Uconn's time may be near....

[whaler11]

Not that it invalidates the rest of your argument, but can we all begin to agree that academics has absolutely ZERO to do with conference realignment?!? I mean, even the FSU Chair of the Board went on record to say who gives a $#it about the academics of the other schools in our conference! This is about money; plain and simple. FSU would put themselves in a conference with 11 community colleges if it believed that it would get 50 million per year...

UConn is in that spot without the 50 million.

 

[UConnDan97]

UConn is in that spot without the 50 million.

Ouch! Is your goal in life to drive me to drink?? Well, in the immortal words of GW, "Mission accomplished!"

 

[AJC88]

Not that it invalidates the rest of your argument, but can we all begin to agree that academics has absolutely ZERO to do with conference realignment?!? I mean, even the FSU Chair of the Board went on record to say who gives a $#it about the academics of the other schools in our conference! This is about money; plain and simple. FSU would put themselves in a conference with 11 community colleges if it believed that it would get 50 million per year...

I don't know this for a fact, just know I've read it somewhere, but don't schools get a LARGE portion of their money from research grants? Isn't that why Pres Herbst wants to build that industrial park on campus? I know that we throw around big numbers with tv contracts, but I'm pretty sure that is a small portion of what a school takes in any given year. (I really what I read was a hope it was an article and not something on here or I'll feel like an idiot).
So, in a respect, I do think that academics still matter, but with a school like FSU running a deficit, I could see them straying from their academic mission to ensure they can balance their budgets.
If I'm wrong on this I'm sure someone will point it out.

 

[AJC88]

The fact that a post this stupid got 3 "likes" says something about this board. A contract that locks FSU into about $5MM a year less than Iowa State is a bad contract.

I really wonder what it feels like being such an internet tough guy. Someone has an idea contrary to yours, and you jump all over them. There's a decent and respectful way to go about having differences of opinion, you clearly were not taught that.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I really wonder what it feels like being such an internet tough guy. Someone has an idea contrary to yours, and you jump all over them. There's a decent and respectful way to go about having differences of opinion, you clearly were not taught that.

Doesn't that work both ways?

Jaxhusky, who is a pretty good poster most of the time, makes a drive by post that is not only a non sequitor, but also an insult most of the posters participating in a pretty interesting thread. Not only that, but a couple of other posters have already made the same obnoxious point. It was not only a condescending post by Jax, but also factually incorrect.

I completely agree that there is a decent and respectful way to go about having differences of opinion, so when a poster takes a cheap shot at me and others on the board, i will respond.

 

[AJC88]

Doesn't that work both ways?

Jaxhusky, who is a pretty good poster most of the time, makes a drive by post that is not only a non sequitor, but also an insult most of the posters participating in a pretty interesting thread. Not only that, but a couple of other posters have already made the same obnoxious point. It was not only a condescending post by Jax, but also factually incorrect.

I completely agree that there is a decent and respectful way to go about having differences of opinion, so when a poster takes a cheap shot at me and others on the board, i will respond.

How was his statement factually incorrect if there were no facts in the statement? We don't know what the Big East deal is going to be, and he gave an opinion that I assume is contrary to yours.
We're on a message board for fans of UConn, we're all on the same side here, don't take someone's opinion as a personal slight at you.

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't know this for a fact, just know I've read it somewhere, but don't schools get a LARGE portion of their money from research grants? Isn't that why Pres Herbst wants to build that industrial park on campus? I know that we throw around big numbers with tv contracts, but I'm pretty sure that is a small portion of what a school takes in any given year. (I really what I read was a hope it was an article and not something on here or I'll feel like an idiot).
So, in a respect, I do think that academics still matter, but with a school like FSU running a deficit, I could see them straying from their academic mission to ensure they can balance their budgets.
If I'm wrong on this I'm sure someone will point it out.

It's true that research dollars are big portions of a school's budget. But I can say with some certainty that the reputation of another school in your athletic conference will not gain you any more research dollars than you already gain on your own. Much of this false ideology has stemmed from the Big10 and their indication that they would like all of their schools to be AAU universities. However, I'm not sure if that's true (I'm not sure if Nebraska is an AAU), and I'm also pretty sure that ESPN doesn't care if you are an AAU school when they structure your contract. They care if you can put butts in the seats and eyeballs on the tv screen. That's what this "tv weapons race" is all about...

 

[UConnDan97]

Here's a follow-up on the last post, showing that Nebraska is no longer an AAU school. Also, Notre Dame is apparently not an AAU school, and I would love to see the Big10 say no to them (although ND has good overall academics and research dollars...irrelevant, though):

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/26078/nebraska-loses-aau-status

 

[AJC88]

It's true that research dollars are big portions of a school's budget. But I can say with some certainty that the reputation of another school in your athletic conference will not gain you any more research dollars than you already gain on your own. Much of this false ideology has stemmed from the Big10 and their indication that they would like all of their schools to be AAU universities. However, I'm not sure if that's true (I'm not sure if Nebraska is an AAU), and I'm also pretty sure that ESPN doesn't care if you are an AAU school when they structure your contract. They care if you can put butts in the seats and eyeballs on the tv screen. That's what this "tv weapons race" is all about...

