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UConn/Big 12 Meeting Next Week

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mmm.. I hope you are correct, but the tone of this article in ESPN written by Pete Thamel suggests the opposite:



The the link between the Big 12 and UConn has more specifics as far as the preliminary terms as opposed to last year's rumors which had no specifics at all. But this could be more of the same mental masturbation for UConn and its fans.

I am in the camp of I will believe it when I see and hear Yormark officially announce it. If UConn Football was merely mediocre the last decade averaging between 5-7 a season with 85% of The Rent filled out with loud fans, UConn would be in a Power conference by now.
ESPN is full of Syracuse grads who would like nothing more than to see us fail and eat poop. If ESPN was in our corner we would have been in the ACC 15 years ago.
 
I'm a basketball fan, I love the Big East, I love the BET at MSG in NYC. I love all the success we've had as a member of the Big East

That's as a basketball fan. I love our success

I'm also a realist, and if the school has the opportunity to make 10 or 20 million more per year, they have to take it. We would be in that conference already if the PAC 12 didn't implode.

I will forever be grateful to the Big East. I hope that if we were to leave, we make a commitment to continue playing their best schools every year.

PS: I prefer the Big 10, a better fir geographically. With our amazing success in basketball and the quality of our other sports programs, it's only a matter of time. If Jim Mora has a very good year, we're gone (sadly for this Big East basketball fan)
This is my position as well.

It’s likely the ACC implodes, and implodes in the near future.

Yormark is a visionary and a pragmatist. I seriously doubt he will leave UConn on an island. When the ACC implodes that conference will be hived into the P3 and UConn will have significantly more Eastern mate’s including Syracuse, Louisville and Duke.

The B12 will be the weakest football conference of the P3 but the strongest basketball conference. And Yormark most likely will want MSG to hold the Big12 basketball tournament. It’s doubtful that the BE will be able to continue to keep that venue down the road.
 
This has not worked well for former Big East basketball schools. Syracuse stinks, Pitt stinks, BC stinks, Rutgers stinks, Louisville stinks. I’m for staying.
 
ESPN? Well now, there's an old friend of ours. As a taxpayer I don't like the potential idea of ESPN using our University as a bargaining chip to reorganize things for their benefit. If you stand back and look at whatever details, if any, are being revealed it sounds really kind of preposterous. It sounds like a BIG 12 commisioner deal with ESPN and the whole rest of league insisting on no football money for Uconn. In other words no one in the Big 12 really wants the university except possibly the commissioner and he only because ESPN likes (maybe) the proposal (if any). And they are coughing up the difference? Really?
They are trying to make the deal work. Is it their fault that UConn football brings no money to the table?
 
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Anyone complaining about leaving the Big East does not see the big picture. If this happens, get ready for the Big 24 conference. When the ACC collapses and the biggest brands go to the SEC and B1G, schools like Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, Virginia Tech and NCST will be added to the Big 12. Would you rather play Villanova, St Johns, Providence and seton hall or would you rather play Syracuse, Louisville, Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati and NCST?

Not clear the Big 12 is on the right side of the divide either, and if they aren't then we joined a league with Kansas State and Iowa State and abandoned a league with teams that basketball fans actually care about.

I am generally pro-Big 12, but this is not a simple choice. UConn is making a big bet on the future of college football that we may get really, really wrong.
 
I agree that it’s hard to imagine that the XII cares where the stadium is located. If they do, so be it — I wouldn’t not take the deal based on that — but I can’t imagine the XII cares about location as opposed to attendance.
To this point, a 20 minute ride from Bradley to East Hartford is probably preferable for most teams flying in. Coupled with the distance for a suitable hotel from campus to house an entire visiting football team. There’s much more logistically to an on campus stadium than people are taking into account. People act like the Rent is a dump, it doesn’t have bells and whistles but is a great playing surface and great atmosphere when there’s a reason for people to show up
 
Not clear the Big 12 is on the right side of the divide either, and if they aren't then we joined a league with Kansas State and Iowa State and abandoned a league with teams that basketball fans actually care about.

I am generally pro-Big 12, but this is not a simple choice. UConn is making a big bet on the future of college football that we may get really, really wrong.
We've already gotten it wrong before and still put up 3 new banners after the fact
 
Not clear the Big 12 is on the right side of the divide either, and if they aren't then we joined a league with Kansas State and Iowa State and abandoned a league with teams that basketball fans actually care about.

I am generally pro-Big 12, but this is not a simple choice. UConn is making a big bet on the future of college football that we may get really, really wrong.
You forgot about Kansas, Baylor, Ua and Houston. Oh and Iowa St is top 10 this year. B12 has 4 of top 7 and 5 of top 9 in espn pre season poll. And the BE has….UConn top 5.

We now play DePaul, Butler and Gtown. The only decent programs are in Wi and Ne.
 
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Not clear the Big 12 is on the right side of the divide either, and if they aren't then we joined a league with Kansas State and Iowa State and abandoned a league with teams that basketball fans actually care about.

