Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[CL82]

The travel would be ridiculous, and I think recruiting, especially in Hurley’s back yard, would take a hit. I don’t think playing Kansas and Baylor every year is as attractive as it sounds to kids from the northeast. Some kids value the BE traditional rivalries. I get that moving from OBE to AAC won’t be as bad as moving NBE to B12, and I’m not saying that it’s a guarantee, but I see the risk.


I don’t know how excited the fan base would be. We need to win to get people to show up. Nothing changes if we become and remain a 1-2 win team in the B12.

We had six wins last year and made a bowl game in Jim Mora's first year. He made it very clear he wasn't satisfied with that.

 

[McLovin]

I don’t know why you’re trying to invoke concerns about UConn’s legitimacy as a school. It’s silly and not relevant to the discussion. But sure I’ll play along with this tangent

Those schools have institutional pedigree in research and endowments that UConn simply does not have. Sports had little to do with establishing that. If we were a research institution heading back to pre-WWI and were still so behind today, maybe you’d have an argument.

In what way are you concerned about UConn’s long-term longevity as an institution?

As your tweet demonstrates, being a good school is being a good school, regardless of what your anecdotal residents of Tennessee (lol) think. People shy away from the northeast because they’re biased against the region and/or because of weather. It’s that simple.

yeah because the weather in Happy Valley or Michigan is great in the winter

 

[CL82]

I live in Tennessee. Plenty of people down here are familiar with Penn State, Michigan State, Virginia, etc, all schools we could and should be peers of. They want their high school kids going to those state schools. Very few are familiar with “UConn” and I doubt anyone knows anything about UMass lamo.

No one in your area of Tennessee knows who the national champion in men's college basketball was for this year? That seems unlikely. And, I'm just taking a guess here, I kind of get the sense that Tennessee women's basketball fans might know who UConn is.

 

[noeynox]

No one in your area of Tennessee knows who the national champion in men's college basketball was for this year? That seems unlikely. And, I'm just taking a guess here, I kind of get the sense that Tennessee women's basketball fans might know who UConn is.

They don't have electricity in that part of Tennessee.

 

[UCONNRPh]

Just got home from work, and haven't read this entire thread but I got to thinking about those late basketball games and not being able to watch all games live. I go to work at 430am.

But oh well, if we get lucky and move--I'll figure out a way to make it work.

Go HUSKIES !

 

[CL82]

They don't have electricity in that part of Tennessee.

See now that's an entirely credible answer.

 

[superjohn]

I live in Tennessee. Very few are familiar with “UConn” and I doubt anyone knows anything about UMass lamo.

"Very few are familiar with UConn."

Do these people you know in Tennessee live in those caves I always see signs for when driving through the state?

 

[UCONNRPh]

The issue with this is that if ACC breaks up - big12 would invite those schools and they’d go for the $ rather than rejoin a reconstructed old BE. Then we’d really be screwed without any seats left

True, very true

 

[uconnfan68]

I think the best solution is a combination of the B12 and Big East and ACC

Like the original Big East? Yeah, we liked that too.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The travel would be ridiculous, and I think recruiting, especially in Hurley’s back yard, would take a hit. I don’t think playing Kansas and Baylor every year is as attractive as it sounds to kids from the northeast. Some kids value the BE traditional rivalries. I get that moving from OBE to AAC won’t be as bad as moving NBE to B12, and I’m not saying that it’s a guarantee, but I see the risk.


I don’t know how excited the fan base would be. We need to win to get people to show up. Nothing changes if we become and remain a 1-2 win team in the B12.

Recruiting may take a bit of a hit for northeast kids, I'll concede that but nationally if anything it helps. Call it a wash.

We're talking 10 road trips over the course of an entire basketball season too. Given we already play road games in Milwaukee, Chicago, Omaha, and Indianapolis, it's maybe truly an additional 6 truly inconvenient trips.

I'll tell you as someone who has probably seen 99% of UConn football snaps since 05, I'm going to be way more excited to see Big 12 teams coming to the Rent than the likes of FIU, Utah State, USF, and good lord Sacred Heart.

 

[Rocktheworld]

yeah because the weather in Happy Valley or Michigan is great in the winter

And/or

Also way to respond to everything else lol

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

It's just a fun poll. It's not a scientific poll.

I'm quoting this post only because I read the 1st and 4th pages last night and now see that the thread is up to 11 pages.

Can anybody direct me to the fun part of this thread?

The thread looks mostly like 2 camps facing off against each other, with your quoted post serving as the initial defensive response to the initial oppositional response. Even if the possibility can't be denied or avoided, it's got a Sophie's Choice vibe.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Holding out for B1G.

not happening

 

[Rocktheworld]

Recruiting may take a bit of a hit for northeast kids, I'll concede that but nationally if anything it helps. Call it a wash.

We're talking 10 road trips over the course of an entire basketball season too. Given we already play road games in Milwaukee, Chicago, Omaha, and Indianapolis, it's maybe truly an additional 6 truly inconvenient trips.

Yes literally every single road trip will take us no closer than Cincinnati or Morgantown; and then most trips are even farther than Milwaukee. I guess we can agree to disagree as to whether college kids care about that. Again, the classes Hurley have coming in are plenty happy with our current peers and aren’t begging to travel to little-brother State schools in fly-over country.

