Should UCONN be in B1G?

[Adios]

..we do.

Where?

 

[JayRU09]

I don't know if we have a banner or whatever but us and Princeton were both awarded a national championship for the 1869 season. Sure we have one somewhere.

 

[CL82]

In what world does it take 5 to 6 hours to get from NYC to Hartford? The death of journalism.

I've heard that William Shay can run it in about that time.

 

[BoatShow]

Keep your TVs and we'll keep our trophies, deal? Okay now stay off our board.

 

[Kgun7]

It's ironic that the author used "in the interest of fairness" in that post.

If he was attempting to be "fair", he would have:

1) Mentioned UConn's stadium could be expanded to the size of Rutgers (or larger) within 2-3 years.
2) Included the record since UConn upgraded to the Big East (on an expedited timetable) and the 2 Big East Championships to Rutgers' one.
3) Mentioned that two players from one town (Windsor) currently play in the NFL, or that UConn has cleaned up with NJ recruits. OR that so have a ton of other BCS schools, WITHOUT, Rutgers being in their conference.
4) Most people don't take the train to a football game, they drive and tailgate.
5) UConn has more alumni in NY Metro than most B1G schools
6) The B1G decision wasn't about football product, it was about TV eyballs. UConn has a ton of BBall fans, who tune in, in NYC.
7) The football study by Nate Silver isn't to be believed.
8) The football market in NY isn't "great". The basketball market is though, and UConn can help deliver that.

Wing - I hate to tell you but you are wrong on #3 ... you forgot about Damik Scafe on the Chargers ...

 

[husky210]

Who the hell goes to a fb game without a car?

Maybe louisville fans in Conestoga wagons?

 

[BlueDogs]

Actually, Rutgers is a fine addition with UConn because it create some meaningful penetration into the metro area. Rutgers alone makes little sense because they are just an outlier and don't have the ability to pull eyes by themselves. The right adds are really Rutgers, UConn, and BC which creates a powerful Northeast market presence. But BC is a hopeless case and they will never admit the ACC was a giant mistake. Big 10 is crazy not to grab UConn. Just a big mistake, and if the ACC grabs UConn the Northeast is effectively lost to the ACC. The biggest problem right now is egos stops the ACC and Big 10 is boxed up and needs a 2 team add. It will all come our way boys. Were just too obvious and attractive to leave on the table.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It is 2 hours and 11 minutes to drive from Grand Central Station to Rentschler Field. It is 49 minutes to Rutgers Stadium.

 

[Dooley]

I have really grown to hate these "Rutgers vs UCONN" B1G comparison articles. I guess it was fun at first to play "what if?", but they're everywhere on the Net now. RU is in, we are not. Nothing anyone can do or say will change that. Rutgers will do fine in the B1G and give the conference what it wants from them: TV sets and recruiting grounds for their bluebloods to mine. I firmly believe that adding RU points towards the B1G considering UCONN. I think RU needs UCONN (more so for basketball and local rival) and UCONN needs RU for football recruiting and local rival. If both are in the conference, then both would benefit from each other being in. But until we get an invite, let's just worry about buying football tickets home and away.

 

[gioff23]

Here's a summary of the article comparisons:

Stadium Capacity: 50,000 is consisdered high school. But 52,454, well that is top tier. We'll ignore how the stadiums were funded.

Football W/L over last five years: 29-33. In the interest of fairness, this time period did include a BCS bowl bid and a loss to Towson. RU was 37-27. In fairness, this included about a dozen wins over MEAC powerhouses and not a sniff of a big bowl game despite playing in the same supposed weak conference as UConn.

Proximity to football recruits: It takes HCBD a 6 hour train ride to see a recruit, any recruit. But the whistlestop tours are said to envy those of Lincoln. Ironically, recruits are everwhere in New Jersey, but Rutgers eschews the beloved train for the hated helicopter. In fairness, this metric has gained increasing importance since the Gov started closing bridges to show local pols who was the really big man.

