UConn athletics long-term

[Bobol]

......we [UConn] deliver more value to a conference than half the P5 conference teams.....

A couple of thoughts:

1. If it was true that UConn delivers more $ value than half of the P5 conference teams then UConn would already be in a P5 Conference.

2. If UConn is to stay in the AAC then it needs a geographic rival. Wichita State University will increase the talent level of the AAC but WSUwill not enhance the UConn men's basketball brand.

3. The AAC is trivalizing the UConn's men's basketball brand. The longer UConn stays in the AAC the more it's men's basketball stature will be watered down.

4. I know of no credible evidence to believe that the ACC or Big10 will be inviting UConn, or for that matter any new team to join its league. The longer UConn stay in the AAC, the less desireable it will be in the event a P5 conference does decide to expand.

5. IMO UConn should either downgrade its football to FCS, move it to Independent status, or seek football only membership in a lesser FBS league while attempting to move all other sports to the Big East which would better protect UConn men's basketball which is the s "crown jewel" of the UConn athletic department.

6. Keeping UConn in the AAC to protect UConn football is sacrificing the UConn men's basketball brand.

 

[Seaa Blue]

A couple of thoughts:

4. I know of no credible evidence to believe that the ACC or Big10 will be inviting UConn, or for that matter any new team to join its league. The longer UConn stay in the AAC, the less desireable it will be in the event a P5 conference does decide to expand.

Keep the faith. Somebody over here hasn't forgotten.
Dienhart: Big Ten watches and waits for next national title

Since MSU’s Tom Izzo won his only national title in 2000, Duke and UConn have won three apiece...
Since Michigan State cut down the nets in Indianapolis, schools like Kansas, Duke, UConn and North Carolina have dominated the NBA lottery.

 

[UCFBfan]

So what is your solution Nelson? I already know your Schlick, cut football to save basketball. Yet what you so clearly pointed out in your OP was that conferences are not looking to expand because after the current TV deals run out, there won't be much money left to share. So then explain to me how leaving the AAC to join the BE is going to solve that issue. There's not a shot the BE pulls in anywhere near the deal they last got when it's time to re-up. All the money that will be left to spend will be spent on P5 conferences, period.

That's the end goal. Make yourself look as appealing to a P5 conference as possible and hope to find a seat. I truly believe that if our football hadn't stunk over the past 6 years the Big 12 would have extended an invite. The only reason Cincy didn't likely get one was because they had no partner. The Big 12 wasn't going to touch BYU and their issues so Cincy was left without a dancing partner. Had UConn been successful in football like they had under RE 1.0 they would have been in.

You drop football and you do just what your asking how to solve. You kill UConn athletics long term. There are too many people who think UConn basketball is the be all end all of our athletic department because they've had national championship level success. I say bull crap. Football is a massively popular sport and is the main reason the P5 even exists and pulls in the money they do. Basketball isn't pulling in those numbers. So how do we solve that? We do exactly what our AD is doing. We make big hires (Lashlee) and bring back a coach who has had success here. We turn the football team around and we make ourselves attractive again to any conference looking.

To be honest, when those TV deals dry out, the media landscape will be so vastly different that conferences may shift entirely in their makeup. No one knows. All UConn can do to stay viable is exactly what they are doing. Improving all their sports facilities and trying to be successful across the board and in the sport that matters the most when it comes to CR, football.

I get so tired of the basketball crowd and their crap argument that we need to go back to the BE. There's no conference that will only take out football team. It's been proven with UMass and will be shown again with us. End of story.....

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I haven't posted on this topic in a while because it is so depressing to think about. The spring recruiting/transfer bloodbath in basketball pretty much confirms every fear for those that thought joining a southern mid-major conference was a terrible idea. We are 3 years removed from a national freaking championship and we whiffed on every ranked prospect we went after, despite having a bunch of playing time to offer. Our star from last year's class has a bum shoulder, and the next highest ranked recruit has already transferred, leaving us ONE Top 100 player from the LAST TWO YEARS that is healthy. Adams from the 2015 class gives us two in 3. Maybe Gilbert comes back 100% next year, but the fact that UConn has had three classes in a row like this hasn't happened since Perno. Adams is the only clear NBA prospect on the roster.

