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

[Drew]

 

[The Viking]

That’s a terrible deal for UConn. We pay $30 million in exit fees to then make $10 million for several years while we get in a GOR to s league that is likely going to be picked apart in a few years.

Its about getting your foot in the door. People can talk about the ACC getting picked apart in 11-12 years (or I guess sooner if a school comes up with hundreds of millions of dollars I suppose). But in the end our best hope from a football standpoint is the ACC anyway and the whole waiting until the ACC GOR is over isn't a great idea because we may not even survive independence for another 11-12 years.

Lets say we get 10 mil. What is that, an extra $5 mil per year? So lets say we throw that toward essentially paying off the exit fee over a 6 year period. Perhaps if Mora is in a real football league we are competing for some of that bowl incentive money to also help offset the exit fee. In the ACC our attendance goes up for football, more ticket revenue. And on and on.

I don't love the idea of begging but we are in a tough spot. Of course if one doesn't give a damn about the football program, it's definitely not worth it I suppose.

 

[UConnJim]

After Texas and A&M, SMU is likely the 3rd or 4th biggest football brand (with Houston) in the State. It's bigger with a stronger history in football than TCU, which mattes to many. It is also less controversial in terms of it's sports history and religious affiliation than Baylor while Rice is seen nowadays as the Ivy League wannabe in Texas while everyone ignores Texas tech. With how big Texas is and how big football is in Texas, that have to bring value.

Then why do they only draw 25k per game? And, they averaged 3.6k for basketball in 2021/2022. Yet, they bring the Dallas market? Isn't this the same mistake that the ACC made when they added Boston College?

Top 10 Texas college football attendance in 2022:

1) Texas 100.2k
2) Texas A&M 97.2k
3) Texas Tech 56.3k
4) TCU 46.6k
5) Baylor 45.5k
6) UTSA 28.9k
7) SMU 25.0k
8) Houston 24.8k
9) UTEP 19.1k
10) North Texas 19.0k

 

[JeepCSC]

SMU would likely make more money for the ACC than BC did simply because of the ACCN. Might not last for long, but if that Nebraska AD was correct about contraction coming, then grab the money while you can.

 

[Vowelguy]

After Texas and A&M, SMU is likely the 3rd or 4th biggest football brand (with Houston) in the State. It's bigger with a stronger history in football than TCU, which mattes to many. It is also less controversial in terms of its sports history and religious affiliation than Baylor while Rice is seen nowadays as the Ivy League wannabe in Texas while everyone ignores Texas tech. With how big Texas is and how big football is in Texas, that have to bring value.

Lol.
If SMU were a valuable brand, then the B12 would’ve taken them, not TCU, Houston, or even Baylor (20 yrs ago).

 

[Vowelguy]

Very interesting...

And yet remember Oklahomas comment, “We wanted to include Okla St, but that was not an option.”

Schools will ultimately do what’s in their best interest.

UNC may try to play the SEC off against the BiG — “winner gets us both.”

 

[superjohn]

Cal and Stanford will be getting full shares before the Contract ends per that article. It would be a gradual increase.

And they'll be in the same position again looking for a conference.

 

[The Viking]

:

And they'll be in the same position again looking for a conference.

and yet they’ve made the determination it’s worth it and then see what happens in 2036. It buys them 10 years rather than staying with the alternative.

 

[superjohn]

:

and yet they’ve made the determination it’s worth it and then see what happens in 2036. It buys them 10 years rather than staying with the alternative.

That conference is going to look like what the Pac 12 looks like now before 2036. Well not that bad but they'll be flying across the country to play the scraps.

 

[The Viking]

That conference is going to look like what the Pac 12 looks like now before 2036. Well not that bad but they'll be flying across the country to play the scraps.

What year

 

[The Viking]

That conference is going to look like what the Pac 12 looks like now before 2036. Well not that bad but they'll be flying across the country to play the scraps.

I’d take those scraps right now over independent football

 

[UCFBfan]

Lol, the ACC wants who whom ever ESPN says that they will give them additional income for. As the Boston College AD said "ESPN told us what to do."

@aburks41 got this exactly right.

I was just having this conversation with two friends of mine who are big UConn fans. One thinks we should stay in the Big East and the Big 12 snub was for the best. My other friend thinks the Big 12 was the right move and works higher up in ESPN legal. Not sure how high but I had to laugh really loud when I said that her company, along with Fox, are playing large roles in shaping these conferences,and her response that she absolutely disagrees. She said that she has seen nothing that supported that. I wanted to nicely say that I have a feeling that info was above her pay grade, but I let the conversation go.

The networks totally control what happens and ESPN has been blackballing UConn from the ACC since the beginning and is letting SMU in instead. Unreal.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Very interesting...

I do think a possibility of UNC to B1G and NC St to SEC or UNC to SEC and NC St to Big12 would be mutually acceptable solution.

 

[CL82]

I was just having this conversation with two friends of mine who are big UConn fans. One thinks we should stay in the Big East and the Big 12 snub was for the best. My other friend thinks the Big 12 was the right move and works higher up in ESPN legal. Not sure how high but I had to laugh really loud when I said that her company, along with Fox, are playing large roles in shaping these conferences,and her response that she absolutely disagrees. She said that she has seen nothing that supported that. I wanted to nicely say that I have a feeling that info was above her pay grade, but I let the conversation go.

The networks totally control what happens and ESPN has been blackballing UConn from the ACC since the beginning and is letting SMU in instead. Unreal.

