If the Big 12 expansion raids the AAC to free UConn, would you...

[Brewtown Andy]

So then why is going to a bowl game a reason to not drop football?

I was making the point that Vanderbilt (much like UConn) is lousy at football and was using the success needed to make a bowl game as shorthand for that explanation.

I also don't think Vanderbilt is ever turning down those SEC paychecks.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

If there are schools with a tough choice about football in today's landscape - UCONN will be on the list.  Their hypothesis is they get invited to a big 4/5 conference and receive the revenues that come with it.

If that doesnt happen or it looks like it takes too long, here is what they are faced with:
- wildly popular bball programs
- not so popular football program in a region with not-so much support for college football in general
- Conference geared to their football program that does not provide satisfying rivals or $$$'s
- Athletic department operating in a deficit
- State with budget problems that do not seem to be alleviating any time soon

They took a big gamble in the early 2000's when they poured money into football.  It was strategically sound, but it looks like it was not enough or was too late to win the big conference consolidation sweepstakes.

I am sure my fellow nutmeggers can confirm, refute or add to the above.

[The Lens]

The football problem in the Old Bog East was it started catering to football and it got football top heavy.  The problem was the football focus of Pitt, Cuse, Rutgers, West Va and Louisville. 

Notre Dame was never a problem.

If we have 10 Hoops schools + UConn the basketball schools still hold all the power.  Plus UConn-Georgetown is better than any game we field right now.  I think UConn is a better name than all current BE schools.

[MUfan12]

From Andy Katz: "If UConn found a home for football, the Big East would seriously consider the Huskies for all other sports, according to a source with knowledge. The Big East would be a natural fit. So far the 10-team Big East only has all sports members, but doesn't offer Division I (FBS) football. UConn is in all sports in the AAC. If given the choice, the Huskies would want to be in the Big 12 in all sports. But the chances that offer ever comes is still too hard to predict now."

[MU82]

I've gone back and forth on this, and I've now gone back ...

I'd take UConn in a nanosecond. They would make the Big East a better basketball conference, period, and who here cares about anything else but that?

If they get seduced by some other conference and leave in 3 years, we'll deal with it and survive, but I'm guessing they'd settle real nice in our Big East. It wasn't as if they ever wanted to leave.

And it wouldn't matter to me if we added a 12th team. I'd rather not add a 12th team just to have one. It would have to be somebody in UConn's range of proven excellence at basketball and dedication to basketball. Maybe VCU, but maybe not. Maybe Dayton, but probably not.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Big Ten had 11 schools for about 20 years.

[MUMonster03]

West Virginia is in the Big 12.  The closest geographical school to them in Iowa State (860 miles).    This has put a huge burden on non-revenue sports and they have suffered (does WVU get a single fan for an away soccer or baseball game?)

I have to think the Big 12 would want to expand east to give relief to WVU and increase their hold on that section of the country.  So Cincy and Uconn make most sense.

If they take BYU and Colorado State, the cost to travel to WVU just gets all the worse.

UConn would be a problem for the exact reason why you said WVU would want them. They are still over 500 miles away from WVU, so not that much help, and it would be even more brutal than WVU for non revenue sports.

[wadesworld]

Get rid of football or enjoy being in the AAC.

[mu03eng]

The Big East can and will be valuable because it brings stability and a known product. No doubt UConn brings a good basketball product (year 3 of Ollie now?) but is certainly trading off it's Calhoun reputation but it brings instability in the form of football, the revenue of which will always drive decisions over basketball ones. Having a voting member of a conference having football based driven decision making is not a good long term plan.

If the conference wants to bring UConn in, so be it I'll be happy from a basketball product standpoint, but I don't think it's a great idea long term. We'll see if it happens, UConn would have to find a place to stash their football program and I'm not sure what conferences are looking for that either.

