UConn predictions

[nelsonmuntz]

Give me your best, honest assessment of where you think UConn will end up in 5 and 10 years.

 

[whaler11]

The AAC.

 

[Chuck]

AAC, minus at least two of the current schools (most likely Cincy and UCF).

 

[TRest]

AAC.

Where's yours?

 

[upstater]

I expect there to be a lot of upheaval between 5 and 10 years from now that will result in UConn landing somewhere else. I don't expect UConn to be plucked out of the AAC without a big shakeup among the P5. But I do think that shakeup is going to happen.

 

[Adios]

ACC. At worst. Big 12 and B1G are possibilities.

 

[Adios]

I expect there to be a lot of upheaval between 5 and 10 years from now that will result in UConn landing somewhere else. I don't expect UConn to be plucked out of the AAC without a big shakeup among the P5. But I do think that shakeup is going to happen.

All the SEC has to do is pluck one ACC school.

 

[noeynox]

SEC. They need some help on the hoop side and we give them a northeast presence.

 

[Dooley]

The B1G. We're in Year 2 of the 3-5 Year B1G Plan.

Obviously, it looks bleak right now because of football. But EVERYTHING that has come out of UCONN leadership in the past few years has been "research", "flagship" and "winning". No, the football program isn't winning right now. But sports are cyclical and all it would take is a good season or two to relieve those worries about UCONN football.

What UCONN would bring:
- Markets: supported by yet another NYT study that UCONN has reach not only in CT, but also in NYC and Boston. Only (former) Big East school that landed in Top 5 followed FOOTBALL programs in both NYC and Boston, per Mike Enright circa 2011-12.
- Elite Hoops: not much more to add here other than UCONN would instantly upgrade B1G basketball and give the conference a natural regional headliner to move its basketball tournament into NYC on a rotation basis
- Unprecedented research expansion: $1.5B to expand research and improve AAU profile. This is significant in a time that other schools are making cuts. It will take a few years for this money to be realized in terms of actual grants and money, but it definitely speeds up the process.

I do not think Jim Delany is finished expanding, nor do I think CR is done. CR is all about money and if conferences/schools can make more money through expansion, they will expand. UCONN has untapped potential to bring any conference money primarily through the criteria I listed above.

Patience people.

 

[upstater]

And another thing: in the event of a radical shakeup, UConn's situation overall might only improve by half. Consider, if Duke, UNC, Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Virginia and VT end up in the SEC, B12, and B1G, UConn would join BC, Wake Forest, GT, Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville. That would be great. Sign me up for that right now. But while the other leagues would get $30m a year, this new conference would get $12-15m and it would not have an inroad into the playoff power structure.

 

[geordi]

Dooley's absolutely right. CR not finished yet. And there are a number of possibilities. The AAC will continue to grow as evidenced by the success UCF had last year (and will continue to have), where ECU is moving this year, Cincinnati's performance in bowls, etc. As all of that grows and matures and AAC teams keep knocking off P5s, the AAC may well rejoin the "power' conferences. As Dooley said, everything is cyclical. Wasn't it just two years ago when people were sure that the SEC would rule college football forever? Now FSU took "their" national championship away, Alabama, Auburn and Florida are down, and the PAC 12 may be the best conference in the country right now.

There is not doubt in my mind that there will be more expansion and the UConn will be all right. But further, in another 50 years, once it's obvious that mega conferences are not working, having eliminated tradition, rivalries, and increased travel costs, those mega conferences will split into 10 and 12 member conferences again.

 

[Excalibur]

I have no F$&$ing clue, and neither does anyone else. I suppose right where we are is more likely than the other scenarios. And if we are right where we are in 5 years, we're dead.

