It's not just their lack of championships - Rutgers just generally stinks at everything. More like a lack of victories, in general.
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It's not just their lack of championships - Rutgers just generally stinks at everything. More like a lack of victories, in general.
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Everything? It's not always so back and white. How is it that Rutgers is AAU? Did Rutgers play their CR cards properly? Now if you want to say that Rutgers lacks athletic success while being located in fertile recruiting grounds for both basketball and football, then we agree. I understand that the school just happens to be the right DMA geo, but they did something right when it came to realignment. The same can be said for Ville.
I really think Rutgers did two things, and two alone, to get nabbed by the Big Ten. The first was choosing to build its campuses in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and the second was to make the AAU over two centuries later in 1989. That's it.
It is silly to think that Rutgers is in an athletic league based on their location and their status in an academic league - which is like choosing your tax preparer based on the color of his socks - but it's not like they can point to any one athletic achievement that got them in.
Of course I want UConn in the B1G, but is it truly realistic? AAU membership is decades away. The ACC took Louisville because of athletic excellence and that only. Championships matter to the ACC. Not academics. RU is below UConn in academic ranking, except for AAU membership. RU is below UConn is overall athletic ranking. UConn football will improve and surpass RU. I have no doubt about that. Yet, all we hear is silence from the P5 when it comes to UConn.
The day UConn gets a P5 invite, season tickets will sell out immediately.
If the Cinci over UConn, that means that UConn has already landed somewhere else, we just don't know it yet.
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BC will survive as its considered a top undergraduate school and will always have hockey and serve a select market, i.e. kids who could not get into ND (just like St Anslem's in NH is for kids who can't get into BC) or local Boston Catholics who view it as a religious obligation to go to a Catholic university and are too afraid to leave the 'hub' of the universe. Syracuse would be screwed with 2 state flagship universities in the B1G, that are cheaper, and strong research-wise (STEM), have extensive D1 sports programs, and are closer to NYC than they are. They have nothing left to offer.
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grad student here...send your questions my wayany students here? we have plenty of ideas, suggestions, and questions.
UConn
41 mins ·
President Susan Herbst is inviting students to visit her office and share ideas, suggestions, and questions at a special session of open office hours from 1 to 3 p.m. on Monday, April 13. Reservations are not necessary, but guests are limited to UConn students.
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I agree with everything you wrote. They leveraged what they had and are now in a P5. If you want to say they did not screw up their chance to get to the B1G, I can go with too. Regardless of how long it too them to attain AAU, they got it done and we have not. Not everything they have done to this point is useless. That would also be silly.
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Rutgers is a very good school with similar student demographics to UConn. They just suffer from a lot of leadership ineptitude, especially on the athletic side. It was no coincidence that most of their recent success was when Pernetti was the AD, a competent AD who had Rutgers in his blood. Of course, he was then thrown under the bus and replaced by someone who makes Hathaway look effective as he was at least smart enough to keep his mouth shut most of the time. Does not help that the Rutgers' Regents and professor's union believe that the Athletic department is the second coming of Lucifer.
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Looking at the long view, Rutgers also greatly benefited from the State of New York and their University system. Instead of pushing or 4 'regional' flagship universities, New York went with a single flagship (Albany or Binghamton) life most states did. Figure a 60K school, major research dollars in state that generally values academics. If they had any success at all in sports, such a school would be in the B1G in a heartbeat. Only question is if there would be additional room for Rutgers, too. Oh, Syracuse under such a scenario would be DOA.
dayooper
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That's what Buffalo is trying to do, become the flagship of the state. Whether they succeed of not is a different story.
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dayooper
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Hey, slutty Stars Wars monikers need lovin' . . . I mean attention too.
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Okay, got some sleep--let's see if my brain functions. I meant no disrespect to anyone. I think Jurich is the single best athletic director in America and Louisville has an athletic program to emulate.
