UConn to Big XII Imminent?

[LoyalFanCT]

Plenty of state universities don't have football but I'm pretty certain the only other state flagship university that doesn't have football is Alaska.

What about University of Vermont?

 

[huskidork]

Almost like they were intentionally trying to kill a deal In the works.
If it was Ohio State, okay but Maryland is not much different than a good G5 program
Frankly I was hoping for 28-14 with a a late Terp TD to ice it . That score was more embarrassing than the L . .

we better beat or compete with Duke and Wake Forest, no way they saw that and said "UConn football CAN compete with the Big 12"

 

[metsfan2323]

If it was Ohio State, okay but Maryland is not much different than a good G5 program

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.

 

[mike012]

we better beat or compete with Duke and Wake Forest, no way they saw that and said "UConn football CAN compete with the Big 12"

I think the Big12 is aware of our football and that is why the 5 year plan was introduced. So us losing by 60 to Maryland didn’t really change much since football is a few years away anyway.

 

[ScottVib]

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.

There’s a growing chasm between the SEC/Big Ten and the ACC/Big XII let alone the gap between the P4 and the G4

 

[metsfan2323]

There’s a growing chasm between the SEC/Big Ten and the ACC/Big XII let alone the gap between the P4 and the G4

Yeah, a lot of people on this board need a big dose of reality. For now our important football games are against the G5 and Merrimack. Everything should be judged based on our results in those games. It is a shame we have to schedule any P games, those will be losses until we get upgraded, the BC game was a fluke.

 

[bendm]

You keep talking about using the savings from cutting football and the corresponding title ix sports as the vehicle to keep funding mens and women’s basketball indefinitely except between the two programs they lost 9 million themselves, before signing the coaching staffs to new contracts and before dealing with revenue splitting. With or without football they need more revenue.

Ultimately the athletic department as a whole needs to make more money to continue to fund any of its sports at the championship level… the path to those level of revenues (and the continued exposure that ultimately led to the universities growth) depends on finding a new conference home. The move to the Big East was the right move for UConn at the time but a world where the MWC gets 6 bids and the Big East gets 3 should sound warning bells about the willingness to diminish the conference… and the realities of greed among the power conferences should be the alarm about needing to find a higher revenue home.

everyone agrees we'd go to a power conference versus staying in the BE. the issue i'm discussing is what happens if we dont get invited....football and 6 women's sports have to get cut but what happens to bball? that's what i'm discussing.

the MWC is not a power conference so i think it was a great sign that they got 6 bids last year.

the UConn athletic department has lost money every year since its inception but it's part of a nonprofit, state funded institution. almost all school athletic departments lose money every year but that does not make them unsustainable. the issue is how much money can they lose each year and the answer to that depends on how much the school/state is willing to cover.

to that end, UConn has covered ~$20 million in losses from football and the 6 corresponding title ix women's teams for 5 years now in addition to the losses from every other sport. it was a prudent investment we hoped would result in a P3 invite. HOWEVER keeping the bball programs funded is not the same short term investment. the school can and should continue offsetting ~$15mill in annual losses from the 2 best bball programs in the country. that's really not much and the intangible benefits they bring to the state are more than worth it.

it's funny how scared of UConn's bottom line everyone here is but it's not your money so dont worry so much.

 

[Kolumbo]

I think the Big12 is aware of our football and that is why the 5 year plan was introduced. So us losing by 60 to Maryland didn’t really change much since football is a few years away anyway.

Easy there. That's 10 touchdowns. UConn only lost by 7 touchdowns.

 

[FearThePups]

You want UConn to be like Gonzaga? I want UConn to compete with other state flagship schools.

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.

 

[FearThePups]

btw anyone who thinks our loss to Maryland matters in this is dead wrong. It was literally one single game, the total final record is what will matter.

Disagree it’s many games and we won’t have a winning record this year again.

 

[FearThePups]

gonzaga says hello. theyve been a top 10 program for the last 30 years even though they play in the midmajor WCC where maybe 2 teams get into the tourney each year and they have no conference showdowns. they have proven that stuff doesnt matter.

we can continue dominating in the BE by playing in preseason multi team events and scheduling high profile noncon games at MSG. we have top tier NIL. the only potential issue is revenue sharing but the school can easily afford that by cutting football and the corresponding title ix women's sports. whether we get into the big12/acc or stay in the BE i'm not worried about our bball programs.

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.

 

[Kolumbo]

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.

UConn needs to be smart about any moves obviously. Your realities may not match UConn's realities. I think we all agree that a move to the Big 12 has to come with guarantees. I agree that UConn must negotiate smartly because the UConn brand is worth it.

