UConn President Says No Plans To Lobby Big 12

[Fishy]

With the exception of one persistent knucklehead on Twitter, when exactly was UConn 'the talk' of going to the Big 12?

 

[JMick]

Part of "selling yourself" is on us too. Remember all of those passionate pleas to buy tickets, donate and 5K Donor Drive? They are all coming home to roost now.

I truly put some of the blame on them too, though. Maybe it's because I'm in Fairfield County but I never see UConn ads for basketball/football heck I never see ads for the University. I know people that don't even realize UConn plays FBS football...

 

[cttxus]

NOT!!!

 

[Dooley]

How exactly can we (or anyone for that matter) use the fact that adding UConn to the B-12 will be an opportunity for Fox to kick ESPN in the nuts when ESPN is one of the two television providers (along with Fox) in this deal?

It would be like someone approaching the two of us and saying that if we both invest, I'll get a great return and you'll get screwed over. Would you really be receptive to a proposal like that?

The B12's relationship with ESPN is dead. With all of the cost-cutting and downsizing going on in Bristol, there is only enough money and resources to devote to one more power conference. The race was between the B12 and ACC. The ACC won. If the B12 didn't immediately see that the second the ACCN announcement was made, then they're as inept as advertised. FOX + streaming. That is the B12's best playbook for 2024-beyond. UConn is very well positioned for both. FOX wants eastern markets and UConn's social media engagement and brand recognition is very good.

 

[Dooley]

I truly put some of the blame on them too, though. Maybe it's because I'm in Fairfield County but I never see UConn ads for basketball/football heck I never see ads for the University. I know people that don't even realize UConn plays FBS football...

Did you not see any of the "UConn 6th Borough" campaign?

 

[JMick]

Did you not see any of the "UConn 6th Borough" campaign?

Literally none of it unless it was posted here and the occasional facebook ad

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The B12's relationship with ESPN is dead. With all of the cost-cutting and downsizing going on in Bristol, there is only enough money and resources to devote to one more power conference. The race was between the B12 and ACC. The ACC won. If the B12 didn't immediately see that the second the ACCN announcement was made, then they're as inept as advertised. FOX + streaming. That is the B12's best playbook for 2024-beyond. UConn is very well positioned for both. FOX wants eastern markets and UConn's social media engagement and brand recognition is very good.

True but the payout (equal money per school for additions of two or four new members) is within the current contract that both Fox & ESPN hold. Kicking ESPN as a selling point (as was suggested) won't work as % of that bill will be paid by ESPN. Where this hurts our chances (and it seems there is always some stray item lingering that hurts our chances) is that ESPN will not be eager to defray some of Fox's costs on a move that will benefit Fox (more eastern programming).

If BYU can do enough (and I don't believe it will take anything extraordinary) to show they will attempt to modernized their 1870's moral philosophy, their football pedigree is far too valuable to be overlooked. Cincinnati is far more consistent in football than we've been and they are much less of a geographic misfit. The wildcard is Houston due to a)Texas politics and b) how badly UT wants an uncontested move into Houston. I personally believe this will actually help us as the television providers will view adding Houston as being of zero value to them and an offset (BYU and UConn) will need to be added in order for them to go along. If Houston gets added it is only as one of four new b-12 members.

 

[UConnNick]

Is it really too much to ask that our football coach and President keep their feet out of theit mouths? They hate any positive buzz. A false news report that makes us look like a contender...squash it. What do we think about playing in the Midwest...it's too far. Why do we participate in sports...the fun of it. Enough already.

I'm really beginning to think that Herbst is the second coming of Homer Babbidge, whose vision for UCONN was that it would become a public Ivy. Let's de-emphasize big time college athletics and get back to playing sports as a fun extra curricular activity. If we refuse to go to bowl games we are pure and better than everybody else, like the Ivy League chose to do when it was formed in the mid-1950's.

In principle, I agree that money has corrupted college athletics, and maybe it would be more fun if the athletes only participated for the joys of athletic competition, with no other motives. But you don't spend 71 million per year on athletics if you're moving toward a berth in the Patriot League. And what do you tell the taxpayers of Conn. that footed the bill for a 90 million dollar football stadium that's about to become the largest white elephant in Conn. history?

If your vision for the future of UCONN athletics is the Patriot League, that's fine, just come out and announce it. But if there was any true understanding by the current administration of what the 25 year meteoric rise of UCONN athletics has meant to the entire university in terms of overall funding, infrastructure improvements and new on campus construction, do you really want to turn back the clock to the 1960's and be satisfied with a small time athletics program in a small time conference? You pull the rug out from under your fanbase, and far more importantly, your donors.

It's kinda like the argument about people never having had any money vs. people who have had money but lost it all. Some argue it's worse to have had it and then lost it. That's what we have going on here. We had it for quite a while, from 1979 to 2014. Now we don't have it anymore, however if you truly understand the overall history of all facets of the university, the rise of the athletic program directly corresponded with the UCONN 2000 and other initiatives to rebuild the campus and make UCONN the envy of every other New England flagship state U. I don't have a warm feeling that the current school administration truly gets how that all worked. I hope I turn out to be way wrong, but that's how it looks. We seem more aligned with the Knight Commission than the P5.

