Reality vs fear

[John]

There is no reason why UConn football couldn’t be just as good as the BC and Syracuses of the world on an equal level playing field with the right coach which I believe Jim Mora is.

Right coach and appropriate investment and conference framework.

 

[noeynox]

What does when he graduated have to do with it?

Are you disputing his statement that UConn football has been dreadful for a long time?

Of course its dreadful you replace a geriatric dud, with a dud with pretty blue eyes, you then bring back a guy who had no interest in doing the job. The investment hasn't been there in football so you get the results we got. But i get. Money doesn't grown on trees and we have 2 high profile BB programs at the top of the heap that require maximum resources. Football has been largely treated like an afterthought.

 

[superjohn]

Actually, it's you who are struggling with the strategic picture.

You're having trouble with someone saying UConn football has been dreadful for a long time and you brought up CCNY basketball in regards to UConn basketball.

Keep embarrassing yourself.

 

[John]

You're having trouble with someone saying UConn football has been dreadful for a long time and you brought up CCNY basketball in regards to UConn basketball.

Keep embarrassing yourself.

Keep missing the point on purpose.

 

[superjohn]

Of course its dreadful you replace a geriatric dud, with a dud with pretty blue eyes, you then bring back a guy who had no interest in doing the job. The investment hasn't been there in football so you get the results we got. But i get. Money doesn't grown on trees and we have 2 high profile BB programs at the top of the heap that require maximum resources. Football has been largely treated like an afterthought.

Agreed but it wasn't treated like an afterthought until more recently. They built top of the line practice/training facilities at that time but the program was embarrassed when the snake Edsall slipped out in the dark of night and then told everyone Maryland football is his dream job. They spent competitive money on PP and Diaco (actually they were overpaid) but they were awful hires. They totally embarrassed themselves when they were the only program to cancel their entire football season and when they hired back the snake.

 

[Kolumbo]

I'm a big Dan Hurley fan and I believe he can keep the chuckwagon rolling. I can't say for certain though that he is so much better than everyone else, or that perhaps there was a little bit of luck putting together this year's squad. Talent, fit, teamwork, motivation, roles, unselfishness. Whatever it is, they had it all this year. I don't think this type of combination can be expected every year, but who knows.

Bottom line is, if Dan Hurley wants UConn to match the next offer, I don't think UConn could, or would. And that's a bad position to be in.

 

[superjohn]

Keep missing the point on purpose.

What's your point? Your points seem to be that UConn can/will become CCNY in basketball and that UConn football hasn't been dreadful for a long time.

If those aren't the points you're making can you please explain what the points you're making are?

 

[cellocgg]

I'm a big Dan Hurley fan and I believe he can keep the chuckwagon rolling. I can't say for certain though that he is so much better than everyone else, or that perhaps there was a little bit of luck putting together this year's squad. Talent, fit, teamwork, motivation, roles, unselfishness. Whatever it is, they had it all this year. I don't think this type of combination can be expected every year, but who knows.

Bottom line is, if Dan Hurley wants UConn to match the next offer, I don't think UConn could, or would. And that's a bad position to be in.

UConn's dominance isn't "luck", and if Hurley didn't believe in the future of the school or that they wouldn't pay him what he's worth he wouldn't have stayed

I mean he turned down becoming the highest paid coach between Basketball AND Football. That says a lot

 

[Jaydumo20]

UConn's dominance isn't "luck", and if Hurley didn't believe in the future of the school or that they wouldn't pay him what he's worth he wouldn't have stayed

I mean he turned down becoming the highest paid coach between Basketball AND Football. That says a lot

100%!! In order to make the case that money will guarantee the SEC championships we'd have to ignore the DH refusal. This is the scenario many BYers are saying may happen in the future: p4s have so much dough they'll squash us.
why look ahead? They just tried it. In the biggest way ever and lost. Your "future" just happened and crapped the bed. By your own coach.

