Things can always be worse... (link)

[upstater]

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x2064759526/Big-12-may-set-wheel-in-motion-if-it-adds-schools

UConn in CUSA

 

[MarbleheadHusky]

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x2064759526/Big-12-may-set-wheel-in-motion-if-it-adds-schools

UConn in CUSA

And of course this rumor comes out of West Virginia!

 

[upstater]

And of course this rumor comes out of West Virginia!

In the newspaper no less.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I hate to break it to you,but the first part
is just as likely as anything any of us has posted here. In fact a raid on the AAC from the Big 12 has one of the higher probabilities. UConn's geography does not lend itself to the that conference. Neither do the FLA schools.
The second part is ridicules.
CUSA from a financial perspective,doesn't have the money the AAC has and those four schools can be replaced. CUSA will be futher dismantled.
An interesting note for UConn fans is how much Memphis stock has risen with moderate football success and good basketball.
When UConn football gets respectable our stock will go through the roof.
That's priorty number 1

 

[junglehusky]

The merger would be AAC-MWC, not AAC-CUSA.

 

[Kolumbo]

I've always thought the administration at C-USA should be plenty upset. Their conference is now essentially the AAC.
I think those may have been rumors 6 months ago, but better late than never I suppose.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Kill me

 

[WestHartHusk]

I have heard (on message boards) that Chuck Landon is a joke. Seems like he is a West Virginia Scott Gray regarding realignment.

 

[sub legacy]

This is exactly what I don't get... isn't South Florida just as bad a football product as UConn is right now, if not worse? But the Big XII would take them over UConn? ...Really!??!?

Big XII: "Hey, we got four openings. Let's raid the American and pickup Central Florida, Cincy, ECU and... let's keep the UConn shutout streak going and grab South Florida. You know, that program that has absolutely nothing to offer us in neither football or basketball. Besides, we need to include the Florida market, and it's not like Central Florida alone isn't the closest thing to a Floridian college football powerhouse right now outside of Florida State. So let's add South Florida, just for good measure in that regard. As for UConn... ? It's not like they bring anything to the table, like a nationally decorated and recognized co-ed basketball powerhouse; or a football program with a promising, young first-time head coach, that could potentially be on the upswing in the next few years. We'll ignore the fact that just their brand alone is more nationally recognized than anything about South Florida could ever hope for. Yeah, we'll roll with South Florida in spite of that... because that's the safer choice, and the future of our conference is on the line, which we can ill-afford to jeopardize for the sake of UConn.

May God have mercy on their souls..."

It's literally like UConn has coodies, and the P5 is the vaccination. Worst case scenario, we continue to compete heavily in basketball, but risk initially being a basement team in football, although the program could hope to potentially climb to middle of the pack-status years down the road, which is still miles better than where we are now. Yet that's still more of a risk than South Florida, who haven't been relevant in any sport for about as long since UConn last appeared in the Fiesta Bowl. No, really, it positively makes sense.

 

[Stinger92860]

Should this happen, at least it would bring an end to things can always be worse threads.

 

[upstater]

This is exactly what I don't get... isn't South Florida just as bad a football product as UConn is right now, if not worse? But the Big XII would take them over UConn? ...Really!??!?

I think South Florida just sounds better than Central Florida. You can hide a little bit behind the north and south directional descriptions, and east and west are a little worse off, but there's no getting around central.

 

[pj]

UConn would undoubtedly be in the B12's top 4 with Cincy, UCF, and BYU. USF is in the retiree area of Florida and has few followers. I doubt the B12 would double down on Florida and leave a major northeastern market unoccupied. ECU -- again, in market terms who wants the #5 school in North Carolina, at risk of being passed by UNC-Charlotte and falling to #6?

ECU and UCF illustrate the "flavor of the day" mentality of the media. A bit of football success and you become the hot toy. But I doubt serious decision-makers are going to be swayed by that.

 

[uconndogs]

Fairytale.......

 

[Fishy]

The merger would be AAC-MWC, not AAC-CUSA.

Sigh.

No, it wouldn't.

