Non-Key Tweets

[HoopsFan21]

If you're not in a conference, you will never make the football playoff. Being a part of a league with a reputation, deserved or not, stacks the deck against the little guys. Throw in the fact that there would be no conference championship game and that deck becomes even more stacked. If you want to make it in CFB, it is imperative that you are in a power conference. I suspect the remaining independents will find that out soon enough if not the hard way.

 

[NYUConn]

If you're not in a conference, you will never make the football playoff. Being a part of a league with a reputation, deserved or not, stacks the deck against the little guys. Throw in the fact that there would be no conference championship game and that deck becomes even more stacked. If you want to make it in CFB, it is imperative that you are in a power conference. I suspect the remaining independents will find that out soon enough if not the hard way.

I don't think it's impossible for an Independent to make the CFP, but I agree with your sentiment because with the exception of Notre Dame, none of the other Indy's would have access to a New Years 6 bowl. So, ultimately, an independent UConn could go 11-1 and end up playing in the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 23 for their effort.

Independence just isn't a good way to grow the program.

 

[Stinger92860]

Greg Flugaur ‏@flugempire 11h11 hours ago
http://wtnh.com/2015/09/21/new… UCONN & Wisconsin working together building a "Research Relationship"

This is as a key message.

 

[Kolumbo]

UCONN is currently scheduled to play Illinois and Indiana. This newsflash, that UCONN will be considered P5, should be watched extremely closely, obviously. First, I would think that UCONN's schedule will start filling up with B1G programs immediately! B1G programs have to schedule at least 1 out of conference P5 program (including UCONN), so that would be an opportunity to play in New England/Tri-State/Northeast against a program which is not that strong right now. (Or would they look at it as a risk of losing to an AAC program?) Second, having UCONN on the schedule makes the transition easier when UCONN gets the invite.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't think it's impossible for an Independent to make the CFP, but I agree with your sentiment because with the exception of Notre Dame, none of the other Indy's would have access to a New Years 6 bowl. So, ultimately, an independent UConn could go 11-1 and end up playing in the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 23 for their effort.

Independence just isn't a good way to grow the program.

No one can make a positive argument for staying in the AAC.

 

[NYUConn]

No one can make a positive argument for staying in the AAC.

Are you kidding? I just did. New Year's 6 bowl access, other bowl tie-ins. You can't get those as an Independent. Right now BYU has 1 bowl tie in guaranteed: the Miami Beach Bowl against the American.

Also if you need another argument, how about TV exposure and revenue for football? If we leave the AAC in football we lose access to guaranteed access to games on ESPN and CBS networks. Great we can go independent and play Michigan State and the games will air on Detroit's ABC affiliate and SNY. Sure, UConn will get Big East hoops TV money in your scenario, but we're leaving so much more on the table from Football.

How about recruiting? When you play in a conference you get guaranteed trips to Texas, Florida and Ohio every year where your recruits can watch you play in person. As an Independent you're at the whim of your schedule, which is as erratic one year to the next.

To say there is no positive argument for staying in the AAC is completely ignorant of how college football works on and off the field.

 

[Waquoit]

No one can make a positive argument for staying in the AAC.

How bout "It's better than the alternative."

 

[Kolumbo]

It's getting too comical to follow anymore. You have now got your P5 and your G5. In terms of non-P5 programs considered P5 out of conference (based on espn article):
B1G: BYU, ND, Army, UCONN, Cincy, Navy; No FCS programs.
SEC: BYU, ND, Army
ACC: BYU, ND

 

[Husky25]

Sure, UConn will get Big East hoops TV money in your scenario, but we're leaving so much more on the table from Football.

UConn would not get Big East hoops money, because the Big East does not want UConn. The Big East does not want an FBS Football school in their Basketball conference, even if the football team is in a different conference. FBS Football schools have an inherent advantage over the other conference members due to the size of their overall athletic department budget. This is the reason the Catholic 7 broke off in the first place. St. Johns and Seton Hall can claw up the rankings in the New Big East. They could not compete in the Old.

