UConn to Big XII Imminent?

[Kolumbo]

I think there is a shock to the system coming that would be bigger than the FSU/Clemson ACC Breakup pipe dream. I stand by my prediction that several of the top academic schools will not want to be part of a professional sports minor league.

I agree, at some point the top academics need to break off.

Even if they do want to be part of it, I don't see how Northwestern and Vandy would even come close to competing. I've wondered how lenient these institutions are when it comes to student athletes. The academic challenges are tough enough, but when athletes are being paid to play, how much effort do they really want to put into studying? The two are entirely at odds. The schools either want to be associated with Yale and Harvard or with Alabama. Eventually the elite academics will be punching bags.

 

[jayfromfla]

What killed the Notre Dane series was UConn winning the first game at South Bend then ND wouldn't negotiate beyond that.

Not true at all.

What killed the ND games was a 10 year contract that scheduled 5 games at the golden dome and 5 games at north east stadiums. NJ and Boston. None in Connecticut. The $$$ fans went nuts. Plus ND got half the gate at the UConn home games Hathaway was our negotiator

 

[jayfromfla]

I think Hathaway was the negotiator for the Indians for Manhattan

 

[superjohn]

Why is Chris Murphy speaking out against this move? You'd think he'd have a better handle on why this makes a better financial idea for the school and state overall. I mean a lot of the Big 12 schools travel very well so that brings in more revenue for Hartford, Manchester and surrounding areas through tourism. Plus I'm sure they can get neutral site games to really get some interest drummed up for the program

He's leading the charge on revenue sharing for college athletes yet he doesn't want his own state flagship University to be able to compete and to pay it's athletes accordingly.

 

[superjohn]

I agree, at some point the top academics need to break off.

Even if they do want to be part of it, I don't see how Northwestern and Vandy would even come close to competing. I've wondered how lenient these institutions are when it comes to student athletes. The academic challenges are tough enough, but when athletes are being paid to play, how much effort do they really want to put into studying? The two are entirely at odds. The schools either want to be associated with Yale and Harvard or with Alabama. Eventually the elite academics will be punching bags.

If they wanted to compete Northwestern and Vandy could always compete. Their endowments are huge and they are ultra lenient when it comes to athletes and academics. My brother went to Vandy and our close friend played football there. There were some guys on the team who could barely read.

 

[psilotic]

Not true

What killed the Notre Dane series was UConn winning the first game at South Bend then ND wouldn't negotiate beyond that.

. Some uppity state legislators were outraged ND wouldn't come to Rent. Uconn 'home' games would have been meadowlands Gillette and 1 other northeast venue. A sweet deal for what was then an 8 year old FBS program. Like the man said 'worst enemy'

 

[jimva]

Hathaway's hubris killed it.

I was at that game in Sothbend when we won, amazing experience. As I recall, what killed the series is that they didn’t want to play in East Hartford. I think it was Boston? And we said no

 

[buddy]

Why is Chris Murphy speaking out against this move? You'd think he'd have a better handle on why this makes a better financial idea for the school and state overall. I mean a lot of the Big 12 schools travel very well so that brings in more revenue for Hartford, Manchester and surrounding areas through tourism. Plus I'm sure they can get neutral site games to really get some interest drummed up for the program

Small mind

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm not sure why we've decided to resurrect another dead horse to beat but; that 'series' was a textbook case of Hathaway being Hathaway, believing that he was far more clever than he really was and reacting in a manner that he thought would appease a select few who could have made his life comfortable or miserable as opposed to looking into what may have been the best, long term for the football program, the athletic department and the school as a whole.

 

[Patman]

If the football team was mediocre, there would be another reason. There is a cultural rift with New England in college football. UConn football was superior to Syracuse when it was in the big east, and at times superior to Louisville in performance.

Hell. Back in 2006 ucf and usf wish they were UConn. I remember when we started the series with ucf. UConn fans were upset to play a Mac school.

Truth of matter is once Burton was built there was a lack of investment in program…I don’t know why, politics, basketball people, but that is what happens. You have to continually invest or it atrophies.

I mean i always go back to hathaway who routinely just sat on his hands thinking the world would always stay the same and either case lacked the hustle even if it was going to stay the same. I picked that up immediately in 2005. I think even the best AD would have UConn outside looking in but UConn would have been in a far better position if that useless hack had any drive in his body

 

[Patman]

What killed the ND games was a 10 year contract that scheduled 5 games at the golden dome and 5 games at north east stadiums. NJ and Boston. None in Connecticut. The $$$ fans went nuts. Plus ND got half the gate at the UConn home games Hathaway was our negotiator

Many people still on this board supported the 0-1-6 and 0-5-5 massacre arrangements with Notre Dame at the time we were getting favorable 1 for 1s with power schools (leveraging basketball at times) because they were so eager to pretend it meant they belonged with Notre Dame.

Good god the stupidity of the board at those times... the jock sniffery of Notre Dame while we were getting favorable football deals.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If they wanted to compete Northwestern and Vandy could always compete. Their endowments are huge and they are ultra lenient when it comes to athletes and academics. My brother went to Vandy and our close friend played football there. There were some guys on the team who could barely read.