Sounds like some of you think he should've taken the KY job.

 

[gars44]

If you are not worried about the future for schools that have been left out of the power structure running the game, I do not know what to tell you.

I would never argue with you because I learned years ago I’m not going to win. So my non-argumentative thought is that I just don’t think all the best players are going to accumulate on the same rosters just because they’re getting more NIL. These kids want court time, and star time. That means they’re going to have to disburse themselves to different programs. Here’s my question, in a four year period there’s got to be 400 kids circulating out of the top 100 for each year. Isn’t that enough to keep the top 80 schools competitive? Even if there are 20 schools outside the power structure? And Go Huskies. Unbelievable!

 

[gars44]

Immaculata says you're wrong.

Who’s Immaculata? (serious question, maybe I’m an ignoramus, I just don’t know)

 

[Scoe]

100%!! In order to make the case that money will guarantee the SEC championships we'd have to ignore the DH refusal. This is the scenario many BYers are saying may happen in the future: p4s have so much dough they'll squash us.
why look ahead? They just tried it. In the biggest way ever and lost. Your "future" just happened and crapped the bed. By your own coach.

Sounds like some of you think he should've taken the KY job.

Hurley ain’t exactly getting paid peanuts either, plenty of endorsement and commercial opportunities in the Northeast, do people realize we beat Kentucky in the FF twice.

 

[Jimdish255]

The big fear looming over this program is that we need to join a football conference or else we'll perish. We fear losing the thing we love so much because, since most of us aren't billionaires, we fear the shadowy power of the big football money schools. But...

When it comes to basketball, recently, this narrative is not only untrue, it is less real than it's ever been.

NIL, conference consolidation, the portal, have all been solidly, not weakly, in place the past 2 years. Teams who have ditched the big east, cincy, WV, bc, Pitt, Louisville, have had their worst years bball wise.

But that's not my point. This is:

Clearly not every body has their price. This is a myth. This is a myth driven by those of who may say they don't value money above all else but secretly do. So we buy in. Kentucky and "the courtship of Andrew's father" proved this flat out: Brinks trucks and football conference included.

He said No!!! Flat out. No!

The reason why I'm not scared is obvious. You can't create danny hurley. You can't buy danny hurley. Mark Pope is not close to DH. Right now no one is.

We don't get the big 5 star recruits consistently. We don't have the biggest bag. We don't get the biggest transfer targets. Yet we embarrass every p4 school out there. Not just beat, but dominate.


I know we've left ourselves open to p4 inclusion but we clearly don't need it. We're coming on year 4 of the NIL, transfer world and we are so far on top of the mountain that all other schools are chasing US!

We have DH. You don't. You wanted him. You waved your cash. He turned his back and said come get me.

The power of money is more real than it has ever been. And yet the program is as strong as ever because we got the right Coach. But believing that a trickle of revenue vs the P2, 3 or whatever is not sustainable forever from a competitive standpoint isn't fear. It's recognition of an objective reality that over time programs with greater resources are more likely to flourish, and those with lesser resources and power are more likely to fall behind eventually. So enjoy the present. But it's worth recognizing that those with the money don't just buy coaches and players, they make the rules.

 

[Jaydumo20]

The power of money is more real than it has ever been. And yet the program is as strong as ever because we got the right Coach. But believing that a trickle of revenue vs the P2, 3 or whatever is not sustainable forever from a competitive standpoint isn't fear. It's recognition of an objective reality that over time programs with greater resources are more likely to flourish, and those with lesser resources and power are more likely to fall behind eventually. So enjoy the present. But it's worth recognizing that those with the money don't just buy coaches and players, they make the rules.

If they make the rules then why not kick uconn and the big east out of the tourney today? I'm not trying to argue I'm not mad. I've just heard a lot of people saying they make the rules as a blanket statement. If it's true, then what advantage would they have keeping uconn in the tourney.

