The View From Section 241 -- the NBE

[Adios]

There's really no positive, except a more balanced budget sheet.

 

[John]

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

No not true.

 

[dwalks93]

This was the right move for UConn athletics and one of the saddest days I can remember for UConn.

The AAC pathway to the P5 was always sustain basketball excellence (men's and women's), grow the football program and wait for the next P5 billet. In 2013, UConn was the consensus #1 attractive P5 candidate and the path was clear....wait for an opening, we are on deck.

Fast forward 5 years and UConn athletics are in a downward spiral. Our men's basketball program is sub 500, our women's program while still elite has lost its monopoly and our football program is legitimately among the worst in the country. Our fans are abandoning the program in mass and the national brand of UConn is nearing a modern time low.

To make it worse, programs like Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF have likely moved ahead of us in P5 attractiveness. While the above teams have flourished in the AAC, UConn has dwindled. Moreover the recent AAC media deal absolutely minimized UConn's value (particularly with women's basketball and SNY) and insured UConn would not be able to brand and re-market itself.

Bottom line....UConn was losing ground and coming back was becoming systemically impossible in the AAC. The move to the BE likely dooms UConn to never being in the P5 and insures our football program will never be competitive (perhaps even FBS). It is like cutting off an infected arm to save the rest of the athletic body. I am happy UConn now has a chance to partially recover but sad we will never be a complete P5 program.

The only positive I can see is retreating now offers more hope than staying in. The AAC is a dead conference walking. Houston, Cincinnati, UCF, Memphis, etc....are likely to move to the B12 with the non-Oklahoma/Texas/Kansas teams....When that happens, what is the AAC? The only thing worse than being in the AAC is being in the AAC when the only good teams in the conference leave and we are not one of them....

Might as well go out fighting as opposed to dying a captive....UConn may be in retreat but at least its a fighting retreat.

 

[John]

Football has been kicked to the curb.
No clearer example than that they haven’t even got an exit strategy from the AAC.
I mean how do u make this move and clearly have no idea what you’ll do with your football program?
We gave up, and that just sucks.

Typical Uconn ineptitude.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Our athletic directors and coaching hires did.

Go whack off to your Big East pr0n.

Some posters, like you, said that we needed to sacrifice basketball to help football because someday we would be invited to a P5. We followed this strategy and both basketball programs were damaged and the football program is one of the worst in FBS.

Some posters, like me, were saying that the AAC would damage or destroy all 3 major athletic programs. I said this 7 years ago, and have been proven completely right.

There is a scoreboard for this stuff. I was right, and you were wrong.

 

[Adios]

This was the right move for UConn athletics and one of the saddest days I can remember for UConn.

The AAC pathway to the P5 was always sustain basketball excellent (men's and women's), grow the football program and wait for the next P5 billet. In 2013, UConn was the consensus #1 attractive P5 candidate and the path was clear....wait for an opening, we are on deck.

Fast forward 5 years and UConn athletics are in a downward spiral. Our men's basketball program is sub 500, our women's program while still elite has lost its monopoly and our football program is legitimately among the worst in the country. Our fans are abandoning the program in mass and the national brand of UConn is nearing a modern time low.

To make it worse, programs like Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF have likely moved ahead of us in P5 attractiveness. While the above teams have flourished in the AAC, UConn has dwindled. Moreover the recent AAC media deal absolutely minimized UConn's value (particularly with women's basketball and SNY) and insured UConn would not be able to brand and re-market itself.

Bottom line....UConn was losing ground and coming back was becoming systemically impossible in the AAC. The move to the BE likely dooms UConn to never being in the P5 and insures our football program will never be competitive (perhaps even FBS). It is like cutting off an infected arm to save the rest of the athletic body. I am happy UConn now has a chance partially recover but sad we will never be a complete P5 program.

The only positive I can see is retreating now offers more hope than staying in. The AAC is a dead conference walking. Houston, Cincinnati, UCF, Memphis, etc....are likely to move to the B12 with the non-Oklahoma/Texas/Kansas teams....When that happens, what is the AAC? The only thing worse than being in the AAC is being in the AAC when the only good teams in the conference leave and we are not one of them....

Might as well go out fighting as opposed to dying a captive....UConn may be in retreat but at least its a fighting retreat.

For the 5 millionth time, all it takes is coaches to turn a program around. It was not the conference, it was the hires. KO was good for a season or 2, then took his divorce out on the school and fanbase.