Your last two sentences go more to what I was getting at before. I think that games against regional rivals (BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers) would sell more tickets and have more people watching than UConn vs NNBE

 

[Dann]

I guess we just don't agree on the importance of local rivalries. The best games on a schedule, pro or amateur, are rivalry games. I want to be in a conference with teams like Syracuse, Duke, UNC, BC, Rutgers because those are games I am going to care about.
Your suggestion that the NBE can push us to greater heights than a conference based on geography and local rivalries (what the ACC could look like if FSU and Miami or Clemson leave), is laughable. The ACC has national brands with history and academic prowess. Those are schools I want UConn to be associated with. Those are games I will care about. I go every UConn Football game and almost every basketball home game, and the idea of us playing against teams like UCF, USF, Memphis, etc. really don't excite me the way seeing some of those ACC names would.

Now obviously I want us in B1G if that's possible, but it doesn't seem as likely as an eventual move to the ACC.

i havle rutgers as a rival. unc i would also. i hate bc more than the next guy, but beating them after the first time or 2 will get old quick. look at cuse, these programs are washed up and the college landscape just doesn't fit private schools in the longrun. i'm fine playing them ooc in any sport. i get that ppl like the local rivals thing. i want uconns rivals to be psu/wvu/md/ruty/umass/uva/unc. those schools have futures.

we think alike with the BiG.

to me on a national stage, usf/uc/uh/memphis/bsu name wise ppl will be more interested a couple years from now then if u said cuse or bc. no one outside of the northeast cares about those 2 schools and even in the northeast they will think its a bball or puck game if its a late season game. thats not the identity i want to see. we invested to be a big time program. so lets get there no matter the bumps in the road. playing in a league of east coast schools stunts our growth imo.

 

[Dann]

The fact that a post this stupid got 3 "likes" says something about this board. A contract that locks FSU into about $5MM a year less than Iowa State is a bad contract.

i gave u a like

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Baylor's 247 site is claiming 10 schools have approached the Big 12 about membership, only 1 of which is from the Big East.

 

[WallStreetHusky]

Your last two sentences go more to what I was getting at before. I think that games against regional rivals (BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers) would sell more tickets and have more people watching than UConn vs NNBE

I think you are onto something about those matchups AJC. If you peer out into the distance far enough, at some point what is old will become new again, and you willl see conferences shift its membership "back" to regional rivalries. I think BC is an excellent example of how selling out has just completely destroyed their athletic franchise. They have absolutely marginalized themselves in Boston (as if doing it any further was possible, but they somehow have managed!), no one cares about Wake/BC, or Clemson/BC, or G. Tech/BC or even BC/Duke for that matter. But if you have BC/Cuse and BC/CT, now you are talking about eyeballs and fannies in the seats and an ability to penetrate a very populous viewing public in the Northeast. How long will it take for things like the Nebraska/OU and Texas/Texas AM rivalries to be able to command so much money that they perhaps can make more money together, than separately?

But that is getting about 20 years ahead, watching the ACC starting to get their comeuppance is just such a guilty pleasure.

 

[observer]

Baylor's 247 site is claiming 10 schools have approached the Big 12 about membership, only 1 of which is from the Big East.

only 1 of which is from the Big East!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well that right there tells you all you need to know about how credible the Baylor 247 report is. What FB school in the BE is NOT interested in any conference that they can even have a slim chance of getting into?

Can anyone make a serious argument that ONLY ONE of Boise, Ville, Cincy, USF, Houston, Memphis or SMU is interested in the Big 12? Come on people, use your common sense when you read stuff on the internet and ask sensible questions before you buy what some snake oil salesman is selling as an add on to land east of Miami Beach.

 

[specialisthusky]

only 1 of which is from the Big East!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well that right there tells you all you need to know about how credible the Baylor 247 report is. What FB school in the BE is NOT interested in any conference that they can even have a slim chance of getting into?

Can anyone make a serious argument that ONLY ONE of Boise, Ville, Cincy, USF, Houston, Memphis or SMU is interested in the Big 12? Come on people, use your common sense when you read stuff on the internet and ask sensible questions before you buy what some snake oil salesman is selling as an add on to land east of Miami Beach.

maybe the other school officials had off for mothers day and are putting their calls in today

 

[Dann]

only 1 of which is from the Big East!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well that right there tells you all you need to know about how credible the Baylor 247 report is. What FB school in the BE is NOT interested in any conference that they can even have a slim chance of getting into?

