UCONN exit from the AAC to cost them $17 million

UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, ECU, Houston, Memphis, South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulsa
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tpstulane
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On the bright side, the writer singles out ECU, CFU and Tulsa as the teams in the conference that belittle the good name of UCONN. This is a sign that Tulane is moving up. :lol:
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tpstulane
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ccap05 wrote:
On the bright side, the writer singles out ECU, CFU and Tulsa as the teams in the conference that belittle the good name of UCONN. This is a sign that Tulane is moving up. :lol:
:mrgreen:
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So they can play FBall in the MAC....independence is brutal right now. FBall is king to moving to another conference, they are not going anywhere.
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tpstulane
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http://www.thedailystampede.com/2017/2/ ... tball-nope
Our friends in Storrs have a great idea to bring them back to basketball relevance: join the Big East in all sports but football, and leave their football program in the AAC.

They would get the best of both worlds — a basketball conference filled with rivalries and tradition, and a football program that’s still competitive at a high level of FBS. And the member schools of the American should respond by kindly telling them to go to hell on a light rail.
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GreenLantern
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I would like to remain married to my wife but spend weekends with Kate Upton. Same chance.
anEngineer
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GreenLantern wrote:I would like to remain married to my wife but spend weekends with Kate Upton. Same chance.
Is this being offered somewhere?
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RobertM320
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I've read two schools of thought on their part:

1) They still have hope of getting into the B1G or ACC, and this raises their profile on their top sport. I did read somewhere as well that the BigEast actually gets twice the money per school for their basketball TV contract than the AAC gets for their football contract.

2) Some expect that the days of G5 to P5 expansion is over. Everything will be P5 to P5 , and so with their brand recognition, they would optimize by doing BE for everything else, and Indy for FB, which would still leave the option for #1 open should the opportunity arise.
"That mantra is the only consistent thing that never needs to ever change for the rest of this program’s existence because that is all that matters & as long as that keeps occurring, everything will handle itself" -- Nick Anderson
lurker123
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RobertM320 wrote:I've read two schools of thought on their part:

1) They still have hope of getting into the B1G or ACC, and this raises their profile on their top sport. I did read somewhere as well that the BigEast actually gets twice the money per school for their basketball TV contract than the AAC gets for their football contract.

2) Some expect that the days of G5 to P5 expansion is over. Everything will be P5 to P5 , and so with their brand recognition, they would optimize by doing BE for everything else, and Indy for FB, which would still leave the option for #1 open should the opportunity arise.
Fox Sports did give Big East a relatively massive contract to pry their basketball away from ESPN. Ratings have been generally ho hum but Fox is clearly playing the long game as it did with FNC and Fox Business which are now both number one in their cable categories.

Rivalries matter. I'm sure UConn basketball would perk up playing its longtime foes from BE. However as noted here continuously over the years, college sports now and P5/G5 image are all about football. If UConn wants to become the next Villanova then by all means they should rejoin BE. AAC will almost certainly kick them out. Candidly for a northeast based football only member, Army is a much better TV proposition than UConn for AAC.

In short like us dating Kate Upton, these folks are delusional.
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If UConn determines that it's unlikely that it will get into a P5, it would sense to deemphasize football and move to the BE.
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Aberzombie1892 wrote:If UConn determines that it's unlikely that it will get into a P5, it would sense to deemphasize football and move to the BE.
How well-attended are their football games? They've just never struck me as a school that was seriously invested in football.
ajcalhoun: Nobody here gives a flying fuck about UL-L and the Sunbelt Conference.
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cajunfanatico wrote:
Aberzombie1892 wrote:If UConn determines that it's unlikely that it will get into a P5, it would sense to deemphasize football and move to the BE.
How well-attended are their football games? They've just never struck me as a school that was seriously invested in football.
It's impossible to know for certain given that most FBS programs play games with their attendance numbers. That being said, UConn seems to have averaged around ~27,000 last season, but a lot of that was due to the fact that the fan base had higher expectations due to the program hitting bowl eligibility in 2015.

As a side note, UConn had a nice run of 8+ win seasons from 2007-2010.
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The UConn AD has shot down this story, FWIW.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/h ... story.html

"There is no truth to the rumors and reports that UConn has had discussions with the Big East Conference for possible membership," Benedict said in a statement. "UConn is having great success as a member of the American Athletic Conference and will continue to do so in the future. This past Monday night was a prime example of that, as our women's basketball team won its 100th consecutive game before a sold-out Gampel Pavilion and a national television audience. The game was the highest-rated college basketball game on ESPN2 this season — men's or women's.
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I agree that it's unlikely to happen in the near future since the program just invested a ton of money in football with the coaching change, but, if the reputation of UConn's MBB and WBB programs become imperiled due to not being in a P5/BE, it wouldn't be surprising for UConn to consider making a change.
mbawavefan12
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cajunfanatico wrote:
Aberzombie1892 wrote:If UConn determines that it's unlikely that it will get into a P5, it would sense to deemphasize football and move to the BE.
How well-attended are their football games? They've just never struck me as a school that was seriously invested in football.
They actually do decent considering how bad they have been. Problem is that the stadium is 30-45 minutes from campus. Just like Bball that plays a bunch of games in Hartford. The road infrastructure in Storrs is a mess and the state really screwed up by forcing UConn to play way off campus. This has really hurt their bids with P5 conferences.
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Aberzombie1892 wrote:I agree that it's unlikely to happen in the near future since the program just invested a ton of money in football with the coaching change, but, if the reputation of UConn's MBB and WBB programs become imperiled due to not being in a P5/BE, it wouldn't be surprising for UConn to consider making a change.
The key will be the next AAC contract, if it stinks, they may bolt.
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mbawavefan12 wrote:The UConn AD has shot down this story, FWIW.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/h ... story.html

