(02-20-2014 08:01 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  Yup. Worst time ever to have had Coach Paul Pasqualoni sinking the ship.

That was how we felt when the Big 12 came calling and we were coming off of Kragthorpe. Then it worked out better than we could have hoped for. So who knows.

(02-20-2014 09:37 AM)adcorbett Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 08:01 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  Yup. Worst time ever to have had Coach Paul Pasqualoni sinking the ship.

That was how we felt when the Big 12 came calling and we were coming off of Kragthorpe. Then it worked out better than we could have hoped for. So who knows.

It's all cyclical. Uconn football is young. We still have resources as a state flagship that can help separate our football program from most others in G5 for the next time the realignment bell rings. Just need to ride it out and make the necessary investments and improvements as Louisville did.

Like you said, who knows, maybe UConn will end up in the Big 10 if they choose to expand again. I'd gladly take a few of years of taking our lumps in realignment for that outcome, but we need to continue improving our overal solid athletic department by putting the focus primarily on football.

Blame the Big 12. They should have taken Louisville with WVU, whether or not they went to 12 members. UConn would have been an almost certain choice if Louisville had been off the table.

(02-20-2014 09:51 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Blame the Big 12. They should have taken Louisville with WVU, whether or not they went to 12 members. UConn would have been an almost certain choice if Louisville had been off the table.

As an FYI, it would not have gone down like that though. From what I understand of the situation back then, the BigXII reached out to Pitt, WVU and UL. If WVU wouldn't have had eyes for the SEC back then and taken "the bird in the hand", the BigXII would have been at 12 schools with those 3 schools. If WVU wouldn't have balked, Pitt would have went BigXII. Since WVU balked, Pitt was going to be the choice for the BigXII, and then at the 11th hour Pitt parlayed that offer into an ACC invite.

Cue the UCONN fans who will scream and cry about how "Pitt stole their birthright"... Wrong. UCONN was never the first choice no matter what. If FSU, Clemson, BC and VT didn't care for you when UL got the nod, they didn't care for you back in 2011/2012 either. Some hack named "Blauds" writes about the BC "blackballing of UCONN", UCONN fans think he's awesome and a real journalist. Funny how they now see him as a hack when he writes less than favorable things later on...

(02-20-2014 09:09 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  Louisville has a much higher football ceiling than UConn.

How so?

UConn was late to the D1-A game, has a venue location issue, and has a BC problem. But, UConn's the bigger school.

One word. Football. I don't understand why that is so hard for roundball fans to acknowledge...

Just to provide a little different perspective to this thread.


If you believe Maryland, we (UofL) were the 3rd choice behind two B1G schools.

Other than a couple of years when players I knew were on the teams there, I have always pulled against Louisville. I take that back. I pulled against Louisville then too, but hoped that Kenny Payne, Deion Branch, Corey Wallace and Mike White, among others, did well. I say this to reinforce that I have no natural affinity for Louisville, so I have no personal reason to favor Louisville in this discussion and am only looking at it objectively.

Other than some marginal issues, I can't think of a reason why the ACC would even consider taking UConn over Louisville. Any substantive measurable favors Louisville and general public perception does as well. When the SEC was considering expansion and people would bring up the possibility of adding Louisville, proponents of UL were not laughed off. SEC fans, while they preferred state flagships, could objectively recognize what Louisville could bring to the table. Certainly, there were reasons not to invite them, but it wasn't a ridiculous notion that they would be considered. UConn, on the other hand, is only a possibility for inclusion in a P5 conference due to a lack of options.

While these decisions are obviously made with longer term considerations in mind, it also probably didn't help UConn that Jim Calhoun is now retired. It doesn't change the fact that they've won 3 NCAA Men's titles, but Louisville has a longer overall track record of success in basketball, and has now won titles under multiple coaches. As has been noted, it was also a good strategic move in terms of potential Big 12 expansion to take Louisville off the table.

Add their profitability, longer track record in football, their probable greater appeal to Clemson and FSU, as well as the fact that UConn is (fairly or not) seen as being contentious or potentially litigious, and it altogether gives Louisville the edge.

(02-20-2014 10:19 AM)C Marlow Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 09:51 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Blame the Big 12. They should have taken Louisville with WVU, whether or not they went to 12 members. UConn would have been an almost certain choice if Louisville had been off the table.

As an FYI, it would not have gone down like that though. From what I understand of the situation back then, the BigXII reached out to Pitt, WVU and UL. If WVU wouldn't have had eyes for the SEC back then and taken "the bird in the hand", the BigXII would have been at 12 schools with those 3 schools. If WVU wouldn't have balked, Pitt would have went BigXII. Since WVU balked, Pitt was going to be the choice for the BigXII, and then at the 11th hour Pitt parlayed that offer into an ACC invite.

