The pros and cons of joining the Pac-12 for football only | Page 2 | The Boneyard

The pros and cons of joining the Pac-12 for football only

metsfan2323 said:
Care to explain? Did I say something that isn't true? BTW I clarified I was referring to the regular season in response to his comment about regular season scheduling.

Half the board was ready to give up on Mora after the Maryland beatdown, now we are looking forward to building off the success of this season when it was built largely off an easy regular season schedule. An easy regular season schedule was something that was long overdue IMO, and yes, the P4 refs work against us making those games incredibly difficult to win, no UConn fan felt good after the Wake Forest game even though it was a close game.

As long as we are G5 the ideal schedule should be two P4 and ten G5 games with the goal of getting into the tournament and body bag games against elite programs should be a non-starter. Next year's schedule is close to perfect, the 2026 schedule is a recipe for failure.
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UConn can not make the playoff as an independent. Only ND has that deal.
 
noeynox said:
UConn can not make the playoff as an independent. Only ND has that deal.
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I don’t think that’s exactly true. In theory UConn could be ranked in the top 12 and make it. Maybe if the 2026 team goes 12-0 it would be possible depending on what happened throughout college football. But it is not a simple thing.
 
Pros:

  • Set schedule with perhaps the best non-P4 conference.
  • Ability to play for a league championship.
  • Access to higher media payout (could be $6M to $8M per year for FB only).
  • Some interesting opponents such as Boise State, Oregon State, Fresno State, SDSU, etc.
  • Access to CFP money if we do well.

Cons:

  • Less flexibility to schedule other P4 teams.
  • Travel out to the West at least 4 times a year.
  • Might play at late hours missing Eastern audience.
  • Might have to schedule some basketball games to make this work.
 
To me the only negative is if we joined the conference and were at the bottom of the league in performance. Going 8-4 vs inferior opponents gives us more positive press than going 5-7 would in the PAC. If we were going to stay in the PAC for a longer period of time then this is less important but I know people are hoping for a P4 invite sooner.
 
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freescooter said:
I don’t think that’s exactly true. In theory UConn could be ranked in the top 12 and make it. Maybe if the 2026 team goes 12-0 it would be possible depending on what happened throughout college football. But it is not a simple thing.
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You may be right, thought ND had a special accommodation made for them.
 
noeynox said:
You may be right, thought ND had a special accommodation made for them.
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Theoretically we could recieve an at large bid.

In reality, we'd need a ridiculously great season and a few things to fall into place to get that bid.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
Theoretically we could recieve an at large bid.

In reality, we'd need a ridiculously great season and a few things to fall into place to get that bid.
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The biggest of which of scheduling. We could have a perfect record but if it wasn't against top P4 teams it would be meaningless.
 
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Jbirdp5 said:
To me the only negative is if we joined the conference and were at the bottom of the league in performance. Going 8-4 vs inferior opponents gives us more positive press than going 5-7 would in the PAC. If we were going to stay in the PAC for a longer period of time then this is less important but I know people are hoping for a P4 invite sooner.
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If UConn is 5-7 in the PAC then it would most likely be 5-7 or worse as an independent. We believe we would have a more difficult schedule as an independent. I don't think that is worth worrying about. We could end up being 2-10 in a P4 conference should an invitation present itself, so be it.

For those worried about traveling west, meh. Going to San Diego and Fresno has its perks.

A bird in hand...I'd go to the PAC football only and be willing to pay a significant exit fee if offered.
 
CL82 said:
The biggest of which of scheduling. We could have a perfect strain but of it wasn't against top P4 teams it would be meaningless.
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Logically we'd need to go undefeated with a schedule that had six P conference schools, four who ended the season ranked, and three or four of our other opponents clearly in the top 50.

We'd also need something similar to this past season where the last couple of at-large candidates would be questionable and the top couple teams would have losses.

Even with that the committee would search for a way to exclude us.
 
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I am firmly in the camp of I am fine if we join the PAC whatever for football only and fine if we don’t. It will not make a difference to UConn long term either way but they are the best G5 league and i think the stadiums are in really cool locations.
 
Would UConn be content if a football membership in the Pac-12 deterred an ACC or Big 12 invitation?
 
WestCoastHusky said:
Pros:

  • Set schedule with perhaps the best non-P4 conference.
  • Ability to play for a league championship.
  • Access to higher media payout (could be $6M to $8M per year for FB only).
  • Some interesting opponents such as Boise State, Oregon State, Fresno State, SDSU, etc.
  • Access to CFP money if we do well.

Cons:

  • Less flexibility to schedule other P4 teams.
  • Travel out to the West at least 4 times a year.
  • Might play at late hours missing Eastern audience.
  • Might have to schedule some basketball games to make this work.
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If we’re wishing… I’d welcome some early season baseball games - Penders already heads west pretty much every year anyways.
 
metsfan2323 said:
Care to explain?
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Sure.

I wasn’t sure if you were stupid or ignorant.

I thought ignorant was more offensive - being ignorant is a choice whereas stupid just happens.

So I decided that you were stupid, basically, because I was trying to be kind.
 
hank970 said:
Would UConn be content if a football membership in the Pac-12 deterred an ACC or Big 12 invitation?
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Why would it deter an ACC or Big 12 invitation? I see no reason to believe that would be the case, except if there was a high exit fee. The hope is that we get invited into those conferences for all sports, including football.
 
CTFAN4LIFE said:
Just based on lack of attractive opponents alone this is a non-starter. None of the new Pac teams would inspire fans to show out at the Rent.
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Right, home games against teams like Ball State, FIU, FAU, UAB, Buffalo, Temple, Ga State, UMass & one annual home game against a mid P4 & FCS team are what really inspires fans to come about.
 
