Is this the worst case?

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn is in a pretty awful spot right now. If the Big 12 takes Louisville or 3-4 of Louisville, Cincinnati, TCU, WVU and USF, the Big East is finished and UConn and Rutgers are cut loose. What does UConn do in that situation?

Does CUSA expand to 14 and add UConn and Rutgers? The CUSA TV deal is abysmal even by mid-major standards, paying each school like $800k a year. I think UConn and Rutgers are better joining with Temple, UMass, Delaware and ECU and trying to become a MWC of the Northeast. Maybe Buffalo and USF come along for the ride. That league may be able to get $2MM per team per year for football in this rights environment because of the markets involved. UConn would try to stick with the Big East catholics for basketball, since the hoops league would still be considered a major conference, especially if it added Xavier and Butler. That league might still get $4-5MM per year per team for hoops. If UConn got cut loose from the Catholics, we would be in big trouble.

The basketball program would take a hit but still be solid, and the football program would become a mid-major. Attendance at the Rent would be 20k a game, but none of the options at that point are very good.

 

[TRest]

I thought all those BE schools pledged to work together. Heavens.

 

[uconNYC]

Big East for basketball and Olympic sports. CUSA or Independent for football. Or maybe we can try to become an "associate member" of the ACC or Big XII for football, where we would be included in their schedules but not share in their TV Deal. If Independent we can schedule like this:

Games versus other Independents :
(1) Army
(2) Navy
(3) BYU (if they are still independent)
(4) Notre Dame (Home games @ Gillette or Meadowlands - beggars can't be choosers!)
(5) Rutgers
(6) USF

Two games from the departing schools as a part of the settlement:
(7, 8) UL, UC, TCU, PITT, WVU, SU

Our new regional rival:
(9) UMass

Top 40 BCS
(10) UNC, Purdue, Kentucky, Kansas State

Academic BCS
(11) Vandy, NWestern, Duke, Wake, Baylor

MAC
(12) Temple, Buffalo, Ohio, Directional Michigan, etc.

 

[pepband99]

I think a picking of WVU only would be much worse. The BE, minus WVU, and with the addition of the Marinatto list, isn't much of an upgrade from the CUSA scenario you speak of. At least the formal dissolving of the BE football conference gives us a clean break.

 

[uconndogs]

If it shakes out like that and the prospects for eventual inclussion in the ACC or BIG don't look realistic, Conn. and NJ US reps and Governors will bring out all the stops politically and legally. I don't think it will come down to that though.

 

[RS9999X]

When WVU leaves, UConn and Rutgers are the BE remainders. The rest came from C-USA except TCU from the MWC.

Maybe if Nova upgrades or Temple is added again we could stretch the truth and say 3 of the 12 teams from the Big Sprawl were once BE teams......

 

[RS9999X]

The Southwest conference was the last rape.

Rice, Houston, SMU, and TCU were the orphans. They know what Rutgers and UConn are looking at

 

[coachcap]

Waylon-Nelson: The Catholic cartel wouldn't "cut loose" UConn.
a. The Huskies are a charter member of the conference & there is no instance of "show cause" for them to be thrown under the bus.
b. The Huskies are the defending Natiional Champions in mens basketball, the foundation of this conference & the primary focus of the Catholic Schools. For prestige sake, you don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

 

[1husky]

UConn is in a pretty awful spot right now. If the Big 12 takes Louisville or 3-4 of Louisville, Cincinnati, TCU, WVU and USF, the Big East is finished and UConn and Rutgers are cut loose. What does UConn do in that situation?

The big question is, what does Notre Dame do? B1G or ACC? Has to join one of those two and take someone with it. Mizzou or Rutgers to B1G? UConn or Rutgers to ACC? Or do you think they will stick with the Catholic schools and remain independent? At the end of the day this is a grab for eyeballs / markets and UConn and Rutgers, while not the most important, are incremental adds and worthy of some major conference.

 

[mattp]

do you really think we'd be better off with two teams that are currently 1AA, ECU and Temple? if this was an exercise to find the worst possible scenerio i think you nailed it. we'd be better off independent than joining that nonsense. if the Big East FB is dissolved and we don't get invited into the ACC or B10 i think we'd have to go the ND route, and go independent in football, BE for everything else. hopefully someone will want us next expansion.

 

[mattp]

The big question is, what does Notre Dame do? B1G or ACC? Has to join one of those two and take someone with it. Mizzou or Rutgers to B1G? UConn or Rutgers to ACC? Or do you think they will stick with the Catholic schools and remain independent? At the end of the day this is a grab for eyeballs / markets and UConn and Rutgers, while not the most important, are incremental adds and worthy of some major conference.