Cue the UCONN fans who will scream and cry about how "Pitt stole their birthright"... Wrong. UCONN was never the first choice no matter what. If FSU, Clemson, BC and VT didn't care for you when UL got the nod, they didn't care for you back in 2011/2012 either. Some hack named "Blauds" writes about the BC "blackballing of UCONN", UCONN fans think he's awesome and a real journalist. Funny how they now see him as a hack when he writes less than favorable things later on...

Why are you so angry?

(02-20-2014 10:22 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 09:09 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  Louisville has a much higher football ceiling than UConn.

How so?

UConn was late to the D1-A game, has a venue location issue, and has a BC problem. But, UConn's the bigger school.

Zero history, zero recruiting area, in a part of the country that doesn't care about college football, off campus stadium, and football is at least third in priority behind men's and women's hoops.

Size of a university means little. NC State has close to a 15k higher enrollment than Clemson. Who do you think is going to be the better football program long-term? It's all about commitment to football. Clemson and Louisville have it, NC State and UConn don't.

(02-20-2014 10:50 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 10:19 AM)C Marlow Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 09:51 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Blame the Big 12. They should have taken Louisville with WVU, whether or not they went to 12 members. UConn would have been an almost certain choice if Louisville had been off the table.

As an FYI, it would not have gone down like that though. From what I understand of the situation back then, the BigXII reached out to Pitt, WVU and UL. If WVU wouldn't have had eyes for the SEC back then and taken "the bird in the hand", the BigXII would have been at 12 schools with those 3 schools. If WVU wouldn't have balked, Pitt would have went BigXII. Since WVU balked, Pitt was going to be the choice for the BigXII, and then at the 11th hour Pitt parlayed that offer into an ACC invite.

Cue the UCONN fans who will scream and cry about how "Pitt stole their birthright"... Wrong. UCONN was never the first choice no matter what. If FSU, Clemson, BC and VT didn't care for you when UL got the nod, they didn't care for you back in 2011/2012 either. Some hack named "Blauds" writes about the BC "blackballing of UCONN", UCONN fans think he's awesome and a real journalist. Funny how they now see him as a hack when he writes less than favorable things later on...

Why are you so angry?

I'm not angry. I'm tired of seeing the inane excuses over and over again from the majority of the UCONN fans on these and other message boards. Normally the narrative is as composed of two parts: 1) Pitt stole UCONN's "rightful" ACC invite that was "already in the bag" (bullsh!t, btw). 2) Jurich pulled a con job on the ACC that resulted in UL "leapfrogging" UCONN since UL stole UCONN's expected invite that was "already in the bag". To bolster these stories, they go to the only source out there who used to be a Boston Globe writer. Never mind that the news article was an opinion piece that was based on comments from the BC AD.

But I admit that it gets old to see it over and over again, and the conclusions that UCONN fans draw are NEVER about how UCONN football is 1) too new, 2) has limited fan support due to geographical region and 3) has no direct access to recruiting grounds to build a program that will be consistently good. The only conclusions that the majority of your online fan base is ALWAYS about how some other entity screwed UCONN over - like UCONN has some motherfvcking birthright to be in the B1G or the ACC. It's nauseating to see it over and over again.

(02-20-2014 10:53 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 10:22 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 09:09 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  Louisville has a much higher football ceiling than UConn.

How so?

UConn was late to the D1-A game, has a venue location issue, and has a BC problem. But, UConn's the bigger school.

Zero history, zero recruiting area, in a part of the country that doesn't care about college football, off campus stadium, and football is at least third in priority behind men's and women's hoops.

Size of a university means little. NC State has close to a 15k higher enrollment than Clemson. Who do you think is going to be the better football program long-term? It's all about commitment to football. Clemson and Louisville have it, NC State and UConn don't.

A lot of truth here. UL has an almost NFL quality stadium. They will be, out of the gate, the highest revenue school in the ACC. They are also well positioned to recruit both the south and the midwest.

UConn's biggest edge was its academic profile. However, their men's basketball team was put on probation for academic issues. Meanwhile, UL won a national championship while maintaining one of the highest APRs in college basketball.

As a state flagship with P5 level athletic revenues, UConn clearly deserves to be in a P5 conference. Unfortunately, the B12 took two chairs away in this game of musical chairs and UConn was left standing.

(02-20-2014 11:02 AM)C Marlow Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 10:50 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 10:19 AM)C Marlow Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 09:51 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Blame the Big 12. They should have taken Louisville with WVU, whether or not they went to 12 members. UConn would have been an almost certain choice if Louisville had been off the table.

As an FYI, it would not have gone down like that though. From what I understand of the situation back then, the BigXII reached out to Pitt, WVU and UL. If WVU wouldn't have had eyes for the SEC back then and taken "the bird in the hand", the BigXII would have been at 12 schools with those 3 schools. If WVU wouldn't have balked, Pitt would have went BigXII. Since WVU balked, Pitt was going to be the choice for the BigXII, and then at the 11th hour Pitt parlayed that offer into an ACC invite.

