See, I don't think ESPN is working against UConn. Just because they havn't gotten UConn a spot yet, that doesn't mean ESPN is working against them. They just havn't gotten them a spot yet, that is all. If this last thing happens and UConn doesn't get a spot then yes you can make that claim.

(02-10-2015 08:36 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  See, I don't think ESPN is working against UConn. Just because they havn't gotten UConn a spot yet, that doesn't mean ESPN is working against them. They just havn't gotten them a spot yet, that is all. If this last thing happens and UConn doesn't get a spot then yes you can make that claim.

Pretty sure that ESPN was on UConn's side in each of the last two ACC expansions.

(02-10-2015 09:05 PM)OkaForPrez Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 08:36 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  See, I don't think ESPN is working against UConn. Just because they havn't gotten UConn a spot yet, that doesn't mean ESPN is working against them. They just havn't gotten them a spot yet, that is all. If this last thing happens and UConn doesn't get a spot then yes you can make that claim.

Maybe UConn fans are paranoid. Or maybe they're paranoid for a reason. Things I do know:

1) ESPN has always openly and consistently mocked both the Big East FB conference and the AAC. It was really bad in the last five years of the Big East, which made no sense since there were several years when the Big East was actually ranked higher in the computers than the Big 10 and the ACC. The Big 10 and ACC never received that kind of criticism during that time period.

2) ESPN was apparently heavily involved in ACC expansion, possibly even advising the conference on what schools to go after. That expansion immensely hurt UConn's position in the world of college athletics.

ESPN practically created the Big East in the 1980's. That allowed Jim Calhoun to flourish at UConn. I'm grateful for that. But since 2005 or so, ESPN done nothing but hurt UConn and I have no idea why.

If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

The most nationally decorated basketball team of the last two decades?

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

We are what we are.

1) a flagship school in the wealthiest state
2) a top 25 TV market with Hartford/Springfield/New Haven, plus a small piece of the huge NYC market
3) a top 20 public school per US News (and in the top 20% of FBS)
4) a school that has the most successful men's & women's BB programs since 1999
5) a school with a 15 year old FBS FB program with very little tradition

Unfortunately for us, so much of realignment concerns #5. We got a late start.

Edit: we also have a great overall athletic program with competent baseball, soccer, and hockey teams.

(02-10-2015 06:27 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:22 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:20 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  I may be wrong here but, I think the B1G wants UConn one of two ways; 1, Paired with Syracuse which would complete their North Eastern take over and secure 100% of the NY City College Sports enthusiasts. 2, With Kansas which would still give them the claim to owning NY City but, would also add another Basketball Blue Blood to the fold and either move would secure the B1G as the #1 Basketball Conference.

Those are the only two ways UConn gets an invite and both are locked in to their current conferences with GOR's.

It wants them not at all. (See football)

Sorry to break this too you but, if it was just about football, Rutgers would be in the American.

USF 2-7 all time vs RU. No room to talk my friend. If USF brought any kind of value to the table you'd be in the B12.

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

I wouldn't go spiking the football too much. If Louisville is so great why is it they were the last to the party and was only picked because there was no other choice?

(02-10-2015 07:02 PM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:48 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:34 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:32 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:27 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  Sorry to break this too you but, if it was just about football, Rutgers would be in the American.

you're right, it is also about markets to play and broadcast football in.

Exactly and if anyone had done their homework in the B1G they would have taken UConn instead of Rutgers to claim NY City. Oh but, you knew this already.

Pretty sure the B1G did their homework. They most likely learned these facts:

1. As large as it you are never going to be able to claim the NYC market as "yours" unless you have all of the following schools under your conference umbrella: Notre Dame, Penn State, Syracuse, UConn, and Rutgers.

2. A share of the market is a share of the market when you understand #1

3. The state of New Jersey is a fertile recruiting ground and getting teams more exposure there will help them recruit the area. Connecticut, not so much.

Either school would have gotten the Big Ten Network into NYC. The two factors that put Rutgers ahead of UCONN were recruiting grounds (like you said) and New Jersey's 8.9 million residents vs Connecticut's 3.6 million.

The bolded part is a big factor that many people fail to mention.

Agree. BTN gets a higher subscription fees per household in states with a B10 school. While RU does not bring ALL of NY market, it does bring 1/3 of the households (and 1/3 of Philly as well). Even if RU could not move the needle in NY as much as ND or UConn, it does bring in far more in subscription fees for the BTN than either of the other two can. Only cuse could have done better for the B10, but it does not fit the institutional profile.

(02-10-2015 10:06 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

I wouldn't go spiking the football too much. If Louisville is so great why is it they were the last to the party and was only picked because there was no other choice?

We should have been picked a long time ago.

(02-10-2015 06:34 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:32 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:27 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:22 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 06:20 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  I may be wrong here but, I think the B1G wants UConn one of two ways; 1, Paired with Syracuse which would complete their North Eastern take over and secure 100% of the NY City College Sports enthusiasts. 2, With Kansas which would still give them the claim to owning NY City but, would also add another Basketball Blue Blood to the fold and either move would secure the B1G as the #1 Basketball Conference.

Those are the only two ways UConn gets an invite and both are locked in to their current conferences with GOR's.

It wants them not at all. (See football)

Sorry to break this too you but, if it was just about football, Rutgers would be in the American.

you're right, it is also about markets to play and broadcast football in.

