Possible Big 12 Invite rumors

[John]

For all the pearl clutching about the need to be in the “P5”, the same writers (and posters for that matter) have been saying that the P5 would dominate basketball for the last 10 years, and exactly 1 P5 team played in the Final Four in April.

And zero northeastern teams in the BE tournament finals. I like cherry pie too.

 

[willie99]

Football and the fact that the in the ACC didn't realize how little the Boston media market cares about college sports.

They'd care more if BC was competitive

 

[businesslawyer]

at the end of the day we either strive to join a P5 conference or drop football.

The point could not be made more succinctly and clearly than this. We pursue the P5 or we should drop football and pray that the football schools don’t pull their basketball from the NCAA. It’s that simple, and neither choice is irrational. Or easy

 

[CL82]

The point could not be made more succinctly and clearly than this. We pursue the P5 or we should drop football and pray that the football schools don’t pull their basketball from the NCAA. It’s that simple, and neither choice is irrational. Or easy

Deciding to put yourself into a position where your only strategy is praying that others don't take advantage of you isn't irrational?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

As a UConn basketball fan, the program we actually have a chance at competing for titles (the whole point of sports, winning it all), I am not concerned about benefiting football, baseball, soccer, etc. We have an elite, top 5-10 basketball program. Most schools don’t have a top 5-10 football or basketball program. Why are we risking the status of our crown jewel to help football make a bowl game every 4 years?

We were very good in multiple sports as a BCS program. including basketball.

 

[businesslawyer]

Deciding to put yourself into a position where your only strategy is praying that others don't take advantage of you isn't irrational?

It would not be my path, but in life there are always things other can do that will adversely affect you. In deciding whether to act, you have to determine, among other things, what the odds are that they will take that action. I haven’t trained myself in firearms and bought a handful of guns. In doing so, I’m making a calculation that I don’t have to act because others could buy guns and break into my house.

 

[UConnSwag11]

When we lost out to the ACC it was more like we were sitting on the goal line and failed to run a play before the clock ran out ( Diaco at navy).

Kind of hard to run it it when you have a brick wall (ESPN) keeping you from getting in

 

[willie99]

On a more serious note about building a football stadium on campus

Is anyhow aware of the infrastructure around Storrs? There is no good access, it's not even plausible the roadways can handle gameday traffic. You'd have to change entire rural communities just to play 6 games per year

It will take scores of years to clear roadblocks. Politicians and attorneys working on the project will retire and die, with new people taking over. There might even be 20 different judges presiding

It's not happening people, furgetaboutit

 

[husky429]

I haven’t trained myself in firearms and bought a handful of guns.

Can't tell if this was just an illustrative example or real, but if it's real I would really recommend getting training from a professional. You can't train yourself, and an untrained person with a gun in the home is incredibly unsafe. We have way too many accidents with guns as it is.

There's safety courses run all over, though if you're politically inclined, most are NRA programs and that might be unsavory to you. Sig Sauer has a number of courses at their place in NH as well... I seem to recall you being in the Boston area?

 

[Stinger92860]

They'd care more if BC was competitive

Too much competition from professional sports and much to my dismay it’s been a great run for the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox. Even if they sucked the emotional attachment is huge and those 4 sports are a focus everyday of the year. Add in the poor performance of BCU and it’s easy to understand why they are forgotten. It took a Hail Mary to get attention how many years ago (or a betting scandal).

We have similar issues but the big difference is UConn is our state school And no professional team is located in the state.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Is this for basketball? I’d rather see basketball stay in a consistently competitive basketball league that is no way a midmajor, and play good teams and have a chance at winning national titles (like we did this past year).

For all other sports, they can stay in a borderline mid major and win or play good schools and lose, or play good schools and win. I don’t care either way.

If the argument is we need to join the Big 12 to protect our basketball program from future consolidation in case P5 teams break off and make their own version of March Madness, then fine, I’m open to that argument.

If your argument starts with “we should join the big 12 because it helps football/baseball/soccer/track” , I’m out.

I need a bit of clarification on this statement. Do you view the B-12 (what it will be after all announced schools move in and out) as midmajor?

This is where the pro Big East argument falls apart. Too many "we can't leave this conference" comments begin with the false claim that it is the best basketball conference. When someone who views all sports as part of the equation (and is willing to accept the premise that our financial situation is not sustainable for any extended length of time) points out that the B-12 has been a better basketball conference, they are blasted for "knocking the Big East".

