Report: UConn Going To Big East For 2020-2021 Season

[Adios]

Well, yeah, because UConn is taking it's pageantry into historically strange directions never done before. But screw it, anyway.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Spoken like a fan of a team without FBS football or any football. It’s not the same for you. No school has been hurt more by realignment than UConn.

This may work out. Let’s see what Fox does to help football.

 

[Adios]

What the C7 did for themselves was reasonable. To screw our football program into an independent with no plan, is not. While I can understand finances being an issue, the AAC was a solid platform to engage and keep developing. Other schools are pleased to be in the AAC while probably only our fanbase complains about it.

 

[Adios]

Details given is there's no plan.

 

[Adios]

Us leaving AAC football with no plan puts us at the mercy of others. Disadvantageously.

To everyone, I apologize for losing my cool earlier. Might just stick with Hockey East games here and there.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Other schools are pleased to be in the AAC while probably only our fanbase complains about it.

The problem is we're comparing our fanbase and our athletic department to the likes of Tulsa, Tulane, ECU, and SMU.

We are the only flagship state university in the conference.
We are the only school with a major sport national championship in the conference, save UC's two from the '60s.
Upon forming of the league we were far and away the biggest brand name, and likely still are.

UConn should never have been compared to the likes of most AAC schools.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The problem is we're comparing our fanbase and our athletic department to the likes of Tulsa, Tulane, ECU, and SMU.

We are the only flagship state university in the conference.
We are the only school with a major sport national championship in the conference, save UC's two from the '60s.
Upon forming of the league we were far and away the biggest brand name, and likely still are.

UConn should never have been compared to the likes of most AAC schools.

And all of that still applies in the Big East.

 

[Adios]

The problem is we're comparing our fanbase and our athletic department to the likes of Tulsa, Tulane, ECU, and SMU.

We are the only flagship state university in the conference.
We are the only school with a major sport national championship in the conference, save UC's two from the '60s.
Upon forming of the league we were far and away the biggest brand name, and likely still are.

UConn should never have been compared to the likes of most AAC schools.

SMU and Navy have titles in football, too.

We also have no cultural similarity with Big East schools. It's just a matter of convenience. We're going to stick out in that conference, now, due to UConn's size and mission.

 

[husky429]

Maybe you should go back and look at my post history before you try to play your "Chicago Tribune" card. The last time I posted here was during realignment. And a cursory look will show I was on the inside of those discussions. I do TV contract analytics, and my clients are the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC, ESPN, ABC, Fox, and CBS. So...I'm not guessing. UConn had no shot at joining the Big Ten. You might as well be arguing with Jimmy Sexton about Nick Saban's last contract negotiation based on a "well placed source" at the Birmingham News. One of us has been on ESPN, ESPN Radio, and has 4 of the 5 P5 conference commissioners in his cell phone. And the other one is you.

Maybe your friend wasn't lying. But he absolutely was misinformed about UConn's standing in those discussions.

I only dropped by the board to see what was being said, b/c I've always had a soft spot for your program. And, seeing a lot of the negative reactions, I wanted to offer up some insider info to quell the fears. (See my original post above.)

Best wishes.

You're like chief but real, and with more attitude. Keep posting!

 

[BY06518]

Just when I thought the football board was the height of delusion the UConn baseball fans arrived.

At least they win. Football not so much. Wasting money on UConn Football tickets is like investing in a company that makes CD players.

 

[auggie22]

I was an insider here many, many years ago. I haven't posted here in over half a decade, but decided to check in on Friday, when I got word UConn was going to get an invite. And honestly, a lot of the responses/reactions are surprising. So I wanted to offer some feedback and maybe a ray of hope for those that feel this is the wrong move.

Just as an fyi, my clients are people at ABC/ESPN, Fox, CBS, inside the Big 12, SEC, ACC, and Big Ten (but not the Pac-12 or NBE). So while I'm not privy to every detail, I know & understand a lot of the mechanations of realignment.

