Non-Key Tweets

[Seaa Blue]

Hockey is a huge part of BTN TV content once the football season is done. And without Minny on board, I don't think there is a Big Ten hockey conference.

All of that has a very intriguing impact on expansion speculation.

 

[CL82]

Don't think it matters either way. Either ESPN or FOX or a combination of the 2 will pay a huge number to the B1G for their Tier 1 package. If whoever the winning bidder is tells the conference that expansion (with or without UConn) will increase the value of the contract then they will add the teams the winning bidder tells them to.

It's no different then what DeFillipo said when he told the world that ESPN told the ACC to add Cuse & Pitt.

For the ESPN conspiracy theorists, FOX winning the contract would potentially make UConn more attractive since ESPN is out to get us.....

Mmm out to get us, no. But since they already own our broadcast rights for next to nothing, it makes not sense for them to encourage a conference to invite us so that they can pay more for them. Since Fox doesn't own our right, they might view things differently.

 

[Seaa Blue]

Don't think it matters either way. Either ESPN or FOX or a combination of the 2 will pay a huge number to the B1G for their Tier 1 package. If whoever the winning bidder is tells the conference that expansion (with or without UConn) will increase the value of the contract then they will add the teams the winning bidder tells them to.

One thing all that money does do is that it allows the Big Ten to make a strategic decision even if it slightly decreases the payout to each school. That slight decrease won't be noticed much in the big picture with the new TV deal. So then the question is: just what is B1G's long-term strategy?

My thinking is that the possibility of a Texas-base "pod" is the key factor. That still seems unlikely to happen, so is perhaps New England a target.

 

[bobbyinaz]

One thing all that money does do is that it allows the Big Ten to make a strategic decision even if it slightly decreases the payout to each school. That slight decrease won't be noticed much in the big picture with the new TV deal. So then the question is: just what is B1G's long-term strategy?

My thinking is that the possibility of a Texas-base "pod" is the key factor. That still seems unlikely to happen, so is perhaps New England a target.

The Big Ten is never making a strategic decision that will decrease the payout to each school.

The other issue is that the western schools are already bitching that they will now play OSU, Michigan & Penn St less than they did pre Maryland & Rutgers. They will be less likely to go along with any further expansion unless the teams being added bring boatloads more money to the table thru their Tier 1 deal & the BTN.

This is why I think the only way UConn gets in is if expansion includes more than 2 schools. If the goal is to get to 16 teams there is no other school coupled with us that brings enough money to make the western schools OK with it. Now if a 4 team expansion of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas & UConn were to happen, I think that would drive such a huge revenue boost that the dissenting schools would not care about scheduling

 

[dayooper]

The Big Ten is never making a strategic decision that will decrease the payout to each school.

The other issue is that the western schools are already bitching that they will now play OSU, Michigan & Penn St less than they did pre Maryland & Rutgers. They will be less likely to go along with any further expansion unless the teams being added bring boatloads more money to the table thru their Tier 1 deal & the BTN.

This is why I think the only way UConn gets in is if expansion includes more than 2 schools. If the goal is to get to 16 teams there is no other school coupled with us that brings enough money to make the western schools OK with it. Now if a 4 team expansion of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas & UConn were to happen, I think that would drive such a huge revenue boost that the dissenting schools would not care about scheduling

I think there is one combo that would work, and that's UConn and VPI. Fox has the Midwest and west coast no problem. Their deal gives them plenty of programming in those areas. Where they don't have much is the East coast. In fact, the only college football they have there is when UMD, Rutgers, and PSU are on The BTN. They want more. Fox is the driver of who the Big10 picks up. If they want UConn, they will have them.

 

[Seaa Blue]

The Big Ten is never making a strategic decision that will decrease the payout to each school.

The selections of Maryland and Rutgers both defied prevailing expansion theory. Maximizing the short-term payout is not the prime directive with the Big Ten.

The Big Ten has a choice with the incoming cash flow from the next TV contract: Pocket it (invest it locally), or invest it in conference growth.

