending ACC dissolution or pick up a future B12 invite.

It is unconscionable how stupid the ACC is to have added these three against the objections of their three biggest brands. There's no way this further solidifies the ACC GOR, if anything it provides those three more loopholes to get out of it. Remember when the Big East added SDSU and Boise? This is basically that, the beginning of the end.

I think the StanCal/ SMU gambit is a mistake. That makes me worry about the acc. I would just as soon go big 12. No super teams there, but good solid programs.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Ah…the term is Grant of Rights.

You can’t pledge your rights to another conference because they are already signed away.

Yeah. Essentially, the schools don’t own their rights. They gave possession of them away.

I am sure there is a way to get out of it. But it gonna be costly.

 

[uconnyankee]

Are you kidding? Look at the last rounds of realignment. AAC schools UCF, Cincy, and SMU got seats. It almost looks like it's better to be in the AAC than not. Lol. I kid, kinda

Let’s not say SMU got a seat ok?
They literally bought a seat by not taking a payment for 9 years.

 

[UCFBfan]

Let’s not say SMU got a seat ok?
They literally bought a seat by not taking a payment for 9 years.

What is your definition of getting a seat? On their field it will say ACC. Whether they get money for 9 years or not, they are part of that conference. So yes, they got a seat.

 

[Kolumbo]

UConn region is a major negative. It isn’t just location, football prowess, it is people don’t want to associate with a New England Public, no matter how good the academics get.

It’s cultural.

I don't get what you mean about being a New England Public, but yes, our area of the country is much different than the rest of the country in many ways. NY has SUNY locations instead of one or two large flagship state U's. Similar situation in Mass. The Northeast is chock full of elite private schools. I've never felt people don't want to be associated with UConn, UMass, UVM.

 

[noeynox]

Let’s not say SMU got a seat ok?
They literally bought a seat by not taking a payment for 9 years.

Whatever it takes. If they win that conference they will have a shot at CFB playoff. That said, a good move for them doesn't equal a good move for us.

 

[Dizzy21]

Let’s not say SMU got a seat ok?
They literally bought a seat by not taking a payment for 9 years.

They are taking plenty of payments, at least if not more than they would have in the AAC and more than we are getting. Aside from all the monetary benefits of them being in the ACC instead of AAC, having better opponents, better P5 association, and better educational institutions. Not sure how that equates to buying a seat.

 

[Storrs South]

It was the best decision we could have made, but I don't think a lot of other ADs and conference commissioners understood the move at all.

it was unorthodox and a lot of these people don't think outside the box.

It was an extremely unorthodox move. One no one else in FBS has made before or since...and it worked. Major kudos to President Herbst getting that done on the way out. Doesn't fully undo the mess that started a decade ago under her watch but she does deserve credit for at least partially correcting the wrongs of the early 2010s and it paid a massive dividend in April 2023.

So yes most outside the northeast aren't going to understand and likely not care the why and how we ended up where we are. It also is a move that worked for UConn but probably only works at 10 other schools at most in FBS, only 2 of which sits in the Big 12 today and only 3 of which sits in the ACC today. To every one else it probably looks like giving up until giving it careful inspection.

 

[UConnJim]

Define a "limited" plan for football?

The schedule improved off the bat and we secured a linear tv deal with CBS Sports Network as opposed to playing behind the ESPN+ Paywall?

Edsall was never consulted and he didn't find out about the move to the Big East until the last minute and football is supposed to be the most important sport. UConn was focused on the landing for basketball and just figured we could go indy in football. I get and support the move to the Big East, but nobody thought going indy was going to enhance football. Now, that we see what has happened to the AAC, it was the correct move.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I don't get what you mean about being a New England Public, but yes, our area of the country is much different than the rest of the country in many ways. NY has SUNY locations instead of one or two large flagship state U's. Similar situation in Mass. The Northeast is chock full of elite private schools. I've never felt people don't want to be associated with UConn, UMass, UVM.

U aren’t hanging with the crowd then. Game, Wesleyan, Trinity runs deep in the state.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Maybe they did care, but look at what happened. Hired Edsall 2.0 at about half the salary of the previous coach. That does not happen at any school. Had the head coach fund a pay raise for the OC out of his pocket. Left the AAC with a limited plan for football. Cancelled the 2020 football season. We pay both the men’s basketball coach and women’s basketball coach salaries that are not more, but multiple times what the head football coach makes.

How does that scream UConn cares about football?

