Texas & OK ask to join SEC?

[District-Husky]

This probably isn't going to happen, but a Big East with UConn, Nova, and Kansas would be sweet.

 

[Storrs South]

Too bad that there hasn't been/are not venues for UConn's basketball and football programs to occasionally play home games on/near the Stamford campus.

It's been a couple years now, but I believe it was 7 years ago both basketball programs played a game a season in Bridgeport. It was always a weaker opponent on the schedule and they were well attended. Plus the venue has been used before for the NCAAW tournament and Hockey usually plays a game or two in that corner of the state.

I wouldn't mind if they pushed another OOC game during winter break down there for both basketball programs.

UConn Basketball To Play At Webster Bank Arena - UConn Today

 

[CL82]

Too bad that there hasn't been/are not venues for UConn's basketball and football programs to occasionally play home games on/near the Stamford campus.

Well, we’re scheduled to play a few nearby every March.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Football drives the bus. Those big football conferences aren't looking for reclamation projects. They want schools that can contribute right away and add enough revenue so that overall average payout to each school increases. I do not think we meet that criteria and likely never will as a smallish school that's good at basketball once a decade.

Good at basketball once a decade? 4 National Titles in 20 years means nothing?

 

[pepband99]

There are 4 (+1) forces all hitting at once.

1) Consolidation of top programs in the SEC driven by television and streaming.

2) NIL turning the recruiting dynamic on its head and likely fragmenting talent because kids got to play to get paid.

3) Anti-trust enforcement risk hanging over everything that any conference does now. The Alston decision is the law of the land, and that has implications beyond just NIL income.

4) Some groups appreciating that college athletics risks becoming regional if one league emerges victorious.

5) Not to be forgotten, football faces an existential threat from CTE.


I do not how anyone can be an expert in how college sports will turn out with these large and conflicting trends.

I may be contrarian here, but i think NIL will calm down a bit and normalize, with time.
The reasons it looks so nuts now are:
1) It's new
2) There is no ROI measured yet

What happens if Bryce Young throws 3 INTs and loses to Auburn? How will that money thrown at him look, in that case?
What about a domestic arrest? Drugs? All of these things happen. Throwing money at a 18-20yo doesn't have a great track record.
A brand/business will get burned by this, and it will chill the enthusiasm.

The shift from cable boxes to fanbases is absolutely coming, to your point 1.

 

[CTBballfan243]

There will just be a P1 if the Pac 12, ACC and Big 10 are not careful.

That is the ultimate end game.

 

[Eavesdrop]

It's been a couple years now, but I believe it was 7 years ago both basketball programs played a game a season in Bridgeport. It was always a weaker opponent on the schedule and they were well attended. Plus the venue has been used before for the NCAAW tournament and Hockey usually plays a game or two in that corner of the state.

I wouldn't mind if they pushed another OOC game during winter break down there for both basketball programs.

UConn Basketball To Play At Webster Bank Arena - UConn Today

That's good to know.

I've wondered since moving to Connecticut in 2017 why UConn athletics isn't more active/present in Fairfield County. Glad past leadership saw an opportunity there, and like you, hope the current leaders get back to it. (Do wish that venue was in/a bit closer to Stamford/Darien, but...)

 

[Storrs South]

That's good to know.

I've wondered since moving to Connecticut in 2017 why UConn athletics isn't more active/present in Fairfield County. Glad past leadership saw an opportunity there, and like you, hope the current leaders gets back to it. (Do wish that venue was in/a bit closer to Stamford/Darien, but...)

Unfortunately there are no adequate venues further south than Bridgeport so makes sense why they chose there as it was about as south as they could reasonably go. The next closest venue is Mohegan since there's nothing in New Haven anymore.

And as @CL82 notes, getting back to the Big East and playing in MSG every March + games at St. John's, Seton Hall, plus the usual OOC games at MSG help too given accessible Metro North makes MSG to Fairfield County.

But hopefully they do experiment with more games there at some point. Even try and play someone locally instead of Eastern Washington like Fairfield, Sacred Heart, or even Columbia/Yale/Princeton.

 

[SubbaBub]

Interesting Texas and A&M are in different pods when the rest seem geographicaly based. Maybe to give more teams a Texas presence? (Or more likely acknowledging that the two schools don't like each other?) Otherwise flip A&M and Missouri?

