Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[CL82]

You can keep saying it, and the board can keep arguing whether or not UConn made the right move by doing it for another 20 years. But the thought that another school gives a crap, ... is just dumb.

I guess, but the Trammel article specifically talked about our stadium being off campus as one of the negatives about us as a conference realignment target.

 

[CL82]

Like I said, HC can be fixed, not so easy moving a stadium. The Rent in East Hartford is the mistake that keeps on giving and therefore the mistake with the most impact.

Fair enough but apparently, it hasn't been so easy to fix the head coaching situation either. The double whammy of Pasqualoni and Diaco would bring most programs to their knees.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

If UConn was Salma Hayek , Tramel would criticize her for being too short. His opinion or someone else's that he is parroting?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I do not care about a single team in the big12. Don't know how anyone on this board can make the argument strictly as a fan. It all comes down to some bs misguided notion that we need to jump to "stay competitive." Apparently it bears repeating: we're currently in the best basketball conference in the country, have one of the best coaches in the country and will not have trouble attracting top recruits

You can say that if we are in the B12, + more $.

 

[Blades]

if we're in the Big XII, and Miami wants in, and you think that it's generally a good idea, would you consider voting no just because their stadium is off campus?

Wait Biz, wasn't that the reason the B1G turned down UCLA, because their stadium is 27 miles off campus and over an hour away on a good day in Pasadena

 

[Chief00]

And yet we ran a $53 million deficit last season. An architect designed plans for a revamped Gampel but our athletic Director came out and said we can't afford it. We just built a 1500 seat hockey arena, well below the minimum standard in Hockey East because we couldn't afford 3500 seats. Our football team can't keep a normal number of non-scholarship players because we can't afford it. We are cutting our Olympic sports, because we can't afford it.

I think the state should turn the XL Center and The Rent over to UConn, actually hire some competent managers and see what happens. Absent an NHL team, this is the most logical path forward. The problem is what ex politicians do for a living and we need to unwrap that and not be hostage to the usual CT game.

 

[CL82]

Yes. And Ajou Ajou Deng would have been the best player on our '99 championship team. People say/write things all the time that they don't believe because it serves their purposes

Lol, kind of missing the point here Biz, it is specifically a talking point that hurts the program and was expressly written about by a well respected columnist. Your speculation that the quoted individual "really didn't believe it" seems like whistling in the dark.

So I will ask you since UConn Jack hasn't answered -- if we're in the Big XII, and Miami wants in, and you think that it's generally a good idea, would you consider voting no just because their stadium is off campus? If you can truthfully say yes, then maybe you can think there is any chance whatsoever Trammel even believes that. But I don't see a rational person caring one iota -- just after they've decided no saying whatever comes to mind to justify it

Lol, this is such an odd hypothetical that I could see why UConn jack ignored it. So you're saying if, hypothetically, UConn having a stadium 25 miles off campus didn't prevent them from getting a P5 offer, would another P5 program hypothetically looking to relocate their program not join a hypothetical target conference because uconnmatt has a stadium 25 miles off campus? Haha I have no idea know… There are just too many moving pieces in that hypothetical for it to be realistically evaluated.

 

[Waquoit]

If UConn was Salma Hayek , Tramel would criticize her for being too short. His opinion or someone else's that he is parroting?

The Big 10 didn't care about on-campus stadiums when they just added teams but the Big 12 does? It's not a valid concern, it's trolling from the haters.

 

[CL82]

I think the state should turn the XL Center and The Rent over to UConn, actually hire some competent managers and see what happens. Absent an NHL team, this is the most logical path forward. The problem is what ex politicians do for a living and we need to unwrap that and not be hostage to the usual CT game.

At first blush, some people will look at this and say "well, then the state loses all the money from the UConn rental fees" but since the state foots the bill for that anyway, this idea is actually a net positive for the state because they eliminate the salaries and overhead of the incompetent CDRA. The more interesting question is why would UConn want control of a dilapidated, money losing, half century old arena over 30 miles from campus?

I do think if the state wants Connecticut to play there, it should make the facility available rent free and split the profits from the game. All that would do is eliminate the states subsidy of the XL Center from running through the University of Connecticut athletic department.

 

[UCTitleTown]

The most laughable thing I've seen recently is talk of the Big 10 considering adding that prestigious academic institution, Miami.....

 

[CL82]

Wait Biz, wasn't that the reason the B1G turned down UCLA, because their stadium is 27 miles off campus and over an hour away on a good day in Pasadena

Wait, are you comparing the XL Center to the Rose Bowl or the Rent to the Rose Bowl? You know what, it doesn't matter. It's hysterical either way.

 

[Blades]

Wait, are you comparing the XL Center to the Rose Bowl or the Rent to the Rose Bowl? You know what, it doesn't matter. It's hysterical either way.

Your right Uconn needs to build a Rose Bowl and everything will be fine, on campus of course, LOL! Maybe it will even help get the Whalers back !

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Yes, that was a big mistake overall, but not for football specifcally. If we had built the stadium on campus, we would have gotten a better look from the other conferences during the previous shuffles.

Not sure that's a given.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

When we were winning and the place was rocking, honestly were there really that many negative thoughts about the Rent? We can win again and the place will fill up again and if we're playing a P5 schedule, then people will want it expanded.

 

[Jbirdp5]

In all candor I believe that I am one of very few posters who is being objective about the Big East.

If PC was that important of a rival we would have scheduled them at some point as a non-conference opponent during our time in the AAC. That applies to any of the eastern five remaining BE opponents yet Villanova was the only school we played in non-conference games.