 

[Kolumbo]

There is no telling how CR will continue to unfold. I have a feeling we will never quite be at the big boys table with Ohio State or Texas when it comes to football but I have to believe we will at least be on the same footing with most of our former BE competition and the WF's of the P5. UCONN has had to work harder than those fortunate to already be in the P5, and the progress over the past 20 years in all areas is remarkable.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Will be out of the AAC by 2017. Do not know what P5 will be in though.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think we are in the AAC in 5 years, and 50/50 AAC or A10 in 10 years. The athletic program needs to generate in excess of $5MM per year from its conference TV contract or the football program is simply not sustainable. It is really that simple.

The only way I see that UConn gets in a P5 is if the top academic schools like Vandy, Wake and Northwestern pull out because they refuse to pay players or further cheapen their institutions by affiliating with professional teams like Ohio State, Texas and the SEC. It is a long shot, but I do not see any other way into the P5 in the next 10 years.

 

[Doggie Style]

The B1G. We're in Year 2 of the 3-5 Year B1G Plan.

Obviously, it looks bleak right now because of football. But EVERYTHING that has come out of UCONN leadership in the past few years has been "research", "flagship" and "winning". No, the football program isn't winning right now. But sports are cyclical and all it would take is a good season or two to relieve those worries about UCONN football.

What UCONN would bring:
- Markets: supported by yet another NYT study that UCONN has reach not only in CT, but also in NYC and Boston. Only (former) Big East school that landed in Top 5 followed FOOTBALL programs in both NYC and Boston, per Mike Enright circa 2011-12.
- Elite Hoops: not much more to add here other than UCONN would instantly upgrade B1G basketball and give the conference a natural regional headliner to move its basketball tournament into NYC on a rotation basis
- Unprecedented research expansion: $1.5B to expand research and improve AAU profile. This is significant in a time that other schools are making cuts. It will take a few years for this money to be realized in terms of actual grants and money, but it definitely speeds up the process.

I do not think Jim Delany is finished expanding, nor do I think CR is done. CR is all about money and if conferences/schools can make more money through expansion, they will expand. UCONN has untapped potential to bring any conference money primarily through the criteria I listed above.

Patience people.

Dooley, stop making sense Dammit!! This is the Boneyard, there is NO room for positive, well thought out comments regarding Uconn FB and its future!
Moving on, an example of acceptable talking points are:

BC Sucks!
We are DOOMED!
Whitmer is aweful!
The O-Line sucks!
The Rent tailgating hours should be expanded / the parking attendents are idiots!
Its the students fault!
Diaco is losing my confidence/doesnt know what he's doing!
Diaco hates Boyle for some reason!

I think you see where I'm going with this, so please add your own comments as they pertain to our poor performance and bleak future ONLY!!

 

[outsidethebox]

If the Big 12 does not place in playoff this may force them to have conference championship game. This is our only chance. I just don't see Acc or Big happening any time soon.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Big Ten.

Too much of a good fit to ignore, and the trajectories, both UConn's and the Big Ten's, mean that fit will only increase. The Big Ten's movement into the northeast will accelerate. So will UConn's position as a state flagship research university committed to quality athletics. Of all the conferences, UConn fits best in the Big Ten. Of all the realistically available universities, UConn has to be at or near the top of the Big Ten's acquisition list.

Too many moving parts to take membership for granted, of course. How will the new playoffs affect things? What will the P5 do with respect to the NCAA, and vice versa? How rapidly can the Big Ten make meaningful inroads into the northeast? Will UConn continue its committment to the research and athletics that will make us attractive to the Big Ten? Can Diaco get us back to the Edsall years, never mind the level we really need achieve to make a statement in college football? Can UConn better position itself as New England's (and those 14+ million souls) university?

And the biggest question of all: What's going to happen to content delivery when broadcast/cable TV goes away? (It may seem unfathomable but tell that to all those video tape rental stores that dotted every hamlet just a few years ago. How have you're own viewing habits changed in recent years? What the ratio of time you spend on the internet as opposed to watching TV compared to 5 years ago?) How is that gap filled? I highly doubt these conferences produce enough product for their networks to be viable on their own. More members equals more product and I have to believe expansion is still being debated even if the outward signs say realignment is dormant.

