How UConn athletic director David Benedict views conference realignment: ‘Landscape is changing’ | The Boneyard

How UConn athletic director David Benedict views conference realignment: ‘Landscape is changing’

Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
86,937
Reaction Score
323,087



Alternate access link here

-> “I don’t think you can ever be comfortable,” athletic director David Benedict told Hearst Connecticut Media. “The nature of the landscape of college athletics right now, I don’t think anybody is comfortable, whether it’s conference realignment or the transformation that needs to take place in the NCAA.

“Just like we proactively made a decision to change conferences, I do think we certainly feel like we’re in more control of where we stand, versus (being in the American). While it was a competitive conference in a lot of ways, there was nobody committed to staying there. Everyone was always looking for something different. It was more of a matter of opportunity.”

Certainly, Benedict admits that UConn’s fan base and coaches are more comfortable and confident with where the athletic program currently sits.

“However,” he pointed out, “the landscape is changing in lots of different ways. You have to be cognizant of that, and try to manage it in the best way you possibly can, for whatever is best for your institution.” <-
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2022
Messages
521
Reaction Score
2,902
College Football badly needs a sports Czar to come in and just redo the conferences. Just put teams in the right conferences to regulate rivalries and competitive balance and then tier payouts to winning so that big programs get paid "what they deserve"... I know I am preaching to the choir here but this whole things is so insane at this point.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
8,028
Reaction Score
20,704
College Football badly needs a sports Czar to come in and just redo the conferences. Just put teams in the right conferences to regulate rivalries and competitive balance and then tier payouts to winning so that big programs get paid "what they deserve"... I know I am preaching to the choir here but this whole things is so insane at this point.

Tied to winning would promote more bad behavior, but I agree with tiered payouts, but I also think there needs to be a salary cap. A czar withoiut bias would be good. Is Bowie Kuhn still around :)
 
Joined
Aug 22, 2016
Messages
914
Reaction Score
2,786
College Football badly needs a sports Czar to come in and just redo the conferences. Just put teams in the right conferences to regulate rivalries and competitive balance and then tier payouts to winning so that big programs get paid "what they deserve"... I know I am preaching to the choir here but this whole things is so insane at this point.
Expound more on what this looks like. Does he just organize conferences, tier the payouts and then his job done? Does he have a hand in scheduling? What happens with say, an NIU that goes undefeated, are they afforded anything additional? Extra pay? A playoff spot? What happens with a Boise St that has some prolonged success? Is it to bad so sad your tradition isn't good enough? Just wondering your thoughts on how far the hand of the czar reaches.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Messages
607
Reaction Score
1,453
One thing I'd like to see is an athletic/academic 'superconference'. Something on the order of:

Yale
Harvard
UPENN
Princeton
Dartmouth
Cornell
Stanford
Duke
Vanderbilt
Northwestern

Yes this would require the IVs to do something they've previously deigned to consider - upgrading to 'FBS' status. So that right there ensures this is a pipe dream.

However.......

Considering the absolute size of each institution's endowment it would immediately become the single most powerful consortium in the sport, with all sorts of implications. For example, the endowment heads at each University would have the ear of some of the most powerful money managers on the face of the Earth, who in turn have the ears of corporate CEOs. Don't like something about your broadcast deal? Pick up the phone.....
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
1,569
Reaction Score
6,466
To be clear, you think the one and only conference to avoid the conference realignment circus should put on a clown suit and jump in the ring?

My neighbor is the AD of one of those schools - can’t wait to see their reaction

Btw, the grads of the Ivy League schools are the most powerful money managers and CEOs. The endowment heads already have them on speed dial. They don’t need a football game to help them get past the admin.
 

RioDog

Block C Bozo
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
1,601
Reaction Score
4,306
College Football badly needs a sports Czar to come in and just redo the conferences. Just put teams in the right conferences to regulate rivalries and competitive balance and then tier payouts to winning so that big programs get paid "what they deserve"... I know I am preaching to the choir here but this whole things is so insane at this point.


