(08-12-2019 08:51 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(08-11-2019 11:35 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  That's the root of the problem, the school is writing an $11M plus check each year to keep athletics funded. Student athletic fees are already pretty high.

...

$15,159,430 is already taken in fees from the 19,958 full time students (over $750 per head -- which is the highest of any FBS school), so that is not a realistic source for additional revenue.

For what it's worth, mandatory student athletic fees are revenue in the same way a check written by the university is revenue. There isn't a meaningful difference between tacking a mandatory athletic fee onto the semester's tuition and raising tuition to pay for a transfer to the athletic department, although it is a little more honest.

...and yes, UConn's among the biggest offenders out there.

(08-12-2019 07:59 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  But at second glance, the explanation is also pretty clear: UConn leaving the AAC has set off tremors and reverbs, it's been a kind of shock wave, and so constituencies at other G5 schools are asking the same questions about their futures, and thinking along the lines of UConn. And this is a manifestation of that. Will these tremors be just that, temporary shakes that pass, or will more dominos in all G5 leagues fall? We'll see.

Eh, the UConn/Big East situation was pretty unique in the world of college sports for a number of reasons, and ECU's identity is pretty tied in to being a "football school". They'll cut the rest of the department to the NCAA limit before they do something that would seriously impact football (kind of like UConn is willing to possibly set football adrift to preserve basketball).

Far be it from me to tell a UConn supporter what UConn is doing, but here goes ... I do not think UConn has 'cut football adrift' in the sense of leaving behind FBS or the ultimate dream of P5 membership. IMO, UConn remains fully dedicated to achieving P5 membership in the ACC or B1G, and that this move to the Big East is designed to advance towards that. It's one reason my delight as a Big East fan in having UConn back is not full-throated, we are not your destination conference.

IMO, the Big East move advances the P5 agenda because not only was football failing in the AAC (so it could hardly do worse as Indy), but the prized basketball programs were withering on the vine as well**, and the Big East is a chance to revive hoops while working on football. It may not work out that way, but IMO that is the logic of it.

That said, to me, the big difference between UConn and ECU is that ECU has no Big East option. But UConn is that most prestigious public G5 school, so if they do something dramatic, that will be impactful, and I think this article is an example of that.


Yeah I know, UConn women's hoops is still #1, but their are now a few thousand UConn students who have been on the campus for more than 3 years and have not seen the team win the national title. At UConn, that's a bit of a wither.