Presenting UConn in Conference Realignment | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Presenting UConn in Conference Realignment

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B1GOSU said:
UConn should try to do something innovative to gain interest from other conferences. For example, what about a UCONN - B1G Challenge? It could work like the B1G-ACC Challenge, only UConn would play multiple nonconference games vs. the B1G --- some - if not all - could be at Madison Square Garden. You could do this for men's and women's basketball. Attendance at these games could be compared to attendance at the B1G Tournament in MSG in 2018. You could pick a number of games - lets say 5 - and then the B1G picks its 5 men's and 5 women's teams that will play UConn at MSG each year for the Challenge. Or even 7 games - so the 7 men's teams in the B1G who play would not be the 7 women's teams in the B1G that play in that particular year. That way, every B1G team would have 1 men's or 1 women's basketball game at MSG vs. Connecticut every year. The minus for UConn would be a loss of home games in Storrs, but if you eliminated a neutral site tournament or two, you really don't lose anything in terms of home games.

That is probably the best way to show what kind of pull you might have for the B1G in NYC ----- you need to actually play the B1G in NYC first to show everyone what it can do.
And even if that still doesn't lead to an offer to join the B1G, it can at least give UConn some big name nonconference games to help with strength of schedule and media attention that you won't get playing Tulsa and Tulane.
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Sounds good to me
 
B1GOSU said:
That is probably the best way to show what kind of pull you might have for the B1G in NYC ----- you need to actually play the B1G in NYC first to show everyone what it can do.
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We did that in March. Delaney was there. What's the next box to tick? How about being .500 against B1G schools in FB...check. Play in BCS bowl....done. Winning national championships in multiple sports...check. Beating top 5 hockey programs....got that done too. There's not much more to do on the actual playing fields that UConn hasn't done to demonstrate it not only belongs in a P5 but is more competitve than most other P5's.
 
B1GOSU said:
UConn should try to do something innovative to gain interest from other conferences. For example, what about a UCONN - B1G Challenge? It could work like the B1G-ACC Challenge, only UConn would play multiple nonconference games vs. the B1G --- some - if not all - could be at Madison Square Garden. You could do this for men's and women's basketball. Attendance at these games could be compared to attendance at the B1G Tournament in MSG in 2018. You could pick a number of games - lets say 5 - and then the B1G picks its 5 men's and 5 women's teams that will play UConn at MSG each year for the Challenge. Or even 7 games - so the 7 men's teams in the B1G who play would not be the 7 women's teams in the B1G that play in that particular year. That way, every B1G team would have 1 men's or 1 women's basketball game at MSG vs. Connecticut every year. The minus for UConn would be a loss of home games in Storrs, but if you eliminated a neutral site tournament or two, you really don't lose anything in terms of home games.

That is probably the best way to show what kind of pull you might have for the B1G in NYC ----- you need to actually play the B1G in NYC first to show everyone what it can do.
And even if that still doesn't lead to an offer to join the B1G, it can at least give UConn some big name nonconference games to help with strength of schedule and media attention that you won't get playing Tulsa and Tulane.
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I know that you are trying to help and are probably not too familiar with all things UCONN (I'd be the same way if I posted on OSU's board, to be honest), but if there is one single thing that UCONN does not need to prove, it's our ownership of Madison Square Garden and the excitement/electricity our teams bring to New York City when we play there. Ticket prices for this Regional sold for 4x as much as Final Four / National Championship Game tickets thanks, in large part, to UCONN fans flooding the market. UCONN's history at MSG can only come close to being matched by Syracuse and, even still, UCONN gets the edge (thanks in large part to last year's Regional Finals).

But I do understand your point: UCONN should be marketing itself MORE as New York's team instead of allowing itself to take a back seat to other schools making the same claims. Bringing 16-18+K fans to Yankee Stadium to watch two horrible teams play in late November is another positive. Unfortunately for us, we haven't been given the opportunity to play at Yankee when 1) we've been competitive and 2) against top competition like some of our regional r1vals have so we can't use that as springboard towards self-promotion in the same way that RU and Cuse did. However, after our solid showing against Army (in the stands, not on the field) there is not a doubt in my mind that if UCONN ever played a bowl game at Yankee, the game would outdraw the majority of attendance figures posted there.
 
