We need to stop listening to the "Big East Sucks" Doom and Gloomers | Page 2 | The Boneyard

We need to stop listening to the "Big East Sucks" Doom and Gloomers

Staying with the AAC was almost catastrophic for the athletic program, but it also led to 3 national titles.

We would probably be in the Big 12 right now if UConn had split from the AAC with the Catholic schools in 2012. While I am confident we would have been in a P4 league today if we had done that, I am also pretty confident that UConn would not have won the 2014, 2023 or 2024 National Championships if that had happened, and Hurley would not be our coach today. The Butterfly Effect works both ways.

I don't think UConn was one of the 10 best teams in the country in 2014, but Ollie and the team went on a heater unlike anything I have ever witnessed and will probably ever witness again. Ollie won with what is definitely one of the 5 worst NCAA Men's Basketball Championship teams of the modern era, and probably one of the 2 or 3 worst teams. In my opinion, Villanova's 1985 team is the only champion that is definitely worse, and they won because they were all on cocaine. And Ollie went through some very good teams to do it. Michigan State in the Final 8 and Kentucky in the Finals are the only two games Ollie played against teams that were not the highest seed possible, and Kentucky had beaten the highest seed possible with the exception of their Final Four game, so they had earned their spot too. My point is, that 2014 team struck gold, but I don't know that things would have worked out the same way under any other set of circumstances.

I think Ollie was a good coach that went through a personal rough patch and was flattened by UConn's exceptionally poor fit in a southern mid-major conference like the AAC. He was also the victim of some bad luck, like Gilbert's injury. I think that Ollie would have been more successful in a better conference like the Big East that had better regional rivals, and he probably would not have been fired when he was, which means we would not have gotten Hurley, which means we would not have gotten Murray, and would not have won the last two titles. Butterfly Effect.
 
I need someone to walk me through this.

From what I've read, once revenue sharing begins (2025-2026 academic-athletic year) schools that opt in will be allowed to pay (as revenue sharing) up to ~22 million per year across all sports to their student athletes. Any other payments would have to be made as NIL, from collectives outside of the school itself (although this will require some clarity as at least within UConn's case the collectives are being moved in house).

The SEC/B1G schools are receiving $80-$90 million annually in conference athletic distributions. The ACC/B-12 schools are receiving $30-$40 million and the BE (claiming to be a major conference) around $6 million and change per school.

How much revenue does anyone believe the average BE school will be able to share with its basketball players?

I have a very strong suspicion that whatever revenue sharing shortfalls a B1G or SEC school may have, they'll be able to bridge that gap with NIL.

If someone can provide a logical scenario where BE schools will be sharing sufficient revenues where they will have an advantage over the four P level conferences I would love to hear it.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I bet 1/8 of my posts on the Boneyard are about getting into one of the major football conferences.

I somehow manage to post about it without whining and being a misery about our current conference situation or proposing idiotic strategies that are nothing more than magical thinking.
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Excuse Me Wow GIF by Mashable
 
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FfldCntyFan said:
I need someone to walk me through this.

From what I've read, once revenue sharing begins (2025-2026 academic-athletic year) schools that opt in will be allowed to pay (as revenue sharing) up to ~22 million per year across all sports to their student athletes. Any other payments would have to be made as NIL, from collectives outside of the school itself (although this will require some clarity as at least within UConn's case the collectives are being moved in house).

The SEC/B1G schools are receiving $80-$90 million annually in conference athletic distributions. The ACC/B-12 schools are receiving $30-$40 million and the BE (claiming to be a major conference) around $6 million and change per school.

How much revenue does anyone believe the average BE school will be able to share with its basketball players?

I have a very strong suspicion that whatever revenue sharing shortfalls a B1G or SEC school may have, they'll be able to bridge that gap with NIL.

If someone can provide a logical scenario where BE schools will be sharing sufficient revenues where they will have an advantage over the four P level conferences I would love to hear it.
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I could be way off base here, but I think the whole point of the cap/revenue sharing is that donors don't want their money going directly to players. It might give them a thrill in the short-term to help swing a bidding war for a stud player, but over the long haul it's an inefficient and unsustainable use of money that offers little to no ROI. In all likelihood, NIL in this scenario would return to what it was originally intended to be - an extra source of revenue in marketing/endorsements reserved for only the sport's biggest stars. Maybe it influences the recruitment of a Paige Bueckers or Cooper Flagg, but that's about it.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
I need someone to walk me through this.

From what I've read, once revenue sharing begins (2025-2026 academic-athletic year) schools that opt in will be allowed to pay (as revenue sharing) up to ~22 million per year across all sports to their student athletes. Any other payments would have to be made as NIL, from collectives outside of the school itself (although this will require some clarity as at least within UConn's case the collectives are being moved in house).

The SEC/B1G schools are receiving $80-$90 million annually in conference athletic distributions. The ACC/B-12 schools are receiving $30-$40 million and the BE (claiming to be a major conference) around $6 million and change per school.

How much revenue does anyone believe the average BE school will be able to share with its basketball players?

