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

[shizzle787]

Not a tweet but something to keep in mind: 7 NCAA member schools are closing at the end of this school year. Five are in Division 3, and the other two in are in Division 2.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I could have totally misinterpreted the potential impact, but here's how I'm seeing things. I think your argument is that big football schools will be disproportionally hit. I can see that being the case for past damages. So, the Big 10 and SEC schools may have a HUGE bill coming.

The other concern, however, is the ongoing revenue sharing that is being discussed as part of a settlement. I think UConn and G5 football schools are in potential trouble if that happens. The P4 schools all have more revenue to share than the Big East and that is mostly because of football. It will be very hard to compete with the P4 in football (maybe even harder than now?) if you don't ante up and meet their revenue sharing dollars. The percentage would have to be substantially higher than what the P4 would be paying. The $20mm cap I've seen discussed would be MUCH easier for the SEC and Big Ten in particular, than it would be for UConn.

The rest of the Big East and any other non-football playing power basketball teams (Gonzaga) won't have to hit that $20mm number because I assume much of that money will go to the football players in the P4. To compete, UConn would have to give a bigger portion of money that the school doesn't have, to the program that is costing the most.

UConn needed a shakeup that was asymmetric to create an opening at a major conference. Many of these conferences have schools with dramatically different resources and missions, and they were under one roof because they had started that way in a different era 40 or 50 or 80 years ago when college athletics was nothing like it is today. They P2 and the ACC/Big 12 stuck together, somewhat, because their athletic departments were a lot of revenue and little cost. Now, suddenly, there is a fudge load of additional cost and modest additional revenue, at a time where the linear cable model, which made all of these enormous revenues possible, is dying. That shock alone might have been enough to reshuffle the conference alignments, but potentially flat to declining revenues together with a massive increase in costs is Armageddon for some of those schools.

The major conferences could turn into Lord of the Flies in terms of the top producers ending equal shares for everyone. You put all that together, and there are going to be schools that go a different route. Arguing that the membership of the four major conferences stays the same or even continues to consolidate is the crazy prediction. There are schools that are going to drop out of the P4.

Those membership changes could be an opportunity for UConn.

 

[Patman]

You were proven completely wrong on this. Are you going to stop trolling this board about realignment, or are you just getting started?

So the people from 1972 are going to get their coin? Sweet!

 

[spsct]

LOL. The NEWBIE is what it is. UConn is doing well. The rest of the league got 2 bids.

Connecticut people in general, and UConn fans in particular seem to fetishize Madison Square Garden. I guess if you grew up in Rocky Hill or Wallingford it seems exciting.

Hey! No reason to get nasty!

 

[Pat125]

I could have totally misinterpreted the potential impact, but here's how I'm seeing things. I think your argument is that big football schools will be disproportionally hit. I can see that being the case for past damages. So, the Big 10 and SEC schools may have a HUGE bill coming.

The other concern, however, is the ongoing revenue sharing that is being discussed as part of a settlement. I think UConn and G5 football schools are in potential trouble if that happens. The P4 schools all have more revenue to share than the Big East and that is mostly because of football. It will be very hard to compete with the P4 in football (maybe even harder than now?) if you don't ante up and meet their revenue sharing dollars. The percentage would have to be substantially higher than what the P4 would be paying. The $20mm cap I've seen discussed would be MUCH easier for the SEC and Big Ten in particular, than it would be for UConn.

The rest of the Big East and any other non-football playing power basketball teams (Gonzaga) won't have to hit that $20mm number because I assume much of that money will go to the football players in the P4. To compete, UConn would have to give a bigger portion of money that the school doesn't have, to the program that is costing the most.

I’m afraid nobody knows the impact yet. We don’t know exactly what will come out of the House, what the Supreme Court will decide, how and when it will be implemented, and what any past reparations will be.

My opinion is that this will ruin college athletics simply to help only the top 1% (and probably only temporarily, because who will want to watch the ruins?) while ruining it for the rest. And if you think that the current P4 structure is exclusionary, you haven’t seen anything yet. If anything, maybe about half of the P4 will breakaway, and form some sort of super league where they can afford to run elite athletics, with the Title IX implications, etc. Who knows how this will affect UConn and others. Unfortunately, I believe it will be worse than it is now, and may adversely affect the great success they have in men’s and women’s basketball.

But my opinion doesn’t matter. We’ll have to see how this firestorm will work out. Get your seatbelts on!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I’m afraid nobody knows the impact yet. We don’t know exactly what will come out of the House, what the Supreme Court will decide, how and when it will be implemented, and what any past reparations will be.

