Mack Brown & Danny Kanell Talk BYU & 'Power 5'

[UConn07]

http://the-boneyard.com/blog/former-texas-head-coach-mack-brown-on-qb-taysom-hill-byu/

 

[freescooter]

It is already hard to get hard to get "those type of teams" on your schedule. I have my doubts that it will be hard to get North Carolina State and Minnesota and Vandy and Iowa State and Mississippi State on the schedule. And a few Pac teams seem to like to come east from time to time, so we need to be on top of those opportunities, but I also don't buy that P5s will only schedule others because among other things Michigan and Alabama have gotten used to having 7 or 8 home games each year, and that isn't happening if they schedule each other. What we are really talking about here is about a dozen schools, maybe 18 who move the needle. Then there is a 2nd tier that are good gets but not on the same level as the top ones. But they are already difficult to schedule. If you go through the P5:
ACC: Florida State, Notre Dame
2nd level: Miami, Clemson
B10: Michigan Ohio State Penn State
2nd level Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa
B-12: Texas, Oklahoma
2nd Level: none
SEC: Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Florida
2nd Level: Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee
PAC 12: Southern California, Oregon
2nd level: UCLA, Stanford
there is probably a 3rd tier which would include schools like Wisconsin, VaTech, Missouri, south Carolina maybe K-State sneaks onto level 3, as would non-P5 BYU. The way I look at it, you'd be happy to play these teams and it will be a big time atmosphere but it won't be Michigan. And under no circumstances would you even think about doing a road game without a return.

If you went through each league you could probably add another couple of teams that are relevant now, but don't have the long term cache of a Southern Cal or a Texas. I'd actually put Oregon into that category. Give them the Paul Pasqualoni as coach and they will very quickly become just another team with funny uniforms. Whereas the A-list will still be the A-list even with Pasqualoni running the show. In fact Miami is fast reaching the point where it is just another ACC team and might be more a 3rd tier "name" now. Oddly Clemson is probably more high profile than VaTech which is a better program over the past 15 years, too.

 

[gioff23]

I'm not sure how you came up w/the tiers or what, in your opinion moves the needle. I am, guessing that this is based on last few years of production. Nearly every Tier 1 program you mention has had their own PP, and they were not Tier 1. Oregon is on their 3rd coach in 6 years, so i think they have passed thru the gimmick tier.

I am in the camp that says scheduling will be incredibly tough for UConn in the coming years. If you were the AD of a P5 school, why would you sign up to have your FB team come to East Hartford to play? Guaranteed win? Help your SoS? Big gate? Recruiting trip? Cultural trip? Historical relevance? Return trip that will draw crowds?

 

[freescooter]

Tier 1=historic programs like the ones I listed mostly.
Tier 2=good programs who have had less success than the historic ones and "current" powers
Tier 3=good programs, programs with log term staying power but lacking the same status as 1 & 2. BYU in my mind is a perfect example. If you could have Texas or BYU come to town, which one would you choose?
Tier 4 is everybody else. Virginia is a fine institution in a P5 conference, but seriously, do you consider it to be equal to Oklahoma? Those are the teams you are going to get most of the time. They are the teams UConn has traditionally gotten. Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina NC State, Duke, Iowa State, Baylor all fall into that category. Everybody else with a smattering of Tier 3 programs. We got Michigan, Notre Dame, In a sense, what difference does it make whetehr you go to Durham NC or East Hartford? If Diaco is successful, coming to East Hartford will be a boost to your SoS compared to say, going to West Lafayette IN or Starkville MIssissippi. If you are really lucky, you catch one of those Tier 4 teams during one of their good runs. If not, you get a replay of the Virginia game of a few years ago. Basically, those teams will continue ot go on the road. Will continue to play you home and home. the Michigans of the world won't but they rarely did it anyway.

