UConn to Big XII Imminent?

[CL82]

so when are we joining the Big 12 again?

Still like 90% sure that you are @GoKU.

 

[noeynox]

People want UConn to lose in football. The preference is to kill the program. They can’t allow any daylight there as that would open the door to them leaving the Big East.

That is really what this is.

 

[alphasigko]

It is not that we WANT them to lose, we ARE just saying that they lose most of the time (< 0.500)

 

[BlueMAB]

It is not that we WANT them to lose, we ARE just saying that they lose most of the time (< 0.500)

And that doesn’t make them any different from plenty of other P4 schools.

 

[How Sway?!]

You would be wrong there.

Let’s say Brett wants nyc market for hoops. They say no to UConn, or UConn basketball people scuttle a move.

He then says, ok let’s take Villanova and St John’s to get a share of the northeast that we can sell for hoops centric contract. Improves hoops, market, doesn’t dilute football.

ACC then loses Florida state or Clemson. They decide to add Navy football and Georgetown basketball to return to the Maryland market.

Things like that is what we are going to see happen, imo.

And who would pay for that? Fox, who refuses to fund UConn's move because they have us on pennies to the dollar? Or ESPN, who has had two chances to grab the northeast basketball market and said "too rich for my taste"?

No one outside of UConn moves the needle enough to make it financially worth it for the B12 and we've seen how that has gone.

 

[Zissou]

so when are we joining the Big 12 again?

Imminently

 

[noeynox]

It is not that we WANT them to lose, we ARE just saying that they lose most of the time (< 0.500)

Eh there are many like you that think if you eliminate FB and the corresponding women's sports that, that money would go to BB. What would most likely happen is the athletic department would shrink budget as part of the cost cutting.

We'd have an overall athletics budget more in line with those BE schools you love so much.

 

[ScottVib]

Agree with everything you’ve said. But you will never convince the ones who will hang on like grim death to the notion we need men’s football. Funny not one of them has any idea how to fix this 70+ year problem.

In the last year with a full conference distribution (2017-2018) the difference in the losses from football relative to men's basketball was 3.5M... which corresponded to the difference in the cost of the scholarships that UConn charged the athletic department for those two sports. With a conference home, football losses dramatically decrease (and at least for that year, were attributable to the cost of scholarships, not a real expenditure).


To be clear I'm a fan of all UConn sports, I wouldn't be in favor of sacrificing any of them for the benefit of another. I do think that UConn made the right (albeit unusual) choice to leave the AAC when it did and Men's Basketball has definitely benefited from the move. That said, I don't think that any of the people in power for college athletics holds the Big East as a must keep/must save/must have. That's part of why the TV rights deal got split so many different ways to come up with the money that they did get. The fact that the Big East teams did not get the benefit of the doubt when compared to the MWC schools is alarming, at least it should be for those who feel like the league's perception will save the Big East when the power schools look to further their own interests... because ultimately no one is worried about saving the MWC.

 

[JohnFSilver]

This type of doomsday scenario is the only one where UConn should offer itself all sports minus football. Until then, have to at least try and include it.

I don’t know if this would even happen, but what I want to convey is that UConn doesn’t have luxury to pick and choose. You get an offer, you go. You can’t say…well we are a basketball school.

CCNY was a basketball school.

Lol.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It is not that we WANT them to lose, we ARE just saying that they lose most of the time (< 0.500)

There are quite a few programs that had to overcome an extensive track record of futility prior to becoming relevant. A perfect case in point is Kansas State.

When Snyder took over in the late 1980's they had a then (possibly still) NCAA record of 27 consecutive games without a win.

In 1998, when they reached #1 in the rankings for the first time (didn't last) they had more winless seasons in their history than winning seasons (and that included three straight winning seasons leading up to 1998).

The past dozen years have been unacceptable. Nobody is stating anything different. Anything that occurred prior to when we hired Skip can be thrown out as that was the first move we ever made that could be classified as being in an effort to field a competitive football program at a high level nationally.

I've been to games at the Rent that were absolutely big time football played in a big time atmosphere. We can get there again.

 

[FearThePups]

speaking of football, you're now moving the goalposts.

How is it moving anything? You said above from 1969 to 2003 is immaterial. Then what dates count. I went back to include total won lose history. We have lost in more seasons than have won. I don’t consider that immaterial. It’s an unvarnished fact.

 

[FearThePups]

1969 to 2003 is immaterial.

Really, 40 years is immaterial?

 

[FearThePups]

Honestly, thank you for saying that. Nobody is bragging about Yale dominating college football for years except for people at Yale. We need to focus on what a modern day UConn football program can accomplish, and we got a good dose of that during the Big East years just a little more than a decade ago...

You just saw what a modern day UConn football can accomplish 4 days ago.

 

[JohnFSilver]

How is it moving anything? You said above from 1969 to 2003 is immaterial. Then what dates count. I went back to include total won lose history. We have lost in more seasons than have won. I don’t consider that immaterial. It’s an unvarnished fact.