From New York City, could you get to the stadium without a car?: Not easily. Using trains and a little bit of driving (where I am from, that would make the answer a no), I am told by my great granparents this trip would take about five-to-six hours, depending on availability of coal. But ever since New Jersey added a train stop at the RU stadium and since they no longer rely on coal driven engines, you can now get from Midtown to Rutgers in about an hour, and the train parking lot is a hotspot for tailgating. Of course, that might depend on whether the Governor starts slowing down the trains to make more political points.

Men's Basketball record over last five years: 122-57. That span includes two national titles, five winning records versus 71-89, for what might be the worst team in America, perennially. That span includes zero postseason runs, zero winning records, three coaches, and one embarrassing coaching scandal. Fortunately, the team can get to the Garden in an hour - unfortunately, the Garden has not invited us to play, ever.

# of College Football Fans in NYC: Not many, most are aligned with the NFL's Giants and Jets.

Average attendance, 2013 season: 30,931. This would have easily been last in the league, but again, UConn also has the smallest stadium. Rutgers averaged 46,549, but they count anyone within a 10 mile radius of the stadium during gameday.

enrollment: UConn, 30,474; Rutgers 58,788 (note: these numbers include satelitte branches one can reach within a 5-6 hour train ride)

Scandals: UConn had the APR issue. However, Rutgers clearly gets the nod with their stadium funding, MBB coaching and AD's repeated fiascos. In fact, RU is guaranteed to expand on their lead w/their current AD.

 

[Pudge]

OK ... I read it.

This proves that you can make numbers do acrobatics if you want. Skew it in 6 different ways.

We know ...

Rutgers ain't won anything. This 10 year Schiano & post-Schiano includes enough Norfolk States & Howards to cloud all.
The Stadium? Advanced to 52,000 with the most bizarre financially dysfunctional structure available. At UConn? Yes ... we prudently raise money & bond & balance the budget. You threw a ton of $$$ and hoped/prayed that it would work. It was truly funny.
Attendance? I remember going to a SU & RU game 10 years ago ... there weren't 17,000. You can collapse fast. I have ZERO confidence in your Athletic Department's ability to get anything done.
And ... Enrollment? Are you counting Camden .... and all kinds of other things? Yeah OK ... I just don't think YOUR ACADEMIC SIDE is well run either. UConn has advanced & passed RU

You sold Rutgers (with Tim Pernetti) to the B1G. Good job. But there is little substance. We win National Championships because we are GREAT at choosing coaches. We BUILD Programs. We are far better in Sports than you. In time, we would be far better in Football too.

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/20...ig-ten-shouldnt-have-added-uconn-over-rutgers

UConn just won a pair of basketball titles, and that's awesome. But that doesn't mean they should have been added to the Big Ten.

 TWEET (29) SHARE (2)  SHARE 27 COMMENTS
In case you haven't heard, the Connecticut Huskies won two basketball championships last week. This revelation, along with the fact that the school is reasonably close to New York, and currently resides in what's considered to be a secondary conference, has lead some to question if maybe the Big Ten picked the wrong school. Why grab Rutgers to deliver the proverbial NYC market, particularly when UConn is right there?

These concerns left the message boards and Twittersphere and jumped to a major newspaper, with the Toledo Blade posing the same question here. Are they right? Should the Big Ten have gone Maryland and UConn instead?

Let me go ahead and answer that: No.

Before I explain why, let me first say that I am not on Team Rutgers. Nothing against the fine people of the Garden State personally. After all, these guys gave us Saint Bruce Springsteen. But like most fans, I was against the idea of expanding the Big Ten outside of the Midwest unless it was adding a dynamite school, like a Texas or something, and even a fan looking at the situation with the most Scarlet-hued glasses would have to admit that Rutgers isn't such a case.

If I had my way, the Big Ten would still be at 12 teams next season, and if that meant Purdue got a little less TV money, well, I'm comfortable sleeping at night with that sacrifice. However, that's not the world we live in.

If we're going to look at this from Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany's eyes, we need to look exactly what each school brings to the table. What do they have facilities wise? What can their football program, by far the most significant property for TV, deliver? Can they deliver the proverbial NYC market? Are they even any good?

Let's break it down:

UConn Stadium Capacity: 40,000, which is nearly 10,000 smaller than the smallest field in the Big Ten (Ryan Field, at Northwestern High School, er, University).