B1GOSU said:
UConn should try to do something innovative to gain interest from other conferences. For example, what about a UCONN - B1G Challenge? It could work like the B1G-ACC Challenge, only UConn would play multiple nonconference games vs. the B1G --- some - if not all - could be at Madison Square Garden. You could do this for men's and women's basketball. Attendance at these games could be compared to attendance at the B1G Tournament in MSG in 2018. You could pick a number of games - lets say 5 - and then the B1G picks its 5 men's and 5 women's teams that will play UConn at MSG each year for the Challenge. Or even 7 games - so the 7 men's teams in the B1G who play would not be the 7 women's teams in the B1G that play in that particular year. That way, every B1G team would have 1 men's or 1 women's basketball game at MSG vs. Connecticut every year. The minus for UConn would be a loss of home games in Storrs, but if you eliminated a neutral site tournament or two, you really don't lose anything in terms of home games.

That is probably the best way to show what kind of pull you might have for the B1G in NYC ----- you need to actually play the B1G in NYC first to show everyone what it can do.
And even if that still doesn't lead to an offer to join the B1G, it can at least give UConn some big name nonconference games to help with strength of schedule and media attention that you won't get playing Tulsa and Tulane.
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B1GOSU for B1G Commissioner!

This is a fantastic idea. In fact I've had it myself but wouldn't dare put so forward such a pro-UConn proposal. It would be a great series, the B1G would get to test-drive a UConn in the B1G arrangement, and UConn would get the additional strength of schedule we need to make up for our AAC powderpuffs.

Since the idea has been broached, let me add one more wrinkle. A B1G-UConn football challenge. We play 9 games per year and the winner goes to the Rose Bowl.
 
SAMCRO said:
We did that in March. Delaney was there. What's the next box to tick? How about being .500 against B1G schools in FB...check. Play in BCS bowl....done. Winning national championships in multiple sports...check. Beating top 5 hockey programs....got that done too. There's not much more to do on the actual playing fields that UConn hasn't done to demonstrate it not only belongs in a P5 but is more competitve than most other P5's.
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If you're good, nothing wrong with proving it over and over again. You should be delighted at the chance.
 
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zls44 said:
without Getty Oil and Budwiser there was no ESPN. Not CT govt. Hell, Bristol was the backup choice (really great call Southington).
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Your response to the OP was ignorant and uncalled for.
Hopefully your sober now and you could possibly extend an apology.
whaler11 said:
For the love of God it's not ESPN keeping UConn out of anything.

The fact that UConn is leftout is the evidence that ESPN is just along for the ride.
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So ESPN and its parent are innocent victims of Conferene greed.
Interesting hypothesis. Backed up by what?
You apparently never watched ESPN as they used their forum to systematically destroy the BiG East and by proxy the University of Connecticut.
In a three year period during our APR episode.
The future ,present,and past suspension were their narrative regarding UConn.
I may have missed it but they never explained that that possible offense was applied retroactively to take full advantage of a bad year. It was a prime example of NCAA personal vindictiveness.. Even though our experience was fodder for their anti- NCAA campaign to insure P5 automy. They have used everything in their power to hurt us. ESPN creates the story
I don't care how many Alumni work there. Collectively they have no voice.
SAMCRO said:
We did that in March. Delaney was there. What's the next box to tick? How about being .500 against B1G schools in FB...check. Play in BCS bowl....done. Winning national championships in multiple sports...check. Beating top 5 hockey programs....got that done too. There's not much more to do on the actual playing fields that UConn hasn't done to demonstrate it not only belongs in a P5 but is more competitve than most other P5's.
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UConn football has to show that it's viable.
If we're where top 3 or 4 in the AAC .
We would be at the top of the waiting list.
 
AZHuskiePop said:
Your response to the OP was ignorant and uncalled for.
Hopefully your sober now and you could possibly extend an apology.

So ESPN and its parent are innocent victims of Conferene greed.
Interesting hypothesis. Backed up by what?
You apparently never watched ESPN as they used their forum to systematically destroy the BiG East and by proxy the University of Connecticut.
In a three year period during our APR episode.
The future ,present,and past suspension were their narrative regarding UConn.
I may have missed it but they never explained that that possible offense was applied retroactively to take full advantage of a bad year. It was a prime example of NCAA personal vindictiveness.. Even though our experience was fodder for their anti- NCAA campaign to insure P5 automy. They have used everything in their power to hurt us. ESPN creates the story
I don't care how many Alumni work there. Collectively they have no voice.

