Why not the SEC?

[CTMike]

In the NYC Market, it's already trivial to find an SEC game to watch on a Saturday afternoon. For example, Auburn-LSU tomorrow is being carried nationally on CBS. What incremental value would UConn and Rutgirls add to the SEC? In football- none. Any casual college football fan is already going to be watching Auburn-LSU. Very few folks are turning away from that for a UConn or Rutgirls game.

Would the addition of those two allow a larger footprint for an SEC Network? That's about all they could help deliver, and that's questionable as well.

With the ACC however, I think you can make a better case that UConn and Rutgirls can help deliver a few more eyeballs to the ACC and potentially the ACC Network. Yes, Defillipo, blah blah... I know. But convincing the ACC that we can deliver value is how to get around that roadblock. There's no question that we deliver value on the basketball side of the equation. Football... it's harder to show that, given how young our program is. Doesn't hurt to try though.

 

[Danzz]

I know #BegHarder has been focused exclusively on the ACC to date, but we may need to revisit the playbook. If Herbst has these great SEC contacts, and is in #BegHarder mode, make a pitch to the SEC for Rutgers and UConn as teams 15 and 16. Why?

1) The ACC and Big 10 think they already have the tri-state area/New England. They really don't want to pay for it again by adding UConn and Rutgers.

2) The SEC is watching the Big 10 and ACC carve up the Big East market and not even have to pay for it.

3) The SEC has plenty of great programs. If quality was the driving factor, they would have taken WVU over Texas A&M or Missouri.

4) The one quality hole they have is basketball, where only Kentucky and to a lesser extent Florida have any national profile.

5) the SEC said they won't take a team from a state where another SEC team is, so this rules out FSU, Clemson, GTech and Louisville and USF for that matter. The have already passed on WVU about 5 times. The list of available teams to get to 16 is the North Carolina and Virginia schools.

6) VTech and NC State are going to be tough teams to pry away from the ACC, and they don't even really deliver those markets. UVa is terrible at everything and isn't really trying. UNC is not leaving a conference with GTech, Duke, Wake Forest, VTech, Virginia, Maryland, BCU, Pitt and Syracuse to join the SEC as long as the ACC is a viable conference.

7) The SEC has said they want new markets, so Texas than Missouri. Now what? Oklahoma? There really isn't anywhere West left to look. North Carolina and Virginia are attractive, but they are going to be tough to pry a team out of, and they are going to be competitive markets even if the SEC grabs NC State and VTech or whoever. And then there is the Big Apple. The largest market in the country, for a conference that considers itself a national brand.

If the SEC does nothing, they cede the market to the ACC and Big 10 for free, which increases the value of every program in those two leagues relative to the SEC. At the very least, the SEC would want to smoke out the interest of either league and force their hand to at least make them pay for it. UConn/Rutgers would deliver that market, particularly if they were playing LSU/Georgia/Florida/Alabama/Tennessee/Auburn. UConn/Rutgers has markets, which the SEC is lacking.

No chance. WVA would be a better fit and the SEC didn't want them. Why not the Pac 10/12/14? Uconn would give them an east coast presence.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Can we all remember that while geography doesn't matter for a football only league, it very much matters for an all-sports league. The travel costs and time on olympic sports would be prohibitive.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So the consensus is we should just #BegHarder focusing solely on the ACC.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Can we all remember that while geography doesn't matter for a football only league, it very much matters for an all-sports league. The travel costs and time on olympic sports would be prohibitive.

Travel in CUSA is going to be bad too.

 

[HartbeatHusky]

We are southern New England and parts of Jersey are south of the mason dixon so I guess us and Rutgers would fit in great.

 

[metsfan2323]

We are southern New England and parts of Jersey are south of the mason dixon so I guess us and Rutgers would fit in great.

Right now Southeastern is just one word, but "SEC" would make you think south and eastern should be separated. We make them the South Eastern Conference.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We are southern New England and parts of Jersey are south of the mason dixon so I guess us and Rutgers would fit in great.