[GGGG]

Why do we care so much about "stability?"  Conferences have never really been stable.  If UConn joins the B12 football only, and then joins the BE for other sports, that would be a great move.  So what if they leave in a decade when the B12 decides to take them in all sports.  That would be a nice decade.

[Benny B]

Why would an FBS program drop football?

In order of probability (most to least likely):

1. Lawsuits (the concussion & CTE type, not the Sandusky & assault variety)
2. Dilution of talent (fewer kids playing football, lesser quality/quantity of competition on the field)
3. Revenue shortfalls / rising expenses in athletic programs
4. Reduced state funding to colleges
5. Declining enrollment / fee revenue
6. Title IX
7. Resurgence of NFL-Europe or another minor league football system

Not saying that this is the case today, but these are the reasons that would be cited over the next decade or two if FBS schools start dropping football.

[GoldenWarrior11]

If anyone here reads the Boneyard (a UConn fan forum), an overwhelming majority of their posters have absolutely zero desire to be a part of the Big East in any fashion.  They believe, however right or wrong, that a power conference invite (as a full-member) will come one day.  That could come in the coming months with the Big 12, or in a decade with the B1G or ACC.  They view the current Big East as "mid-major" (not unlike the current incarnation of the American) and have no desire to make a lateral move out of desperation. 

Their new AD is a football guy (comes from Auburn).  They have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into football in the past 16 years.  If UConn had it's way, they would absolutely sacrifice the legacy of its basketball program created by Geno and Calhoun in order to be in a seat at the big-boy football table.

Bottom line, would we (as Marquette fans and the Big East) really want an institution that doesn't want to be here?  In the Old Big East, we had a plethora of schools that didn't want to be here (Syracuse, Pittsburgh, UConn, Rutgers, West Virginia, etc.) and actively tried to leave and join other conferences.  Look where that ended up.

A major part of the current Big East's strength is unity and cohesion.  We, as 10 separate institutions, are all in this together.  We want to succeed as programs and as a conference as one.  We were cast aside by football schools in hopes of being devalued and dropped down in status.  Why would we want to risk all that we have built in three years for any program that doesn't want to be a part of that?

[wadesworld]

Why would an FBS program drop football? They just went to a bowl game this past season.

That's the point.  Football will drive everything.  So if their football program is around then enjoy being in the AAC.  Football is why our conference broke up once.  Learn from the past.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Why do we care so much about "stability?"

To me it is just a code word for not wanting other people being able to relegate our program to the A10 or a new version of CUSA - which was where we were headed a few years ago.

I think "control" is better word to describe what we want now that the BE is in its current format.  As long as you can somewhat control terms of membership - stability is less important. 

[GGGG]

To me it is just a code word for not wanting other people being able to relegate our program to the A10 or a new version of CUSA - which was where we were headed a few years ago.

I think "control" is better word to describe what we want now that the BE is in its current format.  As long as you can somewhat control terms of membership - stability is less important. 

Exactly.  There is a core of ten teams that are committed as basketball-first members.  If you can add members, even on a short-term gig, that can bring more $$ and visibility the to the conference, then go for it.  Just don't add a half-dozen of them and everything will be fine.

Let's face it, BE membership WILL change.  Schools will be added.  Schools may leave.  It will not be permanent.  It never is.

[mu03eng]

To me it is just a code word for not wanting other people being able to relegate our program to the A10 or a new version of CUSA - which was where we were headed a few years ago.

I think "control" is better word to describe what we want now that the BE is in its current format.  As long as you can somewhat control terms of membership - stability is less important.

I think that's a fair description. If the current Big East can control the engagements and increase value by adding teams, ok I can get on board. What I don't want is the Big East to become a pit stop for teams waiting for a better offer....that's how you can get a mid-major reputation quick (deserved or not).

One thing that would be interesting with adding UConn is that E$PN would be forced to pay more attention to the league because of the regional demand in CT. They get influenced by UConn(immersion) and Syracuse(lots of Cuse grads at WWL) more than other programs.