 

[CoastAtlantic]

The Big Ten is never making a strategic decision that will decrease the payout to each school.

The other issue is that the western schools are already bitching that they will now play OSU, Michigan & Penn St less than they did pre Maryland & Rutgers. They will be less likely to go along with any further expansion unless the teams being added bring boatloads more money to the table thru their Tier 1 deal & the BTN.

This is why I think the only way UConn gets in is if expansion includes more than 2 schools. If the goal is to get to 16 teams there is no other school coupled with us that brings enough money to make the western schools OK with it. Now if a 4 team expansion of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas & UConn were to happen, I think that would drive such a huge revenue boost that the dissenting schools would not care about scheduling

One idea that comes to my mind is splitting the Big Ten into two 10-team divisions but that would require them being willing to go to 20. Basically, the idea is to expand their presence into Boston and down to Atlanta, create a Midwest division where you put back Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, and shift Indiana eastwards to even the numbers up. What that does is to bring back as close to the original ten as possible but also reach the people that have moved into the Eastern states south of D.C. in the last two decades. Not that I'm encouraging the idea but that would be the play if I were wearing the Big Ten hat.

Big Ten East

BC
Syracuse
Penn State
Rutgers
Maryland
Indiana
Virginia
Duke
North Carolina
Georgia Tech


Big Ten Midwest

Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska

I would say that with a league like this the basketball competition would be off the charts!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There is a large contingent on this board that thinks making less money with ESPN is better than more money with Fox.

As for the Gopher expansion theory, UConn would either need the Big 10 would need to add 1 team only, which seems unlikely, or at least 2, and who would the second team be? Missouri is the only school that is AAU, adjacent to Big 10, credible as an addition, and not covered by a GOR.

 

[Dooley]

One idea that comes to my mind is splitting the Big Ten into two 10-team divisions but that would require them being willing to go to 20. Basically, the idea is to expand their presence into Boston and down to Atlanta, create a Midwest division where you put back Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, and shift Indiana eastwards to even the numbers up. What that does is to bring back as close to the original ten as possible but also reach the people that have moved into the Eastern states south of D.C. in the last two decades. Not that I'm encouraging the idea but that would be the play if I were wearing the Big Ten hat.

Big Ten East

BC
Syracuse
Penn State
Rutgers
Maryland
Indiana
Virginia
Duke
North Carolina
Georgia Tech


Big Ten Midwest

Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska

I would say that with a league like this the basketball competition would be off the charts!

One day, people will begin to realize that BC doesn't add much presence in Boston as everyone seems to think. That great atmosphere against USC earlier this season that BC fans have love toting around? 4K short of a sellout. NOBODY cares about BC except for the limited 3 block radius surrounding Chestnut Hill.

Fun fact: according to the overly-cited NYT survey of 2011, UCONN was the ONLY former Big East school that ranked in the Top 5 followed FOOTBALL programs in BOTH New York City and Boston.

And please, for the love of God, if you are going to slap together a fictional conference on the premise of making basketball "off the charts", do no come to a UCONN board and not include UCONN but include BC, Syracuse, Ga Tech, and UVA. You don't think basketball would be "off the charts" with UCONN in place of any one of these programs??

 

[Dooley]

There is a large contingent on this board that thinks making less money with ESPN is better than more money with Fox.

As for the Gopher expansion theory, UConn would either need the Big 10 would need to add 1 team only, which seems unlikely, or at least 2, and who would the second team be? Missouri is the only school that is AAU, adjacent to Big 10, credible as an addition, and not covered by a GOR.

No. There is a large contingent on this board that realizes that the only way to make the same $20-$40M/yr that our regional r1vals make is to continue to try to fund and improve football. We're looking for an invite to the B1G or ACC, not the Big East, so we can keep up with recruiting against our regional r1vals. While $5M/yr is more than what we currently get from the AAC, it falls significantly short of what inferior athletic programs like Rutgers, Syracuse, and BC haul in.

I do agree that the B1G is more likely to try to expand by 2+ schools as opposed to 1 (i.e. UCONN). I have no idea who that partner(s) could be. Somebody could challenge one of these GORs one day and probably could come to a settlement that won't lose rights.

