The View From Section 241 -- the NBE

[businesslawyer]

This is not an easy column to write. I have loved UConn basketball since I moved to Connecticut in fall of '77. I have loved UConn football with maybe even a greater passion (as it was part of a more exclusive club) since they opened the Rent. The last few years have just been incredibly painful, watching something you love suffer the way our programs have. And it's not like I don't understand the move to the NBE. (And no, we are not moving back to the Big East -- we are leaving the real Big East, and woo to any of you who pretends this is really the Big East in my presence.) I get it. Political decisions unfortunately are made for the short term, and I get this in the short term. And I get that the majority of our fanbase will see this as a good thing. This is death for our football program (more on that in a moment) and disadvantageous to our baseball program, but is generally a very good thing for all our other non-revenue sports just based on cutting travel time and expenses alone and at least in the short term is a very good thing for basketball. But do I believe this is a good thing overall? No, I don't. I'd like to -- I really would -- but I can't get there. Let's take it in pieces.

For sports generally, this is a good thing. Less travel that has to be done on airplanes. Playing against more geographic rivals, which means more kids you played against growing up. More road games/matches/meets that your family can attend. Lower costs for the school. Generally it's a good thing, whether competition is up a little or down a little. Maybe it will help soccer revive, although I think that has more to do with needing a new coach. Hockey isn't effected -- plays in its own hockey league. For baseball, it's not a good thing but they'll survive. We have an outstanding coach, we have new facilities coming on line and we have established ourselves as THE program in the Northeastern United States. Not just New England, but the entire coast from PA up. Travel will be a little easier, in conference play will pull down SOS, you're not going to convince me this is a good thing for our baseball program but it will be fine. But let's talk women's basketball, men's basketball and football.

I don't follow women's hoops nearly as closely as many here, but I have to think that their inability to string together a few tough wins deep in the NCAAs and thus win championships is made more difficult by the fact that we don't seem to get any competition at all in the AAC. Yes, the NBE isn't the Big East. No Louisville, no Notre Dame, not even a Syracuse -- but even if it's just somewhat better maybe that will help. Other than that, Geno coaches the Globetrotters. Their popularity during the season doesn't come from their conference schedule anyway. Now, add the factors that we'll cover on the men's side in a moment (less travel, more rivalries that the fans and players care about) and I don't doubt this is a plus on the women's side.

For men's basketball, this is a short term boost, but not as big of one long term as many think. It will reduce travel, which should make road wins a little easier. While the conference is also spread out, it is obviously more northeast - centric than the American, which also helps fan interest and should increase attendance and fan intensity. The tourney in MSG is obviously a good thing both for our fanbase and recruiting. And, to be fair, over the last few years the NBE has been a better basketball conference than the American. By a ton? No. Are there factors (like the explosive growth of non-flagship state institutions in sunbelt states) that might cause the American to catch up or even surpass the NBE in hoops in the intermediate term? Yes, that's possible, although it's also possible their relative rank won't change. Do we run the risk that the football schools one day want to run their own basketball tourney and leave the basketball onlies entirely? Yes. That risk is still there, and I view it as more acute than when Lou Perkins convinced the administration that we needed football to protect basketball decades ago. But that's all long term. Short term, football fans can whine all they want but this is a good thing for the men's basketball program and that makes it popular overall with students, alumni and the state. Football having become as unwatchable as the last three years have been has guaranteed that the decisionmakers aren't listening to football fans because there aren't enough of them.

So what does this mean for football? Probably that FBS level football is on deathwatch. The fact that we applied to the NBE before we knew what we were doing with the football program says it all. The plan -- if you can call it that -- is that we don't have one because we don't care. We're putting our other sports in the NBE, we'll see if someone will take our football and if not we'll go independent. But that's a short term solution only. We won't survive as an independent. People don't care about our football program enough. I'm not even sure I do. If winning doesn't get you rewards and bowls, and you can't compare yourself to the teams you play every year, our program will die. Yes, I understand many think it's already dead but it's not. In the AAC, it only needs to start winning again and some attendance will come back. And winning just takes a great coach, a financial commitment and time in college football. Can Edsall get us back to our mildly winning ways? I don't know. If you've given up on him based on the last two years, that's fine and I get that. But someone could. But now I don't see it. We're UMass with a closer off campus stadium. We won't be playing FBS football in 10 years. I don't see how that's possible. For those that are saying they will pay that price because you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel anyway -- well, you need better eyesight. There was no light at the end of the tunnel about how we were going to compete on a P-6 level before we did it the first time either. Luckily, we didn't listen to the naysayers.