I have a very strong suspicion that whatever revenue sharing shortfalls a B1G or SEC school may have, they'll be able to bridge that gap with NIL.

If someone can provide a logical scenario where BE schools will be sharing sufficient revenues where they will have an advantage over the four P level conferences I would love to hear it.
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The article in the first post covers this. I feel sometimes like you are so invested in the failure of the UConn athletic program that it is probably not worth sharing any remotely positive interpretations of a rapidly evolving landscape with you.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
The article in the first post covers this. I feel sometimes like you are so invested in the failure of the UConn athletic program that it is probably not worth sharing any remotely positive interpretations of a rapidly evolving landscape with you.
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I don't believe it does. Please point out your interpretation and explain how it should ease my concerns.

You are completely incorrect in my investment in the athletic department. The amounts that I have invested over the decades have been in large part to help with the success. You on the other hand want to make believe that as long as we're aligned with Providence College and Seton Hall University there will be sunshine and cute little bunnies in our future.
 
noeynox said:
Read the article. There is currently an attempt to curtail some of the NIL deals that are nothing but boosters paying players. That is in spirit what this new revenue sharing proposal is supposed to reign in. Jim Boheim doesn't think this new attempt will stand up in court. If it does stand up, this is where the BE could have an advantage.

I'm no expert and could be wrong, but that was my major takeaway.
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Courts have a already said that the NCAA can do nothing about NIL state rules, and the states will immediately sue in court the clearing house idea . Boeheim was right the courts will toss that out, saying you can't restrict a players right to NIL earnings.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
I don't believe it does. Please point out your interpretation and explain how it should ease my concerns.

You are completely incorrect in my investment in the athletic department. The amounts that I have invested over the decades have been in large part to help with the success. You on the other hand want to make believe that as long as we're aligned with Providence College and Seton Hall University there will be sunshine and cute little bunnies in our future.
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No. I just don't see the point in crapping all over a league that is our only option for the foreseeable future.
 
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noeynox said:
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FfldCntyFan said:
I need someone to walk me through this.

From what I've read, once revenue sharing begins (2025-2026 academic-athletic year) schools that opt in will be allowed to pay (as revenue sharing) up to ~22 million per year across all sports to their student athletes. Any other payments would have to be made as NIL, from collectives outside of the school itself (although this will require some clarity as at least within UConn's case the collectives are being moved in house).

The SEC/B1G schools are receiving $80-$90 million annually in conference athletic distributions. The ACC/B-12 schools are receiving $30-$40 million and the BE (claiming to be a major conference) around $6 million and change per school.

How much revenue does anyone believe the average BE school will be able to share with its basketball players?

I have a very strong suspicion that whatever revenue sharing shortfalls a B1G or SEC school may have, they'll be able to bridge that gap with NIL.

If someone can provide a logical scenario where BE schools will be sharing sufficient revenues where they will have an advantage over the four P level conferences I would love to hear it.
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So let's say a few Big East programs can spend $7 million on hoops, or perhaps even more. First, the big programs can simply filter a lot more NIL money to either football or basketball. Second, the Big Ten and SEC will just raise the $22 million salary cap to a much higher number. Either way, the P2 will figure out a way to pay hoops so that the programs who want to win can win. Between media deals and NIL, the best of the P2 are Niagra Falls compared to Kent Falls of the Big East. And given how the SEC is suddenly a basketball conference, they will be sure to take care of themselves. I'm with FfldCntyFan here. I don't see how the Big East can have any advantage $ wise.
 
Kolumbo said:
So let's say a few Big East programs can spend $7 million on hoops, or perhaps even more. First, the big programs can simply filter a lot more NIL money to either football or basketball. Second, the Big Ten and SEC will just raise the $22 million salary cap to a much higher number. Either way, the P2 will figure out a way to pay hoops so that the programs who want to win can win. Between media deals and NIL, the best of the P2 are Niagra Falls compared to Kent Falls of the Big East. And given how the SEC is suddenly a basketball conference, they will be sure to take care of themselves. I'm with FfldCntyFan here. I don't see how the Big East can have any advantage $ wise.
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Because high end football is insanely expensive, and every nickel of TV revenue at every SEC school has already been spent before they give the players anything.
 
I'm pretty confident that every nickle at every school (save the ivies) has already been spent before they give the players anything.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
The Big East is a collection of big market schools with fan bases beyond its alumni. It will be fine in NIL. The revenue share is the real risk, but if most of that is going to football, maybe the Big East will be able to compete.

The professional salary cap has held up for over two decades, but there needs to be collective bargaining for a harder cap to happen.
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Collective bargaining = student athletes as employees
 
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FfldCntyFan said:
I'm pretty confident that every nickle at every school (save the ivies) has already been spent before they give the players anything.
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THIS! There are articles and articles out there in the higher ed world about how many of them are in dire financial trouble because of the enrollment cliff.

Do you think most private schools can afford to pump millions of dollars into athletics? BU (which I consider a "rich" university) literally canned all of their humanities graduate programs after the graduate students unionized. You're not being logical if you don't think that unionized student athletes would prompt universities to do the same.

