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

[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

 

[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.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Why do you not think we will achieve AAU status? Schools like USF and Arizona State just did last year. We are pretty close.

Who is ahead of us? And keep in mind the SEC is taking draft picks too. They have eight spots to the Big Ten's six if both go to 24.

Teams with a non-zero chance of joining either a 24-team SEC or Big 10:
UConn
Utah
Kansas
Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
TCU
Texas Tech
Stanford
Cal
Notre Dame
Florida State
Clemson
North Carolina
Virginia
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Virginia Tech
Duke
Miami
NC State
Syracuse
Pitt

That's the list.

The Big 10 list (many of which may end up in SEC).
UConn
Arizona
Colorado
Arizona State
Utah
Kansas
Notre Dame
Florida State
Clemson
North Carolina
Virginia
Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech
Duke
Miami
Syracuse
Pitt

IF eight of the above schools land in the SEC, that leaves 6 spots for 8 teams in the Big 10 (not including Notre Dame).

We are going to have to beat out schools like Pitt, Syracuse, Duke, Arizona State, and Georgia Tech to get to the promised land. The only way that happens if is we join the Big 12 or ACC in the very near future.

You are completely underestimating ASU ‘s potential.
Large market , AAU, largest student Body in the country
The residence of many B1G fans especially Oct to April .
The coming high tech area Silicon Valley without California .
Their downside is the president is more academic focused than sports.
Easy flight access from almost anywhere with two airports thats a consideration for Olympic sports.

 

[Huskyforlife]

10-11 until 2031 is fair. It’s more than we get in our current conference.

 

[CL82]

I dont see ct or the towns between Storrs and Rt 91 allowing that traffic

So do you anticipate them mobilizing their municipal militia to stop traffic on RT 44?

 

[Ucxc24]

Updated article this morning on where things are at.

Goes into the pros and cons about taking UConn, the risk of taking football down the road, but has an interesting tidbit in the end.

“Convincing a dozen members to brush aside those arguments and go along seems like uphill work. But Yormark has built his share of goodwill, which could be enough to sway some of those on the fence.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5732442/2024/08/30/big-12-uconn-naming-rights/

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Updated article this morning on where things are at.

Goes into the pros and cons about taking UConn, the risk of taking football down the road, but has an interesting tidbit in the end.

“Convincing a dozen members to brush aside those arguments and go along seems like uphill work. But Yormark has built his share of goodwill, which could be enough to sway some of those on the fence.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5732442/2024/08/30/big-12-uconn-naming-rights/

Weird at the end about the prediction that the Big 12 will only get 1 bid to this year's CFP. How many bids do experts think the Big 12 and SEC will get?

 

[JohnFSilver]

Updated article this morning on where things are at.

Goes into the pros and cons about taking UConn, the risk of taking football down the road, but has an interesting tidbit in the end.

“Convincing a dozen members to brush aside those arguments and go along seems like uphill work. But Yormark has built his share of goodwill, which could be enough to sway some of those on the fence.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5732442/2024/08/30/big-12-uconn-naming-rights/

Rant: I absolutely hate when The Athletic says, as first reported….

You are the NYTimes. No one gives a crap. Show some class and report the news. Don’t give yourself a pat on the back.

Second off, Locked On podcast was first.

 

[Urcea]

900 pages. Hopefully nearing the end of this saga.

And nary a key tweet to be seen!

 

[JohnFSilver]

And nary a key tweet to be seen!

I wonder if you guys realize how special this thread is.

It is a primary source of all realignment since Louisville edged out UConn through kickbacks, corruption, and political machinations.

It is incredible the real time thoughts, fears, news, and you can see how UConn’s narrative and conference realignment has changed over time.

 

[jostar1]

And nary a key tweet to be seen!

You mean THE key tweet!

 

[JMick]

I wonder if you guys realize how special this thread is.

It is a primary source of all realignment since Louisville edged out UConn through kickbacks, corruption, and political machinations.

It is incredible the real time thoughts, fears, news, and you can see how UConn’s narrative and conference realignment has changed over time.

I still think it's crazy the kickback scheme wasn't talked about more. I'm 90% sure it's the real reason Louisville got into the ACC

 

[CL82]

I wonder if you guys realize how special this thread is.

It is a primary source of all realignment since Louisville edged out UConn through kickbacks, corruption, and political machinations.

It is incredible the real time thoughts, fears, news, and you can see how UConn’s narrative and conference realignment has changed over time.

Sure, if someone wants to commit to reading 22,500+ posts of conference realignment awesomeness.

For those of us who have read everyone of those posts, you have to wonder what we could've done with that time if it was spent otherwise. Cure for cancer? World peace? Who can say?

 

[bendm]

Weird at the end about the prediction that the Big 12 will only get 1 bid to this year's CFP. How many bids do experts think the Big 12 and SEC will get?

weird? There are currently no would be at large teams ranked inside the top 12 that aren’t in either the BIG or SEC besides ND. they are getting all 7 at large bids most years