Rutgers Stadium Capacity: 52,454. That's also on the low end of the conference honestly, but it's comparable to Indiana, Illinois and Maryland.

UConn Football W/L over last five years: 29-33. In the interest of fairness, this time period did include a BCS bowl bid (though in one of the most down BCS leagues ever). In the interest of fairness, this time period also included a loss to Towson.

Rutgers Football W/L over last five years: 37-27

UConn's proximity to football recruits: Poor. The state of Connecticut failed to produce a single consensus four-star or better football recruit last season, and only produced seven three-star kids. In fact, Connecticut has only produced three four-star recruits since 2010, and none more recently than 2011. The mythical NYC media market may be important, but nobody really cares about getting access to Connecticut.

Rutgers proximity to football recruits: Strong. The State of New Jersey produced twice as many elite (four-star and above) athletes in 2014 (10) than Connecticut did in four years. Big Ten schools have also made it a priority to recruit New Jersey. In just 2014, Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan State and Iowa (and of course, Rutgers) all signed at least one three-star or above prospect from New Jersey. Establishing recruiting footholds in new territories is critical for the success of the league, and there is plenty of talent in the Garden State.

From New York City, could you get to UConn's stadium without a car (Per Google Maps)?: Not easily. Using trains and a little bit of driving, I am told this trip would take about five-to-six hours.

From New York City, could you get to Rutgers' stadium without a car (Per Google Maps)?: Yes. Assuming everything lines up, the trip would take two-to-three hours. UPDATE: several Rutgers fans have told me that you can now get from Midtown to Rutgers in about an hour via train. Even better.

UConn's Men's Basketball record over last five years: 122-57. That span includes two national titles, five winning records and one postseason ban (for some very un-B1G APR scores).

Rutgers Men's Basketball record over last five years: 71-89. That span includes zero postseason runs, zero winning records, three coaches, and one embarrassing coaching scandal.

# of UConn College Football Fans in NYC, per Nate Silver's Geography of College Football, 2011: 150,150, or roughly 5.1% of the market.

# of Rutgers College Football Fans in NYC, per the same study: 607,151. or roughly 20.9% of the market.

UConn average attendance, 2013 season: 30,931. This would have easily been last in the league, but again, UConn also has the smallest stadium.

Rutgers average attendance, 2013 season: 46,549. This would have been 10th in the league, ahead of Indiana, Illinois and Northwestern.

UConn enrollment: 30,474

Rutgers enrollment: 58,788

If you are a league determined to add a school in the Northeast, and you're deciding between Rutgers and UConn, the only advantage the Huskies could claim is a vastly superior basketball team. And even so, if UConn had lost in the Elite Eight this season instead of winning the title, is this still considered enough of an advantage to push for their inclusion? Did two weeks of basketball games provide enough data to demand a referendum on this decision?

In terms of pure, New York City, ahem, footprint, if the Nate Silver study is to be believed, there are four times as many Rutgers fans in the area, and given the terrible performance of UConn on the football field as of late, there is little reason to suggest that has dramatically changed. Given that football revenue vastly outpaces that of basketball, the Huskies' domination in basketball wouldn't be enough to justify a bump up in league. By virtually every other metric, the Huskies lag behind.

Does that mean that Rutgers to the Big Ten will be some smashing success? Not necessarily. In fact, I kind of doubt it, mostly out of skepticism that the great New York football market can really be delivered at all. If it can though, it certainly wouldn't be because of UConn.

You can blame Jim Delany for a lot of things, but if the choice was Rutgers or Connecticut, he didn't screw up here.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Actually, Rutgers is a fine addition with UConn because it create some meaningful penetration into the metro area. Rutgers alone makes little sense because they are just an outlier and don't have the ability to pull eyes by themselves. The right adds are really Rutgers, UConn, and BC which creates a powerful Northeast market presence. But BC is a hopeless case and they will never admit the ACC was a giant mistake. Big 10 is crazy not to grab UConn. Just a big mistake, and if the ACC grabs UConn the Northeast is effectively lost to the ACC. The biggest problem right now is egos stops the ACC and Big 10 is boxed up and needs a 2 team add. It will all come our way boys. Were just too obvious and attractive to leave on the table.