First, for those believing UConn shouldn't have given up the P5 dream..that dream was never going to come to fruition. Unfortunately, P5 realignment is all about dollars. And dollars are delivered by eye balls. Simply put, UConn doesn't deliver the eye balls necessary to justify the paycheck they'd receive from a conference like the ACC or Big 12. The Big 12 vetted UConn heavily a number of years ago. What they learned was UConn's value to their TV partners (ABC/ESPN/Fox) was well less than the paycheck they would have to pay UConn as an equal member. This is why the Big 12 came out and announced they were vetting schools, then opted to not expand. Point blank, their partner networks came back and said the per team payout would drop if they added UConn, UCF, USF, BYU, Houston, Cincy, or Memphis (the 7 schools they vetted). Networks run all kinds of numbers when it comes to TV...regional viewership, national viewership, cross-promotional viewership (i.e. fans of other teams that watch your games b/c they either hate you or your Ws/Ls impact their team), etc. UConn's numbers are way too low, with very little prospect of ever getting them up. It's just a small fan base where it counts (football). And in case anyone's thinking the obvious, yes, I would imagine the ACC regrets some of their expansion decisions. The ACC makes less money today on a per member basis than it'd have made had they not expanded with BC, Syracuse and Pitt. Those were really poor additions and the TV numbers in their regions and within their fan bases has been abysmal.

Second, the NBE has outperformed their TV contract handily. And not only have their TV #s been way better than forecast, they've won 2 National Championships in the last 4 years. So the conference's contract is way under-valued. The problem is, they signed a long-term contract that doesn't expire until spring 2026. The only way their contract can be opened back up for revaluation by Fox, is if there is a change in their membership. Adding UConn allows the Big East to bring their contract up to market value based on the Big East's performance on TV the past 5-6 years + UConn's value. So that contract is going to seriously, seriously jump in value. And, UConn is going to provide a significantly greater boon to the NBE's TV payout than they ever would have in the ACC or Big 12, simply b/c if you look at the historical ratings for basketball, the highest annual TV rating (b-ball) for most programs in the OBE was against UConn. The NBE adding UConn for basketball would be a poor man's version of the Big Ten adding Notre Dame for football. There's so much history & bad blood there, the ratings will be outstanding. So if you're looking at the current AAC payout and comparing it to the current NBE payout, and thinking "this sucks, what the **** are they thinking?!?!.....when the dust settles, UConn will make MORE money in the NBE (+ whatever they do for football) than they were making in the AAC.

From a financial perspective, this is going to be a huge win for UConn. The big question is how this affects ticket sales for football. But looking at recent attendance data, I assume UConn's leadership felt a move of the football program out of the AAC couldn't hurt that revenue stream enough to off set the huge jump they'll get from the NBE side.

Lastly, I get that when you're emotionally invested and grew up a die hard fan, the NBE feels like kissing your sister. But outside the region, the NBE is very, very well respected. It's not a little brother conference in the eyes of college sports fans. I'm in TX and can tell you the NBE is respected right alongside the ACC. Adding UConn is only going to bolster that. And from a perception & recruiting standpoint, it will be a HUGE benefit for UConn. Obviously, coaching is key #1, but it just became a lot easier for Hurley to sell the program to recruits. There was no chance for UConn to flourish in any sport in the AAC. Sure, they could win some games in football and basketball, the same as UCF, etc. But UCF is still pulling in peon recruits on the level of the worst P5 programs, even with two straight years of elite production. So all UConn could ever hope for is to be a big fish in a small pond, who's TV viewership numbers are too small to ever get a P5 call up. At least in the NBE, UConn basketball can get back to being one of the flagship programs in college basketball. That wasn't going to happen playing Tulane and SMU.

Also, you can expect the NBE to stay at 11 teams. They're going to want a round robin schedule, which is doable with 11, but problematic with 12.

I remember you posting that losing the 10 game ND series to Syracuse was what did us in with the ACC. Made sense then and I think will ultimately be our admins greatest failure.

