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

[OkaForPrez]

some of us on boneyard tried to warn others that the football program was awful in the 2010s and it would impact future options for uconn. we were criticized at the time for not being blindly loyal. thankfully, mora is here now and i have great faith in him.

Post Handle

 

[CL82]

Some or all of those programs have applied to the PAC for membership and may end up being P5 while UConn remains G5. Now that's a sickening thought!

Meh, I'm kind of used to it at this point.

CR#1

 

[Chin Diesel]

The SEC already has a presence in Florida. I do fully believe however that they've wanted a presence in Virginia and North Carolina (the two southern states where the Southeast conference doesn't have member schools) for a while.

Those is correct. Virginia and North Carolina are the two states with large land grant universities with good academics and strong alumni support that booth the B1G and SEC want.

UVA and UNC are the crown jewels. VT and NC State are solid add-ons or second options.

Although VT seems to scream Big12 to me.

 

[jostar1]

I think the only one with a chance is SMU because of academics

USF is now AAU and is building a new football stadium on campus.

 

[coachcap]

My feeling is BY wants UConn as do some of the schools but it is not unanimous.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall: By all accounts, schools in favor of adding UConn
are Kansas, Baylor, West Va., & Cinci. Who are the schools not in favor? And which institutions are undecided?

 

[AzHusky]

I read in one of these threads that various B12 officials have visited UConn campus. Does anyone know who it might have been?
Because if this is true it might be very helpful when it comes time to vote.

 

[Jimdish255]

It does. However, if certain schools are in play that weren’t expected to be, that might explain it. I could see the Big 12 going to 18 or 20 if they could get some or all of these big schools: Colorado, UConn, Arizona, ASU, Oregon, Washington and others.

Colorado leaving the PAC made a lot of crazy things possible. New York is our key feature that makes us entirely unique with all of these great options possibly opening up for the B12. Regardless, if we aren’t getting in on this round, then the more upheaval the better.

If Yormark is getting phone calls he'd be nuts not to hear people out but he's done most of his analysis at this point. This was all foreseeable and hashed out on the whiteboard. As for AD's and University Presidents it comes down to communications and relationships. That falls on Dave and the President and Coaches like Mora (former PAC 12) and Hurley (NC Coach). And it's something that should have been ongoing over the past 2 years. Things that cannot be finessed are your record, your markets and your timezone. Most metrics help us, but the wasted Diaco and RE years give even the recently promoted "elites" an excuse to pretend no football team has ever recovered from a bad stretch. It's dishonest but it's out there and I guarantee you if given the opportunity Mora and Benedict and even State officials will dedicate themselves to proving people wrong if given the chance. We have more immediate and potential value to the Big 12 than many of the names being tossed around.

 

[Jimdish255]

I don’t think Washington/Oregon are in play.
Everyone looking out for their best interests.
I think fans would like it but I suspect their ultimate aim is BIG. Just like BY can shake a stick, so can the schools. If BIG wants a western flank, these schools are saying we have options now.

Everyone’s playing chess with each other and they all have different boards.

They're in a similar situation to the one they put SDSU in. We want to go to conference A but they keep stringing us along. Conference B and our current conference are insisting on a GOR. If we go to B it's a bad fit, if we stay in C it's an inferior unstable situation. The only school of value not playing for time is UConn. Hopefully the Big 12 will figure this out sooner rather than later.

 

[huskidork]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall: By all accounts, schools in favor of adding UConn
are Kansas, Baylor, West Va., & Cinci. Who are the schools not in favor? And which institutions are undecided?

Ok State Houston and Tech if they were smart should love UConn too

 

[Vowelguy]

Washington and Oregon want nothing to do with the B12 imo,

probably not but any smart business would squeeze the PAC schools as long as possible — tell them this is musical chairs and they better get a seat while they can.

 

[Bongo Fury]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall: By all accounts, schools in favor of adding UConn
are Kansas, Baylor, West Va., & Cinci. Who are the schools not in favor? And which institutions are undecided?

Speculation would be BB schools cool including ISU and KSU. Wonder if a couple of TX & OK schools donors are like, we went from competing with Texas and OU to UConn?

 

[Vowelguy]

Because they want a footprint in NY and the Northeast.

Which they will still be able to get a year from now unless you suddenly think the ACC or BiG will be at UConns door.

Now that the B12 has one, the PAC schools are scrambling to figure out if they need to jump ship now too. If no one does then the B12 considers UConn maybe, but absolutely not before.

 

[jostar1]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall: By all accounts, schools in favor of adding UConn
are Kansas, Baylor, West Va., & Cinci. Who are the schools not in favor? And which institutions are undecided?

I think BYU would be in favor so that they can expand their religion into the Northeast.

 

[whalerfan]

I think BYU would be in favor so that they can expand their religion into the Northeast.

They're already here. You haven't been by that big temple in Farmington?

 

[Jimdish255]

probably not but any smart business would squeeze the PAC schools as long as possible — tell them this is musical chairs and they better get a seat while they can.

