UConn back to Big East?

Dan Murfman

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Just kill the football “program” and then the state can knock down the Rent.

Statement from UConn: “It is our responsibility to always be mindful of what is in the best interest of our student athletes, our fans and our future. With that being said, we have been and remain proud members of the American Athletic Conference.”
 

RedOctober3829

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Just kill the football “program” and then the state can knock down the Rent.

Statement from UConn: “It is our responsibility to always be mindful of what is in the best interest of our student athletes, our fans and our future. With that being said, we have been and remain proud members of the American Athletic Conference.”
Go back to CAA. It works for Villanova.
 
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BJBossman

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Just kill the football “program” and then the state can knock down the Rent.

Statement from UConn: “It is our responsibility to always be mindful of what is in the best interest of our student athletes, our fans and our future. With that being said, we have been and remain proud members of the American Athletic Conference.”
the problem with that is it would completely close the doors on joining a P5 conference.
 

Dan Murfman

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the problem with that is it would completely close the doors on joining a P5 conference.
I get that and I was always an optimistic that some day they would get the P5 call but with today’s move I believe that door is shut. We had the worst team in the country last year . This year will be more of the same. So what happens next. There is no reason the AAC keeps us as a football only. Next best the MAC and they kicked out UMass because they wouldn’t bring their other teams into the conference. And there is no way independence will fly. I never had delusions of grandeur but I thought they could be average to decent . Then they had two horrible coaching hires and here we are.
 

MuzzyField

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Is UConn jumping the gun, or in the know for what the next conference shuffle is going to be... and it doesn't include them?

Paul P. sure screwed this into the ground football wise, and the Notre Dame moron dug the hole deeper.. Paul was hired because he had great relationships with Connecticut high school football coaches, and all 1 or 2 impact D1 players produced annually. Recruit Florida (and elsewhere) or die. I guess, let's get ready to funeral.

This is such an SNL Stuart Smalley skit. Except it's UConn looking in the mirror... hey you're Connecticut assume your earned and rightfully earned position in money generating athletics... irrelevant.

Good luck with hockey!

The MAC bashing on the UConn boards is so typical, hey idiot hoops fans, you're dead without football. Villanova was an anomaly going forward. P-5's are paying almost paying NBA wages for head hoops coaches. And the UConn leadership goal is to get there how?

After screwing up the past decade, root to bring back your leaky field house and return to your rightful position.

Basketball men's and women's powerhouse destroyed long-term by two crappy football coaching hires, and some men's basketball "shenanigans." Hoops fans, it's a football world and you're about to voluntarily choose to be closer to the ASUN than the real deal.
 

Clears Cleaver

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Is UConn jumping the gun, or in the know for what the next conference shuffle is going to be... and it doesn't include them?

Paul P. sure screwed this into the ground football wise, and the Notre Dame moron dug the hole deeper.. Paul was hired because he had great relationships with Connecticut high school football coaches, and all 1 or 2 impact D1 players produced annually. Recruit Florida (and elsewhere) or die. I guess, let's get ready to funeral.

This is such an SNL Stuart Smalley skit. Except it's UConn looking in the mirror... hey you're Connecticut assume your earned and rightfully earned position in money generating athletics... irrelevant.

Good luck with hockey!

The MAC bashing on the UConn boards is so typical, hey idiot hoops fans, you're dead without football. Villanova was an anomaly going forward. P-5's are paying almost paying NBA wages for head hoops coaches. And the UConn leadership goal is to get there how?

After screwing up the past decade, root to bring back your leaky field house and return to your rightful position.