My opinion is that this will ruin college athletics simply to help only the top 1% (and probably only temporarily, because who will want to watch the ruins?) while ruining it for the rest. And if you think that the current P4 structure is exclusionary, you haven’t seen anything yet. If anything, maybe about half of the P4 will breakaway, and form some sort of super league where they can afford to run elite athletics, with the Title IX implications, etc. Who knows how this will affect UConn and others. Unfortunately, I believe it will be worse than it is now, and may adversely affect the great success they have in men’s and women’s basketball.

But my opinion doesn’t matter. We’ll have to see how this firestorm will work out. Get your seatbelts on!

The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on Alston, so we know exactly how they will rule. They are very unlikely to ever hear another antitrust case involving college athletics given how firm the current precedent is.

 

[Pat125]

The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on Alston, so we know exactly how they will rule. They are very unlikely to ever hear another antitrust case involving college athletics given how firm the current precedent is.

That’s fine. But what we don’t know is how much this is going to ruin athletics for UConn and everyone else.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

That’s fine. But what we don’t know is how much this is going to ruin athletics for UConn and everyone else.

College athletics definitely has some future challenges. I have pointed them out for years.

My point is that UConn needed a little chaos to shake the log jam of conference membership, and these recent court cases, together with the move to streaming, create the chaos. It still might not work out for UConn, but it gives UConn a chance, where the other path, lock step march to a P2 that would control college sports, was a death sentence for the UConn athletic program.

 

[BlueHen]

Interesting… on the Syracuse message board all they talked about is how great the big east tournament is and how much they missed it.. and how awful the acc tournament was

Are you sure they weren't talking about how great the Big East tournament was?

It was the best tournament before several schools, including Syracuse, left for the ACC. There was a lot of dislike among the Big East schools and fan bases back then. Made for a great tourney atmosphere and lots of memorable games.

Now Syracuse is a conference where nobody cares about them. They traded away some great rivalries for more money. Syracuse (and BC) should be begging their fellow ACC schools to add UConn ASAP so that at least some of their games will generate fan interest.

 

[CL82]

Now Syracuse is a conference where nobody cares about them. They traded away some great rivalries for more money. Syracuse (and BC) should be begging their fellow ACC schools to add UConn ASAP so that at least some of their games will generate fan interest.

Should, but won't. Particularly for BCU I think that there is a mindset and probably a correct one, that they can't compete with us so their best option is to hope that our lack of P4 media money will eventually strangle us.

That said, if a mass exodus comes we remain the most logical addition, not that that's ever helped us before.

 

[Luna]

Are you sure they weren't talking about how great the Big East tournament was?

It was the best tournament before several schools, including Syracuse, left for the ACC. There was a lot of dislike among the Big East schools and fan bases back then. Made for a great tourney atmosphere and lots of memorable games.

Now Syracuse is a conference where nobody cares about them. They traded away some great rivalries for more money. Syracuse (and BC) should be begging their fellow ACC schools to add UConn ASAP so that at least some of their games will generate fan interest.

No.. they were talking about this year… also when the acc had their tournament in New York the only fans that showed up were family and friends while down the street at the msg the big east was playing in front of a sold out msg

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Drew]

I know they’re not subject to it because they’re a private school but I wonder if Wake will do something similar as well. They already have games @ App and @ ECU scheduled- this is easier to do with 4 non-conference games per year instead of 3.

 

[John]

No.. they were talking about this year… also when the acc had their tournament in New York the only fans that showed up were family and friends while down the street at the msg the big east was playing in front of a sold out msg

The Big East Tournament is a great event, been to many myself. However it's not something you pin your entire athletic department to. It's 4 days of one single sport. There's 361 other days in the year, and a wide assortment of other men's and women's sports within the UConn athletic department.

 

[CoastAtlantic]

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Big East Tournament is a great event, been to many myself. However it's not something you pin your entire athletic department to. It's 4 days of one single sport. There's 361 other days in the year, and a wide assortment of other men's and women's sports within the UConn athletic department.

I think the point @upstater was trying to make is that with Rutgers, Syracuse, BC and Pitt replaced with midwestern schools, the BET isn't what it was. UConn fans may not notice it. But it never dominated the city's sports landscape.

There is something to be said about the way southern and midwestern state schools, and the cities and towns they are in dominate the sports landscape. I have mentioned it often talking about Kansas in Lawrence, and if you went last November, tell me you didn't see it. Went to a brewery filled with families who were not going to the game, and everyone had KU gear on eating dinner. Before the Big XII went to crap and lost Mizzou, Nebraska and OU, KC was like that with the whole city focused on the Big XII tournament. Still will be more focused than NYC is for BET, but not like it was. NY, Boston, Philly, DC and everything in between are pro-sports first. The BET and even NCAAT get bumped for local NBA and NHL.

 

[ZooCougar]

Conservative estimate is that only about 40 schools can afford this.

There are like 36 schools in the SEC and B1G.

 

[upstater]

I have no idea what they're even trying to say.