The basketball board is talking itself into an NCAA run in the hope that Larrier and Gilbert get healthy. The AAC is a 2-3 bid league next year. UConn has to win close to 30 games to get an at-large, which will be tough with a new front court. If Ollie does that, he deserves National Coach of the Year consideration. This conference is absolutely killing the basketball program, which was absolutely predictable 5 years ago when we went down this road. Ollie has his problems, but I am fairly confident that the next coach we get will be a big step down.

The Big East had 4 programs with Top 25 recruiting classes. There are dozens of posters on this board that have claimed at some point that the Big East and AAC were equivalent in hoops. That seems ridiculous now, doesn't it?

Everything I have said about football still stands, with the added benefit that the state finances are a train wreck making that money losing program more vulnerable. The conference hasn't helped the football program at all. All the problems of being one of 2 northeastern teams in a southern conference have only gotten worse over time. If a Florida kid can't or doesn't want to play SEC or ACC, he has to choose UConn over 11 AAC programs that are closer to him. We are getting what is left. I think we should focus our recruiting on the northeast and midwest. To be honest, I don't have any good suggestions left for football. We have made our bed.

UConn can not keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result. It needs to find a way to better monetize the football program, either without the AAC or through a completely differently structured television contract where we keep our TV rights. The basketball program has to beg its way into the Big East, or I think we should join the A10. The door to the P5 is shut, forever. The absolutely best, fantasyland case is that the next round of realignment creates a stub Big 12 that is looking for new members, in SEVEN YEARS. I can't imagine we would be picked to join that given the condition of our athletic program, but we aren't doing ourselves any favors by staying in the AAC. The next best case is that streaming opens up more opportunities for schools to monetize their own broadcast rights, making independence a more viable option. Staying where we are is not a long-term solution in any scenario.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So what is your solution Nelson? I already know your Schlick, cut football to save basketball. Yet what you so clearly pointed out in your OP was that conferences are not looking to expand because after the current TV deals run out, there won't be much money left to share. So then explain to me how leaving the AAC to join the BE is going to solve that issue. There's not a shot the BE pulls in anywhere near the deal they last got when it's time to re-up. All the money that will be left to spend will be spent on P5 conferences, period.

That's the end goal. Make yourself look as appealing to a P5 conference as possible and hope to find a seat. I truly believe that if our football hadn't stunk over the past 6 years the Big 12 would have extended an invite. The only reason Cincy didn't likely get one was because they had no partner. The Big 12 wasn't going to touch BYU and their issues so Cincy was left without a dancing partner. Had UConn been successful in football like they had under RE 1.0 they would have been in.

You drop football and you do just what your asking how to solve. You kill UConn athletics long term. There are too many people who think UConn basketball is the be all end all of our athletic department because they've had national championship level success. I say bull crap. Football is a massively popular sport and is the main reason the P5 even exists and pulls in the money they do. Basketball isn't pulling in those numbers. So how do we solve that? We do exactly what our AD is doing. We make big hires (Lashlee) and bring back a coach who has had success here. We turn the football team around and we make ourselves attractive again to any conference looking.

To be honest, when those TV deals dry out, the media landscape will be so vastly different that conferences may shift entirely in their makeup. No one knows. All UConn can do to stay viable is exactly what they are doing. Improving all their sports facilities and trying to be successful across the board and in the sport that matters the most when it comes to CR, football.

I get so tired of the basketball crowd and their crap argument that we need to go back to the BE. There's no conference that will only take out football team. It's been proven with UMass and will be shown again with us. End of story.....

I am not clear that college football is a viable sport long-term with the concussion issue. We should be hedging our bets on football in the AAC, not doubling down.

 

[CL82]

 

[shizzle787]

I haven't posted on this topic in a while because it is so depressing to think about. The spring recruiting/transfer bloodbath in basketball pretty much confirms every fear for those that thought joining a southern mid-major conference was a terrible idea. We are 3 years removed from a national freaking championship and we whiffed on every ranked prospect we went after, despite having a bunch of playing time to offer. Our star from last year's class has a bum shoulder, and the next highest ranked recruit has already transferred, leaving us ONE Top 100 player from the LAST TWO YEARS that is healthy. Adams from the 2015 class gives us two in 3. Maybe Gilbert comes back 100% next year, but the fact that UConn has had three classes in a row like this hasn't happened since Perno. Adams is the only clear NBA prospect on the roster.

