Non-Key Tweets

[CL82]

Ah, a fix of pro-UConn Flug tweets.... I was Jonesing a bit.

 

[The Funster]

Greg Flugaur ‏@flugempire · 4m4 minutes ago
@NebGradDubDub @DooleyMcStitch @
FOX is the key to B12 Expansion since ESPN won't let it happen in FL.The "key" turns UCONN door knob

This is what bothers me about ESPN. I don't like the fact that a network has a major say in CR and what could, ultimately, be the fate of a university's entire AD. I mean in this case it helps us but we know that ESPN's influence has likely hurt us as well. They shouldn't have that kind of unfluence.

 

[CallMeBruce]

This is what bothers me about ESPN. I don't like the fact that a network has a major say in CR and what could, ultimately, be the fate of a university's entire AD. I mean in this case it helps us but we know that ESPN's influence has likely hurt us as well. They shouldn't have that kind of unfluence.

And if they do have that kind of influence, they should have used it to get us into the ACC over Pitt.

 

[Waquoit]

This is what bothers me about ESPN. I don't like the fact that a network has a major say in CR and what could, ultimately, be the fate of a university's entire AD. I mean in this case it helps us but we know that ESPN's influence has likely hurt us as well. They shouldn't have that kind of unfluence.

Now that it appears they might be in our corner you are upset with their influence? WTF?

 

[Ldandy]

Nothing is more ridiculous than the argument "if UConn was a valuable P5 program they'd be in the P5." It is like putting someone in jail without a trial and then stating if he was innocent he would not be in jail. Circular logic only ends one way....back at the same point.

The other argument I love is "because Rutgers was added to the BIG, UConn is somehow valueless." Perhaps Rutgers was added to the BIG because they are AAU, they are continuous to a neighboring BIG state, or they are the first step in a BIG advance into the NE. Even if one assumes arguendo that Rutgers was more valuable for a network than UConn that does not mean UConn is not valuable to a network. For a conference like the Big12 without a NE presence UConn delivers a new market and millions of viewers.

The final argument that is ridiculous is that "no one in the NE likes college football and college football is king so no program in the NE is valuable." Ummm, how about the traditional flagship state programs have not played football in the NE. The lone exception is PSU which has a huge fan following. UConn is relatively new to big time football but it has a shown an ability to build a legitimate football program. College football can take hold in Connecticut and UConn has a statewide + following...its not a pure college versus the NFL decision, a lot of people watch both.

Bottom line...sometimes you just can't fix stupid with people

Good post. It's almost as bad as the clown shoe article posted on this board stating that UCONN must be satisfied in The AAC because its leaders are not broadcasting their intentions all over social media. If the Big 12 is serious about a network then UCONN is a no brainer. If UT decides that The LHN is more important than the long term future of The Big 12, then just about any two will do for a conference championship game. Ignorant people will always self identify. You just need to give them the opportunity.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Greg Flugaur ‏@flugempire · 4m4 minutes ago
@NebGradDubDub @DooleyMcStitch @
FOX is the key to B12 Expansion since ESPN won't let it happen in FL.The "key" turns UCONN door knob

I both love these and find them terrifying. I'm not sure how many more months of this teasing I can take.

 

[Ldandy]

This is what bothers me about ESPN. I don't like the fact that a network has a major say in CR and what could, ultimately, be the fate of a university's entire AD. I mean in this case it helps us but we know that ESPN's influence has likely hurt us as well. They shouldn't have that kind of unfluence.

I understand what you are saying, but as the primary entity footing the bill for broadcasting college athletics they are most definitely going to have some level of input on who plays who. The genie is out of the bottle, the days of pure amateurism and sensible geographic configurations are over. That sucks, but it was the sacrifice made in the quest for the almighty dollar.

 

[CL82]

I both love these and find them terrifying. I'm not sure how many more months of this teasing I can take.

I know, right?

I just feel like the Big 12 announcement is going to be something like: Cincy, UCF, USF and Temple followed by a stock shot of the Jonathan the Husky looking shocked and this sound track:

 

[amory]

Good post. It's almost as bad as the clown shoe article posted on this board stating that UCONN must be satisfied in The AAC because its leaders are not broadcasting their intentions all over social media. If the Big 12 is serious about a network then UCONN is a no brainer. If UT decides that The LHN is more important than the long term future of The Big 12, then just about any two will do for a conference championship game. Ignorant people will always self identify. You just need to give them the opportunity.