Larry Scott got 6 votes to add Texahoma to the Pac 12. Storrs to the middle of SEC country in Tuscaloosa is just over 1,000 miles. Austin, TX to Berkeley, CA is almost 1,500.

 

[CTMike]

So the consensus is we should just #BegHarder focusing solely on the ACC.

I'm not saying that, Nelson. I'm saying that I think we offer them the most value. All options should remain on the table for the time being.

 

[8893]

So the consensus is we should just #BegHarder focusing solely on the ACC.

No, the consensus of those in touch with reality is that "we" are merely idiots on a message board and do not have any effect on what is actually happening in the real world; nor do we know what is actually being done by those whose job it is to handle this.

But it is nice that idle conjecture has gotten you so much mileage and preoccupied so much of your time. Who knows what kind of harm you might be doing yourself or others if you didn't have this to obsess and speculate wildly about?

 

[JaYnYcE]

I know there is a large portion of the posters on this board that think UConn belongs in CUSA. You are one of them.

Wow, Now you're thinking for me? Is there anything you can't do Mr. Nelson?

Either you've reached an all time low on comebacks or you're getting lazy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nelsonmuntz]

No, the consensus of those in touch with reality is that "we" are merely idiots on a message board and do not have any effect on what is actually happening in the real world; nor do we know what is actually being done by those whose job it is to handle this.

But it is nice that idle conjecture has gotten you so much mileage and preoccupied so much of your time. Who knows what kind of harm you might be doing yourself or others if you didn't have this to obsess and speculate wildly about?

It is ironic that you post on a message board to criticize me for posting on a message board.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Wow, Now you're thinking for me? Is there anything you can't do Mr. Nelson?

Either you've reached an all time low on comebacks or you're getting lazy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am pretty sure no one, including yourself, is thinking for you.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm trying to understand this. nelson, you are not against #BegHarder, you are against begging if it fails. All your ranting against President Herbst wasn't about her begging to get into the ACC, it was her inability to beg adequately.

So, regarding President Herbst, you believe she can be more effective begging the SEC and getting UConn into that conference.

Am I understanding you correctly?

 

[Mr. Hand]

Unfortunately, the ACC knows UConn is so far behind in football that the B1G and SEC are not in the picture. It's too bad, because UConn has everything else you'd want in spades.

 

[junglehusky]

I think Smithers just has it in for the ACC. If I were going pie-in-the-sky I'd go Big Ten. We might actually have a shot at that, in 10-20 years.

 

[RS9999X]

The only pitch to the B12 or SEC or PAC-12 is the NYC market axis and establishing the potential for fan growth in an areas where the ACC is getting an easy rider on cable carrier lineups and TV sets.

UConn can't be sold on program legacy, current football results, corporate support, or traveling fanbase. Getting UConn fans to travel to Rutgers and MSG is an effort.

The B12 and SEC would be adding bottom tier teams with the potential to improve with funding and renewed commitment.

Potential's a harder sell than results. The good news: there aren't many other options out there. Notre Dame, BYU and WVU are heads and tails the top 3 candidates for expansion.

Any package of Boise. Lousville and Cincy is a bizarre choice over UConn and Rutgers. Lousivllle's chances hang on a thread that the B12 lands BYU or FSU or the B12 simply gets crazy and adds Boise or SMU w/ Louisville when every media expert in the country tells them its dilutive and a waste of scheduling space.

There's an outside chance the B12 looks at Florida with USF and UCF but there's nothing else going on that makes any sense. Tulane? Southern Miss? ECU? Not a chance.

NYC and UConn are in limbo. Lousville prays for BYU to go to the B12 and UConn prays on ND going to the ACC. The SEC looks at the options to add another Vandy and simply shrugs.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'm trying to understand this. nelson, you are not against #BegHarder, you are against begging if it fails. All your ranting against President Herbst wasn't about her begging to get into the ACC, it was her inability to beg adequately.

So, regarding President Herbst, you believe she can be more effective begging the SEC and getting UConn into that conference.

Am I understanding you correctly?