Going independent in football for a program the stature of UConn's is a death sentence for the entire athletic department. As crappy as it is, UConn's best route to a P5 conference is paved through the AAC. Not only is that the best argument for staying in the AAC, it's the only argument in the discussion, period.

 

[NYUConn]

UConn would not get Big East hoops money, because the Big East does not want UConn. The Big East does not want an FBS Football school in their Basketball conference, even if the football team is in a different conference. FBS Football schools have an inherent advantage over the other conference members due to the size of their overall athletic department budget. This is the reason the Catholic 7 broke off in the first place. St. Johns and Seton Hall can claw up the rankings in the New Big East. They could not compete in the Old.

Going independent in football for a program the stature of UConn's is a death sentence for the entire athletic department. As crappy as it is, UConn's best route to a P5 conference is paved through the AAC. Not only is that the best argument for staying in the AAC, it's the only argument in the discussion, period.

I agree, but I am just playing into the fantasy scenario where UConn is an indy in FBS football and a member of the BE for hoops.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Are you kidding? I just did. New Year's 6 bowl access, other bowl tie-ins. You can't get those as an Independent. Right now BYU has 1 bowl tie in guaranteed: the Miami Beach Bowl against the American.

Also if you need another argument, how about TV exposure and revenue for football? If we leave the AAC in football we lose access to guaranteed access to games on ESPN and CBS networks. Great we can go independent and play Michigan State and the games will air on Detroit's ABC affiliate and SNY. Sure, UConn will get Big East hoops TV money in your scenario, but we're leaving so much more on the table from Football.

How about recruiting? When you play in a conference you get guaranteed trips to Texas, Florida and Ohio every year where your recruits can watch you play in person. As an Independent you're at the whim of your schedule, which is as erratic one year to the next.

To say there is no positive argument for staying in the AAC is completely ignorant of how college football works on and off the field.

BYU and Boise both got better deals for TV than we have, and Boise is in Boise. SNY wants to carry UConn. Why not cut out the middleman? Syndicate the big games if need be, and in 5 years most of the broadcasts will be streaming online.

UConn needs a few partners to make this work, and at that point, maybe UConn should just form an 8 team, football only conference. I do not have a problem with that. The key is filling the schedule, and the Big 10 has already said they want to play us. Let's get a couple of more leagues to do the same, and then push off.

BYU, Boise, Army, Navy, UConn, Cincinnati, UMass and whoever (Temple?) would be a respectable football league. Army/Navy could play Patriot hoops, Boise and BYU to the WCC, UMass stays in the A 10 and maybe is joined by Temple, and UConn and Cincinnati make a pitch to the Big East. Would this league get a decent TV deal? I think so.

By the way, you brought up the technicality of the G5 arrangement with the Bowls. I am confident that a league with the teams outlined would be admitted to that deal somehow, someway. And that technicality is much smaller than ESPN's right of first refusal on the AAC, which means that ESPN never has to pay the AAC a market price for their broadcast rights, ever. There is no way for the AAC to make more money with ESPN short of threatening to dissolve the league.

We need to get out of the AAC as soon as possible.

 

[Husky25]

Cincinnati is as welcome in the Big East for basketball as UConn is.

 

[Exit 4]

UConn would not get Big East hoops money, because the Big East does not want UConn. The Big East does not want an FBS Football school in their Basketball conference, even if the football team is in a different conference. FBS Football schools have an inherent advantage over the other conference members due to the size of their overall athletic department budget. This is the reason the Catholic 7 broke off in the first place. St. Johns and Seton Hall can claw up the rankings in the New Big East. They could not compete in the Old.

Going independent in football for a program the stature of UConn's is a death sentence for the entire athletic department. As crappy as it is, UConn's best route to a P5 conference is paved through the AAC. Not only is that the best argument for staying in the AAC, it's the only argument in the discussion, period.

