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UConn Makes Big 12 Cut

From Jacobs FB article in the Courant:

Mark Blaudschun of TMG College Sports( and formerly of the Boston Globe) reported the other day that the Big 12 had trimmed its list from 18 to 20 to six or eight candidates. ESPN later reported it had trimmed it to a dozen.

Blaudschun came back Thursday with another number. He wrote that after further research it was his opinion that there are a maximum of five schools that are being seriously considered. Furthermore, he surmised that three schools — Houston, Cincinnati and UConn — are battling for two spots. Actually, he has Cincinnati and UConn battling for the second spot. That's If the Big 12 presidents decide there is too much baggage surround BYU.
 
The "baggage" with BYU has to do with the Mormon religion and its interference with game times. A fundamental principle of college sports is that religion is not allowed to get in the way of making money. Which is kind of ironic because most organized religions are money making ventures. All of this makes me wonder if there are negotiations going on with BYU and the Big 12 to bend some of BYU's religious rules and play football at times otherwise not allowed. I suspect that Big 12's pitch might be that God is a football fan and should be allowed to watch BYU play in the Big 12. It would not surprise me if someone actually said that.
 
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The no Sunday game thing isn't a football problem for BYU, more an Olympic sports issue( FB is never on Sunday's in CFB) , but the "baggage" that Jacobs and Blaudschun are talking about has way more to do with something other than sports, that should worry most Big 12/College presidents. The Big 12 already has huge off field problems with another religious school (Baylor sexual assault scandal ) ......I don't know if you've read any of the recent reports on BYU but it shouldn't be something these Big 12 presidents would welcome into their conference :

" Brigham Young University has a well-documented rape problem, one that’s different from the sexual assault crisis that plagues many other campuses: When female rape victims report their assault, they are often punished for breaking the school’s stringent honor code, while their rapists frequently walk free. Now a shattering report in the Salt Lake Tribune confirms what many sexual abuse prevention advocates feared: Gay and bisexual students also face punishment, suspension, and even expulsion for reporting rape by someone of the same sex. "
 
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Blades,

I was not aware of that particular baggage, campus rapes. I do remember about 6 years ago BYU's best basketball player got suspended for the NCAA tournament for the crime of admitting he had engaged in premarital sex in violation of the Honor code. Not rape- consensual sex with his girlfriend. I forget how exactly he made this admission. But the media got a hold of it and he was suspended from the team. I couldn't believe it. I also happened to notice he was a good looking black kid and I think the girlfriend was white. And it was even sadder because that BYU team came into the NCAA tourney red hot and that kid was the primary inside scorer and rebounder. At the time this happened my reaction was like, "you gotta be kidding me." And I felt for the BYU fans because that team had been red hot and might have gone deep into the tourney.
 
Here's another story with a clean-up of what's already being reported:

Big 12 Narrows Field Of Candidates; UConn Still In Mix

and this..... so there is still alot of ways this could go:
The Big 12 has not committed to expanding, but Bowlsby and Oklahoma President David Boren said in July that it would consider adding two or four schools. Adding members for football only is also a possibility. Big 12 officials are planning to start holding meetings in the Dallas area next week with the AAC's- Cincinnati, UConn, Houston, UCF, USF, SMU, Tulane and none AAC schools - BYU, Air Force, Colorado State, Rice

So far it looks like Memphis, Temple, ECU and Boise St from the serious contenders are out. Also depending how many teams are added (if 4) I could see schools like
Rice, Air Force and Colorado St, joining up with the AAC to make up the next best FB conference if they don't get the call from the Big 12.
 
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Here is an article that cites UConn as the poster school that is using tuition money and university subsidies to fund athletic department revenue in order to keep up with Power 5 conference school spending:

http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/...made-6-billion-last-year-gap-haves-nots-grows

It seems to me that the focus of this article is the inappropriateness of Group of 5 schools trying to keep up with Power 5 schools rather than addressing the real underlying issue - which is figuring out a way to level the playing field for everyone. It seems like the basic premises of the article is that it is okay for there to be a Power 5 in the first place. Unfortunately I think many posters here are in line with the same wrongful thinking- all of you are more concerned with how to get into the Power 5 rather than focusing on ways in which to break it up or change the model. I think that this thinking feeds media stories like this. Everyone assumes that the way it is is the way it is, and I don't believe that the way it is is the way it has to be.
 
