NYT Article on Connecticut Situation

[tzznandrew]

Well a couple months ago the wise men on this board laugh at me when I said the most likely scenario for UConn is the SEC barring exodus from the ACC to Big Ten. It would be a great move with some vision. True FB would have to ramp up but home games with Bama, GA, FL, LSU and TN would be great. We are the last NYC option for the SEC. Mutual need! Basketball would be good also and we would help that.

Speculative translation: if the Southeastern Conference should seek to expand its footprint to the northeast, perhaps book a couple of its gridiron Goliaths into MetLife stadium, Manuel and Connecticut would not play hard to get.

This would be the weirdest, least logical move of any conference re-alignment move we've seen.

Which means, I guess, that there's a chance.

 

[ctchamps]

UConn's position: We will leave right freaking now if anyone calls us.

I know it will never happen, but holy crap, I would be terrified at the prospects of our first few years of football in the SEC. Our injured list would be longer than the active roster.

They would arrange it for UConn to play Vanderbilt all season long with each school taking a quarter share of the SEC numbers and both UConn and Vanderbilt would say yes!

 

[coachcap]

UConn's position: We will leave right freaking now if anyone calls us.

I know it will never happen, but holy crap, I would be terrified at the prospects of our first few years of football in the SEC. Our injured list would be longer than the active roster.

 

[coachcap]

UConn's position: We will leave right freaking now if anyone calls us.

I know it will never happen, but holy crap, I would be terrified at the prospects of our first few years of football in the SEC. Our injured list would be longer than the active roster.

Were you thinking that after the Huskies beat South Carolina in Birmingham?

 

[RS9999X]

I haven't' heard a thing about brand building or ticket sales in months. Stuff that is in UConn's control. How things may change under the new contract and conference. What avenues UConn is exploring to better position itself. Streaming. coaches shows, et.

It's early but that's the stuff I want to hear not "how great it is to be playing Tulane and welcoming Tulsa" although they have to do that stuff as professionals to build up the espirit de corps

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

so the millions from the Big East exodus will need to be used to pay new football coaches and players. It all makes sense now!

 

[Devland]

UConn's position: We will leave right freaking now if anyone calls us.

I know it will never happen, but holy crap, I would be terrified at the prospects of our first few years of football in the SEC. Our injured list would be longer than the active roster.

We could go to the SEC. Get our asses kicked. Finish near the bottom of the conference every year. Then after several years we could claim that Alabama is fading into obscurity and we are a team on the rise. Then we could change our mascot to a Friar.

 

[UConn Dan]

It makes you realize how ridiculous these "rumors" are. It wasn't a rumor..it was a hypothetical statement!

Your right but it also puts our name out there. We need to be talked about more as an option for every league.

When Louisville got picked over us the storyline was "UConn would always be there later because they can't go to any other conference." We need our AD and any surrogates we can get to say . We are a top 25 school in everything in a top market that brings numbers in NYC and Boston. We are desirable to numerous conferences.

 

[John Greene]

They would arrange it for UConn to play Vanderbilt all season long with each school taking a quarter share of the SEC numbers and both UConn and Vanderbilt would say yes!

Actually UConn/Vandy considerations are part of the talk, just in a slightly different way. Vandy insists on UConn as their homecoming opponent every year and to get the rest of the conference to go along is threatening to leak the "student athlete" payrolls of Bama, LSU, FL, & GA to Wikileaks.

 

[specialisthusky]

33 posts and Dan hasn't even offered his theories/slashes...this vow of silence is killing me.

 

[ScottBonz]

So what did the insider article actually say? Is it just taken from the times article?


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[John Greene]

So what did the insider article actually say? Is it just taken from the times article?


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It said a week from Wednesday!

 

[UCFBfan]

33 posts and Dan hasn't even offered his theories/slashes...this vow of silence is killing me.

Is Dan back on sabbatical? Did Fishy put him back there?

 

[UCFBfan]

Haha. ESPN insider rumors picked up on UConn to SEC.
http://es.pn/15Ir3BW

Lol! The writer could have swapped out Southeastern Conference for Pac-12 or MAC. He just decided to put in the SEC for the heck of it. Now it's a "rumor"? Lol!!!! That's just funny. The fact that there's another page of BYers talking about this as a possibility makes me stop and take another look at how seriously I can take all of this. However, I just can't stay away either!

 

[UCFBfan]

So what did the insider article actually say? Is it just taken from the times article?


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They basically pulled this quote from the article:

Araton added, "Speculative translation: if the Southeastern Conference should seek to expand its footprint to the northeast, perhaps book a couple of its gridiron Goliaths into MetLife stadium, Manuel and Connecticut would not play hard to get," Araton added. "If the Big 12 should raid the A.C.C. -- as some have speculated it might -- then he would keep a night light in the window to help the A.C.C. folks locate him in countrified Storrs."