 

[jbdphi]

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

Firstly, we didn't "join" the AAC but that's being petty.

Secondly, having doofus one and doofus two had far more impact than the AAC on our football program. How can you look at Temple or Cincinnati and say that UConn could never be successful in the AAC?

 

[Adios]

Some posters, like you, said that we needed to sacrifice basketball to help football because someday we would be invited to a P5. We followed this strategy and both basketball programs were damaged and the football program is one of the worst in FBS.

Some posters, like me, were saying that the AAC would damage or destroy all 3 major athletic programs. I said this 7 years ago, and have been proven completely right.

There is a scoreboard for this stuff. I was right, and you were wrong.

No, there is no major basketball sacrifice. I didn't even think we were "sacrificing" basketball. Putting words in my mouth. That's how low you gotta go to justify this?

It's weaklings like you who think we were sacrificing basketball.

 

[John]

Some posters, like you, said that we needed to sacrifice basketball to help football because someday we would be invited to a P5. We followed this strategy and both basketball programs were damaged and the football program is one of the worst in FBS.

Some posters, like me, were saying that the AAC would damage or destroy all 3 major athletic programs. I said this 7 years ago, and have been proven completely right.

There is a scoreboard for this stuff. I was right, and you were wrong.

No one claimed any programs needed to be sacrificed lol. Basketball is in trouble due to complete ineptitude and inability to compete in the AAC.

 

[ASweet3781]

There's really no positive, except a more balanced budget sheet.

Positives

- Regional basketball rivals that we have rich history with.
-BET at MSG, The AAC is playing the tournament in half empty arenas.
- can bus to 4 schools (Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova) every other school besides Creighton a plane ride ranging of 45 minutes to 90.
- save money on travel
- can absolutely recruit better basketball players in our target area (NYC/NJ/Boston).
- better basketball attendance
- better TV times
- Big East RPI is far better than the AAC. There is no ECU or Tulane. There is no guarantee that outside of Memphis that the AAC can be strong long term in hoops. UCF loses their starting 5 and how long do they keep Dawkins? How long does Houston keep Sampson? Cincinnati just lost Cronin. Besides Cincy and Memphis does the UConn fan get excited at all playing these teams in hoops?


Negatives

- We probably just gave up on football and raised the white flag on P5. If not than Suzie can kindly let us in on her master plan.

- Perhaps playing an Indie schedule can help get this program winning again. We can't compete with schools located in talent rich Texas, Florida, and Ohio in the current dynamic.

 

[huskysupporter]

Some posters, like you, said that we needed to sacrifice basketball to help football because someday we would be invited to a P5. We followed this strategy and both basketball programs were damaged and the football program is one of the worst in FBS.

Some posters, like me, were saying that the AAC would damage or destroy all 3 major athletic programs. I said this 7 years ago, and have been proven completely right.

There is a scoreboard for this stuff. I was right, and you were wrong.

Can I ask how the basketball team was damaged because of football? Looking at salaries of head coaches and assistants in basketball, I see a pretty solid commitment to the team.

Conversely, the University gave the football team an embarrassing amount towards coaching salaries. $150,000 for an offensive coordinator. That is a joke.

UCONN basketball stunk because of poor coaching and bad talent evaluation. Not because of their conference.

 

[Adios]

Firstly, we didn't "join" the AAC but that's being petty.

Secondly, having doofus one and doofus two had far more impact than the AAC on our football program. How can you look at Temple or Cincinnati and say that UConn could never be successful in the AAC?

These people are that obtuse to get what they want. Quite indicative of humanity. How we'll sacrifice future success for instant gratification.

 

[Adios]

Positives

- Regional basketball rivals that we have rich history with.
-BET at MSG, The AAC is playing the tournament in half empty arenas.
- can bus to 4 schools (Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova) every other school besides Creighton a plane ride ranging of 45 minutes to 90.
- save money on travel
- can absolutely recruit better basketball players in our target area (NYC/NJ/Boston).
- better basketball attendance
- better TV times
- Big East RPI is far better than the AAC. There is no ECU or Tulane. There is no guarantee that outside of Memphis that the AAC can be strong long term in hoops. UCF loses their starting 5 and how long do they keep Dawkins? How long does Houston keep Sampson? Cincinnati just lost Cronin. Besides Cincy and Memphis does the UConn fan get excited at all playing these teams in hoops?