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Look....we have no say in these matters...but at least Uconn has a reason to spend on something they were already part of just like Cincy and USF....they were in "a BCS conference" got lied to by their partners, who then slipped out the back door after Uconn had met their financial agreements to be part of it ( the old Big East FB conference)...... I do agree with one thing.....You should hear some of the college presidents, their donors and especially the politicians..grasping to get in or happy to stick their chest out because they are in..... So everyone is talking out of both side of their mouths.

But Uconn is not unique....they are at 38% subsidy which is on the low end for a G-5 . ...." One of those schools, the University of Houston, spent $26 million to support athletics in 2014-15, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the athletic department's revenue." ...along with others like Cincy 44%, USF & UCF 48%, Colorado St. 53% or even all the way to Umass at 78% (who like most of the lower end G-5's are at 60-80% subsidy).....NCAA | Finances..... Also on a side note the ESPiN' article mentions: " returning UCONN students are facing a 6.7 percent tuition increase"..but they don't mention Uconn's $1.5 Billion Transformation underway ......or who should help pay for that ?

I agree KSTW, the whole college athletics thing has been bastardized by money and greed, but ESPN should tell us something we don't know about in sports or society in general.. And talk about a hollow f%cking article coming from the very company who destroyed decades of rivalries, traditions and conferences for their own per$onal gain,....... so now they have one of their lapdogs put out a out a spin article because their empire and the thing they created is crumbling with cord cutters ....and they don't want to pay for 4 new schools at the table, so the message is "come on G-5 schools accept your place... now that we dropped kicked you in the nuts, so we don't have to pay out another $100 million a year. " ...... all while we hear crickets from ESPN about joke AD's at schools like BC, Wake Forest, Washington St. Northwestern, Rutgers and a list of about a third of the P-5 who are just playing for a paycheck and did nothing to deserve it.........

The next thing ESPN creates that is visionary instead of greed motivated...will probably be the first since Bill and Scotty Rasmussen started the company in 1978 after they left the Whalers.....but I'm all ears on how the next ESP'iN writer plans to reshuffle the deck and create a " level playing field for everyone "....especially since they had a major
role in destroying it.....and all their fancy mouthpieces make a nice living off that greed.

Also speaking of budgets:
Renderings Show Rentschler Field Expansion Possibilities | A Dime Back
 
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I don't think that ESPN article honestly analyzed the issue at all. The entire landscape of college sports is corrupt and unregulated. Anyone with a half brain that reads that article can logically reason that if this system stays in place the gap widens and widens and eventually the Power 5 will become a Power 2 or 3. At some point the richest schools get greedy for more and they say to takers like Rutgers, BC, Wake Forest, Wasington State, "see ya." That is the natural evolution of this model and that evolution will happen if the model isn't changed. The change must be initiated in the courts or perhaps by Congress. Some corruption scandals will need to happen first and they will down the road. Where there is lots of money there is always corruption.
 
I guess what your talking about is more split so it's nothing new, like in the past of Divisions 1, 2 and 3. I could definitely see more split especially in hoops too.
Since everything is TV contract/media rights controlled, where as before schools like the Ivy's said we aren't playing that game anymore and de-emphasided sports.

I did see 2 schools that are interesting still on the Big 12 list they'd send a new message with.....Tulane and Rice who are both AAU schools....Bring those 2 in and you send a different message, just like they did when they said no way to Memphis because of academics.......But then again even academics have a money in-equity element: "The 60 AAU universities in the United States received $23.5 billion in federal academic research funding in 2011, or nearly 58 percent of all federally funded research provided to colleges and universities. "
So maybe Uconn needs to get into that club first....?
 