Not bad actually... also would have maintained some sorta of geographic rivalry.

 

[JayRU09]

Wait how did UCONN pass us academically?

THE Ranking:

Rutgers: #103
UCONN: #301-350

Shanghai:

Rutgers: #62
UCONN: #201-300

US News:

Rutgers: #69
UCONN: #57

Rutgers is also a member of the AAU. I mean, we have two ranking systems where UCONN isn't even in the same stratosphere, and one where you're barely ahead. All ranking systems are convoluted no doubt, but the one that doesn't conform to the others is the only one that puts UCONN ahead of RU.

 

[Pudge]

Rutgers is a joke. It just is.

This is just a continuing sales job. I don't believe Rutgers has prioritized the Academic side like UConn (I don't think JayRU09 knows duck-all & spitting what he did proves it). We have a STATE that supports the University Flagship like few others in the Country ... and particularly in the Northeast. I am never surprised at the RU AD. That Stadium was a mess - we all know it. They put together the financing with paper clips ... and promises. (and YES, now it's obvious they knew the B1G valued it). The Athletic Director Herman is out of her league. Just a witch. Mike Rice & Kevin Bannon & Greg Schiano were shocking in their public persona.

I do want to show what we can do in a Power Conference. I expect Rutgers to sink. And lose by 61 ... again ... and again. In both Hoop & Football.

 

[buggsy]

Wait how did UCONN pass us academically?

THE Ranking:

Rutgers: #103
UCONN: #301-350

Shanghai:

Rutgers: #62
UCONN: #201-300

US News:

Rutgers: #69
UCONN: #57

Rutgers is also a member of the AAU. I mean, we have two ranking systems where UCONN isn't even in the same stratosphere, and one where you're barely ahead. All ranking systems are convoluted no doubt, but the one that doesn't conform to the others is the only one that puts UCONN ahead of RU.

In addition to The Times Higher Education World Rankings (THE), and QS World Rankings (Shanghai) that have RU ranked higher....don't Forget Forbes ranking of

America's Best Colleges
http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/

Rutgers #125
UCONN #140

That's 3 out of 4 academic rankings that have RU ahead of UCONN.

Truth is, both schools are very good, but the idea that UCONN has passed Rutgers is based solely on ONE publication ranking and that is it.

 

[buggsy]

Rutgers is a joke. It just is.

This is just a continuing sales job. I don't believe Rutgers has prioritized the Academic side like UConn (I don't think JayRU09 knows -all & spitting what he did proves it). We have a STATE that supports the University Flagship like few others in the Country ... and particularly in the Northeast. I am never surprised at the RU AD. That Stadium was a mess - we all know it. They put together the financing with paper clips ... and promises. (and YES, now it's obvious they knew the B1G valued it). The Athletic Director Herman is out of her league. Just a witch. Mike Rice & Kevin Bannon & Greg Schiano were shocking in their public persona.

I do want to show what we can do in a Power Conference. I expect Rutgers to sink. And lose by 61 ... again ... and again. In both Hoop & Football.

If Rutgers is a joke, than UCONN, based on 3 out of 4 rankings.....is an even bigger joke.

I think you're the joke. The stadium is paying for itself....and if it wasn;t for the hindsight to expand it, we would be stuck in the mess you're still stuck in. I love how you gloss over that.

And you guys stink in a crappy football confernce...but you think you would be ok in the BIG?

You're football program sucks. That is the real truth. You have no fanbase, and no recruiting base.

You have strong academics though, and a great basketball program. You're a basketball school.

 

[Sportsman5]

In addition to The Times Higher Education World Rankings (THE), and QS World Rankings (Shanghai) that have RU ranked higher....don't Forget Forbes ranking of

America's Best Colleges
http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/

Rutgers #125
UCONN #140

That's 3 out of 4 academic rankings that have RU ahead of UCONN.

