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

[superjohn]

What have the baseball fans posted that is delusional? It is a great program and this move will hurt it. Do you disagree with that? Football was probably a lost cause no matter, and baseball doesn't drive our economics, but I don't think there can be any serious dispute that this move is a negative for both.

Like most on this board I am far and away a men's basketball fan above all else, and I agree that this move is better for the basketball program and probably better for the university as a whole, but let's not act like it is a cure-all or that we have found salvation.

As two-time graduate of the university I am most concerned about its long-term viability as an institution. I believe this is a better situation for us than where we were, but there are winners and losers among the sports and baseball is definitely a loser, which is unfortunate. I don't see the problem with acknowledging that, while still being happy that it is an improvement for basketball.

It's college baseball, it doesn't factor into the decision. We have one of the best field hockey program's in the country, that also doesn't factor into the decision.

 

[8893]

It's college baseball, it doesn't factor into the decision. We have one of the best field hockey program's in the country, that also doesn't factor into the decision.

That’s a dodge. They are good programs they have their fans. And the baseball program actually puts a lot of guys in the pros. It’s a point of pride and accomplishment. I acknowledged that it doesn’t figure economically but I don’t get why you are dancing on the grave and acting like this has solved all our problems.

IIRC you are not an alumnus and are simply a men’s basketball fan. That may be the reason, which is fine. It’s just not accurate or fair to say that the baseball fans are delusional to say we have a great program and that this move will hurt it. We get that you don’t care, but that’s a different point.

 

[GHSWolverines]

The big east is where we belong! I say this not to relive the glory days. The decision makers of UCONN athletics gambled in hopes of the football program blossoming into a powerful football program. Which in turn would reap the benefits of getting an invitation from a P5. Well... it didn't work. The football program has been a full fledged FBS member since 2002 with very little success. Isn't that long enough with this experiment?
I am not raising a pitchfork and say burn the football program to the ground. The best move for them IMO is to go independent and re-evaluate in 2 to 3 years.
We are known for our basketball. The fan base will be energized, recruiting the northeast will become easier, new memes of Danny will emerge, etc etc.

 

[superjohn]

That’s a dodge. They are good programs they have their fans. And the baseball program actually puts a lot of guys in the pros. It’s a point of pride and accomplishment. I acknowledged that it doesn’t figure economically but I don’t get why you are dancing on the grave and acting like this has solved all our problems.

IIRC you are not an alumnus and are simply a men’s basketball fan. That may be the reason, which is fine. It’s just not accurate or fair to say that the baseball fans are delusional to say we have a great program and that this move will hurt it. We get that you don’t care, but that’s a different point.

It's not a dodge, college baseball doesn't matter. I root for every single UConn sport but I don't pretend baseball, field hockey, and soccer matter. I think Big East soccer is better than AAC soccer, I also know it doesn't matter.

 

[Engineer90]

The football folks should take something away from the insider's post. Getting good in football wouldn't be enough to get the magical P5 invite. The would have to be good enough, long enough, to turn the success into viewership and the AD would have to be able to convert the success into viewership. Being a smallish school in a small state makes the latter very difficult.

 

[CL82]

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 want to like this post but so much of contradicts well established facts.

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.

The Big 12 contract allowed for expansion without dilution. For every member added the would receive enough to pay that member a full share and no existing member would have had a share reduced.

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).

Again, this flat out wrong. The contract provided for expansion without dilution. In fact each member would like have had increased it's revenue since the big 12 wasn't obligated to a full share to the new members.

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.

No member of the ACC is making less than money than pre-expansion. No school would have voted for this to happen.

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.

The NBE makes less than the American's new deal. ($4.2M per member vs. $7M) If UConn profits on this deal it will based on the side deals we can make for T3 rights.

(Oh and the NBE ratings are abysmal.)

 

[8893]

It's not a dodge, college baseball doesn't matter. I root for every single UConn sport but I don't pretend baseball, field hockey, and soccer matter. I think Big East soccer is better than AAC soccer, I also know it doesn't matter.

It’s a dodge of answering the question of what is delusional about baseball fans stating that this is a negative for the baseball program. It doesn’t matter to you but it matters to others. That’s not delusional. No one is suggesting that baseball drives the bus or that our baseball history is comparable to our basketball history. I get crapping on football but I just don’t understand crapping on a very good program that has been nothing but a positive for the school.

 

[8893]

The AAC is a far superior baseball conference. The fact that you don’t know about where baseball stands in the Big East tells you all you need to know.

 

[FromTheInside]

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.

If UConn hadn't played hardball with Notre Dame over that series, it's almost a certainty they'd be in the ACC. Notre Dame was instrumental in getting both Syracuse and Pitt in the ACC. The problem for UConn now is the ACC has realized that Syracuse, Pitt and Boston College don't move the needle as much as they were hoping in the Mid Atlantic and New England. And as such, UConn won't get an invite b/c they can't add enough value to offset the paycheck the ACC will have to give them as an equal member.

 

[superjohn]

It’s a dodge of answering the question of what is delusional about baseball fans stating that this is a negative for the baseball program. It doesn’t matter to you but it matters to others. That’s not delusional. No one is suggesting that baseball drives the bus or that our baseball history is comparable to our basketball history. I get crapping on football but I just don’t understand crapping on a very good program that has been nothing but a positive for the school.

You're not getting it. I love UConn baseball and UConn soccer. The AAC being better in baseball and the Big East being better in soccer doesn't matter, it doesn't move the needle.

 

[upstater]

Bonehead: Thank god we didn't go into the ACC.