UConn football has to show that it's viable.
If we're where top 3 or 4 in the AAC .
We would be at the top of the waiting list.
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ESPN didn't destroy the Big East - the ACC did.

The evidence is pretty clear. They pay hundreds of millions of additional dollars now than they did prior to conference realignment - while still having pretty much the same properties.

So either they are really dumb or they weren't in control of everything that happened. They don't seem dumb to me.
 
The Big East, and their Commissioner, destroyed the Big East.

A hybrid conference that limped along with Catholic basketball schools, a few schools to whom football was important, and a smorgasbord athletic participation was doomed to eventual failure.

Teams will leave one situation for another if their perceived needs are better served.

Just as the great majority of AAC teams were once CUSA teams, the Big East became a feeder for the ACC. If a conference appears to be on the bottom rung, teams will move up if at all possible....(thus the SEC not needing a GOR),

The BE was doomed years ago by bad decisions, a basketball first philosophy, and a Commissioner who failed to read the future portents regarding football contracting.
 
The Big East died because ESPN killed it on behalf of conference that they owned lock, stock and barrel.

Was the ACC better than the Big East on the football field? No. The Big East won bigger and better bowls.

Basketball court? Not even close.

Did the Big East have better markets? Yes.

But the Big East wasn't ESPN's house brand. The ACC never, ever lived up to its ESPN promotion - that's pretty clear to anyone with eyes.

So ESPN incentivized the demise of the Big East - that's how it works these days.
 
I think there were more moving parts than ESPN conspiring to destroy a conference...Miami wanted to be in the conference with their main in state rival, and Shalala wanted Syracuse with them.

Both Cuse and BC wanted to jump ship (VT was an accident that delayed Cuses's entrance).

Once Miami and VT left...the BE was really not the same conference.
 
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Another hayseed telling us what the Big East was or wasn't.

Stop - you don't know what you're talking about.

The problem was that the Big East failed to die - it still won BCS games almost as fast as the ACC lost them and it still won national championships.

ESPN was overpaying for an ACC that didn't do what it was promoted to do - that's why they had to keep coming back to the Big East. (What Shalala wanted didn't mean a thing without ESPN writing a check.)

The ACC needed all of ESPN's money and however many raids to get out of the Big East's shadow.
 
billybud said:
Once Miami and VT left...the BE was really not the same conference.
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Yeah, it got better. While Miami and VT went on a reputation slides (Miami moreso than VT) after their Championship Games as Big East members, the Big East replaced those schools with Cincinnati, Louisville, USF and UCONN (also replacing Temple). WVU took over as the weight bearing football member and found more BCS success than the entire ACC conference combined. UCONN won multiple hoops titles and helped the Big East become the best basketball conference in the country.

The subtractions that really killed the Big East was Syracuse and Pitt - the same wave that UCONN was ticketed out but replaced by Pitt, thanks to Boston College and ESPiN. It was that departure that included a charter member (Syracuse) that created a mass panic by all remaining members of the Big East to find escape pods. It was at that point that WVU, Louisville, UCONN, and Cincinnati started screaming and running along the Titanic deck tops looking for empty spots on fleeing escape vessels. Syracuse was part of an effort by Big East football schools to try to strengthen football. Once ESPiN's lowball offer was turned down, the writing was on the wall and they knew they had to leave. UCONN was the original partner with them but BC objected over turf wars and ESPiN didn't fight too hard for us when they offered up Pitt as a quick Plan B.

The ironic thing is that had the conference's football playing members successfully persuaded the league's hoops-only Catholic 7 schools that football was the pre-cursor to league stability, not basketball, then the Big East could have added a few schools and, quite possibly, been the 5th P and not the ACC. But as we all know, it didn't pan out that way and everyone, including the Catholic 7 dregs like Seton Hall, Providence and St John's, profited except UCONN. The Big East was, by most measurable metrics (bowl records, BCS records, basketball titles, markets), a better conference than the ACC. But the ACC didn't have a Catholic 7 problem and could act unanimously in trying to kill off their top competition. With ESPiN's help, they obviously succeeded.
 
