Hey UConn: time to change the paradigm...

[epark88]

I am riffing off of the article in the 'What If' thread from earlier - please indulge me:

“I respect certain teams,” Manuel said. “I don’t respect conferences. A lot of teams playing in big-time conferences haven’t won a damn thing in their careers. So I’d rather be in our conference and win them all instead of being in another conference.

“I am always going to put UConn in the best position possible.”

IMHO this Warde Manuel quote (or did Geno actually say this, who knows?) should act as a gauntlet being thrown down for the entire University of Connecticut community: stop fretting about not being in a 'P5' conference, forget about the money, and for the love of God and country STOP with the whining about being 'stuck' in the AAC.

Let's change the paradigm.

UConn has the perfect opportunity right now to demonstrate that a great university can't be hindered or defined by conference affiliation. They've done the basic stuff pretty well so far imho: there's no public whining/begging/fretting from the leaders. I like how Warde's focus isn't on 'getting the hell out of the AAC as soon as possible', but rather on winning at every damn sport we play. Susan Herbst's total focus on improving UConn's research profile and the school's status as one of America's top Public U's - and the progress she's made so far - is much more refreshing than some school president opining about their 'academic neighborhood'. Diaco hasn't won anything yet, but that's only because there aren't any football games on the schedule yet. If he coaches half as well as he sells/advertizes, we're going to be successful at the Rent sooner than later. And KO and Geno, what else can you say about them?

This is where the school's hopes lie - strong leadership.

But here's the toughie: the money thing. Exactly how much money does it take to 'win every damn thing'? If I recall correctly, UConn never made any more money on TV/rights deals as these institutions from other conferences - and in most cases made a lot less - and still kicked their butts for decades. I guess it would be nice to have enough loot to buy giant neon school logos to hang outside the Rent/Gampel or install chocolate waterfalls inside the kids' locker rooms or whatever, but UConn athletics really only needs to find enough money to win games with. We've managed before; with the present leadership in place I'm fairly confident we'll manage again.

UConn currently looks to be at a huge disadvantage as opposed to the 'Cuses/BCU's/Exit 9's of the world, but looks can be deceiving. Those schools and fans can go on about their revenues, their 'neighborhoods', their status, whatever. But there's one thing they can never claim to be: The University of Connecticut. Those schools' new-found money and conference affiliation will NEVER buy them the 25-odd years of success we have had as both an institution of higher learning and as an athletics powerhouse. And we as alumni/fans/students should always realize this, revel in it and take it to heart.

The University of Connecticut is not dying, and is too big an entity to become marginalized. We've got the leadership, the pedigree and the chip on our collective shoulder to make the best of our present situation. So let's all take off our 'P5' blinders, slip on some shades and enjoy where we are for a bit. Change our focus, change our attitude.

Change the paradigm...

 

[Stinger92860]

The University of Connecticut is not dying, and is too big an entity to become marginalized

....Wang Labs....

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This is all well and good until after two successful seasons a P5 team offers Diaco money we can't match or a few years down the road an NBA team breaks the bank for KO.

The monetary situation is bleak. No rah rah speech can change that.

 

[pj]

The money is one thing, and if it were only money, then Warde's quote would be a propos. But this P5/D4 breakaway thing threatens to exclude UConn from major college athletics. We'll see how this plays out. I don't mind being the impoverished entrepreneur competing against rich kids with inherited wealth, but if the playing field is rigged, then I mind.

 

[epark88]

Seems like folks around here are quite adept at telling us the 'Bridge Out' sign is straight ahead. News flash: we ALL see it. Join the club.

Now, does anybody have a take on how we can slam the brakes on this thing? Yanno, fighting D4 legislation, finding new revenue streams, consistently locating/hiring good young coaching talent (if it comes to this), stuff like that? We currently have strong leaders at the school; do we plebes in the stands/on the Interwebs have any burning nuggets of wisdom to share with them (since they apparently monitor the 'Yard)? Because guess what? NO 'P5' CONFERENCE IS CURRENTLY INTERESTED IN ADMITTING THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT.

Rah-rah, sis-boom-bah.

So, how do we keep surviving, fighting, winning in this environment? Sorry if I'm not ready to pull a 'Toy Story 3' and just go down in flames with you good folks yet - I'm done wringing my hands, I prefer making fists instead. And I am confident that the UConn brass is of the same mindset...

 

[Kolumbo]

I'm with you epark88. It's college sports for crying out loud. Let the fans of those P5 mediocre programs celebrate espn and money. We'll celebrate winning. Boys and girls come out of high school to play any number of college sports for scholarships. They have no idea how much money espn is paying conferences and more importantly they don't care. I'd rather UCONN continue to build its own brand such as a BYU or ND than have to rely on riding the coattails of a conference, something other lesser schools have been doing for years. And if we can help the other AAC members along the way, that's fantastic. Go UCONN!

