Same old song and dance. If UConn was valuable then...

[CL82]

Its all about the $, and only the $.

 

[Point6]

The problem with the whole p5 designation is that it is used now to suggest a level of athletic department/football program quality. That is not what it is. Five competing conferences were able to work together to make big dollar agreements with networks to get themselves paid and everyone else minimized. It is now in their interest to circle the wagons to the extreme, so that every other competitor eventually withers away on the vine.

We are not n a P5 because we were not in the P5 when the doors were shut, not because we are not worth it. We are worth it by any objective measure as compared to the entirety of the p5.

 

[Pudge]

The problem with the whole p5 designation is that it is used now to suggest a level of athletic department/football program quality. That is not what it is. Five competing conferences were able to work together to make big dollar agreements with networks to get themselves paid and everyone else minimized. It is now in their interest to circle the wagons to the extreme, so that every other competitor eventually withers away on the vine.

We are not n a P5 because we were not in the P5 when the doors were shut, not because we are not worth it. We are worth it by any objective measure as compared to the entirety of the p5.

Wait for it. Your Managerial Economics course 201: CARTELS always cheat. Yes, they have effectively shut the door. At some point in the very near future, this is going to break open. Why? Because the Universities with the most leverage can break pieces of this for superlative returns and cash. This isn't egalitarian and somehow that is going to be clear in one fell swoop.

 

[Seaa Blue]

Its all about the $, and only the $.

If that was 100% the case, Oklahoma would be in the Big Ten.

 

[DefCONNOne]

Value is either readily apparent or perceived to be there in the future.

UConn is not in a P5 - it's time for the delusional thinking to stop.

Neither was WVU, Rutgers, Louisville, Utah and TCU. Now they are.

I must ask the obvious, if the perceived future value was there for those schools why do you think it isn't there for UCONN?

 

[Drew]

UConn was the victim of a LOT of bad luck and circumstance, as well as bad decision making by others, and bad decision making on its own part.

Bad decisions by UConn:
- P. Duh. An absolutely disastrous hire by UConn at the worst possible time.
- Failing to value attendance at football games and allowing the numbers to dwindle without much response, thus furthering the narrative that no one shows up to our football games.
- I don't know how much difference it would've made with the upswell of the southern ACC football schools wanting a football team rather than "another" basketball school, but UConn's monitoring of the UL/UConn decision by the ACC in 2012 was at the very least bad from a PR perspective. The confluence of events that led to the UL decision may have been out of our hands by that point, but the public image of what Warde and Herbst did during that time was not good.
- No matter how many of you don't want to hear it, the perception is that since our football team does not play on campus, we're somehow second rate. Right or wrong, it is what it is.
- Of course, not moving to FBS football sooner. That's the underlying issue behind everything. If we'd upgraded sooner and began the process sooner, it's highly unlikely we're in the AAC right now.

I'm probably forgetting what other things happened, but these are most of them. We're not in a P5 league right now for all of these reasons.

I know I'm late to the party on this thread but these last two bullets are so accurate I figured I had to comment on them. Had UConn upgraded football building a large on campus facility between 1896(first year of program)-1960 we are not in this position more than likely. College football is the ultimate "tradition" driven sport- there really isn't much room for new kids on the block to come into play. The money/greed/power is held by those that have been good and important on the CFB landscape for decades. In all honesty, look where the programs that joined FBS when we did or later are on the college football power grid. They are way way way down the list, almost exclusively G5. When I tell people in NC (where I live) that our stadium is 22 miles from campus they are legitimately stunned. I understand why we did it (don't like it, but have accepted it) but to outsiders they can't imagine doing something like that and they believe it makes our program & fan base small time. Almost all of this would have been solved by moving to FBS football before the 60's.

What is kind of amazing to think about is how lucky we were to be playing BCS level football at all. The only reason we were afforded an opportunity to jump to a BCS conference was due to the insane structure of the old Big East with the basketball only members. Had our basketball program been in the A10 and not the Big East- is UConn granted an invite to a BCS conference when it makes the jump from FCS to FBS? I doubt it.

Also a slightly unrelated note- our strengths as a potential addition to a P5 league (NYC presence, Boston presence, large TV markets, strong olympic sports, strong emphasis on academics, etc) unfortunately match up LEAST with the Big XII. A lot of people are forgetting that. The fact that we are even in the final group of candidates for this conference should speak to the remarkable job that Susan and David are doing to present the university to the Big XII. If the XII expands without us, while it would suck incredibly hard, I don't know that it would feel like the true gut punch that it did when the ACC passed over us twice (and to a lesser extent the B1G once). We have strong leadership and I do believe that they will do everything in their power to ensure the future of UConn athletics because they are real leaders who understand the importance of athletics to the student experience and marketing side of the university and understand the ever changing scene that is collegiate athletics at the FBS level. Better days will come, and I hope soon, but with Susan and David at the helm I believe we will be okay regardless of what happens with the XII.

 

[Drew]

So UCLA isn't P5 worthy? Miami? Washington or Oregon? (technically off campus in both cases). Pitt? Baylor? USCe? I think it was a mistake to build the Rent off campus. It was short sighted. But it isn't fatal, and UConn isn't unique in that regard. Yes UConn is a young program, but one that actually was pretty successful in the Big East very quickly.

The second point is the one I raised earlier, which you griped about.

Both UCLA and Miami play or played in where 2 of the most important games yearly were held. And also hold multiple national championships in the sport. UCLA plays in the freakin Rose Bowl, that's just a tad different from playing in Rentschler no?

Miami played in the Orange Bowl for the longest time and is honestly one of the luckiest schools in this entire process IMO. The university was considering disbanding the program before Schnellenberger got there. People still mock their stadium situation being in Sun Life Stadium. Not to mention they are essentially land locked in Coral Gables. The administration/fan support considering their success is pathetic.

More importantly- these programs have been playing FBS football for 80+ years. This fact, above all else, helps them overcome this. Not to mention UCLA is a founding member of the PAC. You just can't compare UConn playing at the Rent to UCLA and Miami playing in the Rose and Orange Bowl's respectively

 

[billybud]

Amory,,,,very good post...