Reality vs fear | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Reality vs fear

Jaydumo20 said:
100%!! In order to make the case that money will guarantee the SEC championships we'd have to ignore the Dan Hurley 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.
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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.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
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 Dan Hurley. 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 Dan Hurley. You don't. You wanted him. You waved your cash. He turned his back and said come get me.
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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.
 
Jimdish255 said:
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.
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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.
 
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Palatine said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
cellocgg said:
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
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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.
 
ConnHuskBask said:
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
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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.
 
Huskybass said:
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.
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We weren’t even D1 until 2002 or 2003. We were doing ok until ESPN trashed the Big East.
 
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Jimdish255 said:
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.
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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.
 
How Sway?! said:
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.
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More than double the undergrad population.

Sure thing.
 
How Sway?! said:
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.
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What's wrong with you?

Maybe the dumbest thing I've ever read on this board. Go and be a Rutgers fan.
 
MuchoDogYears said:
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.
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Sure.

Yep, if that's the case they'll banish the P3/4 and then Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia will banish everyone else.
 
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superjohn said:
Sure.

Yep, if that's the case they'll banish the P3/4 and then Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia will banish everyone else.
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Absolutely. The big fish will devour their own until only the biggest of them are left.
 
uconnfan68 said:
It’s called setting goals.
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And what would be the price tag for creating dorms for an additional 15,000 students, changing the entire infrastructure of the campus and creating new roads and lanes in and out of campus, hiring another 800+ professors and additional faculty, building a new on campus arena, expanding and building more classroom space, dining space, exercise facilities, student centers etc.?
 
Waquoit said:
They were one of the original powers of women's basketball. Along with Delta State.
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And then came Old Dominion and La Tech, if my memory is correct (I think it is, but it is absurd to think they were "sporting powers").
 
superjohn said:
And what would be the price tag for creating dorms for an additional 15,000 students, changing the entire infrastructure of the campus and creating new roads and lanes in and out of campus, hiring another 800+ professors and additional faculty, building a new on campus arena, expanding and building more classroom space, dining space, exercise facilities, student centers etc.?
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School is already expanding in Hartford and Stamford and building new dorms in Storrs. By size, it is small compared to what it considers as peers schools.
 
Let’s revisit when we need to build a new practice facility. NIL doesn’t cover everything.

We’ve managed so far, to say the least, but I’m certainly concerned about the future.
 
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ec33 said:
And then came Old Dominion and La Tech, if my memory is correct (I think it is, but it is absurd to think they were "sporting powers").
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We're woofing about two in row, Delta State and immaculata both won three in a row.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
I agree that we've defied the odds.

But it's fair to wonder if there will come a point after which we'll say we should have seen the writing on the wall and that the next set of changes will be too much to overcome.
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This program has not been led by lost sheep for the last few decades. Jim Calhoun came here with a vision and a will to win by competing. He learned from the best. Red Auerbach won 9 NBA titles and his disciples (Heinsohn 2, Russell 2 and KC Jones 2). Consider JC as a disciple of Aurebach. Heinsohn, Russell and Calhoun are in the Hall of Fame as coaches.

I don't see it as a case of defying the odds. I see it as brilliant leadership and vision.

The writing is not so much on the wall except perhaps the word relentless. The writing is hanging from the rafters as a reminder.

We've got the coaches (Dan Hurley & Co) and they are taking this program to another level and people are starting to wake up to this. It is not us but the rest who have been in denial.
 
dennismenace said:
This program has not been led by lost sheep for the last few decades. Jim Calhoun came here with a vision and a will to win by competing. He learned from the best. Red Auerbach won 9 NBA titles and his disciples (Heinsohn 2, Russell 2 and KC Jones 2). Consider JC as a disciple of Aurebach. Heinsohn, Russell and Calhoun are in the Hall of Fame as coaches.

I don't see it as a case of defying the odds. I see it as brilliant leadership and vision.

The writing is not so much on the wall except perhaps the word relentless. The writing is hanging from the rafters as a reminder.

We've got the coaches (Dan Hurley & Co) and they are taking this program to another level and people are starting to wake up to this. It is not us but the rest who have been in denial.
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you're talking about a program, we're talking about the athletic department as a whole.
 
We have a fantastic athletic department, world class facilities and the institution of the academics at UConn are equally impressive.

We all entrenched as a premier university in New England and the Mid Atlantic.

Our football team ain't that good, but when you look at the aggregate of UConn compared to other New England or Mid Atlantic universities, adding the UConn brand to an established conference makes a lot of sense.

Will it happen? Who really knows?

Should it happen? Absolutely.

Should you as a fan care? Yes.

The university has invested too much and has achieved A LOT with that investment.

How would I feel if it happens? Very melancholy. The Big East was where it all began, but the world has changed. We don't live in a vacuum and we can't pretend that we're isolated from the monumental shift in the college sports landscape just because we've managed to win several basketball titles.
 
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