OT: Realignment?

[auror]

Wow, mea culpa, this might actually happen.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The path of least resistance is that the Big XII backfills with SMU and Houston, right?

The Big XII gets weaker, the AAC gets weaker.

I guess it was better we be in the Big East and watching this all from afar, assuming that we wouldn't have been a Big XII backfill candidate anyway.

 

[Waquoit]

The problem with conferences is the bottom of them. Why should texas subsidize Baylor and Kansas football? Iowa State, why are then joined with Oklahoma and UConn and Cincinnati aren't. Things like that.

I went to the bowl game in Birmingham. The South Carolina fans were chanting "SEC!" in our hotel. I remember thinking we're not playing the SEC we're playing you guys.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Here are the three most important things to conference realignment:
1. money
2. money
3. money

things that aren’t important? Women’s basketball.

Academics is a facade the conferences use to beat their chests, but don’t mean a damn thing to the people pulling the strings.

Unfortunately, Kansas just draws more eyeballs than UConn. Yes, even in football.

I would qualify your assertion about women's basketball in the new NIL world. Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd are going to be pulling in A LOT more bank than about 95% of P5 football players, and that prediction is conservative.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The path of least resistance is that the Big XII backfills with SMU and Houston, right?

The Big XII gets weaker, the AAC gets weaker.

I guess it was better we be in the Big East and watching this all from afar, assuming that we wouldn't have been a Big XII backfill candidate anyway.

I don't think UConn would have been a Big 12 backfill candidate.

 

[ASweet3781]

Here are the three most important things to conference realignment:
1. money
2. money
3. money

things that aren’t important? Women’s basketball.

Academics is a facade the conferences use to beat their chests, but don’t mean a damn thing to the people pulling the strings.

Unfortunately, Kansas just draws more eyeballs than UConn. Yes, even in football.

I forgot how much I hated conference realignment talk because of having to read stupidity like this.

You mean the school that sucks in football and gets to play Texas and Oklahoma on ESPN or ABC on Saturdays draws more than the school that sucks in football playing Tulane and East Carolina on CBS SportsNet and ESPNU? Let's reverse and see who draws more. Stupid.

Anyone who was at the Michigan game knows the state of Connecticut would make Big Ten-ACC football a madhouse that would draw in person and on TV.

Maybe you should stick to making the case of West Virginia to the ACC. Another stupid topic. Always forgot how weird it was during these realignment threads how our own fans would sabotage and diminish our case and overhype and over value competitors. Always thought it was weird. Still do.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Storrs South]

This is the point I am trying to hammer home on how realignment works today

 

[McLovin]

I forgot how much I hated conference realignment talk because of having to read stupidity like this.

You mean the school that sucks in football and gets to play Texas and Oklahoma on ESPN or ABC on Saturdays draws more than the school that sucks in football playing Tulane and East Carolina on CBS SportsNet and ESPNU? Let's reverse and see who draws more. Stupid.

Anyone who was at the Michigan game knows the state of Connecticut would make Big Ten-ACC football a madhouse that would draw in person and on TV.

Maybe you should stick to making the case of West Virginia to the ACC. Another stupid topic. Always forgot how weird it was during these realignment threads how our own fans would sabotage and diminish our case and overhype and over value competitors. Always thought it was weird. Still do.

Take off your blue tinted glasses. UConn football is the laughing stock of FBS level and has been for a decade. Kansas has at least been able to bring in big time brand name coaches, and while it didn’t work out it shows they are serious about trying to keep their football program alive.

UConn hasn’t been unable to field a competitive team in 5 years and have a disinterested fan base as a result. In that same time span we saw teams from our bad conference win NY6 bowl games, proving its possible to field a good team behind good coaches in a group of 5 league if the team has any brand recognition whatsoever, which UConn football does not.

While UConn has a great market in the highly populated northeast and national basketball following, UConn college football is far down the lists in the general populations sports interests. Meanwhile the 5 million hillbillies in West Virginia have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than tune up their antenna televisions with a bottle of shine right off the still and cheer for the mountaineers. That moonshine money is way more appealing to the ACC or the Big10 than the 5 middle aged dudes drinking Sam adams and grilling gourmet burgers in blue lot outside their f150.

During the last round of realignments the word was that “UConn will always be there if/when we expand again”. Unfortunately UConn didn’t make any competent effort to make themselves a front runner when it has finally come time for the realignment to restart. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see what UConn has done since the last round of realignment to leapfrog schools like WVU or Kansas in the eyes of the ACC or Big10.

 

[Brochacho]

UConn went directly to a P6 conference from FCS (not counting that short Indy stay at the beginning) and finished .500 or higher 7 out of 11 years and had an overall winning percentage of 56%. The Rent rocked. UConn made 5 bowls. BCS appearance. Its easy to perform well when you have a good coach and you're in the haves vs have nots.

