UConn to the NBE?

[LBird33]

I heard this came directly from BTM at on of Flugar’s dinners. LoL

 

[uconngb]

Your source isn't close to credible.

Tranghese working for UConn was in the newspapers three years ago.

We're not going to the BE in 2021.

The idea that a president would have the authority to do something two years after she leaves is idiotic.

He is neither credible nor connected or you have trouble defining both terms.

You're not stupid, but that post is.

That is the long version.

The short version is - lol, no.

I not only understand, but share you skepticism. I didn't believe him at first either. But all I can tell you is the following:

1. This is not a guy I met at a car wash. This is a guy I met at the most prestigious country club in CT. And no, he is not a caddie.
2. He is the #1 private donor to Providence, played soccer there and is plugged into their Athletic Dept. And to Tranghese, although I have no idea what role if any Tranghese has in any of this. It wouldn't surprise me if Tranghese knows what is going on in the Big East though.
3. He also has extremely close ties to the UConn AD via his professional partnership with a very well knows former UConn athlete that is a prominent donor to UConn. I can't say more than that without giving it away and I don't want to do that. Fishy, I'd be happy to tell you in private so you know I'm not making this up.
4. His comment about Herbst and football was that she would kill it on her way out the door so that the incoming President won't have to deal with it as a new issue. Obviously it won't just fold overnight, but that was the basis of the comment.

I'm not making this up and I'm not necessarily describing any probability or truth to it. I'm just saying the guys absolutely has credibility and the way he was talking, it's a done deal. I guess we will see.

OK, you can now continue attacking me and how stupid I am for passing this along!

 

[Purple Stein]

Conference USA 2.1, with marginally better teams.

The league motto can be "Conference USA 2.1. All we really needed was a subwoofer."

 

[Madmannsucks]

What I like, is this has never come up before. Good take.

 

[ToolzieFan]

It’s an interesting contradiction to me that most UConn fans I know - a mix of casual and hardcore fans, and multiple alumni - are totally ready to return to the Big East. Whatever happens with football happens. That is certainly a minority opinion on The Boneyard, though. I understand that we won’t get a P5 invite without football. I get it. And I know it has been debated a ton, but I have to ask: does anybody think there is a strong chance we ever get asked to join a P5 with our football team the way it is? I hope we turn things around and finally get included the next time conferences realign. But I can’t be optimistic after we were passed over the last time. What makes some of you so confident a major conference would ever be interested in us again? I very much want to be convinced.

 

[Dean Wormer]

I not only understand, but share you skepticism. I didn't believe him at first either. But all I can tell you is the following:

1. This is not a guy I met at a car wash. This is a guy I met at the most prestigious country club in CT. And no, he is not a caddie.
2. He is the #1 private donor to Providence, played soccer there and is plugged into their Athletic Dept. And to Tranghese, although I have no idea what role if any Tranghese has in any of this. It wouldn't surprise me if Tranghese knows what is going on in the Big East though.
3. He also has extremely close ties to the UConn AD via his professional partnership with a very well knows former UConn athlete that is a prominent donor to UConn. I can't say more than that without giving it away and I don't want to do that. Fishy, I'd be happy to tell you in private so you know I'm not making this up.
4. His comment about Herbst and football was that she would kill it on her way out the door so that the incoming President won't have to deal with it as a new issue. Obviously it won't just fold overnight, but that was the basis of the comment.

I'm not making this up and I'm not necessarily describing any probability or truth to it. I'm just saying the guys absolutely has credibility and the way he was talking, it's a done deal. I guess we will see.

OK, you can now continue attacking me and how stupid I am for passing this along!

The only way I can see this even beginning to happen would be if our debt situation is much worse than we've been told and the AD gets some kind of sweetheart deal from the NBE and/or rich donors, in order to pull this switcheroo off.
Otherwise its just absurd to think we'd move from a higher-paying conference, as lame as it is, to get less money and piss away the investment that was made in football.
Some of us really need to face the reality that while the BE is our past, the AAC is our present and unfortunately for the time being, our future. Make peace with that fact, and let it go.

 

[whaler11]

Herbst has been killing football since the day she showed up on campus. Why stop after she leaves?

 

[ToolzieFan]

If we continue losing money on football and there is no sign of at least breaking even, the amount we’ve invested in football shouldn’t matter. The sunk-cost fallacy is a hell of a thing.

I want football to succeed. I just don’t see a reasonable path to a turnaround at the moment.

 

[Hoophound]

There is no way we are dropping football. Kill the thread. It’s bad for recruiting.

 

[gampelcrazies]

There is no way we are dropping football. Kill the thread. It’s bad for recruiting.

Message board threads are hurting recruiting now?

Randy is that you?

 

[don356]

Your source isn't close to credible.

Tranghese working for UConn was in the newspapers three years ago.

We're not going to the BE in 2021.

The idea that a president would have the authority to do something two years after she leaves is idiotic.

He is neither credible nor connected or you have trouble defining both terms.

You're not stupid, but that post is.

That is the long version.

The short version is - lol, no.

Does this qualify as a "Fishy Throat Punch"? I believe so.

 

[ToolzieFan]

There is no way we are dropping football. Kill the thread. It’s bad for recruiting.