So that's it. I do get this. It will make people happier short term. And there are long term benefits. (And note I'm not dwelling on TV deals, because long term water will find its level.) But I hope basketball becomes Jim Calhoun era UConn again, because while this will be a great short term boost I'm not convinced the Big East will be so much better than the American long term that it will be a great long term boost. But I do know this will kill football. And without football, I fear one day basketball will die anyway.

 

[huskymedic]

Missed your "Views" - always appreciated.

 

[uconnfan68]

With a $40 million deficit, all sports may be short term. A lot of schools may be following this new model.

 

[J187Money]

I love the fact that we get an MSG tournament again. Love that.

But that's really about it.

I know that I will try to give my tickets away for a midweek game against Marquette/DePaul/Butler/Creighton/Xavier - come January and I won't get any more takers than I get now for ECU/UCF/USF/etc...

If we are ranked, we will sell tickets. If we aren't, we won't - no matter who we play.

When we play in NYC - we will be there in force, because people LOVE going to MSG for a game.

But I don't believe this moves the needle much as far as attendance is concerned. Will believe it when I see it.

 

[Husky92]

Thanks for your thoughts, lawyer. Always appreciated your insight. I'm still hoping that independence won't be the death of UCONN football. Will we get a scheduling deal with FOX'S help? Will we get regional rivalries (unlikely), will P5's cancel our scheduled home and homes (hopefully not)? Too much up in the air at this time. I guess I'm still holding out hope until that final kick in the nuts.

 

[ZooCougar]

This is not an easy column to write. I have loved UConn basketball since I moved to Connecticut in fall of '77. I have loved UConn football with maybe even a greater passion (as it was part of a more exclusive club) since they opened the Rent. The last few years have just been incredibly painful, watching something you love suffer the way our programs have. And it's not like I don't understand the move to the NBE. (And no, we are not moving back to the Big East -- we are leaving the real Big East, and woo to any of you who pretends this is really the Big East in my presence.) I get it. Political decisions unfortunately are made for the short term, and I get this in the short term. And I get that the majority of our fanbase will see this as a good thing. This is death for our football program (more on that in a moment) and disadvantageous to our baseball program, but is generally a very good thing for all our other non-revenue sports just based on cutting travel time and expenses alone and at least in the short term is a very good thing for basketball. But do I believe this is a good thing overall? No, I don't. I'd like to -- I really would -- but I can't get there. Let's take it in pieces.

For sports generally, this is a good thing. Less travel that has to be done on airplanes. Playing against more geographic rivals, which means more kids you played against growing up. More road games/matches/meets that your family can attend. Lower costs for the school. Generally it's a good thing, whether competition is up a little or down a little. Maybe it will help soccer revive, although I think that has more to do with needing a new coach. Hockey isn't effected -- plays in its own hockey league. For baseball, it's not a good thing but they'll survive. We have an outstanding coach, we have no facilities coming on line and we have established ourselves as THE program in the Northeastern United States. Not just New England, but the entire coast from PA up. Travel will be a little easier, in conference play will pull down SOS, you're not going to convince me this is a good thing for our baseball program but it will be fine. But let's talk women's basketball, men's basketball and football.

I don't follow women's hoops nearly as closely as many here, but I have to think that their inability to string together a few tough wins deep in the NCAAs and thus win championships is made more difficult by the fact that we don't seem to get any competition at all in the AAC. Yes, the NBE isn't the Big East. No Louisville, no Notre Dame, not even a Syracuse -- but even if it's just somewhat better maybe that will help. Other than that, Geno coaches the Globetrotters. Their popularity during the season doesn't come from their conference schedule anyway. Now, add the factors that we'll cover on the men's side in a moment (less travel, more rivalries that the fans and players care about) and I don't doubt this is a plus on the women's side.

