Non-Key Tweets | Page 193 | The Boneyard

Non-Key Tweets

Fishy said:
You may or may not have noticed the lack of a frenzied bidding war.

Right now, it is fairly clear that the Big Ten, the ACC, the Big 12 and whoever else are perfectly happy to let UConn ride the AAC into the abyss.
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We've learned a few things along the way, including the fact that B1G decided it makes more sense to add in pairs. As Ldandy pointed out--and I've said repeatedly--I think UConn's already in the B1G, just waiting on a partner. Pernetti was working Delany and knew years ahead that Rutger was going to be B1G--but that was only confirmed after the fact.

I find it interesting that certain Twitterers--twits, for short--have third cousins twice removed working in ACC schools that know all about what the B1G is up to while the little people, you know, like the Board for Maryland only get in on the rumors a few hours in front of a vote. Basically, if it's rumor, it's bs because the players have learned to STFU.

All things considered, the less I hear about UConn from any official source, the better. Even the absolute worst projections I've seen on UConn are revenue neutral for any P5 conference. UConn's value isn't in question, never has been, and everybody knows it; it's just not clear yet for anyone how to fit the pieces. The Big 12 might need to move to 12 but then UConn is the ultimate outlier. The real action is the B1G and ACC. They may be both silent and out-of-site, but it's a given you're being watched and that you'll be grabbed by the scruff of the neck before you tumble into the abyss.
 
Ldandy said:
I hope that UCONN gets an invite to a P5 Conference in the very near future. You guys/gals have more than proven that you belong at the highest level of collegiate athletics. Many fans of B1G teams that post here, myself included, are rooting for you guys to get a shot at joining us.

That said I see no scenario where membership will be contingent on serving a probationary period. It just won't happen that way. 1)It creates scheduling headaches throughout the conference by introducing an uneven number of teams & 2)It creates too much speculation as to when and with what school the conference might expand with to reach 16. Delany is not going to publicly deal with that question time and again waiting for GOR's to expire.

Much like the last round of expansion where The B1G knew they had #14 in the bag, they were simply waiting on #13 to make their move. As soon as they had a deal with with that school, they could bring #14 along as well. I could potentially see things playing out this same way with UCONN playing the Rutgers Role to a mystery #15 during the next go around.

If for some reason The B1G pulls 2 schools out of The ACC, bypassing UCONN, it is almost certain that you all could slide in to that conference in quick fashion. It might not be anyone here's preference, but it would be 100x better than The AAC plus you would still be in Hockey East. Not a bad consolation prize.
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The irony is that the Big East brought in Rutgers and VT as football-onlies when both schools would have jumped at a full invite. Years later they leave for greener pastures and the BE royalty has left the conference to its small-school former brethren.
 
Fishy said:
You may or may not have noticed the lack of a frenzied bidding war.
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Yes. I've also noticed that state flagships are the prize in realignment because of their non-alumni followings, and that every state flagship university is in a P5 conference except the following states, listed in order of population:
New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South and North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming.

The northeast (New England + New York) is the great unclaimed prize; the rest is a bunch of small population, low population density states. UConn happens to be right in the middle of the greatest population concentration in the United States, and is the only remaining state flagship with a history of big-time athletics and strong fan support.

Realignment is being driven by TV execs and TV money. They are going to look at how they can grow college athletics in the northeast. To do that, they have to bring competition here.

There are going to be bidders for UConn.
 
pj said:
Yes. I've also noticed that state flagships are the prize in realignment because of their non-alumni followings, and that every state flagship university is in a P5 conference except the following states, listed in order of population:
New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South and North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming.

The northeast (New England + New York) is the great unclaimed prize; the rest is a bunch of small population, low population density states. UConn happens to be right in the middle of the greatest population concentration in the United States, and is the only remaining state flagship with a history of big-time athletics and strong fan support.

Realignment is being driven by TV execs and TV money. They are going to look at how they can grow college athletics in the northeast. To do that, they have to bring competition here.

There are going to be bidders for UConn.
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What is the flagship school of New York?
 