 

[Ogden Cougar]

Tier 1=historic programs like the ones I listed mostly.
Tier 2=good programs who have had less success than the historic ones and "current" powers
Tier 3=good programs, programs with log term staying power but lacking the same status as 1 & 2. BYU in my mind is a perfect example. If you could have Texas or BYU come to town, which one would you choose?
Tier 4 is everybody else. Virginia is a fine institution in a P5 conference, but seriously, do you consider it to be equal to Oklahoma? Those are the teams you are going to get most of the time. They are the teams UConn has traditionally gotten. Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina NC State, Duke, Iowa State, Baylor all fall into that category. Everybody else with a smattering of Tier 3 programs. We got Michigan, Notre Dame, In a sense, what difference does it make whetehr you go to Durham NC or East Hartford? If Diaco is successful, coming to East Hartford will be a boost to your SoS compared to say, going to West Lafayette IN or Starkville MIssissippi. If you are really lucky, you catch one of those Tier 4 teams during one of their good runs. If not, you get a replay of the Virginia game of a few years ago. Basically, those teams will continue ot go on the road. Will continue to play you home and home. the Michigans of the world won't but they rarely did it anyway.

BYU would most likely be in Tier 2. Definitely not up their with USC, Alabama, Ohio St. etc. but one level lower in a group with teams like UCLA, Tennessee, Michigan St. Washington.

 

[CAHUSKY]

BYU would most likely be in Tier 2. Definitely not up their with USC, Alabama, Ohio St. etc. but one level lower in a group with teams like UCLA, Tennessee, Michigan St. Washington.

I like BYU. Ive had the chance to seen them play a number of times in person. I have a number of friends who attended BYU and one who played football there so i think im relatively unbiased. That being said, you are high.

 

[freescooter]

BYU would most likely be in Tier 2. Definitely not up their with USC, Alabama, Ohio St. etc. but one level lower in a group with teams like UCLA, Tennessee, Michigan St. Washington.

I think everyone probably has their own list of Tier 2 and 3, but there will probably be quite a bit of overlap and some disagreement at the margins. You could make a case that BYU is at that level. I don't think it quite is. there is probably less disagreement on the Tier 1 schools. I'm on the fence about Oregon for example, and I could imagine someone arguing for inclusion of Miami. I ask myself if everything was equal, and I could schedule a game with BYU or Tennessee which would I take and I think most folks would agree that Tennessee is more desirable. BYU is a good game, a national name and certainly better than most P5 schools, though.

 

[gioff23]

I still think you can take EVERYONE in tier 1 and 2, except TN (who I believe will ultimately play us, just maybe somewhere else than EH, CT), and assume you will not see them at the RENT so long as we are outside of the P5. They have NO reason to come here. Add us to the P5 and the conversation becomes moot.

 

[freescooter]

I still think you can take EVERYONE in tier 1 and 2, except TN (who I believe will ultimately play us, just maybe somewhere else than EH, CT), and assume you will not see them at the RENT so long as we are outside of the P5. They have NO reason to come here. Add us to the P5 and the conversation becomes moot.

But how does that a change from what happens already. Michigan was a fluke really, combination of a head coach who knew the program and th eneed for an opponent for their re-dedication. That kind of thing could happen in the future, somebody need a game for some reason and we take advantage, but again, Illinois isn't Michigan. Vanderbilt isn't Alabama, Washington State isn't southern California and Iowa State isn't Texas. Those teams will continue to schedule and come to our place.

 

[gioff23]

IMO, when we were in a power conference, we could engage a MI or a TN and many other now P5 programs. It may have been a fluke to get games against MI, TN, Baylor, ISU, Vandy, that portion of the ACC that was not a former member of the BE, but that is a lot of flukes. AL does not play northeastern teams on the road, period, so we need to take them and the top tier of the SEC out of the conversation - they are a sunk cost because they wouldn't come here if we ran off 5 undefeated seasons in a row and were a perennial player on New year's Day.

Where I think we differ, and we may not, is that I believe we could engage Tier 2 programs in conversations when we were part of a power conference. My guess is it is now hard for us to get the AD on the line once the secretary tells them WM is calling about a sport not named basketball. And whether you call them Tier 2 or 3 (I mean some of us remember when programs like OK St., Wis., Ore. and K State were an absolute joke on the field, perenially), I see little reason for those outside of our region (lower B10, that portion of the ACC who can't dare play us lest it be known we are at or above their level already, maybe WVU, and far northern fringe of SEC - a Vandy or Ky.) to take us on here.