I don't believe UMD is one of the approved Evidence Based Practice Centers fyi
 
Dooley said:
Yeah, it got better. While Miami and VT went on a reputation slides (Miami moreso than VT) after their Championship Games as Big East members, the Big East replaced those schools with Cincinnati, Louisville, USF and UCONN (also replacing Temple). WVU took over as the weight bearing football member and found more BCS success than the entire ACC conference combined. UCONN won multiple hoops titles and helped the Big East become the best basketball conference in the country.

The subtractions that really killed the Big East was Syracuse and Pitt - the same wave that UCONN was ticketed out but replaced by Pitt, thanks to Boston College and ESPiN. It was that departure that included a charter member (Syracuse) that created a mass panic by all remaining members of the Big East to find escape pods. It was at that point that WVU, Louisville, UCONN, and Cincinnati started screaming and running along the Titanic deck tops looking for empty spots on fleeing escape vessels. Syracuse was part of an effort by Big East football schools to try to strengthen football. Once ESPiN's lowball offer was turned down, the writing was on the wall and they knew they had to leave. UCONN was the original partner with them but BC objected over turf wars and ESPiN didn't fight too hard for us when they offered up Pitt as a quick Plan B.

The ironic thing is that had the conference's football playing members successfully persuaded the league's hoops-only Catholic 7 schools that football was the pre-cursor to league stability, not basketball, then the Big East could have added a few schools and, quite possibly, been the 5th P and not the ACC. But as we all know, it didn't pan out that way and everyone, including the Catholic 7 dregs like Seton Hall, Providence and St John's, profited except UCONN. The Big East was, by most measurable metrics (bowl records, BCS records, basketball titles, markets), a better conference than the ACC. But the ACC didn't have a Catholic 7 problem and could act unanimously in trying to kill off their top competition. With ESPiN's help, they obviously succeeded.
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Just came across these Pitt articles (a little dated) which, by comparison, make BC look sports-crazed. Awesome choice, Swoffy..er..ESPN!

http://fansided.com/2014/12/24/sad-state-pitt-panther-football/

http://triblive.com/sports/robrossi/6952873-74/pitt-football-thursday#axzz3O136yrTO
 
Huskybite said:
Just came across these Pitt articles (a little dated) which, by comparison, make BC look sports-crazed. Awesome choice, Swoffy..er..ESPN!

http://fansided.com/2014/12/24/sad-state-pitt-panther-football/

http://triblive.com/sports/robrossi/6952873-74/pitt-football-thursday#axzz3O136yrTO
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Yup. Pitt is so irrelevant in their own city that it washes out any sort of "recruiting ties" that the ACC thinks it will gain from adding them. Penn State and Ohio State dominate that area. Sure, Pitt has some fans, but not enough to regularly sell out Heinz Field unless Notre Dame or West Virginia play there (and bring 20+K of their own fans too). They should build a new stadium on-campus somewhere that is MUCH smaller and more intimate but they won't because there just isn't enough demand. And Pitt's plight is much more different than UCONN's regarding attendance. UCONN is in an attendance spiral because of a bad on-field product and a schedule that doesn't move the needle. Pitt, on the other hand, regularly wins about 6 games a year against a good ACC schedule and they still can't draw. To me, that is more indicative of fanbase apathy than anything else.
 
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Dooley said:
Yup. Pitt is so irrelevant in their own city that it washes out any sort of "recruiting ties" that the ACC thinks it will gain from adding them. Penn State and Ohio State dominate that area. Sure, Pitt has some fans, but not enough to regularly sell out Heinz Field unless Notre Dame or West Virginia play there (and bring 20+K of their own fans too). They should build a new stadium on-campus somewhere that is MUCH smaller and more intimate but they won't because there just isn't enough demand. And Pitt's plight is much more different than UCONN's regarding attendance. UCONN is in an attendance spiral because of a bad on-field product and a schedule that doesn't move the needle. Pitt, on the other hand, regularly wins about 6 games a year against a good ACC schedule and they still can't draw. To me, that is more indicative of fanbase apathy than anything else.
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Pitt fans live in la-la land to think Pitt can return to their "glory days" of the 70s. In that time, Pitt regularly had 100+ kids on scholarship and was busy paying players. They cling to a bunch of phoney titles while Woodrow Wilson was president to justify their demands.

That program is DOA and Nardoozi will be fired in the next 3 years. Rinse and repeat.
 
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