MHver3

[whaler11]

What don't you understand?

You act as if everyone saying that says the Big East sucks thinks we have some viable alternative that hasn't been exercised. We all know we're stuck here and there's nothing we can do about it.

My point of contention among others is that this conference situation is going to severely hamper UConn athletics financially and in terms of national exposure and prestige. The divide that is being created between the the chosen and the non chosen is getting larger and larger with every tv and bowl contract signed.

No amount of NBC Sports coming to save the day talk or if we fight hard enough, the underdog will win, little rah-rah story will change that.

So, I guess myself and Whaler and company would probably agree to stop pointing out facts and realism about our situation if you and Pudge would stop with your NBC Sports and NNBE fantasies.

Call it whatever you want, but the only long term hope for UConn is to play well enough, create more of an tv audience, and hopefully one day be invited to another conference.

Thank you.

 

[NHRich]

Is there any good news?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

no

 

[The Funster]

Not sure why anyone is still talking about "The race to sixteen". There is no "race to sixteen", there never was. It was a myth. It was a construct developed by people who want to think they know what is going on. For others, it was wishful thinking.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What don't you understand?

You act as if everyone saying that says the Big East sucks thinks we have some viable alternative that hasn't been exercised. We all know we're stuck here and there's nothing we can do about it.

My point of contention among others is that this conference situation is going to severely hamper UConn athletics financially and in terms of national exposure and prestige. The divide that is being created between the the chosen and the non chosen is getting larger and larger with every tv and bowl contract signed.

No amount of NBC Sports coming to save the day talk or if we fight hard enough, the underdog will win, little rah-rah story will change that.

So, I guess myself and Whaler and company would probably agree to stop pointing out facts and realism about our situation if you and Pudge would stop with your NBC Sports and NNBE fantasies.

Call it whatever you want, but the only long term hope for UConn is to play well enough, create more of an tv audience, and hopefully one day be invited to another conference.

Thank you Mr. Obvious. And how will UConn have the resources to play well enough to be invited somewhere else? Does that happen in the MAC? As an Independent?

The only way to do that is through the NNBE. That is the only choice. And UConn needs to do whatever it has to do to make NBC comfortable enough with the league to pay an 8 digit number per team. Because if NBC walks away, the Big East will be lucky to get $5MM per school, and that is a death sentence. There is no coming back from that outcome, ever.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I do think that if the Big East can get any kind of reasonable deal from NBC that enables the schools to stay competitive, the playoff will be a bigger game changer than people think. I think it will destroy the ratings for the other bowls, and the first time a non-power conference team makes it, which will happen, it will flip the perception of power conference on its head. The NCAA Tournament enables all kinds of schools to compete at the highest level in basketball. The playoff will do the same in football, with the caveat that programs will need a minimum level of resources to compete.

Boise State with $10MM of TV money a year will be able to maintain its place among the national elite. Louisville or Cincinnati with that kind of money will be competitive with mid to upper level power conference programs, with the occasional outstanding season. Cut the TV money in half, and everyone is screwed.

 

[ZooCougar]

NBC is a death sentence. We will die on the vine over there by ourselves. Nearly every other outlet will forget the conference exists,

We need Aresco to pull something out of his ass and lock in BYU for at significant period of time. That might boost us up a little. But I don't see how he sells that if the Big 12 wants them too.

 

[gars44]

Thank you Mr. Obvious. And how will UConn have the resources to play well enough to be invited somewhere else? Does that happen in the MAC? As an Independent?

The only way to do that is through the NNBE. That is the only choice. And UConn needs to do whatever it has to do to make NBC comfortable enough with the league to pay an 8 digit number per team. Because if NBC walks away, the Big East will be lucky to get $5MM per school, and that is a death sentence. There is no coming back from that outcome, ever.

Not having been involved in this conversation, it looks like everyone is saying the same thing, the only difference being whether you want to stay optimistic about the situation, or remain pessimistic. I think Nelson/Pudge are optimistic, Whaler/others are pessimistic. But both seem to agree completely on what it is, and what has to be done to make it better.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Thank you Mr. Obvious. And how will UConn have the resources to play well enough to be invited somewhere else? Does that happen in the MAC? As an Independent?