If the Big 12 isn't serious about a network then expansion conversations are a non-starter. If Texas has decided that they're going to ride the LHN for as long as they can and then jump to whatever other league, then there's simply no reason to split the pie up any more ways in the meantime, regardless of who they'd be splitting it with.

Anyone writing articles about expansion but acting like a conference network is some kind of side benefit has no clue what they're talking about.

 

[4in16]

Ah, a fix of pro-UConn Flug tweets.... I was Jonesing a bit.

They're an addicting drug...the strongest of the non-key tweet fixes.

 

[uchusky32]

Yup, expansion and Network is the only way to drive and the Networks will not and should not pay the same for different markets. This is why I don't think the ACC even took this into consideration. They have Jcom Sports problem so network at that time was off the table. This allowed the Football schools to have more power in the negotiations. I don't believe that if the ACC were expanding today with the same schools on the table last time and Network was on the table that there would be the same result. would trump and the I95 corridor would have priority.

 

[jostar1]

Greg Flugaur ‏@flugempire · 2h2 hours ago
How do I say this?
A certain B12 Reporter has it out for Boren
Same B12 reporter mentions BYU as possible candidate
Boren pushing UC/UCONN



Greg Flugaur‏@flugempire
@AB670 He is also ignoring what it would take to get FOX to sign on to B12 expansion to pay pro-rata on TV contract.
Eastern Markets=FOX

 

[CoastAtlantic]

Christopher Lambert‏@theDudeofWV
By the way... Boren apparently favors BYU & UCONN. WVU favors UC & anybody. Texas wants the most value added.
7:36 PM - 23 Feb 2016

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 5m5 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV has he said he favors BYU and UCONN?

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 2m2 minutes ago
@jesse_boone Someone told me a few weeks ago a reporter was on a radio station in Cincinnati & said the same.

John Borges ‏@JBorges17 4m4 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV does expansion get done this summer?

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 36m36 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV has he said he favors BYU and UCONN?

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 33m33 minutes ago
@jesse_boone Important to note no decisions have been made.

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 32m32 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV Right. And I would be surprised if there will be a decision before May or June.

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 28m28 minutes ago
@jesse_boone It's a safe bet Boren wants an answer.

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 35m35 minutes ago
@jesse_boone Boren has told reporters that off the record.

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 34m34 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV okay thank tou

 

[CL82]

I can't see BYU and UConn. It would make a far flung conference even more far flung. Thus, I can't see BYU.

 

[huskypantz]

We really need another eastern school to come with us, preferably Cincy.

 

[Ha Who]

We really need another eastern school to come with us, preferably Cincy.

Agree but I don't care if Hawaii is our partner

 

[Slasher]

We really need another eastern school to come with us, preferably Cincy.

Do people still really think the Dude has anything worthwhile to say?

 

[amory]

Christopher Lambert‏@theDudeofWV
By the way... Boren apparently favors BYU & UCONN. WVU favors UC & anybody. Texas wants the most value added.
7:36 PM - 23 Feb 2016

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 5m5 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV has he said he favors BYU and UCONN?

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 2m2 minutes ago
@jesse_boone Someone told me a few weeks ago a reporter was on a radio station in Cincinnati & said the same.

John Borges ‏@JBorges17 4m4 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV does expansion get done this summer?

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 36m36 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV has he said he favors BYU and UCONN?

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 33m33 minutes ago
@jesse_boone Important to note no decisions have been made.

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 32m32 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV Right. And I would be surprised if there will be a decision before May or June.

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 28m28 minutes ago
@jesse_boone It's a safe bet Boren wants an answer.

Christopher Lambert ‏@theDudeofWV 35m35 minutes ago
@jesse_boone Boren has told reporters that off the record.

Jesse Boone ‏@jesse_boone 34m34 minutes ago
@theDudeofWV okay thank tou

The more I've thought about it, the less I can see BYU being a truly viable option if they end up expanding.

They're the best football candidate, and they bring the big mormon audience. Fair enough.

But beyond having to shuffle all the scheduling around to accommodate their "no sundays" thing, I don't see the Big 12 expanding westward. Let's say they decide to invite Cincy and BYU. Now they've got a conference spanning from West Virginia to Utah. Some 2,000 miles. And BYU then becomes an anchor out west when possible future expansion candidates are almost exclusively in the east, regardless of whether they come from the AAC or if the pipe dream of the ACC falling apart comes to fruition.

Just seems short sighted and impractical to me.