 

[itgoeslike]

There is a large contingent on this board that thinks making less money with ESPN is better than more money with Fox.

There is a large contingent of people that feel making $2M less in exchange for guaranteed national exposure on a network that people actually watch, preserving and developing our football program, and pocketing substantially more than $2M in NCAA units and exit fees is, for now, the right strategic approach. I suspect you will continue to leave out the full complement of facts.

 

[pj]

Fox moving east is essential for UConn. If ESPN is the only network bidding for east coast markets, then they can easily pick up our content for pennies, as they did a few years ago.

Not saying it affects our realignment chances, but it certainly creates the potential for UConn to increase its TV revenue. We are beloved in a top 21 national market, with significant fan presence in the #1 and #7 markets. We are by far the biggest unclaimed prize in college sports television.

 

[CL82]

There is a large contingent on this board that thinks making less money with ESPN is better than more money with Fox.

As for the Gopher expansion theory, UConn would either need the Big 10 would need to add 1 team only, which seems unlikely, or at least 2, and who would the second team be? Missouri is the only school that is AAU, adjacent to Big 10, credible as an addition, and not covered by a GOR.

No, there is a large contingent on this board that believes that folding the football program and joining the Big East is a mind numbingly stupid idea. Everyone on this board would take a B1G membership regardless of what network the games were broadcast on. If you don't realize that, see a doctor, you may have had a stroke.

 

[noeynox]

There is a large contingent on this board that thinks making less money with ESPN is better than more money with Fox.

As for the Gopher expansion theory, UConn would either need the Big 10 would need to add 1 team only, which seems unlikely, or at least 2, and who would the second team be? Missouri is the only school that is AAU, adjacent to Big 10, credible as an addition, and not covered by a GOR.

So you were serious when you proposed we fold the football program?

If we were to leave for the Big East, UMass would slip into our spot in this conference before you can blink an eye.

The FB product has been terrible, but ALL the games are on TV. Yesterday during a college whip around they had the screen split into four squares with upcoming games on the ESPN networks between the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, and the American's game between Tulsa and USF. I know exposure doesn't pay the bills, but I think Aresco has delivered on the exposure front. We will see if the money gets better. Our football program in any other G5 league or as an independent is toast.

The Big East is a better basketball league, than the American. Is it so much better that is worth flushing down the hundreds of millions invested in football down the toilet? That is where I differ from you, the extra two to three million a isn't worth submarining the FB program for, and I just don't see a scenario where going to the Big East doesn't do that to the FB program.

 

[chitown76]

I've said it a hundred times it's not about football. It's about markets and research and UConn is doing fine in both.

 

[chitown76]

Rutgers and Maryland was not taken because of football. They were taken because of there markets. Uconn helps complete NYC. UConn knows what they have to do to get a big invite and they are doing it. Spend big money in research.

 

[Fishy]

There is a large contingent on this board that thinks making less money with ESPN is better than more money with Fox.

The day after you lead UConn into the ratings and football oblivion that is Fox Sports, the American would put Massachusetts into every single broadcast that we formerly occupied. It would be the greatest day in the history of their athletic program.

They'd sing songs about you while we bitch about the feed buffering during our homecoming game against Houston Baptist on UConnhuskies.com All-Access.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Cheezus who the he11 cares who Minnesota wants to play in hockey? Delaney?

Actually, yes. It's a fairly big content generator during the winter months.

 

[Adios]

It's not a negative, though. As others have stated, if the B1G wanted UConn to stick around in HE instead of joining for hockey that would pretty much be the best of both worlds for us. It's a non-starter.

Shook Dan Malloy's hand today in New Haven and told him to make sure we get into the B1G. He was kind of stunned when I said that but gathered himself and said we can accomplish that with hockey staying in the HE. Was interesting to hear.

 

[HuskyJ]

Actually, yes. It's a fairly big content generator during the winter months.