I am against eliminating options. For example, not showing up to a crisis meeting for your own conference while at the same time telling anyone who will listen that you think UConn should be in the ACC, when there are really serious impediments to getting into the ACC, strikes me as a pretty awful strategy.

I am explained this a dozen times and you have correctly characterized my issues with Beg Harder in the past. I will chalk this post up to a failed attempt at humor at my expense.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think Smithers just has it in for the ACC. If I were going pie-in-the-sky I'd go Big Ten. We might actually have a shot at that, in 10-20 years.

If your argument is that UConn doesn't deserve to be in a BCS league, I won't argue with you because what is the point? I think UConn does deserve to be in a BCS league. That is the premise for this whole board.

 

[8893]

It is ironic that you post on a message board to criticize me for posting on a message board.

No, I didn't criticize you for posting on a message board. I criticized you for living on a message board; and lacking the self-awareness to realize that we are all just idiots with keyboards who neither have any effect on the process nor know everything that is being done by those whose job it is to handle this.

I realize that the board exists for the very reason to allow idiots like us to discuss such things, but you appear to have taken the discussion--and your ability to influence the course of events or know what is really happening--to levels that are not in touch with reality.

 

[ctchamps]

I am against eliminating options. For example, not showing up to a crisis meeting for your own conference while at the same time telling anyone who will listen that you think UConn should be in the ACC, when there are really serious impediments to getting into the ACC, strikes me as a pretty awful strategy.

I am explained this a dozen times and you have correctly characterized my issues with Beg Harder in the past. I will chalk this post up to a failed attempt at humor at my expense.

Part humor, part clarification. I don't have an issue with your ideas of how you would approach things. I do have an issue that you presume other approaches that differ from your own ideas are failures, and that your approach is the only guaranteed approach to success. Your first sentence in this post, "I am against eliminating options", is a contradiction because you have eliminated the option of President Herbst's approach to the ACC and the BE. You presume that had she approached the situation the way you demand, things would have turned out far better for UConn.

I can't speak for others, but I get the impression you honestly believe this. I don't know how you can prove it however. And because of that lack of proof, I take issue with your presentation of resentment towards Herbts' actions.

Even more irrational in my opinion is that you now insist she approach the SEC. Well you have no way of knowing whether she did approach the SEC and if she did, how they were approached. And you are taking her to task because she might have done it quietly this time resulting in it leaving us out of the loop. Well wasn't that your complaint with her approach to the ACC, that she was overt about it. My issue with you is the continual barbs you make about Herbst without complete knowledge of the situations, and without proof that your alternative actions would be more consequential.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Part humor, part clarification. I don't have an issue with your ideas of how you would approach things. I do have an issue that you presume other approaches that differ from your own ideas are failures, and that your approach is the only guaranteed approach to success. Your first sentence in this post, "I am against eliminating options", is a contradiction because you have eliminated the option of President Herbst's approach to the ACC and the BE. You presume that had she approached the situation the way you demand, things would have turned out far better for UConn.

I can't speak for others, but I get the impression you honestly believe this. I don't know how you can prove it however. And because of that lack of proof, I take issue with your presentation of resentment towards Herbts' actions.

Even more irrational in my opinion is that you now insist she approach the SEC. Well you have no way of knowing whether she did approach the SEC and if she did, how they were approached. And you are taking her to task because she might have done it quietly this time resulting in it leaving us out of the loop. Well wasn't that your complaint with her approach to the ACC, that she was overt about it. My issue with you is the continual barbs you make about Herbst without complete knowledge of the situations, and without proof that your alternative actions would be more consequential.

There are a lot of strategies for dealing with a crisis situation like this where you need to sell a business quickly, which is essentially what Herbst is trying to do. Any number of them could have worked. Her strategy made no sense at all and had no chance of success.

 

[ctchamps]

There are a lot of strategies for dealing with a crisis situation like this where you need to sell a business quickly, which is essentially what Herbst is trying to do. Any number of them could have worked. Her strategy made no sense at all and had no chance of success.

Perhaps it didn't, but what makes you feel it will work with the SEC? Her contacts with the ACC were just as relevant as her contacts with the SEC.

