Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[SportsFan88]

Hell no, would be disastrous for our athletics department, only upside is the tv money, that’s it

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Anyone that thinks that joining the Big 12 would “secure” UConn’s financial future has not been paying attention. The SEC and Big 10 could add 2 teams each at any time and effectively wipe the Big 12, ACC and PAC 12 off the map for football.

That could happen in 3 years or next month, and if it did, UConn would find itself in a far flung conference that was sinking into mid majordom. How did that work last time.

There is no way to tell what the networks and P2 are going to do. Until there is better visibility, I don’t like betting the program on low percentage options.

 

[metsfan2323]

The SEC and Big 10 could add 2 teams each

If that happened we would probably quickly find ourselves in a league with Pitt, Cuse, and BC again and probably Duke and a few other interesting schools. There would be a merger of the B12 and what is left of the ACC. Seems good to me. Bring it on.

 

[UCann]

The Big 12 would be a terrible fit for us for so many reasons, which have all pretty much been covered in this thread (travel, lack of rivals, culture, recruiting, etc.). I simply don't think we would fit really well there. Why does everyone think we do it for the $20-30M extra annually? It sounds like a lot to us normal people, but if you think about it, it's not even a rounding error in the state's ~$50B (!) budget, or even if you just look at the university, it has close to $1B in revenue every year. Seems like an insignificant amount when you think about the consequences - possibly derailing our entire athletic program.

I know it's not the AAC again, but let's be real, it's not that far from it in terms of the types of schools involved and lack of real rivalries. The only conference that would be worth joining is the Big10. Otherwise, just wait and see what happens with the ACC. In an ideal world the Big East merges with the leftover schools and keeps the non-football schools too. We're clearly fine where we are right now, we have the luxury to wait.

 

[metsfan2323]

Why does everyone think we do it for the $20-30M extra annually?

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

 

[temery]

This urge to jump conferences again reminds me of the marshmallow test.

 

[rman726]

This urge to jump conferences again reminds me of the marshmallow test.

But this still feels completely different than before. The best move, for the whole university, would probably be to take the money from the Big 12 because it will help the non-revenue generating sports which cost a lot of money as well. But unlike last time, I am perfectly content to be where we are. It absolutely sucked ass watching almost every other big school move away to the P5 while we got stuck in the AAC. I so desperately wanted to get into a P5 conference then.

This time so, I'm more than happy to watch our guys play basketball in the Big East. If The Big 12 comes knocking with a big check, great. If not, at least we have a great thing going with our basketball program, and many of our other somewhat bigger sports (hockey, baseball, softball, and apologies if I'm missing others from this list) are doing just fine. It does suck for our football program, but Mora is doing a pretty good job in a pretty $#@! situation.

 

[Huskyforlife]

It still feels like people are just ignoring that the B12 isn’t the American, it’s the best basketball conference before adding the reigning national champs. The American was bad for us because it’s a mid major league, the high major programs that existed within it(UConn/Cinci/Houston/UCF) would all be brought up to this level and made stronger given the brand power. Hurley also was fixing the mess that made him wanna run back to URI while we were in the American, so using any records from that period feels dishonest. This program is now built to thrive anywhere again, as proven by our national recruiting.

 

[uconn_jack]

Why do we want to fall into the same trap Cuse, Pitt, and Louisville did? Moved to the ACC for more money and arguably the best BB conference at the time. How has that worked out for them? How stable is the ACC now?

 

[noeynox]

Why do we want to fall into the same trap Cuse, Pitt, and Louisville did? Moved to the ACC for more money and arguably the best BB conference at the time. How has that worked out for them? How stable is the ACC now?

I mean if the day comes when you are comfortable not being able to retain your coaches and losing them to programs like Rutgers and WVU, because they can afford to pay more than you, you never make the move. Just rely on the ability to always find that next great coach in an A10 level conference.

 

[XLCenterFan]

If you just sell out wherever the money goes then where do you actually stand and what do you stand for? There will always be more money elsewhere down the line to chase. Do we always have to follow it?

 

[Hoophound]

If you just sell out wherever the money goes then where do you actually stand and what do you stand for? There will always be more money elsewhere down the line to chase. Do we always have to follow it?

We need to follow it on some level because this is a state school running a P5 athletic department on a Big East budget. We can’t continue to do it forever because the political will in the state will wane. You don’t pass up $30,000,000 in additional revenue, especially in a state like CT, just to stay in your comfort zone playing PC and Seton Hall. This isnt like comparing the American and the Big East, where revenue was similar.

Aside from the obvious need for revenue, think about what it would mean for our coaching staffs. We wouldn’t need to be hiring inexperienced assistant football coaches. If Jim Mora continues to win, we can pay him a fair salary and retain him. Our basketball coach has peers making millions more. We can pay him too. We are starting to see schools paying great basketball coaches twice what we pay Hurley. We need to prepare for that arms race.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I mean if the day comes when you are comfortable not being able to retain your coaches and losing them to programs like Rutgers and WVU, because they can afford to pay more than you, you never make the move. Just rely on the ability to always find that next great coach in an A10 level conference.

The entire foundation of college football could shift in a week. The Big 12 is one SEC or Big 10 phone call away from hitting an iceberg. How does jumping on a sinking ship make UConn more money? You speak with such certainty, that you must have an idea of what happens if two more Big 12 teams leave.