If the reasons for the B1G expanding with UCONN aren't strong enough to overcome Minnesota losing a couple of out of conference hockey games, then UCONN isn't even in the conversation for the B1G.

 

[whaler11]

Shook Dan Malloy's hand today in New Haven and told him to make sure we get into the B1G. He was kind of stunned when I said that but gathered himself and said we can accomplish that with hockey staying in the HE. Was interesting to hear.

LOL. Dan Malloy is going to also get the women's basketball team into the WNBA.

 

[Adios]

LOL. Dan Malloy is going to also get the women's basketball team into the WNBA.

I thought that's already been accomplished.

 

[whaler11]

Beyond the obvious reasons that I hope UConn gets into the Big 10 soon... I'm starting to worry about y'all's sanity.

Minnesota's hockey schedule?

 

[CoastAtlantic]

And please, for the love of God, if you are going to slap together a fictional conference on the premise of making basketball "off the charts", do no come to a UCONN board and not include UCONN but include BC, Syracuse, Ga Tech, and UVA. You don't think basketball would be "off the charts" with UCONN in place of any one of these programs??

Fair enough. Wasn't trying to put down your program. However, fair warning: The B1G is very old-money-oriented. You think because you're a state school that should make you the next pick-up. However your complaints about the ACC (and some of them are warranted) the Big Ten operates on a similar elitist model. Indiana and Minnesota have the same votes as Michigan and Ohio State.

And it isn't so much about Boston College as it is Boston College AND the chance to rub shoulders with other elite institutions in the Boston area. Same with Rutgers and them being so close to Princeton, Columbia, NYU, etc.. Maybe you can convince them by talking about how close UConn is to Yale, Brown, etc.. You think I'm pulling stuff from my rear end? This is the way academics and college presidents think. Look at how flexible they were when they agreed to an association agreement with Johns Hopkins. Even Delany joked about it during the press conference.



Go to 4:05

I know you don't think much of Boston College and Syracuse as institutions but they've been at this game for much longer and UConn is only starting to catch up. Goodness, they even tried to convince Notre Dame, even though the Irish wanted nothing to do with them.

The Midwest have had this complex about the East Coast for some time, which was why they resisted eastern schools for a long time. Only recently have they started moving this way because they aren't dummies and realize the way the demographic trends are going. If they could access the young people living in cities from Boston all the way down to Atlanta, including the cities of Philly, New York, Washington, Baltimore, Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond and Norfolk/Hampton Roads, it would be a tremendous achievement for them and help counter the declines in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee. It is a very remote possibility, mind you, but something like this would have to be tried and would include a good number and right profile of schools in order for them to not feel isolated in a new conference. Even if all those young people aren't sports fans they still want to access them.

Here's how I know what I'm talking about:



Go to 8:22. Take good stock of the words Delany used to justify the addition of Rutgers. Institutions. Changes in landscape. All clues to what the presidents back in Chicago are thinking.

Please note that none of this means I'm putting down UConn. I'm just telling things as I think they are.

 

[Dooley]

Fair enough. Wasn't trying to put down your program. However, fair warning: The B1G is very old-money-oriented. You think because you're a state school that should make you the next pick-up. However your complaints about the ACC (and some of them are warranted) the Big Ten operates on a similar elitist model. Indiana and Minnesota have the same votes as Michigan and Ohio State.

And it isn't so much about Boston College as it is Boston College AND the chance to rub shoulders with other elite institutions in the Boston area. Same with Rutgers and them being so close to Princeton, Columbia, NYU, etc.. Maybe you can convince them by talking about how close UConn is to Yale, Brown, etc.. You think I'm pulling stuff from my rear end? This is the way academics and college presidents think. Look at how flexible they were when they agreed to an association agreement with Johns Hopkins. Even Delany joked about it during the press conference.



Go to 4:05

I know you don't think much of Boston College and Syracuse as institutions but they've been at this game for much longer and UConn is only starting to catch up. Goodness, they even tried to convince Notre Dame, even though the Irish wanted nothing to do with them.

