Biggest winners, losers five years after realignment hell broke loose

[jostar1]

The biggest losers

1) Cincinnati and Connecticut. Two schools that enjoyed unprecedented football success in the decade pre-realignment -- the Bearcats reached consecutive BCS bowls in 2008 and '09, while the Huskies, a I-AA program not long ago, went in 2010 -- have been relegated to second-tier status in the American. Both have lobbied unsuccessfully for better landing spots, most logically the ACC. While they can still contend for a New Year's Six bowl by winning their conference, they're likely to be frozen out of the College Football Playoff and now face recruiting disadvantages.

Cincinnati's best hope now is that the Big 12 eventually decides to add two, but that does not appear imminent. UConn ... may be stuck.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...rs-sec-big-12-pac-12-realignment-chaos-061115

 

[CallMeBruce]

Yeah, seems pretty obvious.

 

[Dooley]

UConn is the #1 biggest loser in CR and it's not even close. UConn is a better school and athletic department than 1/3 of the grandfathered schools/ADs.

 

[B1GOSU]

"The biggest winners

1) Rutgers. If realignment were a lottery, Rutgers won the Powerball Grand Prize. A long-suffering, financially strapped, crisis-plagued athletic department not only escaped the former Big East's destruction but punched a ticket to the esteemed Big Ten, whose cable network and upcoming Tier 1 negotiations will shower the New Jersey school with new revenue. Its national profile is already growing, and the Scarlet Knights even defied the doomsayers and won eight games in their first season.

Maryland is enjoying much the same benefits, but its fans weren't nearly as jubilant about leaving behind their longtime ACC rivals."




I think most Maryland fans now enjoy the B1G. I don't ever hear complaints about leaving the ACC 2.0.

 

[bingethinker]

"The biggest winners

1) Rutgers. If realignment were a lottery, Rutgers won the Powerball Grand Prize. A long-suffering, financially strapped, crisis-plagued athletic department not only escaped the former Big East's destruction but punched a ticket to the esteemed Big Ten, whose cable network and upcoming Tier 1 negotiations will shower the New Jersey school with new revenue. Its national profile is already growing, and the Scarlet Knights even defied the doomsayers and won eight games in their first season.

Maryland is enjoying much the same benefits, but its fans weren't nearly as jubilant about leaving behind their longtime ACC rivals."




I think most Maryland fans now enjoy the B1G. I don't ever hear complaints about leaving the ACC 2.0.

Winning in the B1G helped Maryland fans forget about the ACC pretty quickly. Winning 7 conference championships (5 regular season, 2 tournament) and 5 Final Fours in your first season definitely helps. Maryland fans are thinking about newly and soon to be announced athletic facilities upgrades opposed to playing Duke in basketball.

Rutgers fans are just happy to be in the B1G and hope one day they can produce a winner in some sport.

 

[jostar1]

More from Stewart Mandel:

Is coach Bob Diaco creating a rivalry between UCONN and Central Florida -- and even presenting a trophy -- only to be promptly rejected by UCF an embarrassment or a total embarrassment?

-- Mike Jones, Hartford, Conn.

I'm glad you brought this up, because this story is not getting nearly the coverage it deserves. I have so many thoughts.

* First of all, give Diaco a little credit. He managed to not only "manufacture a rivalry" but have it be a "one-sided rivalry." That's two clichés for one.

* Presumably he coined it "Civil Conflict" because "Civil War" was taken, but if you put the word civil in front of any other word it comes off as something ... well, civil. You might as well call it the Cordial Conflict.

* Most people use countdown clocks for either the first or last game of the year (like Ohio State-Michigan). The UCF game is Oct. 10. Hope the Huskies don't look past that Sept. 19 trip to Missouri.

* I love that Diaco is all in not only on why he didn't bother looping in UCF on his plans ("They don't get to say whether they're our rival or not") but why the rivalry magically began only last year, when UConn won (because he wasn't the coach yet).

* If UCF does happen to win this year's rematch in Orlando, does it get to keep this trophy it didn't ask for? Or does it go back to Storrs?

* But even better, imagine if UConn wins and proceeds to celebrate on the Knights' home field by hoisting up a trophy it created?

There's just so much potential here. I hope Diaco comes up with one for Tulane next.


Can you make a prediction on the viability of Cincinnati joining the Big 12 and when that move might occur?
-- Brady Fening, Dayton

If the Big 12 misses the playoff again this year and adds a championship game in 2016 while still at 10 teams only to miss it again, then maybe that becomes a viable possibility. Unfortunately, right now the Bearcats' energy would be more constructively spent trying to get in on that UConn rivalry action.

