**Latest news on UConn / Big 12 rumors....**

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I was just commenting on the big picture, I didn't say ANYTHING about UConn one way or the other. The thread is about CR and all I was posting was that it's bad for college sports across the board so I don't understand your post at all. Anyway I am taking a permanent leave of absence from this thread, I am out.

 

[the Blades]

I was just commenting on the big picture, I didn't say ANYTHING about UConn one way or the other. The thread is about CR and all I was posting was that it's bad for college sports across the board

My bad I thought you've been trying to point out that Uconn should stay where ever they are ( B4 the AAC and now the BE) and stay poor, because the whole thing is gonna blow up anyway. Me as an entrepreneur and someone who's donated to the school forever, I always like to shoot for the top, fix what I have and bury anyone who's in my way. Then worry about the "bad' problems of a situation ( without using lawyers ) after I get to the top later ! ...but me too on your last comment and maybe the board in general, if this is where it's headed.

 

[the Blades]

no comment...........

 

[the Blades]

No comment-

 

[the Blades]

 

[the Blades]

Stanford and Cal have really gotten hosed............left out of the party.

Yep poor Stanford and Cal, it's always that way in the national sports narrative, even with some poser Uconn fans. Uconn's supposed to stay poor in the BIG EAST while there's nothing but sympathy and entitlement for everyone else. Including now trying to drag up a school like SMU with 10-22 MBB team who play in a 7,000 seat arena. And a 32,000 seat stadium for FB but never got more than 22,000 even the few years they were good ! You know the same school who doesn't even field a baseball team to play in the ACC, and who've been givin' the death penalty for corruption by the NCAA.

 

[the Blades]

 

[the Blades]

 

[the Blades]

Including now trying to drag up a school like SMU

 

[the Blades]

"Ultimately, UConn was not invited to join the Big 12, despite commissioner Brett Yormark’s enthusiastic endorsement. While some jostling and repositioning continues within the Power Five world, maybe with the next upheaval already gaining momentum through disgruntled institutions of the Atlantic Coast Conference...."

“There’s probably different perceptions, based on who you are,” Benedict said. “When you’re talking about what’s gone on recently, a lot of the moves are national now. They’re not as regional as they’ve been. So the perception of UConn on the West Coast is going to be different than it is in the Northeast. When you think about how everything played out, there’s a reason why the commissioner of the Big 12 was interested in UConn and it’s because he’s from the Northeast and he had a different level of appreciation for us institutionally, as an academic enterprise, what we’ve done athletically."

“You see that in New York, you feel it, because we’re [a presence] in New York. So it’s understandable why commissioner Yormark would have the perception that he did of UConn. He’s seen it firsthand. But the further away you get, the easier it is to not base your evaluation of UConn on facts. I do think being in New England, being so far away from a lot of the conferences, it’s easy for people to get the wrong perception and reality about us. I think there are a lot of people who have never been on our campus. So we need to do a better job of telling our story.”

"Conference realignment will continue to shape — plague, some would argue — the college sports world well into the future. Big 12 membership would have meant considerably more revenue for UConn, which takes in about $4 million a year from the Big East. UConn will not be perilously adrift in its existence as it awaits another opportunity at a financial windfall. " Jim Mora has seemingly turned football back in the right direction.

"And some financial realities, often viewed with the clarity of carnival mirrors, are improving. The projected university subsidy has been reduced by about $20 million from last year, when it ballooned to $55 million due to a one-time payment of $13 million to former men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie. Another approximately $6 million has been trimmed due to the elimination of legacy costs associated with the state’s under-funded pension system, an annual on-paper expense that had nothing to do with operations of the athletic department."

 

[the Blades]

 

[the Blades]

Frank the Tank, the lawyer who's been writing on CR for like 20 years, has an even better place for the PAC 4 if the ACC options fall through. To the BE for a back to the future east to west coast hybrid conference, SMH !...this is what all this recent CR has done to usually sane people. ( so now Uconn's closest FB partner would be in Dallas and some thought the Big 12 travel was a bad idea)

 

[the Blades]

the single most important issue for the school and it's AD in the next decade is to get a seat with it's peers and now more than ever to have a chance to compete at the highest level.