I am generally pro-Big 12, but this is not a simple choice. UConn is making a big bet on the future of college football that we may get really, really wrong.
The bet has less to do with how good you think football can be in the right position, and more to do with how far in the future it may be possible to have a nationally prominent basketball program without being in a big time football conference. There are never guaranties when betting on the future (if there were, I wouldn’t have to make a living billing by the hour), but it is reasonable to fear the inability to compete for much longer without being in a football conference.
 
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You are not wrong TODAY. If the college sports world doesn’t change from what it is today, it is rational to stay in the Big East and let football die.

The problem, of course, is leaders have to make decisions based on what the world will look like in the future, and as many of us have been saying since the day Syracuse and Pitt left the Big East there is a rational fear that the day is coming when it might not be possible to be a national player in hoops without playing big time football.
That "having a seat at the big table" belief is what Lew Perkins was telling everyone who would listen all through the 1990's while football was still playing 1-AA.
 
I remember reading years ago that structurally, The Rent was built so that a 2nd tier could be added across from the tower.
The Rent can be expanded to 60,000 according to Gilbane, the contractor.

 
My take:
1. B12 is locking in as the top hoops program. This will strengthen the conference when the next shifts come.

2. The proposal to wait on football until 2031 and meet certain metrics is a negotiation tactic. We won’t leave without a guarantee for all sports. I suspect we’ll be invited for all sports in 2026 but football getting no/less money until a future date.

3. We must take this deal. Our current model is not financially sustainable and the BE is already full of tomato cans except us.
 
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This has not worked well for former Big East basketball schools. Syracuse stinks, Pitt stinks, BC stinks, Rutgers stinks, Louisville stinks. I’m for staying.
Georgetown stinks. Villanova stinks. St John’s has 2-3 years of relevance at the most before Pitino retires. Seton Hall is the definition of mediocre. Providence is okay.
 
It sucks we will lose playing in MSG and have regional opponents but I understand that the landscape of college athletics is changing fast. I need to go to the next years Big East Tourney for sure.

Why can’t we play Kanas at MSG? It’s a home court for us and worth the concession. I know this will not be well received, but are future is on the line when the split comes.
 
This is such an overstated point. What meaningful historical rivals are currently in the big east and move the needle at all? Villanova and maybe an argument for Providence, Marquette, and St. John’s? It has the same name but this is not the Big East of old and our rivalries are far more limited than many fans make them out to be.

We can still schedule those schools if they want to play us.
 
Why can’t we play Kanas at MSG? It’s a home court for us and worth the concession. I know this will not be well received, but are future is on the line when the split comes.
Just saying I understand it but it still sucks we have to do this to save UConn basketball. I rather stay in the Big East if college athletics hadn't turned into the mess it is now.
 
I get the financial implications here, but UConn in the Big XII will damage both basketball programs, and UConn football will still suck / be largely irrelevant in their home state.

I dread the day Hurley heads to the NBA and the next coach has to recruit kids who won’t want to deal with the 1200-2600 miles to each opponent’s campus.

I could probably be talked into an ACC situation. A bunch of (elitist) morons run that conference though.

Are you serious? Geno will be doing backflips he will be so happy. And Penders will be right behind him. Danny won‘t give a sheet, he will just keep winning. It’s what we do When we are hungry.
 
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This has not worked well for former Big East basketball schools. Syracuse stinks, Pitt stinks, BC stinks, Rutgers stinks, Louisville stinks. I’m for staying.

To be fair, Rutgers and BC stank before too, but yes, this concerns me as well. I think one of the differences though is that our program is built and ready for this kind of change within the new NIL and transfer environment. Not to mention our BB brand is stronger than those other schools. Also, it always felt to me that the ACC never really accepted them into the club so to speak, it continued to be Tobacco Road with peripheral teams.
 
I think it looks bad for Yormark for the story to get out there if he doesn't have the votes.

It sounds like Benedict and Toscano went out there to make a presentation to the Big 12 athletic directors at Yormark's request to get it over the line. Last year, Yormark visited UConn. I don't believe anyone from UConn went to the Big 12.
Imagine Big 12 AD's going into a meeting with Coaches Mora, Hurley, Auriemma, Penders. as long as they don't turn down the bourbon they should kill those meetings.

coaches.jpg
 
So what do we think is going on behind the scenes? Is UConn President Maric lobbying the big 12 presidents for support? Is Benedict lobbying the AD's? Is Lamont involved(or Malloy :rolleyes: )? Are they ready to counter any negative articles that always seems to come out? I am hoping it is all hands on deck and no one is vacationing.
 
Having to wait that long for football to join just doesn’t make sense to me. Having to wait for football revenue but still joining does. A significantly shorter ramp up period makes some sense as well I guess. But playing 6 more years as an independent doesn’t help get us ready to compete in the big 12, nor do we need that long to make any additional investments they want us to make unless they do want an on campus stadium.

I do believe that as long as we are guaranteed being a full member is part of the deal we need to take it, but I do really hope 2031 isn’t accurate or that we can negotiate that down.
 
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