Can anyone make a serious argument that ONLY ONE of Boise, Ville, Cincy, USF, Houston, Memphis or SMU is interested in the Big 12? Come on people, use your common sense when you read stuff on the internet and ask sensible questions before you buy what some snake oil salesman is selling as an add on to land east of Miami Beach.

or maybe u need to think about it. why would the b12 pick up the phone if bsu or uconn called when he can pick up the phone call from gt/vt/md?????

the b12 knows that any big east school will be there. bigger fish to hook right now. the b12 can get to 12 2moro if they want by adding lville/cincy or byu. but they can get to 16 next month with some smooth talking to 5 or 6 acc schools and beat the sec to the game....

 

[junglehusky]

It's true that research dollars are big portions of a school's budget. But I can say with some certainty that the reputation of another school in your athletic conference will not gain you any more research dollars than you already gain on your own.

It shouldn't, but grant reviewers are human beings and I wouldn't rule it out completely. I can say that a researcher at Harvard or Stanford has a huge leg up on a researcher at a state school, even an elite one like UNC or Berkeley, just based on the name and facilities and the fact that those schools have lots of bigwig research professors (talent). And scientists do generalize about Big Ten schools having good research programs and I'm sure it's provided some benefit to a place like Penn State.

As for why research grants have been a big part of university expansion over the past 2 decades - every time someone brings in a R01 research grant from the NIH, the university takes about half of it as "overhead" - ostensibly to pay for the administrative staff and facilities type of stuff. Ask a prof what they think about that and maybe they'll Eddie Murphy - "HALF!?!?"

 

[nelsonmuntz]

only 1 of which is from the Big East!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well that right there tells you all you need to know about how credible the Baylor 247 report is. What FB school in the BE is NOT interested in any conference that they can even have a slim chance of getting into?

Can anyone make a serious argument that ONLY ONE of Boise, Ville, Cincy, USF, Houston, Memphis or SMU is interested in the Big 12? Come on people, use your common sense when you read stuff on the internet and ask sensible questions before you buy what some snake oil salesman is selling as an add on to land east of Miami Beach.

You are really reaching. What it tells you is that every ACC school is getting their resume together.

 

[observer]

You are really reaching. What it tells you is that every ACC school is getting their resume together.

Look at it another way.

If only one school of the 10 is from the BE that means that all but one of schools like UConn, Rutgers, Ville, Cincy, etc. have NOT approached the Big 12 about membership.

Ponder that for a moment.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Look at it another way.

If only one school of the 10 is from the BE that means that all but one of schools like UConn, Rutgers, Ville, Cincy, etc. have NOT approached the Big 12 about membership.

Ponder that for a moment.

I just pondered it. The ACC is still about to get torn apart.

 

[businesslawyer]

Even if FSU and Clemson go, it is not necessarily good for UConn. The ACC may choose to stay at 12.

Or, I could see FSU and Clemson departures causing VTech to re-engage with the SEC, maybe taking NC State with them. The SEC will try for UNC, but I think UNC would prefer to be in the Big 10 if they were not in the ACC. I think philosophically, UNC would be very reluctant to affiliate with programs like Auburn and Alabama, particularly after the Butch Davis experience.

The Big 10 is all about markets for the BTN, and NC, MD and VA are three of the best markets adjacent to Big 10 country, and all are growing whereas the Big 10 markets are all shrinking. I could see a situation where all 3 pursue Big 10 membership, and the Big 10 accepts them, because in the big 10 revenue model, it is not locked into network TV contracts to expand its top line.

Here is where my theory about what happens next gets a bit creative. I don't see Duke, Wake, et al getting real excited about joining a league with UCF and Memphis. If 6 or 7 ACC schools have left or are trying to leave, I could see the rest deciding that they are not the SEC or the Big 10, and really don't want to be. But the TV rights market is so frothy, they could make incredible dollars by historical standards, without sinking into the cesspool that is big time football.

So Duke, Wake, BCU, Pitt, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, and maybe Miami decide to go for the top academics. They invite Northwestern, Vanderbilt, maybe Rice, Tulane and Villanova. Add Notre Dame and Georgetown as basketball only members. That ACC would get a decent, not spectacular contract, especially if Notre Dame was affiliated.

The Big 10 lets Northwestern go as a 1 for 3 swap to get the MD, VA and NC markets for the BTN. The SEC may squawk, but I suspect most SEC schools would be happy to see Vanderbilt go, and maybe they take Miami or TCU or WVU if they have not signed the GOR yet. The Big 12 replaces TCU with Louisville, and maybe grabs BYU and Cincinnati if it wants to expand to 14.

In that scenario, UConn and Rutgers are totally screwed. Louisville, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Villanova are gone. Without Louisville and Cincinnati, with with the 3 hoops schools gone, NBC may not be interested anymore so Boise and SDSU decide to stay home in the MWC.