ND would be fine. they'd stay BE for everything but football and remain independent in football. ND would be effected by this less than just about anybody.

 

[IMind]

ND would be fine. they'd stay BE for everything but football and remain independent in football. ND would be effected by this less than just about anybody.

Baseball? Not that it matters that much, they probably could become independent there too... but the Big East baseball conference is toast if anyone else leaves.

 

[Danzz]

UConn is in a pretty awful spot right now. If the Big 12 takes Louisville or 3-4 of Louisville, Cincinnati, TCU, WVU and USF, the Big East is finished and UConn and Rutgers are cut loose. What does UConn do in that situation?

Does CUSA expand to 14 and add UConn and Rutgers? The CUSA TV deal is abysmal even by mid-major standards, paying each school like $800k a year. I think UConn and Rutgers are better joining with Temple, UMass, Delaware and ECU and trying to become a MWC of the Northeast. Maybe Buffalo and USF come along for the ride. That league may be able to get $2MM per team per year for football in this rights environment because of the markets involved. UConn would try to stick with the Big East catholics for basketball, since the hoops league would still be considered a major conference, especially if it added Xavier and Butler. That league might still get $4-5MM per year per team for hoops. If UConn got cut loose from the Catholics, we would be in big trouble.

The basketball program would take a hit but still be solid, and the football program would become a mid-major. Attendance at the Rent would be 20k a game, but none of the options at that point are very good.

We would be better off going independant in football and playing the Catholic schools in whatever league they are in. It would kick football in the butt but so what. Unless we get into the ACC football is screwed anyway. Even with recent success football recruiting has been dreadfull.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We would be better off going independant in football and playing the Catholic schools in whatever league they are in. It would kick football in the butt but so what. Unless we get into the ACC football is screwed anyway. Even with recent success football recruiting has been dreadfull.

Independence for football is not an option. Rutgers, Temple, UMass, and Delaware are a better schedule than 8 road games and 4 home games against Sun Belt and D1AA opponents that might be carried on local television.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Waylon-Nelson: The Catholic cartel wouldn't "cut loose" UConn.
a. The Huskies are a charter member of the conference & there is no instance of "show cause" for them to be thrown under the bus.
b. The Huskies are the defending Natiional Champions in mens basketball, the foundation of this conference & the primary focus of the Catholic Schools. For prestige sake, you don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Let's hope. I agree that the basketball schools would like a recent national champion, but if we are looking to jump at the first window of opportunity, why bother?

 

[Pudge]

The "woe is me" crowd has taken over.

Let's just see how this plays. I actually gained confidence reading about Chuck Neinas. I do think he has the greater good in mind ... in contrast to John Swofford.

 

[EricLA]

If it shakes out like that and the prospects for eventual inclussion in the ACC or BIG don't look realistic, Conn. and NJ US reps and Governors will bring out all the stops politically and legally. I don't think it will come down to that though.

what stops would those be? aside from looking foolish, exactly what would UCONN accomplish? it's one thing to bring suit, it's another entirely to sue successfully...

 

[nelsonmuntz]

what stops would those be? aside from looking foolish, exactly what would UCONN accomplish? it's one thing to bring suit, it's another entirely to sue successfully...

Or we can roll over as the athletic program is flushed down the toilet. I will put you in the "roll over" camp.

 

[EricLA]

Or we can roll over as the athletic program is flushed down the toilet. I will put you in the "roll over" camp.

you can put me in whatever camp you want. i'm all for the UCONN administration aggressively pursuing all the options they can. i'll put u in the delusional camp if you really believe any kind of legal or political maneuver will stop the realignment from happening. i asked you a specific question and you replied with snark.

why don't you answer my question with regards to the specifics that the State of Connecticut and New Jersey governors could do that would "bring out all the stops politically and legally"? cuz it worked so well the last time, and only made Connecticut look foolish...

maybe there is some kind of legal or political solution. i really have no idea. i'm skeptical of course, but i don't pretend to be an expert on all of this.

 

[uconndogs]

what stops would those be? aside from looking foolish, exactly what would UCONN accomplish? it's one thing to bring suit, it's another entirely to sue successfully...