However it's a different breed of school from a B1G school. And, in many ways, it was TV that made Louisville. It wasn't the quality of athletics alone; it was the willingness to take those mid-week night timeslots that brought the exposure that ultimately paid off for them and got them where they are.
But, in the land of my admiration, the number one school to emulate, in my opinion, is Stanford. Even with their admission and academic standards, they manage to somehow have a great athletic department, great research--heck, they have it all.
When Rutgers joined, there was talk that in twenty years they'd be the east coast Stanford. I'm thinking that twenty years from now, Rutgers will be...well, Rutgers--especially without Pernetti. (Huge loss, and he was crucial in guiding Rutgers through the obstacles to B1G membership.) If Pernetti were still at Rutgers, I'd say UConn's hopes for a B1G might be fading.
But the more Rutgers stumbles around, the better it is for UConn.
CL82
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Uh, who said anything like that?
Did someone hack your account? You've been a little off lately.
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Said indirectly via context. No, and yes, I am a little off a lot lately. Or a lot off a little lately. Or something.
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In 20 years, Rutgers could be the New Jersey Penn State, or the New Jersey U of Maryland.
But, I gotta disagree with you about Rutgers success being detrimental to UConn's chances of joining the B1G. There still remains 35 million people in New England and New York, whose college athletic loyalties are up for grabs, and UConn remains the only public flagship university in the region ... UConn would be strategically important to the B1G whatever Rutgers did. Arguably success by Rutgers would demonstrate the merits of further expansion, by showing that B1G membership increases the value of a university so much as to make the addition clearly rewarding.
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There's a subject that I want to add to the mix--how to weight things in realignment. Frank the Tank (blogger, not bb player) did some interesting posts on how he weights things, but I realize I approach things somewhat differently and why I place more emphasis on some factors.
Research funding flows through power centers and the primary power centers are NY and DC/Northern Va and a primary focus is keeping that money flowing to B1G schools. The B1G wants to become water cooler conversation in the power centers and that limits the candidate pool.
In realignment talk, the phrase "athletics is the front porch of the university" pops up a lot. What does it mean?
I think it means this: UVa is the #1 B1G target. Simple geography, as in, "Hey, Michigan's playing Saturday. Would the appropriations committee care to join us at the game?" (UVa is 3x more valuable than VT on geography alone.)
NYC is different nut: w/o the clarity of a NY flagship, the trifecta of Rutgers/UConn/Syracuse is how the B1G would have to approach the market. Eliminate the weakest candidate but the B1G needs the other two.
In other words: the B1G is a massive lobbying organization focused on power centers. I tend to discount a lot of B1G rumors on the assumption the B1G will stay focused by the research money and geography. My list of candidates is actually pretty short: UConn and UVa or VTech.
Which reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask: Any news on road improvements to UConn's campus?
Research funding flows through power centers and the primary power centers are NY and DC/Northern Va and a primary focus is keeping that money flowing to B1G schools. The B1G wants to become water cooler conversation in the power centers and that limits the candidate pool.
In realignment talk, the phrase "athletics is the front porch of the university" pops up a lot. What does it mean?
I think it means this: UVa is the #1 B1G target. Simple geography, as in, "Hey, Michigan's playing Saturday. Would the appropriations committee care to join us at the game?" (UVa is 3x more valuable than VT on geography alone.)
NYC is different nut: w/o the clarity of a NY flagship, the trifecta of Rutgers/UConn/Syracuse is how the B1G would have to approach the market. Eliminate the weakest candidate but the B1G needs the other two.
In other words: the B1G is a massive lobbying organization focused on power centers. I tend to discount a lot of B1G rumors on the assumption the B1G will stay focused by the research money and geography. My list of candidates is actually pretty short: UConn and UVa or VTech.
Which reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask: Any news on road improvements to UConn's campus?
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Fairfield_1st
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I don't have an update on UCONN's roads, but from what I've seen every road in the state needs help. Frost heaves created previously non-existent bumps, there are pot holes aplenty and cracks that are crumbling. UCONN's roads are going to have to wait.
