I hate the reoccurring narrative that we "deemphasized football". We have great on-campus facilities, just hired an outstanding coach in Jim Mora, and have a 40,000 seat stadium. How is that deemphasizing football?
Pundits get paid to spew any thought that'll create clicks, sigh. I really don't get tied up in their opinions but draw the line and reply to said posts when they throw around inaccurate info/facts. Even that has become a part time job.
Lazy journalists are lazy. They are easily manipulated. They have been manipulated into believing UConn gave up on football. They can become evangelists if fed the right information.
So infuriating! Why is UConn joining the B12 "inconceivable" when KU is considered a premier B12 brand yet its demo is smaller than CT, has 3 MBB NCs in the past 30 years vs 5 for UConn and has been to the same number of BCS games as UConn during the same time period (despite being in a Power Conference for decades). Yormark sees the future. He's right; a dominant basketball league with very solid football, and new teams from larger markets is the only way to try to remain remotely competitive with the P2 (that said, I can't see a basketball only school in a small demo like the Zags, being part of the equation).
And playing as an independent gave us flexibility in scheduling so that our home games were, at least theoretically a better product. It also put waste to the notion that "no one wants to come to Storrs." As we've seen plenty of good schools are interested in playing here.
In all candor the quality of our scheduling as an independent has been far better than I could have hoped for when it was announced that we were returning to the BE.
I'm not on twitter, but I've thought about emailing these guys, with a link to our on-campus facilities. They are P5 level. I don't think they even know about that.
Movement is good for us. Status quo is bad for us.
This is exactly what UConn needs to do. They need to start planting stories. The journalists have obviously read the articles about Benedict saying that it would be a difficult decision, because they've referenced them, so they would read these stories, too. Also, throw in a discussion of UConn+ and that we are ready for digital streaming or being part of a network. That UConn has P5 facilities, although most other schools and fans probably don't know it.
You can "plant" multiple stories galore but no one is going to forget the poor quality of the football team during the 2010s and beyond until Mora showed up. This why some of us on the Boneyard were so critical of the team then while others found lots of rationalizations for the team's record. There must be accountability for the dumpster fire of a program and a clear path forward so we have conference options ahead. And when we bring up a possible on campus football stadium, we really have UConn's long-term outlook at heart.
It will be fun watching the free loaders becoming more and more irrelevant.
The home games this season aren't easy. UConn has NEVER beaten the Wolfpack or Aggies. Duke has been VERY competative as late. The only "guaranteed wins" are FIU, USF, & Sacred Heart, & that's only if UConn makes measurable leaps in Coach Mora's 2nd year & the team avoids the injury plague.
I understand your concerns, but some day take a drive on Discovery Drive located on the UConn campus. It is a wide roadway that leads to Route 44. It has plenty of room there for a stadium and tailgating. Route 195 could be closed to all but local traffic during home games. Let the motorists use 44 to get home. The new stadium and related buildings could also be used by the new innovation partnership building and related uses that tie UConn's research with corporations. Try to keep an open mind. Let Central CT take over the Rent. It's close to their lovely campus.
As to Rutgers, the Big Ten reached out to them and gave them specific areas to work on without promising them anything. Rutgers really didn't promote itself at all, other than responding the Big Ten request for information. It was made absolutely clear to them that if they talked about any of the discussion publicly any possibility to join the Big Ten would be lost.
24 does have a handful of northeastern schools, which is nice. The bright side is you would hope UConn can provide a combined 7-8 wins for the home fans during 24/25.
This season is not bad. 2 ACC opponents, USF (former Big East opponent), and Utah State (competitive MW program) is a pretty solid slate. FIU and Sacred Heart don't do anything for me, but no program has six can't miss home games.
Away games - even if the home slate isn't great at least some of the away games are driveable. I mean, they are all drivable but 4 in the Northeast and Maryland. That's nice.
According to this story, it was Rutgers who reached out to the Big Ten. Delaney told Rutgers there was less than a 10% chance that Rutgers would be added. Did Rutgers give up? No, they kept reaching out to Delaney and talking about how they could bring the NY market. Is UConn doing anything remotely like this?
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
Good long article here:According to this story, it was Rutgers who reached out to the Big Ten. Delaney told Rutgers there was less than a 10% chance that Rutgers would be added. Did Rutgers give up? No, they kept reaching out to Delaney and talking about how they could bring the NY market. Is UConn doing anything remotely like this?
"Prior to becoming Rutgers’ athletic director in 2009, Tim Pernetti reached out to Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany to ask a very bold question:
If the Big Ten expanded, would Rutgers, then a member of the Big East, get a real look?
Pernetti, a former media executive before going to work for his alma mater, knew that Rutgers held one significant advantage over every other expansion candidate — access to the New York TV market.
Delany’s response was firm and to the point. He told Pernetti that Rutgers had a single-digit percent chance of being invited to the Big Ten.
“Well, that’s good enough for me,” Pernetti replied.
Over time, Pernetti’s calls to Delany became more frequent. He’d call Delany early in the morning when the commissioner was usually on the treadmill, and talked about how Rutgers’ TV market would boost the Big Ten Network’s audience."
Delany’s vision led Big Ten to add Rutgers
<sapn>Prior to</span> <sapn>becoming</span> <sapn>Rutgers’ athletic director in 2009, Tim Pernetti reached out to Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany to ask a very bold question:</span>