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There are a bunch of schools that I don't understand their political landscape and Tulane is one of them. That's a school that on paper looks like it has a lot going for it location and academics wise, yet they have a laughable basketball facility that doesn't belong in any Division 1 conference. It's okay if some schools want to deemphasize athletics. The Ivy League schools have fielded competitive teams in recent years in basketball and hockey. Harvard won the Battle of Atlantis in 2011 and the team they had could have beaten anyone. However the Ivy League cannot compete nationally in football.

It is football that is driving all of this but football's popularity as a sport may have peaked. The trickle down effect of concussions and long term trauma to the brain has many parents rethinking what sports their kids should play. Baseball, basketball and soccer seem far safer choices and it may take some years to notice, but as the better athletes migrate into these other sports, the football revenues will start to dry up as they put weaker athletes and teams on the field. The decline has started but will not be noticed for some years.
 
KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
.
Baseball, basketball and soccer seem far safer choices and it may take some years to notice, but as the better athletes migrate into these other sports, the football revenues will start to dry up as they put weaker athletes and teams on the field. The decline has started but will not be noticed for some years.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, like in a hundred years from now, after you and I are dead....... and this site will have the hoops and NCAA premier soccer conference boards that the next guys will be wasting their time with....;)
 
UCONN did make their pitch to B12 today!

See what happens... Get in wherever we fit in
 
A look by the NYTimes at Houston, their politics and the Cougs view of the AAC. Seems like they will be tough to beat if the Texas politicians have their way, even though outside of TX most Big 12 schools are against them:

NY Times: Houston Goes All Out to Gain Entry to Big 12
"The university has the backing of a political action committee that has reportedly donated nearly $1 million to Texas politicians since 2012 in advocacy of the university’s agenda — which includes Big 12 membership."

And on the long term problems of the AAC as we've discussed forever:
"Last fiscal year, for instance, while the Cougars took in about $3 million in media rights payments as a member of the American Athletic Conference, Iowa State’s membership in the Big 12 was worth 10 times that — about $30 million — even as the Cyclones won 10 fewer games than the Cougars, who were 13-1. Houston’s athletic director, Hunter Yurachek,
acknowledged that that kind of success, in a season that concluded with a win over Florida State in the Peach Bowl, could be fleeting. “Can we sustain that at the conference we’re currently in?” Yurachek said. “No. Absolutely not.” It will also struggle to retain coaching talents like its second-year head coach, Tom Herman, something the Cougars learned recently as two of his predecessors, Art Briles and Kevin Sumlin, departed for Baylor and Texas A&M.

09BIG12web5-master675.jpg

Houston’s president, Renu Khator, left, with Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who has expressed
support for the Cougars’ Big 12 candidacy.
 
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None of you guys will say it but I will: the Big 12 sucks goat balls. I heard one of their beat writers say on WTIC-1080 interview with Joe D. that the Big 12 "was born on and functions on a dysfunctional business model." He also said the two teams getting picked will be Houston and Cincy and UConn isn't getting picked and UConn's best P-5 hope is ACC expansion. He also said UConn would be better off there and not in the Big 12.
 
KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
None of you guys will say it but I will: the Big 12 sucks goat balls. I heard one of their beat writers say on WTIC-1080 interview with Joe D. that the Big 12 "was born on and functions on a dysfunctional business model." He also said the two teams getting picked will be Houston and Cincy and UConn isn't getting picked and UConn's best P-5 hope is ACC expansion. He also said UConn would be better off there and not in the Big 12.
Click to expand...

The presidents are making decisions that will be best for their schools, conference, money, and academics.

Good thing beat writers (mouth pieces) and politicians aren't the one making the decisions. It's election year they are saying what will get them vote.

OU president has spoken highly of UConn and understands the important metrics. Texas doesn't have enough pull to get get houston into the league. Only way they get in is if they expand by 4 imo.

Cinci and byu were always the front runners. BYU is starting to fall out of favor because of the lgbt community and the ncaa pulling games out of North Carolina
 
Let's Play Mad libs:

KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
None of you guys will say it but I will: the AAC and Old BIG EAST sucks goat balls. they "were born on and function on a dysfunctional business model." UConn's best P-5 Fit is ACC expansion. He also said UConn should keep dreaming about that ACC fit for the next 30 years not about being in the Big 12. But since neither will probably happen in our lifetime, Uconn should just enjoy it's current mixed matched geographical nightmare called the AAC for 10 cents on the dollar while it continues to lose schools and their AD's by the minute...all while the AAC's hoop RPI drops like a bad stock>>>>LOL!
Click to expand...
 
