http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

(05-08-2013 08:31 AM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

At times, UConn, Cincy and USF outperformed old Big East defectors.

I went back to 2007. Going through 3 coaching changes and a share of 4 BE titles, I don't think that is "at times." But I am probably just Pi$$ed at the situation.

4-2 Rutgers
4-2 Pitt
5-1 Syracuse
2-3 WVU
4-2 Rutgers

That said, I don't think the phone is going to ring. As realignment goes, this was worse than even I thought it would get.

I was hoping for a the best of the rest conference with Boise, AF, Fresno etc etc and maybe 7-10 million a year. 2 million and relegated to obscurity is not a way to get the program to the next level.

I'm worried that the next 10 years will not be kind to USF and UConn.

(05-08-2013 09:41 AM)DonnyMost Wrote:  I'm worried that the next 10 years will not be kind to USF and UConn.

UConn's problem is even more complicated because of basketball. They have a premier basketball program, and they risk sacrificing that in order to salvage mediocrity in football. UConn is not nearly as attractive to basketball recruits without the C7 being on the schedule.

(05-08-2013 09:58 AM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 09:41 AM)DonnyMost Wrote:  I'm worried that the next 10 years will not be kind to USF and UConn.

UConn's problem is even more complicated because of basketball. They have a premier basketball program, and they risk sacrificing that in order to salvage mediocrity in football. UConn is not nearly as attractive to basketball recruits without the C7 being on the schedule.

Exactly right. My concern for USF is that they are a program that has never really experienced adversity. I'm curious to see how their fan base is going to respond to being demoted to a non-AQ league on the heels of multiple losing seasons.

(05-08-2013 09:35 AM)bearcat29 Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 08:31 AM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

At times, UConn, Cincy and USF outperformed old Big East defectors.
I went back to 2007. Going through 3 coaching changes and a share of 4 BE titles, I don't think that is "at times." But I am probably just Pi$$ed at the situation.
4-2 Rutgers
4-2 Pitt
5-1 Syracuse
2-3 WVU
4-2 Rutgers
That said, I don't think the phone is going to ring. As realignment goes, this was worse than even I thought it would get.
I was hoping for a the best of the rest conference with Boise, AF, Fresno etc etc and maybe 7-10 million a year. 2 million and relegated to obscurity is not a way to get the program to the next level.

As a USM fan i feel for you. We have winning records vs. ALL of the AAC except Cincy despite a bad 2012. Realignment isnt about what you do on the field its are you sexy enough to bring tv viewers.

(05-08-2013 09:35 AM)bearcat29 Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 08:31 AM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

At times, UConn, Cincy and USF outperformed old Big East defectors.

I went back to 2007. Going through 3 coaching changes and a share of 4 BE titles, I don't think that is "at times." But I am probably just Pi$$ed at the situation.

4-2 Rutgers
4-2 Pitt
5-1 Syracuse
2-3 WVU
4-2 Rutgers

That said, I don't think the phone is going to ring. As realignment goes, this was worse than even I thought it would get.

I was hoping for a the best of the rest conference with Boise, AF, Fresno etc etc and maybe 7-10 million a year. 2 million and relegated to obscurity is not a way to get the program to the next level.

This is really the only option I see for the bigger mid-majors that offers the possibility of a significant increase in income and a chance for the mids to stay relevant. We know for sure that small regional mid-major conferences are a failure at both of those goals. The mid-major regional confernece concept has been trotted out with dozens of different combinations and the networks just yawn. Theres just no future there.

The only thing that has not been tried is the nationwide "best of the rest" model. That might fail too--but at least its offers something new. The little regional options will always be there if the nationwide model doesnt work. Theres really nothing to lose. If the small regional conferences are the only option left, then its all over anyway for the bigger mids.

(05-08-2013 09:58 AM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 09:41 AM)DonnyMost Wrote:  I'm worried that the next 10 years will not be kind to USF and UConn.

UConn's problem is even more complicated because of basketball. They have a premier basketball program, and they risk sacrificing that in order to salvage mediocrity in football. UConn is not nearly as attractive to basketball recruits without the C7 being on the schedule.

I'm not even sure UConn still has a premier basketball program. That program is kind of like Virginia Tech's in football: the total accomplishment of one great coach who built it up from nothing.

UConn has to prove that Calhoun institutionalized that success so that it will outlive him, an iffy thing.

(05-08-2013 10:06 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 09:35 AM)bearcat29 Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 08:31 AM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

At times, UConn, Cincy and USF outperformed old Big East defectors.

I went back to 2007. Going through 3 coaching changes and a share of 4 BE titles, I don't think that is "at times." But I am probably just Pi$$ed at the situation.

4-2 Rutgers
4-2 Pitt
5-1 Syracuse
2-3 WVU
4-2 Rutgers

That said, I don't think the phone is going to ring. As realignment goes, this was worse than even I thought it would get.

I was hoping for a the best of the rest conference with Boise, AF, Fresno etc etc and maybe 7-10 million a year. 2 million and relegated to obscurity is not a way to get the program to the next level.

This is really the only option I see for the bigger mid-majors that offers the possibility of a significant increase in income and a chance for the mids to stay relevant. We know for sure that small regional mid-major conferences are a failure at both of those goals. The mid-major regional confernece concept has been trotted out with dozens of different combinations and the networks just yawn. Theres just no future there.