 

[Dooley]

Should this happen, at least it would bring an end to things can always be worse threads.

Until the day comes that UMASS gets a B1G invite to seal off eastern expansion.

 

[sub legacy]

Cincy, UConn, BYU and Boise State would be a nice batch to expand a conference with before South Florida. At least they're each relevant in one or both of the two major collegiate athletics (football, basketball).

 

[bobbyinaz]

Cincy, UConn, BYU and Boise State would be a nice batch to expand a conference with before South Florida. At least they're each relevant in one or both of the two major collegiate athletics (football, basketball).

Relevancy has never meant anything in conference expansion.

It has always been about markets & how much more money can be squeezed from a network to televise the games. I don't think both directional Fla schools make sense but adding one of them will most likely cause ESPN/FOX to increase the contract and it also adds a B12 footprint to the rich Fla recruiting grounds

 

[Dooley]

Tampa is #13 and Orlando is #19. Both are larger TV markets than what UCONN brings to the table if people believe that UCONN only delivers Hartford #30 (and has zero presence in NYC and/or Boston).

 

[clmssun]

I think South Florida just sounds better than Central Florida. You can hide a little bit behind the north and south directional descriptions, and east and west are a little worse off, but there's no getting around central.

If only the name had remained Florida Technological University. Sigh...

 

[businesslawyer]

Tampa is #13 and Orlando is #19. Both are larger TV markets than what UCONN brings to the table if people believe that UCONN only delivers Hartford #30 (and has zero presence in NYC and/or Boston).

So? You don't seriously believe that UCF dominates the Orlando market's interest. or USF the Tampa market's interest, like UConn does in Hartford/New Haven.

 

[Sea Goat]

So? You don't seriously believe that UCF dominates the Orlando market's interest. or USF the Tampa market's interest, like UConn does in Hartford/New Haven.

I wish that was the point. If interest in the market was any part of the criteria, how does Rutgers get picked? You would think that interest in the market would matter, but I have my doubts.

 

[Dooley]

So? You don't seriously believe that UCF dominates the Orlando market's interest. or USF the Tampa market's interest, like UConn does in Hartford/New Haven.

Not any more than I believe Rutgers dominates NYC, Boston College dominates Boston, Northwestern dominates Chicago, etc. I was responding to another post stating that markets drive expansion yet the directional FL schools don't seem like a good fit. Simply pointing out that based on a market-centric argument for CR, they actually are a good fit.

 

[sub legacy]

Relevancy has never meant anything in conference expansion.

It has always been about markets & how much more money can be squeezed from a network to televise the games. I don't think both directional Fla schools make sense but adding one of them will most likely cause ESPN/FOX to increase the contract and it also adds a B12 footprint to the rich Fla recruiting grounds

Exactly why it's a joke. These conferences would go out of their way to pick up any other "middle of the pack" or "flavor of the week" team solely for the sake of financial gain and marketing supremacy. I don't buy that the Hartford/New Haven/New England market is really that unattractive or un-resourceful to have been passed over so often, despite the fact that UConn's football program is still in its infancy (which is understandable). But outside of that, if the marketability in this region were really that fragmented and unstable, Boston College wouldn't be in the ACC, and the New England Patriots would just be the Boston Patriots, since a single major city would be far more marketable than an entire region tucked away in the corner of the country.

 

[businesslawyer]

Rutgers does not dominate the NYC market, but the NYC market is so large compared to Hartford or Tampa or Orlando that if the RU addition let the BTN on cable boxes in NYC, it served the Big Ten's purpose. But the Tampa and Orlando markets are not twenty times larger than the Hartford market, and when you compare those markets to Hartford how much you move the needle in the market becomes more important.

I do get your point, but I don't see any way that UCF or USF brings TV dollars in that are greater than UConn's, even if the analysis is totally limited to football.

 

[KOD594]

Hartford is a UConn centric market whereas UCF and USF probably have lot more FSU and U of Florida fans in their markets than follow their school. Their markets also have a much higher % of transplanted residents than Hartford market and their allegiances came with them to the area and are often passed on to their children as probably big mix of schools followed in their markets.