OT: BC football to renew historic rivarly...with Holy Cross

[Carl Spackler]

What Miami did was ensure itself a steady revenue stream in down years when it moved to the ACC. Miami had the original sweetheart deal with BE. They received a larger % of the FB revenue pie because of their football success. They were the marquee program. If they made the BCS, they got to keep a lot of that revenue. It was the same in BB with better schools keeping NCAA credits (part of the argument of not splitting from the BB schools when this whole thing started). When they left with VT, the BE revenue formula changed, I believe, to a more even distribution of the FB pie and I think they changed BB too.

Did Miami know they were going to become irrelevant relative to the NC in FB when they moved? Who knows, but they may have sensed there was the distinct possibility of sanctions because when they were successful they always played close to the edge as far as recruiting and maintaining player eligibility. In any event, the move to the ACC did give them revenue stability and a chance to come thru a period of really sucking. I think Golden will have them in the ACC CG next season and they will be strong for a number of years going forward once again.

It is somewhat apparent to me that Uconn made an overture to the ACC right after BC was turned down the first time and again when the NCAA said an 11 team league could not have a championship game. Go back and read the Calhoun quotes about Uconn being the best fit. Add in some of ACC BB coaches comments and you can deduce that it was going on. No public statements were ever made about teams and expansion after the first ACC expansion until it was after the fact and Perkins certainly was not dumb enough to open his mouth on the record.

Geography was always a secondary consideration after cash even for the BE. The BE also showed that when they added FB only schools or when they booted Temple. In many respects, the BE through its actions and expansion over its history did really set the stage for what has happened over the last decade. They added, and booted, schools solely to strengthen the league without caring about what it did to other conferences. They offered schools a step up in the major sports. Not much different than what has happened in the last 10 years. Not that the business strategy is wrong, it was just being done in a hybrid league that was destined to fail.

IF...Miami made the BCS? I believe you're old enough to remember college football in the late 1980s - early 1990s. Am I wrong? You seem like it.

BCS didn't start until 1998. They were just figuring out how to separate the packs of conferences via the post season bowl arrangments in the early 1990s. Prior to 1990, there were some 28 or so division 1A independents. When the Big East football conference formed on paper in 1991, the U was the equivalent in football to the rest of the Big East, as to what UCONN hoops last night was to USF hoops.

Miami was looking for the best deal it good get going from independent to conference affiliation, and the Big East turned out to be it. 1990-1991 was the first time, of MANY times, that the Big East almost fractured along football/basketball lines. Syracuse, PItt, BCU were going to join a bunch of of independants and the Metro Conference as the original 16 team superfconference in 1991, until the Big East ---- RELUCTANTLY -- agreed to start a football conference. That 16 team conference back then would have included among others Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, and most of the programs that we are currently in conference with.

The thing is - Toner, a proponent of division 1-AA cost containment theoretical football, had agreed that UCONN would be 1-AA, from 1978 on, and had not the Big EAst conference done what it did, and we had our relationship with it, we'd still be playing football regularly in the CAA, and most likely, hockey and basketball would be dominant at UCONN by now.

UCONN, historically, and in the present, really is a unique program among the 125 or so now division 1A football athletic departments across the country. I don't think there is a single program anywhere out there, that has quite the rocky and yet successful, story that we've got.

The sooner that people realize exactly what we are, and where we are, and why, the better. THe conference we are in now, is what the evolution of college football and intercollegiate athletics has led to, after the flood gates opened around television revenue in the mid 1980s. We have a hell of a lot more in common with the athletic departments we are associated with now, than we did before.

Unlike many, many other institutions around the country though, UCONN, has the potential to grow immensely, and become much more like the other large state institutions in the north, east and central footprint of the United States that are aligned through athleticis. Until then, we just keep plugging along and winning.

 

[John Greene]

Why are you so obsessed with posting stuff about BC?

Good question. I must have picked up some virus here on the BY. I come here a couple of times a week and darned if more often than not I see the two magic letters on the first page of one of the boards. I am trying to break the fever by now referring to "magic letters" or "school that must not be named". Hopefully that will help with the cure. If that does not help I may have to see if there is a 12 step program for the condition.

 

[06029]

IF...Miami made the BCS? I believe you're old enough to remember college football in the late 1980s - early 1990s. Am I wrong? You seem like it.

BCS didn't start until 1998. They were just figuring out how to separate the packs of conferences via the post season bowl arrangments in the early 1990s. Prior to 1990, there were some 28 or so division 1A independents. When the Big East football conference formed on paper in 1991, the U was the equivalent in football to the rest of the Big East, as to what UCONN hoops last night was to USF hoops.

Miami was looking for the best deal it good get going from independent to conference affiliation, and the Big East turned out to be it. 1990-1991 was the first time, of MANY times, that the Big East almost fractured along football/basketball lines. Syracuse, PItt, BCU were going to join a bunch of of independants and the Metro Conference as the original 16 team superfconference in 1991, until the Big East ---- RELUCTANTLY -- agreed to start a football conference. That 16 team conference back then would have included among others Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, and most of the programs that we are currently in conference with.

The thing is - Toner, a proponent of division 1-AA cost containment theoretical football, had agreed that UCONN would be 1-AA, from 1978 on, and had not the Big EAst conference done what it did, and we had our relationship with it, we'd still be playing football regularly in the CAA, and most likely, hockey and basketball would be dominant at UCONN by now.

UCONN, historically, and in the present, really is a unique program among the 125 or so now division 1A football athletic departments across the country. I don't think there is a single program anywhere out there, that has quite the rocky and yet successful, story that we've got.

The sooner that people realize exactly what we are, and where we are, and why, the better. THe conference we are in now, is what the evolution of college football and intercollegiate athletics has led to, after the flood gates opened around television revenue in the mid 1980s. We have a hell of a lot more in common with the athletic departments we are associated with now, than we did before.

