UAB and the Future of the non-Power 5

[JSB60]

Oh Chr1st, not this again.

UCONN wants to gain entry into a P5 conference and have access to the tens of millions of annual dollars that come with it. To gain P5 access, you can't drop football.

The Big East is a mid major conference that pays its members $5M/yr (in other words, not even enough to cover our basketball head coaching salaries ONLY!).

Sports are cyclical. Football will get better. And when it does, UCONN's CR profile will be better (AAU progress, endowment, student body, football, hoops, hockey, rest of AD). Be patient.

If it's 2020 and we are still locked in the AAC, then I think the better play would be to petition the ACC, not the Big East, for a deal similar to ND. Obviously, not exactly the same but somewhere to park all non football sports for a heck of a lot more $$ than what the Big East could ever pay.

I agree, UCONN wants to gain entry to a P5 conference. I just don't think they're going to.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

Football will be all but dead in a few decades but it's a necessary money maker for now.

In many northern state maybe, here in the south, football is huge. I just cannot that happening.

 

[UconnAlum04]

In many northern state maybe, here in the south, football is huge. I just cannot that happening.

It's funny how much bigger football is in the south vs the north. Back in December 2011, I was on vacation in Florida. I was walking around and happened to have a UConn shirt on, when I was stopped by an older guy saying "UConn huh...they lost pretty bad last night."

The Men did play the previous night but actually won, so i corrected him. After a little back and forth, I realized he was talking about football to which I responded "Yeah, I don't really follow the football team, I'm mainly a Mens Basketball fan. And we're reigning national champs."

His response " Wow really? Good for you guys!"

I politely bid him farewell and walked away.

 

[Husky25]

For all the people predicting (and quite frankly hoping for) the demise of football and referencing declining Pop Warner participation are promoting a false premise. First of all, Pop Warner has weight limits until the typical high school age (135 lbs. when I was age-eligible to play, IIRC).

Secondly and more importantly, the people turning their kids away from football are the ones who have ability to do so and the option to guide them into something else. There is a large population of kids who don't have that option. I was listening to an episode of the Adam Carolla Show a few weeks back when a caller from London mentioned the exact same phenomenon in Rugby. There are a sizable population of kids all over the country who NEED football. and the camaraderie, structure, and guidance that goes along with it. One observation that Carolla made is that it's not like these kids are going to double down on the calculus, if you take away football. They are going to end up in jail, where camaraderie has a completely different definition. No one tells them that as they are getting beaten into a gang or something.

Watch the documentary, "Undefeated." Then tell me if the demise of football is a good thing.

 

[CallMeBruce]

You know there is more than one sport, right?