Who needs who?

[NickyNewark]

That's when you need to look at your screen...smile and say to yourself "RU is in the B!G"...you know you'll see that on here. At least it isn't as bad as being a BC fan on here. IMHO there is a group of fans from other schools that make very good contributions to this board...you are definitely in that group.

I like UConn and can't wait till they get their P5 invite....its depressing pulling for some who rag on my school at times...

 

[FDNY99]

Thanks for immortalizing my 1 minute deletion...

I decided to edit it and it's gone forever'

 

[NickyNewark]

No offense because I think you're a good guy, but winning a bunch of minor bowl games realistically had zero bearing on Rutgers getting an invite to The B1G. The BTN is why you are in. Having a population density to rival New Delhi with cable dollars to mine is how you arrived. Fans of RU should celebrate the birthday of The BTN's Inventor as a state holiday, because it was the vehicle that rescued you from purgatory.

Count your dollars.......thank us....otherwise we wouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath with the SEC....you needed us ..as much as i loved getting into the B1G...we have some arrogant fans.

 

[dwalks93]

Count your dollars..thank us....otherwise we wouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath with the SEC....you needed us ..as much as i loved getting into the B1G...we have some arrogant fans.

Nicky don't get upset about the Rutgers comments. Rutgers is just a great example of how conference realignment is a lot more complex than a winning football program. Personally I am always amused by the "football is all that matters" argument out of some fans bases which somehow ignores the role of money and territory.

I really do not think most UConn fans have an issue with Rutgers...We may mock Rutgers but there is no real hate like there is for BC . Our issue is by any P5 metric (winning, networks, athletic budget, DMZ, etc...) UConn should have been added and that frustration sometimes boils over in comments about other schools. UConn is more a P5 program than a lot of current P5 programs.

Hopefully Rutgers athletics gets it together. It really is inexplicable why Rutger's AD is where it is at...the good news is Rutgers doesn't need to justify a P5 offer...they are already in. Rutgers has the time to turn it around while it appears every year, and nearly every game, is an audition for UConn.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I miss our FB games against Rutgers. RU would be our rival due to location and both being big state schools. Hopefully, UConn will be in the B1G. B1G is definitely the preferred conference for most UConn fans right now.

 

[Waquoit]

Conference tournaments and a 68 team NCAA tournament have turned the BB regular season into a long exhibition season. Few of the games have any meaning unless a school is up against a long time rival.

Gee, if that's true why are we still regretting losses to Tulsa and Houston? Is is our long-standing rivalries? The fact is every game has meaning under the current system.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Basketball matters. Even money wise, it isn't far behind football. The problem however, is that the money from basketball is disproportionately tied to the tournament. And the tournament is owned by the NCAA itself. The P5 leagues cannot monetize basketball for themselves. They can't effectively control it and shut out the other leagues, as they have with football. That's why football is viewed as so much more important. Look at the numbers, which are painted poorly here. Basketball is less than half of football to most schools...but 81% of the $871.6 million that the NCAA made in 2011-12 essentially came from the NCAA basketball tournament tv rights. It is the single biggest money maker in college sports. Meanwhile, the cost of running a football team at the D1 level is much, much higher than running a basketball team.

 

[billybud]

The purse in 2011-12 was about $200 million....soo..using your figure (80% of 871 million), the NCAA is awarding a little less than 1/3.

Each unit earned is worth $266,000 this year for a conference.

 

[billybud]

The Tournament record for units earned was set in 2009 by the Big East with 24.

The ACC, with their 12-1 tourney run so far this year, is guaranteed a payout of $30 million (over the period) if they do not win another game.

Last year the ACC earned 21 units worth $32.8 million.

The 2014 run by UConn helped the AAC to a 11 credit year worth $17.6 million (the same as the ACC).

In 2014, the Big Ten led with 16 credits worth $25.6 million.

 

[MattMang23]

So what you're saying is that UConn just about pays for itself in terms of a conference TV deal just by having the men's basketball team make a deep run in the tourney every other invited year. Yet no one wants us...

 

[Sea Goat]

Great opinions....solid fanbase,in state talent and location made RU a no brainer after the decade long bowl run....the B1G had their opening and grabbed it.....win-win... I don't know what would've happened had we no bowl run?

You would have still been taken... The most obvious thing about the RU addition is that it had to be based on factors other than athletic success. RU has been lucky and you, NN, have been generally gracious and appreciative of your good fortune. I have have used RU as an example of the extent to which, at least so far, other forces have to be in play for admission to a P-5 conference. That is just the truth - as inconvenient as it may be for both of us.

 

[pj]

Louisville gets quite a bit of hype while Rutgers, with the better record, gets none. And yes, this specific time period favored Rutgers, but nevertheless, it is somewhat interesting that Rutgers gets zero love.

When has New Jersey, or anything in Jersey, ever gotten love? I've lived in the northeast for 46 years and New Jersey has always been a byword for the unloveableness of densely populated industrial landscapes. It's unfair but that's the way it is.

 

[John Greene]

Gee, if that's true why are we still regretting losses to Tulsa and Houston? Is is our long-standing rivalries? The fact is every game has meaning under the current system.

Because like the BE schools, the Gonzaga's, Stephen Austins of the world and probably NC, Duke ,KN, KY, IN and a few others in FB P5 conferences, Uconn is primarily a BB school. I mean lots of fans turn out to watch GA's women play. Globe Trotters games have more drama than UConn WBB games.

BB is the most important sport in Storrs therefore fans care about games they believe should be won and and are not. If all games have meaning then why don't the regular season champions of each conference get an automatic NCAA bid and the conference tournament winners end up in the at large pool? Like it or not college BB has become a 1 month season for most sports fans. I believe the national TV ratings for most regular season games show that to be the case.

 

[Waquoit]

If all games have meaning then why don't the regular season champions of each conference get an automatic NCAA bid and the conference tournament winners end up in the at large pool?

I don't see how you make that leap. If all games don't have meaning, why do they have a committee to parse every game a team plays when determining seedings and who gets in? Each game you play matters, TV ratings not withstanding.

 

[billybud]

Each game has a meaning....but not in the sense of a football game in a season...where the whole warp and woof of the football season fabric is changed overnight by a loss by a top team.

In football, every game is, in actuality, a play off game of sorts.

There is no conference tournament...so when a Clemson and FSU play, or a Ohio State and Michigan State, it is often for the conference title. A lot of importance gets attached to a single game.

 

[John Greene]

I don't see how you make that leap. If all games don't have meaning, why do they have a committee to parse every game a team plays when determining seedings and who gets in? Each game you play matters, TV ratings not withstanding.

Not sure the BB committee 'parses' every game, two or three for teams on the bubble is probably more like it but that is the subject for another day. I believe it has discussed at length on the BB board a number of times.

TV ratings determine the $ the networks get for the programs they carry which in turn determine the $ the networks pay the conferences. CFB product is more highly prized than CBB. That is why as I said earlier FB drove the CR bus and determined who got to ride the bus.

CBS and the NCAA have had a lock on what has become the 'real season' in MBB for decades. It works great for them, especially the NCAA since it finances almost all other NCAA tournaments. That however has come at a cost to conferences. That cost is the cheapening of the regular season BB product they have to sell.

 

[ruthetiger]

Yeah, like the last 100-something years? It's not like you were ever competitive in the Big East.

Jesus. Why beat a dead horse? It'll take timw. We have some sports that are just competitive nationally and in conference. It's not like we're dead on the water. We can hang in certain areas. The areas where it's needed the most, well...we shall see if we can improve. That's about as non arrogant about anything as it gets.