Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[Billy Jack]

I've never understood this point.

How is the state covering UConn's deficit?

The deficit is paid for by the school.

UConn has been jacking up tuition at a far faster pace than most schools in its cohort.

UConn subsidy has gone from $681m in 2014, dropped to $613m in 2018, rose to $753m last year (after the act passed by congress ARPA). But UConn has been foisted with additional liabilities by the state that it never had before: $53m in liabilities in 2018 turned to $106m in 2022. Granted, everyone is seeing things like health insurance for employees shoot to the sky, BUT in terms of their fiscal balance sheet, there's no running away from the fact that although UConn has seen a $72m rise in funding over the past 10 years, it has incurred an additional $53m in state liabilities. This means it has received $19m in additional funding.

If state politicians are making the argument that part of the $753m has always been intended to fund athletics, then this naturally means that the state has effectively DEFUNDED UConn since 2014.

At the end of the day, though, it's one budget.

Is it real dollars? Every athletic scholarship is counted as a cost. How many dollars does it take them to add an athlete to a classroom or a few athletes to a lecture hall? How many extra professors do they have to hire as a result of adding athletes to the enrollment? My guess is that the answer to both questions is zero.

Part of the current deficit spike has to be related to AAC exit fees and BE entrance fees, so they’re not long term deficits; they’re temporary. Unless of course we change conferences again.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

One donor, Burton. I believe his son played for Pasqualoni. At the time, he just said that he wanted to have someone reach out to him for his input, not necessarily to have a veto. Given his level of support for Connecticut football, it probably wasn't an unreasonable request. He felt that Pasqualoni would be devastating to the program. As it turns out, he was correct because it was the first step in a series of poor coaching hires that ended when we finally hired Jim Mora.

I think he (Diaco) was ultimately fired for being stubborn not for incompetence. I believe Dave wanted him to hire new coaches and he refused. Led Dave to hiring the OC and DC under Edsall2 and both conflicted with Edsall's philosophy on O and D.

 

[Drew]

A crazy thing that happened:

UConn hired Rhett Lashlee as offensive coordinator and he was essentially handcuffed and then forced out by Randy Edsall after one year. Fun times.

 

[UConn990411]

Don’t think it’s a given that jumping from from a stable basketball centric conference that won three of the last seven national championships, to a conference with its epicenter in south central US, where everyone is looking at the next conference realignment gives us the best chance for long term survival.

Especially when you consider that the winner‘s and losers of conference realignment tend to be determined by the success of their football programs.

All the schools that left the Big East have had the money advantage for several years now and there is zero evidence that it’s translated to success on the court. In fact, results show the opposite, so we’re left with rationalizations on why that’s the case.

Nothing is a given.

I said it gives them the best chance at long-term success, and it’s hard to argue otherwise given the Big East’s TV contract situation.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

glad to see uconn fans are coming to grips with the fact that they are in a mid major church league.

admission is the first step.

It seems so backward that a power team such as Cincy could lose 4 straight to a church league team like Xavier. And how did UConn, the noted 4th best team in the church league, go 2-0 vs the mighty Big 12 this year? Make it make sense kobe

 

[Punkbo]

The problem with the sentimental view in all of this (mine included) is we’re still in the early days of the “arms race” in college athletics. It’s getting more and more expensive to field teams. This includes NIL, coaches salaries, athletic facilities, etc. It’s great that we’ve been so successful to date, but unfortunately, the paradigm is shifting.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

You realize that you will be banned for a well stated, articulate post.

Barclays Center is a decent B12 basketball alternative to Madison Square Garden

 

[metsfan2323]

Is it real dollars?

YES!!!!!! The 30 - 40 Million EXTRA TV payout PER YEAR will be real. In a couple years UCF will be raking in $50 million a year in B12 revenue, which is why the ACC schools are livid.

Our basketball only fans want the UCONN administration to make a decision that none of them would make in their personal lives. Which one of you ever turned down a 400 % pay raise because of a few extra flights?

 

[CL82]

It's amazing how quickly septegenerians manage to be offended by something totally innocuous. I was wondering how long it would take. Bravo--you win!

Lol way to double down.

 

[CL82]

I know first-hand the entire AD at Notre Dame breathed a sigh of relief that Diaco left there.

Really? I've never heard that and had always assumed that, for whatever reason he was doing fine there.

 

[Fishy]

I think he (Diaco) was ultimately fired for being stubborn not for incompetence. I believe Dave wanted him to hire new coaches and he refused. Led Dave to hiring the OC and DC under Edsall2 and both conflicted with Edsall's philosophy on O and D.

Hi.

It was the incompetence.

He was too stubborn to take steps to address the incompetence.

