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Message: [QUOTE="Dooley, post: 1676101, member: 2920"] Make no mistake, I will always think UConn is a power conference candidate. We [U]absolutely[/U] have the metrics for the B12 or ACC (or some sort of hybrid combination of the two many years from now). I just don't think we have the metrics to support an invite to the "new" B1G. We already faced the uphill battle of not being in the AAU. That's strike one. Now, we have to show that we are $50M/yr valuable. There are only about a half dozen schools who can. It's not a slight against us or me "giving up"...just reality being what it is. No AAU. Endowment well below $1B. No $50M/yr TV price tag. Rutgers was able to connect on their B1G Hail Mary because they are AAU, have a $1B endowment and have more cable boxes in their area than we do. I just think we have too big of an uphill climb to overcome. Maybe Delany makes the ultimate growth stock play and adds UConn as part of a HUGE move to land ND and others. But that kind of payday certainly has opened the eyes of other conference heavyweights and they will all lobby for a spot. Our B1G competition suddenly went from schools that we can match up against fairly well (Kansas, GT, UVA) to being against some real powerhouse schools (Notre Dame, UNC, FSU, Texas, OU). That's another strike working against us and it's a big one. I'm more interested in what the B12 is going to decide to do. Could UConn be part of an aggressive expansion to ultimately land a TV deal? Absolutely. It would boost our TV money from our AAC pennies to $25M, maybe $30+M, per year...where they belong. Our metrics can support being added to a P5 conference in the $25-$30M/yr range today. And who knows what will happen. Maybe the B12's TV deal will convince a few ACC members that don't get gobbled up by the B1G or SEC to make a move (Clemson, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, Syracuse?). In my opinion, a conference of ACC/B12 leftovers that could (and probably will) consist of TCU, Baylor, WVU, Clemson, Louisville, Miami, and Syracuse with UConn, BYU, Cincinnati and some others would be pretty awesome. It might even be enough to be considered #3 in a P4 world. And yes, if we were to get into an ACC/B12 leftover conference, we can absolutely still compete in all of our sports. The $50M/yr money will do wonders for Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St, Michigan St, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, A&M, Florida, and Kentucky MBB, but the rest of the conference mates (I'm talking mostly about the bottom tier of the B1G) will need to show that they can turn money into wins. A lot haven't won in years...some in decades...and they've enjoyed a financial advantage in those years too. As long as UConn is in the $20-$30M/yr level, the level that we have the data and numbers to support our inclusion, then we can compete in a P4 world. [/QUOTE]

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