 

[uconnyankee]

speaking of patriot place, they should at least consider turning The Rent area into something more than an empty stadium 350 days a year and cabella's. An on campus stadium becomes the campus crown jewel. A stadium at Rentschler Field is an isolated empty concrete structure getting minimum maintenance because no one sees it all year long except for half a dozen fall weekends.

The point could not be made more succinctly and clearly than this. We pursue the P5 or we should drop football and pray that the football schools don’t pull their basketball from the NCAA. It’s that simple, and neither choice is irrational. Or easy

sadly this is very true... we either strive to be like Virginia, Maryland or even UNC. Or we cut the AD in half, drop football, and become more in line with the BE profile...

the current path is not sustainable.

What many people fail to see is the long term effects of the money flowing to a smaller and smaller group. It's harder to retain coaches, it's harder to maintain facilities and it eventually gets harder to compete with the schools that have the money... will there be exceptions occasionally? sure.

 

[pepband99]

A lot to unpack here.

1) This may be bad reporting, although Canzano is legit out west.

2) A lot of the reporting claiming that Colorado's departure to the Big 12 was imminent will turn out to have been spectacularly wrong if this report is true.

3) The Pac 12 may have pulled off one of the all time negotiating coups. They pointed a gun at their own head, threatened to shoot, and got what they wanted. There wouldn't be a GOR getting signed unless there was a media partner behind it. It is worth noting that ESPN has settled down with its "Pac 12 will not get a contract" reporting in the last week or two, which may mean they know the Pac 12 is about to sign with someone else and ESPN doesn't want to look stupider than they already look. We will find out soon.

If Apple or Amazon are about to enter the arena, the game will have changed dramatically.

4) If 1, 2 and 3 above all happen, UConn may want to tap the brakes on joining the Big 12. If Apple and/or Amazon are in the mix, then the Big East is going to get paid. It also means that the ACC is going to be even more desperate than ever to figure out how to get out of that long-term TV contract they signed. Maybe UConn or the Big East could figure into that solution.

Going back to your salient points, instead of your tired CTE soapbox.

The PAC has always looked like an Apple target, to me. They can get a toe in water on the cheap, and the time zone issues don’t play as much.

Right with you on a change agent causing the results. Lets see.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Deciding to put yourself into a position where your only strategy is praying that others don't take advantage of you isn't irrational?

This is the internal battle that we are fighting. If you're a field mouse, all you can really do is hope that you can hide well enough that a predator won't find you. It would be irrational for many schools (including basically any other BE member) to believe they could become a predator (P-5 all sports member). The only thing they can do is hope the predators (P-5 conferences) never find and kill them (cut them out of the bulk of media revenues).

There are too many who believe that we are and can only be a field mouse. Others believe we can become more, a school that can compete, on all levels with the best members of the top conferences.

My opinion, to quote a great man: "it's doable".

 

[businesslawyer]

Can't tell if this was just an illustrative example or real, but if it's real I would really recommend getting training from a professional. You can't train yourself, and an untrained person with a gun in the home is incredibly unsafe. We have way too many accidents with guns as it is.

There's safety courses run all over, though if you're politically inclined, most are NRA programs and that might be unsavory to you. Sig Sauer has a number of courses at their place in NH as well... I seem to recall you being in the Boston area?

LOL. I appreciate your effort to help me. But I was just making the point that saying you can’t leave your fate in someone else’s hands isn’t a real argument. We all do that in hundreds of ways every day. You have to actually evaluate how likely it is that such a strategy will harm instead of benefit you.

 

[Bazz4A]

I need a bit of clarification on this statement. Do you view the B-12 (what it will be after all announced schools move in and out) as midmajor?

This is where the pro Big East argument falls apart. Too many "we can't leave this conference" comments begin with the false claim that it is the best basketball conference. When someone who views all sports as part of the equation (and is willing to accept the premise that our financial situation is not sustainable for any extended length of time) points out that the B-12 has been a better basketball conference, they are blasted for "knocking the Big East".

Nope, I was responding to someone else calling the Big East a borderline mid-major, I wasn’t calling the Big 12 a mid major. And literally at no point did I say the Big East was the best basketball conference. I called it “consistently competitive” and “not a midmajor”. The Big 12 is a great basketball conference and possibly the best right now.

Did you read any of my statement? I clearly said I don’t care about the other sports outside of basketball, I do not view them as a part of the equation.