 

[pj]

I'm with you epark88. It's college sports for crying out loud. Let the fans of those P5 mediocre programs celebrate espn and money. We'll celebrate winning. Boys and girls come out of high school to play any number of college sports for scholarships. They have no idea how much money espn is paying conferences and more importantly they don't care. I'd rather UCONN continue to build its own brand such as a BYU or ND than have to rely on riding the coattails of a conference, something other lesser schools have been doing for years. And if we can help the other AAC members along the way, that's fantastic. Go UCONN!

Agreed. We have to be developing a plan to be semi-independent but affiliated with a conference to have access to the bowl system and for scheduling purposes, own our media rights like BYU and ND, and demonstrate that we can build our own cable network and draw a substantial audience.

The AAC, if it's not going to get a huge upgrade to the payout in the next contract, has to let its schools negotiate their own media rights.

 

[CTMike]

The two ideas aren't mutually exclusive. Yes, let's win. A lot. It's really the only thing in our control. But let's not stay in this god forsaken conference one minute longer than necessary.

 

[billybud]

If you build it, people will come.

Winning many games....every year, not just an every sixth year thing...and winning some games against powerful P5 teams will get notice. Become a top ten regular.

That takes successful recruiting along with scheduling cooperation. A very tall order.

The problem is being able to develop a salable P5 product. The more time that elapses with a team in a non P5 league, the more ground that will have to be made up.

Conferences do want "markets" and UConn is pinning their hope on that aspect of CR. But there is also a need for match ups that people will watch in numbers. There is a lot of inventory of games like Wake vs NC State, Indiana vs Purdue, Rutgers vs Ohio State, etc.

Marquee match ups are what networks love....match ups between ranked teams, big rivalry games...The SEC is successful partially because of the "watchability" of so many of their games.

 

[ASweet3781]

What I don't understand and I'm sure it's been answered, if the upcoming monetary solution is bleak, why are we doing this hockey upgrade?

 

[Ldandy]

While I don't have a dog in this fight personally, It does bother me to see schools like UCONN that have earned their stripes on the field be marginalized by this rush to P5 Status. There are plenty of schools in the so called P5 Conferences that have achieved little to nothing in athletics yet rest their heads on their pillows quite comfortably at night. They either had the good fortune of joining conferences in the days before the horseless carriage, or are situated on valuable media real estate and viewed as potential ATMs regardless of how they perform on the field.

UCONN needs to do what ever it can under its current constraints to position itself for when the realignment wheel starts spinning again. It might not happen tomorrow, but at some point in the future it will happen. All UCONN Fans can do, is donate to the school, buy tickets and support their teams. Raise the money to build that hockey arena. Do upgrades to your other athletic facilities as well. Most important of all fill your football stadium. A great atmosphere can do wonders for recruiting. Stronger classes can lead to more wins, which can lead to both TV and conferences taking notice. It is the only thing the average joe can control.

If you continue to upgrade(responsibly) you will eventually reap the rewards of your efforts. However in five years if at the end of The AAC Conference's TV Deal you are earning 1/10 of what Wake Forest is earning, you and several others need to reexamine your affiliations. A combination of the top teams and markets of The AAC and MWC could be potentially attractive to a number of suitors if marketed properly. Something like this would have to command more per school than the peanuts currently earned by both alone.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think that with enough legal saber rattling and good performance on the field, we can stick a crowbar in the door before the P5 try to slam it shut. In other words, conference affiliation is an obstacle, but not fatal. The money is fatal. We need more money or the athletic program is dead. It is that simple, and no amount of cheerleading or leadership by Warde will solve that.

UConn needs to get a lot more money, either through the AAC or some other mechanism or affiliation. We can stay in the game at 50% of TV revenues of the ACC, but not 10%.

 

[freescooter]

Agreed. We have to be developing a plan to be semi-independent but affiliated with a conference to have access to the bowl system and for scheduling purposes, own our media rights like BYU and ND, and demonstrate that we can build our own cable network and draw a substantial audience.

The AAC, if it's not going to get a huge upgrade to the payout in the next contract, has to let its schools negotiate their own media rights.

The semi-independent thing is a huge issue. if you look at BYU, and who they play to end the season you see the problem. When everyone else is gearing up for conference races, they are playing UNLV, Savannah State, Middle Tennessee. But I agree to the idea that the main concept is to win, 9-12 games each and every season.. So when we "only" win 8 people ask what is wrong. Ranked every year. Ranked every pre-season. Doable? I think it is but it won't be easy and it absolutely will require no more Paul Pasqualoni moments.

