The stars have aligned. Now is the time to be bold and aggressive.

[Zerostatic]

Every previous round of conference realignment seemed to hit us at the wrong time, with a major program slumping or in transition and suddenly we are on the outside looking in.

But right now the stars are actually aligned. Both basketball teams just made the Final Four, football has stacked back to back nine win seasons (not to mention the success of men's and women's hockey as well as baseball and soccer). Publicly and in the media, UConn looks like a flagship athletic brand again.

That is exactly why we should be pushing hard this summer, reopening Big 12 conversations, floating similar terms to the ACC, whatever it takes to get a real seat at the table.

My worry is that windows like this do not stay open forever. A Geno retirement, Hurley jumping to the NBA, or a rocky football coaching transition could easily knock us back into limbo.

If we want long term stability, this feels like the time to be bold and get into the a Power 4 conference. Thoughts?

 

[JwittersPAC]

Every previous round of conference realignment seemed to hit us at the wrong time, with a major program slumping or in transition and suddenly we are on the outside looking in.

But right now the stars are actually aligned. Both basketball teams just made the Final Four, football has stacked back to back nine win seasons (not to mention the success of men's and women's hockey as well as baseball and soccer). Publicly and in the media, UConn looks like a flagship athletic brand again.

That is exactly why we should be pushing hard this summer, reopening Big 12 conversations, floating similar terms to the ACC, whatever it takes to get a real seat at the table.

My worry is that windows like this do not stay open forever. A Geno retirement, Hurley jumping to the NBA, or a rocky football coaching transition could easily knock us back into limbo.

If we want long term stability, this feels like the time to be bold and get into the a Power 4 conference. Thoughts?

I think nothing is happening until we get closer to 2030.

 

[Hoophound]

Every previous round of conference realignment seemed to hit us at the wrong time, with a major program slumping or in transition and suddenly we are on the outside looking in.

But right now the stars are actually aligned. Both basketball teams just made the Final Four, football has stacked back to back nine win seasons (not to mention the success of men's and women's hockey as well as baseball and soccer). Publicly and in the media, UConn looks like a flagship athletic brand again.

That is exactly why we should be pushing hard this summer, reopening Big 12 conversations, floating similar terms to the ACC, whatever it takes to get a real seat at the table.

My worry is that windows like this do not stay open forever. A Geno retirement, Hurley jumping to the NBA, or a rocky football coaching transition could easily knock us back into limbo.

If we want long term stability, this feels like the time to be bold and get into the a Power 4 conference. Thoughts?

We’re trying.

Football recruiting is actually better with Candle.

Great basketball doesn’t seem to be enough, but neither Geno or Hurley is going anywhere for now.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Every previous round of conference realignment seemed to hit us at the wrong time, with a major program slumping or in transition and suddenly we are on the outside looking in.

But right now the stars are actually aligned. Both basketball teams just made the Final Four, football has stacked back to back nine win seasons (not to mention the success of men's and women's hockey as well as baseball and soccer). Publicly and in the media, UConn looks like a flagship athletic brand again.

That is exactly why we should be pushing hard this summer, reopening Big 12 conversations, floating similar terms to the ACC, whatever it takes to get a real seat at the table.

My worry is that windows like this do not stay open forever. A Geno retirement, Hurley jumping to the NBA, or a rocky football coaching transition could easily knock us back into limbo.

If we want long term stability, this feels like the time to be bold and get into the a Power 4 conference. Thoughts?

We could win dual national championships for 5 straight years in basketball and not get into a Power 4 conference. The only way to get in the club is to provide more revenue for hegemonic schools. We have no pathway to doing so, and as such, have no pathway to an invite. I encourage you to enjoy the time we have left as a real competitor in D1 college athletics

 

[CL82]

The only way to get in the club is to provide more revenue for hegemonic schools

Every other metric is meaningless. If media companies decide that we bring enough value that they're willing to pony up to pay for our share, plus money to increase every other school share, we will get in. If they don't, we will be on the outside looking in. It really is just that simple.

For what it's worth, given the extraordinary distributions for the Big Ten and the SEC, it would be much more expensive to add us to one of those conferences than either the big 12 or the ACC. Thus are going to the Big Ten will never happen. Getting into either of the runner-up conferences is unlikely as well, except as backfill for other departing schools.

 

[ZooCougar]

Every previous round of conference realignment seemed to hit us at the wrong time, with a major program slumping or in transition and suddenly we are on the outside looking in.

But right now the stars are actually aligned. Both basketball teams just made the Final Four, football has stacked back to back nine win seasons (not to mention the success of men's and women's hockey as well as baseball and soccer). Publicly and in the media, UConn looks like a flagship athletic brand again.