Big shout out to Matt for spelling it out regarding some of these local writers (and fans) who seem to have their head in the sand regarding the importance of CR for Uconn.

Also good read- https://theuconnappeal.substack.com/p/trapping-all-over-tramel

 

[the Blades]

Frank the Tank, the lawyer who's been writing on CR for like 20 years,

He's back !

 

[the Blades]

One other thing on this current round of CR, just like we've seen with the Old Big East it' seems like all the PAC 12 schools are now in panic mode because they are down to 9 with no clear media rights deal. All scrambling around like rats ready to jump from a ship. For Uconn, as I've been saying the last few months Big East/ Indy FB is perfect until it isn't ( money excluded because it's not mine)....... But our present situation is way better than when the original BE imploded in 2012.

Well as it's already been stated above in this thread, if Oregon and WASH didn't jump ship to the B1G, right at the last second when only Colorado was on their way out it would have been Uconn as #14 to the Big 12. Because the PAC 12 was close to staying together.

‘All hell broke loose’: The chaotic final days that shook the Pac-12 and college football to their core

The ill-fated presentation, special board meetings and back-channel machinations that ‘blindsided’ a league

theathletic.com

And this is a good question why the media partners were willing to pay for the rights of almost all the schools in the PAC -12 but would rather destroy it instead. Though it's another thing (w/ the BE) we've seen before.


The only thing left is what that PAC-4 does. (merge w/ AAC, MWC teams ? Even heard about some stuff about legal challenges by Stanford and CAL, but we know how that works out) SO right from the horses mouth, BY got the dream scenario that fit the best...

 

[the Blades]

Oh and regarding the ACC / FL St.

 

[the Blades]

Tell us this is not about the OL' boys network and politics......does it get any lower than this ?

Political football: ACC expansion candidates using powerful allies to try to get in the door

Will the lobbying efforts of powerful political figures change minds and alter the votes of dissenting ACC members?

sports.yahoo.com

 

[the Blades]

The only thing left is what that PAC-4 does. (merge w/ AAC, MWC teams ? Even heard about some stuff about legal challenges by Stanford and CAL, but we know how that works out...and where have we seen that before from ES'PiN)

August 21nd 2023.........

" One of the Pac-12’s longtime media partners had strategic reasons for taking the step that decimated the conference, according to a university president with knowledge of the media rights negotiations.......

"Washington State’s Kirk Schulz, chair of the Pac-12 board of directors, suggested late last week that Fox might have lured Washington and Oregon into the Big Ten in order to prevent the Pac-12 from signing an agreement with Apple."..............“We’ve got just a couple networks that are making the real decisions about who goes where based on the dollars they want to put into it,” Schulz said during a conversation published on the university’s YouTube channel. “I do think if I was Fox and ESPN, I’m not sure I want Apple in the marketplace, frankly. I don’t want somebody with pockets that are that deep as a rival if I can afford it.”

Pac-12 presidents were expected to sign a grant-of-rights contract with Apple that would have kept the conference together. But a few minutes before their crucial meeting on Aug. 4, Washington and Oregon announced they were joining the Big Ten.

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[the Blades]

THIS AGAIN.... SMH ! ( hmmm, 2026 just when the Exit fee cuts in half... "If Connecticut opts to leave the Big East in the first six years after joining the league, they will owe $30 million....years seven through 10, the exit fee drops to “only” $15 million." )

Sources: UConn, Big 12 in serious negotiations about Huskies joining as newest expansion member

In the latest version of the deal, UConn would join the conference as a member in all sports except football starting, at latest, in 2026.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

 

[the Blades]

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Nope, She thinks wrong. Uconn and the BE already signed a deal on a punitive 10 year rate( full breakdown )

"The bigger item is the exit fees that Connecticut has agreed to pay if it comes to that.
If Connecticut opts to leave the Big East in the first six years $30 million. Yes, that’s right, nearly 10 times the payment that they’re making to join the league. For six years. If Connecticut finds something that they believe to be a better home for their athletics in the first six years, the Big East will extract a punitive price, even if the lawyers get involved and negotiate it down. For years seven through 10, the exit fee drops to “only” $15 million. After that, it drops to $10 million, the same fee that UConn is paying to leave the AAC. However, while that drops UConn to the same exit fee as their old home after a decade in their new home, it’s still a higher price than the current 10 members would pay to leave"

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

There seems to be a wide perception in the national social media that leaving the Big East for the Big 12 would be a huge mistake for UConn...these posts seem representative:

 

[the Blades]

For Uconn, as I've been saying...... the Big East/ Indy FB is perfect until it isn't ( money excluded because it's not mine).