 

[epark88]

I think that with enough legal saber rattling and good performance on the field, we can stick a crowbar in the door before the P5 try to slam it shut. In other words, conference affiliation is an obstacle, but not fatal. The money is fatal. We need more money or the athletic program is dead. It is that simple, and no amount of cheerleading or leadership by Warde will solve that.

UConn needs to get a lot more money, either through the AAC or some other mechanism or affiliation. We can stay in the game at 50% of TV revenues of the ACC, but not 10%.

Boom. UConn needs to find enough dough to win - someway, somehow.

Now, there has to be an alternative way for the school to make money outside of the AAC and TV 'partner' ESPN to still remain in the game. What can Warde/Susan/McHugh/Malloy/Burton do to make this happen? That's the $20M question...

 

[Dooley]

Turn UCONN GameDay app into a T3 content live stream of games. http://www.uconnhuskies.com/wireless/ Use that as the catalyst to launch HUSKY TV.

Fans needs to buy tickets and merchandise. Tickets is the obvious revenue stream. Merchandise sales will help UCONN justify future deals with apparel companies and open a bidding war.

 

[whaler11]

Turn UCONN GameDay app into a T3 content live stream of games. http://www.uconnhuskies.com/wireless/ Use that as the catalyst to launch HUSKY TV.

Fans needs to buy tickets and merchandise. Tickets is the obvious revenue stream. Merchandise sales will help UCONN justify future deals with apparel companies and open a bidding war.

You'd have to buy back the tier 3 games since they are already sold. The games are already streamed so you'd also have to sell people on paying more for something they already have. Good luck with that.

Selling their rights on their own sounds great: Only one way to do that (outside of the entire league having tramatic brain injuries and agreeing to that scenario) and that is independence.

This stuff sounds great on message boards. It won't work in real life.

Can you even imagine what it would look like with most of the teams in this league trying to sell their rights independently? You want to try and recruit when your home games are on regionally and your road games are televised on a mismash of 6th rate networks that no one gets?

You want to talk about Google or Netflix or some other alternate distibution for the league? Sure chase everything, but if you aren't in a league you can't make a schedule. If you don't have a schedule you don't have anything to sell.

As bad as the AAC/ESPN deal is - it's still better than any current alternative.

 

[Pudge]

This is all well and good until after two successful seasons a P5 team offers Diaco money we can't match or a few years down the road an NBA team breaks the bank for KO.

The monetary situation is bleak. No rah rah speech can change that.

You are a walking talking downer. Gosh ....

I think this is a long game. We have been in the top level of College Football since 1999. We have things to prove. But ... the MOST important part of changing the Paradigm is taking our pitch to another level: We are the Top Public University in New England. Let's push past the current borders into Fairfield County and greater MetroNYC. But, don't stop there. Brand this beyond whatever BC could be. Brand this as the Top College Sports in all New England. Push that. See if we can broaden our reach.

Curmudgeons to the Left.

 

[freescooter]

You'd have to buy back the tier 3 games since they are already sold. The games are already streamed so you'd also have to sell people on paying more for something they already have. Good luck with that.

Selling their rights on their own sounds great: Only one way to do that (outside of the entire league having tramatic brain injuries and agreeing to that scenario) and that is independence.

This stuff sounds great on message boards. It won't work in real life.

Can you even imagine what it would look like with most of the teams in this league trying to sell their rights independently? You want to try and recruit when your home games are on regionally and your road games are televised on a mismash of 6th rate networks that no one gets?

You want to talk about Google or Netflix or some other alternate distibution for the league? Sure chase everything, but if you aren't in a league you can't make a schedule. If you don't have a schedule you don't have anything to sell.

As bad as the AAC/ESPN deal is - it's still better than any current alternative.

I think you hit it right on the screws with this.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@Pudge Oh wait my bad. Rah, rah! We're UConn! Everything is fine! That better for ya?

A huge financial disparity is upcoming. Whether people want to address it or not is on them.

I'll be buying my season tickets as I have every fall since I was a freshman in 2005, go to the bowls, go to MSG etc.

Pointing out that puffing our chest on a message board and ignoring the situation doesn't make me a downer, but a realist.

 

[Ldandy]

You'd have to buy back the tier 3 games since they are already sold. The games are already streamed so you'd also have to sell people on paying more for something they already have. Good luck with that.

Selling their rights on their own sounds great: Only one way to do that (outside of the entire league having tramatic brain injuries and agreeing to that scenario) and that is independence.