You can't compare schools with the fortune of being in a P5 conference vs a school that is a geographic and cultural outlier in a second tier conference (us in the AAC). UConn can absolutely be a successful program in a P5 conference but we just may never get the chance.

 

[djct1999]

Take off your blue tinted glasses. UConn football is the laughing stock of FBS level and has been for a decade. Kansas has at least been able to bring in big time brand name coaches, and while it didn’t work out it shows they are serious about trying to keep their football program alive.

UConn hasn’t been unable to field a competitive team in 5 years and have a disinterested fan base as a result. In that same time span we saw teams from our bad conference win NY6 bowl games, proving its possible to field a good team behind good coaches in a group of 5 league if the team has any brand recognition whatsoever, which UConn football does not.

While UConn has a great market in the highly populated northeast and national basketball following, UConn college football is far down the lists in the general populations sports interests. Meanwhile the 5 million hillbillies in West Virginia have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than tune up their antenna televisions with a bottle of shine right off the still and cheer for the mountaineers. That moonshine money is way more appealing to the ACC or the Big10 than the 5 middle aged dudes drinking Sam adams and grilling gourmet burgers in blue lot outside their f150.

During the last round of realignments the word was that “UConn will always be there if/when we expand again”. Unfortunately UConn didn’t make any competent effort to make themselves a front runner when it has finally come time for the realignment to restart. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see what UConn has done since the last round of realignment to leapfrog schools like WVU or Kansas in the eyes of the ACC or Big10.

yeah, because the tv markets in lawrence and morgantown have execs drooling at the mouth.

 

[bendm]

Actually, the other rumor is the B1G poaching USC and UCLA from the Pac. Could lead the rest of the Big XII to merge with the Pac.

The UC regents would never let UCLA leave for the big12. PAC is also a much better football conference than big12 w/o Texas and OU. Don’t think adding any of the second tier big12 schools helps the PAC, let big12 absorb the best aac teams.

 

[McLovin]

I forgot how much I hated conference realignment talk because of having to read stupidity like this.

You mean the school that sucks in football and gets to play Texas and Oklahoma on ESPN or ABC on Saturdays draws more than the school that sucks in football playing Tulane and East Carolina on CBS SportsNet and ESPNU? Let's reverse and see who draws more. Stupid.

Anyone who was at the Michigan game knows the state of Connecticut would make Big Ten-ACC football a madhouse that would draw in person and on TV.

Maybe you should stick to making the case of West Virginia to the ACC. Another stupid topic. Always forgot how weird it was during these realignment threads how our own fans would sabotage and diminish our case and overhype and over value competitors. Always thought it was weird. Still do.

Also, I’ll add that UConn football went independent at the WORST possible time for this to happen. Now that the free market has decided that the media rights for UConn football are worth barely 7 figures (which includes r those big “draw” games against current P5 opponents you mentioned) every school president in the Big10 and ACC are going to ask why they would cut UConn football a $35 Million check each year when the market says the product is hardly worth $1M? The people in charge of realignment aren’t doing this for charity and they aren’t stupid either.

Sorry but the basketball programs and the academic “prestiege” do not even come close to accounting for that difference in value. An argument can be made that Kansas football wouldn’t do much better on a TV contract if they went independent, but unfortunately (for us UConn fans) they never had to have the free market give them a price on their worth so they get to start the negotiations on their value at their current payout (whether it should be justified or not).

 

[Drew]

 

[Drew]

 

[auror]

Also, I’ll add that UConn football went independent at the WORST possible time for this to happen. Now that the free market has decided that the media rights for UConn football are worth barely 7 figures (which includes r those big “draw” games against current P5 opponents you mentioned) every school president in the Big10 and ACC are going to ask why they would cut UConn football a $35 Million check each year when the market says the product is hardly worth $1M? The people in charge of realignment aren’t doing this for charity and they aren’t stupid either.

Sorry but the basketball programs and the academic “prestiege” do not even come close to accounting for that difference in value. An argument can be made that Kansas football wouldn’t do much better on a TV contract if they went independent, but unfortunately (for us UConn fans) they never had to have the free market give them a price on their worth so they get to start the negotiations on their value at their current payout (whether it should be justified or not).

I mean, UConn didn't go independent right away. We tried to go B12 recently and definitely back channeled with ACC repeatedly. They didn't want us, because they already knew the football was worthless. We didn't mistakenly put a value on an unknown but possibly valuable property. Everyone knew it was shitake.

A shift in thinking away from DMAs and towards raw stream subscriber football fanbase was also terrible for us. New Haven / proximity to NY dma was one of our biggest assets. For this reason, it's great that we're in the Big East. We're no longer at the whims of the football titans.

 

[McLovin]

yeah, because the tv markets in lawrence and morgantown have execs drooling at the mouth.