 

[sportsart]

Type this into Google.

uconn 6th borough nyc billboards

 

[LongTimeHusky]

Depression level is rapidly rising on this board. I'm not there yet. Dooley seems to be one of the few who uses 'facts' to keep our hopes up. I'm in his camp until I hear the 'Big' Donors complain about UConn's leadership and tactics on solving our conference problems. They are Very Silent!! I'm sure they know a lot more than any of us, the press, or the twitter folks on what's happening.

 

[junglehusky]

My take of the night: It's not a matter of convincing the Big 12 to take UConn over, say, Memphis. It's a matter of convincing ESPN/Fox to pay an extra billion dollars for four schools that might be worth half that, at best, and with that comes Oklahoma and Texas probably bailing towards the end of that deal. The Big 12 expansion train is already off the rails, it's going to either crash completely (stay at ten) or maybe the lead car will stay on the rails (add two). There is nobody who can get the train cars back on the track, even if you could turn back the clock. (If you think that magical person exists, please go ahead and vote for Trump). And I haven't even mentioned the LHN which is another obstruction.

But yeah, easier to concentrate on a headline.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Depression level is rapidly rising on this board. I'm not there yet. Dooley seems to be one of the few who uses 'facts' to keep our hopes up. I'm in his camp until I hear the 'Big' Donors complain about UConn's leadership and tactics on solving our conference problems. They are Very Silent!! I'm sure they know a lot more than any of us, the press, or the twitter folks on what's happening.

Who are they?

 

[djct1999]

If President Herbst doesn't care about sports and is building up her resume for a "non-athletic" school, she will have a very hard time explaining the following in her next interview:

1. authorizing all of the money spent on hiring Mike Tranghese to lobby power conferences on our behalf;
2. marketing expenditures for "UConn 6th Borough";
3. hiring not 1, not 2, but 3 qualified Athletic Directors;
4. acquiring land (not money) in a stadium naming contract with the sole expectation that the stadium will require additional land to park additional cars carrying additional fans to said stadium;
5. proceeding with plans to upgrade baseball, soccer and hockey campus facilities, in addition to expanding the campus football training facility;
6. authorizing a move to partner with The Aspire Group to help handle an expected increase in volume of ticket sales in the coming year(s)

If President Herbst hates sports as much as this thread suggest, she sure has a very odd way of showing it.

Dooley, you are honestly the one poster I go to with this. Did you not find what she said discouraging?

 

[BUConn10]

I'm really beginning to think that Herbst is the second coming of Homer Babbidge, whose vision for UCONN was that it would become a public Ivy. Let's de-emphasize big time college athletics and get back to playing sports as a fun extra curricular activity. If we refuse to go to bowl games we are pure and better than everybody else, like the Ivy League chose to do when it was formed in the mid-1950's.

In principle, I agree that money has corrupted college athletics, and maybe it would be more fun if the athletes only participated for the joys of athletic competition, with no other motives. But you don't spend 71 million per year on athletics if you're moving toward a berth in the Patriot League. And what do you tell the taxpayers of Conn. that footed the bill for a 90 million dollar football stadium that's about to become the largest white elephant in Conn. history?

If your vision for the future of UCONN athletics is the Patriot League, that's fine, just come out and announce it. But if there was any true understanding by the current administration of what the 25 year meteoric rise of UCONN athletics has meant to the entire university in terms of overall funding, infrastructure improvements and new on campus construction, do you really want to turn back the clock to the 1960's and be satisfied with a small time athletics program in a small time conference? You pull the rug out from under your fanbase, and far more importantly, your donors.

It's kinda like the argument about people never having had any money vs. people who have had money but lost it all. Some argue it's worse to have had it and then lost it. That's what we have going on here. We had it for quite a while, from 1979 to 2014. Now we don't have it anymore, however if you truly understand the overall history of all facets of the university, the rise of the athletic program directly corresponded with the UCONN 2000 and other initiatives to rebuild the campus and make UCONN the envy of every other New England flagship state U. I don't have a warm feeling that the current school administration truly gets how that all worked. I hope I turn out to be way wrong, but that's how it looks. We seem more aligned with the Knight Commission than the P5.

Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma are both directly responsible for making UConn the institution it is today, both aesthetically and academically. Fact.

When I went to UConn from '10-'14 I had friends who were from Los Angeles. Now tell me, why in the world would rich LA kids ever come to a state school in CT? Because of the brand and marketing achieved by our university through athletic achievement spanned the entire nation. Winning at the highest level in college athletics gives the air or perception of eliteness, even when its not there (see Louisville and Alabama whose enrollment are both desperately tied to their athletic performance).

The only proof you need is to go look up enrollment numbers the year before and after we win one of our titles.It's a night and day difference.

 

[amory]

"The Big 12 just has to take their time, make their decisions and they will. And whatever happens, we continue to try to win. To make sure our student athletes are having a great experience, academically and socially."

