(06-24-2019 10:08 AM)Dawgxas Wrote:  UConn did not want be stuck on ESPN + behind a paywall.

UConn basketball brand is the most valuable brand in the AAC and the recent TV contract devalued their brand.

UConn thinks it can do better in a true power conference such as the Big East

Everyone will be behind a paywall . That is the future of the business. Cable is history.
Memphis, Cincy , Houston , WSU and Temple beg to differ with your statement that the BE is better than the AAC.

Making more money does not devalue your brand. UConn want to run the conference and the others members would not go along .

(06-24-2019 10:02 AM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:41 AM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  Has this thread answered why UConn would want to leave the AAC yet?

Look at the first page, it was answered by UConn fan.

Decreased value from AAC TV contract

That dude also just said UConn is going to leave the Big East for a P5 conference in a few years so take it with a grain of salt

(06-24-2019 10:13 AM)First Family Forever Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 10:08 AM)Dawgxas Wrote:  UConn did not want be stuck on ESPN + behind a paywall.

UConn basketball brand is the most valuable brand in the AAC and the recent TV contract devalued their brand.

UConn thinks it can do better in a true power conference such as the Big East

Everyone will be behind a paywall . That is the future of the business. Cable is history.
Memphis, Cincy , Houston , WSU and Temple beg to differ with your statement that the BE is better than the AAC.

Making more money does not devalue your brand. UConn want to run the conference and the others members would not go along .

The funny thing is everyone has been behind a "pay wall" for decades. Stop paying your cable bill and see how many ESPN or FS1 games you get.

(06-24-2019 10:13 AM)First Family Forever Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 10:08 AM)Dawgxas Wrote:  UConn did not want be stuck on ESPN + behind a paywall.

UConn basketball brand is the most valuable brand in the AAC and the recent TV contract devalued their brand.

UConn thinks it can do better in a true power conference such as the Big East

Everyone will be behind a paywall . That is the future of the business. Cable is history.
Memphis, Cincy , Houston , WSU and Temple beg to differ with your statement that the BE is better than the AAC.

Making more money does not devalue your brand. UConn want to run the conference and the others members would not go along .

This La Tech guy keeps asserting this as fact and refuses to listen to facts that refute his claim. He's so desperate to hate on the AAC that he just asserts this stuff for the hell of it.

The AAC was barely, barely behind the BE in RPI last year. We finished 7th, they finished 6th. Both were ahead of the PAC12. That means, clearly, that the AAC is a power basketball conference.

And that was with WSU having a big down year and Memphis still in the Penny rebuild mode. Memphis now has the #1 class in the nation and will be a Top 10 team next season.

UConn wasn't even a factor last year. I guarantee that the AAC will remain just as good if not better than the BE over the coming years. 100%

(06-24-2019 10:08 AM)First Family Forever Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 10:02 AM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 09:41 AM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  Has this thread answered why UConn would want to leave the AAC yet?

Look at the first page, it was answered by UConn fan.

Decreased value from AAC TV contract

The value of the TV contact increased for everyone involved it went from $ 2 million to $ 7 million . The UConn fan was incorrect . UConn would lose a $ 1 million deal with SNY , but they still would have made more money. This does not included the CBS money and football payout money .This was only a good move for UConn if they intend to drop football.

Exactly. The Courant just had an article detailing how UConn will actually make less money in the BE. This move was made to appease a very vocal segment of the fan base who want to play their traditional northeastern rivals. It was made because the administration hopes it will stem declining attendance and declining performance. Attendance will probably improve initially---but if they cant win anymore games than they did in the AAC---that attendance spike may not last.

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

The timing is right and big bball donors saw an opportunity to push their agenda through b/f a new president takes office and the new conference contract goes into effect...now or never type of thing. Kudos to them and hope it works out. I do feel for UCONN fball fans and those who have given hard earned money to FBS football over the years. The move should prove to help bolster home attendance for both men’s and women’s programs. They’ve decided to emphasize bball over fball and in doing so, the Big East makes more sense for them. Indy, or even eventual FCS, probably closes some fball losses...at least maybe makes it more palatable to bball supporters. Probably the highest profile team yet to concede P5 dreams.

(06-24-2019 11:06 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

Temple and Cincy too. They'll rejoin UConn in the Big East by at least 2025 if they don't get in the Big 12 by then.

(06-24-2019 11:06 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

Why would UCONN leaving have any bearing on Navy’s status? They don’t even play bball in the AAC. From all accounts, the midshipmen are happy...very happy with the increased exposure and resulting dollars. (The Army deal is separate and they kept Sat. CBSSN games). The access bowl and the exposure it gives is also in play. Anyone remember 2016, when the committee made the decision to delay declaring the G5 rep. until after the Army/Navy game? It ended up all for naught, but many were complaining of AAC bias and undo favoritism as Navy was behind WMU in the polls at the time.