Do you guys not get this? TV markets aren’t important. Fan bases are. Everything is digital now. On a fall Saturday afternoon in the central CT tv market, I doubt UConn football even cracks the top 5 of CFB games watched...

WVU has a WAY BIGGER fan base and following than UConn football has ever had or ever will have.

Down here in Nashville I see someone decked out in WVU swag probably once per week walking on the streets. I don’t think I have ever seen a UConn football shirt / jersey / hat. (I also probably see more women’s basketball shirts than men’s shirts too - but the people wearing them are always ancient).

 

[cordeodato]

Why would I want to have a big time UCONN football team to root for? I got the J-E-T-S

 

[Tenspro2002]

I don't think UConn would have been a Big 12 backfill candidate.

Yeah, that's kind of my point. If we were in the AAC, we would have been left in an even more pathetic conference for both football and basketball.

 

[djct1999]

Do you guys not get this? TV markets aren’t important. Fan bases are. Everything is digital now. On a fall Saturday afternoon in the central CT tv market, I doubt UConn football even cracks the top 5 of CFB games watched...

WVU has a WAY BIGGER fan base and following than UConn football has ever had or ever will have.

Down here in Nashville I see someone decked out in WVU swag probably once per week walking on the streets. I don’t think I have ever seen a UConn football shirt / jersey / hat. (I also probably see more women’s basketball shirts than men’s shirts too - but the people wearing them are always ancient).

What I get is that adding Kansas and/or WVU would be dilutive. Neither school adds any value. Although, maybe you should reach out to The Ohio State University and tell them WVU's reach is all the way to Nashville. That should be music to their ears.

 

[McLovin]

What I get is that adding Kansas and/or WVU would be dilutive. Neither school adds any value. Although, maybe you should reach out to The Ohio State University and tell them WVU's reach is all the way to Nashville. That should be music to their ears.

I'd agree Kansas would probably be dilutive, but WVU would absolutely be a great football add for either the ACC or Big10. One of the best fan bases in CFB. Here is what I would assume the Big10 / ACC realignment plans would be...

1. Steal the best teams from the other conference (which probably means Big10 taking from ACC)
2. Steal USC/UCLA from PAC
3. Add WVU
4. Add some other Big12 schools (with Kansas and OK State being top choices)
5. Add UConn
6. Add UMass (somehow people on the football board think this would actually happen lmao)

My guess is they only make it to step 4 before this round of realignments are over.

 

[ASweet3781]

I'd agree Kansas would probably be dilutive, but WVU would absolutely be a great football add for either the ACC or Big10. One of the best fan bases in CFB. Here is what I would assume the Big10 / ACC realignment plans would be...

1. Steal the best teams from the other conference (which probably means Big10 taking from ACC)
2. Steal USC/UCLA from PAC
3. Add WVU
4. Add some other Big12 schools (with Kansas and OK State being top choices)
5. Add UConn
6. Add UMass (somehow people on the football board think this would actually happen lmao)

My guess is they only make it to step 4 before this round of realignments are over.

Oh, so now we are saying schools are "great additions" based on "best fan bases".

What a joke.

 

[Brochacho]

I don't think the ACC/B10 go to 16 while ND is Independent. I don't think they necessarily expand at all. I do wonder if the ACC would consider WVU and do three pods of 5 for football. Play the other 4 teams in your pod, then 3 from pod A/2 from pod B and then 2 from pod A/3 from pod B year 2. Play every team every two years and then every team at home every 4 years. Gets them to 16 for basketball as well. I think it could work and WVU is a good fit in the ACC.

 

[djct1999]

I'd agree Kansas would probably be dilutive, but WVU would absolutely be a great football add for either the ACC or Big10. One of the best fan bases in CFB. Here is what I would assume the Big10 / ACC realignment plans would be...

1. Steal the best teams from the other conference (which probably means Big10 taking from ACC)
2. Steal USC/UCLA from PAC
3. Add WVU
4. Add some other Big12 schools (with Kansas and OK State being top choices)
5. Add UConn
6. Add UMass (somehow people on the football board think this would actually happen lmao)

My guess is they only make it to step 4 before this round of realignments are over.

Again, schools will only be added if they contribute to the bottomline. Honestly, the only two schools I see that would do that are USC and ND. USC could be a hail mary, ND won't forfeit their independence.

 

[djct1999]

I don't think the ACC/B10 go to 16 while ND is Independent. I don't think they necessarily expand at all. I do wonder if the ACC would consider WVU and do three pods of 5 for football. Play the other 4 teams in your pod, then 3 from pod A/2 from pod B and then 2 from pod A/3 from pod B year 2. Play every team every two years and then every team at home every 4 years. Gets them to 16 for basketball as well. I think it could work and WVU is a good fit in the ACC.

Why would Clemson agree to that if it means splitting their tv deal with another member. Adding WVU wont add to the tv deal.