That is exactly why we should be pushing hard this summer, reopening Big 12 conversations, floating similar terms to the ACC, whatever it takes to get a real seat at the table.

My worry is that windows like this do not stay open forever. A Geno retirement, Hurley jumping to the NBA, or a rocky football coaching transition could easily knock us back into limbo.

If we want long term stability, this feels like the time to be bold and get into the a Power 4 conference. Thoughts?

I think you are on top of it.

 

[Ldandy]

Every previous round of conference realignment seemed to hit us at the wrong time, with a major program slumping or in transition and suddenly we are on the outside looking in.

But right now the stars are actually aligned. Both basketball teams just made the Final Four, football has stacked back to back nine win seasons (not to mention the success of men's and women's hockey as well as baseball and soccer). Publicly and in the media, UConn looks like a flagship athletic brand again.

That is exactly why we should be pushing hard this summer, reopening Big 12 conversations, floating similar terms to the ACC, whatever it takes to get a real seat at the table.

My worry is that windows like this do not stay open forever. A Geno retirement, Hurley jumping to the NBA, or a rocky football coaching transition could easily knock us back into limbo.

If we want long term stability, this feels like the time to be bold and get into the a Power 4 conference. Thoughts?

Everything you said about UConn is true. If it was up to me, you would be in The Big 10 right now. Unfortunately, I'm just a schlub posting on a message board, and SMU showed us what the terms were for joining a non-decimated ACC. I think all that UConn can do right now is hold on until 2030. If something happens with the ACC be readily available as a backfill option.

 

[Fishy]

I'm not even sure there's going to be anything dramatic in 2030.

The Big Ten and perhaps the SEC will be distributing around $100M to members and even if they get over the "bigger has not been better" issues they're having, they would need to convince a network that paying an extra $100m per school is a good idea.

Is ESPN drooling at the prospect of give UNC $100m instead of $45m? Doubt it. Does Fox want to pay the Big Ten an extra $200m a year for two schools? Doubt it.

It could happen, but it's certainly not the way things are heading.

I can, however, see UConn getting an invite to the B12 before it goes to market to renegotiate. It's a long shot and honestly, not an exciting prospect, but I can see it happening.

 

[Hoophound]

I know we need an invite, but at this point I struggle to find an invite anywhere exciting. I’ve actually grown to like the Big East more because we have rivalries and history here. I think it would be exciting to go to the B1G for football. I don’t really care about playing them in basketball. It’s a good conference but it just doesn’t have any familiarity.

The whole college sports climate has become a turnoff. I’m particularly disheartened by the situation we seem to face with refs in both football and basketball. We’ve been getting screwed by ACC refs in football for years now and we even get screwed by Big East refs in basketball. It’s very pronounced and disheartening. Maybe, there is no good place for us.

 

[JwittersPAC]

We could win dual national championships for 5 straight years in basketball and not get into a Power 4 conference. The only way to get in the club is to provide more revenue for hegemonic schools. We have no pathway to doing so, and as such, have no pathway to an invite. I encourage you to enjoy the time we have left as a real competitor in D1 college athletics

This fatalism language is tiring. As long as there are boosters, fans and the state are willing to support UConn basketball, UConn will continue to be great in basketball.

 

[Kolumbo]

I know we need an invite, but at this point I struggle to find an invite anywhere exciting. I’ve actually grown to like the Big East more because we have rivalries and history here. I think it would be exciting to go to the B1G for football. I don’t really care about playing them in basketball. It’s a good conference but it just doesn’t have any familiarity.

The whole college sports climate has become a turnoff. I’m particularly disheartened by the situation we seem to face with refs in both football and basketball. We’ve been getting screwed by ACC refs in football for years now and we even get screwed by Big East refs in basketball. It’s very pronounced and disheartening. Maybe, there is no good place for us.

There may be no good place for us but the Big East is worse. Sure we have rivalries but their hatred of us is beyond rivalries. They would rather have our opposition win a national championship than UConn. Even big east hq seems to have it in for UConn. I almost feel like Indie Basketball would be a better route except the officiating overall would get worse.

 

[Purple Stein]

I almost feel like Indie Basketball would be a better route except the officiating overall would get worse.

Although impossible and impractical, man would that be fun.

 

[CL82]

There may be no good place for us but the Big East is worse. Sure we have rivalries but their hatred of us is beyond rivalries. They would rather have our opposition win a national championship than UConn. Even big east hq seems to have it in for UConn. I almost feel like Indie Basketball would be a better route except the officiating overall would get worse.