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freescooter said:
I don’t think that’s exactly true. In theory UConn could be ranked in the top 12 and make it. Maybe if the 2026 team goes 12-0 it would be possible depending on what happened throughout college football. But it is not a simple thing.
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Yes pretty sure that's not true otherwise uconn would get no money instead of the 50 cent share we do get
 
Kowalski said:
Right, home games against teams like Ball State, FIU, FAU, UAB, Buffalo, Temple, Ga State, UMass & one annual home game against a mid P4 & FCS team are what really inspires fans to come about.
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I'm not saying the 2025 home schedule is great; 2026 is though and 2027 is almost too good. And to justify playing almost all of your road games 3,000 miles away (it's really difficult to travel that far and win), you'd better have really appealing home games. The Pac is not our future; if it was we'd already have said yes.
 
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CTFAN4LIFE said:
I'm not saying the 2025 home schedule is great; 2026 is though. And to justify playing almost all of your road games 3,000 miles away (it's really difficult to travel that far and win), you'd better have really appealing home games. The Pac is not our future; if it was we'd already have said yes.
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Didn’t the Pac recently change exit fees to give a P4 free pass. If true, it removes a big obstacle for Uconn & creates an opportunity to compete for a playoff spot. They have no chance as an independent but the PAC winner would have a legit shot. I think contending for that would help fire up fans & attract recruits.
 
Fishy said:
Sure.

I wasn’t sure if you were stupid or ignorant.

I thought ignorant was more offensive - being ignorant is a choice whereas stupid just happens.

So I decided that you were stupid, basically, because I was trying to be kind.
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you are ignorant. stupid is much more offensive than ignorant. ignorant means uneducated perhaps on a particular subject. you can't fix stupid.
 
Kowalski said:
Didn’t the Pac recently change exit fees to give a P4 free pass. If true, it removes a big obstacle for Uconn & creates an opportunity to compete for a playoff spot. They have no chance as an independent but the PAC winner would have a legit shot. I think contending for that would help fire up fans & attract recruits.
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I think tying the arguement to go to the Pac to being able to make the CFP is a fool's errand. We'd have to go 12-0 and with half the games 3,000 miles away it'd be damn near impossible to attain.
 
CTFAN4LIFE said:
I think tying the arguement to go to the Pac to being able to make the CFP is a fool's errand. We'd have to go 12-0 and with half the games 3,000 miles away it'd be damn near impossible to attain.
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I'm not sure that travel distances have as much impact on football, playing a single game a week as they do on basketball.
 
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If the Pac 12 added some eastern teams to create an eastern division, I would be perfectly happy to join the Pac 12 for football only and keep all other sports in the Big East as long as there is a minimal or no buyout in the case of a P4 offer.

If that happened, I'd feel like I could finally relax and stop following all the Big 12 drama or hope for an ACC exodus that would open up a spot for us.

I would be even fine with this as a long term solution because it has some nice pros. I love the Big East for our other sports. It's one of the last vestiges of the Good Ole Days left in sports. Regional Rivalries, schools that have shared history.

Football finally has a home and it's better than the hopes of a football only offer from the other G5 conferences that many were hoping for.

Dream Pac 12 East scenario... Memphis, Tulane, South Florida, Temple and East Carolina. We could play each of them once a year and then play the West division for 3 or 4 other conference games. It also gives the Pac12 4 members on the East Coast in 4 unique and important markets (NYC, Philly, North Carolina and Florida) as well as 2 central time zone teams in major cities on the Mississippi With Memphis and Tulane (New Orleans).
 
Kowalski said:
Uconn’s certainly had a lot of BB tournament success out west over the years.
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Well, yeah, but not relevant to this subject.... here's some actual football data:

UConn home and away from 2000-present: 119-183 for a winning percentage of .394

For games travelling ~ 3k miles: 0-2 (obviously a small dataset) for a winning percentage of .000

For games travelling ~ 2k miles: 8-19 for a winning percentage of .296

Total of all those games is 8-21 for a winning percentage of .275, which is almost a full 25% worse than the overall record.

Even the NFL where every franchise is used to long distance travel as a norm, the team travelling long distance has a 5% worse losing record as opposed to short distance road games.

Distance matters in general and it would for UConn travelling 4 or 5 times out to the far west. Odds are on average, we'd win 1 or 2 long distance games per year. That means we'd have at best 2 road losses out west and little to no shot at even a 16-team CFP.

The idea that going to the new Pac (a G5 conference) would be an easy/easier glide path to the CFP just doesn't add up. The new Pac winner would have to be 12-0 with a shiny P* win or two just to be in the conversation for the last slot.
 
CTFAN4LIFE said:
Well, yeah, but not relevant to this subject.... here's some actual football data:

UConn home and away from 2000-present: 119-183 for a winning percentage of .394

For games travelling ~ 3k miles: 0-2 (obviously a small dataset) for a winning percentage of .000

For games travelling ~ 2k miles: 8-19 for a winning percentage of .296

Total of all those games is 8-21 for a winning percentage of .275, which is almost a full 25% worse than the overall record.

Even the NFL where every franchise is used to long distance travel as a norm, the team travelling long distance has a 5% worse losing record as opposed to short distance road games.

Distance matters in general and it would for UConn travelling 4 or 5 times out to the far west. Odds are on average, we'd win 1 or 2 long distance games per year. That means we'd have at best 2 road losses out west and little to no shot at even a 16-team CFP.

The idea that going to the new Pac (a G5 conference) would be an easy/easier glide path to the CFP just doesn't add up. The new Pac winner would have to be 12-0 with a shiny P* win or two just to be in the conversation for the last slot.
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What is UConn’s road record overall in that span? I would argue without seeing the stats that their overall road record isn’t much higher than .275 which would make the distance argument pointless.
 
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