[Coleman]

Obviously we take UCONN if we can land them for basketball, if they park football in the Big12. No brainer.

But I have a hard time understanding why the Big12 wouldn't want them for all sports.

There are 10 full members in the Big 12. They want to get to 14. There aren't that many quality programs left that aren't already members  of a Power 5 conference. Why wouldn't they take UCONN?

[brewcity77]

I don't want to have any football schools added if they are joining us for all sports but football and parking their football team in a lower league. I wouldn't want a UConn, Cincy, or Memphis if they put football in the MAC or CUSA while they kept looking for better options.

However, if we brought in a UConn that was parked in a big conference like the B12, I could live with that. First, unless they are looking to move all in to the B12, they won't be looking elsewhere. They'll be part of a major football revenue stream and the best basketball specific revenue stream in the business. Second, if you only take that one team, you could go to an 11-team league with a 20-game round robin. It would shorten non-con play, but who cares? Adding UConn to everyone's schedule twice would be better than any two games you would reasonably expect to pick up in non-con play anyway. Third, if you stay at 11 and they do leave or get full B12 membership, who cares? You go back to an 18-game schedule and we're right back at the stable position we're in now.

Adding a team that was parking football in a P5 is pretty much the only way this makes sense to me, and UConn is one of the rare programs this might be worth doing this for. Them, Notre Dame, or a true blue blood are the only schools I could see adding with their football parked in a marquee league.

[Marcus92]

If UConn wants back in the Big East for basketball, take them back in a second. The rest of the details can be sorted out after that. Dayton, VCU or Wichita State can stay where they are. If the Big East is going to expand, they need to bring in top tier programs, not "promote" mid-majors to high major status.

UConn doesn't want back in the Big East for basketball. They want to be a power conference football school. Their model is UNC or Wisconsin, not Villanova.

That's the biggest reason the C7 left — over disagreements with the football schools. UConn may have won multiple national titles in basketball, and others may see UConn as a basketball school. But that's not how UConn sees itself. If they're about to throw in the towel on football, there's absolutely zero sign of it.

UConn doesn't belong in the Big East. No way, no how.

[auburnmarquette]

If UConn wants back in the Big East for basketball, take them back in a second. The rest of the details can be sorted out after that. Dayton, VCU or Wichita State can stay where they are. If the Big East is going to expand, they need to bring in top tier programs, not "promote" mid-majors to high major status.

That's a good point - I should have listed adding only UConn as an option to make it an 11 team conference. I was assuming it would be 10 or 12, but no reason we couldn't do the 20-team conference schedule.

[Mr. Nielsen]

That's the point.  Football will drive everything.  So if their football program is around then enjoy being in the AAC.  Football is why our conference broke up once.  Learn from the past.

No kidding! I'm not asking it.

[wadesworld]

No kidding! My post you link was answering a question from another post. I'm not asking it. Read the post from the past before you take shots. 

I did read the post.  He said that if UCONN drops football you take them.  He's right.  You take UCONN...if they drop football.

[MUMonster03]

Obviously we take UCONN if we can land them for basketball, if they park football in the Big12. No brainer.

But I have a hard time understanding why the Big12 wouldn't want them for all sports.

There are 10 full members in the Big 12. They want to get to 14. There aren't that many quality programs left that aren't already members  of a Power 5 conference. Why wouldn't they take UCONN?

The all sport problem is that UConn would have the same logistical nightmares that WVU has, just with an additional 500+ miles of travel. Football and Men's Basketball, not that bad with chartered flights, but non rev sports it would kill.

[MUMonster03]

Unfortunately for UConn I think their ship has sailed as long as they play FBS football and the ACC has no interest. Unfortunately being that far east and north limits your options.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I did read the post.  He said that if UCONN drops football you take them.  He's right.  You take UCONN...if they drop football.

I agree with that, but UConn is not dropping football. I would take UConn if they go independent.