The only way to do that is through the NNBE. That is the only choice. And UConn needs to do whatever it has to do to make NBC comfortable enough with the league to pay an 8 digit number per team. Because if NBC walks away, the Big East will be lucky to get $5MM per school, and that is a death sentence. There is no coming back from that outcome, ever.

Are you seriously this dense?

Nobody with half a brain is suggesting we go Indy. We all know the Big East will be our conference for the foreseeable future.

Playing on NBC Sports will lead to the demise of the conference. We're already going to be getting killed financially regardless if we go to ESPN or NBC compared to the B1G, ACC, Big12, Pac12 and ACC, but at least on ESPN we'll have visibility for basketball and visibility for our premiere football games.

The hope for UConn is that we can maintain our excellence in basketball and continue to be featured on Big Monday, etc. while the football team improves and gets the occasional ESPN or ABC game.

Moving to NBC Sports would be the exclamation point that the Big East is a second rate conference.

Remember 99% of the country gets their sports news and opinions from ESPN. We're in a fight for relevancy and respect and we want to be the only major sports property besides the NHL that ESPN doesn't have a financial interest in promoting no matter how small their investment is in the property?

 

[whaler11]

The NHL is even trying to not be major league as we speak. NBCS may be out of the game before it even starts.

 

[freescooter]

I don't know that NBC will be that bad a solution if the money is there. If they promote the league on their Notre Dame broadcasts and on their NFL broadcasts, for that matter on their PGA tour broadcasts(High income demographic), it will work out fine. It isn't like NBC is some startup company, even in the sports broadcasting arena. And with their regional networks, they are involved with SNYand other similar entities and through Comcast MSG, they can target distribution too. They also own HULU, which could allow them to launch a HULU-Sport say which would allow for streaming of games replays and so on. Thier Olympic coverage was good both on line and broadcast on their multiple channels. I almost think it would be no worse to be the #1 feature on NBC than # 6 or 7 on ESPN. I am also not so sure that signing fo rless money and being required ot wear a "kick me" sign is all that beneficial. If we get more money a football game of the week or 2 and regular basketball games plus keep the CBS deal or a similar Sunday afternoon NBC game I guess, it will work fine.

 

[whaler11]

I don't know that NBC will be that bad a solution if the money is there. If they promote the league on their Notre Dame broadcasts and on their NFL broadcasts, for that matter on their PGA tour broadcasts(High income demographic), it will work out fine. It isn't like NBC is some startup company, even in the sports broadcasting arena. And with their regional networks, they are involved with SNYand other similar entities and through Comcast MSG, they can target distribution too. They also own HULU, which could allow them to launch a HULU-Sport say which would allow for streaming of games replays and so on. Thier Olympic coverage was good both on line and broadcast on their multiple channels. I almost think it would be no worse to be the #1 feature on NBC than # 6 or 7 on ESPN. I am also not so sure that signing fo rless money and being required ot wear a "kick me" sign is all that beneficial. If we get more money a football game of the week or 2 and regular basketball games plus keep the CBS deal or a similar Sunday afternoon NBC game I guess, it will work fine.

Mostly true but no one watches their station. The Big East is not going to change that on their own.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I remember when Fox attempted to launch their own version of ESPN and had a Sportscenter clone that was hyped to the hilt. They were never a network to pull the plug early on something they thought would work but about five years after they started, their marquee anchor (I believe his name was Frazier) ended up as one of the dozens in Sportscenter's stable as Fox discontinued their version of Sportscenter.

NBC may very well be committed behind this at the moment but the day can arrive in a few short years where it is more cost effective for them to scale back their broadcasts (cutting their losses) and give the 24/7 sportschannel a slow death than to continue an attempt to promote/expand the product.

NBC taking the NNBE on is a risk on their part but the NNBE casting their fate with NBC could well be a bigger risk.

 

[UCFBfan]

Is getting $11 million from NBC vs $8 million from ESPN really worth it? When people were talking about large chunks of money it was a different story but going with a new network, talking NBCSN not NBC, is not worth the $3 million difference. I'd rather our basketball still be featured on ESPN and remain strong so we have something to offer the ACC when/if they want to go larger or lose a member or two. Football clearly won't get us anywhere in the near future due to the fact that we're too new to the game and clearly it's all about "prestige". There's no other way to explain Pitt, Syracuse, and BC going to the ACC. So we need to keep the bball product strong and playing on a random network like NBCSN is not going to cut it for top bball recruits. I think Ollie will do a good job but his job will be made harder as it is by the fact that we're not playing Syracuse, Pitt, or even ND anymore and instead are playing Temple, UCF, Houston, etc....add on top of that not getting as much national exposure and the bball program will suffer.