New York has four, Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo ... but for athletics purposes they have none. Hard to see any of those making a billion dollar investment in athletics. UConn is now the best you can do for an athletic following in New York state.
 
pj said:
New York has four, Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo ... but for athletics purposes they have none. Hard to see any of those making a billion dollar investment in athletics. UConn is now the best you can do for an athletic following in New York state.
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New York has a diffuse system of higher education - even Cornell houses 3 SUNY land grant colleges to go along with its 4 private colleges. IMO, there would never be agreement on which one should be promoted at the expense of others.
 
Sea Goat said:
New York has a diffuse system of higher education - even Cornell houses 3 SUNY land grant colleges to go along with its 4 private colleges. IMO, there would never be agreement on which one should be promoted at the expense of others.
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The promotion has already happened: Buffalo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...los-uniforms-say-new-york-instead-of-buffalo/

But the sports marketing isn't what makes it the flagship. Instead it was the UB20/20 bill and the Buffalo Billion. So, it went from being the largest SUNY with the most comprehensive programs and biggest in terms of research and also grad and professional schools, to doubling down on its advantage by garnering a huge chunk of dough from the state.

Now all you hear from people is "flagship" of the system.

New York politics for a couple decades prevented this from happening because there was state legislator strength in Binghamton. And BingU. was a big plus for that city's economic life. But now that the political power there has gone, Bing. has fallen behind Stony Brook and well behind Buffalo.
 
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jostar1 said:
Christopher Lambert @theDudeofWV · 10m 10 minutes ago
New story with some interesting data tomorrow. Expansion related.
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He just finished applying the soft wax finish to Athlete94's hood and is ironing out the details he overheard between Athlete94 and Wake Forest Pullover Man's conversation. Next he will be contacting Fluguar to compare notes. Then he will release his story.

By the way, didn't he and Fluguar admit to having the same sources? Do they both creepily hang around car washes eavesdropping?
 
roadhunter said:
Did he ever release the list of expansion candidates he talked about a few weeks ago? Seems like he eluded to a formula he was using and UConn was the surprise #1 candidate.
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Could be. At the beginning of February he tweeted:

Christopher Lambert @theDudeofWV · 17h 17 hours ago
I am mere days away from releasing my comprehensive expansion value gadget.

Christopher Lambert @theDudeofWV · 17h 17 hours ago
You'll be able to compare your favorite G5 school against other G5 schools & current B12 members using 14 metrics.

Christopher Lambert @theDudeofWV · 17h 17 hours ago
The best part... The metrics used are weighted in the same manner the Big 12 & it's TV partners do!

Christopher Lambert @theDudeofWV · 17h 17 hours ago
@ToddatEMI Entertainment purposes only. As research to Quantify the factors that count & why.

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV · 17h17 hours ago
And boys & girls there is a surprising leader at the top of the list. A dark horse that pulls into the lead when all 14 factors are counted.

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV · 2h2 hours ago
@mkw_14 According to the numbers it’s 1. UCONN 2. UCF 3. Cincy. Husky hoops skews some numbers.

Kyle Jacobson ‏@_KyleJacobson · 16h16 hours ago
@theDudeofWV Hmm...UConn? Not sure what the 14 factors are, but they seem like somewhat of a dark horse

Christopher Lambert
‏@theDudeofWV @_KyleJacobson 10 year W-L record, Bowl record, avg attend, avg season tix sales, contrib yearly, merchandising, T3 contract, home dma.
 
jostar1 said:
Christopher Lambert @theDudeofWV · 10m 10 minutes ago
New story with some interesting data tomorrow. Expansion related.
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west-virginia-funny-demotivational-poster-1277867610.jpg
 
upstater said:
The promotion has already happened: Buffalo..
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No, it hasn't.

It a marketing move by Buffalo, but the system still has its four university "centers" - Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Binghamton.
 
pj said:
New York has four, Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo ... but for athletics purposes they have none. Hard to see any of those making a billion dollar investment in athletics. UConn is now the best you can do for an athletic following in New York state.
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SFX Buzzer. "Wrong answer, thanks for playing. The correct answer is UConn."
 
Fishy said:
No, it hasn't.

It a marketing move by Buffalo, but the system still has its four university "centers" - Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Binghamton.
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But . . . But . . . But . . . I thought they said they were The Flagship School of Buffalo . . . Or maybe the State University of The NEW YORK CITY of buffalo . . . Or maybe the AAU's Buffalo Institute of Technology, Chemistry, and Hematology . . . Or something that is way too long to remember or looks like you are trying too hard to associate with NYC.
 