Meh. I would look at when it went FBS. Still not good.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Uhm, we shall see. It's also possible that Maryland will be good. They lost to national champion Michigan by only 7 last year so i'm not sure your opinion here is up to date. There is a growing chasm between the P4 and the G5.

I thought that very thing , then I said “ sure unicorns and a great Maryland term are possible “ Then I regained my composure.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Imminently

Aka 20 minutes

 

[FearThePups]

It seems the beatdown that Uconn FB team received over the weekend has silenced all realignment talks sigh

As it should. There is a difference between wishing we could make it so versus the harsh reality of what it is. Would anyone on this thread who believes we should go, outline how we achieve any sort of respectability? Remember, we don’t get any share of the league’s football money to help. Trust me when I say, I would love to have a decent football program but someone needs to show the rest of us how that’s accomplished other than if we don’t go, we’ll be left behind.

 

[FearThePups]

UConn can’t compete with the B12 right now. They need B12 conference name to improve recruiting and the additional B12 money. Then and only then will the start to become competitive.

What additional B12 money?

 

[FearThePups]

That would make the following schools our peers:

Kansas - 0.342,
Iowa St. - 0.420,
Baylor - 0.442,
Kansas St -0.437,

Big 12 Conference Schools | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

Yes it would. I guess every league needs doormats. Is that what you’re saying? Do you actually enjoy watching beat downs at the hand of middle of the road opponents? I don’t. Had to turn it off after the first quarter. It only got worse after that.

 

[FearThePups]

People want UConn to lose in football. The preference is to kill the program. They can’t allow any daylight there as that would open the door to them leaving the Big East.

That is really what this is.

I want them to be successful. Share your salvation plan with us.

 

[uconnyankee]

UConn already does compete with other stellar programs except for football. We will never be competitive at that level. Did you all see the terms of the potential offer? No football in the B2 for 7 years. Meaning no football sharing revenue until then. Those who say we need to get a seat at the table now are missing key realities. Shall I list them? 1. Whats really in it for us to join a B12 if we can’t benefit from their football revenue now? 7 years of not seeing $25M per year. How is this different than where we are now? 2. The college conference probably will look very different from today. Who says the B12 doesn’t renege/change their collective mind over a 7 year period. 3. Someone please explain to me how our football program competes in the B12? Again, flashback to losses against Michigan, Tennessee and Maryland. Do you all want to be the DePaul of the B12? We will be 3-9 or 4-8 this year with likely wins over Marymount, UMass and some other nothing school. 4. Who’s going to pay for a new stadium? The B12 won’t allow us to play in our embarrassment of a football stadium. Yormark is the smart one. He obtains the 2 best men’s and women’s basketball programs in the country in return for nothing. If we ever get an offer, I hope to hell someone here knows how to negotiate because no league deserves our brand/cache, without paying a premium.

It’s funny how some people just see things differently.
Many years ago, there were people that said ‘nobody is ever going to UConn to play basketball. How will we compete?’

I suppose we could have listened to those people back then. Thank goodness we didn’t though.
And I hope the university again makes the smart decision to compete at the highest level of athletics and not listen to people afraid of change.

Your arguments are literally made up. Terms of the deal don’t exist because there isn’t a deal yet. A) you don’t know what the money situation is. B) who said we can’t play at the rent? C) football would be given 5 years to beef up the program. If you remember the plan to join Big East, there was a similar plan to build the roster. UConn actually joined earlier due to ACC defections.

Let the process work. If there is a deal that works for both sides, it will work. UConn isn’t giving away BB, and will work to get best deal possible.

 

[uconnyankee]

You don't know what ramp-up for football the Big 12 is/was proposing.

Your pro-Big 12 argument is primarily based on a massive revenue bump for basketball that may be a complete fantasy. I would love $15 million/year or $20MM or $500MM or whatever fantasy number people want to throw out, but there is no evidence we are getting that.

No one knows what the implications of the House settlement would be, making jumping at the first offer we get potentially a massive mistake. What happens if the elite academic schools bail on major sports? What happens if, as seems increasingly possible, football splits off from other sports? Committing to the Big 12 would have been a massive mistake under those circumstances.

Just a hunch, but being aligned with several other publically funded flagship universities seems better than a league almost exclusively comprised of smaller private Catholic schools.

 

[uconnyankee]

I agree with Alphasigko. And when was the Fieata Bowl? 10 or 15 years ago? I am 70 and never recall UConn being good top 20 or 25 at any point in my lifetime. So anyone who trots out that old trope, needs to stop.

UConn was ranked in Top 25 during 2009 or 2010 season.
You can check that off your lifetime list.
You’re welcome.

 

[mikeinmanila]

UConn was ranked in Top 25 during 2009 or 2010 season.
You can check that off your lifetime list.
You’re welcome.

I believe UConn's highest ranking in football was #12 nationally.

 

[UConn Dan]

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/09/03/big-12-uconn-update

Back door

“As one Big 12 source characterized the potential move, the league needs Yormark long-term. Appeasing the commissioner, for lack of better wording, in snagging the northeast member he desperately craves isn’t the worst thing in ensuring he sticks around for years to come.”