Basketball men's and women's powerhouse destroyed long-term by two crappy football coaching hires, and some men's basketball "shenanigans." Hoops fans, it's a football world and you're about to voluntarily choose to be closer to the ASUN than the real deal.
agree with everything here. Spot on. this is the administration admitting what anyone with half a brain has known from the day the ACC chose Louisville over them, that meaningful athletics at Uconn were basically over. going to the big East is admitting you no longer have hope of being relevant nationally in any sport long term. The moronic fan base thinks this is a good thing "oh, we get to play \Gtown, and St John's and Providence..." not realizing how terrible these programs are and how the divide between P5 and everyone else is widening every year. The AAC is actually a better athletic conference, stepping down to the BE also crushes any of the olympic sports as well. And the AAC is a joke.

and don't give me the Big East is good nonsense, the day Jay Wright dies or leaves for the NBA Villanova drops down and becomes as irrelevant as the rest. Just look at recruiting and the like, the BE is nowhere. they get $2M in TV money every year, the AAC was getting $7M. that's only about $30-$40M less than P5 schools. the SEC decided two years ago the arms race in spending on football was ending, so next was basketball. look at the coaching hires, the recruiting, etc. Same with B12. If any of these schools wants to compete, they can. And with idea that players have to stay two years, the P5 teams will only get better as they re the ones most likely to lose the best players early.
 

BaseballJones

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UConn is in an impossible situation. Worst football program in the country. Athletic department lost like $40-50 million last year. Men's basketball has been an epic disaster in a lousy conference. Women's basketball obviously is great but even they haven't won it all in a few years (I know, first world problems). They have a national championship field hockey program and generally soccer is pretty good. UConn baseball is solid and went to the NCAAs this year. Pretty solid in T&F.

The AAC is the land of misfit toys - all the schools that the P5 conferences wouldn't touch. I mean, when they created that ridiculous "rivalry" between UConn and UCF - schools that never played each other in anything before the formation of the AAC - it just exposed how absurd the conference was. And it's all for football. The other sports have to pay so much money to travel to places like SMU and Tulsa - schools with zero history with UConn. So emotionally, going back to the Big East probably makes many UConn fans happy.

But I agree with some sentiment here: it's probably fool's gold. And once Geno steps down, UConn women's basketball is going to tank most likely as well. So what will UConn athletics really have going for it?

Very very difficult situation to be in. And I don't know what the right move is for them.
 

MuzzyField

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It's a UConn created situation.

As a CT native, I hope there is a solution, but I have no sympathy for how this overconfident basketball institution wrote this ticket.

Scramble time in Storrs and I guess at the Golden Dome of Ineptitude in Hartford.

Are the Huskies hoop delusional morons planning on playing St. Joes 8 times for the non-conference schedule?

Given the state of CT's disarray... this is about to be tire fire.

Unless the hundreds of millions in budget surplus just math'ed up by the new governor can save the day!
 
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bosox188

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It may be a UConn created situation in the fact that they made two horrendously bad football hires in the midst of the mass conference realignments, but to say that is to accept the status quo of football having a stranglehold on everything else. The last couple years under Ollie didn't help, but the first couple years brought a national championship (yes it was essentially with Calhoun's guys, but point being they were staying in the national picture). By the time things got bad with him, they were already well into the problem of being buried in the AAC.

Personally, I think it's an indictment on the state of collegiate athletics that the schools who aren't good at football are seemingly doomed to fade deeper and deeper into obscurity. All the while the few power conferences continue to absorb more and more of the talent until there's nothing left for the rest. I understand the reality is that it's a football world but it's becoming a pretty fucked one.
 

InstaFace

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We could always consider that the school might focus resources on academics, and leave athletics to be a recreational activity for their students who are there to learn. I.e. that faced with a game in which the rules and odds are stacked against them, just choose not to play it.
 

mauf

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I don’t get the hate for this move from a basketball perspective. The AAC got as many bids as the Big East this year, but that hasn’t been a typical occurrence in recent years. The Big East isn’t vying with the ACC and B12 to be the nation’s best hoops conference anymore, but it’s closer to the P5 than it is to the AAC and the mid-majors.

This move kills any chance UConn had of securing a P5 berth, but if you assume those chances were nil, I don’t see how this move hurts anything, unless you’re worried about the impact on baseball, soccer, or the Olympic sports.
 