As someone who was ( monetized ) on this messageboard (for way to long ), done "to much research' and posted way to much on CR as it regards to Uconn. (since back in 2003). I'll always stick with the statement I highlighted above.

With future revenue sharing for athletes coming, (NCAA approves deal to allow schools to pay players directly) and a $2.8 billion NCAA damages settlement to former athletes being forced on smaller conferences too, unfortunately it seems like it's time !

PS. More importantly than a bunch of nobody's, clueless 2 cents, from social media......"According to Action Network‘s Brett McMurphy, a source says that Danny Hurley is “not against” the idea of UConn joining the Big 12 Conference."

Vexed by House v. NCAA's huge settlement, AAC officials shift to survival mode in college athletics' new world

Non-power leagues will shoulder 60% of the withholding cost of House v. NCAA

www.cbssports.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I totally understand the financial need for the move and that the Big 12 wants a team in the NYC market, but I wonder how it will play out especially for the football team.

 

[the Blades]

I totally understand the financial need for the move and that the Big 12 wants a team in the NYC market, but I wonder how it will play out especially for the football team.

Since you mentioned it, this FB season should be a good trial run on $$$ investment with NIL in the program. Mora started working with a collective that met in NYC in FEB, headed by former Uconn FB player Mike Burton (yep names on the practice facility). They brought in 27 high level NIL transfers this offseason to upgrade the talent level. Many who've played alot at P-5 schools or were leaders on their G-5 teams. While bringing in a new offense/OC and a new DC from the SEC/ Miss St....so be advised




PS. If this really happens, I'm almost thinking Uconn is trying to work this the opposite of an other Indy. Notre Dame and the agreement they made with the ACC. Who used their premier FB in a partial scheduling agreement to join the ACC in other sports. Now Uconn using their premier hoops to get into the Big 12. Is Benedict working on a partial Big 12 FB scheduling (until 2031 or FB proves they can hang) like Notre Dame in the ACC, but for different reasons ???

Especially with only 2 Indy's left in CFB, which makes it tough for scheduling purposes, if your not named the Fighting Irish.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I did get some intel on Nick Evers the new UConn QB which came from a former teammate of his at Wisconsin I happen to know. Was told he is very talented and he will be very good at UConn. We will see. Obviously if we had crystal balls on how all of this will all play out, we would be professional swamis. But we don't, and aren't, so we will need to wait and see what happens.

Blades on a separate subject who at UConn can I contact about a Maui Classic tickets package? I seem to recall you are a Maui veteran.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Now Uconn using their premier hoops to get into the Big 12. Is Benedict working on a partial Big 12 FB scheduling (until 2031 or FB proves they can hang) like Notre Dame in the ACC, but for different reasons ???

Especially with only 2 Indy's left in CFB, which makes it tough for scheduling purposes, if your not named the Fighting Irish.

Since you mentioned this much has been made of Yormark seeking to upgrade the Big 12 into the premiere basketball conference in the country (which it probably was last year), while others are preoccupied with becoming the premiere football conference. Remember the Big 12 flirted with Gonzaga, which isn't even on the landscape of college football. So there is a lot of sense to this.

But one thing is missing from this analysis, which is the distribution of football revenue. If UConn isn't full time FB the other schools would properly object to UConn getting a share of the FB revenue that is equal to their slice of the pie. So all of that would have to be negotiated.

 

[the Blades]

Remember the Big 12 flirted with Gonzaga, which isn't even on the landscape of college football. So there is a lot of sense to this. But one thing is missing from this analysis, which is the distribution of football revenue. If UConn isn't full time FB the other schools would properly object to UConn getting a share of the FB revenue that is equal to their slice of the pie. So all of that would have to be negotiated.