I can't believe this conversation.

First, anybody that's ever served knows that Excelsior College is New York's flagship school.

Second, as every Excelsior graduate knows, Buffalo is in Canada.
 
Buffalo is indeed in Canada. As someone who has been there hundreds of times (have family who live there and, yes, they are Canadian), it doesn't get much more Canada than Buffalo. If Sarah Palin lived there, she could see it from her house. Literally.

Want more proof? The last place Sabres have no problem selling out games yet the winning record Bills did. Canadian sport TRUMPS the American sports and it ain't close.
 
Believe Believe what you want to believe... but you're wrong. It is Buffalo.
 
Fishy said:
No, it hasn't.

It a marketing move by Buffalo, but the system still has its four university "centers" - Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Binghamton.
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Is Cal-Berkeley the flagship of UCal? They say they are. Everyone thinks they are. That means they are. And yet still the U. Cal. Chancellor says they are just like UCLA and San Diego etc. and can't claim a special role. But theys till say they are. And everyone thinks they are. And most of the money goes there. And they are the most comprehensive.

The marketing move to put "New York" front and center was by an AD and his cohort. It has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.

When UB20/20 went through, Zimpher and her pals pushed it through politically as the flagship. And the money in UB2020 dwarfs anything going to the other campuses. The Pres. of UB runs the Buffalo Billion.
 
Fishy said:
No, it hasn't.

It a marketing move by Buffalo, but the system still has its four university "centers" - Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Binghamton.
Expand ...

The marketing move was by an AD and his cohort. It has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.

When UB20/20 went through, Zimpher and her pals pushed it through politically as the flagship. And the money in UB2020 dwarfs anything going to the other campuses. The Pres. of UB runs the Buffalo Billion.
 
roadhunter said:
Do you really believe that? The reality is that as far as college football TV is concerned the New England market is just as worthless as the Dakotas. Thus why schools like Maine, NH, Delaware, Vermont, etc are a non factor in college football. Heck NDSU has more clout in college football than all of New England combined. Huge populations and TV markets who don't care about college football are basically worthless to realignment it seems. New England is basically more like Canada when it comes to college football. Might be some huge cities but none of them care about college football.

IMO there is a reason nobody has claimed the "great unclaimed prize". There is no prize. Just the illusion of one.
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Vermont doesn't have a football team and while New Hampshire and Maine are technically on the eastern seaboard, the population center of the Atlantic coast ends at Boston. Huge populations who do not care about college football are indeed worth far more than the Dakotas. They carry with them cable viewership and eyeballs. That they watch the game doesn't matter as much as the outlet (Read: Big Ten Network) is carried on a readily subscribed to tier. That mean carriage fees.

Boston College football is 3th, at best, in Boston. Then Hockey and Basketball season start and they drop down to 5th. Rutgers draws 600,000 pairs of eyes in greater New York out of 12,000,000 (in order words, 0.5% in Manhattan and outer boroughs). Doesn't matter. That's not where the money is.

The problem with UConn however is:

1) UConn's physical position is in no man's land. Greater Boston has a day time population of over 3,000,000. There's about 3.5 mil in the entire state of CT. Greater New York City houses around 12 million. What is in UConn's favor is a sizable portion of NYC's DMA is actually within the Connecticut state lines.

2) UConn was actively lobbied against admission to the ACC. First, the former Attorney General (Now U.S. Senator) lead a lawsuit in 2003 when Boston College was invited, and the former BC AD is on the record as lobbying against them ever since. 2a) They aren't considered a football school, even though they went to 5 bowls after the first 7 non-transition seasons, including a BCS bowl. 2b) The latest round of conference realignment occurred during the dark period in UConn history headed up by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

3) UConn does not technically meet a small number of the academic, financial, and geographic criteria of the Big Ten. (Counter to 3...and 2 for that matter). All evidence points to UConn addressing these shortfalls.).

As hard as they may try, Fargo (and by extension the Dakotas as a whole), will never garner more respect for 1) the mere fact that they are FCS and 2) The combined population is about 1.6 million people.
 
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