StuckOnYouk

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If we couldn't get an invite two times from the ACC when our basketball program was strong and our football program was at least somewhat respectable, what the hell do we expect is going to happen in 4 years? Even if we stuck with the AAC and lets say Edsall goes, oh I don't know 6-6, 7-5 for the next three or four years....do you really think the B1G is going to take us? I mean I can sit here and tell you if we at least get our basketball program back to powerhouse status in the BE and just stick it out in football independence for the next 4 years and be decent against a patchwork schedule that includes a few P5's and filler, that would be a hell of a lot better IMO. We are and will always be a basketball school FIRST and FOREMOST. When we are average at basketball, the brand takes a major hit. And being average is a lot more likely recruiting for the AAC then the BE.

BC worked to keep us out the 1st go-around when there was an opening and Louisville getting the nod over us the second time was likely the actual death knell to this University's chances in being a P5. I mean I understand Louisville was very good in both hoops and football but they were/are a horrid academic school while we were a top 20 public university and they ended up being admitted to a conference that liked to brag about how strong their academic institutions were. While the decision making was going on behind the scenes, I recall Andy Katz quoting an anonymous ACC president saying that in the end, academics would matter....yeah right.......THAT was the ultimate kick in the nuts for us for P5 status.

I went to UConn and attend football, hoops, hockey and an occasional baseball game. I understand from a football standpoint it's better to be in the AAC than the independent, but the hoops is going to be so much better. We've got a very good hoops coach with a legendary basketball name in this region and we can now sell our recruits that they are going to be playing northeast basketball with MSG as the finish line. Sorry, but that makes recruiting a hell of a lot easier than telling some NYC kid they get to play East Carolina, Tulsa, Tulane, SMU, etc etc etc. with a rotating championship tournament in what, Memphis? Orlando?

I'm surprised they didn't stick it out until 2024 to see if that lotto ticket was going to cash in for the next conference contract renewals, but in the end, with fans staying away in droves and donors unhappy, UConn decided that losing another 175 million for a 5-10% chance was deemed not worth it.

I can't wait to play Nova, Providence, Georgetown, the Johnnies, Seton Hall, whoever....on a Friday night in March in MSG. Like I used to every year. This is the way it SHOULD be for UConn. I'm not going to lose sleep over them throwing out that lotto ticket and not checking the numbers in 4 or 5 years.
 

Awesome Fossum

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As a Navy fan, I'm curious how the American responds. The AAC has been desperately trying to separate itself from the rest of the G5, so I really doubt they consider most of the options I see being lobbed around by pundits like Georgia State and Southern Mississippi. I think these are the candidates:

- BYU
- Boise State
- Army
- nobody

BYU is by far the best case scenario, but it seems like independence is working out well for them and I seriously doubt they would be interested. Boise State might be? They decided against coming to the then-Big East in favor of a sweetheart deal with MWC, but that deal is killing everyone else and doesn't seem sustainable. Navy will push hard against Army; it feels it will lose a competitive advantage by allowing another service academy membership. Leaving the spot open might be the best play.

I think the fact that the AAC admitted Wichita State as a non-football member tells you that they didn't see this move from UConn coming. Now they'll be back to an odd number of programs. I'd LOVE for Navy to step up, but if they were willing/capable, that would would have already happened. (Although I suppose Army having closed the gap on the football field might spur a reconsideration.) Would that make the options kick Wichita out, stay at an odd number, or maybe add a second non-football school? Maybe VCU?

Will the Big East add another school to get to 12? Or maybe I'm overestimating the value of having an even number of schools for scheduling?
 
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Captaincoop

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UConn is in an impossible situation. Worst football program in the country. Athletic department lost like $40-50 million last year. Men's basketball has been an epic disaster in a lousy conference. Women's basketball obviously is great but even they haven't won it all in a few years (I know, first world problems). They have a national championship field hockey program and generally soccer is pretty good. UConn baseball is solid and went to the NCAAs this year. Pretty solid in T&F.

