What Can UConn Do To Be Competitive If an Opening Comes Up In ACC?

[LoyalFanCT]

If Notre Dame formally joins the ACC in next year or two does UConn have a shot at membership too? I think so. UConn, more than anything, has to show it is taking its varsity sports programs seriously.

In the last decade or so, that was not the case. The major college FB teams would never have allowed their programs to fall and stay in the sub-basement the way UConn has. Repeat national championship men's BB falling into mediocrity is another reason for the ACC to be skeptical.

Moving to the New Big East/football independence was a short-term, perhaps short-sighted move. Once COVID settles down, UConn has to have a plan for the future to become ACC ready. The state basically failed in the last go-around, losing out to Louisville. UConn was caught off guard and had a poor plan if no plan at all. The then-governor could have cared less.

There is a new governor, new UConn board chairman, new president, etc. now in place now. If they need a sports consultant then let them hire one. If they need to bond sports facilities, let them do it. If we need a new FB coach as of today, let's do it. If we need a high-powered TV/marketing consultant to make the case for the ACC channel, let's get one.

UConn is really the key to the state's economic rebirth post COVID. The UConn brand, bolstered by a logical P5 membership via the ACC, on an academic and business front, can lead to a 21st century, high-tech, bio-focused economy for the state. And also college sports programs and a campus culture of which we can all be proud.

UConn has to prove to the ACC powers, especially Clemson, that it is deserves a spot at the table. What can UConn do to make the dream come true? I'd be interested in comments.

 

[Adios]

I am jumping on the emo bandwagon. Memphis will get accepted into the Big Ten before UConn!!!

We need a football coach who coaches to win. Not just score NFL draftee points.

 

[pick6s]

In order to be a legitimate contender for a P5 spot, UConn has to be at least competitive in football again. We have a lot going for us but football drives the bus and it’s our glaring weakness. Also, membership in the AAU could help.

I doubt a spot will open up in the ACC anytime soon because, among other things, ND isn’t planning on joining and they want to leave room for ND in the event they eventually decide to join. However, ND making the playoff this year as a member of the ACC, when they’ve had so much trouble making the playoff as an independent, makes it slightly more likely.

The only way a spot opens up in the ACC is if there are major changes to the landscape around 2025, when the contracts for the Big 12, PAC 12, and FBS playoff expire. For example, if the Big 12 falls apart- thus making it the P4 instead of the P5- and they decide to have a playoff where it’s just the champs from each of the four power conferences, that would force ND to join a conference, and they would go to the ACC since they are contractually obligated to do so, and then ND would need a partner.

What’s somewhat more likely (but still not particularly likely) than a spot opening up in the ACC is a spot opening up in the Big Ten. For example, if they decide to add Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, they’d need one more school. Texas may force them to take Texas Tech, but they also may want to be the only Big Ten team in Texas, leaving one open spot in the Big Ten, with Colorado and UConn as the leading contenders. This isn’t an especially likely scenario either, but it’s more likely than a spot opening up in the ACC, in my opinion.

 

[Kolumbo]

There will need to be a seismic shift in the landscape for UConn to be invited. UConn will never prove to Clemson that it belongs on the same football field. We're one of two teams which didn't play a single game this year. UConn's stock trading has halted. 4 super conferences of 20 programs, maybe UConn has a shot, but everyone is looking south. Right now Liberty is ranked and is the best team from the Virginias. I'm curious to see what happens with Liberty and whether more programs go the independent route.

 

[Adios]

I am sure Rutgers, Maryland, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College will all win national championships again one day and all will be stomping Clemson next year or whenever......... (Rutgers' 1869 title is revisionist history by Parke Davis.)

I don't see Colorado leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. You guys serious? We need HuskyFanDan back. He'd spice up the realignment board even more

 

[SubbaBub]

Gather incriminating materials on the presidents of BC, Cuse, Pitt, Miami, and Clemson.

 

[Irishfan]

Start selling out the stadium. Or at least start averaging over 35,000 per game.

 

[Kolumbo]

I haven't followed the AAU stuff for a while but it added three universities last year: Dartmouth, Utah, and UC Santa Cruz. All Ivies are now members. UCSC is behind UConn in every possible category.

Research university group adds Dartmouth, UC Santa Cruz and Utah (insidehighered.com)

 

[LoyalFanCT]

I haven't followed the AAU stuff for a while but it added three universities last year: Dartmouth, Utah, and UC Santa Cruz. All Ivies are now members. UCSC is behind UConn in every possible category.