Tough roads are ahead but all we can hope for is success on the field and hardwood and then time will take care of itself.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Are you seriously this dense?

Nobody with half a brain is suggesting we go Indy. We all know the Big East will be our conference for the foreseeable future.

Playing on NBC Sports will lead to the demise of the conference. We're already going to be getting killed financially regardless if we go to ESPN or NBC compared to the B1G, ACC, Big12, Pac12 and ACC, but at least on ESPN we'll have visibility for basketball and visibility for our premiere football games.

The hope for UConn is that we can maintain our excellence in basketball and continue to be featured on Big Monday, etc. while the football team improves and gets the occasional ESPN or ABC game.

Moving to NBC Sports would be the exclamation point that the Big East is a second rate conference.

Remember 99% of the country gets their sports news and opinions from ESPN. We're in a fight for relevancy and respect and we want to be the only major sports property besides the NHL that ESPN doesn't have a financial interest in promoting no matter how small their investment is in the property?

Football just needs to be decent. A bowl game or two would be nice. What will save our bacon is basketball. We need to get back in the game, back on CBS and ESPN in big national games. Back to the sweet 16. Show that losing Calhoun isn't a death blow. Get to the college world series again. Win a soccer championship again. Start playing well in Hockey East.

I think any reluctance towards UConn has less to do with football than with uncertainty around basketball. If you knew you were getting the hoops of the last 20 years, we'd be golden, even with a .500 football team. The big leagues are each loaded with crappy football teams. Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Vandy, Indiana, Arizona, (do you see a trend?). But they need to know you bring something.

Where I depart from Pudge and Nelson is in the goal. The end game is not to make the NBE strong, it's to get the hell out. So we cannot forget that goal. That means that long term rights grants or big exit fees are not in our interest. Even at $15m a school, and with the programs playing well, I do not want UConn to be in this disfunctional crazy league that looks like it was designed by a bipolar modern artist. The goal is to escape this prison. So lift weights, bribe guards do what we need to do to become the biggest bad-ass in the place while we are in, but do nothing that makes it harder to get out.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The reluctance on UConn is indeed football. If we beat OU, we'd undoubtedly be going to the ACC next fall.

 

[UCername]

Can't find who I am replying to, but as far as NBC Sports and commitment is concerned, you should see the facility they are building in Stamford. It's not a half assed attempt at being a player in the space.

 

[gars44]

Football just needs to be decent. A bowl game or two would be nice. What will save our bacon is basketball. We need to get back in the game, back on CBS and ESPN in big national games. Back to the sweet 16. Show that losing Calhoun isn't a death blow. Get to the college world series again. Win a soccer championship again. Start playing well in Hockey East.

I think any reluctance towards UConn has less to do with football than with uncertainty around basketball. If you knew you were getting the hoops of the last 20 years, we'd be golden, even with a .500 football team. The big leagues are each loaded with crappy football teams. Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Vandy, Indiana, Arizona, (do you see a trend?). But they need to know you bring something.

Where I depart from Pudge and Nelson is in the goal. The end game is not to make the NBE strong, it's to get the hell out. So we cannot forget that goal. That means that long term rights grants or big exit fees are not in our interest. Even at $15m a school, and with the programs playing well, I do not want UConn to be in this disfunctional crazy league that looks like it was designed by a bipolar modern artist. The goal is to escape this prison. So lift weights, bribe guards do what we need to do to become the biggest bad-ass in the place while we are in, but do nothing that makes it harder to get out.

I think (and I would not speak for Nelson), but I think what Nelson is saying is that we can't just go back to ESPN, hat in hand, and say, "gee, sorry, I guess we should have taken that deal last year, huh? Hee Hee. But anyway, well, y'know, can we be fwends again? Maybe if we're weawwy, weawwy sowwy, promise never to do it again, can we get a decent enough contract that we can maybe, keep the program running?" My opinion, you cannot do that. ESPN is gonna go, yeah we'll throw you some scraps, just like we did with CUSA. In fact, you are CUSA. The Conference of Scraps. We will give you scraps. You get scraps. So, I would rather go with a better contract at NBCS - if available - then scrounge for ESPN scraps. ESPN won. That's simple. If you don't go with NBCS - if available at a much better rate than ESPN - then this is over. If you go with NBCS - with a much better deal - then we might still lose anyway, for all the reasons stated. But at least you have a chance. You have a chance that ESPN matches or comes close to the offer. That's the worst that can happen from ESPN. They match. But if they won't even match, what does that tell you? It tells me, holy crap, I'm going over that wall. And you better come with me. You stay here, you're gonna die.