Negatives

- We probably just gave up on football and raised the white flag on P5. If not than Suzie can kindly let us in on her master plan.

- Perhaps playing an Indie schedule can help get this program winning again. We can't compete with schools located in talent rich Texas, Florida, and Ohio in the current dynamic.

There's no positive in going small time. We had to run back to smaller schools to feel better about ourselves?

 

[Adios]

Can I ask how the basketball team was damaged because of football? Looking at salaries of head coaches and assistants in basketball, I see a pretty solid commitment to the team.

Conversely, the University gave the football team an embarrassing amount towards coaching salaries. $150,000 for an offensive coordinator. That is a joke.

UCONN basketball stunk because of poor coaching and bad talent evaluation. Not because of their conference.

Their arguments are really sad. I am not saying the AAC is a better basketball conference but certainly one that can be easily advanced. Or could have been on the women's side. Women's recruiting was getting better for other schools.

 

[storrsroars]

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?

And you want to pay for this how?

 

[ASweet3781]

There's no positive in going small time. We had to run back to smaller schools to feel better about ourselves?

It's not about "feeling better" about ourselves.

A school in Connecticut cannot recruit in a league of Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, etc. Not in men's basketball. Not in football. If Hurley is the savior the men's board think he is (I still have some doubts) he should be able to recruit like gangbusters now.

The alternative was to have the same dynamic of terrible football team and a mediocre basketball team.

 

[CL82]

Ah, well... it was a hell of a run for a while.

 

[Adios]

It's not about "feeling better" about ourselves.

A school in Connecticut cannot recruit in a league of Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, etc. Not in men's basketball. Not in football. If Hurley is the savior the men's board think he is (I still have some doubts) he should be able to recruit like gangbusters now.

The alternative was to have the same dynamic of terrible football team and a mediocre basketball team.

Knowing you've been a pessimistic person, I beg to differ. Let's just leave it at that.

I know Hurley can recruit better in the Big East. But we have to operate as a whole AD in one conference to succeed. Like the big boys. And we've been on the rebound, only to jump ship?

 

[ScottVib]

Basketball’s problem, like football was a coaching one. The AAC didn’t prevent Ollie from pulling in a top-25 recruiting class and it certainly didn’t cause him to alienate the class such that the majority left. Hurley is a good coach and I have no doubt that he will right the ship, regardless of conference.

The long-term concern is a revenue one and the curious choice to again realign the school with ten institutions that have entirely different missions academically and much smaller budgets athletically.

I really hope it works and every team comes out better, but I’m very fearful that this isn’t only footballs death sentence, but the start of a slow decline across the board, first as UConn falls out of the FBS club and then as more and more of the attention is focused on the top tier (old 1A, without football we’d fall back to the old 1AAA group).

 

[d1reality]

can bus to 4 schools (Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova) every other school besides Creighton a plane ride ranging of 45 minutes to 90.

Yeah, I'll bet recruits will be all aglow with the prospect of bus rides to Providence and New Jersey, instead of flying on those jets to the warm havens of Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Carolina in the icy winter months.

 

[ASweet3781]

Knowing you've been a pessimistic person, I beg to differ. Let's just leave it at that.

I know Hurley can recruit better in the Big East. But we have to operate as a whole AD in one conference to succeed. Like the big boys. And we've been on the rebound, only to jump ship?

There's no good answers here. There hasn't been since 2013 when our wonderful leaders allowed Basketball Hooker U to jump them.

Unlike 70% of the board I can't claim to know if this is the best thing ever or the worst thing ever. Just take a look at the responses to uconngb breaking this news 2 weeks ago on the CR board to know most here are just winging it as they go along. He was totally dismissed yet he turned out to be right.

I know this is very concerning news yet have to look at the positives of it to keep going. If UConn slips aways than so does a huge chunk of my memories so I need to at least try to look at the positives of this awful situation.

 

[ASweet3781]

Yeah, I'll bet recruits will be all aglow with the prospect of bus rides to Providence and New Jersey, instead of flying on those jets to the warm havens of Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Carolina in the icy winter months.