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Syracuse and ESPN writers paint gloom and doom picture for Uconn if they don't get out of the American.
Syracuse, UConn headed different directions since Big East split

There are some harsh truth's in the article, but you could tell that McMurphy has had it out for Uconn for some time now because he's been anti-Uconn at every turn of CR. The fact that he now tries to state he doesn't take pleasure in Uconn's position says more about his personal opinion of the school than if he had just shut his mouth:

"People think I take pleasure in saying this because I cover realignment but I don't," McMurphy said. "It's sad. Rivalries are lost. You know that. … I don't think UConn is damaged goods but the reality is, unless they can get into the Big 12 or another conference, they can't compete over the long haul. That doesn't mean you can't have a Houston beat Oklahoma or UConn beat a Virginia. But there's no way to compete long-term with that financial disparity. We're not at the end of the world, but you can see it from here."

"It's that financial reality, McMurphy says, that has created the desperate game of musical chairs in the Big 12 expansion, one that is far more important to Connecticut's athletic future than a football game on Saturday. Without it, McMurphy believes schools like UConn won't be able to maintain pace with schools like Syracuse, and at some point, probably won't even play them.

McMurphy said he believes the power-five schools will ultimately break from the others, and play football in their own division. ( Interesting he makes this comment
since the Big Ten has already designated Uconn as a P-5 FB school for scheduling purposes in the future)
 
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Blades,

The more I read the various things you have posted, the more I am convinced that the P5 and CR generally is spiraling towards litigation that will once again go to the US Supreme Court.

It seems like our country has become desensitized about doing things that are anti-competitive and promote litigation. One of the major news stories yesterday is that President Obama vetoed the 9/11 lawsuit bill authorizing family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, and it is apparently like that the veto will be overriden. This bill comes out of NY from Chuck Schumer and benefits a small number of people, but will result in retaliatory legislation being enacted in other countries against US Diplomats that you, me and everyone else will have to pay for. It is simply short sighted election year grandstanding over legislation that isn't needed and will result in huge tax liabilities for all of us down the road. Similarly all CR is short sighted and profit minded with wealth being concentrated in increasingly fewer schools. Eventually someone rebels and they do it using the court system. I am surprised it hasn't happened already. Why aren't more people saying enough is enough, this is a corrupt model and it needs to be fixed?????????? This is not just about unfairness to UConn- it's unfairness period.
 
KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
Blades,

The more I read the various things you have posted, the more I am convinced that the P5 and CR generally is spiraling towards litigation that will once again go to the US Supreme Court.
Eventually someone rebels and they do it using the court system. I am surprised it hasn't happened already. Why aren't more people saying enough is enough, this is a corrupt model and it needs to be fixed?????????? This is not just about unfairness to UConn- it's unfairness period.
Click to expand...

I think you already know the answer to this. All these schools are afraid to rock the boat, because they are hoping to be the one that gets picked. So they could possibly be allies to go against the system, but they are also in competition to be part of the P-5 so there is no consensus. Your friend becomes your enemy as soon as one is picked.
And especially regarding what we know better than anyone as Uconn fans. From watching the misinformed Blumemthal carry the flag and set the mold for legal action in CR by "winning" about 1 million per school for those who partnered in the suit, but actually "losing" in getting Uconn blackballed by the plaintiffs. So the huge dilemma IMHO, is to put yourself out there as the lead in action against a model, while at the same time every school is spending millions to spice up their resume as they continue to have that hope to be part of the P-5.
 
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Blades the only way this litigation works iis f it's a class action. I am not talking about one school......I am talking 100, all part of a class of schools defeated by a monopoly in violation of antitrust laws. That is what will eventually happen. You can't retaliate against all the schools left out.