The AAC is the land of misfit toys - all the schools that the P5 conferences wouldn't touch. I mean, when they created that ridiculous "rivalry" between UConn and UCF - schools that never played each other in anything before the formation of the AAC - it just exposed how absurd the conference was. And it's all for football. The other sports have to pay so much money to travel to places like SMU and Tulsa - schools with zero history with UConn. So emotionally, going back to the Big East probably makes many UConn fans happy.

But I agree with some sentiment here: it's probably fool's gold. And once Geno steps down, UConn women's basketball is going to tank most likely as well. So what will UConn athletics really have going for it?

Very very difficult situation to be in. And I don't know what the right move is for them.
Gonzaga and VCU and several other non-football schools have figured out how to stay competitive with the Power 5 in hoops. Uconn is right in that group and can do the same. Keep the faith if you're a fan. If this makes the fanbase get back in, buying tickets and gear and donating to the program, they will find a path forward.

But UConn Football...that may be a lesson in sunk costs.
 

RedOctober3829

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Gonzaga and VCU and several other non-football schools have figured out how to stay competitive with the Power 5 in hoops. Uconn is right in that group and can do the same. Keep the faith if you're a fan. If this makes the fanbase get back in, buying tickets and gear and donating to the program, they will find a path forward.

But UConn Football...that may be a lesson in sunk costs.
I really think they should just take the bullet and drop football down to FCS level. For a cash-strapped state, it is much less spending and they will have more success. There are rumbings that James Madison is exploring a move to the FBS level so if that happens, UConn can replace them as the 12th member.
 

Awesome Fossum

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If UConn drops, the Big East could also take Villanova, UConn, Georgetown, and Butler and fill out their own FCS conference with schools like Richmond and Rhode Island.
 

Awesome Fossum

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That's true, although the other four might be inclined to drop down if it gets them the Big East brand and a bunch of $ savings. I know if my alma mater (William & Mary) were offered that opportunity, I would hope they seriously consider it. Certainly not likely; I'm just thinking out loud. IMO, the CAA is a house of cards and all members ought to be planning for a future outside of the conference. You could do a lot worse than a rich man's Patriot League.
 

mauf

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If we couldn't get an invite two times from the ACC when our basketball program was strong and our football program was at least somewhat respectable, what the hell do we expect is going to happen in 4 years? Even if we stuck with the AAC and lets say Edsall goes, oh I don't know 6-6, 7-5 for the next three or four years....do you really think the B1G is going to take us? I mean I can sit here and tell you if we at least get our basketball program back to powerhouse status in the BE and just stick it out in football independence for the next 4 years and be decent against a patchwork schedule that includes a few P5's and filler, that would be a hell of a lot better IMO. We are and will always be a basketball school FIRST and FOREMOST. When we are average at basketball, the brand takes a major hit. And being average is a lot more likely recruiting for the AAC then the BE.

BC worked to keep us out the 1st go-around when there was an opening and Louisville getting the nod over us the second time was likely the actual death knell to this University's chances in being a P5. I mean I understand Louisville was very good in both hoops and football but they were/are a horrid academic school while we were a top 20 public university and they ended up being admitted to a conference that liked to brag about how strong their academic institutions were. While the decision making was going on behind the scenes, I recall Andy Katz quoting an anonymous ACC president saying that in the end, academics would matter....yeah right.......THAT was the ultimate kick in the nuts for us for P5 status.

I went to UConn and attend football, hoops, hockey and an occasional baseball game. I understand from a football standpoint it's better to be in the AAC than the independent, but the hoops is going to be so much better. We've got a very good hoops coach with a legendary basketball name in this region and we can now sell our recruits that they are going to be playing northeast basketball with MSG as the finish line. Sorry, but that makes recruiting a hell of a lot easier than telling some NYC kid they get to play East Carolina, Tulsa, Tulane, SMU, etc etc etc. with a rotating championship tournament in what, Memphis? Orlando?