"We are UConn and we are champions. We have unbelievably great … sports that are just the envy of presidents across the country … and our great compelling fan base, the UConn Nation, is there for us no matter what happens."

Ah, an early rendition of the winning winners who like to win speech.

Oh nooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[Dizzy21]

Pretty sure I don't see BYU's President out there saying much or begging.

 

[BUConn10]

Pretty sure I don't see BYU's President out there saying much or begging.

Yea, and he's also not going out there and literally saying "We are making no active effort to join the Big 12, if they take us they take us". That's what people are upset about. It would have been 100x better had she stuck with the "quiet campaign" motif and stayed absolutely silent on the issue, but she went and basically confirmed the fears of many.

 

[Dizzy21]

Yea, and he's also not going out there and literally saying "We are making no active effort to join the Big 12, if they take us they take us". That's what people are upset about. It would have been 100x better had she stuck with the "quiet campaign" motif and stayed absolutely silent on the issue, but she went and basically confirmed the fears of many.

We could debate about the meaning of her comment, but if the Big12 presidents are reading the Courant to see that comment, then she was correct, they are actively pursuing UCONN and her process is working. If they don't read it, well who cares what she said then.

 

[whaler11]

Pretty sure I don't see BYU's President out there saying much or begging.

Is every sales person in the world just begging? There are 500 things she could say about the school or athletic program that aren't anything even approaching begging.

Her goal is to build the endowment? Guess what - that's a sales job.

 

[Dizzy21]

Is every sales person in the world just begging? There are 500 things she could say about the school or athletic program that aren't anything even approaching begging.

Her goal is to build the endowment? Guess what - that's a sales job.

My point was that BYU is a "favorite" and you don't see their president saying anything, is their president an idiot too?

 

[amory]

Dooley, you are honestly the one poster I go to with this. Did you not find what she said discouraging?

Everyone should find it discouraging. Because it comes off as "head held high, ready to try again when the time comes".

It's "winning winners who like to win" all over again.

I'm not saying this is her telling us we're out, but it sure isn't dropping a hint that we're in either.

Next time just give a "no comment", Susan. At least then we could have some wildly irrational hope that an NDA is in place.

 

[Excalibur]

Yea, and he's also not going out there and literally saying "We are making no active effort to join the Big 12, if they take us they take us". That's what people are upset about. It would have been 100x better had she stuck with the "quiet campaign" motif and stayed absolutely silent on the issue, but she went and basically confirmed the fears of many.

That is not what she said, and don't try to twist it that way. She said that she doesn't believe that public lobbying is going to have any effect, and she's likely correct.

People are (rightly) upset that she basically insulted all of us with the last statement: "I know people roll their eyes at this, but this is supposed to be fun,'' she said. "You know the athletes are in it because they enjoy it. The fans go because they want to support our athletes and they enjoy it. So everyone, including presidents and deans and faculty, need to step back and remember why we are in it"

 

[whaler11]

My point was that BYU is a "favorite" and you don't see their president saying anything, is their president an idiot too?

Well like others have pointed out nothing would have been more effective. Let me know when someone else says that we need to keep it close to our hearts that this is all just fun.

 

[junglehusky]

Anyway, it's either over, or it's not. And if it's over, you guys are arguing over whether what kind of salad dressing Herbst should serve at the wake.

 

[Dizzy21]

Well like others have pointed out nothing would have been more effective. Let me know when someone else says that we need to keep it close to our hearts that this is all just fun.

I can't copy on my phone, but a few posts above I responded to that issue as it pertains to her strategy.

 

[whaler11]

I can't copy on my phone, but a few posts above I responded to that issue as it pertains to her strategy.

If they are actively pursuing UConn her comments make even less sense.

 

[amory]

Anyway, it's either over, or it's not. And if it's over, you guys are arguing over whether what kind of salad dressing Herbst should serve at the wake.

If we don't get into the Big 12, as long a shot as it was in the beginning, it's time for them to start answering some questions.

We'd want to know why we keep getting lapped by former CUSA schools.

It'd be less about salad dressing at the wake than about getting an autopsy to figure out how the hell the person died

 

[Dizzy21]

If they are actively pursuing UConn her comments make even less sense.

I don't know much about being attractive in conference alignment, but I know a bit about manipulating people into being interested in you and since it's human psychology, I would assume it carries over. If you walk up to a hot girl and tell her how much you like her and that you want to date her, maybe you are sexy as hell and they say yes, but 99 percent of the time you don't stand much of a chance. However, if you can manage to get her attention while slightly insulting her and acting disinterested, her instincts kick in and she becomes interested all of a sudden.

 

[whaler11]

I don't know much about being attractive in conference alignment.

Yep.

 

[sportsart]

Yea, and he's also not going out there and literally saying "We are making no active effort to join the Big 12, if they take us they take us". That's what people are upset about. It would have been 100x better had she stuck with the "quiet campaign" motif and stayed absolutely silent on the issue, but she went and basically confirmed the fears of many.

She said we are making no effort to join the Big 12?