UConn to the Big East? Rumors and Discussion Thread...

[Omaha1]

I get the historical rivalries that you all developed with UCONN but adding them doesn't do much for me. Not that anyone asked or will ask

[kayako]

As unlikely as it is, I guess Yukon coming back may not be an unthinkable situation as some people claimed.

I don't care about the round robin, honestly. If Yukon comes back, bring another school in to make it 12. A Dayton, A St. Louis, or whatever best candidate isn't going to devalue this league.

[_lh]

As unlikely as it is, I guess Yukon coming back may not be an unthinkable situation as some people claimed.

I don't care about the round robin, honestly. If Yukon comes back, bring another school in to make it 12. A Dayton, A St. Louis, or whatever best candidate isn't going to devalue this league.

If the BE can get UCONN, why would there be any rush to add a 12th team? The BE is doing great as a 10 team league. If they went to 11 with UCONN, the best thing would be to wait and see how it was working before adding an arbitrary crap 12th team like Dayton, SLU or anyone not named Notre Dame or Kansas.

[Toronto Rapture]

Also, I would slap an enormous exit fee on them just in case the Big Ten or ACC comes calling 5-10 years down the road.

When you say an enormous exit fee how much are you thinking. Also would UConn agree to something like that. I would think it would need to be in the $50,000,000 range at least. You know they want then big time football dollars so they would leave in a second given the opportunity.

I would like to see 75mil for exit fees. Get a shit ton of lawyers to read the contract over and over again to make sure there are no loopholes to get out of it and have a clause in there that UConn guarantees to pay the full amount for exit fees. Also throw something in there that says UConn waives their right to go to court to get a reduced exit fee. That should persuade them from trying to leave.

There absolutely needs to be a substantial exit fee, among other measures, because UCONN will never stop exploring it's P5 opportunities until it has absolutely no choice. And in the event that UCONN were to leave again, there have to be measures in place to ensure the stability of the conference when that happens.

In the short term, there are obvious benefits to having UCONN back, but I feel there would always be a cloud of uncertainty around them, possibly clouding the conference as well.

Sorry to have sidetracked the discussion. Back to the matter at hand. If the Huskies join, I'm not sure that is the end of it. I suspect the new additions to the Big East could really care less if we add UConn or not. I wonder if there will be pressure to add another school further west like Wichita State or St. Louis maybe?

Now this I would like. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket with UCONN. Lets add another quality member at the same time...maybe more? Why wait until UCONN leaves again before doing so?

[Dave]

If they went to 11 with UCONN, the best thing would be to wait and see how it was working before adding an arbitrary crap 12th team

Spiders make some people nervous. Leafs moving in the wind make some people nervous. Girls make some people nervous. Odd numbers make some people nervous.

There is no good reason to be afraid of odd numbers. They just make some people nervous.

[stever20]

If they went to 11 with UCONN, the best thing would be to wait and see how it was working before adding an arbitrary crap 12th team

Spiders make some people nervous. Leaves moving in the wind make some people nervous. Girls make some people nervous. Odd numbers make some people nervous.

There is no good reason to be afraid of odd numbers. They just make some people nervous.

odd number of teams means you can't have everyone playing on the same weekend.

(and I thought your 1st word meant you were advocating for Richmond)

[anXUfan]

If adding UConn forces us into divisions, then I'm 100% against it. As a Xavier fan, it would be a huge loss to only see Villanova, for example, come to Cintas every other year. It completely changes the picture, and for the worse.

I understand that the long-time Big East programs are excited to play an old rival, and I do want what's best for the conference, but I'm very lukewarm about UConn. I fear they will cause nothing but friction before ultimately leaving.

[Xudash]

Sorry to have sidetracked the discussion. Back to the matter at hand. If the Huskies join, I'm not sure that is the end of it. I suspect the new additions to the Big East could really care less if we add UConn or not. I wonder if there will be pressure to add another school further west like Wichita State or St. Louis maybe?

Actually, we care deeply, and for strategic reasons, as cited by bmorex:

I would support UConn to the Big East as long as the conference stays round-robin and goes to 20 conference games. I love the round robin.

UConn provides:
1. National brand (just a down year, IMO. I'm not going to try and argue otherwise, just my opinion)
2. Increased attendance at MSG (which should help to extend the contract when it is up)
3. Interest from FOX (and in general, the next TV contract)
4. Traditional rival for half the league

Also, I would slap an enormous exit fee on them just in case the Big Ten or ACC comes calling 5-10 years down the road.

It's a no-brainer in my mind, even if their fans turn out to be generally insufferable.

As far as the exit fee is concerned, it's pretty simple in concept when it comes to structuring it:

- A very big number.
- Allow it to amortize (rather slowly) over time, with the idea being that it is going to hurt a lot if it must be paid within the first 10 years of the marriage.
- Literally no soft outs. If they join, they're in. IF they come to want to leave early, they're going to pay through their nose to get out.

[Dave]

If UConn came to us for 5 years and then left (I don't bet on this) then what is the big downside? Feelings hurt?

What they bring helps the conference, even if it was only for 5 years.

I'm for a reasonable exit fee, but not one that scuttles UConn from joining.

(yes, I really am a Nova fan)

[kayako]

As unlikely as it is, I guess Yukon coming back may not be an unthinkable situation as some people claimed.

I don't care about the round robin, honestly. If Yukon comes back, bring another school in to make it 12. A Dayton, A St. Louis, or whatever best candidate isn't going to devalue this league.

If the BE can get UCONN, why would there be any rush to add a 12th team? The BE is doing great as a 10 team league. If they went to 11 with UCONN, the best thing would be to wait and see how it was working before adding an arbitrary crap 12th team like Dayton, SLU or anyone not named Notre Dame or Kansas.

Sure, there's no rush, and 11 can work for a season or two. Other than the obvious problem of a team forced into no-weekend game on most weeks, some reasons why I think expanding to 12 is a pretty safe bet:

1. The next TV deal. And whether it's coincidence or not, there's a provision in the current deal with Fox which allows for expansion to 12 teams with no decrease in payments to each schools.

2. Notre Dame is bound to the ACC for like the next 20 years, give or take a few. UCONN is a unique case. Their motivation to rejoin the BE is probably greater than a school like Cincinnati. Which is to say, I doubt there's any interest in joining the Big East among name brand schools outside of UCONN. Even with highly unlikely scenario of several current P5 schools being abandoned by the next round of realignment, they'll just form a new G5-like conference, or better yet just join the AAC. Sorry, that's just a really long way of saying what's available now is as good as it'll get.

3. 9 years left on the MSG deal. How confindent are you that we don't lose the venue to ACC? In addition to Yukon fans, ideally the BE can add another fanbase that travels well. Maybe VCU?

4. I don't think the likes of Dayton = crap. Every program has warts, and let's not act like current BE members are above that. Show me some combination of great facilities, good attendance, good academic standing, some level of sustained success, and most importantly new TV viewers, and I'm willing to listen.

5. Just from Villanova's perspective, a 20 game conference schedule would be... perhaps not the best scenario. 20 + 4 exempt tournament games + 4 Big 5 games + Big Ten challenge leaves us with very little flexibility. Yeah I'm sure we can make it work, but I would think Jay prefers 18.