For men's basketball, this is a short term boost, but not as big of one long term as many think. It will reduce travel, which should make road wins a little easier. While the conference is also spread out, it is obviously more northeast - centric than the American, which also helps fan interest and should increase attendance and fan intensity. The tourney in MSG is obviously a good thing both for our fanbase and recruiting. And, to be fair, over the last few years the NBE has been a better basketball conference than the American. By a ton? No. Are there factors (like the explosive growth of non-flagship state institutions in sunbelt states) that might cause the American to catch up or even surpass the NBE in hoops in the intermediate term? Yes, that's possible, although it's also possible their relative rank won't change. Do we run the risk that the football schools one day want to run their own basketball tourney and leave the basketball onlies entirely? Yes. That risk is still there, and I view as more acute than when Lou Perkins convinced the administration that we needed football to protect basketball. But that's all long term. Short term, football fans can whine all they want but this is a good thing for the men's basketball program and that makes it popular overall with students, alumni and the state. Football having become as unwatchable as the last three years have been has guaranteed that the decisionmakers aren't listening to football fans because there aren't enough of them.

So what does this mean for football? Probably that FBS level football is on deathwatch. The fact that we applied to the NBE before we knew what we were doing with the football program says it all. The plan -- if you can call it that -- is that we don't have one because we don't care. We're putting our other sports in the NBE, we'll see if someone will take our football and if not we'll go independent. But that's a short term solution only. We won't survive as an independent. People don't care about our football program enough. I'm not even sure I do. If winning doesn't get you rewards and bowls, and you can't compare yourself to the teams you play every year, our program will die. Yes, I understand many think it's already dead but it's not. In the AAC, it only needs to start winning again and some attendance will come back. And winning just takes a great coach, a financial commitment and time in college football. Can Edsall get us back to our mildly winning way? I don't know. If you've given up on him based on the last two years, that's fine and I get that. But someone could. But now I don't see it. We're UMass with a closer off campus stadium. We won't be playing FBS football in 10 years. I don't see how that's possible. For those that are saying they will pay that price because you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel anyway -- well, you need better eyesight. There was no light at the end of the tunnel about how we were going to compete on a P-6 level before we did it the first time either. Luckily, we didn't listen to the naysayers.

So that's it. I do get this. It will make people happier short term. And there are long term benefits. (And note I'm not dwelling on TV deals, because long term water will find its level.) But I hope basketball becomes Jim Calhoun era UConn again, because while this will be a great short term boost I'm not convinced the Big East will be so much better than the American long term that it will be a great long term boost. But I do know this will kill football. And without football, I fear one day basketball will die anyway.

Nice post. We are on deathwatch. Independent football is a pointless and unsustainable existence.

 

[Adios]

The basketball only buffoons think the school is here to produce NBA lottery draft picks instead of people productive in industry, commerce, education and science. And they obviously have no vision of organizational strategy.

Tell them as a business lawyer that this is a bad move, and they'll tell you that you are wrong and a crybaby. It's sadly hilarious.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

Agree with the above 100%.

What I don't get, is why do this now? The next (final) round of conference realignment will occur in the next 3-4 year (as the BIG TV contract expires). Why not wait a couple of more years and hope that Edsall has rebuilt the program by then and we get a P5 invite? Who knows how the P5 conferences will shake out at that time.

It's not like the Big East door was closing. The Big East would have invited us 5 years from now if we missed on the P5 invite and then we could officially degraded the football program at that point. Why the rush to do this now?

It seems like an ill-informed decision that was reactionary to a few big time boosters and politicians. I don't disagree that this might have been our ultimate fate 5 years from now. But why throw in the towel and make this decision now? We took it this far, why not give our Athletic Department one last chance in a few years.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is a decision that will haunt us forever. Again, hope I am wrong here.

 

[Adios]

With a $40 million deficit, all sports may be short term. A lot of schools may be following this new model.

If that happens, then that would only help our cause. But I don't see other schools doing this same model. UCF going to keep football in the AAC and move all other sports elsewhere?

This conference is a drain on all schools involved, particularly us, because of the size of our AD expenses.

 

[businesslawyer]

With a $40 million deficit, all sports may be short term. A lot of schools may be following this new model.