1. UConn needs a football schedule alliance with the Big 12 at a minimum which will strengthen football and bring in additional revenue
2. Agreement needs to define the details, no reneging and UConn needs to protect itself.
3. UConn competed in the Big East and the Big 12 is not a murderers' row. It's very solid top to bottom which is where UConn can strive to be. "It's doable."
4. I have not read that the Big 12 will not allow UConn to play in The Rent. UConn will be playing in The Rent for at minimum several years. Membership in the Big 12 will bring in much higher revenue to help pay for the stadium solution

 

[John]

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.

Lot to unpack here. Seems like you're missing some key realities -
1. We've already been competitive at "that level" - been there, done that.
2. We don't know exactly what ramp-up for football the Big 12 is/was proposing.
3. Even at a partial non-football share, there was talk we'd still be doubling our Big East payout.
4. The Big 12 is on par, if not better, than the Big East in basketball.
5. The Big 12 has said nothing negative about our football stadium, sorry if you don't like it (ever gone to a game?) but it's served us well and is upgradable if required.

 

[BlueMAB]

Gonzaga has zero national championships. I'd rather not sign up for that.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Lot to unpack here. Seems like you're missing some key realities -
1. We've already been competitive at "that level" - been there, done that.
2. We don't know exactly what ramp-up for football the Big 12 is/was proposing.
3. Even at a partial non-football share, there was talk we'd still be doubling our Big East payout.
4. The Big 12 is on par, if not better, than the Big East in basketball.
5. The Big 12 has said nothing negative about our football stadium, sorry if you don't like it (ever gone to a game?) but it's served us well and is upgradable if required.

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.

 

[John]

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.

In that case, what happens is we're in a better basketball conference that has much more upside than the Big East.

 

[alphasigko]

I think the Big12 is aware of our football and that is why the 5 year plan was introduced. So us losing by 60 to Maryland didn’t really change much since football is a few years away anyway.

UConn football has be "a few years away" over and over forever, and most recently since they they got crushed in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

[John]

UConn football has be "a few years away" over and over forever, and most recently since they they got crushed in the Fiesta Bowl.

13 years being "forever" in your book.

 

[PackTheRent]

Under this theory of the 5 year plan, Gonzaga and Butler could be invited into Big 12 while the conference waits for their football teams to develop from scratch. We need to get into the ACC. The Big 12 is too shaky

 

[FearThePups]

Lot to unpack here. Seems like you're missing some key realities -
1. We've already been competitive at "that level" - been there, done that.
2. We don't know exactly what ramp-up for football the Big 12 is/was proposing.
3. Even at a partial non-football share, there was talk we'd still be doubling our Big East payout.
4. The Big 12 is on par, if not better, than the Big East in basketball.
5. The Big 12 has said nothing negative about our football stadium, sorry if you don't like it (ever gone to a game?) but it's served us well and is upgradable if required.

Questions to your answers

1. Competitive at that level? What year(s) was that? Was it done over a number of years or just a few?
2. Fair comment.
3. I didn’t see what the yearly payout would be for football. Was it published?
4. I never said the Big East was better than the B12 in basketball.
5. I believe during this same topic discussion last year, the B12 does in fact have minimum requirements for their teams’ stadiums such as minimum seating. Nevertheless, if we are going to make a long term item to football the state and university needs to build an on campus stadium. We can’t do what we’ve always done in Connecticut which is take the cheap way out. Trying up upgrade Gampel when we should be building a new stadium, upgrading (not even sure this is the right word) the Civic Center. Waste of time and money. How many schools in the Big 10 or 12 play its home football games not on campus? If we have big dreams, then act big. You ask if I’ve been to the Rent. Yes. Have you ever been to the Big House, Randall stadium in Madison, Mich St? I have. There’s no comparison.

 

[FearThePups]

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.

All very good questions

 

[alphasigko]

13 years being "forever" in your book.

That is the most recent version of being "a few years away". That phrase has been repeated over and over since I attended my 1st Husky football game in the fall of 1969.

 

[CTBballfan243]

we better beat or compete with Duke and Wake Forest, no way they saw that and said "UConn football CAN compete with the Big 12"

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.

 

[WrenchFan69]

What about University of Vermont?

The guy I replied to already said Vermont. But yes the two flagships without football are Vermont and Alaska.

 

[FearThePups]

UConn football has be "a few years away" over and over forever, and most recently since they they got crushed in the Fiesta Bowl.

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.