 

[SellersElbow]

This may be the most depressing thread I have seen on this board. It deserves a trophy, as that is no small feat.

 

[Adios]

We gotta pay our dues. We are VERY fortunate that we have been able to get this much recognition this fast.

On the other hand, Nippert Stadium is almost 100 years old.

 

[Fishy]

We have to pay our dues? We're fortunate?

Go pound sand.

 

[Adios]

Hey man, I don't make the decisions. But our presence does help other schools in the AAC in developing their ADs in ways other than football.

And heck yeah we're fortunate. Who the heck ever expected our run in basketball?

 

[HuskyHawk]

We were fortunate to get in the Big East, which allowed football to go to 1A/BCS in what was a fairly strong league. We were unfortunate that Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville and Rutgers landed spots in CR and we did not. The unfortunate is a lot fresher in most of our minds.

 

[huskiesnyc]

There's nothing fortunate about us being in the AAC. It's a goshdarn nightmare and crying shame plain and simple

 

[Adios]

Our FOURTH men's basketball title caught the eyes of the Big Ten. It took four to get their total attention.

 

[NickyNewark]

Winning in the B1G helped Maryland fans forget about the ACC pretty quickly. Winning 7 conference championships (5 regular season, 2 tournament) and 5 Final Fours in your first season definitely helps. Maryland fans are thinking about newly and soon to be announced athletic facilities upgrades opposed to playing Duke in basketball.

Rutgers fans are just happy to be in the B1G and hope one day they can produce a winner in some sport.

Wrestling is doing alright along with FB and WBB. There's worse schools than RU or no one could see their value.

 

[NickyNewark]

Hey man, I don't make the decisions. But our presence does help other schools in the AAC in developing their ADs in ways other than football.

And heck yeah we're fortunate. Who the heck ever expected our run in basketball?

Healthy outlook Butch but I think you guys will get where you belong very soon.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Healthy outlook Butch but I think you guys will get where you belong very soon.

#big12 Not sure we belong there but I certainly hope our admin is all in, and I hear they are

 

[NickyNewark]

#big12 Not sure we belong there but I certainly hope our admin is all in, and I hear they are

Any P5 is better than where they are but though I feel the B1G in case of emergency i don't see the ACC being stupid enough to lose them if the B1G holds out much longer!?! I feel SH already knows where but can't talk??

 

[bingethinker]

Wrestling is doing alright along with FB and WBB. There's worse schools than RU or no one could see their value.

Rutgers finished in the bottom third of the B1G in wrestling. Rutgers' best conference finishes were in women's basketball and women's soccer. Both finished fourth in the league and were the only Rutgers programs to post winning conference records. Five sports finished last in the regular season. Three sports went winless in the league. As a department, Rutgers athletics won just two NCAA tournament games this season.

Rutgers athletic dept has a lot of ground to make up. Its 10-year average Directors Cup final ranking is 99. 12 of 14 B1G members averaged top-50 final rankings. Maryland and Michigan won seven Big Ten championships this season. Rutgers has six conference titles in its existence.

I do think B1G money will help Rutgers be more competitive, but it'll take a commitment by university officials to raising and spending the money it takes to recruit and pay quality coaches and keep up with the facilities arms race in the Big Ten.

 

[NickyNewark]

Rutgers finished in the bottom third of the B1G in wrestling. Rutgers' best conference finishes were in women's basketball and women's soccer. Both finished fourth in the league and were the only Rutgers programs to post winning conference records. Five sports finished last in the regular season. Three sports went winless in the league. As a department, Rutgers athletics won just two NCAA tournament games this season.

Rutgers athletic dept has a lot of ground to make up. Its 10-year average Directors Cup final ranking is 99. 12 of 14 B1G members averaged top-50 final rankings. Maryland and Michigan won seven Big Ten championships this season. Rutgers has six conference titles in its existence.

I do think B1G money will help Rutgers be more competitive, but it'll take a commitment by university officials to raising and spending the money it takes to recruit and pay quality coaches and keep up with the facilities arms race in the Big Ten.

Obvious you don't realize how strong B1G wrestling is? RU was a Top 22 wrestling team in its 1st year....know how hard that is? Heck in the B1G you NEED a good wrestling program because ALL schools are top forty. I do agree RU AD has a lot of work to do but at least now the money should start to roll in.......private donors need to step up!!