The basketball board is talking itself into an NCAA run in the hope that Larrier and Gilbert get healthy. The AAC is a 2-3 bid league next year. UConn has to win close to 30 games to get an at-large, which will be tough with a new front court. If Ollie does that, he deserves National Coach of the Year consideration. This conference is absolutely killing the basketball program, which was absolutely predictable 5 years ago when we went down this road. Ollie has his problems, but I am fairly confident that the next coach we get will be a big step down.

The Big East had 4 programs with Top 25 recruiting classes. There are dozens of posters on this board that have claimed at some point that the Big East and AAC were equivalent in hoops. That seems ridiculous now, doesn't it?

Everything I have said about football still stands, with the added benefit that the state finances are a train wreck making that money losing program more vulnerable. The conference hasn't helped the football program at all. All the problems of being one of 2 northeastern teams in a southern conference have only gotten worse over time. If a Florida kid can't or doesn't want to play SEC or ACC, he has to choose UConn over 11 AAC programs that are closer to him. We are getting what is left. I think we should focus our recruiting on the northeast and midwest. To be honest, I don't have any good suggestions left for football. We have made our bed.

UConn can not keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result. It needs to find a way to better monetize the football program, either without the AAC or through a completely differently structured television contract where we keep our TV rights. The basketball program has to beg its way into the Big East, or I think we should join the A10. The door to the P5 is shut, forever. The absolutely best, fantasyland case is that the next round of realignment creates a stub Big 12 that is looking for new members, in SEVEN YEARS. I can't imagine we would be picked to join that given the condition of our athletic program, but we aren't doing ourselves any favors by staying in the AAC. The next best case is that streaming opens up more opportunities for schools to monetize their own broadcast rights, making independence a more viable option. Staying where we are is not a long-term solution in any scenario.

That's a downgrade. Don't ever suggest that again.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

That's a downgrade. Don't ever suggest that again.

Staying in the AAC is a downgrade, as I have been pointing out for years now. This decision destroyed the athletic program, yet some posters continue to defend it.

 

[shizzle787]

Staying in the AAC is a downgrade, as I have been pointing out for years now. This decision destroyed the athletic program, yet some posters continue to defend it.

No . Unfortunately we have to wait out the next 7 or so years to see what happens, but I want BE/indy.

 

[uconnfan68]

If Football were such a costly burden there would be many schools across the country that would have dropped it by now. Can someone please compile a list of all of those schools that have dropped football.

I get it, basketball is down and people are looking for something to blame. Mick freaking Cronin's success in the AAC tells me the AAC is not our basketball problem, it might be something else... but I get it, lets drop football so we can finish near the bottom of the C7 league. We can be the new St John's, Hooray!

There will be many schools dumping football in the next decade. I see some optimistic posts here, and some pretty depressing ones. The one certainty is change is coming. My view says it won't be nice to us.

 

[billybud]

More have gone to FBS in the last eight years then have dropped down...

Appalachian State, Charlotte, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Massachusetts, Old Dominion, Texas State, Texas San Antonio, Western Kentucky

 

[auggie22]

I am not clear that college football is a viable sport long-term with the concussion issue. We should be hedging our bets on football in the AAC, not doubling down.

If we learn in a few months that Aaron Hernandez had CTE, I think that qualifies as the beginning of the end of Football driving the bus.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If we learn in a few months that Aaron Hernandez had CTE, I think that qualifies as the beginning of the end of Football driving the bus.

The beginning happened long ago, we just don't know what the end will look like. I know families with 4th generation football players that are pulling their sons out of the sport. The tipping point has been reached at the youth level. The impact on the college and professional level is uncertain, but their will be an impact.

 

[billybud]

Yeah...and maybe we won't be seeing hockey either...since the number of concussions per 100,000 in boys sports, hockey is #2 right behind football.

Where do you draw the line?

The below numbers indicate the amount of sports concussions taking place per 100,000 athletic exposures. An athletic exposure is defined as one athlete participating in one organized high school athletic practice or competition, regardless of the amount of time played.

• Football: 64 -76.8
• Boys' ice hockey: 54
• Boys' lacrosse: 40 - 46.

 

[auggie22]

Yeah...and maybe we won't be seeing hockey either...since the number of concussions per 100,000 in boys sports, hockey is #2 right behind football.

Where do you draw the line?

The below numbers indicate the amount of sports concussions taking place per 100,000 athletic exposures. An athletic exposure is defined as one athlete participating in one organized high school athletic practice or competition, regardless of the amount of time played.

• Football: 64 -76.8
• Boys' ice hockey: 54
• Boys' lacrosse: 40 - 46.