Just to be clear, what has caused our deficits to balloon is the plummeting revenues from ticket sales. I'd bet if we were selling tickets as we did when we were winning in football and men's basketball that number would be cut in half. And also remember, the number is somewhat arbitrary as there are a lot of different ways of showing the numbers, and as many decisions are based on affiliated transfer pricing of one kind or another the numbers, while useful, are not as comparable or important as many think. (And no, I'm not saying we can lose $40M per year forever.)

 

[DefCONNOne]

Thanks for your thoughts, lawyer. Always appreciated your insight. I'm still hoping that independence won't be the death of UCONN football. Will we get a scheduling deal with FOX'S help? Will we get regional rivalries (unlikely), will P5's cancel our scheduled home and homes (hopefully not)? Too much up in the air at this time. I guess I'm still holding out hope until that final kick in the nuts.

Narrator: They did not get a schedule deal with Fox's help. In fact, Fox was only interested in their basketball program.

 

[businesslawyer]

Agree with the above 100%.

What I don't get, is why do this now? The next (final) round of conference realignment will occur in the next 3-4 year (as the BIG TV contract expires). Why not wait a couple of more years and hope that Edsall has rebuilt the program by then and we get a P5 invite? Who knows how the P5 conferences will shake out at that time.

It's not like the Big East door was closing. The Big East would have invited us 5 years from now if we missed on the P5 invite and then we could officially degraded the football program at that point. Why the rush to do this now?

It seems like an ill-informed decision that was reactionary to a few big time boosters and politicians. I don't disagree that this might have been our ultimate fate 5 years from now. But why throw in the towel and make this decision now? We took it this far, why not give our Athletic Department one last chance in a few years.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is a decision that will haunt us forever. Again, hope I am wrong here.

The politicians (and I don't know whether we're talking about Hartford politicians or politics within the University) will score points with this. It will short term be popular. My guess is that it is one of two possible answers for "why now." The other is the AAC TV contract. And it easily could be both.

 

[Excalibur]

Agree with the above 100%.

What I don't get, is why do this now? The next (final) round of conference realignment will occur in the next 3-4 year (as the BIG TV contract expires). Why not wait a couple of more years and hope that Edsall has rebuilt the program by then and we get a P5 invite? Who knows how the P5 conferences will shake out at that time.

It's not like the Big East door was closing. The Big East would have invited us 5 years from now if we missed on the P5 invite and then we could officially degraded the football program at that point. Why the rush to do this now?

I said this on the basketball board. We could’ve made this deal with the Big East three years ago, and we could make it five years from now. The timing is odd.

 

[huskysupporter]

Excellent 241 post as usual. I agree with a lot of it, although I am probably more pessimistic, and yours was a pessimistic post.

This is what I 100% agree with and feel people just aren’t seeing:

“And without football, I fear one day basketball will die anyway.”

I said it and will say it again: Football Drives The Bus.

Does the football team reek? Yep. Does that mean we cast it aside like we just did? Heck no. Football should have been priority 1, 2, and 3 for the University. Coaching salaries should have been above conference level norms. Recruiting budget should have been plentiful. Instead we have a head coach taking money out of his salary in an attempt to raise his offensive coordinators salary from abysmal to just poor.

Short term this is is a boost to men’s basketball. Long term this was a horrible financial and strategic decision. And like many here it makes me sad. . . and angry. I refuse to support this university financially any longer. Why reward ineptitude?

 

[Nextmanup]

Waiting for the P5 invite would never have come to UConn Football ., UCF or another winning team would have gotten the invite before us if we were lucky enough to win half the games played in 2020 and beyond..

Staying in the AAC would also get us nowhere.. and I’m so damn tired of hearing how no one wanted to see Tulsa and ECU anyway and the games and AAC opponents were not worth seeing..

Maybe going independent will bring us some games people might get a fire under their ass and want to come out to see..
We will just have to see how this plays out. Randy is telling the recruits something to be getting commits.. there is more to the story..
To be continued...