I'll tell you as someone who has probably seen 99% of UConn football snaps since 05,

The type of fan you are is irrelevant to the discussion. I know you’ll still show up to watch us get blown out by B12 teams, but we are talking about building the fan base back up. Attendance matters when trying to be appealing to what a B1G superconference. The name on the other side of a 60-6 drubbing in front of 6,000 doesn’t impress anyone.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Yes literally every single road trip will take us no closer than Cincinnati or Morgantown; and then most trips are even farther than Milwaukee. I guess we can agree to disagree as to whether college kids care about that. Again, the classes Hurley have coming in are plenty happy with our current peers and aren’t begging to travel to little-brother State schools in fly-over country.

The type of fan you are is irrelevant to the discussion. I know you’ll still show up to watch us get blown out by B12 teams, but we are talking about building the fan base back up. Attendance matters when trying to be appealing to what a B1G superconference. The name on the other side of a 60-6 drubbing in front of 6,000 doesn’t impress anyone.

That's basically what I said though, no? Forego bus trips to PC, SH, StJ, Nova and Georgetown which definitely sucks, but the other 5 trips are planes to Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Omaha. It's definitely not as convenient when you sacrifice the first 5, but I don't know, once you're in the air what's an extra 30 min to 1 hr?

My point should have been more that while I'll of course continue to watch, there really is no tangible purpose for UConn football at the moment besides some local bragging rights or making a low level bowl. I think once again being in a premier league and having top 25 teams come to town regularly will make a big difference.

Ultimately we're not getting into the B1G and this is a life boat, quibble about the flights and loss of the BET but this actually elevates our basketball conference on the court and football is revived overnight.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I would appreciate an actual answer.

If you need someone to explain what to do with $350M, I don't know what to tell you. Stick it in a CD and make 5%, it doesn't matter. You take the money. every. time.

And our facilities are not 'top notch.' That is head buried in the sand nonsense. Gampel is a no frills joint, the XL is disgusting, the Rent is rusting and bare bones, the hockey arena is half as big as it should be.

 

[Rocktheworld]

We had six wins last year and made a bowl game in Jim Mora's first year. He made it very clear he wasn't satisfied with that.

And I love that that’s his mentality

 

[temery]

Sincerely, I hope you are not in charge of your family’s finances.

I read his post as 'how would you invest the money in the athletic programs?' not invest to make more money.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I read his post as 'how would you invest the money in the athletic programs?' not invest to make more money.

It’s dumb either way. You take $350M even if you put $0 into sports. It’s not like the school doesn’t need money. And our facilities are not too notch, nor is our coach pay particularly competitive.

 

[Sick Puppy]

Just like other mature industries, the college athletics landscape will be bought and sold eventually ending with just a couple of big players, maybe 4 or 5 national conferences. Probably been in the works for decades. That's how we roll.

 

[superjohn]

Yes literally every single road trip will take us no closer than Cincinnati or Morgantown; and then most trips are even farther than Milwaukee. I guess we can agree to disagree as to whether college kids care about that. Again, the classes Hurley have coming in are plenty happy with our current peers and aren’t begging to travel to little-brother State schools in fly-over country.

The type of fan you are is irrelevant to the discussion. I know you’ll still show up to watch us get blown out by B12 teams, but we are talking about building the fan base back up. Attendance matters when trying to be appealing to what a B1G superconference. The name on the other side of a 60-6 drubbing in front of 6,000 doesn’t impress anyone.

We're in the weirdest of positions. The other Big East schools aren't exactly peer schools, they are smallish Catholic schools who don't play football but they culturally are similar to UConn and they are obsessed with basketball like UConn is.

Moving to the Big 12 would only be about money, that's a big deal but there's no reason for people to pretend our basketball would be better off in the Big 12, it wouldn't. The money is really important, money is always important but we would be playing a bunch of B level Texas teams and other schools we have nothing in common with and who don't really move the needle. We would be the one northeast outlier in a conference who doesn't give a cr@p about NYC and Connecticut. A conference where every team will be looking for an exit plan. They still have the name Big 12 but it's a carcass of what it was.

I actually think our football team would do better than expected and our basketball team would do worse than expected. We would have to think long and hard about it, being a nomad often isn't a good thing. I'm actually pretty content being the best basketball school in the country with football playing Independent. If it was some stable great conference we were moving to for the money I'm sure I would feel differently.

 

[Rico444]

That's basically what I said though, no? Forego bus trips to PC, SH, StJ, Nova and Georgetown which definitely sucks, but the other 5 trips are planes to Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Omaha. It's definitely not as convenient when you sacrifice the first 5, but I don't know, once you're in the air what's an extra 30 min to 1 hr?

You're right, our 5 longest trips in the Big East are somewhat comparable to 5 trips in the Big 12, but the other 5 are longer than any current flight our team has to make. So you're replacing Providence (50 miles) with Oklahoma State (1570 miles), St. John's (130 miles) with TCU (1700 miles) etc.

 

[JSB60]

I really don't see Dan Hurley leaving for Rutgers or Penn State.

But what about MSU after Izzo?

 

[B1GEast]

Can anybody direct me to the fun part of this thread?

Well I am enjoying this thread and the vote count

 

[tzznandrew]

I'll tell you as someone who has probably seen 99% of UConn football snaps since 05, I'm going to be way more excited to see Big 12 teams coming to the Rent than the likes of FIU, Utah State, USF, and good lord Sacred Heart.

I'd buy season tickets tomorrow.