Those of you want big time football at UCONN - help me understand why

[Duncan Idaho]

FCS is actually a very expensive level to play at in that the costs to have a program at that level (scholarships, salaries, facilities etc etc) approximate that of the FBS-level but with nowhere near the $$$ (TV, Bowls, attendance) schools at the FBS can bring in.

A big problem for UConn (and BC is starting to see this too) is that FBS-level football just isn't in the Norteast football-fan DNA in general. The success of the Pats over the past 20 years has sucked a lot of the football oxygen out of "casual fans" in New England who might go to an FBS game at BC or UConn in the past.

UConn football may have some success moving forward but E. Hartford is never going to be a destination-spot like State College, PA, Ann Arbor etc etc

Felt like it 15 years ago.

 

[BlueDogs]

Go to a top Div III games if you want to see rabid alums. Also checkout the DIV III forums.
Also the alumni giving at UCONN is abysmal compared to many small schools, so it isn't the division level of football that brings in donations. The list below shows top 25 small college endowments in thousands of dollars. I added UCONN's at the bottom.

School	Endowment
Williams	$1,784,305
Pomona	$1,700,454
Amherst	$1,641,511
Swarthmore	$1,508,483
Grinnell	$1,500,219
Wellesley	$1,499,872
Smith	$1,429,527
Washington & Lee	$1,218,132
Middlebury	$907,668
Bowdoin	$904,215
Vassar	$814,130
Oberlin	$699,895
Colgate	$693,436
Bryn Mawr	$671,103
Hamilton	$657,529
Macalester	$654,465
Carleton	$653,465
Colby	$611,441
Wesleyan	$589,811
Claremont McKenna	$543,236
Davidson	$509,583
UCONN	$460,000

Nearly Everyone of those schools is essentially an elite academic institution. That’s the difference.

 

[John]

Basketball is a secondary sport in college athletics. Big time schools play (or strive to play) big time football. Non-big time schools pack it in and join a conference of small-time schools that specialize in a secondary sport. It's that simple.

 

[superjohn]

Basketball is a secondary sport in college athletics. Big time schools play (or strive to play) big time football. Non-big time schools pack it in and join a conference of small-time schools that specialize in a secondary sport. It's that simple.

That you think it's that simple shows you have no understanding of the situation UConn was in.

 

[aburks41]

BYU has an international following with the Mormon religion.

BYU also built their success as a WAC institution, and later the MWC. Their indy experiement represented a very minute (mostly unsuccessful) window in their history.

Now they are P5. The goal for them was always to get into a P5 conference.

This week BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston get their golden tickets.

I used BYU as an example of being an Indy and making a bowl game every year. They've been an indy for like a decade and they've been successful. Our expectations shouldn't be to become Notre Dame - that's unrealistic. Becoming BYU level of successful is realistic

 

[SubbaBub]

Because we lived it for a few years. Attending big time FB games is a blast. Attending games with only with friends and family against teams you never heard of is not a good use of time. If you are only in it for the tailgating, you should just do it in your backyard.

I don't attend HS games either.

 

[SubbaBub]

I used BYU as an example of being an Indy and making a bowl game every year. They've been an indy for like a decade and they've been successful. Our expectations shouldn't be to become Notre Dame - that's unrealistic. Becoming BYU level of successful is realistic

We should send every Freshman on a two year mission going door to door selling FB tickets. That way we can have 25 year olds playing too.

 

[UCTitleTown]

New England should be able to support at least one D1 football program. Don't count BC.... If we could've ever brought I'm a big time coach years ago who had name recognition, he could've owned recruiting in the Northeast. Remember when many thought the Penn State scandal would link them and UConn would benefit? That never happened.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I have been to many DIV III games between top teams in that division. I find them just as exciting as any other game.
Many of the best Div III schools are also ranked among the top academic colleges.
That's just me. Help me understand why you want UCONN to keep pursuing the big time.

Thanks,

Guessing you haven't been to a former Big East Basketball Championship game or NCAA Regional vs Michigan State at MSG either.

 

[Vuce]

Idk what the math is but I doubt this. UConn just does an awful fundraising and creating an alumni culture.

If you go to a big time football football school there is a reason why the alumni cares so much the school basically brain washes them.

Yeah they WIN games

 

[polycom]

I used BYU as an example of being an Indy and making a bowl game every year. They've been an indy for like a decade and they've been successful. Our expectations shouldn't be to become Notre Dame - that's unrealistic. Becoming BYU level of successful is realistic

It’s not, it’s not even close.

 

[polycom]

Yeah they WIN games

Nebraska would like a word

 

[Vuce]

Nebraska would like a word

Oh you mean a program that has won multiple National Championships? Yes I agree

 

[aburks41]

Nebraska would like a word

Nebraska is a college football blue blood

 

[southernfan]

UConn endowment is sad but you're comparing small wealthy liberal arts colleges to a large public state run University who has received billions from the state.

UNC endowment (also a state school) 3.6 Billion with a B. State school argument does not hold water.