Truth is, both schools are very good, but the idea that UCONN has passed Rutgers is based solely on ONE publication ranking and that is it.

what metrics matter? that is the question. To me things like acceptance rate (44.7% for UConn and 60.9% for Rutgers) with enrollments of about 18,000 for UConn and 32,000 for Rutgers and state populations of 3.6 mill for Connecticut and 8.9 mill for New Jersey is an indicator that UConn is more selective and more desirable to attend. A 4 year graduation rate of 57% for Rutgers and 67% for UConn is a very significant difference. either Rutgers is not providing students with proper resources compared to uconn or the students are much less diligent with their studies. either way it reflects very poorly on rutgers. A lot of stats can be manipulated. Resources per student and faculty to student ratio can be manipulated depending how a school reports it. This can happen if there are a lot of research dollars and grad students to make spending look high and teacher to student ratio look good. Research and a good student to faculty ratio among grad students has very little to do with the quality of an undergraduate education, but potentially schools could manipulate numbers to make it seem like their undergraduate education is better than it is. This is why publications can vary drastically depending upon what they value. Some work hard to figure out the things that really matter and others are less diligent.
Now down to publications. What publications are actually used by highschool students to assess the quality of an education? U.S. news and world report is what everyone in my highschool used as their main source (coming from a highly competitive public school system in Massachusetts) It could vary depending upon where you are from. It also breaks up colleges into big and small universities and has separate weightings in criteria for both. Making a list of all schools that includes tiny liberal arts schools and major public universities is a little ridiculous in my opinion.

 

[sdhusky]

Rutger won a game on a thursday night in 2006.

They must have a tshirt for it. Did they hang a banner for their 3rd place BE finish? Have a parade?

I'm curious. It's their greatest athletic accomplishment.

 

[BlueMAB]

You're football program sucks. That is the real truth. You have no fanbase, and no recruiting base.

You have strong academics though, and a great basketball program. You're a basketball school.

And yet we beat you 28-17 last year. We have more Big East Championships and nearly as many bowl appearances as you without the 20 year head start.

Rutgers is a _______ school. When you haven't won anything, basically ever, you have no identity. Rutgers is a school. That's it. Just a school.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Jesus dude, they're already upset they're not in as of now..

Thanks Jay for being a voice of reason. If you're going to post something like this on our fragile group, you have to expect venomous attacks in return. We didn't write those articles on the B1G getting the wrong school, the publications did. Do I enjoy them, sure, probably as much as I'd love to see myself linked to a supermodel in the paper. But in both cases it doesn't make sense if you know the truth. Even if UConn was the equal of Rutgers in every academic ranking, NJ is still bigger, has more recruits and is AAU. Rutgers was the obvious choice for the B1G. I will dismiss the ranking part of recruits because rankings aren't worth the web pages they're put on.

 

[buggsy]

Rutger won a game on a thursday night in 2006.

They must have a tshirt for it. Did they hang a banner for their 3rd place BE finish? Have a parade?

I'm curious. It's their greatest athletic accomplishment.

Tied for second place in 2006 (with WVU), thank you very much!

 

[sdhusky]

Tied for second place in 2006 (with WVU), thank you very much!

Do you have a tshirt?

"We tied for second and all I got was this tshirt and a bowl game on the cooking network"

 

[uconnbill]

I read this article yesterday and laughed. The only reason they took Rutgers is because of New Jersey recruiting and they are easy wins in all sports. Another weak sister in the division.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

We tied for second and all I got was this tshirt and a bowl game on the cooking network

Funny stuff SDHusky. Excellent choice of TV stations.

 

[uconnbill]

Thanks Jay for being a voice of reason. If you're going to post something like this on our fragile group, you have to expect venomous attacks in return. We didn't write those articles on the B1G getting the wrong school, the publications did. Do I enjoy them, sure, probably as much as I'd love to see myself linked to a supermodel in the paper. But in both cases it doesn't make sense if you know the truth. Even if UConn was the equal of Rutgers in every academic ranking, NJ is still bigger, has more recruits and is AAU. Rutgers was the obvious choice for the B1G. I will dismiss the ranking part of recruits because rankings aren't worth the web pages they're put on.

They suck in sports. New York City doesn't care about Rutgers sports and you and everyone else knows it. They will be bottom dwellers for years to come. Fairfield should be included into UCONN market as there are far more alumni then other universities. UCONN would rank 18th instead of 30th nationally