 

[gars44]

I think (and I would not speak for Nelson), but I think what Nelson is saying is that we can't just go back to ESPN, hat in hand, and say, "gee, sorry, I guess we should have taken that deal last year, huh? Hee Hee. But anyway, well, y'know, can we be fwends again? Maybe if we're weawwy, weawwy sowwy, promise never to do it again, can we get a decent enough contract that we can maybe, keep the program running?" My opinion, you cannot do that. ESPN is gonna go, yeah we'll throw you some scraps, just like we did with CUSA. In fact, you are CUSA. The Conference of Scraps. We will give you scraps. You get scraps. So, I would rather go with a better contract at NBCS - if available - then scrounge for ESPN scraps. ESPN won. That's simple. If you don't go with NBCS - if available at a much better rate than ESPN - then this is over. If you go with NBCS - with a much better deal - then we might still lose anyway, for all the reasons stated. But at least you have a chance. You have a chance that ESPN matches or comes close to the offer. That's the worst that can happen from ESPN. They match. But if they won't even match, what does that tell you? It tells me, holy crap, I'm going over that wall. And you better come with me. You stay here, you're gonna die.

HuskyHawk, I'm sorry but I meant this post to go to CornHuskBask above. I get the two of you confused with all that corn and hawk, for some reason. Hawkeye, Corn, midwest, etc. That and early onset dementia will do that to you.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The reluctance on UConn is indeed football. If we beat OU, we'd undoubtedly be going to the ACC next fall.

I think it was. But now with the ban and a new coach, hoops is a question mark as well. Beating OU would have helped. Not getting swept in a home and home with a MAC team would have been nice too.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Football just needs to be decent. A bowl game or two would be nice. What will save our bacon is basketball. We need to get back in the game, back on CBS and ESPN in big national games. Back to the sweet 16. Show that losing Calhoun isn't a death blow. Get to the college world series again. Win a soccer championship again. Start playing well in Hockey East.

If basketball mattered as much as you think it does, then how the hell do you figure a school with 3 National Titles since 1999 is left in the cold?

I think I speak for 99% of the people on this board too when I say football doesn't just need to be 'decent'. I have high hopes for UConn football and while I fully realize we're not somehow going to morph into Alabama or Texas, I expect more than a few trips to the Beef O'Brady's Bowl every handful of years.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I think it was. But now with the ban and a new coach, hoops is a question mark as well. Beating OU would have helped. Not getting swept in a home and home with a MAC team would have been nice too.

The last time the ACC expanded from the Big East, we were defending national champions. If we beat OU, we're in. MAC losses would be irrelevant.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The last time the ACC expanded from the Big East, we were defending national champions. If we beat OU, we're in. MAC losses would be irrelevant.

I know a lot of people will disagree with you about the Fiesta Bowl and downplay the significance of only 1 game, but I'm not one of those people.

I think that game would have been our West Virginia over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl or Boise State over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl moment.

Winning big games against big brand name teams is the only way to earn respect in college football.

It wasn't a game we should have won or could have reasonably expected to win, but at the same time it would have done wonders for our profile as opposed to now being the (unjustly so) poster child for why the BCS system was broken.

 

[SAMCRO]

The fact the ACC took SyraPitt throws a serious dent in that premise. Cuse has been awful, Pitt no better than us (and they were waxed by Utah in their lone BcS appearance). On the field results had absolutely nothing to do w/ the ACC not taking UConn.

 

[uconnfan68]

The fact the ACC took SyraPitt throws a serious dent in that premise. Cuse has been awful, Pitt no better than us (and they were waxed by Utah in their lone BcS appearance). On the field results had absolutely nothing to do w/ the ACC not taking UConn.

The difference is that each of them can claim a Heisman winner, and for Pitt an NC too. Those things do matter to some people. It's like old money and newly rich.