Are you referring to a widening of the road leading into the campus or the idea of a new express path from the highway? How sweet that would be.
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Google says that VT is 4H 20M from DC while UVA is 2H 26M. Both numbers are more than I would have guessed (being geographically challenged in that area).
Given that B1G now has Maryland in the fold at 32 minutes from DC, I'm not sure that the 3x multiplier of UVA over VT holds true. With that line of thought, Maryland's advantage over UVA would have to mucg more than a 3X.
So, in my mind, VT, being an engineering/research school, would be slightly more likely to get the nod over UVA. And when you consider that UVA has strong historical ties to UNC I think B1G would have to look at offering both UNC and UVA, but I don't see how that combination could be orchestrated at this point.
CL82
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I think that you are over thinking it a bit. Research matters because B1G conference presidents want to be associated with like minded institutions (rather than the Louisville's of the world) and ultimately they are the best straw poll of which new member is acceptable to a majority of conference members.
Just curious, why do you want to know road improvements?
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I believe that a new, wider road will be built through the Tech Park connecting campus to US 44 and bypassing Route 195; but a highway connecting Storrs is a pipe dream at this point just on money alone. The next big CT highway project after the Q Bridge work in New Haven is done is replacing the I-85 viaduct between West Hartford and downtown Hartford. The 5 mile project alone si going to cost north of $5 billion it seems.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-hartford-malloy-i-84-0407-20150406-story.html
After that, I expect I-84 in Waterbury (the Mixmaster) and hopefully an attempt to widen I-84 from 2 to 3 lanes between Waterbruy and Danbury will be in the works.
Fairfield_1st
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[QUOTE="he next big CT highway project after the Q Bridge work in New Haven is done is replacing the I-85 viaduct between West Hartford and downtown Hartford. The 5 mile project alone si going to cost north of $5 billion it seems.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-hartford-malloy-i-84-0407-20150406-story.html[/QUOTE]
I read the article and noted one comment.
"Several cities across the country are doing away with elevated interstates built through metropolitan centers between the Eisenhower and Nixon eras, when highway planners valued traffic-moving efficiency above virtually all else."
I value traffic moving efficiently. Isn't that the goal of any transportation system?
Thanks for the link.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-hartford-malloy-i-84-0407-20150406-story.html[/QUOTE]
I read the article and noted one comment.
"Several cities across the country are doing away with elevated interstates built through metropolitan centers between the Eisenhower and Nixon eras, when highway planners valued traffic-moving efficiency above virtually all else."
I value traffic moving efficiently. Isn't that the goal of any transportation system?
Thanks for the link.
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cl82, I overthink everything. A working brain. No work.
Regarding the road improvements: Heard a rumor that the B1G analysis of UConn indicated the transportation infrastructure could be improved.
Not being familiar with the lay of the land, so to speak, specifics mean nothing to me, but if road improvements around the campus and venues suddenly become a priority, I would take it as one more positive sign. That's all.
Regarding the road improvements: Heard a rumor that the B1G analysis of UConn indicated the transportation infrastructure could be improved.
Not being familiar with the lay of the land, so to speak, specifics mean nothing to me, but if road improvements around the campus and venues suddenly become a priority, I would take it as one more positive sign. That's all.
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Absolutely, the transportation infrastructure can be improved -- in fact, if they want an on-campus football stadium, it needs to be.
But, the state has been anti-highway and NIMBY for fifty-plus years and the transportation infrastructure needs improvement statewide. This is one thing that has kept Connecticut's population to one-third New Jersey's.
WestHartHusk
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Anti-highway? We must live in two different states...that we are this densely populated with this bad of public transportation is boggling. If anything, we have been too focused on the highway for 50 years.
And NJ actually disproves your point. NJ is densely populated due to mass transit (PATH, NJT and Amtrack) more than highways.
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Connecticut doesn't have the population density to support mass transit. New Jersey's population density came before its mass transit. New Jersey's population in 1930 exceeded Connecticut's today.
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... .-.