 

[whaler11]

I can tell you with absolute certainty, there is no chance whatsoever Houston, Memphis or Cincy get poached. None. There is a greater chance 20 y/o Heidi Klum rents a Delorian, travels to the future, and knocks on your door tonight naked, riding a unicorn, selling Girl Scout cookies. UCF & USF could garner an invite, but it honestly would take them a decade to grow their viewership to where it'd need to be in order for their addition to produce more value than the ACC or Big 12 would have to pay to them as an equal member. For the Big 12 to add ANY program, that program has to add more than $38M/yr in additional $$$ to their ABC/ESPN/Fox contracts. The only non-P5 program that comes close is BYU, and they're in the mid-20s. There's a reason the AAC's payout per team is so low, and it's not b/c UCF, USF, Houston, Memphis, and Cincy are worth $38M per year.

Come on man, think. It's just math.

And in case you think I'm just a regular ol' guy, I haven't posted here in 6+ years. You can go back and look at my old posts and see a T-O-N of insider info that I posted, which wasn't known, but later came true. So I'm not guessing.

We’ve been having this same conversation the whole time you were gone. How people can’t wrap their heads around what you need to bring to a conference for an invite is still amazing.

I know people want to believe but this stuff will make your eyes bleed.

 

[whaler11]

The problem is we're comparing our fanbase and our athletic department to the likes of Tulsa, Tulane, ECU, and SMU.

We are the only flagship state university in the conference.
We are the only school with a major sport national championship in the conference, save UC's two from the '60s.
Upon forming of the league we were far and away the biggest brand name, and likely still are.

UConn should never have been compared to the likes of most AAC schools.

And with this a hearty goodbye, so long and farewell to @StunningSteve.

May the sun shine brightly off the ashtrays on the desks at Memphis State

 

[tzznandrew]

And all of that still applies in the Big East.

We are the biggest brand and the only flagship school.

We aren't the only team with National Championships in the last 50 years.

 

[Scalito]

And basketball has been doing so well. Put down the crack pipe.

Hasta la vista, Football.

 

[Scalito]

What the C7 did for themselves was reasonable. To screw our football program into an independent with no plan, is not. While I can understand finances being an issue, the AAC was a solid platform to engage and keep developing. Other schools are pleased to be in the AAC while probably only our fanbase complains about it.

Other schools don't have our basketball program. They've got nothing to lose by playing in a third rate football conference with fourth rate basketball. We do. Or we did. Football has already taken its toll on a once premier basketball program. Let's just hope we put it down in time to save everything else.

UConn football. What a joke. For that we were forced to watch a more boring basketball conference schedule than even Gonzaga fans get. To this day, I cannot believe people fell for the idea that basketball would be fine so long as we focused on building up . . . football. Freaking unbelievable. But what's worse is that not even the last five years taught you people how dumb it was to tie the success of UConn basketball to . . . UConn football.

Manaja.

 

[UC1995]

There will absolutely be more expansion. 100%.

Yes UConn to the Big East... nothing more is going to happen for years other than small moves like this. Other conferences hate the teams the picked up earlier

 

[Bonehead]

Hasta la vista, Football.

It's ok - I have ben told football as a sport is dying anyways. Head injuries, not standing for anthem, physicality has been taken out of the game.

We are (UConn) in position to field the number 1 ranked flag football team in the Big East - maybe the country - it's there for the taking.

 

[Drumguy]

I was an insider here many, many years ago. I haven't posted here in over half a decade, but decided to check in on Friday, when I got word UConn was going to get an invite. And honestly, a lot of the responses/reactions are surprising. So I wanted to offer some feedback and maybe a ray of hope for those that feel this is the wrong move.

Just as an fyi, my clients are people at ABC/ESPN, Fox, CBS, inside the Big 12, SEC, ACC, and Big Ten (but not the Pac-12 or NBE). So while I'm not privy to every detail, I know & understand a lot of the mechanations of realignment.