Do you think the public will be okay that the highest compensated state employees are student athletes? Coaches already get a lot of flack for this. This will magnify this problem tenfold.

I haven't even gotten into how Title IX impacts this...so even programs with revenue generating men's sports may be on the block if they can't carry the losses of women's programs.

People aren't seeing the very likely way these dominoes are going to fall because they're too focused on the immediate. University economics are not built to withstand classifying athletes as employees. So save the very few athletic programs that are solvent, we will quickly see universities drop athletics or truly convert them to amateur levels (like St. Francis just did).
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Because high end football is insanely expensive, and every nickel of TV revenue at every SEC school has already been spent before they give the players anything.
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And Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Texas can surely find NIL for their basketball players.
 
It is funny how a mildly positive article on the Big East by a noted Big East hater like Ross Dellenger has enraged so many on this board.
 
NHUConnfan said:
THIS! There are articles and articles out there in the higher ed world about how many of them are in dire financial trouble because of the enrollment cliff.

Do you think most private schools can afford to pump millions of dollars into athletics? BU (which I consider a "rich" university) literally canned all of their humanities graduate programs after the graduate students unionized. You're not being logical if you don't think that unionized student athletes would prompt universities to do the same.

Do you think the public will be okay that the highest compensated state employees are student athletes? Coaches already get a lot of flack for this. This will magnify this problem tenfold.

I haven't even gotten into how Title IX impacts this...so even programs with revenue generating men's sports may be on the block if they can't carry the losses of women's programs.

People aren't seeing the very likely way these dominoes are going to fall because they're too focused on the immediate. University economics are not built to withstand classifying athletes as employees. So save the very few athletic programs that are solvent, we will quickly see universities drop athletics or truly convert them to amateur levels (like St. Francis just did).
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There has to be collective bargaining or an act of Congress (which is virtually impossible) or college sports will not exist in 5 years. For example, there is no enforceable rule on a player switching schools in midseason, or in the middle of a game for that matter. Players and teams are just choosing not to do it.
 
I'm not sure that people are enraged (with the possible exception of the one call g others enraged) but what our school's fan base needs to do is give up on thinking that something is going to come along and save us.

We have to save ourselves. To do this we need to continue as we have been in men's and women's basketball and continue building the football program and it's profile.

The next inflection point is 2030. Similar to the transfer portal, deals will for the large part will be made in advance, primarily behind the scenes. We need to demonstrate over the next few years that we would be in the top half of either of the lower two P-4 conferences in terms of overall value and competitiveness in all revenue sports.
 
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ZooCougar said:
The Big East crew wants to cancel Football and be Seton Hall.
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I guess that's what I was missing. Honestly, I'm feeling less "drop football" vibes, maybe I'm not paying close enough attention.
 
It looks like Kevin Willard is considering leaving Maryland for Villanova. Someone should send him a link to this thread so he can see that every Big East school will lose every game they ever play, forever.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
It looks like Kevin Willard is considering leaving Maryland for Villanova. Someone should send him a link to this thread so he can see that every Big East school will lose every game they ever play, forever.
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It's hard to believe that you are ever serious about what you type.

Willard currently makes 2.5 million more than Neptune (Nova's current coach). For Nova to land him, they'll have to spend about 4 to 5 million more per year on their head coach than they are currently doing.

In terms of highest paid basketball coaches in the country: Hurley is #3. The second highest paid Big East coach is Shaka Smart at #44. #44. Let that sink in. Less than half of what Hurley is paid.

sportsdata.usatoday.com

Men's Basketball Head Coach Salaries - USA TODAY

Ever wondered who the highest paid coach in men's basketball is? Find out today with USA TODAY's complete salary data.
sportsdata.usatoday.com

Is it possible that Willard goes to Nova? Yeah... if they quadruple their current investment. Is it more likely he's using it as a power play to get more NIL investment from the Twerps? Also yeah.

Bottom line: the Big East as a conference is not investing anywhere near what the P4 are, and they had better start soon or we're screwed...
 
UConnDan97 said:
It's hard to believe that you are ever serious about what you type.

Willard currently makes 2.5 million more than Neptune (Nova's current coach). For Nova to land him, they'll have to spend about 4 to 5 million more per year on their head coach than they are currently doing.

In terms of highest paid basketball coaches in the country: Hurley is #3. The second highest paid Big East coach is Shaka Smart at #44. #44. Let that sink in. Less than half of what Hurley is paid.

sportsdata.usatoday.com

Men's Basketball Head Coach Salaries - USA TODAY

Ever wondered who the highest paid coach in men's basketball is? Find out today with USA TODAY's complete salary data.
sportsdata.usatoday.com

Is it possible that Willard goes to Nova? Yeah... if they quadruple their current investment. Is it more likely he's using it as a power play to get more NIL investment from the Twerps? Also yeah.

Bottom line: the Big East as a conference is not investing anywhere near what the P4 are, and they had better start soon or we're screwed...
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It’s like he wakes up in the morning, invents the most indefensible position possible and then tries to argue it for the heck of it.
 
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