Why keep football ?

[Dooley]

The basketball programs make money.

Well then they can make more money in the Yankee.

 

[CL82]

I just love these post-loss threads.

Once again (again and again and again), dropping football and moving hoops to another conference would apply the following exit fee terms/conditions:

1. $10M exit fee;
2. 27 month waiting period (can be negotiated down to 12 months for additional $1M-$2M minimum)...meaning we're looking at an exit fee around $12M to leave within 12 months.

I know losing games is tough to swallow, especially in the non-competitive manner that we lose 'em. But please remember that swapping conferences is far more complicated and would bring a very real, long-term consequence to our AD/school.

If you don't want to watch or attend games until we start winning again, fine. That's your money and your time/energy. Nobody would find fault in anyone not wanting to devote 4-8 hours on game days + $50/person to go watch us lose by 50 points to teams we used to be competitive against. I went down with the Whalers and saw the same thing happen to them. I got it then as a kid and I get it now as an adult. What I don't get is why UConn fans have to go that extra "drop football" step that literally no other fanbase went during their programs' tough patches.

The Old Money Club of college football is the Old Money Club because they've all endured these rough patches and survived. It stinks that football and not basketball has dictated what school/AD is paid obnoxious money and what school/ADs isn't. If it were the opposite, UConn would be entering their 10th season as a full member of the ACC here in 2018. But here we are - we're in our program's extreme rough patch that every Old Money CFB Club member had to endure 50-100 years ago. Hopefully, Edsall will be able to rebuild this program to where it was in 2010 but it will take several years. Several years. Let me say it again: several years. So tap out for a while if you want - nobody will think anything bad about you. When the programs begins to win again in several years, you will be welcomed back with open arms.

We're not dropping football. Ever. The sooner you guys/gals can wrap your heads around this, the better. Again, nobody will blame you if you decide to tap out of UConn football while we're this historically bad. But these types of threads and wailing does absolutely nothing to help anything in the program, the school, or the state. Unless you have $10M-$12M in your couch cushions, just back quietly out of UConn football while it's being rebuilt. No need to start yet another one of these tired threads about a tired concept that the Old Money Club and our geographic r1vals (BC, RU, Fruit, Pitt, etc) would LOVE to have happen - UConn tapping out of major competitive college sports.

Missed you Dools. Glad you are back.

 

[Stainmaster]

Why don't you show how the football program is making money?

If you make a claim, it’s on you to provide proof, not on another person to disprove it.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Is there any reason to?
A last ditch hope at conference realignment in 2020something?
Please.
We are the worst program in FBS. Have been and will continue to be.
Men’s basketball will be okay under Hurley but y’all don’t care because your football fans and for some dumb reason you can’t cheer for UConn football and UConn basketball.
No conference wants to pick a university whose greateast recent accomplishment is a final four loss in women’s hoops.
I never even considered cutting football or going FCS/Big East until today. Play the games at GD Dunkin Donuts Park for all it matters as this week the AD made it clear the sole purpose of UConn sports is staving off bankruptcy for Hartford.

We can’t even compete vs so~so teams from our own conference and never will be able to as we can’t draw in any half decent recruits. Maybe in three years this team will be ready. Hopefully in three years I can focus on keeping my yard in shape during Autumn Saturdays.

And the TAXPAYERS will be paying for a 40,000 seat abandoned stadium that is a WHITE ELEPHANT. What should we do with Rentschler? Give it to Goodwin College, Manchester Community College or UHart in exchange for them starting a football team? Please leave, you are a disappointment!!

 

[Adios]

Well then they can make more money in the Yankee.

We can be the Yankee Conference blueblood. Since no one won anything else at the other schools. Besides Maine in hockey.

 

[TRest]

And the TAXPAYERS will be paying for a 40,000 seat abandoned stadium that is a WHITE ELEPHANT. What should we do with Rentschler? Give it to Goodwin College, Manchester Community College or UHart in exchange for them starting a football team? Please leave, you are a disappointment!!