The objective isn't to get one or two selected schools into P5........the objective is to tear down the P5/CR playing field and build a new one for all. I am talking about blowing it up, not a pinprick. Pinpricks are for the weak.
 
KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
Blades the only way this litigation works iis f it's a class action. I am not talking about one school......I am talking 100, all part of a class of schools defeated by a monopoly in violation of antitrust laws. That is what will eventually happen. You can't retaliate against all the schools left out.
The objective isn't to get one or two selected schools into P5........the objective is to tear down the P5/CR playing field and build a new one for all. I am talking about blowing it up, not a pinprick. Pinpricks are for the weak.
Click to expand...
Well good luck on getting a consensus on that as I said above. It's nice in theory, but it's already been proven that the lower end of the NCAA is more than willing to be spoon feed by the P-5 and vote with them, as they did when they voted to give them autonomy and allowed them to make their own rules....This only effects maybe 15-20 schools
at the higher end that are left out the P-5, that would even be considered. While the majority of the 360+ D-1 schools are not effected by it. Either because they are already in the P-5 or because they are bottom feeders who's lowly conferences get a kick back from the NCAA tourney and they just go along for the ride because they don't want it torn down for fear that they'll be left out completely( No NCAA tourney money or cinderalla's) when the new one is built.

Also here's a new bowl payout schedule for Football, post P-5, so some schools who know they'll never be a P-5 don't want to rock that new boat full of cash either:
oktc_conference_earnings.vadapt.664.high.71.jpg
 
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KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
Blades,
The more I read the various things you have posted, the more I am convinced that the P5 and CR generally is spiraling towards litigation that will once again go to the US Supreme Court...............
Why aren't more people saying enough is enough, this is a corrupt model and it needs to be fixed?????????? This is not just about unfairness to UConn- it's unfairness period.
Click to expand...

KSTW, your the lawyer but this is a follow up on CR from today's Courant. It's where I think a lawsuit should be considered by a small group of schools directly at the TV networks for the corruption, but more importantly the collusion that's going on. Remember when ESPN lied to the public regarding BC's AD Fillippo saying "ESPN told us what to do" ? Why is no writer picking up on what these networks are doing in using schools as pawns, while keeping some schools in and some schools out of the P-5 ?
It's like the TV Networks are controlling free agency to hurt schools that should or could be elevated... None of this has ever been about anything more than money, as we
all know, but ESPN has continued to lie about their role( while school presidents will mention things like academics, etc. blah blah, blah ! ).... But if this is going on publicly (below) then everything that ESPN has said in the past about having no part in decisions regarding conference re-alignment is an admitted lie....

So now THEY WILL PAY CONFERENCES NOT TO EXPAND (which will hurt schools who would be considered )....... I think it's something "TV should be answering"
about in court regarding their direct involvement of who's in or out of the P-5 cartel.. The litigation I could see is ESPN getting sued by the schools they continue to hurt like those in the conference, the former Big EAST, they have lied about hurting and destroying in the past.

Courant: Excitement About Big 12 Expansion Has Dimmed; Will Conference Stay At 10 Teams?
from THIS Part of the article:
"One big reason behind the decision to expand was a clause in the Big 12 television contracts with ESPN and Fox calling for an extra $20 million annually for any schools the Big 12 adds. That has also led to speculation that the networks are willing to pay the Big 12 not expand in order to keep their cost ratio in order. CBS Sports reported there is a 50-50 chance the league won't expand and Bowlsby admitted that ESPN and Fox might end up paying the league not to expand. "It's plausible," Bowlsby told CBS Sports. "It's among a whole wide range, array of possibilities. I suppose that's one possibility. Nobody really enjoys paying more for what they already own."
(But they do enjoy paying 3 Big East schools more, like they did in the past.... when it was easier to poach them to destroy a conference, than pay full value for all 16 schools, SMH !) Earlier this week, TMG College Sports reported that ESPN and Fox are urging the Big 12 to not expand. Sources told the website that the television networks could be willing to increase payouts next season for the conference's first championship football game and extend the overall TV contract for 5 years."
 