 

[cohenzone]

This is not an easy column to write. I have loved UConn basketball since I moved to Connecticut in fall of '77. I have loved UConn football with maybe even a greater passion (as it was part of a more exclusive club) since they opened the Rent. The last few years have just been incredibly painful, watching something you love suffer the way our programs have. And it's not like I don't understand the move to the NBE. (And no, we are not moving back to the Big East -- we are leaving the real Big East, and woo to any of you who pretends this is really the Big East in my presence.) I get it. Political decisions unfortunately are made for the short term, and I get this in the short term. And I get that the majority of our fanbase will see this as a good thing. This is death for our football program (more on that in a moment) and disadvantageous to our baseball program, but is generally a very good thing for all our other non-revenue sports just based on cutting travel time and expenses alone and at least in the short term is a very good thing for basketball. But do I believe this is a good thing overall? No, I don't. I'd like to -- I really would -- but I can't get there. Let's take it in pieces.

For sports generally, this is a good thing. Less travel that has to be done on airplanes. Playing against more geographic rivals, which means more kids you played against growing up. More road games/matches/meets that your family can attend. Lower costs for the school. Generally it's a good thing, whether competition is up a little or down a little. Maybe it will help soccer revive, although I think that has more to do with needing a new coach. Hockey isn't effected -- plays in its own hockey league. For baseball, it's not a good thing but they'll survive. We have an outstanding coach, we have no facilities coming on line and we have established ourselves as THE program in the Northeastern United States. Not just New England, but the entire coast from PA up. Travel will be a little easier, in conference play will pull down SOS, you're not going to convince me this is a good thing for our baseball program but it will be fine. But let's talk women's basketball, men's basketball and football.

I don't follow women's hoops nearly as closely as many here, but I have to think that their inability to string together a few tough wins deep in the NCAAs and thus win championships is made more difficult by the fact that we don't seem to get any competition at all in the AAC. Yes, the NBE isn't the Big East. No Louisville, no Notre Dame, not even a Syracuse -- but even if it's just somewhat better maybe that will help. Other than that, Geno coaches the Globetrotters. Their popularity during the season doesn't come from their conference schedule anyway. Now, add the factors that we'll cover on the men's side in a moment (less travel, more rivalries that the fans and players care about) and I don't doubt this is a plus on the women's side.

For men's basketball, this is a short term boost, but not as big of one long term as many think. It will reduce travel, which should make road wins a little easier. While the conference is also spread out, it is obviously more northeast - centric than the American, which also helps fan interest and should increase attendance and fan intensity. The tourney in MSG is obviously a good thing both for our fanbase and recruiting. And, to be fair, over the last few years the NBE has been a better basketball conference than the American. By a ton? No. Are there factors (like the explosive growth of non-flagship state institutions in sunbelt states) that might cause the American to catch up or even surpass the NBE in hoops in the intermediate term? Yes, that's possible, although it's also possible their relative rank won't change. Do we run the risk that the football schools one day want to run their own basketball tourney and leave the basketball onlies entirely? Yes. That risk is still there, and I view as more acute than when Lou Perkins convinced the administration that we needed football to protect basketball. But that's all long term. Short term, football fans can whine all they want but this is a good thing for the men's basketball program and that makes it popular overall with students, alumni and the state. Football having become as unwatchable as the last three years have been has guaranteed that the decisionmakers aren't listening to football fans because there aren't enough of them.

So what does this mean for football? Probably that FBS level football is on deathwatch. The fact that we applied to the NBE before we knew what we were doing with the football program says it all. The plan -- if you can call it that -- is that we don't have one because we don't care. We're putting our other sports in the NBE, we'll see if someone will take our football and if not we'll go independent. But that's a short term solution only. We won't survive as an independent. People don't care about our football program enough. I'm not even sure I do. If winning doesn't get you rewards and bowls, and you can't compare yourself to the teams you play every year, our program will die. Yes, I understand many think it's already dead but it's not. In the AAC, it only needs to start winning again and some attendance will come back. And winning just takes a great coach, a financial commitment and time in college football. Can Edsall get us back to our mildly winning way? I don't know. If you've given up on him based on the last two years, that's fine and I get that. But someone could. But now I don't see it. We're UMass with a closer off campus stadium. We won't be playing FBS football in 10 years. I don't see how that's possible. For those that are saying they will pay that price because you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel anyway -- well, you need better eyesight. There was no light at the end of the tunnel about how we were going to compete on a P-6 level before we did it the first time either. Luckily, we didn't listen to the naysayers.