Good heavens the last thing college football (or anything else for that matter) needs is a "Czar". Bureaucrats with unilateral power are NEVER a good thing. If market forces render results in some hideous 40-60 team "Superconference" ersatz quasi-pro league so be it. I'll have more time on Saturdays in the fall to work in the yard or take a road trip with my wife.
 

RioDog

Block C Bozo
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
1,601
Reaction Score
4,306
Good heavens the last thing college football (or anything else for that matter) needs is a "Czar". Bureaucrats with unilateral power are NEVER a good thing. If market forces render results in some hideous 40-60 team "Superconference" ersatz quasi-pro league so be it. I'll have more time on Saturdays in the fall to work in the yard or take a road trip with my wife.
I'll reply to my own post by saying that if I was proclaimed College Football Czar then it would be OK.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2016
Messages
4,058
Reaction Score
7,853
Can't believe what I am seeing here. The sport is completely deregulated and there are people crying for some regulation? In CFB???
 
Joined
Nov 30, 2013
Messages
4,036
Reaction Score
12,662
THe only thing I wish is that more conferences were regional and less spread out. Other than that, I'll stick to watching UConn and North Dakota.
 
Joined
Sep 25, 2021
Messages
1,479
Reaction Score
6,975
The simple solution is for the NCAA to do what they were originally chartered to do which was to promote college amateur athletics and fair play for the advancement of student athletes. They should take the super conferences head on, and use their trademarks.. which means assert control over who is NCAA college football champion. If the SEC and B1G want to name a champion so be it, but it isn’t the NCAA National Football champion. Also DQ them from all other NCAA sports. Every school screwed by this consolidation will be on board. Move to a playoff system like D2 and D3, and watch what happens.
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
1,351
Reaction Score
4,124
One thing I'd like to see is an athletic/academic 'superconference'. Something on the order of:

Yale
Harvard
UPENN
Princeton
Dartmouth
Cornell
Stanford
Duke
Vanderbilt
Northwestern

Yes this would require the IVs to do something they've previously deigned to consider - upgrading to 'FBS' status. So that right there ensures this is a pipe dream.

However.......

Considering the absolute size of each institution's endowment it would immediately become the single most powerful consortium in the sport, with all sorts of implications. For example, the endowment heads at each University would have the ear of some of the most powerful money managers on the face of the Earth, who in turn have the ears of corporate CEOs. Don't like something about your broadcast deal? Pick up the phone.....
No way the Ivies are going to dump Brown and Columbia!
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Messages
607
Reaction Score
1,453
To be clear, you think the one and only conference to avoid the conference realignment circus should put on a clown suit and jump in the ring?

My neighbor is the AD of one of those schools - can’t wait to see their reaction

Btw, the grads of the Ivy League schools are the most powerful money managers and CEOs. The endowment heads already have them on speed dial. They don’t need a football game to help them get past the admin.

First of all, if your 'neighbor' were inclined to turn their nose up at this opportunity they'd be categorically insane. You don't want to be one of if not the most powerful people in collegiate athletics, and enjoy the money and prestige that go along with that position? Then what are you even doing with your career? 'No, sir, I don't want a 3MM per year raise.' Hah.

Second, if he objected I'd guess it's because he thought he'd be incapable of discharging those duties and therefore would likely be replaced. So a form of self-preservation if you will. So that's the only way it makes sense to me.

And as for whether the IVs would go for this, I said it's not going to happen. Just merely fun to think about.
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
4,162
Reaction Score
10,579
Leadership on the mess that is now college athletics ultimately needed to come from the university presidents decades ago. Clearly they recognized that college athletics was headed in a direction inconsistent with the mission of academic based institutions. No one stepped up that I'm aware to address this. I suspect that they feared repercussions from trustees and boosters if, god forbid, their football team lost some games.
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
8,406
Reaction Score
7,935
We've had football Czar's...current Czar Greg Sankey of the SEC.
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
1,569
Reaction Score
6,466
First of all, if your 'neighbor' were inclined to turn their nose up at this opportunity they'd be categorically insane. You don't want to be one of if not the most powerful people in collegiate athletics, and enjoy the money and prestige that go along with that position? Then what are you even doing with your career? 'No, sir, I don't want a 3MM per year raise.' Hah.