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I absolutely think antitrust laws are being violated and it should be resolved via litigation. Such litigation will require a bunch of shafted schools getting together and suing the correct defendants which may be the TV networks and/or the NCAA and not the schools or conferences. Because as you noted that leads to bad blood and hard feelings but at some point it has to be stopped, as it's a crazy model that actually isn't even built for success in the long run without litigation. The only alternative is Congress stepping in and doing something.

About 15 years ago I came out on the losing end of some unfair trade practice litigation against a certain supermarket chain, a decision that haunts me to this day. I was an occasional customer of this company, even after that case. Until I noticed a few years ago that they were not displaying on their shelves certain products of certain manufacturers - which I wanted to buy - if they happened to make a competing product with their house name. Instead they would only display their competing product, and not the other manufacturer's superior quality product. But they would display the manufacturer's other products which were not the same as and competing with their faux in house version of the product. They probably are not the only supermarket chain doing this but I consider this conduct illegal, unethical and non-competitive and they should be sued for it under either the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, federal antitrust laws, or both. It has occurred to me, why aren't the companies who are not getting their competing products displayed doing this? So maybe I should call their reps, tell them about the practices and see what they say. Anyway I think antitrust and unfair trade practice laws are generally underlitigated as society seems accepting of some conduct or else is intimidated by going after bigger monopolistic companies.
 
The Fat lady hasn't sung yet but from twitter:




and...The Courant is already mentioning reports that say it's not happening, but adds this might be the 2nd best scenario:

"By staying put, the ( Big 12) conference ended the dreams( of Uconn and everyone else), at least for the near future, of the Huskies' athletic department joining a Power Five conference that would have exposed it to greater prominence and wealth. On the bright side, this is probably the second-best scenario for UConn. Had the Big 12 elected to take two other members, say, Houston and Cincinnati, that would have decimated the American Athletic Conference and left UConn in a much weaker league.

Big 12 Won't Expand For Now; UConn's Latest Try For Power 5 Conference Fails

If these reports are true the happiest guy in college sports has to be Mike Aresco
 
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I like the fact that Jeff Jacobs in his writings is suggesting to his readers that UConn fans should not be taking this news and ESPN's role in it very well. It's my feeling that the national media has not, generally, performed its important role as watchdog for the consumer very well. Instead of writing about the inherent problems with CR, national media has instead become apologists for the P5 and has portrayed a two tier system of haves and have nots while not ever questioning the appropriateness of said system. So it's up to the local medias to start writing about it and then maybe sooner or later the national media cannot ignore them.

But it's good news that Cincy and Houston are now stuck in the AAC with UConn, because without them UConn is the only big fish in a small pond. And ponds don't work if you have one big fish that eats up all the little ones. You need a couple of other big fish who are also swimming around to keep the other big fish's fins flapping and in good shape.
 
Yeah KSTW,
I guess the good news, at least for football, is that the AAC is probably better than the Big East ever was. Hell.. last year alone the AAC had 4 schools ranked in the top 25, not including Cincinnati. Which blew away anything I can ever remember with the Big East since Uconn joined for FB.... Regarding Jacobs and the angle( lawsuit ? ;) ) he mentions between the State of CT and ESPN (who's done everything they could to devalue the state flagship school's AD) ....sometimes I think he reads our posts here on the Uconn Report ...LOL!
 
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UConn and Cincy and Houston are in a tough situation because all the energy spent on courting P5 conference affiliation is lost time spent making the AAC better than it is now. Herbst and Benedict are very good at spewing euphemistic platitudes to the press but what are they actually doing to get UConn in another conference or assisting in the effort to improve the AAC profile behind the scenes? I get the sense of a lot of wasted energy being put in the wrong places. A tire can spin its wheels in mud for only so long as it digs a deeper and deeper mud trough. At some point you realize you are sunk and cannot move and you have to sit there and make the best of it.
 