So that's it. I do get this. It will make people happier short term. And there are long term benefits. (And note I'm not dwelling on TV deals, because long term water will find its level.) But I hope basketball becomes Jim Calhoun era UConn again, because while this will be a great short term boost I'm not convinced the Big East will be so much better than the American long term that it will be a great long term boost. But I do know this will kill football. And without football, I fear one day basketball will die anyway.

Generally I agree with you. I’ve had football season tickets since a year before the Rent opened. I can certainly live without big time football. My general interest in big time college sports has been diminishing. I’m a UConn alum and have been a fan of the men’s team since high school in the early 60s. Men’s hoops was a regional power in the YanCon and there was no women’s hoops. Football was at best mediocre Yancon. But there was decent student interest, even in football because there were regional rivals. The old BE was certainly a step up for men’s hoops especially under Calhoun and the success of women’s hoops is matchless. Football kind of just went along for the ride even though it’s probably accurate that the step up in fb was done to keep basketball at a high level.

The deeper question is whether “big time” college sports is worth it to a university. UConn has made significant investment in facilities for all sports . The revenue choices based on conference media deals mean a lot to the school. Basketball rules the deal and the BE move makes sense even though it’s arguable whether the AAC or the BE inspire a lot of fan interest based on rivalry. The regional rivalries absent Syracuse and BC are not all that great and will depend a lot for the men how good Nova remains and hope for good Friar hoops.

I can’t see how FB makes it as a top independent. At least not to produce a reasonable return on the investment. I suppose a loaded schedule could do it and entice recruits. How seasons ticket buyers would react, not to mention a pretty moribund student interest in football, is a crapshoot. I’ve made almost all the Rent games and will do so this year. For personal reasons, this might be my last year as a seasons ticket holder. But my rooting interest won’t change one way or another. Ive been a UConn fan too long. But the 60% more or less empty seats in my great 50 yard line section shows how thin the margin is for any sensible investment by the university in the program.

 

[uconnfan68]

If that happens, then that would only help our cause. But I don't see other schools doing this same model. UCF going to keep football in the AAC and move all other sports elsewhere?

This conference is a drain on all schools involved, particularly us, because of the size of our AD expenses.

There are a lot of small schools already closing their doors. The wealth inequality between P5 and all the rest is starting to mirror our country’s state. Guess what is happening to the middle class?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You are just flat out wrong on the difference between the Big East and American in terms of basketball. The Big East is light years ahead, and the American will never get close.

It didn't have to be this way. Some of us saw that the American was a death knell for our athletic program the moment that Louisville was picked over us. We were a northern school in a southern mid-major conference, and we were always going to be at a huge disadvantage for recruiting in each of the three major sports.

Maybe Ollie was a bad coach and as lazy as they say, and maybe he got run over by a dump truck that would have flattened any coaching career when the rest of college basketball held a yard sale on our current roster. Funny how he is one of very few national champions to be run off within 4 years. It is impossible to recruit in this conference. Northern kids don't want to play in a southern mid-major, and southern kids don't view UConn as a national program when we have home and home's with Tulsa and Tulane.

The women's program has had its two worst back to back recruiting classes since probably the very early 90's. In case anyone is not paying attention, there are two kinds of women's basketball programs: successful and irrelevant. There are maybe 15-20 in the first category. Auriemma has kept our program above water by magic, but he is old, and even two more years in the American would have been the end of the women's program. It may be too late anyway, but the Big East was absolutely critical for the women's program.

Football may have been able to make a run at it as an independent if it started 5 years ago. It is going to be tough to do it now. That said, if you think that it will be any worse as an independent, you are missing the fact that our football program is already dead.

The only disappointing part of this move is that it was not done in 2012.

 

[GridironGR8]

I hate to say it, but I agree with you 100%. The P5 dream is dead, even if UConn continues to play as an FBS independent for another 3, 5, 7 years or more. Financially, the day of reckoning can only be put off so long.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Excellent 241 post as usual. I agree with a lot of it, although I am probably more pessimistic, and yours was a pessimistic post.

