The Athletic Group of 5 Mailbag Question: Will UConn's turnaround under Jim Mora get them in a conference?

[CL82]

Lousy coaching and constant losing buried UCONN football.

Got rid of the redundant part for you. Bad coaches definitionally generate constant losses.

Here’s the thing though, being in the American still would’ve sucked even if we had had more football success. Don’t get me wrong, it wouldn’t have sucked as bad, but it still would’ve sucked. That was an absolutely miserable conference that forced us to play against opponents our fan base did not care about with nominal media money and incredible travel expenses. Pushing our games largely onto ESPN+ took away the only carrot that it offered, media exposure.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Myth vs Reality:

The Michigan game was major disappointment and generated no buzz at all. The Boneyard was dead all week of that game. Same for the NC State game.

We are far more fired up about the games against UMASS, Liberty and Army. Even the FIU game generated more excitement. The reality is wins generate buzz, and it hardly matter who we are playing.

Myth:

The AAC buried UCONN football.

Reality:

Lousy coaching and constant losing buried UCONN football.

The AAC buried UConn Men’s Basketball more than anything, and slightly weakened womens basketball.

 

[weyuo]

UConn will never end up in the ACC and here's why:

1: ACC women's basketball does not want UConn to do to them what they have done to the Big East and the AAC. Make everyone else irrelevant.
2: Miami, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville and especially BC want to always hold it over UConn that they are in a good paying conference and UConn fights a yearly battle to pay for it's athletics. Probably more out of spite than anything. Too much bad blood from the Big East days
3: The UConn basketball fans got what they wanted. UConn back in the Big East with a week in March at MSG. Try taking that away from them a second time.

 

[billybud]

I do not think that the ACC will be expanding soon.

They missed the window of opportunity to pick up Cincinnati and WVU who will be under a GOR for a while in the Big 12.

There are not that many football brands left that would strengthen football in the conference.

The ACC will hang out with 14 (15 in sports other than football).

Of course...the amount that ESPN would add to the conference payout is the major player...enough to make everybody's slice bigger.

 

[Hoophound]

UConn will never end up in the ACC and here's why:

1: ACC women's basketball does not want UConn to do to them what they have done to the Big East and the AAC. Make everyone else irrelevant.
2: Miami, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville and especially BC want to always hold it over UConn that they are in a good paying conference and UConn fights a yearly battle to pay for it's athletics. Probably more out of spite than anything. Too much bad blood from the Big East days
3: The UConn basketball fans got what they wanted. UConn back in the Big East with a week in March at MSG. Try taking that away from them a second time.

1. I doubt that, nor would it matter much to the decision makers.
2. They will need a new conference mate and money. We are the best option—-probably the only real option.
3. The Big East loyalists are a minority. We all like the Big East but understand a P5 invite must be accepted.

 

[metsfan2323]

I don’t disagree that winning generates interest and buzz. But I do believe that if we were 5-2 and NOW playing games against Michigan, NC State and Syracuse, the fan base would be going nuts. The lack of interest at the time was that we had sucked for 7 years and no one cared about anything

If we were currently 5- 5 and closing out the season against Michigan and NC State we would already be lamenting coming so close to a bowl and missing out.

Asking our coaches to get us to a bowl on a shoestring budget in this play for pay era when we are making them face such a demanding schedule full of P5 teams is absurd and a recipe for failure.

Cincy made it all the way to the playoff last season playing just two P5 teams. I doubt their fans were complaining about a boring schedule.

Next year will really make clear what our correct path should be going forward. Liberty will play an easy 2023 schedule and likely finish with double digit wins whereas it will take an epic performance from Mora and the team to finish above .500.

 

[metsfan2323]

Any UConn fan equating us with Liberty on any plane should submit their fandom permanently.

No offense but that is an absurd and delusional statement to make.

Liberty is ranked, and have in recent seasons been extremely successful and they play their home games in a nearly sold out stadium. Whatever it is they are doing we should be taking notes.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

UConn will never end up in the ACC and here's why:

1: ACC women's basketball does not want UConn to do to them what they have done to the Big East and the AAC. Make everyone else irrelevant.
2: Miami, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville and especially BC want to always hold it over UConn that they are in a good paying conference and UConn fights a yearly battle to pay for it's athletics. Probably more out of spite than anything. Too much bad blood from the Big East days
3: The UConn basketball fans got what they wanted. UConn back in the Big East with a week in March at MSG. Try taking that away from them a second time.

I think you’re about as right as Captain Smith was when he said “full steam ahead”.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

No offense but that is an absurd and delusional statement to make.

Liberty is ranked, and have in recent seasons been extremely successful and they play their home games in a nearly sold out stadium. Whatever it is they are doing we should be taking notes.

I wouldn’t take notes on anything Liberty University does. Many P5 schools will not play Liberty for some good reasons. I will admit they have an excellent football coach who I expect to jump ship soon.

 

[kemba]

While not having conference standings and a conference championship to play for is a downside, nobody is going to care about playing for a conference USA championship either. Independence is the right move for now

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

No offense but that is an absurd and delusional statement to make.