Remember when he decided on a whim that size was the only thing that matter and he set out to recruit big players at every position? Didn’t matter if they were slow..

 

[noeynox]

First funny one of these you've ever done.

Congrats. Also, congrats on the Elite 8 in '96.

Been a long time since Nick Van Exel almost led them to the promised land.

 

[uconndogs]

Hi.

It was the incompetence.

He was too stubborn to take steps to address the incompetence.

Remember when he decided on a whim that size was the only thing that matter and he set out to recruit big players at every position? Didn’t matter if they were slow..

Well, that would have been a heck of a hoops team!

Seriously, slow doesn't even begin to describe his teams........

 

[August_West]

Barclays Center is a decent B12 basketball alternative to Madison Square Garden

No it’s not. Ask ACC how that works out, and they actually have schools on this seaboard.

Last year the same time syracuse was at Barclays , we were at msg . Tickets were 4 dollars at Barclays.

 

[noeynox]

Any league that includes Cincinnati is a hoops down grade.

You got one right, finally!

 

[noeynox]

What you’re saying about BC is not true. They weren’t elite but they did very well in the Big East and in their early years in the ACC. They really declined after they fired Al Skinner.

Kinda proves the point. Ain't the conference as much as it is the right coach.

 

[August_West]

Nothing is a given.

I said it gives them the best chance at long-term success, and it’s hard to argue otherwise given the Big East’s TV contract situation.

I remember when the AAC was better than NBE because of TV contract situation. You should remember too, wasn’t that long ago

 

[Bongo Fury]

I'd love to see the Rent sold out, but even $1M per home game isn't make a huge dent in our deficit. That's $6M per year on a deficit of $45M.

I know the state kicks in money to cover the deficit, but what happens if a few years down the road we get politicians in office who have no connection to UConn, and therefore no desire to keep funding a massive deficit? That's my biggest fear. The state has zero obligation to cover UConn AD's deficit the way they currently are

That’s easy politics and should be considered

 

[ctchamps]

It's amazing how quickly septegenerians manage to be offended by something totally innocuous. I was wondering how long it would take. Bravo--you win!

As this thread so pointedly demonstrates it is better to win than lose.

As you point out septegenerians, like any identifiable group, can be quickly offended by something innocuous. So why make a potentially inflammatory statement that can alienate anyone when the primary purpose up to that point was his desire to encourage individuals with a different perspective to reconsider it. To me that’s counterproductive.

Offended? Nah. Few situations not named my wife can initiate that emotion in me any longer. I spent a lot of time working on becoming a happy old man as opposed to a crotchety one.

 

[Bongo Fury]

There have been so many bad football administrative decisions made I don’t have time to list them all but hiring PP after Edsall left the first time over Joe Moorhead or someone similar really sealed our fate in terms of people not taking us seriously as a football program

Morehead wasn’t desirable at that time. Whipple likely would have been better but who knows

 

[August_West]

I'm 59 and feel we gotta take it if offered.

I’m 24 and it would be insane to do so

 

[CL82]

I’m 24 and it would be insane to do so

Lol I'm pretty sure that you have clothes older than 24.

 

[ctchamps]

Lol I'm pretty sure that you have clothes older than 24.

He’s regressing!

 

[noeynox]

Morehead wasn’t desirable at that time. Whipple likely would have been better but who knows

He wasn't? Didn't he go to be Penn State OC?

 

[UConn990411]

I remember when the AAC was better than NBE because of TV contract situation. You should remember too, wasn’t that long ago

I’ve seen this comparison a few times, and it’s asinine.

There are definite risks with any move to another conference - and UConn going to the Big 12 has some major ones - but it has very few parallels with the AAC.

1) The gap between the TV contracts for the AAC and NBE was nowhere near the increased payout that UConn would get from the Big 12.
2) The AAC was hurt by the perception that it was a brand-new conference (even though it was technically the Big East). Fair or not, that lack of reputation hurt its teams when it came to rankings, bowl and college basketball bids, etc.
3) The Big 12 is light years ahead of the AAC in both basketball and football, never mind some of the other sports. I actually think the AAC was highly underrated as a football conference, but it was not on par with the Big 12.
4) UConn won’t have as many OG rivals as the Big East, but there would still be a couple old friends (West Virginia and Cincy). Plus, Kansas would make for an immediate, natural basketball rival that simply didn’t exist in the AAC.
5) UConn is not in the same place it was a decade ago, when they joined the AAC. They can’t continue operating at a deficit forever, and they’ve already had to shut down a couple of teams/sports as a result.

I get why you’re trying to make the Big 12/AAC, comparison, but it’s not a good one. Going to the Big 12 is far from a guaranteed success, but I stand by it being a no-brainer move.