 

[JungleLobo]

Maybe you missed the massive dis of the BE by the selection committee this year. The big boys don't give rats arse what UConn or the BE thinks is legit.

Only takes 1 Big East team to win it all. UConn and Nova have half of last 10 nattys. This drama is almost as good as a ‘Blue Bloods’ rerun.

 

[How Sway?!]

The school needs to take advantage of all the additional attention and applications were getting and grow undergrad enrollment to 40k. Not sure how feasible that is but we need to start growing our alumni base to the level of Illinois and Penn State. Those are the potential customers ESPN and Fox are looking for in the age of standalone streaming packages.

 

[GoConn]

Hot take: I think Big 12 comes back for UConn and adds them this upcoming summer.

 

[How Sway?!]

How many championships would you be willing to give up to be in the Big 10 as full member?

This might be controversial to some, but the only ones I wouldn't give up would be 99 and this years.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Even if UConn doesn't land an all sports invite we will almost certainly get a non-Football invite somewhere. UConn basketball is huge and the fourth highest basketball generator in the nation and there is no competition in the Northeast. If our market was already saturated with big power schools I would be concerned but it obviously isn't and the area is a college sports hole (that UConn is filling)

But this is worst case scenario. UConn will still likely get a full B12 or ACC invite. How soon depends on how the ACC case progresses

Agreed. If we needed to truly “beg” it would require an SMU-type offer. No revenue but take us please. At least you get the best basketball programs in America.

 

[Gburyhusky]

UConn can survive in some form I imagine as long as the players are paid via NIL.

If the schools can begin to pay the kids directly, it's hard to see how we could offer competitive packages when so far outpaced in tv money from the p4 football

Having P 4 football money doesn't guarantee that the money gets spent wisely. Couple of examples: Kentucky giving a lifetime contract to Calipari, then was prepared to pay Hurley more than just about any coach on the planet. I love Hurley but he's not worth that. Another example is somebody at Rutgers basketball decided to pay for billboard advertising on 84 in Hartford. Talk about burning money. Point is its not how much money you have, its how you spend it. I think for some of these football schools if you give them crazy money they'll find crazy ways to spend it.

 

[Waquoit]

Who’s Immaculata? (serious question, maybe I’m an ignoramus, I just don’t know)

They were one of the original powers of women's basketball. Along with Delta State.

 

[uconnfan68]

Please, as a UConn Alum it's still not hard to admit that UConn has been dreadful in football for a long time. Just plain horrible, for many years. There hasn't been a single season with a winning record since 2010, and only 6 winning seasons out of the last 25. That's objectively awful.

We weren’t even D1 until 2002 or 2003. We were doing ok until ESPN trashed the Big East.

 

[uconnfan68]

Who’s Immaculata? (serious question, maybe I’m an ignoramus, I just don’t know)

They won 3 consecutive women’s titles in the 70s.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

The power of money is more real than it has ever been. And yet the program is as strong as ever because we got the right Coach. But believing that a trickle of revenue vs the P2, 3 or whatever is not sustainable forever from a competitive standpoint isn't fear. It's recognition of an objective reality that over time programs with greater resources are more likely to flourish, and those with lesser resources and power are more likely to fall behind eventually. So enjoy the present. But it's worth recognizing that those with the money don't just buy coaches and players, they make the rules.

This. The NCAA no longer is in control. They’re already only a proxy for P2/3/4 and they’ll do whatever they’re instructed to do. Rules will come down that’ll clear the playing field leaving only the P2/3/4 schools to participate in NCAA Div 1.

 

[superjohn]

The school needs to take advantage of all the additional attention and applications were getting and grow undergrad enrollment to 40k. Not sure how feasible that is but we need to start growing our alumni base to the level of Illinois and Penn State. Those are the potential customers ESPN and Fox are looking for in the age of standalone streaming packages.

More than double the undergrad population.

Sure thing.