This stuff sounds great on message boards. It won't work in real life.

Can you even imagine what it would look like with most of the teams in this league trying to sell their rights independently? You want to try and recruit when your home games are on regionally and your road games are televised on a mismash of 6th rate networks that no one gets?

You want to talk about Google or Netflix or some other alternate distibution for the league? Sure chase everything, but if you aren't in a league you can't make a schedule. If you don't have a schedule you don't have anything to sell.

As bad as the AAC/ESPN deal is - it's still better than any current alternative.

I agree with all of this. If independence is a potential plan for some, I would strongly suggest they consider a return to FCS Status for football instead. It will save them a lot of heartache. The AAC Schedule isn't great, but what you would cobble together as an independent would make it look like The NFL. The days of independence are over. Even ND isn't fooling anyone. They have essentially created a conference schedule with 5 ACC Games, USC, and Navy every season. The ND Brand still carries weight so they can arrange a few additional P5 Games each year. UCONN would get the BYU Treatment or worse.

IMO you have 3 options:

1)Raise money like gangbusters to improve facilities, maintain coaches, and build programs, all the while working behind the scenes with The B1G, ACC, and (gag) Big 12 to try to be the next school on deck.

2)Evaluate whatever nonsense the P5 Schools come up with to segregate themselves from The G5 Schools, match it, and then find 11-15 other like minded schools who feel the same to start a new "P6" Conference after The AAC's Contract expires. I suggested a combo of the best of The MWC and AAC earlier.

3)Drop down to FCS in football and join The Big East in all sports. Pour your money into basketball and Olympic sports remaining at the top. Whatever you do don't even entertain the notion of independence, because it will be a living death penalty for UCONN Football.

 

[Dooley]

You'd have to buy back the tier 3 games since they are already sold. The games are already streamed so you'd also have to sell people on paying more for something they already have. Good luck with that.

Selling their rights on their own sounds great: Only one way to do that (outside of the entire league having tramatic brain injuries and agreeing to that scenario) and that is independence.

This stuff sounds great on message boards. It won't work in real life.

Can you even imagine what it would look like with most of the teams in this league trying to sell their rights independently? You want to try and recruit when your home games are on regionally and your road games are televised on a mismash of 6th rate networks that no one gets?

You want to talk about Google or Netflix or some other alternate distibution for the league? Sure chase everything, but if you aren't in a league you can't make a schedule. If you don't have a schedule you don't have anything to sell.

As bad as the AAC/ESPN deal is - it's still better than any current alternative.

I have to admit that I know nothing about cable rights or what it would take to schedule a full season's worth of games. I just grew excited over this GameDay Live app and began daydreaming about possibilities. There is NO way that I want to move Independent.

 

[Dooley]

I agree with all of this. If independence is a potential plan for some, I would strongly suggest they consider a return to FCS Status for football instead. It will save them a lot of heartache. The AAC Schedule isn't great, but what you would cobble together as an independent would make it look like The NFL. The days of independence are over. Even ND isn't fooling anyone. They have essentially created a conference schedule with 5 ACC Games, USC, and Navy every season. The ND Brand still carries weight so they can arrange a few additional P5 Games each year. UCONN would get the BYU Treatment or worse.

IMO you have 3 options:

1)Raise money like gangbusters to improve facilities, maintain coaches, and build programs, all the while working behind the scenes with The B1G, ACC, and (gag) Big 12 to try to be the next school on deck.

2)Evaluate whatever nonsense the P5 Schools come up with to segregate themselves from The G5 Schools, match it, and then find 11-15 other like minded schools who feel the same to start a new "P6" Conference after The AAC's Contract expires. I suggested a combo of the best of The MWC and AAC earlier.

3)Drop down to FCS in football and join The Big East in all sports. Pour your money into basketball and Olympic sports remaining at the top. Whatever you do don't even entertain the notion of independence, because it will be a living death penalty for UCONN Football.

Please don't mistake my lack of cable T3 scheduling knowledge for wanting to move Independent. I would rather spoon out my eyeballs than move our football program (or basketball program) to conference Independence.

 

[Dooley]

Hey, there's always trademarking a ton of catchy sports phrases to try to raise revenue.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...d-be-trademarked-by-san-diego-state/12289091/

 

[whaler11]

If they are going to drop down they may as well just drop out. Which is what I think Waylon really wants.

 

[Dooley]

It's simple: fans need to buy stuff. Tickets and merchandise. Alumni join the Alumni Association. Donate some loot if you have it. With demand comes demand. UCONN can demand top merchandising contracts. Buying tickets helps scheduling and creates more of a P5 demand.