Don't you live in Florida?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Now I know why I avoided this thread. Some basic points:

• Fan of the hoops team since around 1980. Went to some football games at Memorial while attending mid 80's. It was fun. It wasn't a must see event. Soccer was.
• When UConn went D1, UConn became my #1 football school, bumping KU, which had bumped Nebraska. That is as it should be.
• I do not want FBS dropped. I do not think it helps and believe it would almost certainly hurt, the basketball team. Some people are deluded about this point.
• The New Big East is living on the back of Jay Wright. Long term, the American is likely a better hoops conference.
• Any chance we have at earning more money from our conference, whether the AAC or a P5, requires football at FBS. The next AAC contract payout will be higher than the NBE. Exposure is already better.
• There is no way that a majority or even significant percentage of the "MBB first" fans want football downgraded or dropped. WBB fans? Maybe, I don't know. Certainly this league is much worse on that side.
• The football team is awful. It is embarrassing. Edsall miscalculated the ability of his freshman recruits to compete compared to more experienced guys who were not his recruits. There is no excuse for that defense. Most FCS teams would be more competitive on D.

 

[whaler11]

Still trying to claim the AAC will be a better bb conference than the Big East is just delusional at this point.

It’s probably time to give up that particular brand of wishcasting.

 

[whaler11]

Also, the meltdown when people see the next AAC contract is going to be glorious.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If you make a claim, it’s on you to provide proof, not on another person to disprove it.

When he asks me to prove something that has been proven hundreds of times on this board, including this thread, then the burden is on him.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Also, the meltdown when people see the next AAC contract is going to be glorious.

While I know it will suck, I will admit that I never understood the pricing model for college sports content. How is a Illinois vs. Minnesota game worth 100x what a Houston vs. UCF game is worth?

 

[pepband99]

Also, the meltdown when people see the next AAC contract is going to be glorious.

It will be equaled by the bewilderment at the awful NBE next contract, and the realization that we, again, don't have a better option.

 

[whaler11]

While I know it will suck, I will admit that I never understood the pricing model for college sports content. How is a Illinois vs. Minnesota game worth 100x what a Houston vs. UCF game is worth?

It’s not - it just gets bundled with games like Michigan/Ohio State.

That is where we go next - when the money train slows - Ohio State is going to be a lot less interested in propping up Iowa. Expansion was so short-sighted as to be laughable in retrospect.

 

[whaler11]

It will be equaled by the bewilderment at the awful NBE next contract, and the realization that we, again, don't have a better option.

Yeah their contract will stink too - but they might have two bidders since ESPN has moved so much to SEC and ACC networks.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yeah their contract will stink too - but they might have two bidders since ESPN has moved so much to SEC and ACC networks.

Everyone's previous predictions on the Big East's demise have been so accurate. The Big East has high profile program in big cities that make up the majority of the nationwide basketball fanbase. The SEC draws 6,000 fans to midweek games, and half of those are student tickets that are either free or virtually free. No one cares about basketball in the South outside of Kentucky, North Carolina and maybe Tennessee.

Remember when everyone said that football drives the bus? Football will be a regional sport in 10-15 years, and most high schools in the northeast won't even play it. Any sport that turns a large percentage of its players into crippled vegetables or sociopaths has a limited shelf life once people understand the causality.

 

[whaler11]

Everyone's previous predictions on the Big East's demise have been so accurate. The Big East has high profile program in big cities that make up the majority of the nationwide basketball fanbase. The SEC draws 6,000 fans to midweek games, and half of those are student tickets that are either free or virtually free. No one cares about basketball in the South outside of Kentucky, North Carolina and maybe Tennessee.

Remember when everyone said that football drives the bus? Football will be a regional sport in 10-15 years, and most high schools in the northeast won't even play it. Any sport that turns a large percentage of its players into crippled vegetables or sociopaths has a limited shelf life once people understand the causality.