Research university group adds Dartmouth, UC Santa Cruz and Utah (insidehighered.com)

Interesting. Hope our new president, who has an engineering background, can offer a winning argument to get UConn into the AAU. Earlier, Tom Katsouleas was provost at UVA and engineering school dean at Duke.

There are a few intermediate steps that would help UConn's overall academic reputation and brand.

Hire two to three Nobel prize winners. Many of these winners have affiliations with more than one university.

Offer full scholarships to all National Merit Scholar winners so that UConn ends up in the top 10 universities in the country as far as number of winners attending the school. (If you look at the current top 20, not all the colleges named are the ones one would suspect would be at the top of list.)

Continue to have research affiliations with companies in biosciences, engineering, etc. They don't have to be located in Connecticut or even the United States. As new products are commercialized, UConn can benefit financially from patents.

 

[SU1968]

If you are seriously interested in AAU membership, you need to focus on medical research.

Several years ago, AAU changed its criteria focus to medical research. Syracuse was a AAU member but doesn't concentrate on medical research since it sold its medical school to the state.

SU realized what the change meant and resigned its membership. It remains in the top tier (R-1) for research activity among all doctoral universities as determined by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

 

[Zissou]

A discussion to chase AAU membership to advance football is comical

 

[LoyalFanCT]

A discussion to chase AAU membership to advance football is comical

True in some ways. But I believe all but one B10 member is an AAU member. Not as important for ACC, especially since Louisville, which has a dumpster fire academic program, beat UConn out for membership. But beyond this, if you want to convince people in Connecticut, who could care less about FBS football, that is smart to go P5, the academic program of a major research university and P5 sports, can complement each other. It's about brand.

 

[Kolumbo]

A discussion to chase AAU membership to advance football is comical

And yet it's the reality.

"Big Ten member institutions are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. All institutions except full member University of Nebraska and associate member Notre Dame are members of the Association of American Universities."

 

[Zissou]

And yet it's the reality.

"Big Ten member institutions are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. All institutions except full member University of Nebraska and associate member Notre Dame are members of the Association of American Universities."

UConn should just be true to itself. If striving for AAU fits the mission, fine. Chasing AAU for a P5 bid that would still be unlikely is a comical misdirection of focus.

First step - build a schedule. Check! Off to a great start.
Next step - improve and start winning on the field. That will improve the profile and bring fans back to the seats.

Even your quote shows that AAU is not your missing attribute. See Nebraska.

 

[Kolumbo]

UConn should just be true to itself. If striving for AAU fits the mission, fine. Chasing AAU for a P5 bid that would still be unlikely is a comical misdirection of focus.

First step - build a schedule. Check! Off to a great start.
Next step - improve and start winning on the field. That will improve the profile and bring fans back to the seats.

Even your quote shows that AAU is not your missing attribute. See Nebraska.

UConn seeking AAU membership 100% fits its mission. Sure, UConn basketball is a great fit for the Big East and other P5 conferences. In terms of like-minded institutions, the B1G would be the best fit for UConn, and the B1G historically only invites AAU members, including Nebraska. We don't know if it is a deal-breaker, but AAU membership helps. We all know a P5 invite is unlikely today.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

A discussion to chase AAU membership to advance football is comical

Penn State in 2020 reported $1.01 Billion in research revenue versus $100 Million from the football program in 2019.

Weighing the likelihood that there will be changes to the top-tier football in the foreseeable future, potentially even a split from the NCAA, betting heavy on research and AAU maybe the smarter long-term play for UConn. Especially as the P5, more like the SEC+9 (USC, Oklahoma, Texas, Miami, Florida St, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio St & Michigan) has made it very clear that they have no interest in sharing (case in point being 9-3 Florida and 8-2 Oklahoma ranked over 9-0 Cincinnati).

 

[CL82]

Start selling out the stadium. Or at least start averaging over 35,000 per game.

Doable with a competitive team in a league people care about.

Still, I'm not sure that is the metric that moves the needle. If any conference were to expand (and I do not see that happening) then they will look to add schools that help them. That means viewers, subscribers, etc. Of course those things do often go hand in hand. Still UConn WBB outdrew two NBA games in viewers earlier this year against a middling opponent. Put CT in decent league and we will draw viewers/subscribers across multiple sports in both Hartford/New Haven DMA (30th largest) and the NYC DMA.

(The only shot UConn has of conference realignment is if it draws viewers (and advertisers) to Fox in the Big East. Then ESPN might be willing to pay for them moving over to their house band, the ACC.)