They shouldn't have hired RE2. His level of care was pitiful and overall his staff was nowhere near what it was as compared to RE1. That is all on RE. Under Mora (great hire!) things are on track again. Fans are going to come back and the whole vibe will be improved in every facet. It's all about coaches and winning. Onwards and upwards. In Mora we trust!

 

[upstater]

I don't get what you mean about being a New England Public, but yes, our area of the country is much different than the rest of the country in many ways. NY has SUNY locations instead of one or two large flagship state U's. Similar situation in Mass. The Northeast is chock full of elite private schools. I've never felt people don't want to be associated with UConn, UMass, UVM.

Just to correct this, Buffalo is the state's flagship.

It's officially the state's flagship, both according to the politicians who refer to it as the flagship, and according to SUNY Central that officially designates it as a flagship.

In size and scope, it is the flagship as well, as it's bigger than the others with 32,000 students, and it's an AAU school.

 

[upstater]

I don't get what you mean about being a New England Public, but yes, our area of the country is much different than the rest of the country in many ways. NY has SUNY locations instead of one or two large flagship state U's. Similar situation in Mass. The Northeast is chock full of elite private schools. I've never felt people don't want to be associated with UConn, UMass, UVM.

I think he's referring to UConn being from a liberal state. I would not disagree with his assessment since I not only read it repeatedly from B12 fans, but a few administrators too.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Edsall was never consulted and he didn't find out about the move to the Big East until the last minute and football is supposed to be the most important sport. UConn was focused on the landing for basketball and just figured we could go indy in football. I get and support the move to the Big East, but nobody thought going indy was going to enhance football. Now, that we see what has happened to the AAC, it was the correct move.

Randy Edsall should have been consulted? No thanks.

AAC was a total non-starter for our program and fans. Couldn't see it to recruits or fans that bought into the BCS league.

Agree with everything else and I even agree that national perception saw us leaving the AAC as a sign we weren't serious about football, but as much as it was a basketball move it was for football too. The AAC was never going to play in Connecticut.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Whether he should or should not have been informed in advance is open for debate (being informed is far different from being consulted). One fact is that RE didn't have sufficient imagination to see any positives for football by going independent and he was unable to project much of a positive outlook when trying to promote the program.

 

[Kolumbo]

Just to correct this, Buffalo is the state's flagship.

It's officially the state's flagship, both according to the politicians who refer to it as the flagship, and according to SUNY Central that officially designates it as a flagship.

In size and scope, it is the flagship as well, as it's bigger than the others with 32,000 students, and it's an AAU school.

I know that, and you know that. But the rest of the country does not read "University of Buffalo" and think it is the flagship university of the 4th largest state in the country similar to University of Texas, University of Floriday, Penn State, or Ohio State.

 

[pj]

I know that, and you know that. But the rest of the country does not read "University of Buffalo" and think it is the flagship university of the 4th largest state in the country similar to University of Texas, University of Floriday, Penn State, or Ohio State.

Doesn't New York have like four flagships? (Buffalo, Stony Brook, Binghamton, maybe Albany too?)

 

[WestHartHusk]

UConn region is a major negative. It isn’t just location, football prowess, it is people don’t want to associate with a New England Public, no matter how good the academics get.

It’s cultural.

Keep up…the ACC just invited Cal and Stanford.

 

[upstater]

I know that, and you know that. But the rest of the country does not read "University of Buffalo" and think it is the flagship university of the 4th largest state in the country similar to University of Texas, University of Floriday, Penn State, or Ohio State.

I do know that, but awareness of universities nationally is largely due to sports. I doubt most people are aware whether these state schools are strong academically, outside of Virginia, Michigan and Cal-Berkeley.

UB occupies that same space as some of the Cals which don't play bigtime sports, but are top public universities just the same. They are the same age as well, 1950s.

 

[upstater]

Doesn't New York have like four flagships? (Buffalo, Stony Brook, Binghamton, maybe Albany too?)

Those are the 4 universities of the state system.

Of these, Buffalo is the flagship.

 

[Mora4Prez]

We didn't stop caring about football for a decade but rather we hired 3 crappy/progressively worse coaches in a row.

Is that not the same thing? They could’ve easily went out and paid more money for better coaches. But they were lazy and cheap and the results speak for themselves. I’m sorry but this is mostly our own doing.

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. You can be bad at sports but you can’t be a national joke. And that’s what UConn football was for almost a decade. And that’s why SMU - which isn’t what we’d call a powerhouse - now has a P4 home and we don’t.