He still doesn't believe the ACC was going to add us in the future.

Like I said, I didn't know anyone here actually believed that.

 

[Engineer90]

If UConn hadn't played hardball with Notre Dame over that series, it's almost a certainty they'd be in the ACC. Notre Dame was instrumental in getting both Syracuse and Pitt in the ACC. The problem for UConn now is the ACC has realized that Syracuse, Pitt and Boston College don't move the needle as much as they were hoping in the Mid Atlantic and New England. And as such, UConn won't get an invite b/c they can't add enough value to offset the paycheck the ACC will have to give them as an equal member.

As for the ACC, we all know why BC blackballed us but why did the Florida schools?

 

[superjohn]

As for the ACC, we all know why BC blackballed us but why did the Florida schools?

Because they care about football and we suck in football.

 

[Vancat]

Well what do you know. A paradigm shift.

 

[8893]

You're not getting it. I love baseball and UConn soccer. The AAC being better in baseball and the Big East being better in soccer doesn't matter, it doesn't move the needle.

So what was posted that is delusional? That was the question.

 

[8893]

That’s true. I love the game but is not a growing sport.

 

[kemba]

You're not getting it. I love UConn baseball and UConn soccer. The AAC being better in baseball and the Big East being better in soccer doesn't matter, it doesn't move the needle.

But who is saying that it does?

You can say, "Damn, as a fan of the baseball program this sucks for them." without saying "OMG WHAT ARE THEY THINKING HOW CAN THEY DO THIS TO THE BASEBALL TEAM TERRRIBLE MOVEEEEEE!!!!!!! #Doomed"

 

[upstater]

As for the ACC, we all know why BC blackballed us but why did the Florida schools?

Well, they didn't blackball us. They were against the idea the second time because of football. BC was like absolutely no way, while UConn was "inked in." But yeah, it was about football.

 

[FromTheInside]

I like this post but so much of contradicts well established facts. The Big 12 contract allowed for expansion without dilution. For every member added the would receive enough to pay that member a full share and no existing member would have had a share reduced.

The NBE makes less than the American's new deal. ($4.2M per member vs. $7M) If UConn profits on this deal it will based on the side deals we can make for T3 rights.

(Oh and the NBE ratings are abysmal.)

Come on man, T-H-I-N-K. Are TV contracts into perpetuity or do they have an end date? While yes, the Big 12's contracts with ABC/ESPN/Fox called for them to increase their payout pro rata, so the payout per member wouldn't decrease, that contract was only through the end of the 2015-16 season. So while the Big 12 could have added UConn or any other team without immediate penalty, the financial impact would be felt beginning with the 2016-17 season, when they would be under a new contract and ABC/ESPN/Fox would no longer be obligated to pay an inflated value for UConn.

Further, ratings aren't judged based on other conferences, they're judged based on their contractual valuation. The entire reason the Big East's contract paid out a measly $40M/yr (for all teams combined) is b/c the ratings expectation was very poor. Even though their ratings are poor relative to other conferences on ESPN, etc, they actually well exceed what Fox forecast. And I can tell you that definitively, b/c we did the analysis for Fox! Higher ratings than expected + 2 NCs for Villanova + UConn is going to add an exceptional amount of value to that contract. When everything shakes out, UConn will make more from this move than had they stayed in the AAC. I have no insider knowledge from within UConn, but I know the realignment game. UConn didn't vote to pay $10M to make less money and torpedo football in the process. I know with certainty that Fox and the Big East have discussed expansion in detail over the last two years. The NBE isn't flying blind in this endeavor.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I had no delusions of P-5. I do think the AAC was moving forward every year to create a so called P-6 conference. The negotiations for the new contract were just not handled well. I guess I'd rather be 1-11 in a decent conference than 3-9 as an independent. At any rate, this does not have much negative impact (today)on the AAC .
If you look at NFL players by conference out side of the p-5, it is not even close.

Colleges most represented on 2018 NFL rosters

For a select few NCAA athletes, after their collegiate playing days are over, NFL Sundays call. And with the arrival of September, those Sundays are back. Final 53-man rosters were announced for the start of the 2018-19 NFL season, and among the 32 NFL teams, there are almost 1,700 players on...

www.ncaa.com

Problem is and always has been, the AAC members would never quite commit to building what they had. How do we expect fans to get excited when the teams aren't? During the last bowl season(I know it was a while ago)UConn beat a top ten team(Houston)before less than 30, 000 fans. I think it was raining to be fair, but so what.
So now we have this. It is done, and frankly I wasn't consulted. Not that I should have been.

 

[UconnU]

The truth is we were voluntarily in the land of misfits, even though we had a home that made sense, for one reason football and we had arguably the worst football program in the country and getting worse! It can’t affect recruiting we were already one of the worst recruiting FCS team in the country. Go on to other forums outside of the AAC and BE, they are all shocked we didn’t make this move years ago and allowed a big time football pipedream to drag down our flagship basketball programs brand.

 

[upstater]

The football program has been a full fledged FBS member since 2002 with very little success. Isn't that long enough with this experiment?

It's really not long enough.

And it all depends on your outlook.

I was astonished at the level UConn's level of success. I never thought they could do what they did. It was very successful for what it was, and anyone who says it was foolhardy to do it would be lying if they told you they were saying that after the first 10 years.

Maybe the last 7 or 8 years have colored us so badly that we don't even realize that UConn has pissed the investment away, not because it couldn't do it, or shouldn't have done it, but because circumstances (ahem!) and very bad decisions have brought us to thinking the money should never have been spent in the first place.