Exactly and if anyone had done their homework in the B1G they would have taken UConn instead of Rutgers to claim NY City. Oh but, you knew this already.

Again, see football. UConn football registers not a blip. Comparatively, Rutgers seems like the Giants, even with the general indifference of NYC to the Knights. UConn is in the American, for the foreseeable future, because they bring nothing to the table for football: no new markets, no fertile recruiting territory, no cache, and no interest. I'm sorry that reality sucks. Banking on hoops pedigree is a red herring. It ain't the 1980s anymore. Football is the undisputed champ.

But I suppose conferences with professional sports media consultants and real access to data are stupid, and all the savants hang out on the boneyard.

Market home run for the B-12 - add Cinn and UConn all sports and Villanova and Georgetown for BB/ Olympic sports. Puts the B-12 in NY/Conn, Philadelphia, Washington DC/Maryland/Virginia, and in the center of B-10 territory in Ohio. Now you have 12 FB teams for a Championship Game and 4 great BB teams for the NCAA Tournament and addition BB credits to go to the bank with.

Looking at 2010 data (it was the most recent consistent data I could find, but probably the most relevant for the timeframe anyway) the research spending of Connecticut, Rutgers and MD main campuses only (plus medical schools) were as follows;

UConn $131m (+$99m from Health Center)
UMD $441m (professional schools at UMD Baltimore which is +$356m)
Rutgers $407m (+$230m from UMDNJ, now Rutgers medical school)

If I'm a Big 10 President, I know which schools I'm associating with. I'm sure that these numbers have changed slightly and the particular status of the campuses may be different, but in general Rutgers and UMD fit the institutional profile of the Big 10 way more than UConn does.

http://mup.asu.edu/research2012.pdf

(02-10-2015 10:06 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

I wouldn't go spiking the football too much. If Louisville is so great why is it they were the last to the party and was only picked because there was no other choice?

There WAS another choice...Everyone in their right mind, myself included, thought UConn was a dead lock for the ACC. Turns out, we were the better choice.

(02-11-2015 07:02 AM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 10:06 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

I wouldn't go spiking the football too much. If Louisville is so great why is it they were the last to the party and was only picked because there was no other choice?

There WAS another choice...Everyone in their right mind, myself included, thought UConn was a dead lock for the ACC. Turns out, we were the better choice.

You missed his point entirely.

(02-11-2015 07:02 AM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 10:06 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

I wouldn't go spiking the football too much. If Louisville is so great why is it they were the last to the party and was only picked because there was no other choice?

There WAS another choice...Everyone in their right mind, myself included, thought UConn was a dead lock for the ACC. Turns out, we were the better choice.

That's because you and everybody else thought that the football schools were going to commit program suicide by compounding the earlier basketball first expansion with another one. Lucky for you the football schools took a stand and said either the incoming school was going to bring even just a little value to the football side of the ledger or else.

Even then it wasn't like Louisville was someone we desired.....you just turned out to be the least bad of three bad options.

UConn clearly was hurt during the last shake out. To make it worse the AAC was at its lowest point when doing the TV deal. Talk of B10 going to 16 was real, B12 possibly going to 12. No one was even sure AAC was going to exist.

If things stay stable for a couple of years AAC has a chance of extending current deal with Espn. or in 5 contract is up. Between adding Navy, still having Cincy and Uconn, and an UCF brand that is bigger today than it was 2 years ago, odds of a decent bump is pretty good. Now if one of the 2 BIG's decide to expand (not likely) it will be a different game.

(02-11-2015 07:17 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-11-2015 07:02 AM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 10:06 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-10-2015 09:33 PM)Rabbit_in_Red Wrote:  If UConn was what UConn fans think it is, they'd be in by now. It's that simple.

I wouldn't go spiking the football too much. If Louisville is so great why is it they were the last to the party and was only picked because there was no other choice?

There WAS another choice...Everyone in their right mind, myself included, thought UConn was a dead lock for the ACC. Turns out, we were the better choice.

That's because you and everybody else thought that the football schools were going to commit program suicide by compounding the earlier basketball first expansion with another one. Lucky for you the football schools took a stand and said either the incoming school was going to bring even just a little value to the football side of the ledger or else.

Even then it wasn't like Louisville was someone we desired.....you just turned out to be the least bad of three bad options.

And we just spotted Kaplony Dusty doing 'this' to another unsuspecting jobber...

Much of this is politically driven. That's something most sports people don't think about because their only frame of reference is the sports.

Take the Big East, for instance. Creighton is in that conference because their president is also on the Marquette Board of Trustees. Surprisingly, it was Marquette who really pushed for them.

I've just noticed that the more I've looked at realignment, the more I see ties from people in leadership roles at the university level (outside of athletics) have ties that seem to influence things. Rutgers, for instance, has members on its Board of Trustees with ties to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Furthermore, when you look at the individuals in leadership roles, you start to notice that many of them have a history with others who are in certain conferences. Not just at Rutgers, but everywhere.

Is that a conspiracy theory?? Of course it is. But, it's something that I cannot help but notice.

Syracuse and Pitt aren't football powerhouses. At the time they joined the ACC, they pretty much flat out sucked. It wasn't all football. Football was a necessity, but good football really wasn't. But, their relationships with Boston College and Miami probably helped them more than their football teams did, especially when you consider that neither football team was any good at the time.