Three of the other five we never conference opponents before we returned and the other two, besides being geographically distant, don't have the history with us that an equal number of potential B-12 opponents have (who also are geographically closer) yet are fans allegedly care enough about those schools that our attendance will suffer if we replace conference games against Creighton, Xavier, Butler, DePaul and Marquette with conference games against Cincinnati. WVU, Baylor, Kansas State and Oklahoma St.

People are fabricating rivalries just because they want to make believe the current BE is the BE of history and they don't want to face the reality that our athletic department's financial situation is not sustainable.

Making a statement about the financials of moving is certainly reasonable. Repeating that people appreciating regional rivalries and current opponents are somehow fabricating things is where ya lose me. Losing any semblance of drivability or regionality in the conference is something even Benedict brought up that must be considered. Things besides the financial ledger are important in maintaining our strong brand and following.

 

[nadav]

The bathroom lines, concessions and wifi at the Rose Bowl are not up to snuff though.

 

[CL82]

Your right Uconn needs to build a Rose Bowl and everything will be fine, on campus of course, LOL! Maybe it will even help get the Whalers back !

Lol, that was your weird analogy, not mine.

Agree with your evolved take that it was a pretty silly one.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Fair enough but apparently, it hasn't been so easy to fix the head coaching situation either. The double whammy of Pasqualoni and Diaco would bring most programs to their knees.

They were both second hires.

1. PP was when Hathaway balked at Whipple (UConn was preparing for whipple). Also, search sucked, though Paul should have performed better as coach (bit as bad as people think. 5-7, 5-7).

2. Narduzzi was No. 1 , but declined. They got Diaco, who was totally unprepared from a personality and management standpoint to be a head coach.

 

[noeynox]

How about a stadium in Tolland or Willington off of 84. Only 8 miles from campus and close to Electric Blue.

Coventry. Favorable zoning.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Don’t some of you boneheads work for ESPN? Someone needs to “leak” a rumor that the Big 10 is considering adding UConn. It would take about 2 hours for the Big 12 presidents to jump in and try to scoop us. We’ve been done dirty by so many behind the scenes politicking and BS that maybe it’s time for UConn to start playing some hardball. Hell, have Benedict call up Warde and meet for a dozen donuts. Just the thought of someone else adding us would take us off the table. Time to get creative!

 

[huskymedic]

Lol, kind of missing the point here Biz, it is specifically a talking point that hurts the program and was expressly written about by a well respected columnist.

Tramel has his own agenda… I’ve mentioned it before but he’s is not a UConn Football fan.

From 2019: Should UConn drop football?

“But perhaps Connecticut should just drop football. Yes, the Huskies have made a big investment in football. But that investment has not paid off. UConn athletics have a major debt. The Huskies averaged just 10,000 fans last season in East Hartford’s Rentschler Field, some 30 miles from campus.

And the truth is, UConn basketball has suffered while the university chased football stability and success.

Is that a good model in the Northeast, which does not have college football fervor? Is that a good model when the future of all football is suspect, because of the concussion issue?

Rentschler Field is state-owned, built primarily for the Huskies. The Hartford Courant reported earlier this year on Rentschler Field’s economic troubles.

It’s not at all clear that UConn needs football or that East Hartford needs Rentschler Field…

…Football is not for everybody. It seems more and more likely it is not for Connecticut.”

 

[John]

Tramel has his own agenda… I’ve mentioned it before but he’s is not a UConn Football fan.

From 2019: Should UConn drop football?

“But perhaps Connecticut should just drop football. Yes, the Huskies have made a big investment in football. But that investment has not paid off. UConn athletics have a major debt. The Huskies averaged just 10,000 fans last season in East Hartford’s Rentschler Field, some 30 miles from campus.

And the truth is, UConn basketball has suffered while the university chased football stability and success.

Is that a good model in the Northeast, which does not have college football fervor? Is that a good model when the future of all football is suspect, because of the concussion issue?

Rentschler Field is state-owned, built primarily for the Huskies. The Hartford Courant reported earlier this year on Rentschler Field’s economic troubles.

It’s not at all clear that UConn needs football or that East Hartford needs Rentschler Field…

…Football is not for everybody. It seems more and more likely it is not for Connecticut.”

"And the truth is, UConn basketball has suffered while the university chased football stability and success."

Yeah all those national championships have been brutal. This guy is a clown. Next!

 

[CL82]

Tramel has his own agenda… I’ve mentioned it before but he’s is not a UConn Football fan.

From 2019: Should UConn drop football?

“But perhaps Connecticut should just drop football. Yes, the Huskies have made a big investment in football. But that investment has not paid off. UConn athletics have a major debt. The Huskies averaged just 10,000 fans last season in East Hartford’s Rentschler Field, some 30 miles from campus.

And the truth is, UConn basketball has suffered while the university chased football stability and success.

Is that a good model in the Northeast, which does not have college football fervor? Is that a good model when the future of all football is suspect, because of the concussion issue?

Rentschler Field is state-owned, built primarily for the Huskies. The Hartford Courant reported earlier this year on Rentschler Field’s economic troubles.

It’s not at all clear that UConn needs football or that East Hartford needs Rentschler Field…

…Football is not for everybody. It seems more and more likely it is not for Connecticut.”

Fair enough, but having a college football stadium 25 miles off-campus gives him a talking point that he would not otherwise have.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I guess, but the Trammel article specifically talked about our stadium being off campus as one of the negatives about us as a conference realignment target.

In case it wasn't obvious, Tramel hates the idea of UConn in the Big 12. He's an OU guy and doesn't think we belong. But he's also irrelevant.

 

[Drew]