I'm surprised they didn't stick it out until 2024 to see if that lotto ticket was going to cash in for the next conference contract renewals, but in the end, with fans staying away in droves and donors unhappy, UConn decided that losing another 175 million for a 5-10% chance was deemed not worth it.

I can't wait to play Nova, Providence, Georgetown, the Johnnies, Seton Hall, whoever....on a Friday night in March in MSG. Like I used to every year. This is the way it SHOULD be for UConn. I'm not going to lose sleep over them throwing out that lotto ticket and not checking the numbers in 4 or 5 years.
This sounds right to me. Whatever slim chance UConn has of securing a P5 bid depends on being perceived as a powerhouse basketball program. This move gives Hurley his best chance to succeed; it also positions the women better to continue their dominance when Geno retires (hopefully no time soon) than staying in the AAC would.

I don’t think muddling through as a football independent is likely to be much worse than continuing to hang around the low end of the AAC — they’ll lose the modest TV check from the AAC but will save money in travel expenses for non-revenue sports.

In the long term, if UConn ultimately concludes there’s no prospect of a P5 berth, then I agree with @RedOctober3829 that a return to FCS is best, but I certainly understand not making that irrevocable decision so long as any glimmer of hope remains.
 

RedOctober3829

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This sounds right to me. Whatever slim chance UConn has of securing a P5 bid depends on being perceived as a powerhouse basketball program. This move gives Hurley his best chance to succeed; it also positions the women better to continue their dominance when Geno retires (hopefully no time soon) than staying in the AAC would.

I don’t think muddling through as a football independent is likely to be much worse than continuing to hang around the low end of the AAC — they’ll lose the modest TV check from the AAC but will save money in travel expenses for non-revenue sports.

In the long term, if UConn ultimately concludes there’s no prospect of a P5 berth, then I agree with @RedOctober3829 that a return to FCS is best, but I certainly understand not making that irrevocable decision so long as any glimmer of hope remains.
In the BE,there are still trips to Chicago(DePaul), Milwaukee(Marquette), Omaha(Creighton), Cincinnati(Xavier) but yes not as many long trips as the AAC. Just the positive energy for hoops playing most of their old rivals makes this a good decision. I'm sure the BE loves this at tournament time as this will help fill the Garden more often.
 

Dan Murfman

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I have to say I'm looking forward to be able to go to away games again. I always enjoyed going to games at MSG, The Dunk and Seton Hall. And regards to football I would just kill it. P5 is done and nobody is going to go see them play FCS games in East Hartford so why bother. Maybe they can move back to the campus and play at the new 4,000 seat soccer stadium.
 

berniecarbo1

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Agree with prevailing view that this move essentially puts an end to P5 hopes, but realistically, if they were to go to the P5, I think the only conference they would be invited to join would have been the B1G, but that was a longshot at best. This move does help solidify basketball going forward but we all know that in today's college athletics world, football drives the bus. Yes, you occasionally get a Villanova or a Butler that makes the Final 4 or wins outright but the overwhelming number of Final 4 teams are P5 schools. They get more money so they can hire better coaches, get better facilities, are on TV at prime time and overall are better positioned financially to compete in today's market. By heading to the BE, the basketball programs get a more permanent home and perhaps can recruit better than they have in last 5 or so years but realistically, I can't see them making the runs, especially on the men's side, that they did the past. the landscape has changed since Jim Calhoun was in his heyday and it is awfully tough to consistently compete with the one and done philosophy/business model of many P5 programs. They need FBS football revenue, at whatever level they can get it, to supplement the real sports they have chosen to ride....men's and women's basketball.

So, what does UConn do with the football team? If they decide to drop the program to FCS, they really ought to just drop the program all together. Football at the FCS level is a money loser, no one cares about it save the players, families and students on campus at the time. Most FCS programs play at least one FBS road game in order to get a payday and help supplement their athletic departments. But since they are in an FCS conference and have an 8-10 game league schedule, their opportunity to make much money off of football is pretty weak. Their best hope is to use this "disadvantage" to an advantage.