Liberty is ranked, and have in recent seasons been extremely successful and they play their home games in a nearly sold out stadium. Whatever it is they are doing we should be taking notes.

I think he meant in terms of non-football aspects?

 

[Nostical]

Myth vs Reality:

The Michigan game was major disappointment and generated no buzz at all.The Boneyard was dead all week of that game. Same for the NC State game.

Wouldn't have been if we were on a winning streak before playing those games. They would have generated lots of buzz and fan support. If we continue our winning ways, play in a Bowl and start fast next year there will be lots of Husky fans at games. If next fall we're 7-1or 6-2 (look at our schedule and try telling me it's impossible) and heading down to play Tennessee, try finding a flight to Rocky Top.

 

[UConnDan97]

It was a step up to go from G5 to Independence in football. Stay the course until the B1G or ACC calls.

THIS!!!

Anyone that still believes that being in a G5 is better than being an Independent has lost the plot. Control your schedule and your travel budget, because you'll make more money that way than you will with any C-USA tv contract, that's for sure. More people come to watch the regional rivals anyways.

And with more attendance comes better recruits. Anyone who hasn't picked up in that yet shouldn't be talking college football realignment, in my less than humble opinion...

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If next fall we're 7-1or 6-2 (look at our schedule and try telling me it's impossible) and heading down to play Tennessee, try finding a flight to Rocky Top.

I'm already kicking around the idea of a couple days in Nashville then heading to Knoxville for the game.

 

[Slick]

I'm already kicking around the idea of a couple days in Nashville then heading to Knoxville for the game.

Have you checked out hotels there yet.Almost nothing available. all Sold out.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Have you checked out hotels there yet.Almost nothing available. all Sold out.

Really? Because we're coming to town?

 

[Waquoit]

Whatever it is they are doing we should be taking notes.

Their academic standard is "Did the check clear?" We don't need to be playing Liberty.

 

[formerlurker]

It's funny, we all knew at the time that BC was making a big mistake by sticking the shiv into UConn.

@tcf15 can you trim this down and sprinkle some UConn vs BC magic on it?

 

[pj]

Liberty is ranked with only Tulane as a non P5 ranked higher. This year Liberty scheduled Arkansas, BYU, Wake, VPI, UCONN. Next year it is going to C-USA with Bowling Green, Buffalo, ODU, and UMass on its schedule. Oooph.

What's the advantage of a conference except that it allows the AD to be lazy about scheduling and media deals? The schedule and the money and the travel are better as an independent, and the fan interest and gate receipts higher. You also have freedom/availability to move up if the conference reshuffling continues.

 

[Stinger92860]

What's the advantage of a conference except that it allows the AD to be lazy about scheduling and media deals? The schedule and the money and the travel are better as an independent, and the fan interest and gate receipts higher. You also have freedom/availability to move up if the conference reshuffling continues.

I hope ad Dave is talking to the B12. There are 30+ million reasons to make that call

 

[CL82]

I hope ad Dave is talking to the B12. There are 30+ million reasons to make that call

And plenty of other reasons not to. The AAC sucked so bad that a move to the Big 12 was a no brainer. Now? The money is still probably too much to turn down, but it’s a pretty bad fit for us. In any event I don’t see them offering an invite.

 

[Kolumbo]

And plenty of other reasons not to. The AAC sucked so bad that a move to the Big 12 was a no brainer. Now? The money is still probably too much to turn down, but it’s a pretty bad fit for us. In any event I don’t see them offering an invite.

I feel the opposite. I thought the Big 12 was an awful fit before but now I really think it would be a good option. Conferences are going coast to coast. Cincy and West Virginia are old Big East mates. It would be great if it added a couple East Coast schools but with the PAC 12 imploding, the Big 12 has many options. And the basketball is great. Big 12 should just make the jump to Big 12 x 2 and lock down the 3rd position for good. Add UCONN, Temple, ECU (to stick it to tobacco road), USF, Corner 4 . . .

An aside. WV Men's Soccer moved from the MAC to the Sun Belt this year. So I look up to see what Cincy will be doing and it ended its men's soccer program in 2020. I did not know that. Odd and sad for such a large midwestern university.

 

[CL82]

I feel the opposite. I thought the Big 12 was an awful fit before but now I really think it would be a good option. Conferences are going coast to coast. Cincy and West Virginia are old Big East mates. It would be great if it added a couple East Coast schools but with the PAC 12 imploding, the Big 12 has many options. And the basketball is great. Big 12 should just make the jump to Big 12 x 2 and lock down the 3rd position for good. Add UCONN, Temple, ECU (to stick it to tobacco road), USF, Corner 4 . . .

An aside. WV Men's Soccer moved from the MAC to the Sun Belt this year. So I look up to see what Cincy will be doing and it ended its men's soccer program in 2020. I did not know that. Odd and sad for such a large midwestern university.