I'd say its the only argument for the next 10 years. Things might change - making independent football viable - but for the present - its not viable because we'd lose out on our BIGeast exit $$ and NCAA BB $$, we'd lose out on bowl access and we might lose out on scheduling any games with P5 teams. Plus, all sports outside of Hockey would have a hard time finding a home and making a schedule.

 

[Husky25]

I'd say its the only argument for the next 10 years. Things might change - making independent football viable - but for the present - its not viable because we'd lose out on our BIGeast exit $$ and NCAA BB $$, we'd lose out on bowl access and we might lose out on scheduling any games with P5 teams. Plus, all sports outside of Hockey would have a hard time finding a home and making a schedule.

Anything can change over a 10 year period. While I'm reasonably sure UConn has rough contingency plans, they need to address the issues at hand and no issues are resolved by any combination of Big East/Independence.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn would not get Big East hoops money, because the Big East does not want UConn. The Big East does not want an FBS Football school in their Basketball conference, even if the football team is in a different conference. FBS Football schools have an inherent advantage over the other conference members due to the size of their overall athletic department budget. This is the reason the Catholic 7 broke off in the first place. St. Johns and Seton Hall can claw up the rankings in the New Big East. They could not compete in the Old.

Going independent in football for a program the stature of UConn's is a death sentence for the entire athletic department. As crappy as it is, UConn's best route to a P5 conference is paved through the AAC. Not only is that the best argument for staying in the AAC, it's the only argument in the discussion, period.

The only death sentence is staying in the AAC. I agree that the Big East is not jumping up and down to add football schools, but UConn filled arenas and I imagine Fox wouldn't mind the content.

 

[whaler11]

That would help scheduling for sure. Missouri you wanna come to the Rent and play on SNY?

Hey Beals, Hey Rose - you wanna come to UConn and play on SNY?

Lunacy.

 

[Husky25]

The only death sentence is staying in the AAC. I agree that the Big East is not jumping up and down to add football schools, but UConn filled arenas and I imagine Fox wouldn't mind the content.

Not jumping up and down? It wouldn't even come up for a vote!! It's a non-starter.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'd say its the only argument for the next 10 years. Things might change - making independent football viable - but for the present - its not viable because we'd lose out on our BIGeast exit $$ and NCAA BB $$, we'd lose out on bowl access and we might lose out on scheduling any games with P5 teams. Plus, all sports outside of Hockey would have a hard time finding a home and making a schedule.

Do we play Houston and Tulane in hockey? Can you name any non-revenue sports that would be better off in the AAC than the Big East?

The NCAA BB $$$'s are going to shrink rapidly, and we are in year 2 post Big East. The Big East's BB units are going to outpace ours by a lot going forward. We wouldn't realistically leave for another 2 years, so the exit fees are going to be mostly paid out by that point.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

That would help scheduling for sure. Missouri you wanna come to the Rent and play on SNY?

Hey Beals, Hey Rose - you wanna come to UConn and play on SNY?

Lunacy.

Or we could keep playing in front of friends and family with our Tulane/Tulsa/SMU schedules and needing to be 10 RPI slots better than a P5/Big East team to get a bid. In fact, how has seeding gone for the AAC teams in the last two years? UConn got an absurd 7 seed when we should have had a 4 or 5. The conference as a whole is losing 2 seeds a year on Selection Sunday for the teams that go, and each of the last two years, AAC teams have gotten totally screwed over on Selection Sunday.

 

[NYUConn]

By the way, you brought up the technicality of the G5 arrangement with the Bowls. I am confident that a league with the teams outlined would be admitted to that deal somehow, someway. And that technicality is much smaller than ESPN's right of first refusal on the AAC, which means that ESPN never has to pay the AAC a market price for their broadcast rights, ever. There is no way for the AAC to make more money with ESPN short of threatening to dissolve the league.

I love how you dismiss a years-long negotiating process that involved buy-in from every conference in football, ESPN, University Presidents and even the NCAA as a "technicality."

These are the rules that govern the sport for the foreseeable future.