The Midwest have had this complex about the East Coast for some time, which was why they resisted eastern schools for a long time. Only recently have they started moving this way because they aren't dummies and realize the way the demographic trends are going. If they could access the young people living in cities from Boston all the way down to Atlanta, including the cities of Philly, New York, Washington, Baltimore, Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond and Norfolk/Hampton Roads, it would be a tremendous achievement for them and help counter the declines in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee. It is a very remote possibility, mind you, but something like this would have to be tried and would include a good number and right profile of schools in order for them to not feel isolated in a new conference. Even if all those young people aren't sports fans they still want to access them.

Here's how I know what I'm talking about:



Go to 8:22. Take good stock of the words Delany used to justify the addition of Rutgers. Institutions. Changes in landscape. All clues to what the presidents back in Chicago are thinking.

Please note that none of this means I'm putting down UConn. I'm just telling things as I think they are.

I understand that UCONN is currently playing catch-up in a lot of areas and don't dispute any of it. Endowment, research, football program, building a bigger student population, campus expansion, etc. UCONN slept at the wheel for too long and are paying for it now. And I have no argument about the academic piece that you bring up. But I was specifically responding to the basketball comment. You can't, for one second, convince me or anyone here that Syracuse/BC/Ga Tech/UVA would be better basketball additions over UCONN. "Old money", academic peers, and demographics aside, there are very few programs in the entire country that can bring the type of basketball pedigree that UCONN can bring.

 

[Seaa Blue]

Please note that none of this means I'm putting down UConn. I'm just telling things as I think they are.

Um, not really. Above all you're trying to impress us by characterizing your take on it as gospel.

 

[FDNY99]

One idea that comes to my mind is splitting the Big Ten into two 10-team divisions but that would require them being willing to go to 20. Basically, the idea is to expand their presence into Boston and down to Atlanta, create a Midwest division where you put back Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, and shift Indiana eastwards to even the numbers up. What that does is to bring back as close to the original ten as possible but also reach the people that have moved into the Eastern states south of D.C. in the last two decades. Not that I'm encouraging the idea but that would be the play if I were wearing the Big Ten hat.

Big Ten East

BC
Syracuse
Penn State
Rutgers
Maryland
Indiana
Virginia
Duke
North Carolina
Georgia Tech


Big Ten Midwest

Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska

I would say that with a league like this the basketball competition would be off the charts!

Your take on basketball being off the charts with this scenario is comical! If the B1G wanted to make their hoops the best conference in the country take out BC, UVA, and GT... add Kentucky, Kansas, UCONN! The last time UVA was a hoops difference maker Ralph Sampson was the center, BC when Jim O'Brien was the HC and GT..all downhill since they lost to UCONN in the Final Four. This collection of schools you mentioned is beyond ridiculous! Never will happen either..this thing called the ACC GOR will put a HUGE wrench in this idea.

 

[chitown76]

UConn is very attractive to the BIG that is fact. They help with NYC. Delany went to MSG and witnessed it first hand in the tournament. UCONN is spending billions of dollars on research and building relations with like minded schools. Its not always about football if it was we wouldn't have offered Rutgers and Maryland. UConn is on the list. Boston College and Syracuse will not be in the B1G.

 

[whaler11]

What help does the Big 10 need with NYC? They put their network on every system.

UConn is involved in research and growing because that is what's best for the university and the state. It's not doing it so the football team has a better schedule.

 

[Ldandy]

LOL on Hopkins. "Look at how flexible they were when they agreed to an associaton agreement with Johns Hopkins." The B1g needed one more school to form a Lacrosse Conference, JH was looking for a home for their program. Done and done. This was the no brainier addition of all time. If JH decided that they wanted all of their other sports to join as well, they would have been on the outside looking in regardless of their standing in the academic community.

The idea that Rutgers was added so that conference presidents could rub shoulders with presidents of other elite NY/NJ Universities is beyond insane. They already have an organization in place where they can do this (AAU). Rutgers was a real estate/money grab, and based on the success to date in gaining access for The BTN on NYC Cable Systems, it can only be categorized as wildly successful.