There are clearly two alpha dogs in each pod. Pure SEC, win one or two big games and coast on the reputation of the league even though the middle/bottom are no better than any other P5 conference.

 

[Stinger92860]

The AAC hammered men's hoops, soccer etc. Baseball prospered and the Olympics and non-low revenue sports spent a fortune.

But, there was no interest in UConn playing any of the AAC schools in football or basketball. Maybe Wichita State had a little juice, but mainly nothing. Fans didn't even come out to watch top 20 Houston program or UCF. They seriously didn't care in football.

For football, AAC's biggest issue is it is a good football league with absolutely zero appeal. For basketball, it was half decent teams and 6 abominable teams.

It absolutely annihilated UConn as a brand to be in there, much worse than I thought initially.

How nice is it to not worry. We don't have to get the let's get the table scraps. No one at UConn wants to get into a BIg 12 with Texas and Oklahoma. And TBH, fans would probably prefer current situation than even an invite to Big 12.

You can’t place all of the blame on the AAC. Some of the blame has to fall on a few coaches who dragged the program down.

 

[ZooCougar]

I’m really going to enjoy this round.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I’m really going to enjoy this round.

It feels like I am playing blackjack with house money.

 

[ZooCougar]

It feels like I am playing blackjack with house money.

Feels like I am playing blackjack with Aresco’s money.

 

[Waquoit]

The AAC hammered men's hoops, soccer etc.

Women's hoops deserves more than just an etc. I think Geno coming up empty on the recruiting trail for 2 cycles played a part in the jump.

 

[huskymedic]

Guessing the 5p Big 12 Mtg didn’t go well?

Texas Tech system Chancellor:

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Ha Who]

He just realized this. Swofford is laughing on the beach

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Viet Vet]

That's good to know.

I've wondered since moving to Connecticut in 2017 why UConn athletics isn't more active/present in Fairfield County. Glad past leadership saw an opportunity there, and like you, hope the current leaders get back to it. (Do wish that venue was in/a bit closer to Stamford/Darien, but...

Fairfield County is, at best, an appendage of Connecticut. It is....... culturally, economically and demographically.... a suburb of New York City. New York is not a college town. It is a pro sports town. Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders Giants, Jets, Yankees, Mets, et al, rule. Columbia, NYU, St. John's, Manhattan, LIU................poor stepsisters.

Yes, Manhattan elites will spend big bucks to attend the Big East basketball tourney at The Garden. Because they identify with UConn or Syracuse? Perhaps. Maybe because it is an opportunity to be seen, to put a notch in one's holster.

Connecticut has eight counties............six and one half that identify with Connecticut..............one (Fairfield) and one half (Litchfield) that are pure New Yawk.

 

[Ha Who]

Why? That is the line of the realignment craze

 

[Platt81]

Fairfield County is, at best, an appendage of Connecticut. It is....... culturally, economically and demographically.... a suburb of New York City. New York is not a college town. It is a pro sports town. Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders Giants, Jets, Yankees, Mets, et al, rule. Columbia, NYU, St. John's, Manhattan, LIU................poor stepsisters.

Yes, Manhattan elites will spend big bucks to attend the Big East basketball tourney at The Garden. Because they identify with UConn or Syracuse? Perhaps. Maybe because it is an opportunity to be seen, to put a notch in one's holster.

Connecticut has eight counties............six and one half that identify with Connecticut..............one (Fairfield) and one half (Litchfield) that are pure New Yawk.

I don’t know that I fully agree with this. Lower Fairfield County certainly is more New York, but the Danbury, New Fairfield, Brookfield, Bethel, Newtown, Monroe, Shelton areas I would say more identify with Connecticut

 

[hoopsfan22]

I don’t know that I fully agree with this. Lower Fairfield County certainly is more New York, but the Danbury, New Fairfield, Brookfield, Bethel, Newtown, Monroe, Shelton areas I would say more identify with Connecticut

Yeah i was wondering what part of northern Fairfield County let alone Litchfield identifies with NYC. I would say it's really just the towns along and south of the parkway.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Huskyforlife]

I can't think of any reason why Texas and Oklahoma would rather be in the B12... more money and better football awaits them in the SEC.

 

[Husky92]

Big East said this…what 10 years ago…doesn’t matter. Folks gonna do what folks gonna do