Also you're completely misinterpreting the ESPN first right of refusal clause in the AAC's contract. Basically ESPN has the first right to MATCH whatever the market value is for the AAC's TV rights. This means that if NBC in a few years doubles our existing deal, ESPN has a right to match that number first.

ESPN is not setting the market rate for AAC broadcasting rights.

We can and will make more money off our television rights in the AAC than we will as an Independent. What sports network is going to pay UConn 2-3 million/year to broadcast our football games right now? Because that's what we would need to clear annually to even get the Independent conversation started.

 

[Husky25]

Do we play Houston and Tulane in hockey? Can you name any non-revenue sports that would be better off in the AAC than the Big East?

The NCAA BB $$$'s are going to shrink rapidly, and we are in year 2 post Big East. The Big East's BB units are going to outpace ours by a lot going forward. We wouldn't realistically leave for another 2 years, so the exit fees are going to be mostly paid out by that point.

1. You misunderstood what he said (IMO).
2. Baseball. The AAC is a better baseball conference than the Big East could ever be.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Not jumping up and down? It wouldn't even come up for a vote!! It's a non-starter.

If your argument is that no conference wants UConn, then why are we maintaining this spending level? It would be nice if someone on this board would have an argument that held together holistically.

 

[whaler11]

Or we could keep playing in front of friends and family with our Tulane/Tulsa/SMU schedules and needing to be 10 RPI slots better than a P5/Big East team to get a bid. In fact, how has seeding gone for the AAC teams in the last two years? UConn got an absurd 7 seed when we should have had a 4 or 5. The conference as a whole is losing 2 seeds a year on Selection Sunday for the teams that go, and each of the last two years, AAC teams have gotten totally screwed over on Selection Sunday.

So cancel football and give up any chance of getting to a league where that doesn't happen. Your face is going to miss your nose.

 

[Husky25]

If your argument is that no conference wants UConn, then why are we maintaining this spending level? It would be nice if someone on this board would have an argument that held together holistically.

Typical Muntz straw man...

I did not say no conference wants UConn. I said the Big East does not want one-off FBS football schools - with monster budgets by comparison - in their basketball only (on a revenue generating basis) conference.

Try comprehending what others are writing for a change instead of twisting opposing arguments into your false narrative. You seem a relatively intelligent person until you morph into Anne Savoy. "Having a conversation with you is like a Martian talking to a fungo."

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I love how you dismiss a years-long negotiating process that involved buy-in from every conference in football, ESPN, University Presidents and even the NCAA as a "technicality."

These are the rules that govern the sport for the foreseeable future.

Also you're completely misinterpreting the ESPN first right of refusal clause in the AAC's contract. Basically ESPN has the first right to MATCH whatever the market value is for the AAC's TV rights. This means that if NBC in a few years doubles our existing deal, ESPN has a right to match that number first.

ESPN is not setting the market rate for AAC broadcasting rights.

We can and will make more money off our television rights in the AAC than we will as an Independent. What sports network is going to pay UConn 2-3 million/year to broadcast our football games right now? Because that's what we would need to clear annually to even get the Independent conversation started.

Depaul's TV $ > UConn's TV $

If you don't think UConn's TV rights are worth $2MM on the open market, then why do you think any P5 league would ever add UConn?

You also keep arguing things I am not arguing. If you want to argue with yourself, i will step out. There are a few schools unhappy with their situation that appear to have alternatives. BYU, Boise, Navy and Army already have separate rights agreements. I will stipulate that we need some friends to do this.

The right of first refusal is a show stopper for anyone looking at buying the AAC TV rights. It was a stupid clause to have agreed to, and discourages any other network from seriously bidding on the property. Why would NBC or CBS go through the trouble of pricing out the Big East and putting a bid in if ESPN can just take it? I would be surprised if there are any other bidders next time around. ESPN will be able to get the entire league rights for $10MM a year if they want to. The AAC is absolutely crippled by this clause. It is a death sentence by itself, and if Aresco had two brain cells he would dissolve the league solely to avoid this clause.