Yeah you are totally right, I think like say Kemba Walker or Shabazz Napier's family would definitely prefer that.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I’m happy to see that you, someone whose opinion I seriously value, also believes that athletic models without football like the NBE are ultimately unsustainable. I have seen almost no one on the basketball board even wonder that in passing

 

[huskysupporter]

Basketball’s problem, like football was a coaching one. The AAC didn’t prevent Ollie from pulling in a top-25 recruiting class and it certainly didn’t cause him to alienate the class such that the majority left. Hurley is a good coach and I have no doubt that he will right the ship, regardless of conference.

The long-term concern is a revenue one and the curious choice to again realign the school with ten institutions that have entirely different missions academically and much smaller budgets athletically.

I really hope it works and every team comes out better, but I’m very fearful that this isn’t only footballs death sentence, but the start of a slow decline across the board, first as UConn falls out of the FBS club and then as more and more of the attention is focused on the top tier (old 1A, without football we’d fall back to the old 1AAA group).

Winner winner chicken dinner. Basketball was just fine in the aac. And all signs point that Hurley is going to get UCONN to elite status again. Why? Oh I don’t know, maybe UCONN shelled out money for coaching? Maybe? Ollie ended up being a mistake and they replaced him and paid Hurley and assistants very well. When Hurley leaves in a few years the next coach will also be compensated well.

Now. . . Let’s look at the more important program - football. Is it more popular? Of course not, basketball is an established brand at UCONN (hence the reason they would be just fine in the AAC). But football is more important. Let’s look at similar situation. UCONN screws the pooch by signing Diaco. They realize the mistake and replace him with . . . The cheapest coach they could get. And they pay his assistants 25 cents a year.

See the difference? The lack of strategic vision over the last ten years by this administration has been frightening. And they just put the final nails in the coffin.

But it was a no brainer.

 

[storrsroars]

I got legitimately excited about UConn's baseball program this year. Although I don't watch regularly, I'm happy with any championship the women's BB team can bring. And I'd love to see soccer get back to the heights it did under Morrone. Anytime we can be a competing for a championship in any sport, I'm on board.

That simply wasn't going to happen in football after we got kicked in the nuts during the first couple of rounds of CR. Blame it on whomever you want to blame it on, but trying to create a championship calibre football team in the northeast is a folly. And an extremely expensive one at that.

In the end, even if I don't care about a sport, if UConn is a champion in it, or at least a national power, I believe it counts on the scorecard. This is about more than football. It's about plotting a course for a future where our university doesn't have to resort to ripping off students and taxpayers to support a program that has no realistic chance of delivering the kinds of financial success that the "sky is falling if you end football" crowd seems to think possible.

When you're on welfare, you don't get to eat Waygu beef every week. You can dream about it, but you're not entitled to it. Live within your means. Regroup. Come up with a plan that gets you off the dole and feeling good about yourself.

I don't see this as a disaster. I see this more as an opportunity for UConn to show other institutions the light. The college FB landscape has changed significantly in the past decade. It's now a relatively small club that can legitimately have a program that competes in a meaningful manner and isn't a money sinkhole. We're not in the club and never will be. Take your wins elsewhere and stop worrying about what losing an opportunity at a P5 will do to your superjohn. Think with the head on top of your shoulders.

End of the day, you can still tailgate. And what's more important than hoisting a few with friends? Certainly not the game itself.

 

[huskysupporter]

I got legitimately excited about UConn's baseball program this year. Although I don't watch regularly, I'm happy with any championship the women's BB team can bring. And I'd love to see soccer get back to the heights it did under Morrone. Anytime we can be a competing for a championship in any sport, I'm on board.

That simply wasn't going to happen in football after we got kicked in the nuts during the first couple of rounds of CR. Blame it on whomever you want to blame it on, but trying to create a championship calibre football team in the northeast is a folly. And an extremely expensive one at that.

In the end, even if I don't care about a sport, if UConn is a champion in it, or at least a national power, I believe it counts on the scorecard. This is about more than football. It's about plotting a course for a future where our university doesn't have to resort to ripping off students and taxpayers to support a program that has no realistic chance of delivering the kinds of financial success that the "sky is falling if you end football" crowd seems to think possible.

When you're on welfare, you don't get to eat Waygu beef every week. You can dream about it, but you're not entitled to it. Live within your means. Regroup. Come up with a plan that gets you off the dole and feeling good about yourself.

I don't see this as a disaster. I see this more as an opportunity for UConn to show other institutions the light. The college FB landscape has changed significantly in the past decade. It's now a relatively small club that can legitimately have a program that competes in a meaningful manner and isn't a money sinkhole. We're not in the club and never will be. Take your wins elsewhere and stop worrying about what losing an opportunity at a P5 will do to your superjohn. Think with the head on top of your shoulders.