This is what I 100% agree with and feel people just aren’t seeing:

“And without football, I fear one day basketball will die anyway.”

I said it and will say it again: Football Drives The Bus.

Does the football team reek? Yep. Does that mean we cast it aside like we just did? Heck no. Football should have been priority 1, 2, and 3 for the University. Coaching salaries should have been above conference level norms. Recruiting budget should have been plentiful. Instead we have a head coach taking money out of his salary in an attempt to raise his offensive coordinators salary from abysmal to just poor.

Short term this is is a boost to men’s basketball. Long term this was a horrible financial and strategic decision. And like many here it makes me sad. . . and angry. I refuse to support this university financially any longer. Why reward ineptitude?

Do you know anyone with kids under the age of 20? Youth football participation in the northeast is dropping dramatically, and that trend will only continue. If a test is ever developed to diagnose CTE in living people, football will become a fringe sport. I think we are 5-10 years from a major high school in the state of Connecticut shutting its football program down because of head injuries.

If it is ever determined that universities knew the prevalence of CTE in their players and buried the information, university presidents and athletic directors could go to jail.

Football will not be driving the bus for much longer.

 

[GridironGR8]

I hate to say it, but I agree with you 100%. The P5 dream is dead, even if UConn continues to play as an FBS independent for another 3, 5, 7 years or more. Financially, the day of reckoning can only be put off so long.

That was in response to businesslawyer, not Nelson.

 

[jbdphi]

I think the biggest thing for me is that all the folks celebrating this move are saying that the FB program was already effectively dead and that it would never emerge from its latest death spiral. There are so many examples of other programs who have changed their fortune through a coaching change, investment, recruiting, whatever it might be, to say that the FB program could never improve is absurd.

Except that post-announcement, that's where I feel like the program will have fallen. It seems nigh impossible to turn things around while operating as an independent and I agree with the OP that this spells the end of UConn Football.

 

[jrazz12]

We're UMass with a closer off campus stadium.

Agree with a lot of this, but this is the point that keeps getting made that confuses me.

Why do we have to be UMass? Why can't we be BYU? Or Notre Dame-lite?

When the Big 12 started flirting with programs a few years ago, weren't we all out here claiming superiority over all other candidates, including BYU?

We run around talking about our national brand, our NYC following, our ability to create our own TV deal, our athletic department's success across the board the last 2 decades, how we're owed a spot in the P5, how we're the next one up as soon as that elusive invite appears. But somehow if we lose the power of the AAC, the same conference that UCF has come out of undefeated twice and yet couldn't even remotely sniff a playoff spot, suddenly we're UMass?

I don't get how with one breath we can say "The P5 invite is coming, it's ours in just a few years" and then in the next breath say "We don't have the power or value to make it as an Independent, even though one of our challengers for that P5 spot does it fine."

Especially when the former requires betting the survival of the entire athletic department on Randy Edsall turning around a team that gave up about 1.5 million yards of offense last season.

We're either big boys who can pull this off, or we were already dead and couldn't admit it.

Personally, I think the program was put on life support somewhere around the time we gave up 49 points for the 6th game in a row last season. I don't think this move does anything to worsen that condition. If anything, a change in scenery and momentum could resurrect it better than Randy Edsall's plodding program building in a southern conference would. The MAJOR caveat here is being incredibly smart with scheduling, ticketing, and media rights for the next 5 years. This isn't a department that has inspired any hope in that endeavor the last decade and a half, but this move to me shows a sign of life and a little fight finally.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think the biggest thing for me is that all the folks celebrating this move are saying that the FB program was already effectively dead and that it would never emerge from its latest death spiral. There are so many examples of other programs who have changed their fortune through a coaching change, investment, recruiting, whatever it might be, to say that the FB program could never improve is absurd.

Except that post-announcement, that's where I feel like the program will have fallen. It seems nigh impossible to turn things around while operating as an independent and I agree with the OP that this spells the end of UConn Football.

Joining the AAC got us to this point with the football program.

 

[Adios]

"We just beat a ranked team in football 4 years ago."

Basketball board: "Oh, it was never going to happen again."

These fools lie to themselves and others about our football program just to get excited about basketball.