Northwestern has actually been reasonably good. Let's be honest about what "competing" means. There's only a handful of schools who really have a legit shot a winning a championship in football.

 

[uconn_jack]

I want to know where they are in the process and what are the major negotiating points. I know we need a football conference but we also can't shortchange ourselves. UConn is absolutely better than that.

Would Benedict turn down any offer if it wasn't beneficial enough?

• We need to be guaranteed a football invite at some point and it should be sooner than 2031. There can't be any wiggle room where the XII welches out of it because we didn't "invest" enough. 2031 is essentially a basketball only invite because the future is too uncertain
• UConn should have a get out of jail free card if necessary. If UConn were to agree to the XII without football but then the ACC came in later with a full invite, UConn better be able to choose for itself with no financial penalty. Can't get locked into something holding UConn back in any way. UConn's been shafted for far too long already to have to pay penalties
• We can still ride the Big East because if it is going to be broken in the future, it isn't broken yet. I am starting to lean towards staying in the Big East for now, until we start to lose. Purely based on the disrespect we get from other conferences

I honestly think the XII should invite UConn and USF today. USF is going to get an invite someday and locking down the 2 high growth universities in Central Florida would be a smart move.

Regarding your second bullet, as long as the Big XII has right of first refusal, I think that's reasonable.

 

[ElGuapo]

I was at that game in Sothbend when we won, amazing experience. As I recall, what killed the series is that they didn’t want to play in East Hartford. I think it was Boston? And we said no

my Lord what a great morning, afternoon and early evening that day was.
We tore that tailgate situation up before and even more after until they kicked us out.
So then we took the party downtown where we were staying and ripped South Bend up.
A bouncer let us into the club even though we had hoodies (UConn) on and there was a no hoodie policy.
His excuse was "well you won so have on in!"
And people were buying us drinks at the other bars because they wanted Charlie Weis out and that game sealed his fate.
What a wonderful road trip to Indiana and back that whole UConn fan experience was!

 

[billybud]

Weis lost his last four games that season to bring the Irish to finish at .500...Weis was fired 9 days after the UConn loss.

 

[AllHusky]

What killed the ND games was a 10 year contract that scheduled 5 games at the golden dome and 5 games at north east stadiums. NJ and Boston. None in Connecticut. The $$$ fans went nuts. Plus ND got half the gate at the UConn home games Hathaway was our negotiator

Jeffrey rides again!

 

[AllHusky]

I'm not sure why we've decided to resurrect another dead horse to beat but; that 'series' was a textbook case of Hathaway being Hathaway, believing that he was far more clever than he really was and reacting in a manner that he thought would appease a select few who could have made his life comfortable or miserable as opposed to looking into what may have been the best, long term for the football program, the athletic department and the school as a whole.

Sounds like you knew Jeff well!

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Hathaway's hubris killed it.

And or state politicians.

 

[noeynox]

It’s more than money. Narduzzi didn’t see UConn as a good opportunity. They need a good coach not necessarily an expensive coach. Mora I believe is incentivized and with success UConn will pay to keep him. Is he a better coach than Moorhead? At the time of hiring who knows but he appears to be the right person to navigate the pro/am environment. Hopefully UConn is successful. They are do.

Yeah but he explicitly said the financial commitment wasn't there in terms if the things @JohnFSilver brought up. Assistants salary pool, recruiting budget etc.

Good coach/inexpensive coach i get it. But letting Edsall hang on as long as they did with no buyout was a horrible, horrible mistake. After year 2 he should have been shown the door. It's the biggest stain on Benedict's tenure here.

 

[Redding Husky]

I’m a little frustrated with the clowns that said this was a “done deal” and “imminent”.

 

[Patman]

I’m a little frustrated with the clowns that said this was a “done deal” and “imminent”.

Just another stupid radio guy hitching his careers future on nonsense hoping it will make him.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I’m a little frustrated with the clowns that said this was a “done deal” and “imminent”.

No reputable source ever said that

 

[CJasmer]

Weis lost his last four games that season to bring the Irish to finish at .500...Weis was fired 9 days after the UConn loss.

Yeah ND was a very bad team that year.

 

[DGB]

Weis lost his last four games that season to bring the Irish to finish at .500...Weis was fired 9 days after the UConn loss.

Billy, your freaking posts...

Try to remember when you visit to passive aggressively crap on the program that you are on a UConn board. And the UConn team you reference above went on to beat a pretty good South Carolina team by two touchdowns in a January bowl game.

When UConn was in a power conference it football it was good. Full stop. If UConn gets there again it will be good again.

By the way, I went to the UConn baseball super regional games at FSU this summer and it was a great experience. If you could get over your weird bias you'd realize UConn would be a great conference mate for FSU in basketball, baseball, and yes, even football.

 

[Redding Husky]

Just another stupid radio guy hitching his careers future on nonsense hoping it will make him.

Or an internet guy looking for clicks.