No reason to squeeze them now. In the next few weeks or months the immediate and long term future of the PAC will be decided. The only question is whether the B1G really wants Washington and Oregon. Because if they wait too long some other conference locks them down for 5 years minimum. In that case either we need the status quo, or AZ and one other school to move with us. I think Yormark gives this another week or two before pushing his members to get off the pot. All these artificial deadlines are emotional or based on rumors imo.

 

[CashewCrew]

I think BYU would be in favor so that they can expand their religion into the Northeast.

That’s it, I need to get off this board for the weekend

 

[jostar1]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall: By all accounts, schools in favor of adding UConn
are Kansas, Baylor, West Va., & Cinci. Who are the schools not in favor? And which institutions are undecided?

Yormark hasn't made a misstep since he's been the Commissioner. Hopefully that counts for something with the Presidents and they go along with his vision for the Conference. He's been preaching that basketball is a catalyst for the other things he wants to do.

 

[jostar1]

That’s it, I need to get off this board for the weekend

Gee, it's not like it's the worst post on the board.

 

[CashewCrew]

Gee, it's not like it's the worst post on the board.

We’ve gone too deep, I’m going up for air

 

[jostar1]

We’ve gone too deep, I’m going up for air

I think a lot of people feel that way. Myself included.

 

[CL82]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall: By all accounts, schools in favor of adding UConn
are Kansas, Baylor, West Va., & Cinci. Who are the schools not in favor? And which institutions are undecided?

What's your source for this?

 

[CL82]

I read in one of these threads that various B12 officials have visited UConn campus. Does anyone know who it might have been?
Because if this is true it might be very helpful when it comes time to vote.

Yormark

 

[uconnbaseball]

What's your source for this?

It’s likely Baylor does, as their AD called out Thamel after his UConn hit piece. Anything past that is internet speculation.

 

[jostar1]

Yormark

Aaron Torres said that several Presidents visited UConn. He didn't name them.

 

[CL82]

Aaron Torres said that several Presidents visited UConn. He didn't name them.

Wow, I didn't realize that. That's actually good news, if accurate. I don't think the vast majority of big 12 members have any idea about the nature and extent of our facilities, or the fact that we have a relatively "rural" campus. (At least as rural as anything can be within the New York/Boston metroplex.)

 

[ctchamps]

BL,

I could well be wrong but I personally believe that it is entirely plausible that none of the parties involved foresaw the possibility of Colorado departing the P-12 at this time with the P-12 still without a media deal.

The only uncertainty between Colorado coming back to the B12 was whether the PAC could get a media deal making it worthwhile for Colorado to remain in the PAC. It was likely the Big12 agreed to allow Colorado that option to find out but they put the timeline of Aug 1st for a definitive answer. UConn was to be Colorado's partner to 14 if Colorado agreed to join the B12. Both were thoroughly vetted by Yormack, the Big12 Board plus the media partners. Colorado and UConn were made aware of the terms and probably found them acceptable. All was done to facilitate the process once the domino of Colorado fell.

AU would have been the B12 preference over Colorado to partner with UConn but they made it clear to Yormack they were not interested. That remained the case until Thursday when Colorado made their announcement. AU approached Yormack with sincere intentions to change conferences. Yormack and the B12 probably went into hyperdrive to accommodate them but I sincerely doubt that it's at the expense of UConn. Obviously Fox and ESPN have to be contacted to get their approval for monetary increases to accommodate the addition of four schools versus two schools hence the delay. But if they already bought into Yormack's vision of a basketball super conference plus the Big12's expansion into the northeast and the addition of UConn with Colorado was the big prize in that vision they certainly weren't going to drop UConn because of Arizona's change of heart. We just have to be patient until all the paper work is completed.

These are the tea leaves I'm reading. Of course I believe @GoKU is not trolling us and he has genuine insight into the process of that conference. So we should know by next week if my belief is accurate given that he has given a timeline.

 

[Drew]

@huskymedic can you work your magic for access?

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

I think BYU would be in favor so that they can expand their religion into the Northeast.

They knock onmydoor all the time

 

[ctchamps]

My feeling is BY wants UConn as do some of the schools but it is not unanimous.

Doubtful. This thing has been in motion for a while. It solidified in May. It was UConn if Colorado agreed to return. Unlikely dissension among the universities.

The wrinkle was last Thursday when AU had a complete unanticipated reversal. The Big12 were surprised. They are not going to drop UConn for Arizona. Just getting a partner for Arizona to join UConn and Colorado. The announcements may not come in the original order but UConn will be included.

 

[superjohn]

Pretty sure sticking with RE 2.0 for 5 years longer than we should have didn’t help.

That dog didn’t hunt!

Coach P and Diaco sucked, killed any momentum the program had. Hiring back the snake was the worst thing the school ever did though. The guy should've been banished after he quit on his players and left in his plane for his dream school. That looked like the school threw in the towel. It's amazing they were able to hire Mora after that. Dave Benedict has done a seriously good job turning things around.