[Shrugs] I think the decision would come down to the numbers in the end. If we got an immediate full share, it would be tough to walk away from. If we got less than a 50% share, and there is some talk of proposals of reduced shares for new members to the big 12 I’m not sure the differential over the biggest new contract would make it worthwhile.

It bothers me that we are in such a bad position that out best realistic upside is potentially joining a depleted ACC in 14 years. Still, that would seem better than joining the big 12, at least to me, by a fairly wide margin.

 

[Stinger92860]

And plenty of other reasons not to. The AAC sucked so bad that a move to the Big 12 was a no brainer. Now? The money is still probably too much to turn down, but it’s a pretty bad fit for us. In any event I don’t see them offering an invite.

Besides the money, baseball and womens bball will play better conference competition . I think it helps football and basketball too, but I’ll be in the minority on that.

 

[ScottVib]

Liberty took the C-USA offer because they’ve been desperately searching for one since they announced their upgrade. They were ready to sue the NCAA over the rule that required conference affiliation to upgrade. They struggled to fill their schedules to the point where they played New Mexico State (soon to be one of their new conference opponents) twice home and home one season. Despite their on field success the non-athletic parts of the university made them so undesirable that it took a C-USA conference desperately fighting for survival for them to finally get a sniff.

Joining C-USA is an even worse idea now than it was when UConn said “pass” last year. If you want to bring back the days of 7k in house for games line up the the C-USA Tuesday night games. The all-sports deal not only consigns your to crap attendance, but also to less money. Furthermore it makes your ‘peers’ Liberty, Jacksonville State, Stephen F. Austin, La. Tech, FIU, UTEP, NMSU, etc.

There is a reason to consider a football only membership to some conference, but C-USA isn’t that conference. If anything it’s become less attractive since UConn said no thank you last.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I feel the opposite. I thought the Big 12 was an awful fit before but now I really think it would be a good option. Conferences are going coast to coast. Cincy and West Virginia are old Big East mates. It would be great if it added a couple East Coast schools but with the PAC 12 imploding, the Big 12 has many options. And the basketball is great. Big 12 should just make the jump to Big 12 x 2 and lock down the 3rd position for good. Add UCONN, Temple, ECU (to stick it to tobacco road), USF, Corner 4 . . .

An aside. WV Men's Soccer moved from the MAC to the Sun Belt this year. So I look up to see what Cincy will be doing and it ended its men's soccer program in 2020. I did not know that. Odd and sad for such a large midwestern university.

'I feel the opposite. I thought the Big 12 was an awful fit before but now I really think it would be a good option. '
too easy.

signed, just walking all around up in here, picking up the loose change.

 

[dvegas]

Have you checked out hotels there yet.Almost nothing available. all Sold out.

If it works in Knoxville like it does in State College, people have a standing hotel reservation "first home game" or third home game" They make it every year, and pay for the next year when they check out after the game the previous year. Doesn't matter who the opponent is. Some years you get lucky (say UM or Alabama), other years not so much (Temple or UConn). Tons of demand, not much supply in those towns. Thats why flying in and renting an RV isnt a bad idea. Personally, I'd get a boat for the Tennessee game if I could afford it!

 

[huskymedic]

C-USA Media Deal > no $$ noted (no surprise):

So how good is the Conference USA TV deal?

The increased exposure is a real benefit. But boy, it also comes at a cost.

www.extrapointsmb.com

 

[gars44]

It bothers me that we are in such a bad position that out best realistic upside is potentially joining a depleted ACC in 14 years.

The other hope I have is that Clemson and FSU just get so sick of the reduced payout in the ACC that they worm their way into the Power 2. That can happen if they continue to lose higher recruits to the SEC (mostly) and the B1G. With the addition of TX and OKLA in a couple of years there will just be too many high-talent teams in the SEC and B1G to keep a two-loss Power 2 team out of the 8 team playoffs. They will all be making about $100,000,000 per year, attracting the vast majority of the higher quality recruits. Even now, I don't see how you can keep 3 SEC teams out of the 4 team playoff, but that's another issue. Clem and FSU will not continue to be happy getting $35MM/yr or so for the next 14 years. Not gonna happen. Losing out on top recruits. They are going to have to join up with the Power 2, or their programs will enter a slow deterioration to the level of North Carolina, Miami, Syracuse, Pitt. All good top 25 teams, but not what Clem and FSU signed up for. Not at their energy level. That's kind of what has happened over the last few years to TX and OKLA. Slow rot. And they don't like it. They wanted out and they got out. See, UCLA and USC for additional citation.

So, when Clemmy and FSU get out, it leaves a big hole in the ACC. There will be no more "football" schools to add. The best move will be to bring in UConn, maybe WVU, No inside info, but if you were running the show at Clem and FSU, what would be on your mind right now?

 

[CL82]

Besides the money, baseball and womens bball will play better conference competition . I think it helps football and basketball too, but I’ll be in the minority on that.

Yeah I don’t disagree about that, especially as to baseball. but the trade-off is travel becomes dramatically worse not only for those sports but also for Olympic sports. It was a real grind in the American, which was better for us geographically than the big 12.