Namely, play as an independent. Yes, there will be the 4-5 "filler" games on the schedule against such luminaries as Liberty, Coastal Carolina and FAU. Got it...that sucks.....BUT, lock in a perennial game against UMass to finish off the season. Sign long term deals with BYU and Army as well. Agree to play 2-1 series against high end SEC teams, say 2 a year and get $2-3M in revenue. Play USC, UCLA, Stanford, Texas and high end B1G schools (tOSU, Nebraska, Michigan, etc.) on the cycle and pull in another $1-2M for those games. Schedule BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, Temple, etc in 4 game series. Agree to play anyone, anywhere. Given the change in college football playoff evaluations that is being debated (strength of schedule being one of them), market yourself to the big boys in football as a viable alternative to FCS opponents. With that approach, and the fact that there are too many bowls with too few teams to fill them, Filling out a 12 game schedule, that actually remits cash to the Athletic Department, is not an impossible task. Make the football team a marketing tool for the university and understand it will never be in the hunt for a national playoff. They were never going to make the playoffs in the AAC anyway, and the chance at a NY6 bowl was fairly remote as well. This way they can sell recruits on playing in stadiums like the Coliseum, the Big House, The Swamp and maybe the Rose Bowl, get a decent education and maybe even get to play in the Bahamas or Fenway Park at the end of the season if things fall right. Just a thought....
 

RedOctober3829

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How about this doozy? Filling 8 games with exactly 0 FBS teams with open dates for 2 years from now is a serious problem.

"UConn AD David Benedict’s biggest problem will be filling that 2020 schedule when the Huskies suddenly have eight open dates. Brown said there are currently no FBS teams with open dates in that season. What UConn will need to do, he explained, is convince schools that are playing each other to instead play the Huskies."

https://apnews.com/583170fef0a14cbb9771bcdb0b1a8520
 

StuckOnYouk

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Bernie, agree with you 100% on the football side regarding indepence...but I'd disagree with you when it comes to hoops. I think of it as a P6 with the Big East included.

The BE is still a big name in the Northeast and mid-atlantic areas where there is a TON of basketball talent. I think if Hurley does what is expected to do, and Wright keeps doing his thing, you are going to see a very solid basketball league top to bottom with 1 or 2 teams in the top 10 nationally.

Calhoun recruited well but I don't know that he ever had more than one or two recruiting classes in the top 5 in the country. He often recruited skilled, tenacious city kids with chips on their shoulders who loved the Big East and the BE tourney in MSG especially on a Saturday night playing for the championship (Think Taliek Brown, Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier).

Hurley is like a mini-Calhoun in his sideline antics (hah) and his recruiting philosophy. I think he's really going to kill it in the Big East, Nova is going to continue to be big time and like i said programs like Providence and others are very respectable.

This move is huge for UConn and huge for the conference as well.
 

RedOctober3829

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Bernie, agree with you 100% on the football side regarding indepence...but I'd disagree with you when it comes to hoops. I think of it as a P6 with the Big East included.

The BE is still a big name in the Northeast and mid-atlantic areas where there is a TON of basketball talent. I think if Hurley does what is expected to do, and Wright keeps doing his thing, you are going to see a very solid basketball league top to bottom with 1 or 2 teams in the top 10 nationally.

Calhoun recruited well but I don't know that he ever had more than one or two recruiting classes in the top 5 in the country. He often recruited skilled, tenacious city kids with chips on their shoulders who loved the Big East and the BE tourney in MSG especially on a Saturday night playing for the championship (Think Taliek Brown, Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier).

Hurley is like a mini-Calhoun in his sideline antics (hah) and his recruiting philosophy. I think he's really going to kill it in the Big East, Nova is going to continue to be big time and like i said programs like Providence and others are very respectable.

This move is huge for UConn and huge for the conference as well.
Seton Hall is a preseason top 10 team who has had a very good last few years under Kevin Willard.
 

( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)

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As a Navy fan, I'm curious how the American responds. The AAC has been desperately trying to separate itself from the rest of the G5, so I really doubt they consider most of the options I see being lobbed around by pundits like Georgia State and Southern Mississippi. I think these are the candidates:

- BYU
- Boise State
- Army
- nobody

BYU is by far the best case scenario, but it seems like independence is working out well for them and I seriously doubt they would be interested. Boise State might be? They decided against coming to the then-Big East in favor of a sweetheart deal with MWC, but that deal is killing everyone else and doesn't seem sustainable. Navy will push hard against Army; it feels it will lose a competitive advantage by allowing another service academy membership. Leaving the spot open might be the best play.

I think the fact that the AAC admitted Wichita State as a non-football member tells you that they didn't see this move from UConn coming. Now they'll be back to an odd number of programs. I'd LOVE for Navy to step up, but if they were willing/capable, that would would have already happened. (Although I suppose Army having closed the gap on the football field might spur a reconsideration.) Would that make the options kick Wichita out, stay at an odd number, or maybe add a second non-football school? Maybe VCU?

Will the Big East add another school to get to 12? Or maybe I'm overestimating the value of having an even number of schools for scheduling?
I think you have this right because obviously football drives the bus in conference realignment and BYU / Boise State are the biggest football programs out there for them to reasonably grab. But what I'm curious about is how much the AAC values or doesn't value the general New England area as a TV market. If they had incentive to still have a football program from New England then they could just swap in UMass as a replacement for UConn.

UMass would say yes before the AAC is done asking the question. They'd move from a football independent to a conference that is likely their ceiling, they are never going to be a P5 football school. It's also a jump up for their basketball program from the A10 to the AAC.

But UMass really doesn't add much to the AAC from a competitive standpoint. Long term their football program is probably a wash vs. UConn's and while their basketball program has had some success in the program's history they have been a middling mid-major team for quite a while now. It would really come down to whatever formula the AAC uses to size importance of TV markets and whether or not New England adds value vs. other potential replacements.

(I'm also well aware that if they go after a basketball only school from the A10 then they are most likely looking at VCU or maybe Dayton. But as a URI fan I am going to hold out some desperate hope that Rhody's basketball program gets invited)
 

Awesome Fossum

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UConn's value was in the brand of its basketball programs; I don't think the conference will feel any pressure to fill that spot geographically. The more I read about this, the more I think it's BYU or bust, with bust being the overwhelming favorite.
 

BJBossman

New Member
Dec 6, 2016
271
The one thing that you have to look at with this. Long term at least.

Yes they may get less money per year BE v. AAC, but how many scholarships, coach salaries and travel do they get to not spend if they eventually just drop football?

But there is a real chance that UConn never really comes back from this with the way money flies to football. Best case is that insurance issue that ESPN's OTL wrote about a few months ago becomes real and football eventually dies off (I don't even like football that much to begin with, so I'd be ok if it just totally went away).
 

berniecarbo1

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2008
1,518
Los Angeles, CA
How about this doozy? Filling 8 games with exactly 0 FBS teams with open dates for 2 years from now is a serious problem.

"UConn AD David Benedict’s biggest problem will be filling that 2020 schedule when the Huskies suddenly have eight open dates. Brown said there are currently no FBS teams with open dates in that season. What UConn will need to do, he explained, is convince schools that are playing each other to instead play the Huskies."

https://apnews.com/583170fef0a14cbb9771bcdb0b1a8520
I can think of one match up that makes NO sense in 2020, or ever, ......BC/Kansas in Lawrence. That is a total joke. It would probably require UConn to play 2 road games as Kansas would need a home game and BC would probably only swap it out of they could host the UConn game. And maybe sweeten the pot by agreeing to send the hoops team to Lawrence for game, but it would give the Huskies 2 more games. The schedule would then have them playing the following:

BC
Kansas
UMass
Maine
Illinois
Indiana

Yup, they would probably have to play 2-4 FCS schools and try one more split with maybe an FIU and Liberty game getting split.This would have to go on for a couple of years till they could ramp up the schedule, but remember, teams pull out of deals all the time, so I think it is hard, but not impossible, especially if they leverage basketball into the mix and agree to play some games against these schools, at least till the football team gets its feet under it again.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
Moderator
SoSH Member
UConn will fill out their schedule. They just won’t have many home games their first couple years as an independent.