Yep plenty to work on numbers and agreements wise. Go get em' Dave ! Yes were talking partial shares, which Uconn would agree to along with different concessions, maybe temp scheduling away games for FB with no return games etc., for now. Gonzaga is a non starter from what I hear from the Big 12 side. With no football, no market and thinking that once Few is gone, they'd probably become less relevant.

Yormark's big play seems to be he loves Uconn as the premier NE brand/ with NYC market. And he wants to jump and get them, before the ACC can use them for backfill after a breaking point if they start leaking schools. (Clemson, FLA St lawsuits) Then Yormark can choose who he wants ( more NE, maybe Cuse & PITT, probably not the biggest FB brands ?) as other ACC schools leave. If this happens below, so the Big 12 works to become the P-3 conference. ESPN gets Uconn MBB & WBB in the fold (they own the major share of the Big 12 TV contract) and could save up money on the ACC opt out, for another round of CR shuffling too.

Bold prediction from CBS's​

• Dennis Dodd: In February, ESPN will exercise its option not to extend the ACC contract beyond 2027. Florida State -- having played the long game -- will have its out and be able to put itself on the market. FSU will do so at a much reduced rate to get out of the grant of rights since it will only have three years to run. Don't ask me where FSU goes, but if it is as free agent beginning in 2028, there will be Power Four interest. Basically, the next round of major realignment begins less than a month after the 2025 championship game. Buckle up.

 

[the Blades]

Blades on a separate subject who at UConn can I contact about a Maui Classic tickets package? I seem to recall you are a Maui veteran.

Can't respond to your Husky House posts, but yeah everything seems to be gone in the Lahaina area from the fire, at least where I stayed. The Civic Center were it is held is elevated up the Island so it survived. ( They played in OAHU last year). So not sure how the rebuild has gone. I had a chance at Tix until mid July but it passed. "Tickets are $656 per person and are general admission, located in the South Grandstand of the historic Lahaina Civic Center. "

Here' the link for the General public. ...Never mind Donor All packages Except tix seem to be gone:

2024 Travel Packages

2024 Travel Packages

mauiinvitational.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

ESPN gets Uconn MBB & WBB in the fold, (they own the Big 12 TV contract) and could save up money on the ACC opt out, for another round of CR shuffling too.

Bold prediction from CBS's​

• Dennis Dodd: In February, ESPN will exercise its option not to extend the ACC contract beyond 2027. Florida State -- having played the long game -- will have its out and be able to put itself on the market. FSU will do so at a much reduced rate to get out of the grant of rights since it will only have three years to run. Don't ask me where FSU goes, but if it is as free agent beginning in 2028, there will be Power Four interest. Basically, the next round of major realignment begins less than a month after the 2025 championship game. Buckle up.

Basically CR is like a game of musical chairs. The object of the game is that when the music stops you don't want to be the one left without a seat. But after each round someone is left without a seat. I still think at some point Congress is going to get involved. Someone at a jilted school with friends in high places is going to call in a favor.

To keep the money coming in, you have to keep things competitive. Yet increasingly power and money is becoming concentrated in the few at the expense of the many. History teaches that isn't going to end well. The money is going to stop coming in at some point if you tune too many people out.

 

[the Blades]

I still think at some point Congress is going to get involved. Someone at a jilted school with friends in high places is going to call in a favor.....Yet increasingly power and money is becoming concentrated.

I was kinda hoping that for years, with no luck for Uconn's sake, Counselor. Who knows how this ends but it seems like to many folks in politics seem to have their schools on the plus side of this ( can anyone say SMU), so nothing changes. Actually it's been allowed to get worse moving to a pro model, with unlimited free agency. For more than willing paid athletes who are traveling coast to coast in an equivalent of the American and National leagues. Dear I say student anymore. So again on all of this .....

" the Big East/ Indy FB is perfect until it isn't ( money excluded because it's not mine). " and if Uconn is out and the money gets to much, there is always the Ivy League model for the rest of the schools left behind.