 

[InTheRed]

To me, this question is whether the Big East is actually viable as a long term solution to stay competitive. If it is, no way i want to leave. I just dont know that it is.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I think we'd have to take the invite, but I'm skeptical it would go well for us. Travel is an underappreciated detriment to college basketball success. Traveling over 1,000 miles to a game can effectively double home court advantage for the opposition. There's a reason we basically never won at Tulsa or Houston or SMU. And the teams in the B12 are generally better. We'd rarely win on the road.

We were 0-6 against SMU on the road, 1-5 vs. Tulsa, and 1-5 vs. Houston.

Creighton has somehow figured out how to remain one of the top few schools in a very good conference with travel to in conference road games at least as bad as what we faced in the AAC.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Without knowing what the details are, there is no way to determine if a move to another conference makes any sense.

I seriously doubt we will get an offer to move for at least a couple years and then, if those who make the decisions (BOT, school president) decide to accept, it would be a couple of years beyond that before we move.

Some of us need to relax a bit, we're in the BE for at least another few years.

 

[freescooter]

We care about basketball. That’s all. We really should drop every other sport. And maybe close the Storrs campus and focus on downtown Hartford.

The entire foundation of college football could shift in a week. The Big 12 is one SEC or Big 10 phone call away from hitting an iceberg. How does jumping on a sinking ship make UConn more money? You speak with such certainty, that you must have an idea of what happens if two more Big 12 teams leave.

Yeah, but the whole foundation of college sports could too. One call from the Big 10 or the SEC and it’s bye bye NCAA tournament. Why should we share the limelight, and more importantly, the pot, with the likes of Manhattan and Florida Atlantic and Houston and, yes, UConn? If you think for a second that the Big 2 aren’t looking at how to reduce the number of non-Big 2 teams in the tournament you are not looking. If you think having 3 mid majors in the Final Four hasn’t moved that work further along, then call my office. I have a great deal for you on a bridge. It connects two up and coming cities. Hartford and East Hartford. Great deal..

 

[husky429]

We care about basketball. That’s all. We really should drop every other sport. And maybe close the Storrs campus and focus on downtown Hartford.

This is a hell of a take.

 

[noeynox]

The entire foundation of college football could shift in a week. The Big 12 is one SEC or Big 10 phone call away from hitting an iceberg. How does jumping on a sinking ship make UConn more money? You speak with such certainty, that you must have an idea of what happens if two more Big 12 teams leave.

It could change it could not. There is no certainty in your scenario either. Also the Big 12 schools signed a Grant of Rights as well. Previously i have heard you pontificate on how solid those are. Why is the Big 12 so vulnerable with theirs? It runs till 2031 bot 2036 like the ACCs.

What Big 12’s new TV deal means for BYU, the new-look conference and Pac-12 negotiations

The Big 12 is expected to finalize a six-year media rights extension with current partners ESPN and Fox that would pay out an average of $31.6 million to each school.

www.deseret.com

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I do like the idea of winning a National championship as a member of every single conference.

 

[aburks41]

I think we'd have to take the invite, but I'm skeptical it would go well for us. Travel is an underappreciated detriment to college basketball success. Traveling over 1,000 miles to a game can effectively double home court advantage for the opposition. There's a reason we basically never won at Tulsa or Houston or SMU. And the teams in the B12 are generally better. We'd rarely win on the road.

We were 0-6 against SMU on the road, 1-5 vs. Tulsa, and 1-5 vs. Houston.

With the extra money we could charter flights, I don’t think it would be an issue. Also those teams we had in the AAC stunk because they had bad players and a coach who didn’t show up for work half the time

 

[aburks41]

Hurley came here from URI, he was in a much different position to take or not take a job. There were no promises, but I'm sure Hurley knew what the university's plan was. Compare that, the possibility of going to the Big East with his school throwing that away to ship us out to the Midwest...there's no way he stays, especially when he could take almost any other job he wants. And while that's true that he could do the same now, I believe the allure of UConn and the Big East is too much for him to walk away from for anything short of the NBA.

Lol wait so Hurley only wants to be at UConn because of the Big East, and he’s a northeast guy, but suddenly if we’re in the B12 he would go to an SEC school or something? That makes zero sense. Hurley is at UConn because he wanted to he at UConn. He just won a National Championship here. UConn is the best job in college other than Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, and Duke right now.

 

[temery]

This is a hell of a take.

Google hyperbole

 

[Luna]

We jump ship and leave the big east…the big east would never take us back again if things went sideways

 

[Rico444]

Lol wait so Hurley only wants to be at UConn because of the Big East, and he’s a northeast guy, but suddenly if we’re in the B12 he would go to an SEC school or something? That makes zero sense. Hurley is at UConn because he wanted to he at UConn. He just won a National Championship here. UConn is the best job in college other than Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, and Duke right now.

I never said he only wants to be here because of the Big East, that's obviously not true since we weren't in the Big East when he took the job. But do you really think that's not a huge factor when deciding on staying versus going elsewhere?

UConn might be the fifth best brand in college basketball but it's not the fifth best job right now. If you polled 50 college basketball writers without an affiliation to UConn you'd be lucky to find more than a handful that believe that.