They then decided to title the headline rumor "Could SEC consider UConn as member?"

 

[UConn Dan]

So what did the insider article actually say? Is it just taken from the times article?


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Just regurgitated the article (see below). But the headline and their tweet UConn to the SEC? could turn some heads.


Could SEC consider UConn as member?

By Brent Sobleski | Mar 11, 2013 5:19 PM

Connecticut desperately wants to flee the new incarnation of the Big East -- or Atlantic 12 -- Conference. The Huskies have been unable to find a conference dance partner in recent years. The school is resigned to its fate, but it's still available for anyone interested.

“We feel settled in the new league, we’re moving forward, but if at some time someone wants to reach out to us, we’ll have that conversation,” Connecticut athletic director Warde Manuel told Harvey Araton of the New York Times.

Araton added, "Speculative translation: if the Southeastern Conference should seek to expand its footprint to the northeast, perhaps book a couple of its gridiron Goliaths into MetLife stadium, Manuel and Connecticut would not play hard to get," Araton added. "If the Big 12 should raid the A.C.C. -- as some have speculated it might -- then he would keep a night light in the window to help the A.C.C. folks locate him in countrified Storrs."

An ACC raid by the Big Ten conference would serve the same purpose. Either way, UConn is clearly in reactionary mode without any options at the moment.
Tags:Connecticut Huskies

 

[metsfan2323]

The SEC already conquered football, maybe they want to increase their basketball viability and maybe their big bad football programs don't want anymore big time football schools in their league, they might prefer to add a cupcake game to their league, plus they can get UCONN on the cheap, they don't have to give us a full share.

Now with the extra money from the SEC we get a big time football coach like a Petrino, expand the Rent and dominate Northeast recruiting, Cuse and BC would wither and die.

 

[tzznandrew]

The SEC already conquered football, maybe they want to increase their basketball viability and maybe their big bad football programs don't want anymore big time football schools in their league, they might prefer to add a cupcake game to their league, plus they can get UCONN on the cheap, they don't have to give us a full share.

Now with the extra money from the SEC we get a big time football coach like a Petrino expand the Rent and dominate Northeast recruiting, Cuse and BC would wither and die.

I mean, it would be stupid, but I'd be happy.

For ts and giggles, who would they add with us?

 

[auggie22]

There is literally not one current SEC team that would agree to play a football game north of Virginia after September.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I mean, it would be stupid, but I'd be happy.

For ts and giggles, who would they add with us?

UNC (or UVA)

 

[SubbaBub]

Hyberbole people.

The SEC question was asked to get Warde to say UConn would leave the Big Atlantic if asked. Something everyone, everywhere already knew. We've all had a rough year, but for heaven's sake, snap out of it.

 

[specialisthusky]

There is literally not one current SEC team that would agree to play a football game north of Virginia after September.

Obviosly we need to convert gampel not to a puck barn but a football dome.

 

[rsk]

With disrespect intended to Mr.Tranghese your lack of vision and pathetic leadership eventually lead to the demise of the Big East so why should anyone take what you say seriously? This is Tranghese prediction on whether Rutgers would be invited to the Big 10

"I don't think so. ... Before the Big Ten took Nebraska, knowing Jim Delany as well as I do ... Jim did a lot of work. He did a lot of analysis, and I believe that Rutgers was looked at, and Pittsburgh was looked at, and Syracuse was looked at, and Connecticut was looked at. And a lot of schools were looked at. And I think the Big Ten came to the conclusion that the addition of any one of those schools wasn't going to deliver them the New York market. ... So that's why I think that ultimately led them to Nebraska. Now they sit there and they ask themselves the same question: Can they get the New York market with Rutgers or Connecticut? You can do it with Notre Dame."

Great prediction Mike.


http://content.usatoday.com/communi...opular-in-new-york-city-market/1#.UT50iBz_mSo

A New York Times study of the 210 television markets found New York has about 3 million college football fans, and 20.9% of those chose Rutgers as their favorite team. That's almost equal to those naming Notre Dame (9.2%), Penn State (6.4) and Connecticut (5.2) combined.

 

[FDNY99]

... and then an 11 year drought.

Those Dom Perno years were down right painful!!!

 

[auggie22]

Obviosly we need to convert gampel not to a puck barn but a football dome.

Yep, i think this would work. I read somewhere that we just need to pop the roof off and raise the ceilings - football in the fall, basketball in the winter. If we can have warde move our hockey games to the spring, this might just work.