They're employees. What else would they be?

This flashes me back to Penn State when I got my first paycheck as a TA and it had deductions for not only SS and Medicare, but federal taxes, and then local school board taxes and local income taxes. I looked at it incredulously. This was essentially my room & board money and it was taxed.

There is no way they aren't treated as employees. This has already been decided by the courts and NLRB, when they allowed students to unionize.

 

[Sea Goat]

Speculation re: anything to do with the ACC is risky. When FSU and Clemson get out, watch for an attempted mass exodus by the rest of the so called magnificent 7. So, I don't know if there will be much left. I think the play with the ACC might be more relevant in the BB sphere than anything else. I think the play by the true BB "blue bloods" is to do in BB what has been done in FB. March Madness is the last "golden goose" for the NCAA (The NCAA grosses about $1.2b on March Madness.). March Madness provides about 80% of the NCAA's yearly revenue. The return for a team like UConn is paltry by comparison. We start out in a conference that only had 3 teams in the field. The NCAA decides which bubble teams get in and surprise, surprise - it takes more questionable entrants from the bigger conferences. It figures that it must placate the 800 pound conference gorillas first and foremost! As a result, the NCAA makes the rich, richer by putting more big conference teams in the tournament, than say BE teams. Seton Hall and St. Johns got snubbed in March, but Virginia gets in? A friggin joke!
As it turns out, our closest game in March or April was vs. St. Johns in the BE Tournament!

It's time to look at forcing the issue re: March Madness. Since we have been screwed conference-wise, we should look to see what other premier BB programs want to take over March Madness and spread the wealth we have all helped create more fairly to the best performing teams. If the premier BB schools take over March Madness ala CFP, UConn gets a prime seat at that table. Some of the better remnants of the ACC could be involved too, but many others, like BCU would be irrelevant.

 

[freescooter]

Interesting… on the Syracuse message board all they talked about is how great the big east tournament is and how much they missed it.. and how awful the acc tournament was

It’s the Syracuse board. They also think they are New York City’s team. Plus I don’t think they’ve ever won it. Probably colors their view. I also concede it ain’t the same in Washington. But in Greensboro it is a basketball junky’s dream. Everybody from your Uber driver to the waitress in the place you eat between sessions is talking ACC basketball.

 

[billybud]

Interesting… on the Syracuse message board all they talked about is how great the big east tournament is and how much they missed it.. and how awful the acc tournament was

Of course they have fond memories...they have won eight conference tournaments....zero in the ACC.

Ten regular season conference championships...zero in the ACC

The ACC move has not been kind to the Orange.

 

[Ha Who]

It’s the Syracuse board. They also think they are New York City’s team. Plus I don’t think they’ve ever won it. Probably colors their view. I also concede it ain’t the same in Washington. But in Greensboro it is a basketball junky’s dream. Everybody from your Uber driver to the waitress in the place you eat between sessions is talking ACC basketball.

Never won. I’m not a fan but come on. Don’t you spit stuff out because it sounds good.

Big East Tournament Champions, by Year | Coaches Database

List of Big East Tournament champions in men's basketball - clickable links to individual team and head coach pages for each year's winner.

www.coachesdatabase.com

 

[superjohn]

I think the point @upstater was trying to make is that with Rutgers, Syracuse, BC and Pitt replaced with midwestern schools, the BET isn't what it was. UConn fans may not notice it. But it never dominated the city's sports landscape.

There is something to be said about the way southern and midwestern state schools, and the cities and towns they are in dominate the sports landscape. I have mentioned it often talking about Kansas in Lawrence, and if you went last November, tell me you didn't see it. Went to a brewery filled with families who were not going to the game, and everyone had KU gear on eating dinner. Before the Big XII went to crap and lost Mizzou, Nebraska and OU, KC was like that with the whole city focused on the Big XII tournament. Still will be more focused than NYC is for BET, but not like it was. NY, Boston, Philly, DC and everything in between are pro-sports first. The BET and even NCAAT get bumped for local NBA and NHL.

You're comparing Kansas City to New York City.

 

[Hogoff]

Never won. I’m not a fan but come on. Don’t you spit stuff out because it sounds good.

Big East Tournament Champions, by Year | Coaches Database

List of Big East Tournament champions in men's basketball - clickable links to individual team and head coach pages for each year's winner.

www.coachesdatabase.com

Pretty sure he was talking about Syracuse never winning the ACC tournament. They’ve never even made it past the quarterfinals.

 

[KryHavok]

Of course they have fond memories...they have won eight conference tournaments....zero in the ACC.

Ten regular season conference championships...zero in the ACC

The ACC move has not been kind to the Orange.

Almost as if the Orange has ironically developed scurvy, but instead of vitamin C deficiency, they suffer from Championship deficiency.