Good Luck…. Big 12

[uconnyankee]

I was looking forward to Big 12. While some say it’s not ideal fit, I thought it would set up perfectly for next round where ACC could be target.

And the Big 12 has momentum. Not because it plays the best football or basketball, but because the teams that are there want to be there. Tex/Ok gone remove the drama. Now the focus is on the field. Was looking forward to being part of that.

We heard markets, we heard ‘we want schools that want to be here’, we heard basketball, we heard eastern time zone, blah blah blah….

After all that, Big 12 goes back to the stale well and MAY potentially take three schools within the same redundant markets of the glorious mountain time zone, two of which are athletic dead weights, and two of which up until yesterday are still reluctant to join.

It doesn’t make sense. Maybe this whole thing was a sham to shake these schools out. Maybe BY really wanted UConn in eastern push. At the end of the day, the presidents of these schools are the ones making decisions.

You now have cornered the Utah market along with Arizon and Colorado.
You’ve done it with schools that have consistently looked down on the league previously, and consider joining a demotion.
You’ve alienated your eastern flank and basically said go screw.

Essentially you’ve added a potential crack into the conference that didn’t have to be there. I hope that little crack grows in the coming years. I hope the ACC can get it’s crap right and peel off a couple of those eastern schools and maybe add UConn. Admittedly, Big 12 seems more exciting, but a P5 is a P5 or P4.

Going in a different direction when everyone says it has to be this way is tough. It’s what was making BY sound so visionary with BB and taking Big 12 East.

Ughhhhh…..

 

[CCSU97]

This wasn't a UConn problem or failure - it was destiny because it was Connecticut.

All this talk about the Hartford/New Haven market was not reality. Despite the size (#32 or whatever), Connecticut it is simply not very attractive for pro/college sports. More importantly, while UConn is the market driver for sports, it well behind pro sports and doesn't move the needle as much as these other, much larger universities in the West/South with more casual fans. While UConn has fans and support outside the state borders, the corporate sponsor and media coverage doesn't follow in those area. Train rides on Metro-North and some alumnus in NYC is only a ripple in the NYC coverage.

We lost a NHL franchise and are NEVER getting that back. Hell, CT can't even get a MLS team. The dynamics, culture, and politics of this small state is still a problem. We have shrinking high school population and little business growth. We lack a vibrant, urban city that draws business, residents, and recreation. The market and "Connecticut" brand is just really bad on a National level - it is not a problem UConn can ever fix.

If you don't think Colorado, Arizona, and Utah are better markets (more than just TV viewership), then you are simply being naive. The growth in those states has far exceeded anything we've seen in this region. We've bled residents and business to NC, FL, TX, AZ etc. for decades.

This issue isn't the stature of UConn as a university or athletic program - its the perception (and reality) of Connecticut as a small State in the Northeast Megalopolis. You don't need UConn/CT to get New York, ever.

 

[billybud]

Pat Forde agrees with you...

Back in its happy place, UConn won its fifth men’s basketball national championship in March and is poised for a long run of excellence under coach Dan Hurley. But now, hark, what light through yonder window breaks? It’s the false beacon of football hope again. Do not go toward the light, UConn.

 

[uconnyankee]

I want the whole package! Want to see UConn playing NC state on a level playing field. Want to play Michigan with a fair fight, or at least something that isn’t so lopsided as it is now.

How long does UConn have the resources to maintain bb? Do people think the media money schools get goes right into the football only pool?

When Michigan decides to pay Hurley $5M MORE than we get annually from the BE, then what? Do you drop womens BB?

Or maybe we just go with what we do best and keep Geno, drop mens bb and hockey.

that’s what makes that legislator so annoying when he spouted off about UConn staying in big East. Is he going to fund the AD?

This current path is not sustainable unless taxpayers are going to fund the AD in perpetuity.

 

[billybud]

Soon...many programs will have to deal with the new reality of very well off "haves" with more "have nots" and the dificulty of competing as a "have not" .

FSU has been monitoring that event horizon for years....and knows what the outcome will be.

There are choices...tough choices. For UConn, it could be going like Nova, dropping back to FCS in football and embracing the basketball first culture.

For football culture schools who are have nots, the path seems thorny and dimly lit.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Soon...many programs will have to deal with the new reality of very well off "haves" with more "have nots" and the dificulty of competing as a "have not" .

FSU has been monitoring that event horizon for years....and knows what the outcome will be.

There are choices...tough choices. For UConn, it could be going like Nova, dropping back to FCS in football and embracing the basketball first culture.

For football culture schools who are have nots, the path seems thorny and dimly lit.

There is 0 appetite for FCS football. They either have an FBS program or they cut the sport.

 

[billybud]

FBS football will continue...and programs will play in the new reality...and, really, it won't be that different than it is now.

Enjoy your team and regional rivalries and forget about national relevance in terms of championships.

13 of the last 17 football NC's have been won by the SEC, 3 by the ACC, 1 by the Big Ten...the SEC has a stranglehold.

In that sense, we are already there.

There will be a handful of teams at the top of the curve...maybe back to basics like it was 50 years ago. Enjoy your team, the games. the rivalries...

 

[BlueandOG]

There is 0 appetite for FCS football. They either have an FBS program or they cut the sport.

No way they cut the sport. None. It is too important to the school's image as a major university.

 

[JohnFSilver]

There is 0 appetite for FCS football. They either have an FBS program or they cut the sport.

There is no appetite for cutting the sport. That is cutting off your penis to spite your face.