 

[Zissou]

Losing AAU status not fatal for Nebraska

MU leaders have repeatedly expressed the importance of membership in the Association of American Universities. But a look at the University of Nebraska's ouster from the AAU shows a different

www.columbiamissourian.com

“Academics then and now became critical of the AAU’s devaluing of non-medical and -scientific research like those in agriculture and the humanities. They’ve also criticized the AAU for prioritizing research above teaching, capping membership at a random 62 members and not considering financial aid or diversity as markers of a university’s success.“

This article gives an interesting view of AAU. It’s worth a full read.

 

[Irishfan]

Doable with a competitive team in a league people care about.


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Still, I'm not sure that is the metric that moves the needle. If any conference were to expand (and I do not see that happening) then they will look to add schools that help them. That means viewers, subscribers, etc. Of course those things do often go hand in hand. Still UConn WBB outdrew two NBA games in viewers earlier this year against a middling opponent. Put CT in decent league and we will draw viewers/subscribers across multiple sports in both Hartford/New Haven DMA (30th largest) and the NYC DMA.

(The only shot UConn has of conference realignment is if it draws viewers (and advertisers) to Fox in the Big East. Then ESPN might be willing to pay for them moving over to their house band, the ACC.)

how current are these numbers. If these are recent, a quick look would seem to indicate that there hasn’t been a sellout since 2013, and only one since 2010. These numbers, if current, would indicate that there isn’t huge support in the 30th largest market for college football.

 

[CL82]

how current are these numbers. If these are recent, a quick look would seem to indicate that there hasn’t been a sellout since 2013, and only one since 2010. These numbers, if current, would indicate that there isn’t huge support in the 30th largest market for college football.

Those are a list of all the sellouts at the Rent the dates are next to each line. Like most teams, attendance suffers when the teams are bad. We've had two (and some might say three) bad coaching hires and the program attendance reflects that. The market is the market and whether UConn has a good football team doesn't change that, right?

If you understand the old CR realignment bubble, you realize that it wasn't driven by attendance. Heck with one particularly painful exception (Louisville) it wasn't being driven by on the field performance. It was largely driven by ESPNs needs. I think the bubble has burst and there isn't likely to be more movement (unless the Irish decide to join the ACC, which I think is unlikely) but if it does, it will probably be driven by ESPNs needs again. Whether or not Rent is packed is very unlikely to move the needle for them. Whether or not UConn draws across a broad range of content, probably is.

 

[Zissou]

After reading the Missouri AAU article, it would seem to me that achieving an AAU invite is even more unlikely than landing a P5 invite.

AAU shifted its research emphasis to medical research. The article notes that only main campus research counts in its evaluation. Like Nebraska, UConn’s medical school is not on main campus.

As AAU membership is capped, who does UConn replace (once it relocates its medical school).

 

[LoyalFanCT]

After reading the Missouri AAU article, it would seem to me that achieving an AAU invite is even more unlikely than landing a P5 invite.

AAU shifted its research emphasis to medical research. The article notes that only main campus research counts in its evaluation. Like Nebraska, UConn’s medical school is not on main campus.

As AAU membership is capped, who does UConn replace (once it relocates its medical school).

If anyone can get UConn into the AAU it may be the current president Tom Katsouleas. He is planning to double research funding to $500 million over the next decade. He has the background to understand how to do it.

 

[CTGoonie]

Why are we talking about AAU membership? That was a supposed requirement for Big Ten entry not the ACC. I think it’s pretty clear the ACC doesn’t care about academics after they accepted Louisville last go around.

 

[Irishfan]

Those are a list of all the sellouts at the Rent the dates are next to each line. Like most teams, attendance suffers when the teams are bad. We've had two (and some might say three) bad coaching hires and the program attendance reflects that. The market is the market and whether UConn has a good football team doesn't change that, right?

If you understand the old CR realignment bubble, you realize that it wasn't driven by attendance. Heck with one particularly painful exception (Louisville) it wasn't being driven by on the field performance. It was largely driven by ESPNs needs. I think the bubble has burst and there isn't likely to be more movement (unless the Irish decide to join the ACC, which I think is unlikely) but if it does, it will probably be driven by ESPNs needs again. Whether or not Rent is packed is very unlikely to move the needle for them. Whether or not UConn draws across a broad range of content, probably is.

So based on your info, Uconn has only had one sellout in the past ten years? If no one is going to the games, why should espn think people will be watching them on tv.

 

[Zissou]

Why are we talking about AAU membership? That was a supposed requirement for Big Ten entry not the ACC. I think it’s pretty clear the ACC doesn’t care about academics after they accepted Louisville last go around.

And FSU before Ville. Don’t forget UNC’s fake classes!