Second, if he objected I'd guess it's because he thought he'd be incapable of discharging those duties and therefore would likely be replaced. So a form of self-preservation if you will. So that's the only way it makes sense to me.

And as for whether the IVs would go for this, I said it's not going to happen. Just merely fun to think about.
For some, bring an AD is more than being a power hungry jerk or money grabber. And your response about my neighbor tells me all I need to know about you.
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
1,951
Reaction Score
4,015
No way the Ivies are going to dump Brown and Columbia!
If one or two of the Ivies opt for BCS football sometime in the future, they could care less what happens with the rest of the Ivy League. But it is not going to happen any time soon. The Ivy League was created to avoid the current realignment mess,
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Messages
4,923
Reaction Score
19,065
If one or two of the Ivies opt for BCS football sometime in the future, they could care less what happens with the rest of the Ivy League. But it is not going to happen any time soon. The Ivy League was created to avoid the current realignment mess,
You clearly don’t understand what the Ivy League is all about. They are balancing athletics and academics. Football plays 10 games and the season ends before Thanksgiving and weeks before finals. No playoffs. Basketball rarely plays on a weeknight when school is in session. There is no way any Ivy League school would ever leave for athletics.
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
1,951
Reaction Score
4,015
The Ivy League was created in the 1950s. Before then, Yale, for instance, considered the big FB games, Harvard, Princeton, and maybe Army Navy. The other would-be Ivies were small fry to them. The league was created to avoid football-focused schools and to help the prestige of the small fry teams. It chose not to do post season play, not to provide sports scholarships, no off-season practices. It may not live forever. Harvard may on its own someday decide to go for BCS level football. Harvard like any college would enjoy a decent sports program. Nothing will be done in the foreseeable future.
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Messages
4,923
Reaction Score
19,065
The Ivy League was created in the 1950s. Before then, Yale, for instance, considered the big FB games, Harvard, Princeton, and maybe Army Navy. The other would-be Ivies were small fry to them. The league was created to avoid football-focused schools and to help the prestige of the small fry teams. It chose not to do post season play, not to provide sports scholarships, no off-season practices. It may not live forever. Harvard may on its own someday decide to go for BCS level football. Harvard like any college would enjoy a decent sports program. Nothing will be done in the foreseeable future.
Here are some facts to help.

Final Top 20 Rankings of current Ivy League schools from 1936 to 1959:

Penn: 7
Cornell: 5
Dartmouth: 4
Princeton: 4
Columbia: 2
Yale: 2
Brown: 0
Harvard: 0

Yale and Harvard were not the football powers in the "Ivy League" during those years. Maybe Yale didn't consider the other teams as big football games, but the other schools were beating them. Also, Yale only played Army and Navy 2x each in the 1940s and 1950s (and played UConn 2x in the 1940s and 9x in the 1950s).

The Dartmouth game was very important to Yale and Dartmouth with the game being played every year in New Haven from 1924 to 1970.

Finally, you will see UConn win the SEC football championship before you see any Ivy League school move to BCS level football.
 
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
1,951
Reaction Score
4,015
Here is some useful Wikepedia info: The Big Three is a historical term used in the United States to refer to Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University. The phrase Big Three originated in the 1880s, when these three colleges dominated college football. In 1906, these schools formed a sports compact that formalized a three-way football competition which began in 1878. This early agreement predated the Ivy League by nearly a century. Also, between 1893 and 1942, Yale played Army some 38 times.
 

Online statistics

Members online
520
Guests online
3,783
Total visitors
4,303

Forum statistics

Threads
155,777
Messages
4,031,327
Members
9,864
Latest member
Sad Tiger


Top Bottom