End of the day, you can still tailgate. And what's more important than hoisting a few with friends? Certainly not the game itself.

You think this will end up being a financially sound decision by the university?

 

[storrsroars]

You think this will end up being a financially sound decision by the university?

I'm not guaranteeing it, but yes, I think it could be. Better than the current path of losing $40+ mill per year.

 

[dwalks93]

For the 5 millionth time, all it takes is coaches to turn a program around. It was not the conference, it was the hires. KO was good for a season or 2, then took his divorce out on the school and fanbase.

I do not disagree many of the wounds UConn sustained were self inflicted particularly in coaching hires and investments in the football program.

Unlike some I do not purely blame the AAC for UConn’s struggle. That said, the new media contract, the geographic separation and marginalization of UConn’s interests made recovering in the AAC much more difficult.

Moreover the time and money needed to repair football just wasn’t there. By 2024 the B12/AAC will see movement and if UConn is not competitive by then it’s really over.

The best predictor of football success is money and UConn wasn’t spending it on football and didn’t have easy funding to spend more on football.

Arguing whether bad coaches or a bad conference created a bad UConn is a chicken or the egg argument. How we got here doesn’t matter. What does matter is digging our way out in the AAC was becoming insurmountable.

Like I said I’m really disappointed in this decision but it is the most likely course to some success...it’s just a sad day.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn MUST join the C7 and take the football program independent.

The posts in the UMass thread indicate just how much in denial people are about our situation. If UConn heads down the A12 path, it needs nearby regional schools like UMass in the league. Being in a southern mid-major league would be financially catastrophic for all sports. Ironically, football would feel the least pain in a league like that because there are only 4 conference road games. Field hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, basketball, soccer, and the rest will not just feel tremendous financial pain, but academically it will put enormous strain on the athletes because their will be so much travel. And for just about all of them, they are students first and athletes second. Not a lot of professional field hockey players out there.

Basketball will be really hurt in a terrible league like the A12. 3 decent opponents in the conference is not nearly enough. UConn will have to schedule 7-8 major conference opponents a year if it is in the A12. The problem is that we will lose a bunch of home games if we do that. Playing 8 or 9 conference road games, most of which will be against teams UConn would never go on the road against, means those games have to come out of paycheck Tier 3 games at home. That will be a lot of local TV revenue and ticket sales that will be lost, for BOTH basketball programs.

Football independence is viable for a while. BYU and Notre Dame would schedule a long-term series. ND would require us to play our "home" games in NY or Foxwoods, but if we could get a majority or even half the gate, who cares? Throw Idaho and NMSU on the schedule because we can probably get 2 for 1's with them. Those would be our November games every year. Hawaii will schedule anyone who will come out to the islands. Could Warde get off his butt and find 7-8 more games, at least for a few years? Probably. Syndicate the home TV rights regionally, which would probably generate more than this crappy A12 TV deal anyway. If we decide to pull the plug on the football program at any point, the basketball program is still on its feet.

The C7 benefits a lot from UConn. Providence, Seton Hall and St. Johns love playing UConn because it is a guaranteed sellout. Even Villanova and Georgetown draw a lot better for the Huskies than they do for almost any other school. Are they interested in dealing with a likely future departure? Probably not their first choice, but if they handicap it like I handicap it, they will realize it is no better than 50/50 that UConn leaves for another conference someday. They benefit from another high profile basketball program that actually has banners instead of just near misses, and everyone wins.

The A12 strategy is about as stupid a plan as UConn could have come up with. The school needs to reverse this disastrous decision as soon as possible.

I made the post above in March 2013. Either I am a genius, or it was freaking obvious what was going to happen when we joined the "A12" (AAC).

It is amazing that so many posters that have been so wrong about so much are giving lectures about the short-sightedness of leaving the American. We tried it their way, and it was a disaster.

 

[Adios]

No one claimed any programs needed to be sacrificed lol. Basketball is in trouble due to complete ineptitude and inability to compete in the AAC.

Has been in trouble. Hurley is more interested in as many banners as possible, rather than long term stability.

Only way to succeed in that scenario is parlay basketball strength (they'll probably ask for games in men's AND women's basketball, eating into the OOC schedule) into football games. Who knows if schools will do that.