The problem with CTE is not concussions, it is subconcussive trauma. That is why football stands above all others as a lightening rod.

The presence of CTE was found in 90 out of 94 donated brains (former NFL athletes) according to the BU CTE research project. This is not some loose connection.

As for where to draw the line - I suppose that is up to each individual and / or their family. And that is most definitely a problem for football.

 

[pepband99]

I haven't posted on this topic in a while because it is so depressing to think about.

It sure is - in that case, why don't you stop?

 

[Rufus]

And for even more additions, Coastal Carolina moved up starting this fall. They will play in the Sun Belt. Also, UAB reinstated its program and is back in CUSA. 2017 will see a net addition of two schools to the FBS.

In 2018, Idaho is moving down while Liberty will move up, so there will be no net change in teams next year.

More have gone to FBS in the last eight years then have dropped down...

Appalachian State, Charlotte, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Massachusetts, Old Dominion, Texas State, Texas San Antonio, Western Kentucky

 

[CTMike]

Staying in the AAC is a downgrade, as I have been pointing out for years now. This decision destroyed the athletic program, yet some posters continue to defend it.

Are you really pretending that the AAC was an active choice and that if only UConn had the sense to listen to you we wouldn't be in this mess?

 

[Adios]

All members of the AAC have the same goal, to get out of the AAC. UConn bball whiffed last season and whatever recruiting because Ollie messed up badly. Hiring Chillous means this is Ollie's last shot.

The NFL will have most likely have a team in London by 2022. Tottenham is building a stadium that is 100% gridiron football friendly. All that has to happen is the Jags pack their bags and move after the stadium is complete. (And switch spots with the Dolphins in the AFC East.) Average English NFL fan is around 26 years old while the average fan in the US is 45.

 

[Stinger92860]

If we learn in a few months that Aaron Hernandez had CTE, I think that qualifies as the beginning of the end of Football driving the bus.

I believe it will have a bigger impact on the NFL, where more money is in play. The schools, with some exceptions, UConn hopefully being one of those schools, don't give a about these kids. They will continue to recruit and churn through players who want to play for the benefits. If anyone really thinks it's about the kids look at Ville or UNC. Now, if the NCAA gets hit with lawsuits things can change quickly.

 

[shizzle787]

My opinion on this is simple. The Big 12 more likely than not will lose some of its more important members in 2025. My guess is that at least Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State will be gone. That will leave anywhere from 3-6 spots available. I believe we will get one of those spots. However, in the mean time, we could get lucky (unlikely) and the Big Ten or ACC could pick us up. If the Big 12 does indeed stay together and it looks like we are shut out of the P5/4 forever, then I would say NBE/indy.

 

[Zissou]

If the Big 12 does indeed stay together and it looks like we are shut out of the P5/4 forever, then I would say NBE/indy.

UConn is both feet in FBS at this point.

If / until a P5 opportunity arises, what is the better "forever" position and what is the better "interim" position for UConn? I think the answer to both is Big East for all sports but FB, with FB remaining in the American, or going indy if the American deal can't be negotiated.

Being in a Top 3 hoops conference with regional foes and a NYC base is a better environment for both UConn basketball programs. The footprint is much more reasonable for non-rev sports.

If the FB-only American can be negotiated, UConn has the best of both worlds. As a fall-back, indy football won't really hurt it's chances at future P5 consideration. As in the past, the bigger picture of the university's position will be critical and more important than specific short-term performance in football.

 

[Zissou]

All of your suggestions are bad. Bye Felicia.

So is your current position in the no-revenue American, Michelle.

 

[CTMike]

So you are going to visit another schools board... point out obvious things about their current conference situation... throw out awful "solutions" out of the goodness of your heart... feign surprise when we don't just go along with your brilliant "just play Nova and Delaware" plan... and call posters girl names for good measure?

Do you add this little value in all areas of your life?

 

[Zissou]

So you are going to visit another schools board... point out obvious things about their current conference situation... throw out awful "solutions" out of the goodness of your heart... feign surprise when we don't just go along with your brilliant "just play Nova and Delaware" plan... and call posters girl names for good measure?

Do you add this little value in all areas of your life?

I thought this was a "Conference Realignment Board" where conference realignment ideas were discussed. Your snarky response adds more value? Sorry to hurt your feelings, snowflake.

I meant to call you Felicia. Sorry for the typo.