There are much worse places for us to be then the big east. In fact, outside of a P4 conference, I would say the big east is the best place for us.

 

[RuffRuff]

 

[CL82]

"Seen it all before. Wake me when we have an invite"​

 

[Kolumbo]

ok fellas. Just Locked on Big 12 banter but at least Drake is talking about it

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We could use a Title IX lawsuit to break football off. Anyone know a girls lacrosse player at BCU that is feeling a little salty?

Maybe troll Michigan or Florida boards to see if you can rile the fanbase up to demand performance splits of the revenue.

 

[KryHavok]

ok fellas. Just Locked on Big 12 banter but at least Drake is talking about it

So this makes the most sense and hasn't happened cuz the all cretins crew is run by nimrods:

We've heard this bantered about for a few years now, generally after the NCAA tourneys, yet this also hasn't happened because "travel/fit is bad":

Seems to me that if CalFord can play at fruit, BCU, and Miami, we can manage playing in Kansas, Texas, and Arizona.

There's another map I made that I really like (in terms of member locations), but that would require The State University of New Jersey to be 2nd fiddle in the NY market. ^_^

 

[Kolumbo]

So this makes the most sense and hasn't happened cuz the all cretins crew is run by nimrods:
View attachment 119464
We've heard this bantered about for a few years now, generally after the NCAA tourneys, yet this also hasn't happened because "travel/fit is bad":
View attachment 119465
Seems to me that if CalFord can play at fruit, BCU, and Miami, we can manage playing in Kansas, Texas, and Arizona.

There's another map I made that I really like (in terms of member locations), but that would require The State University of New Jersey to be 2nd fiddle in the NY market. ^_^

I used to go to this site to see conference maps but it stopped working a few months ago. not sure what happened

NCAA Maps - Sport League Maps : Maps of Sports Leagues

NCAA Conference Maps from Sport League Maps - NCAA Division I ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, AAC, C-USA, MAC, MWC, Sun Belt, and more!

sportleaguemaps.com

 

[RuffRuff]

So this makes the most sense and hasn't happened cuz the all cretins crew is run by nimrods:
View attachment 119464
We've heard this bantered about for a few years now, generally after the NCAA tourneys, yet this also hasn't happened because "travel/fit is bad":
View attachment 119465
Seems to me that if CalFord can play at fruit, BCU, and Miami, we can manage playing in Kansas, Texas, and Arizona.

There's another map I made that I really like (in terms of member locations), but that would require The State University of New Jersey to be 2nd fiddle in the NY market. ^_^

It’s a lopsided schedule - in hoops we could play the 3 other east schools 2x a year then do road trips and stay out there for 2 games twice a year.

 

[KryHavok]

I got bored one day and decided to start making my own maps. Took a while to make the data table of coordinates and icon paths, but now I can render them as I wish.

 

[CL82]

I got bored one day and decided to start making my own maps. Took a while to make the data table of coordinates and icon paths, but now I can render them as I wish.

Post them?

 

[KryHavok]

Post them?

I gotta update some teams that changed since I made the master file (I had current conference, future conference, that CSFL proposal [from 2024], all sorts of crap). I'll just leave you with that favorite map I alluded to earlier:

This seems so workable for road trips, don't you think, besides it gives Iowa, Michigan State, and Penn State a solid icon buddy compared to letter members. 😅 Of course, I have better odds of having a 10 meter wide diamond meteorite fall in my backyard, but a man can dream, can't he?

 

[Kolumbo]

I gotta update some teams that changed since I made the master file (I had current conference, future conference, that CSFL proposal [from 2024], all sorts of crap). I'll just leave you with that favorite map I alluded to earlier:
View attachment 119468
This seems so workable for road trips, don't you think, besides it gives Iowa, Michigan State, and Penn State a solid icon buddy compared to letter members. 😅 Of course, I have better odds of having a 10 meter wide diamond meteorite fall in my backyard, but a man can dream, can't he?

 

[RitzLuce1]

I saw Brett Yormark on TV during the Final 4 and he said the Big 12 was the 2nd best basketball league in America after the NBA.

I wonder if Arizona and UConn's performance against Michigan was a wake up call to him his statement is not true unless he adds another school.

 

[Hoophound]

I don’t think the Big 10 is necessarily the best in the big picture. They had a good run in the tourney but that happens sometimes. They should probably put up more than one title before they get too big for their britches. When you have 10 teams or whatever, getting two to the FF isn’t unheard of at all.

 

[mike012]

SEC basketball was super league last year and average this year.