 

[UConn9604]

A 16-team Big Ten or an ACC less Virginia Tech and/or N.C. State.

 

[Dooley]

Dooley, stop making sense Dammit!! This is the Boneyard, there is NO room for positive, well thought out comments regarding Uconn FB and its future!
Moving on, an example of acceptable talking points are:

BC Sucks!
We are DOOMED!
Whitmer is aweful!
The O-Line sucks!
The Rent tailgating hours should be expanded / the parking attendents are idiots!
Its the students fault!
Diaco is losing my confidence/doesnt know what he's doing!
Diaco hates Boyle for some reason!

I think you see where I'm going with this, so please add your own comments as they pertain to our poor performance and bleak future ONLY!!

Sometimes it really is hard to remember that this is a site for UCONN FANS.

 

[Dooley]

If the Big 12 does not place in playoff this may force them to have conference championship game. This is our only chance. I just don't see Acc or Big happening any time soon.

Culturally speaking, we really don't have much in common with most of the B12 schools. But goddam it, if Bowlsby wanted to add its own eastern wing of WVU/Cinci/ECU and UCONN, I'd go buy a friggin' cowboy hat and some spurs and move to Rancho Dooley.

 

[jostar1]

The B1G. We're in Year 2 of the 3-5 Year B1G Plan.

Obviously, it looks bleak right now because of football. But EVERYTHING that has come out of UCONN leadership in the past few years has been "research", "flagship" and "winning". No, the football program isn't winning right now. But sports are cyclical and all it would take is a good season or two to relieve those worries about UCONN football.

What UCONN would bring:
- Markets: supported by yet another NYT study that UCONN has reach not only in CT, but also in NYC and Boston. Only (former) Big East school that landed in Top 5 followed FOOTBALL programs in both NYC and Boston, per Mike Enright circa 2011-12.
- Elite Hoops: not much more to add here other than UCONN would instantly upgrade B1G basketball and give the conference a natural regional headliner to move its basketball tournament into NYC on a rotation basis
- Unprecedented research expansion: $1.5B to expand research and improve AAU profile. This is significant in a time that other schools are making cuts. It will take a few years for this money to be realized in terms of actual grants and money, but it definitely speeds up the process.

I do not think Jim Delany is finished expanding, nor do I think CR is done. CR is all about money and if conferences/schools can make more money through expansion, they will expand. UCONN has untapped potential to bring any conference money primarily through the criteria I listed above.

Patience people.

Also have to remember that Delany put a BIG office in NYC. So he has staked out the territory. And made us contiguous. Regarding Jackson Labs and the argument that it isn't enough to take us to AAU status----let's give Delany a reason to make an exception to requiring AAU.

How do you claim NYC without UConn? Answer: You don't.

 

[OkaForPrez]

B1G will move one more time, but I don't think it will be with UConn. I think the likeliest scenario is we backfill an ACC departure, which I'd actually prefer. I hate everyone in the ACC, and I want to take it out on them in between the lines.

 

[CTMike]

AAC, hanging on for dear life.

I know we offer value to B1G or ACC for a variety of reasons, and it hasn't matter one whit in all this.

I hope Diaco can pull this off, so it's one less reason to look past us. But right now I see no light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[SubbaBub]

As much as I think and hope we find a way out of this mess, CR isn't a system that necessarily needs to find a steady state equilibrium.

These bloated/awkward conference setups have nothing to spur additional movement unless those in charge want it. And from what we've seen, they don't give it a lot of thought unless there is a bag of money tied to it.

Maybe eroding fan support demands old rivals on the schedule (not likely) or the costs of travel demands more geographically compact conferences (TV ratings say what?) or the bread winners demand the suckerfish get lost (getting warmer) or TV says there is more money in expanding/moving amongst conferences (yup, but how)

I think the best chance for movement is the B1G expansion on the academic/research side and their TV negotiations say NYC is helped by UCONN or Virginia.