Furthermore why continue to criticize her if she has made the adjustment you recommended - to approach other conferences quietly and work with the BE? At the very least she has learned from her actions and made adjustments. Continued communication of someone's past failure when they have moved past that failure is just sour grapes and makes you look bad.

For a person who is hypercritical about how people approach things, you are oblivious to a lot of recommendations about how you might want to consider approaching things. Maybe all of us taking you to task about your approach, (as opposed to your position), are wrong. But maybe we are right.

 

[06029]

There are a lot of strategies for dealing with a crisis situation like this where you need to sell a business quickly, which is essentially what Herbst is trying to do. Any number of them could have worked. Her strategy made no sense at all and had no chance of success.

The problem with selling strategies are they fall apart when there are no buyers. Until there are buyers, you can change your pitch, work on different potential buyers but ultimately, you are waiting, making calls and putting a good face on things for the outside world. That is Uconn today. The executive in a failing company that is trying to find a way to survive, working hard with the rest of the executives but hoping all those networking meetings pay off before worse goes to worst.

 

[junglehusky]

If your argument is that UConn doesn't deserve to be in a BCS league, I won't argue with you because what is the point? I think UConn does deserve to be in a BCS league. That is the premise for this whole board.

I didn't say UConn doesn't deserve to be in a BCS league. I'll be charitable and assume you were stretching my "pie-in-the-sky" comment, instead of just putting words in my mouth.

Allow me to rephrase. If we are going to reach for one of the more elite conferences, the Big Ten would be a better fit, and despite being a long-shot, a slightly more realistic long-shot than the SEC.

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

I feel like I'm on drugs just reading this thread.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The problem with selling strategies are they fall apart when there are no buyers. Until there are buyers, you can change your pitch, work on different potential buyers but ultimately, you are waiting, making calls and putting a good face on things for the outside world. That is Uconn today. The executive in a failing company that is trying to find a way to survive, working hard with the rest of the executives but hoping all those networking meetings pay off before worse goes to worst.

No one is arguing with you on this point. She picked a bad way out, and the defense of her actions always comes down to "there is nothing she could have done". Maybe, but her approach still resulted in the lowest probability of success possible. And I reject that assertion. Inevitably, the losers are the ones that say there is nothing that could have been done. The winners figure out a way to get it done.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I didn't say UConn doesn't deserve to be in a BCS league. I'll be charitable and assume you were stretching my "pie-in-the-sky" comment, instead of just putting words in my mouth.

Allow me to rephrase. If we are going to reach for one of the more elite conferences, the Big Ten would be a better fit, and despite being a long-shot, a slightly more realistic long-shot than the SEC.

They are all long shots and average or worse fits. The SEC is the only realistic alternative that actually has a need. Companies buy what they need, not what is a good "fit".

 

[Danzz]

I feel like I'm on drugs just reading this thread.

I know the feeling. My head is spinning from all the possibilities, opinions and suggestions. Posters are making reallignment suggestions without any of the real facts or information about what is really going on between Herbst, the BE or any other conference. Oh well, I guess that is what message boards are for.

 

[HuskyHawk]

No one is arguing with you on this point. She picked a bad way out, and the defense of her actions always comes down to "there is nothing she could have done". Maybe, but her approach still resulted in the lowest probability of success possible. And I reject that assertion. Inevitably, the losers are the ones that say there is nothing that could have been done. The winners figure out a way to get it done.

Probably the only thing I disagree with you on, really, is this assumption that what was done has failed. I see no evidence that it has failed. Even if it was wildly successful, I would not expect the invite from the ACC or B1G to come at this point in time. She may have received assurances that when the time is right, it will be announced. We lack the information to judge whether or not the strategy has succeeded or failed. Two years from now, if we're independent for football or in the MAC, you can tell me the strategy has failed. Until then, this constant drumbeat about a supposed failure is pure conjecture. The sky has not yet fallen. I think it is virtually certain that we'll be in the B1G or ACC by the time Pitt and Cuse are out of the BE. Having it confirmed now would ease my anxiety, but the people making these decisions are not there to ease my anxiety or yours.