First, for those believing UConn shouldn't have given up the P5 dream..that dream was never going to come to fruition. Unfortunately, P5 realignment is all about dollars. And dollars are delivered by eye balls. Simply put, UConn doesn't deliver the eye balls necessary to justify the paycheck they'd receive from a conference like the ACC or Big 12. The Big 12 vetted UConn heavily a number of years ago. What they learned was UConn's value to their TV partners (ABC/ESPN/Fox) was well less than the paycheck they would have to pay UConn as an equal member. This is why the Big 12 came out and announced they were vetting schools, then opted to not expand. Point blank, their partner networks came back and said the per team payout would drop if they added UConn, UCF, USF, BYU, Houston, Cincy, or Memphis (the 7 schools they vetted). Networks run all kinds of numbers when it comes to TV...regional viewership, national viewership, cross-promotional viewership (i.e. fans of other teams that watch your games b/c they either hate you or your Ws/Ls impact their team), etc. UConn's numbers are way too low, with very little prospect of ever getting them up. It's just a small fan base where it counts (football). And in case anyone's thinking the obvious, yes, I would imagine the ACC regrets some of their expansion decisions. The ACC makes less money today on a per member basis than it'd have made had they not expanded with BC, Syracuse and Pitt. Those were really poor additions and the TV numbers in their regions and within their fan bases has been abysmal.

Second, the NBE has outperformed their TV contract handily. And not only have their TV #s been way better than forecast, they've won 2 National Championships in the last 4 years. So the conference's contract is way under-valued. The problem is, they signed a long-term contract that doesn't expire until spring 2026. The only way their contract can be opened back up for revaluation by Fox, is if there is a change in their membership. Adding UConn allows the Big East to bring their contract up to market value based on the Big East's performance on TV the past 5-6 years + UConn's value. So that contract is going to seriously, seriously jump in value. And, UConn is going to provide a significantly greater boon to the NBE's TV payout than they ever would have in the ACC or Big 12, simply b/c if you look at the historical ratings for basketball, the highest annual TV rating (b-ball) for most programs in the OBE was against UConn. The NBE adding UConn for basketball would be a poor man's version of the Big Ten adding Notre Dame for football. There's so much history & bad blood there, the ratings will be outstanding. So if you're looking at the current AAC payout and comparing it to the current NBE payout, and thinking "this sucks, what the **** are they thinking?!?!.....when the dust settles, UConn will make MORE money in the NBE (+ whatever they do for football) than they were making in the AAC.

From a financial perspective, this is going to be a huge win for UConn. The big question is how this affects ticket sales for football. But looking at recent attendance data, I assume UConn's leadership felt a move of the football program out of the AAC couldn't hurt that revenue stream enough to off set the huge jump they'll get from the NBE side.

Lastly, I get that when you're emotionally invested and grew up a die hard fan, the NBE feels like kissing your sister. But outside the region, the NBE is very, very well respected. It's not a little brother conference in the eyes of college sports fans. I'm in TX and can tell you the NBE is respected right alongside the ACC. Adding UConn is only going to bolster that. And from a perception & recruiting standpoint, it will be a HUGE benefit for UConn. Obviously, coaching is key #1, but it just became a lot easier for Hurley to sell the program to recruits. There was no chance for UConn to flourish in any sport in the AAC. Sure, they could win some games in football and basketball, the same as UCF, etc. But UCF is still pulling in peon recruits on the level of the worst P5 programs, even with two straight years of elite production. So all UConn could ever hope for is to be a big fish in a small pond, who's TV viewership numbers are too small to ever get a P5 call up. At least in the NBE, UConn basketball can get back to being one of the flagship programs in college basketball. That wasn't going to happen playing Tulane and SMU.

Also, you can expect the NBE to stay at 11 teams. They're going to want a round robin schedule, which is doable with 11, but problematic with 12.

Thanks, This is what I needed to hear to be honest. Like most of us fans we're still really hurt by the shaft we got from the ACC and have always hoped we were "next". Didn't want to hear this but it helps to understand what the reality is!

 

[GHSWolverines]

Nothing abut this in the Courant this morning.

No legit source confirms any of this.

FAKE NEWS! LOL

 

[Scalito]

It's ok - I have ben told football as a sport is dying anyways. Head injuries, not standing for anthem, physicality has been taken out of the game.

We are (UConn) in position to field the number 1 ranked flag football team in the Big East - maybe the country - it's there for the taking.

I bought tickets to one UConn football game when I was a student. I didn't use them. One of the best decisions I made in college.

UConn football is and always will be third rate.

I am ok with that.

 

[Windsorlocks]

Will we still refer to the conference as the NBE? Because, as far as I know, they refer to themselves as the Big East. Also, will we still call it a mid major?