 

[CL82]

Because schools in the P5, now P4, conferences get per school distributions in the vicinity of 35M to 55M per school. The Big East media distribution is 4 million per school. Eventually the “big time football schools“ will price out all the non-“big-time football schools“ for coaches and infrastructure for all sports, including women’s basketball.

Do you like winning national championships? Do you like competing at the highest level of sports? “Big-time football” is the price of admission to that.

 

[superjohn]

UNC endowment (also a state school) 3.6 Billion with a B. State school argument does not hold water.

I wasn't making an argument about our endowment being adequate, I said it was sad. I was making an argument that it's dumb to compare elite small liberal arts colleges to state schools who get billions from the gov't.

 

[Pudge]

I am not going entertain any conversation about dropping the Program or going to FCS. As in a previous series of posts, I don't buy the idea that FBS doesn't make business sense. When you have a line drawn ... Idaho went to FCS and 30 Universities advanced to FBS. I think that is pretty loudly stated. There are money and BRAND reasons and other benefits that ALL these schools found. And UCONN? Came in to this at a high level with BE membership.

Then. I am telling you NO real estate developer or institutional investor (or big family money) walks away from a $300m investment. that discussion is silly ... as is the decades long crap of an on-campus stadium.

I love Challenges in Life. Someone is gonna love taking on this UCONN football. Make the right choice

 

[storrsroars]

I wasn't making an argument about our endowment being adequate, I said it was sad. I was making an argument that it's dumb to compare elite small liberal arts colleges to state schools who get billions from the gov't.

There are something like 46 public universities (mostly state schools) that have endowments >$1 billion.

Some of our old BE/AAC friends are on that list:
Pittsburgh - $4.17 billion (just last week got a $20 million gift from a 1997 grad)
Houston - $1.01 billion
Rutgers - $1.48 billion
Cincinnati - $1.4 billion

On the private side, "elite academic" institutions like BC, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane and Syracuse also comfortably top a billion.

 

[uconnric]

Sometimes I daydream too

That’s a really uninformed comment. We’ve done it before and there is no reason we can’t be competitive on FBS.

 

[superjohn]

There are something like 46 public universities (mostly state schools) that have endowments >$1 billion.

Some of our old BE/AAC friends are on that list:
Pittsburgh - $4.17 billion (just last week got a $20 million gift from a 1997 grad)
Houston - $1.01 billion
Rutgers - $1.48 billion
Cincinnati - $1.4 billion

On the private side, "elite academic" institutions like BC, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane and Syracuse also comfortably top a billion.

Geezus, I'm aware of that. Why don't you give me Harvard and Yale's endowment too. Our endowment sucks, I've said that forever. A list of small elite liberal arts schools endowments compared to a large state University endowment is dumb, that's all I was saying.

 

[TheDoggPound]

I have been to many DIV III games between top teams in that division. I find them just as exciting as any other game.
Many of the best Div III schools are also ranked among the top academic colleges.
That's just me. Help me understand why you want UCONN to keep pursuing the big time.

Thanks,

This is akin to saying the Whalers and Wolf Pack are equally exciting. When you have tasted ribeye you don't settle for hamburger. Do we really view ourselves that lowly? Very sad on your part that you'd even advocate for such ridiculously asinine ideas.

 

[NY Crusader]

BYU has an international following with the Mormon religion.

BYU also built their success as a WAC institution, and later the MWC. Their indy experiement represented a very minute (mostly unsuccessful) window in their history.

Now they are P5. The goal for them was always to get into a P5 conference.

This week BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston get their golden tickets.

BYU recently played a road game at McGuirk. That tells you everything you need to know about how their "indy" experiment was going. Good for them getting into the Big XII -- but not sure it's P5 any more. I think you basically have 3 tiers now in FBS alone:

1) SEC/PAC/BIG/ACC
2) Big XII/AAC/MWC
3) Sun Belt/CUSA/MAC

 

[Griggs]

Because schools in the P5, now P4, conferences get per school distributions in the vicinity of 35M to 55M per school. The Big East media distribution is 4 million per school. Eventually the “big time football schools“ will price out all the non-“big-time football schools“ for coaches and infrastructure for all sports, including women’s basketball.

Do you like winning national championships? Do you like competing at the highest level of sports? “Big-time football” is the price of admission to that.

Well said!
I do believe that the pills that will cure our ills are getting into ACC, and hiring the right football coach. Football is where the money is. Dropping down to FCS is not the answer. We have seen success at the highest level, and , even staying as an independent, that can happen with the right coach, even if that coach is using Uconn as a stepping stone to a better job. I do believe that coach is out there.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have been to many DIV III games between top teams in that division. I find them just as exciting as any other game.
Many of the best Div III schools are also ranked among the top academic colleges.
That's just me. Help me understand why you want UCONN to keep pursuing the big time.

Thanks,

I have a question for you, why are you opposed to UConn playing big-time football? I've heard people (many who actually were in positions where they could influence the decision) for more than four decades state that we shouldn't pursue it and I am baffled as to why they feel this way.