 

[gsmooth]

Can't tell if this was just an illustrative example or real, but if it's real I would really recommend getting training from a professional. You can't train yourself, and an untrained person with a gun in the home is incredibly unsafe. We have way too many accidents with guns as it is.

There's safety courses run all over, though if you're politically inclined, most are NRA programs and that might be unsavory to you. Sig Sauer has a number of courses at their place in NH as well... I seem to recall you being in the Boston area?

There are plenty of instructional places here in the Boston area, too, as well as shooting ranges. I can tell people from experience they are solid.

 

[CL82]

It would not be my path, but in life there are always things other can do that will adversely affect you. In deciding whether to act, you have to determine, among other things, what the odds are that they will take that action. I haven’t trained myself in firearms and bought a handful of guns. In doing so, I’m making a calculation that I don’t have to act because others could buy guns and break into my house.

So are you saying that you believe that Connecticut continuing to make $.10 on the dollar, or less than the major conferences is an optimized strategy? Are you saying that you think the odds are equivalent of someone breaking into your house "with guns" is roughly the same likelihood as UConn being priced out of competing at a high major level by ever more profitable competing schools?

 

[Waquoit]

Blame the politicians for the off-campus stadium.

You mean thank the politicians. The choice was The Rent or nothing.

 

[CL82]

Kind of hard to run it it when you have a brick wall (ESPN) keeping you from getting in

Still, not snapping the ball guarantees you won't get across the goal line. (I was at the Navy game. It was a stunningly incompetent finish by the coaching staff.)

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I clearly said I don’t care about the other sports outside of basketball, I do not view them as a part of the equation.

This says everything.

Sadly, the equation is significantly larger than merely basketball. Believing anything different will lead to the demise of all, including basketball.

 

[businesslawyer]

So are you saying that you believe that Connecticut continuing to make $.10 on the dollar, or less than the major conferences is an optimized strategy? Are you saying that you think the odds are equivalent of someone breaking into your house "with guns" is roughly the same likelihood as UConn being priced out of competing at a high major level by ever more profitable competing schools?

Oh goodie, now we're going for Muntz level overstatements as if they make points.

No, we can't compete with football programs without football money. But if we drop football, to date, there is no indication that schools are willing to pay football money to benefit basketball. If basketball onlies were totally outgunned by football powers, the Big East and its teams would not be having the success they are.

Might this change in the future? Yes, it might, and I have been very clear that I believe that one day the power brands will try to dominate basketball revenues the way they dominate football revenues. That is why I would take a Big XII offer in the unlikely event it comes. But do I think it's irrational for others to conclude that the more football money Alabama and Arkansas generate, the more they will pour that back into football and that they don't care enough about hoops to break anything but football from the NCAA -- no, I don't think it is. When predicting the future reasonable people will come to differing conclusions.

You can keep going if you want. You have a free field because I've made my point to those who care what it is.

 

[Stinger92860]

Do you view the B-12 (what it will be after all announced schools move in and out) as midmajor?

The B-12 is a vitamin and UConn needs a shot!!! Lol

 

[CL82]

Oh goodie, now we're going for Muntz level overstatements as if they make points.

Well one of us is, I'm just laughing at the silliness of it.

No, we can't compete with football programs without football money. But if we drop football, to date, there is no indication that schools are willing to pay football money to benefit basketball.

I think it's wildly optimistic to expect that schools with an annual broadcast rights of 70+ million dollars, which is what B1G is anticipating, won't channel any of that toward any of their other sports rather than football. If you don't think an escalation in salaries is happening already take a look at what Georgetown is paying Cooley for attaining mediocrity in the Big East. Now, I suppose it's fair to argue well Georgetown is not a P5 school, but the fact that salaries are going up and going up at a very steep trend line is unavoidable. That money has to come from somewhere.

Here's a quick rhetorical question, if you can dropped football today with the athletic department turn a profit? The answer is no. Given that, it's tough to see how anyone can seriously suggest that dropping football will somehow magically make Connecticut athletics profitable.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Can't tell if this was just an illustrative example or real, but if it's real I would really recommend getting training from a professional. You can't train yourself, and an untrained person with a gun in the home is incredibly unsafe. We have way too many accidents with guns as it is.

There's safety courses run all over, though if you're politically inclined, most are NRA programs and that might be unsavory to you. Sig Sauer has a number of courses at their place in NH as well... I seem to recall you being in the Boston area?

There are plenty of instructional places here in the Boston area, too, as well as shooting ranges. I can tell people from experience they are solid.

See Big 12?? We fit culturally!!