Interesting comment from a Uconn AD, " when Benedict was asked if he was upset that ESPN, a Bristol-based corporation that gets tax breaks from the state of Connecticut, might have played a role in the Big 12's efforts to nix expansion, which would have cost the network more money."

first time I've ever heard any of them (Hathaway, Warde, Perkins) talk directly about ESPN in this way :

"I would say I am very interested in having a dialogue with ESPN now that this is over and talking about how we can partner with them. We are the state flagship university. They reside in the state of Connecticut. I think we should have a relationship like many other universities do with big corporate partners do in their states. I look forward to those conversations."
 
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the Blades said:
"I would say I am very interested in having a dialogue with ESPN now that this is over and talking about how we can partner with them. We are the state flagship university. They reside in the state of Connecticut. I think we should have a relationship like many other universities do with big corporate partners do in their states. I look forward to those conversations."
Click to expand...

Sounds euphemistic and platitudinous to me. In any event it probably is the first time I have heard an AD imply or refer to the influence of media on CR. I also took his comment in the last sentence to refer to Oregon and Nike.
 
Interesting look at the Big 12 package Uconn put together ( cool video's) along with some statements on the school website....."While disclosure of these materials was prevented by a confidentiality agreement requested by the conference, given the conclusion of the conference expansion process the university believes these materials can now be released."


UConn's Candidacy for the Big 12 Conference
 
KhalidShockedTheWorld said:
Sounds euphemistic and platitudinous to me. In any event it probably is the first time I have heard an AD imply or refer to the influence of media on CR. I also took his comment in the last sentence to refer to Oregon and Nike.
Click to expand...
Jacobs took those quotes from Benedict out of the story I linked in post #35 and put them in a new story that takes direct aim this morning at the "P-5 cartel", the NCAA and the man behind the curtain down the road in Bristol in his column this morning...as he mentions a bunch of stuff we've discussed for years on this site and in this thread:

Some excerpts:
* In a sorrowful attempt to make it appear as if the Big 12 didn't exploit the wannabe P-5 schools or raid any other conference, Bowlsby kept repeating those schools "self-identified" themselves as candidates. This is an insult to UConn. This is an insult to Brigham Young. This is an insult to Cincinnati and Houston. This is an insult to South Florida and Central Florida.
* The Power Five has reduced them to beggars. We're not talking academic integrity here. We're talking cold, hard billions. This is what the NCAA has done to the approximately 15 schools on the margin with its grand autonomy decision of 2014.
* There have been reports that the reason the Big 12 backed off expansion is that the television powers are paying the conference NOT to expand. Bowlsby danced all around the ESPN/Fox question on Monday.
* So a giant state corporation, one that has received some substantial tax breaks, essentially has been working against the state flagship university in conference expansion. Business is business and this doesn't make ESPN the devil. Yet any attempts to paint itself as Switzerland are also disingenuous.
* There is nothing in the NCAA that defines conferences as "power." It's really "autonomy" conferences. Houston, for example, could kick most of the Power Five teams' butts in football this year. Ditto for UConn in basketball. Houston and UConn also can follow the Power Five legislation if it wants. The massive problem is they are among 15 or so schools outside the Power Five that are sinking millions upon millions into athletic program costs, stadium and arena costs, right down to cost of attendance stipends to try to run with the Power Five cartel.
* The rule helped Texas and Oklahoma. The rule helped Hartford and Quinnipiac. The unintended consequence is the rule kicks the hell out of UConn and Cincinnati and Houston. Autonomy didn't address the schools that had the budget to run with the Power Five in 2014 and won't have it in 2024. Does the NCAA have the courage to re-address this massive problem?

* "There is a lot of thinking and planning to do," Herbst said. "This is not our ideal world. We're trying to keep ourselves as strong as those schools. We already feel we're Power Five and it's odd that we're not in that group given we have all their attributes. "The landscape has changed so much in the past five years. I bet there is more fluidity to come."

Jeff Jacobs: UConn, Others Played For Fools By The Big 12 Circus Freak Show
 
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KhalidShockedTheWorld

CBS Sports Acknowledges Error In Reporting on UConn!

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KhalidShockedTheWorld

Castle- Big East Freshman of Year? Where Will His Freshman Season Rank?

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UConn vs Texas WBB- 6:30 PM FS1

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Question for UConn fans

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