A case for football independence, Part II

[ZooCougar]

Force??? I never said force. Pay is a different thing. They could pay those teams to schedule us and have our home/their road game on a fox network rather than those teams scheduling ESPN controlled and get those teams on ESPN networks. Look I get that it's long shot, and has many, many, many moving parts, but to speak in such absolutes that something WILL NEVER work is short sighted, when the plan according to most is to "win and hope" we get invited to a P5 conference. I hope to hell the UConn leaders aren't taking that approach are all exploring all options. The best option at the moment is to stay in the AAC. It is not the death knell Nelson predicts, but it is paying us chump change, and we will not be able to keep pace with our geographical rivals in terms of coaching salaries and facilities. And the notion that UConn gets money from sources other than TV money is short sighted as well cause guess what, so does everybody else.

FOX will not pay anyone to schedule UConn in football. Maybe in 5 years time with multiple double digit win seasons. But even then no way.

They already overpaid for the Big East. I don't care what hoop school you add to the Big East. The net effect would be more lost money.

 

[Drew]

heres an article I read today that touches on UConn/Rutgers in the B1G and the FS1 TV deal for Creighton:

http://sports.omaha.com/2014/04/09/...sing-tv-ratings-rutgers-v-uconn/#.U0bK1oLXcgc

 

[Husky25]

heres an article I read today that touches on UConn/Rutgers in the B1G and the FS1 TV deal for Creighton:

http://sports.omaha.com/2014/04/09/...sing-tv-ratings-rutgers-v-uconn/#.U0bK1oLXcgc

I never really understood the "recruiting ground" argument.

Hey New Jersey kid. Come to Rutgers and get pounded by 3 or 4 of the best teams in the country when the program couldn't hold its own vs. lesser competition.

Or

Hey Baltimore kid come out to East Lansing and play the best competition in America in front of your friends and relatives exactly twice over the next 4 years, if you play at all.

Air travel has made this land incredibly tiny. The Big Ten expanded the way it did for cable carriage fees and to get the Big Ten Network off the sports specific tier. They couldn't care less if anyone in Jersey or Washington watch.

I have no idea what the ACC's strategy was.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The ACC's objective in conference shifting in the past couple years, as far as I can tell, was to surpass the Big East as a basketball conference. They were successful.

Strategy? Tactics? Suspect.

They managed to pass what's still called the Big East in basketball, but they've fallen further behind the others in basketball, and created a new competitor in the AAC in basketball - that includes UCONN.

 

[dayooper]

I never really understood the "recruiting ground" argument.

Hey New Jersey kid. Come to Rutgers and get pounded by 3 or 4 of the best teams in the country when the program couldn't hold its own vs. lesser competition.

Or

Hey Baltimore kid come out to East Lansing and play the best competition in America in front of your friends and relatives exactly twice over the next 4 years, if you play at all.

Air travel has made this land incredibly tiny. The Big Ten expanded the way it did for cable carriage fees and to get the Big Ten Network off the sports specific tier. They couldn't care less if anyone in Jersey or Washington watch.

I have no idea what the ACC's strategy was.

Michigan has benefitted already from UMD and Rutgers. Michigan has picked up several players from Virginia, one saying that The Big10 was in his back yard (UMD). I highly doubt Jabrill Peppers would have looked at UM if it weren't for the inclusion of Rutgers in the Big10. They just picked up a top CB from Virginia this year as well. Mid Atlantic players have been few and far between until the announcement of UMD and Rutgers to The Big10.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Maybe we can pay Ollie in ratings points.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Take my advice. Don't waste precious minutes of your life discussing this with him.

UConn accepting partial membership from the ACC is less likely than the ACC actually offering it.

The chance of UConn surviving on $2mm a year of TV revenue is less than the likelihood of you ever explaining a realistic path out of this death spiral.

 

[Husky25]

Michigan has benefitted already from UMD and Rutgers. Michigan has picked up several players from Virginia, one saying that The Big10 was in his back yard (UMD). I highly doubt Jabrill Peppers would have looked at UM if it weren't for the inclusion of Rutgers in the Big10. They just picked up a top CB from Virginia this year as well. Mid Atlantic players have been few and far between until the announcement of UMD and Rutgers to The Big10.

Seems somewhat anecdotal, but not entirely implausible I suppose. There is no true way of truly knowing, seeing as Michigan is the winningest program in NCAA history, is a national football brand, and is able to pull kids from all over the country with as little as a Brady Hoke phone call.

Still, it's a stupid premise, IMO, on which to base conference expansion.

 

[Adios]

The chance of UConn surviving on $2mm a year of TV revenue is less than the likelihood of you ever explaining a realistic path out of this death spiral.

Do you watch a lot of soaps, Housewives, Kardashians, etc?

 

[ZooCougar]

The chance of UConn surviving on $2mm a year of TV revenue is less than the likelihood of you ever explaining a realistic path out of this death spiral.

Do you still not understand that we have other streams of money? Fallacy king.

 

[dayooper]

The chance of UConn surviving on $2mm a year of TV revenue is less than the likelihood of you ever explaining a realistic path out of this death spiral.