My point is simply that any BCS schools left out of this process are going to fight like crazy. How successful they will be, I have no idea. But, they will explore every angle and probably are already. Too much invested not to.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

you can put me in whatever camp you want. i'm all for the UCONN administration aggressively pursuing all the options they can. i'll put u in the delusional camp if you really believe any kind of legal or political maneuver will stop the realignment from happening. i asked you a specific question and you replied with snark.

why don't you answer my question with regards to the specifics that the State of Connecticut and New Jersey governors could do that would "bring out all the stops politically and legally"? cuz it worked so well the last time, and only made Connecticut look foolish...

maybe there is some kind of legal or political solution. i really have no idea. i'm skeptical of course, but i don't pretend to be an expert on all of this.

You know how I know it worked last time? Because UConn played in the Fiesta Bowl with an 8-4 record. That doesn't happen without the threat of litigation during the 2003 ACC Raid.

At some point, UConn tells the ACC, Pitt, Syracuse and most importantly ESPN that we are trying to be reasonable, but s*** is going to get real soon if UConn does not find a home. Every major contract I have ever seen has a "good faith" clause, which essentially means both parties will act in the spirit of the contract in situations where certain actions are not expressly permitted or prohibited. The legal case would be that ESPN used its exclusivity clause to fund the ACC to raid the Big East, damaging the Big East. The ACC has tortious inference exposure because the Big East could claim they induced ESPN to violate the spirit of their contract with the Big East by restricting the Big East from negotiating a new deal while working with ESPN to destroy the Big East. The only debatable fact is whether ESPN is allowed to use the exclusivity clause to destroy a conference or not. In other words, does that action violate the "good faith" clause of the ESPN/Big East deal.

I have seen weaker cases go to court and win.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The "woe is me" crowd has taken over.

Let's just see how this plays. I actually gained confidence reading about Chuck Neinas. I do think he has the greater good in mind ... in contrast to John Swofford.

LOLOLOLOLOLOL. I assume you are joking, right?

 

[WestCoastHusky]

You know how I know it worked last time? Because UConn played in the Fiesta Bowl with an 8-4 record. That doesn't happen without the threat of litigation during the 2003 ACC Raid.

At some point, UConn tells the ACC, Pitt, Syracuse and most importantly ESPN that we are trying to be reasonable, but s*** is going to get real soon if UConn does not find a home. Every major contract I have ever seen has a "good faith" clause, which essentially means both parties will act in the spirit of the contract in situations where certain actions are not expressly permitted or prohibited. The legal case would be that ESPN used its exclusivity clause to fund the ACC to raid the Big East, damaging the Big East. The ACC has tortious inference exposure because the Big East could claim they induced ESPN to violate the spirit of their contract with the Big East by restricting the Big East from negotiating a new deal while working with ESPN to destroy the Big East. The only debatable fact is whether ESPN is allowed to use the exclusivity clause to destroy a conference or not. In other words, does that action violate the "good faith" clause of the ESPN/Big East deal.

I have seen weaker cases go to court and win.

This would be the route I would take if I am UCONN. If we are left out, I hope our state attorney general filed the biggest lawsuit in CT history against ESPN. They are the one who planned this from the start. I have little doubt about that. I always thought there was a possibility ESPN would destroy the BE before the new TV deal and that's exactly what's happening. I hope to see some depositions of ACC and ESPN officials on this conference realignment backroom discussion.

 

[Pudge]

This would be the route I would take if I am UCONN. If we are left out, I hope our state attorney general filed the biggest lawsuit in CT history against ESPN. They are the one who planned this from the start. I have little doubt about that. I always thought there was a possibility ESPN would destroy the BE before the new TV deal and that's exactly what's happening. I hope to see some depositions of ACC and ESPN officials on this conference realignment backroom discussion.

A+1000

yup. Another piece of an entirely sad picture. We do have egregious behavior & depending on what you find in discovery (and I think you would find a lot), this is a winnable legal case.

I think ... if we repeat as the National Champions in HOOP (which I expect), you are going to find that either the ACC of B1G saying that we really are needed to give them TV cred. Yes ... that's all I've got in a f---ked up story.

 

[businesslawyer]

A+1000

yup. Another piece of an entirely sad picture. We do have egregious behavior & depending on what you find in discovery (and I think you would find a lot), this is a winnable legal case.

I think ... if we repeat as the National Champions in HOOP (which I expect), you are going to find that either the ACC of B1G saying that we really are needed to give them TV cred. Yes ... that's all I've got in a f---ked up story.

Lawsuits are brought, primarily, for one of two reasons. First, because the cost benefit analysis is such that you are more likely to have a net gain from bringing the suit than a net loss. Second, because one or more individuals in charge of something do not want to admit they've lost and would rather prolong the determination that such was the case by bringing an action and seeing what happens.

If we end up on our own with Rutegrs, I would think both of the foregoing reasons are in play.