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

 

[the Blades]

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" My way more than 2 cents" is that Mark is on point with everything regarding the financials and the AD. ( but unlike alot of us donors who give freely, I think his NIL is a for profit endeavor ??? ) ..... He gets weird ( like alot of the sports supporting Uconn alumni do ) with delusions of grandeur about Uconn getting a football stadium on "the Storrs" campus at probably 40,000 + if your doing it for a P-4 conference.

1. I call these Uconn alumni the hopeless romantics. They are a loud and emotional bunch, that think everything evolves around them and a magical trip 6 or 7 times a year back out to the old state U. and their college days. Besides the probably $400 or $500 mil+ ( and growing) in CT construction costs for a stadium. They expect to take over the entire area of rural eastern CT for a few fall week-ends and think residents/and other fans should just accept the transportation nightmare that comes along with it. I've heard this privileged bunch even talk about eminent domain to make their college dreams happen. Despite the infrastructure not supporting anything close to a FB stadium and just barely handling a trip in and out of Gampel for the hoops games. ( And unlike some of them I was actually a FB season ticket holder @ the old Memorial Stadium on campus @ Storrs )

2. What I know to be true is that a huge % of Uconn sports fans, probably way over half, are not even alumni, but more importantly are sports fans in general. Which Uconn in over 50 years of playing half of thier games "off campus" at the Hartford Civic Center and 20 years @ the Rent have turned into die hard supporters, which is a good thing. Besides that if were talking students Mark forgets that almost 1/3 of Uconn students go to the Stamford, Hartford (with close to 4,000) campuses. etc., not Uconn Storrs. So all this "on campus" stuff is short sided. Like Uconn Hockey found out recently with thier new rink tucked away from it's fanbase in Storrs, as they've lost half of 'em.

3. The closest I can compare Uconn to fanbase wise is the U. @ Miami. I've lived in south FLA and probably 80 % of the U fans I met, support the program but did not go to school there. The stadium is about 20 miles off campus, but the non alumni support was a huge push for the program and got them to the top of CFB. Uconn as CT's biggest sports property gets a huge push the same way from the entire states sports fanbase, as the only game in town. Who could care less about driving out to Storrs.

Conclusion. Being the owner of my own entertainment company and promoting events at the Civic Center, the old New Haven Coliseum, Hartford Jai Lai and the CT Expo Center along with owning my own music venue. We have an industry saying about venues " it's a tough building to fill 52 weeks a year".

The Rent is an "existing" perfectly located stadium for it's entire fanbase, placed at the intersection of 2 major interstates for easy in and out traffic. Also for incoming teams and fanbases with BDL airport only about 15 minutes away along with all the Hartford lodging and amenities. It's currently the best situation besides a super highway to Storrs falling out of the sky. It's also a venue in place that can be expanded from 42,704 ( Michigan game) to about 60,000, if needed in the future.

So stop dreaming Mark and basically stick to what you can control. Which at this point has nothing to do with a Storrs FB Stadium nightmare..... Or even on what a bunch of Big 12 " shot callers" will agree to decide on, when it comes to Uconn's CR future.

 

[the Blades]

Actually it's been allowed to get worse moving to a pro model, with unlimited free agency. For more than willing paid athletes who are traveling coast to coast in an equivalent of the American and National leagues. Dear I say student anymore.

More regarding the rich get richer in college sports. Especially with all the TV money they have and now can directly use to pay the "pro athletes" while poaching who they want. And making changes for more roster space so they can hoard that talent.

 

[the Blades]

As someone who was on this messageboard (for way to long ), done "to much research' and posted way to much on CR as it regards to Uconn. (since back in 2003). I'll always stick with the statement I highlighted above.

With future revenue sharing for athletes coming, (NCAA approves deal to allow schools to pay players directly) and a $2.8 billion NCAA damages settlement to former athletes being forced on smaller conferences too, unfortunately it seems like it's time !

Uconn grad and author who's now a west coast radio guy/podcaster, on the financials. With a mention of the 2 biggest advocates at Uconn for this move....Guess who ?

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

 

[the Blades]

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Source: UConn to the Big 12 is happening sooner than you may think​

P.S. Zanetto ( Locked On UConn ) broke the story on this early last week before all the "big time national media" jumped in last Friday. I guess he wants to double down on his original video worded "imminent"