I want football to work. I’m not even here to discuss the merits of dropping or not dropping football, and I don’t care if the thread gets deleted. My question to the strongest football proponents (and not necessarily directed to you) is this: in what scenario do people see us being asked to join a P5 conference? We were more than deserving during the last two conference realignments. We got screwed. So what would make us appealing the next time around? It’s where we belong, but I feel defeated by the whole thing.

 

[nadav]

I hope this doesn’t screw up our men’s lax upgrade plans. Because that would stink

 

[Hoophound]

Message board threads are hurting recruiting now?

Randy is that you?

As ridiculous as it sounds, the local media tends to use threads like this to create discussion and controversy in the state. The last thing we need is rumors of dropping football to get a lot of discussion. These things always work against us.

 

[ToolzieFan]

As ridiculous as it sounds, the local media tends to use threads like this to create discussion and controversy in the state. The last thing we need is rumors of dropping football to get a lot of discussion. These things always work against us.

You’re probably not totally wrong. But I’d say the underlying conditions that lead people to speculate about the future of football - losing records, poor attendance, financial losses, etc. - are bigger issues than negative message board discussions.

 

[Purple Stein]

You’re probably not totally wrong. But I’d say the underlying conditions that lead people to speculate about the future of football - losing records, poor attendance, financial losses, etc. - are bigger issues than negative message board discussions.

The crazy thing about our underlying issues is how superficially evident they are.

 

[uconngb]

The only way I can see this even beginning to happen would be if our debt situation is much worse than we've been told, and the AD gets some kind of sweetheart deal from the NBE and/or rich donors, to pull this switcheroo off.
Otherwise its just absurd to think we'd move from a higher-paying conference, as lame as it is, to get less money and piss away the investment that was made in football.
Some of us really need to face the reality that while the BE is our past, the AAC is our present and unfortunately for the time being, our future. Make peace with that fact, and let it go.

I don't have an agenda I promise you. Just passing along something I heard from someone that seems to have some credibility. I have no friggin idea what's real and what's not.

 

[uconngb]

Does this qualify as a "Fishy Throat Punch"? I believe so.

I'm breathing just fine, thank you

 

[Zissou]

According to a well-connected source, the board of trustees gave her permission they're not authorized to give to nuke the football program, pay the American $10,000,000, and blow up our Nike and IMG deals to rejoin the Big East for even less money than we make now.

UConn spends $20M+ on football. UConn could cut 10M+ and still be peer to the MAC.

With a $40M+ deficit that is paid by the public, it seems some moves will happen.

The Big East TV contract, without football, brought in more than the AAC with football until the recent contract upgrade. We'll see what the next Big East TV contract brings. While this last AAC contract is an increase, it is offset by the distributions of the old Big East exit war chest that is now dry.

Petition the AAC to install a spending cap correlated to the new TV deal. Fiscal responsibility has to start somewhere.

Cut $10M in Football expenses and stay in the AAC. Maybe they will pay you to exit in a few years.

Or cut $10M in Football expenses and go Indy or FCS.
You probably don't have to pay the $10M exit to step down under a $40M deficit hardship case. The new TV contract is less than hoped for and not sustainable.
Lose the $7M AAC TV deal
Gain $4.2M (or more) Big East TV deal

In 5 years you save $40M to $50M in football and lose maybe as much as $19M in TV, worst case. Maybe TV money goes up.

A lower cost football team won't keep you out of the P5 lottery. Look at Rutgers. P5 decisions will be based on other factors, and if the P5 ticket comes up you can reboot big time football.

The $100M Big East exit treasure bought some time, but the annual $20M/team TV contract didn't materialize. It's not crazy that other options are being considered.

 

[zls44]

1. This is not a guy I met at a car wash.

...ergo, it is false.

 

[zls44]

Petition the AAC to install a spending cap correlated to the new TV deal.

If you've ever wondered what the written form of a Nicolas Cage meme looked like, your quest is at an end.

 

[Adios]

Message board threads are hurting recruiting now?

Randy is that you?

Showing how pathetically weak fans we have? Yes, that hurts recruiting.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The NBE would be the death of UConn athletics.

 

[Slasher]

Piling on here.

Once again, exit terms:

UConn pays the AAC $10M and has to wait 27 months to leave, OR...
UConn negotiates an early exit (12 months) and pays ~ $11M-$12M

UConn then goes from making $7M/yr in the AAC to making $5M/yr in the nBE.

UConn goes from having revenue games aired on the ESPN/ABC platform to having basketball only on Fox Sports network (a viewership reduction of at least 1/3).

I had hoped the new AAC would put this idiotic idea to rest already but it clearly hasn't. No school, not even UConn, is going to pay $10M-$12M to go to a conference that 1) pays less money; 2) provides far less exposure. That makes absolutely zero sense.

These threads need to be auto-sorted into a BY spam/junk box.

Don't forget for the revenues you are only counting the TV contract. UConn makes several a million a year in bowl revenues too, obviously that money isn't available to the Big East ever.

 

[Zissou]

If you've ever wondered what the written form of a Nicolas Cage meme looked like, your quest is at an end.

Drastic times.

Right now the status quo is a $40m annual deficit paid with public dollars from an unbalanced state budget. The current way out of this mess: hope for a P5 invite. That’s pretty weak for anyone with any fiscal responsibility.