The only thing that has not been tried is the nationwide "best of the rest" model. That might fail too--but at least its offers something new. The little regional options will always be there if the nationwide model doesnt work. Theres really nothing to lose. If the small regional conferences are the only option left, then its all over anyway for the bigger mids.

That model was tried. It was called "C-USA" before the Big East raided it in 2004.

Fun conference, good games, but ... no money.

I think UConn in a P5 conference would work out just fine. Big XII, ACC, or B1G would all preserve their basketball heritage and elevate a pretty good football team.

Nutty apocalypse scenario.

UConn and Kansas to the B1G in 2025.

(05-08-2013 09:35 AM)bearcat29 Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 08:31 AM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

At times, UConn, Cincy and USF outperformed old Big East defectors.

I went back to 2007. Going through 3 coaching changes and a share of 4 BE titles, I don't think that is "at times." But I am probably just Pi$$ed at the situation.

4-2 Rutgers
4-2 Pitt
5-1 Syracuse
2-3 WVU
4-2 Rutgers

That said, I don't think the phone is going to ring. As realignment goes, this was worse than even I thought it would get.

I was hoping for a the best of the rest conference with Boise, AF, Fresno etc etc and maybe 7-10 million a year. 2 million and relegated to obscurity is not a way to get the program to the next level.

As a Rutgers fan who admits that RU won the prize for "biggest realignment winner who did the least with their sports programs to deserve it", I have empathy for Cincinnati who is a diametric opposite.

Still have hope for Cincinnati for two reasons:

-It is going to be an advantage for the B12 in the final rankings that their second best team does not pick up a loss in a championship game. If it happens once or twice that the second place B12 team gets a playoff spot, the other big conferences will get the rules changed so that a conference needs to have a championship game (and therefore, be at least 12 teams) to get a second playoff spot.

-If the B12 does ever expand, since they let any other natural partner for WVU get away there will be a lot of pressure for Cincinnati to be one of the expansion teams.

It's going to take either a lot of work or a lot of good luck for any of those programs. Look at TCU. After they were left out of the Big 12, they moved from conference to conference, spent about $100 million, got fortunate enough to hire two very good head coaches in a row and have the second one stick around for a long time, played in 2 BCS bowl games, and all of that finally got TCU into the same place that Baylor got into 15 years earlier by being lucky with Texas politics.

(05-08-2013 11:36 AM)Wedge Wrote:  It's going to take either a lot of work or a lot of good luck for any of those programs. Look at TCU. After they were left out of the Big 12, they moved from conference to conference, spent about $100 million, got fortunate enough to hire two very good head coaches in a row and have the second one stick around for a long time, played in 2 BCS bowl games, and all of that finally got TCU into the same place that Baylor got into 15 years earlier by being lucky with Texas politics.

... And actually, none of that would have gotten TCU into the Big 12 if the SEC hadn't stolen TAMU and Mizzou.

(05-08-2013 11:39 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 11:36 AM)Wedge Wrote:  It's going to take either a lot of work or a lot of good luck for any of those programs. Look at TCU. After they were left out of the Big 12, they moved from conference to conference, spent about $100 million, got fortunate enough to hire two very good head coaches in a row and have the second one stick around for a long time, played in 2 BCS bowl games, and all of that finally got TCU into the same place that Baylor got into 15 years earlier by being lucky with Texas politics.

... And actually, none of that would have gotten TCU into the Big 12 if the SEC hadn't stolen TAMU and Mizzou.

Yup. They still needed the vacancy to appear even after all of those years of hard work and spending money. Otherwise, they'd still be circling a mid-November Mountain West showdown with Boise State on their football calendar every year.

But what all that money and effort did for TCU was to put them head-and-shoulders above every other school that wanted to get into the Big 12 when that vacancy occurred.

That's what's so frustrating about all this. 90% luck, 10% preparation it seems.

(05-08-2013 11:39 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 11:36 AM)Wedge Wrote:  It's going to take either a lot of work or a lot of good luck for any of those programs. Look at TCU. After they were left out of the Big 12, they moved from conference to conference, spent about $100 million, got fortunate enough to hire two very good head coaches in a row and have the second one stick around for a long time, played in 2 BCS bowl games, and all of that finally got TCU into the same place that Baylor got into 15 years earlier by being lucky with Texas politics.

... And actually, none of that would have gotten TCU into the Big 12 if the SEC hadn't stolen TAMU and Mizzou.

They wouldn't be there if BYU and Air Force had said yes.

(05-08-2013 12:02 PM)lew240z Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 11:39 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 11:36 AM)Wedge Wrote:  It's going to take either a lot of work or a lot of good luck for any of those programs. Look at TCU. After they were left out of the Big 12, they moved from conference to conference, spent about $100 million, got fortunate enough to hire two very good head coaches in a row and have the second one stick around for a long time, played in 2 BCS bowl games, and all of that finally got TCU into the same place that Baylor got into 15 years earlier by being lucky with Texas politics.

... And actually, none of that would have gotten TCU into the Big 12 if the SEC hadn't stolen TAMU and Mizzou.

They wouldn't be there if BYU and Air Force had said yes.

Any AQ conference that accepts a military academy instantly becomes second rate.

(05-08-2013 08:31 AM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ce-options

The short answer is no.

(05-08-2013 09:41 AM)DonnyMost Wrote:  I'm worried that the next 10 years will not be kind to USF and UConn.

Are you saying that you think the next 10 years will be ok for UC, but bad for USF and UConn? I'm curious why you don't think that it will be bad for UC as well.