I don't think ESPN is blackballing us per se, I just think they don't give a damn about this one way or the other, some thing that we should reciprocate the next time they come at me and asking for a tax break from the state.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I don't think ESPN is blackballing us per se, I just think they don't give a damn about this one way or the other, some thing that we should reciprocate the next time they come at me and asking for a tax break from the state.

UConn has more to offer than SMU. It is not an ACC school. It is Wake Forest,

 

[giddyup]

Umm. We might have to wait and see WHAT THEY decide to do before we take shots at our administration for not doing anything.

I do wonder why if Apple wants in the game so badly, they don't work with those 4 to cherry pick teams into a FB only conference, while making it financially viable to select teams to walk away from the AAC, MWC, etc.

How many times has UConn come up empty down on the CR goal line. At some point you have to ask is it bad luck or incompetence. There are a ton of favorables yet we can’t close the deal. I have zero faith the Admin has any plan or is any more adept than the clown parade that preceded them.

 

[mikeinmanila]

How many times has UConn come up empty down on the CR goal line. At some point you have to ask is it bad luck or incompetence. There are a ton of favorables yet we can’t close the deal. I have zero faith the Admin has any plan or is any more adept than the clown parade that preceded them.

We have a very good AD at this point. This is about linear media companies that don't see the need to pay for UConn (i.e., as long as Fox can get them on the cheap and ESPN feels they have the CT market already covered). Ultimately streaming will separate the wheat from the chaff. This is when UConn's true value vs many P4 schools will become undeniable. DB has got all of our major programs pointing in the right direction. The Govenor, the UConn administration and the AD are all in sync. If we can continue to build on our recent success in football, we should be well positioned for the next round of realignment. Note: That said, I can definitely see football forming its own "conferences" long term.

 

[yuckformak]

Not joining the ACC is a blessing in disguise. It's not but when the the top schools leave do you really want to be in a conference that has teams in CA. SMU really? The Big 12 is a much better conference and maybe uconn knows they are next in line when/if they move east. Maybe UConn has no interest in the ACC and giving them back all this money and by the time they get profitable the conference is going to be gutted.

 

[JeepCSC]

Not joining the ACC is a blessing in disguise. It's not but when the the top schools leave do you really want to be in a conference that has teams in CA. SMU really? The Big 12 is a much better conference and maybe uconn knows they are next in line when/if they move east. Maybe UConn has no interest in the ACC and giving them back all this money and by the time they get profitable the conference is going to be gutted.

You realize the Big XII is in, checks notes, Arizona correct?

 

[yuckformak]

You realize the Big XII is in, checks notes, Arizona correct?

Arizona is closer than CA. Also on mountain time not pacific time. It is much better conference than the ACC.

 

[JeepCSC]

No daylight savings time in Arizona, so it’s the same time right now in Phoenix as it is in LA.

 

[businesslawyer]

I was just having this conversation with two friends of mine who are big UConn fans. One thinks we should stay in the Big East and the Big 12 snub was for the best. My other friend thinks the Big 12 was the right move and works higher up in ESPN legal. Not sure how high but I had to laugh really loud when I said that her company, along with Fox, are playing large roles in shaping these conferences,and her response that she absolutely disagrees. She said that she has seen nothing that supported that. I wanted to nicely say that I have a feeling that info was above her pay grade, but I let the conversation go.

The networks totally control what happens and ESPN has been blackballing UConn from the ACC since the beginning and is letting SMU in instead. Unreal.

1. You have lawyers for friends? You need better friends.

2. So you get information from a friend in a position to know something, and blithely dismiss it to believe in conspiracies you read about on the internet? Just wow. 2023 in a nutshell.

 

[pj]

Arizona is closer than CA. Also on mountain time not pacific time. It is much better conference than the ACC.

No one eight years ago would have thought the B12, as currently composed, was as attractive a conference as the ACC, as currently composed. FSU, Clemson, UNC, Notre Dame, Duke are all elite athletics schools, and many other programs have good athletic histories; it leads or is competitive in major markets. Meanwhile, the B12 has second-tier programs in its many states (its Texas schools are behind Texas and Texas A&M; Oklahoma State is behind Oklahoma; Iowa State is behind Iowa; Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah are the only states where it is the leader; it has many low-value programs diluting its value.

The only reason people think the B12 is stronger than the ACC is recency bias -- the B12 has been improving its position while the ACC has been bickering and incapable of acting. But there's no reason to assume you can extrapolate recent trends indefinitely into the future.

The B12 has stabilized its position with the Arizona/Colorado/Utah adds, but it has also limited its upside. It is now a large plains-mountain conference that can't easily grow further. If the ACC implodes the B12 is well positioned to become a "best of the rest" third national conference in a P3, but if the ACC holds together it will surpass the B12 in future contracts and be third in a P4.

 

[mike012]

The Big12 advantage over the Acc is no team in the Big12 is going anywhere else. They don’t have any other options. While multiple Acc schools may have better options.

 

[CL82]

ESPN is a business that has its headquarters in Connecticut. That's all it is. Why should they help local schools?

Definitely, if that "local" school is the state university and they are going to ask the state for a handout later on.

Why is no one lobbying NBC who also has its sports headquarters in Connecticut to help get UConn into the B1G or to schedule a game with ND?

They should. The problem is of course that they don't occupy the same niche as ESPN does in terms of broadcasting the vast majority of college games, and, perhaps more relevantly, single-handedly reshaping the college conference landscape to their liking, including eviscerating the Big East, which was the University of Connecticut home.