Dropping football is the right thing to do for the majority of non-FBS schools, but few have done it. I doubt UConn will go that route.
 

BJBossman

New Member
Dec 6, 2016
271
UConn will fill out their schedule. They just won’t have many home games their first couple years as an independent.

Dropping football is the right thing to do for the majority of non-FBS schools, but few have done it. I doubt UConn will go that route.
Let's discuss that in about 2024.

If they're not P5 by then, I think they might.

*I believe that's around the next time all these conference contracts expire and more realignment is projected to happen.
 

Awesome Fossum

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
3,894
Austin, TX
I think the key contract is ESPN's College Football Playoff contract, which runs through the 2026 playoff. For the record, there is a $30 million exit fee from the Big East through 2026/27.

But as part of the contract with the Big East, UConn has agreed not to seek football membership at this time in any Power Five conference and to pay a $30 million exit fee if it leaves the Big East during its first six years of membership. The fee would eventually drop to $15 and later $10 million.
https://www.apnews.com/bf32661e91f84b0fb9e2e60670fe7075
 

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,538
CT
Yeah the exit fee means nothing to UConn. If somehow, someway they were invited to a P5 conference, the annual amount they make over many years makes 30 mil look like a couple bucks.
 

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,538
CT
I can think of one match up that makes NO sense in 2020, or ever, ......BC/Kansas in Lawrence. That is a total joke. It would probably require UConn to play 2 road games as Kansas would need a home game and BC would probably only swap it out of they could host the UConn game. And maybe sweeten the pot by agreeing to send the hoops team to Lawrence for game, but it would give the Huskies 2 more games. The schedule would then have them playing the following:

BC
Kansas
UMass
Maine
Illinois
Indiana

Yup, they would probably have to play 2-4 FCS schools and try one more split with maybe an FIU and Liberty game getting split.This would have to go on for a couple of years till they could ramp up the schedule, but remember, teams pull out of deals all the time, so I think it is hard, but not impossible, especially if they leverage basketball into the mix and agree to play some games against these schools, at least till the football team gets its feet under it again.
Agreed. They should do everything they can to leverage their bball program to get a football game for whoever will give them one. Also agree with the notion that in 2024-2025ish if they don't get an invite they likely dump football instead of waiting for the next contract (ACC in 2039 or so????).
 

Awesome Fossum

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
3,894
Austin, TX
Yeah the exit fee means nothing to UConn. If somehow, someway they were invited to a P5 conference, the annual amount they make over many years makes 30 mil look like a couple bucks.
Oh, I agree.

Another possibly irrelevant thing I looked up: UConn's lease with the Rent appears to run through June 30, 2023. Maybe that's when death watch starts?
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,163
...and unlike UMass, they don't have a smaller stadium on campus to go back to (they tore it down)....so I think the idea of them dropping to FBS is a non-starter.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
Moderator
SoSH Member
They can't drop after they built the palace of a facility for football.
Are there still people in leadership positions at UConn or in the state legislature who were involved in the decision to build the Rent?

I ask because I believe voters can grasp the concept of a sunk cost, but the folks who made the initial decision won’t support a course that lays bare the folly of that decision.
 
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Doug Beerabelli

Killer Threads
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Atmosphere. History. More permissive tailgating. 20 minutes from my house. Less traffic on departure. Easy access to some of the finest pizza places on earth.

Boola Boola!

That being said, I've been to a lot more UConn football games than Yale football games the last decade. I enjoy both stadiums for their tailgating scene. UConn just gets very aggressive about kicking you out (or more accurately, in -- the stadium). Very insecure of them on their part.