"There is no truth to the rumors and reports that UConn has had discussions with the Big East Conference for possible membership," Benedict said in a statement. "UConn is having great success as a member of the American Athletic Conference and will continue to do so in the future. This past Monday night was a prime example of that, as our women's basketball team won its 100th consecutive game before a sold-out Gampel Pavilion and a national television audience. The game was the highest-rated college basketball game on ESPN2 this season — men's or women's.
Fake news is everywhere. You really can't believe anything any more, especially when it is speculative. Look at how many headlines in all environments contain the words "may", "might", "could"... It's all stuff that somebody made up.
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anEngineer wrote:
mbawavefan12 wrote:The UConn AD has shot down this story, FWIW.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/h ... story.html

"There is no truth to the rumors and reports that UConn has had discussions with the Big East Conference for possible membership," Benedict said in a statement. "UConn is having great success as a member of the American Athletic Conference and will continue to do so in the future. This past Monday night was a prime example of that, as our women's basketball team won its 100th consecutive game before a sold-out Gampel Pavilion and a national television audience. The game was the highest-rated college basketball game on ESPN2 this season — men's or women's.
Fake news is everywhere. You really can't believe anything any more, especially when it is speculative. Look at how many headlines in all environments contain the words "may", "might", "could"... It's all stuff that somebody made up.
The real question is it "Fake News" or "Very Fake News?" I need to know.
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The article that suggested UConn was considering the move was written by someone without ties to UConn, and with zero credible sources. As MBA stated above, if the next AAC Media Rights contract isn't significantly higher (than what they could earn in an overpaid Big East without football) they might consider. But UConn just put about $8 million into football coaching salaries. They're not going to go independent in football, and won't be worth much as a football only member of any conference. They're NOT going back to FCS, either.
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DfromCT wrote:The article that suggested UConn was considering the move was written by someone without ties to UConn, and with zero credible sources. As MBA stated above, if the next AAC Media Rights contract isn't significantly higher (than what they could earn in an overpaid Big East without football) they might consider. But UConn just put about $8 million into football coaching salaries. They're not going to go independent in football, and won't be worth much as a football only member of any conference. They're NOT going back to FCS, either.
Good point on the investment in football as showing that UConn is committed to FCS. If some UConn fans want to return to regional basketball glory, I'm sure the BE will gladly take them. Regardless of how much Fox money and NE big media interest would adhere to basketball, it would tank the football program. They might as well schedule Villanova and Georgetown in football too.
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Since moving up to FBS, UConn has done some pretty remarkable things in a relatively short period of time. Yes, they haven't been relevant since Edsall left, but keep in mind how much $$ they invested to move up to FBS, and the fact that they tasted P6 money for a while and still enjoy decent fan support. There's a snowball's chance in hell they'll walk away from FBS football and a chance at a P5 slot. They're on the short list with a significant lead over most (private and/or G5) schools for a P5 invite. They need to get football back in order, but make no mistake, football wags this dogs' tail as much as any other.
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From a very timely WSJ article today. Might be behind a paywall.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-ditchi ... 24?tesla=y

Headline says it all. If UConn goes this route, football is toast. I can't see it.
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tpstulane
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lurker123 wrote:From a very timely WSJ article today. Might be behind a paywall.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-ditchi ... 24?tesla=y

Headline says it all. If UConn goes this route, football is toast. I can't see it.
Paywall workaround here:
Copy and Paste this into your FB search header:
How Ditching Football Saved Big East Basketball

I believe FB has a partnership with the WSJ
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For those on the grassy knoll, let's remember where SC went to college. Maybe he's showing up at UConn alum townhall meetings and just voicing the opinion of an expert on the matter. ;)

You know you can save alot of money in Div 3 football. BE does not require FCS football.
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lurker123 wrote:For those on the grassy knoll, let's remember where SC went to college. Maybe he's showing up at UConn alum townhall meetings and just voicing the opinion of an expert on the matter. ;)

You know you can save alot of money in Div 3 football. BE does not require FCS football.
Why would they want to? Since moving up to FBS, UConn football has been profitable. Their investment in the sport has a much better ROI than Tulane's (or most G5 programs) in large part due to bowl revenue and P5 money their first 10 or 12 years in FBS. And, yes, I know they didn't get their full share for a couple of years.

I don't doubt that UConn would love to have the basketball exposure of the Big East, but not at the expense of ditching FBS football.

Maybe I misread Lurker's post and his point is directed more at SC than UConn?
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