Believe it, or not, I actually felt like there were some encouraging signs. I felt like our athleticism has stepped up a little bit in the coaching during some stretches, didn't seem like it was being randomized via dice throws.
Well, Georgetown definitely should. Otherwise, they don't have a prayer.
I would have preferred mercenaries since they should be somewhat hungry for action and a chance to prove themselves. What we have seen so far is something far from that.
We don't have a rival, yet, I hear other fan bases, talking about how they perceive us as being their rival. it sounds arrogant to say it, but I think it's more true than not, we are everyone's Super Bowl.
It was founded as a Christian school
Throwing around terms like "massacre deal" and "jocksniffery" for being in favor of a series that would have further accelerated the programs national relevance is, uh, interesting. Favorable 1 for 1s outside Big East? Baylor Iowa State Duke Virginia Wake Forest Navy not exactly the marquee murderers row of DI football and none of those series were "leveraged" w hoops. Michigan had to be dragged here kicking and screaming and Tennessee bagged coming here. The only thing rejecting ND out of an overinflated sense of pride and self importance got uconn football was a little extra momentum down into the abyss.
This. It would have been nice if the UConn/Big 12 stuff wasn't leaked, Yormark is still working it through, and has been for months. It makes everyone look bad when it's leaked before it's done.
UConn should set some conditions. AFTER the FB season. No talking before.
Yes that leak was terrible. It created much drama about the situation when it's not needed.
My theory is that B12 negotiation news is corrosive to FB success. Wish they had waited until after the season.
With what leverage?
I know people here skewer Mark Zanetto on Locked on UConn. I have no issue with him and I appreciate him pushing out content. However, even when he said the word "imminent" my first reaction was "sure whatever". Conference realignment and recruiting news deserve the same mindset that I always give it, "it's not a done deal because some podcasters and fans think it's a done deal. It's a done deal when it actually is a done deal." Anything is else is massive hearsay.
Simply not run down to Dallas to make presentations until after the season.
Re conference naming rights---it would be helpful if Yormark could get a price for conference naming rights with and without UConn so he had some concrete numbers to show the Presidents.
Fair enough. Hope they can pull it together.
I accept the talent gap. I didn’t expect to win or come close. But many FCS teams with what should be worse talent than UConn, would have been better than we were. I don’t know if it’s roster turnover, lack of practice or not enough coaches, but it’s not just talent. I don’t think Mora is a bad coach, but there the team looks like they don’t know what the hell they are doing.
This is one of the reasons I support the move. Our biggest rival right now is probably a team in Omaha. Changing that to a team in Lawrence isn’t any more geographically challenging. Our next closest rival now is in Milwaukee. Let’s not pretend that there are a bunch of great local rivalries now. There’s PC and maybe St. John’s, but they will go back to being terrible when their ancient coach retires. It’s possible that Villanova recovers, but it is possible they become what Georgetown has been for 20 years.
Agreed - the Old Big East was absolutely the best and there's no arguement. However, staying in this version of the Big East within the future landscape will put our basketball jewels in peril. A move has to be made into a power conference or we'll slowly decay into irrelevance. Sad, but true. And perhaps even sadder is that the local media and politicians don't get it. Hell, they need to not just get it, but need to become cheerleaders for our future.
I think you're selling Nova, PC, and St. John's short. I'll never understand the Neptune hire and why he's still there but I don't see Nova falling off the map. Programs go through lulls, hey it happened to us. Louisville is going through it. Nova is all about basketball and even with the changing landscape I don't see them going away. Their NIL is huge and they have enough money people supporting the program along with some really good NBA players who are all about their alma mater. Providence has really stepped up their NIL and it's the only game in town, their fanbase is rabid and they continue to get players. St. John's after being lost for a long time has a renewed commitment to basketball and financial backing. Georgetown, I'll never quite understand. They should be great but their obsession with never moving on from John Thompson has destroyed them.
Seriously? Wasn’t yesterday’s beatdown against a mediocre Big 10 team enough proof why the B12 doesn’t want us? This never ending discussion is moot until we can field a respectable (meaning not getting massacred) team. The problem is the administration and AD don’t have a clue on how to hire a successful and winning coach for football. See the history of our head coach revolving door with no appreciable results.
It's not about whether our football program becomes P3/P4 competitive. It's about being left behind in a non-power conference. The power conferences already have a peeking order within them (see SEC/Big10....gap.... ACC/Big12) as evidenced by FSU being shunned from the CFP, TCU making the CFP final game and being laughingstocked. The same schism is starting to show in basketball -- Big East bubble teams left behind last year, the Big East not being in as many conference showdowns, etc. When the incredible financial pressures of the House case (and the others that will follow) become too much for the power conferences to stomach, they will power play their way to snatch more of basketball revenues from the non- power conferences. It's not if, it's when.
In all candor, I'm not sure any BE basketball programs beyond Nova and UConn carry a whole lot of weight outside of their own fan bases and fan bases of other BE schools.
If we get an invite it will have nothing to do with our football record this season. They all know we blow in football. We'll get the invite if the schools listen to Yormark and Endeavor and the invite will be based on UConn being the best basketball school in the country, their basketball brand, and eastward expansion.