I hit the like key before when I meant to hit reply. I no like.

UConn and Rutgers may be totally screwed because the Empire operated Death Star decides to take out New jersey and Connecticut while leaving the rest of the Metropolitan area, and the country intact. Not only is that theoretically possible -- it's no less likely than what you just proposed.

Is it possible to set up a thread where Nelson, Carl and Dan talk about realignment without it showing up in the main threads? I'd be more likely to fund that than a FSU alum willing to pony up $20M so FSU can be Texas's bitch.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I hit the like key before when I meant to hit reply. I no like.

UConn and Rutgers may be totally screwed because the Empire operated Death Star decides to take out New jersey and Connecticut while leaving the rest of the Metropolitan area, and the country intact. Not only is that theoretically possible -- it's no less likely than what you just proposed.

Is it possible to set up a thread where Nelson, Carl and Dan talk about realignment without it showing up in the main threads? I'd be more likely to fund that than a FSU alum willing to pony up $20M so FSU can be Texas's bitch.

You keep with the 'ACC is sticking together' position.

 

[businesslawyer]

You guys just need to stop taking this board so seriously and just enjoy it for the conspiracy theory’s that it is. That’s what all of these boards are. Go to the WVU 1 or the Texas 1. There a lot worse than here. Just laugh and dream and enjoy it. Is it not fun to start from scratch and build things yourself if you could dream? If you hate or love something enjoy it and poke fun at it. Stop acting like its life or death on this board.

That's one possibility. The other is that you allow grown ups to have a serious discussion about things that are important to them.

Just saying.

 

[The Funster]

I hit the like key before when I meant to hit reply. I no like.

UConn and Rutgers may be totally screwed because the Empire operated Death Star decides to take out New jersey and Connecticut while leaving the rest of the Metropolitan area, and the country intact. Not only is that theoretically possible -- it's no less likely than what you just proposed.

Is it possible to set up a thread where Nelson, Carl and Dan talk about realignment without it showing up in the main threads? I'd be more likely to fund that than a FSU alum willing to pony up $20M so FSU can be Texas's bitch.

FWIW, last week I asked Fishy to set up a "Fantasy Realignment Board".

 

[businesslawyer]

I have trouble playing any scenario out in such a way that UConn does not end up completely screwed. Our BEST CASE is the current Big East hangs together. #BegHarder© has not worked. While lightweights like Gross at mediocre schools in dead factory towns in Siberia were saving their programs, we have been left on the sidelines. I don't see a scenario where UConn ever gets invited to the ACC unless it is in such shambles UConn shouldn't join.

The only chance UConn has is the Big East gets a decent enough contract so that UConn can be competitive. Manuel somehow gets Shaka Smart, who doesn't miss a beat, and Pasqualoni rights the ship enough in football so that next time UConn goes to hire a football coach, the two choices aren't a has been and a never was (Whipple). IF BOTH THINGS HAPPEN, UConn has a chance to land on its feat in the next go around. There will be successful programs emerging from the non-majors. Hopefully one can be UConn.

The more likely outcome is that it is all finished. Edsall was mediocrity personified, and while WVU and Louisville were making themselves attractive to other leagues, UConn was treading water. Calhoun will be a happy memory that will be replaced by a succession of Dom Pernos while UConn ends up in a league with UMass, Buffalo, UNH and Temple. The New New Yankee Conference.

Hahahahahahaha. The conference mess is Randy Edsall's fault.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

FWIW, last week I asked Fishy to set up a "Fantasy Realignment Board".

Then people like yourself that predicted the ACC would hold together would have a place of your own.

 

[The Funster]

Then people like yourself that predicted the ACC would hold together would have a place of your own.

eeyore, eeyore, eeyore! Keep braying nelson.

 

[UConnDan97]

I hit the like key before when I meant to hit reply. I no like.

UConn and Rutgers may be totally screwed because the Empire operated Death Star decides to take out New jersey and Connecticut while leaving the rest of the Metropolitan area, and the country intact. Not only is that theoretically possible -- it's no less likely than what you just proposed.

Is it possible to set up a thread where Nelson, Carl and Dan talk about realignment without it showing up in the main threads? I'd be more likely to fund that than a FSU alum willing to pony up $20M so FSU can be Texas's bitch.

I hope you meant "UNLV to the Pac-16" HuskyFanDan and not "I hate BC and Pitt" UConnDan97!

 

[businesslawyer]

I hope you meant "UNLV to the Pac-16" HuskyFanDan and not "I hate BC and Pitt" UConnDan97!

LMAO. I would have thought that was clear. (Unless, of course, you are now telling me how much of the realignment crap revolves around Temple.)

 

[whaler11]

Then people like yourself that predicted the ACC would hold together would have a place of your own.

Try not to get dizzy taking victory laps before anything actually happens.