Cue the UCONN fans who will scream and cry about how "Pitt stole their birthright"... Wrong. UCONN was never the first choice no matter what. If FSU, Clemson, BC and VT didn't care for you when UL got the nod, they didn't care for you back in 2011/2012 either. Some hack named "Blauds" writes about the BC "blackballing of UCONN", UCONN fans think he's awesome and a real journalist. Funny how they now see him as a hack when he writes less than favorable things later on...

Why are you so angry?

I'm not angry. I'm tired of seeing the inane excuses over and over again from the majority of the UCONN fans on these and other message boards. Normally the narrative is as composed of two parts: 1) Pitt stole UCONN's "rightful" ACC invite that was "already in the bag" (bullsh!t, btw). 2) Jurich pulled a con job on the ACC that resulted in UL "leapfrogging" UCONN since UL stole UCONN's expected invite that was "already in the bag". To bolster these stories, they go to the only source out there who used to be a Boston Globe writer. Never mind that the news article was an opinion piece that was based on comments from the BC AD.

But I admit that it gets old to see it over and over again, and the conclusions that UCONN fans draw are NEVER about how UCONN football is 1) too new, 2) has limited fan support due to geographical region and 3) has no direct access to recruiting grounds to build a program that will be consistently good. The only conclusions that the majority of your online fan base is ALWAYS about how some other entity screwed UCONN over - like UCONN has some motherfvcking birthright to be in the B1G or the ACC. It's nauseating to see it over and over again.

Sounds angry to me...

You all are aware that this thread was not started by a UCONN fan, right?

But carry on with your UCONN bashing. We've heard it all before...

You call it bashing, I call it answering the question in a truthful manner. I can't help it if you get butt-hurt over the truth.

(02-20-2014 11:17 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  You call it bashing, I call it answering the question in a truthful manner. I can't help it if you get butt-hurt over the truth.

If I was talking directly to you, I would've quoted your post. You are correct in that some are answering the question, while others (who know who they are) are just using this thread for their own agenda. Nice try with the "butt-hurt" though...

(02-20-2014 11:05 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 11:02 AM)C Marlow Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 10:50 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 10:19 AM)C Marlow Wrote:  

(02-20-2014 09:51 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Blame the Big 12. They should have taken Louisville with WVU, whether or not they went to 12 members. UConn would have been an almost certain choice if Louisville had been off the table.

As an FYI, it would not have gone down like that though. From what I understand of the situation back then, the BigXII reached out to Pitt, WVU and UL. If WVU wouldn't have had eyes for the SEC back then and taken "the bird in the hand", the BigXII would have been at 12 schools with those 3 schools. If WVU wouldn't have balked, Pitt would have went BigXII. Since WVU balked, Pitt was going to be the choice for the BigXII, and then at the 11th hour Pitt parlayed that offer into an ACC invite.

Cue the UCONN fans who will scream and cry about how "Pitt stole their birthright"... Wrong. UCONN was never the first choice no matter what. If FSU, Clemson, BC and VT didn't care for you when UL got the nod, they didn't care for you back in 2011/2012 either. Some hack named "Blauds" writes about the BC "blackballing of UCONN", UCONN fans think he's awesome and a real journalist. Funny how they now see him as a hack when he writes less than favorable things later on...

Why are you so angry?

I'm not angry. I'm tired of seeing the inane excuses over and over again from the majority of the UCONN fans on these and other message boards. Normally the narrative is as composed of two parts: 1) Pitt stole UCONN's "rightful" ACC invite that was "already in the bag" (bullsh!t, btw). 2) Jurich pulled a con job on the ACC that resulted in UL "leapfrogging" UCONN since UL stole UCONN's expected invite that was "already in the bag". To bolster these stories, they go to the only source out there who used to be a Boston Globe writer. Never mind that the news article was an opinion piece that was based on comments from the BC AD.

But I admit that it gets old to see it over and over again, and the conclusions that UCONN fans draw are NEVER about how UCONN football is 1) too new, 2) has limited fan support due to geographical region and 3) has no direct access to recruiting grounds to build a program that will be consistently good. The only conclusions that the majority of your online fan base is ALWAYS about how some other entity screwed UCONN over - like UCONN has some motherfvcking birthright to be in the B1G or the ACC. It's nauseating to see it over and over again.

Sounds angry to me...

Definitely angry.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

Because football drives the (tv monies) bus.

(02-20-2014 12:09 PM)Tallgrass Wrote:  Because football drives the (tv monies) bus.

I never like that saying. Generally speaking, the one "driving the bus" is one of the least affluent people on the bus.