Unlike many, many other institutions around the country though, UCONN, has the potential to grow immensely, and become much more like the other large state institutions in the north, east and central footprint of the United States that are aligned through athleticis. Until then, we just keep plugging along and winning.

I used BCS but you know what I meant. Miami always got the "good" BE bowl and they got to keep the revenue from it. Every other conference has always had the equal share principal. The BE was the exception to that rule.

Your key point is that the BE was reluctant to start a FB conference. They were reluctant to everything except expansion during their history. The East Indies (which was the old loose FB confederation) also included Penn State. The BE could have had Penn State (I assume you know all of the ugly details of that chapter of the BE) but they went down a path with Miami instead. Uconn's entrance into FB was so late in the BE history that the self destruct sequence had already commenced. Uconn got caught as the last guest to the party.

Uconn has the potential to grow immensely in your view and you may be right. I see that growth does have limitations. Uconn's undergraduate population will never be close to MI, PSU, FL, FSU, UGA, etc. The infrastructure can not support that base and the demographics of the population are declining regionally. In order to grow the fan base, you need to have a huge alumni base that treats FB as an obligation not a diversion. A fan base that treats the fall as the best season of the year. A fan base that buys tickets even when the team sucks. The schools you want Uconn to aspire to be, they have it in their DNA.

Reality, the AAC is where Uconn is and where they will be until someone throws the entire thing into motion again. They received the best home schedule they could have asked for next season. They have a new coach that is breathing some life into the core fan base. Embrace it.

 

[4BostonEagle]

However, some of BC's fans (not you!!) do love to tell us that we aren't in a P5 conference. We know we aren't, but CR isn't done yet. Some of BC's fans hate UConn - and if it is due to the lawsuit, as I said I DID NOT support it. I would love to know why other BC fans troll here (and even Rutgers fans, too). Isn't the BC's sites as good as 'The-Boneyard'?

For the pure comedy gold on here. This thread is full of unintentional laughs. I can only imagine the cockiness if UCONN actually had a winning season in the last 3. Or if they had actually been ranked in their college football history at the end of any season?!

This board would be saying UCONN should be dictating terms going in to the SEC with an option to leave for the Big 10 if they weren't happy after a couple of years. The delusional posts are truly hilarious.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

For the pure comedy gold on here. This thread is full of unintentional laughs. I can only imagine the cockiness if UCONN actually had a winning season in the last 3. Or if they had actually been ranked in their college football history at the end of any season?!

This board would be saying UCONN should be dictating terms going in to the SEC with an option to leave for the Big 10 if they weren't happy after a couple of years. The delusional posts are truly hilarious.

You're a loser.

 

[uconndogs]

For the pure comedy gold on here. This thread is full of unintentional laughs. I can only imagine the cockiness if UCONN actually had a winning season in the last 3. Or if they had actually been ranked in their college football history at the end of any season?!

This board would be saying UCONN should be dictating terms going in to the SEC with an option to leave for the Big 10 if they weren't happy after a couple of years. The delusional posts are truly hilarious.

Little man post......

 

[Carl Spackler]

I used BCS but you know what I meant. Miami always got the "good" BE bowl and they got to keep the revenue from it. Every other conference has always had the equal share principal. The BE was the exception to that rule.

Your key point is that the BE was reluctant to start a FB conference. They were reluctant to everything except expansion during their history. The East Indies (which was the old loose FB confederation) also included Penn State. The BE could have had Penn State (I assume you know all of the ugly details of that chapter of the BE) but they went down a path with Miami instead. Uconn's entrance into FB was so late in the BE history that the self destruct sequence had already commenced. Uconn got caught as the last guest to the party.

Uconn has the potential to grow immensely in your view and you may be right. I see that growth does have limitations. Uconn's undergraduate population will never be close to MI, PSU, FL, FSU, UGA, etc. The infrastructure can not support that base and the demographics of the population are declining regionally. In order to grow the fan base, you need to have a huge alumni base that treats FB as an obligation not a diversion. A fan base that treats the fall as the best season of the year. A fan base that buys tickets even when the team sucks. The schools you want Uconn to aspire to be, they have it in their DNA.

Reality, the AAC is where Uconn is and where they will be until someone throws the entire thing into motion again. They received the best home schedule they could have asked for next season. They have a new coach that is breathing some life into the core fan base. Embrace it.

I know the history. I disagree with the fanbase thing though and buying tickets. It's unrealistic to think that the stadium is going to be sold out for a crappy program. That's just not the culture we live in. As far as a huge alumni base that treats FB as an obligation, I think we are on the same page, but just a different paragraph.

I think that with each class that graduates, having had a football program at this level, the obligation of the alumni fan base that you talk of grows in understanding what UCONN is and can be. What needs to change at UCONN, and his hard to do, is the entitlement culture that exists in this region. Connecticut is what it is. It's not just buying tickets and going to the games. Most people that graduate cannot do that, but they need to remain part of the school and program anyway. There is a different, and more important way to do that.

I personally give back to the university every year, as should every graduate give back a little bit every year. IMNSHO. But the culture of "not a dime back", and the general entitlement culture that exists in the region socio-economically needs to be overcome. (I know that will ruffle feathers - but whatever) it exists - and needs to change, and I believe it is slowly changing, as the current administration has made it basically priority #1 to grow the financial base of the university. If the 120,000 or so alumni in the region were all giving back only a $100 a year.......you get the picture.

This is really the difference IMO, between where we are at, as compared to other regions of the country. The young alumni need to be taught that when you graduate, and use your education to get a job, it's pretty much a decent and expected thing to give back. As that kind of pride and dedication to the university grows - everyone feels invested, and things get done.