Why do universities spend so much money on an investment (big time athletics) when most schools run from deficit? Why do universities participate in these athletic events (Big time basketball and football) that have so much liability involved with them? 50,000 - 120,000 people in an area that amounts to 2 city blocks is a huge risk. Why do they pursue these endeavors that usually fly in the face of the university mission (I know very few schools that have a mission statement that includes winning national championships). What is the purpose?

 

[sdhusky]

Do you still not understand that we have other streams of money? Fallacy king.

It does seem like he is completely unaware of everything else.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Do you still not understand that we have other streams of money? Fallacy king.

So we don't need any more money to stay competitive? Awesome!!!! We can stay in the AAC forever then.

 

[ZooCougar]

So we don't need any more money to stay competitive? Awesome!!!! We can stay in the AAC forever then.

Ummm. Who said that?

 

[Husky25]

Do you still not understand that we have other streams of money? Fallacy king.

It's got to be done on purpose, right?

Notice that Mr. Muntz does not respond to any reasonable post from which he cannot create an opposing strawman?

Curious. Very curious.

 

[dayooper]

Seems somewhat anecdotal, but not entirely implausible I suppose. There is no true way of truly knowing, seeing as Michigan is the winningest program in NCAA history, is a national football brand, and is able to pull kids from all over the country with as little as a Brady Hoke phone call.

Still, it's a stupid premise, IMO, on which to base conference expansion.

Could be. There some lower rated players and a couple that either never made it to campus or flamed out during the Rich Rod era. I think the biggest thing is branding. Seeing Michigan and the other Big10 schools talked about puts those schools in the mind of the players (just like the gen ed students).

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Which bowls are we so desperate to get access to?

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/12/05/aac-announces-bowl-affiliations-for-2014-2019/

These are a bunch of minimum or near minimum payout bowls against mid-majors or the last eligible P5 teams, which will fairly often be replaced by at-large schools.

With 40 bowls, the chance of UConn not going to a bowl as an at-large is close to nil. The irony is, since UConn is in a southern mid-major conference, our conference mates will be more appealing as participants than UConn. Do you think the Florida bowls would pick UConn over the Florida schools?

 

[Dooley]

Dude, UCONN won 9 games in 2003 as an Independent and did NOT go to a bowl game. Here was their schedule (MUCH better than what we would get today):

Indiana (Aug. 30)
Army (Sept. 6)
Boston College (Sept. 13)
Buffalo (Sept. 20)
Virginia Tech (Sept. 27)
Lehigh (Oct. 4)
North Carolina State (Oct. 11)
Kent State (Oct. 18)
Akron (Oct. 25)
Western Michigan (Nov. 1)
Rutgers (Nov. 8)
Wake Forest (Nov. 15)

You have BC and VT on the schedule because of old Big East obligations. Most ACC teams won't be able to fit UCONN on their schedule as OOC. UCONN could win 10 games as an Independent and not go to a bowl game and, therefore, remain irrelevant.

Why do we have to keep discussing this?

 

[billybud]

Seems somewhat anecdotal, but not entirely implausible I suppose. There is no true way of truly knowing, seeing as Michigan is the winningest program in NCAA history, is a national football brand, and is able to pull kids from all over the country with as little as a Brady Hoke phone call.

Still, it's a stupid premise, IMO, on which to base conference expansion.

Recruiting for major programs is now extra regional....of FSU's 11 projected defensive starters, 9 are from outside of Florida. The #2 QB is from New Jersey as is a starting O lineman and one of the tight ends.

 

[Husky25]

Recruiting for major programs is now extra regional....of FSU's 11 projected defensive starters, 9 are from outside of Florida. The #2 QB is from New Jersey as is a starting O lineman and one of the tight ends.

How does that apply? FSU just won the national championship and have been prominent for 25 years. They are in the same position as Michigan.

How has playing in Chestnut Hill improved recruiting in Chapel Hill over the last decade?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

How many bowls were there in 2003? How many are there now?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I read through this thread because I figured it'd be good for some laughs. A few, but not nearly enough to justify wasting the last 10 minutes of my life.

I'm going to the pet store to kick some puppies around now.

 

[ZooCougar]

How many bowls were there in 2003? How many are there now?

Number of bowls has nothing to do with it. Which bowls would be willing to sign a contract with UConn for a guaranteed alliance?

 

[freescooter]

it is just silly. You cannot make a reasonable case for football independence. Can't be done in the current environment. Reality is that even Notre Dame couldn't make a case for true football independence, and they are Notre Dame. They are now a sort of quasi-independent that will continue to pretend to be the same as the old Notre Dame. Except they have 5 guaranteed games every year instead of 8 like everyone else. And for much the same reason. They needed to lock down some games. Its also the reason Navy is willing to join the AAC after years of saying no to the Big East. The world has changed and independence is just not viable.

nelson, your earlier idea of playing football in the MAC while silly, made more sense than playing as an independent.

 

[Adios]

It's got to be done on purpose, right?

Notice that Mr. Muntz does not respond to any reasonable post from which he cannot create an opposing strawman?

Curious. Very curious.

Dude wants attention. He is bored.