 

[ZOOCONN]

this kick in the nuts is gonna be so bad..... after checking this board day in and day out and seeing all of these little tidbits that indicate that we may finally have our ticket punched i'm just waiting for the aforementioned mother of all nut kicks.

 

[Peacefrog]

If I'm keeping score correctly it has now been "reported" that Boren favors:

BYU/UConn
UC/UConn
BYU/UC

Maybe one of these combinations is correct.

 

[FrostyNuggets]

this kick in the nuts is gonna be so bad..... after checking this board day in and day out and seeing all of these little tidbits that indicate that we may finally have our ticket punched i'm just waiting for the aforementioned mother of all nut kicks.

Husky-Up McGinty.

 

[amory]

If I'm keeping score correctly it has now been "reported" that Boren favors:

BYU/UConn
UC/UConn
BYU/UC

Maybe one of these combinations is correct.

It'll end up being the Florida schools, or Houston and Tulane, or Memphis and Boise State, or Alaska and the University of Toronto

 

[Dooley]

If we are to apply the same "they will always be there" (the same reason we were told that the ACC favored UL over UConn in their last expansion) reasoning to our B12 expansion competitors, I think we can safely evaluate the following:

Cincinnati - ACC is definitely a possibility...they will NOT always be there;

Houston - the academics are horrific and they are 4th most popular in the city of Houston, which happens to already be inside the current B12 footprint ...they are the very definition of always being there;

Memphis - could be a stretch play for the ACC years from now but wouldn't help the ACCN cause whatsoever...they will always be there;

USF - could be an ACC target but how would that fly with FSU and Miami, who clearly wield more power than Tobacco Road these days? I think they will be there for another 5 years as they are too small time for the SEC;

UCF - same as USF;

BYU - by every metric, they are P5 worthy except for that blasted religious one. They won't play on Sundays and their BYUtv is not just sports-based, it's LDS-based. More complicated to roll into a B12N than thought. They might be a target for the PAC at some point, but the PAC seems content to stay at 12 for the foreseeable future. If they added BYU, who else is going to come to make 14? Colorado St? SDSU? Boise doesn't come close to meeting academic standards of Cal, Stanford, UCLA, etc. I think BYU will be there for quite a while until a 14th school emerges as a "must-add" for the PAC;

UConn - what a difference a few years make. Thought to be a long-shot for the B12 in 2014, we've emerged as a frontrunner thanks to our markets and money we would instantly bring. We'd do the same for the ACC and an ACCN and I think that's the rub. There is probably only enough money and demand for one more conference network - a B12 Network or an ACC Network. Not both. None of our competitors above, except maybe BYU, comes close to bringing the amount of TVs UConn brings. Much like RU being able to bring NYC to the BTN because New Jersey is located inside the NYC DMA and FCC coverage maps, the same thing applies to CT and a B12/ACC Network. I'd say that the B12 looks more likely to launch a network right now, if they are able to convince Texas to roll up the LHN and use that infrastructure in a B12N. If so, UConn is the key to a Network launch and is a MUST ADD.


If I'm the B12, I appeal to Texas' Texas-sized ego and tell them "what good is a LHN if the only people who watch it live in Texas?" The B12 plays the most exciting brand of football in the country and registers the lowest ratings almost on a weekly basis. Why? Because their footprint is embarrassingly small. They need to add markets now. I would add Cincinnati and UConn today, form a strong 3-team eastern pod, and work tirelessly to roll the LHN into B12N. A B12 Network launch would send seismic shockwaves to Tallahassee and Clemson and Miami and Atlanta and would cause some more of that famous in-fighting between "football" and "basketball" schools (sound familiar?). Notre Dame seems to be too stubborn to join any conference at the moment and if you take the ACC's 2 top targets away from them, then chaos ensues. Will it be enough to eventually pry FSU/Clemson/VT/UL/Miami/ND etc into the B12, with a B12N and B12N $$ (thanks to UConn!)?? I think so.

 

[billybud]

The Big 12 is sometimes more difficult to read than Kafka.

But they must expand, I think. With Boren and others all but saying that without expansion that the conference will be deader than disco.

And, they will go east, & they will do their damnedest to bring up a network...

The input from their professional advisers and the TV networks will point them where they will go.

 

[Nutmeg]

I agree with everything but putting BYU behind Cincy. If it's about a network and cable boxes, than by your own analysis it should be UConn and BYU. I think the BYUtv issue can be solved. I disagree about Cincy to the ACC as it currently exists (who would be their partner?). Cincy will still be available to the Big 12 or only as backfill to the ACC (if/when it implodes)