NIL Injunction

[Purple Stein]

The deck has been stacked against UConn becoming a legit D1 football program since it was given the golden ticket to join the Big East for football. An 'undeserved' trip to the Fiesta Bowl and a subsequent 'poor showing' by the fans and a 28 point loss on the field started a narrative. Pasqualoni, Diaco and Edsall 2.0 reinforced it. Conference realignment left football for dead as well but throughout, the one hope I had was everyone had 85 scholarships and the 'rules' provided some sort of a level playing field.

Not anymore. This is not true sport where winning is earned through hard work and competition. Winning is now earned by hording players, throwing bags and bags of money and unlimited free agency. It is a 'sport' where only the same 5-8 programs have any chance of winning the championship in a given year. This isn't sport any longer where two conferences and the same 5-8 programs are essentially saying to the rest, 'let them eat cake'. And it's being driven by one of the state's biggest employers who has turned its back on UConn for some unknown reason while propping up financially a bunch of schools who do not move the needle at all for ratings.

The question is....will UConn leadership just shrug at this or rage against the machine?

So, worst case scenario - so what?

From 1869-1900 all national championships were won by Ivies or (now) Patriot League teams. They continued to win titles into the first half of the 20th century.

The game has passed these teams by, on the field and financially. But they still play, with loyal alumni and regional fans.

UConn does not compete for titles in national football. It never has. Hell, it’s fair to ask, at the start of each season “What are we playing for here?” It’s not a national championship, it’s not a conference championship - it’s for pride and competition. If we’re on the outside looking in at the end of all this, nothing has really changed outside of our dashed hopes.

 

[augustaTC]

Former UConn Chancellor. You didn't remember that?

Of course I did, and if I wanted to beat a dead horse I guess I could given details of his massive mismanagement of the school's huge construction project.

 

[J187Money]

So, worst case scenario - so what?

From 1869-1900 all national championships were won by Ivies or (now) Patriot League teams. They continued to win titles into the first half of the 20th century.

The game has passed these teams by, on the field and financially. But they still play, with loyal alumni and regional fans.

UConn does not compete for titles in national football. It never has. Hell, it’s fair to ask, at the start of each season “What are we playing for here?” It’s not a national championship, it’s not a conference championship - it’s for pride and competition. If we’re on the outside looking in at the end of all this, nothing has really changed outside of our dashed hopes.

That's my take. The reality is that there are a number of schools that will throw a ton of money at this - and then the rest of the schools which will give some money but less than the big schools. And there are more good players than there are starting spots at the big schools. And kids outside the P5 end up in the NFL all of the time.

So UCONN can't pay for 5 star players or 4 star players? BFD - we were never able to recruit them anyway. I don't think we will be worse off as we move forward. We were already at a disadvantage. And honestly - we are in a better spot than a lot of the other G5 schools.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I can see this reaching the point where collectives are no longer affiliated with a given school, but rather companies. They can act as agents for these kids and auction them to the highest bidding school.

Matter of time before kids have unlimited eligibility.

NCAA really no longer exists.

And then the NFL and NBA smash it to pieces because college sports would just be another ankle biting competitor to the pro leagues that they need to snuff out.

 

[Rich]

And then the NFL and NBA smash it to pieces because college sports would just be another ankle biting competitor to the pro leagues that they need to snuff out.

Yeah, no.

The college kids would make maybe ~100-200k per on average. It’s an alternative to playing in some of the lower overseas leagues.

 

[Patman]

Yeah, no.

The college kids would make maybe ~100-200k per on average. It’s an alternative to playing in some of the lower overseas leagues.

Reality will be that the fans will divorce themselves as the teams lose connections with the colleges themselves. Students won't feel a need to associate and so on