I think the runway as longer than that for football - but basketball schools focusing on basketball in basketball parts of the country is going to lead to a good basketball league.

College basketball is already regional except for everyone but 5 schools, 48 weeks a year.

Half the attention goes to a handful of one and dones because the NBA’s growth has help marginalize CBB.

Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Carolina plus a couple of random 1 & dones elsewhere get 90% of the attention before March.

There is no roster cohesion year to year, rivalries have been destroyed, the big boys play nobody OOC except for neutral site special events. It’s not a sport in a good place.

 

[Exit 4]

It’s not a sport in a good place.

Wait, what sport is in a good place in your opinion?

 

[freescooter]

Doesn’t this really beg the question of why have football or basketball at this level? Or really any sport? Play D3 in everything. Wesleyan and Trinity run their entire athletic programs for +- 5 million. Games are fun. Tax payers wouldn’t have any complaints. And can you imagine how exciting the St Joe’s-UConn tilt will be? Maybe they can move it to one of the bigger high school gyms in the area to handle the crowds.

 

[whaler11]

Wait, what sport is in a good place in your opinion?

The NBA is destroying everyone.

The NFL is healthier than CW.

College football at the national level isn’t too bad off.

Soccer is growing in the US.

College basketball is dying so fast nobody even cares about the trial.

 

[Adios]

Doesn’t this really beg the question of why have football or basketball at this level? Or really any sport? Play D3 in everything. Wesleyan and Trinity run their entire athletic programs for +- 5 million. Games are fun. Tax payers wouldn’t have any complaints. And can you imagine how exciting the St Joe’s-UConn tilt will be? Maybe they can move it to one of the bigger high school gyms in the area to handle the crowds.

Was considering going to the Trinity-Wesleyan men's soccer game but decided against it since they might play at Citrin Field instead of Jackson Field, which they did. Drew a huge crowd of 109.

 

[freescooter]

Look, I follow both sports but enjoy football better. I'm tired of the conference complaint from the basketball side. If it's such a bad conference, how come we've never won it in the regular season and needed a Jalen Adams miracle to go on and win the conference tournament once. Until UConn is dominating the AAC in bball, I don't want to hear about how it's hurting us. If we can't win in our current conference, what makes any of you think we'd be anywhere close to competitive in the Big East?

Oh boy! Now you’ve done it. The argument is that if we were in the Big East we would get better players and win that. At least I think that is the argument. Totally ignoring the fact that for all the hype the Big East is a 1 team league and most of our old rivals, Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, Louisville, aren’t there either. To say nothing of the late lamented coaching staff that could take good players and make them mediocre, mediocre ones below average, and below average one and make them starters , and all players and make them want to transfer.

 

[freescooter]

Was considering going to the Trinity-Wesleyan men's soccer game but decided against it since they might play at Citrin Field instead of Jackson Field, which they did. Drew a huge crowd of 109.

Good thing you didn’t go. Might not have gotten in with that kind of crowd!

 

[freescooter]

And some of us remember when UConn was the only Big East team that had 0 NCAA bids as a Big East member. Every other team if I recall correctly, had made the Elite 8 at least once. Two had championships and 2 others had lost in the title game. People were arguing about whether leaving the Yankee Conference had been a mistake, and frankly, the majority opinion was that it had. Folks with short memories also think Jim Calhoun was successful right out of the gate. But guess what? The year after winning the NIT UConn became the first NIT champ to fail to make the NCAA in almost 10 years.

 

[RSTuthill]

This decision will be made after HCRE2.0's fifth year. No sooner. A nationally ranked winning G5 football program is a completely different animal from what UConn has now.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Don't you live in Florida?

Yes, but I do own a business (and pay taxes) on it. I moved to Florida when both my parents were sick and I just got a divorce, so I moved to help them. I would love to move back, since I miss the fall colors.