What’s the incentive for leaving? Not that they couldn’t eventually leave, but just having a hard time seeing how it could be related to UCONN as they are in very different situations. If anything, UCONN was probably ticked b/c Navy got to keep their special deal and they didn’t.

(06-24-2019 11:29 AM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 11:06 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

Why would UCONN leaving have any bearing on Navy’s status? They don’t even play bball in the AAC. From all accounts, the midshipmen are happy...very happy with the increased exposure and resulting dollars. (The Army deal is separate and they kept Sat. CBSSN games). The access bowl and the exposure it gives is also in play. Anyone remember 2016, when the committee made the decision to delay declaring the G5 rep. until after the Army/Navy game? It ended up all for naught, but many were complaining of AAC bias and undo favoritism as Navy was behind WMU in the polls at the time.

What’s the incentive for leaving? Not that they couldn’t eventually leave, but just having a hard time seeing how it could be related to UCONN as they are in very different situations. If anything, UCONN was probably ticked b/c Navy got to keep their special deal and they didn’t.

UConn gone. Navy, Temple and Cincy with their foot out the door. Man that has to suck for the P6.

I honestly still think that there is some monetary benefits for the move. It hasn’t been spoken aloud yet, but I’m sure it’s there.

(06-24-2019 11:34 AM)deb025 Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 11:29 AM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 11:06 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

Why would UCONN leaving have any bearing on Navy’s status? They don’t even play bball in the AAC. From all accounts, the midshipmen are happy...very happy with the increased exposure and resulting dollars. (The Army deal is separate and they kept Sat. CBSSN games). The access bowl and the exposure it gives is also in play. Anyone remember 2016, when the committee made the decision to delay declaring the G5 rep. until after the Army/Navy game? It ended up all for naught, but many were complaining of AAC bias and undo favoritism as Navy was behind WMU in the polls at the time.

What’s the incentive for leaving? Not that they couldn’t eventually leave, but just having a hard time seeing how it could be related to UCONN as they are in very different situations. If anything, UCONN was probably ticked b/c Navy got to keep their special deal and they didn’t.

UConn gone. Navy, Temple and Cincy with their foot out the door. Man that has to suck for the P6.

Lol, everyone has one foot out the door. Shame on them if they don’t. Nobody else has any place to go. Best thing to do is keep building programs until the landscape changes and opportunities arise. The increase in tv dollars (unaffected by the UCONN loss) will certainly help with that.

(06-24-2019 11:35 AM)EagleNationRising Wrote:  I honestly still think that there is some monetary benefits for the move. It hasn’t been spoken aloud yet, but I’m sure it’s there.

Sure, I haven't run through them yet, but the Big East is likely to begin receiving as much money via TV and NCAA Tourney distributions than UConn would get from the CFB Playoff pool (and that's even with the AAC getting the Access Bowl) with fewer expenses as a result of most Big East schools not playing football at all. Getting to re-establish traditional basketball rivalries is just icing on the cake.

The better question isn't why. There is obviously a number of reasons and no single factor that contributed to the decision, but the better question is what does it mean for the AAC. And then the rest of the G5 writ large.

There probably isn't a single school the AAC can add to replace UCONN in terms of market, basketball, and academic pedigree. The biggest thing that the AAC is losing is the New York media market by this move. So, what's the impact in the new TV deal? That's going to have significant impact. How much? Who knows. So, the question is would either the addition of Army as football only member or Buffalo provide enough equity to make up for that loss. The answer is probably no, but those are really your only two options to stay in New York. And Buffalo is a stretch, because that's upstate and not NYC.

So, that leaves the AAC looking elsewhere to keep from getting hammered on the TV deal. NIU could be in play to try to bring the Chicago market in play as an offset to losing NY. But again that's not likely to be enough.

Regardless of the internal politics, decision making, and value or lack thereof to football at UConn this is not a good look for the AAC. IMO, this is the first time they've looked vulnerable. And if we read between the tea leaves, UConn's decision wasn't just a here and now moment type decision. There is something on the horizon that - IMO - demonstrates the first crack in the foundation of the AAC. That said, that league is still better off than we are, but it's a sign of things to come. And as someone who has studied this topic and was intimately involved in what happened in the first two rounds of the realignment/expansion/contraction or whatever you want to call it I see something bigger behind this. This isn't just a one-off move. This is going to be felt by all of us down the line in some form or fashion. It may take a couple of years, but there is more to this than just UConn wanting to be basketball buds again with Villanova and St. Johns.

II'm not convinced that UCONN is such a big loss. The AAC just cut ties with an awful football program and a struggling basketball program. Any of the top four CUSA programs would be an instant upgrade. The AAC is probably relieved that UCONN is gone. Move on to ODU, Marshall, or Southern Mississippi.

I’m not sure relieved is the right word. Losing one of the consistently worst teams in FBS can only help sos and rankings. However, bball is a big blow regardless of past AAC performance. Don’t see a comparable replacement out there. Still, the AAC was a multibid league w/UCONN and should remain so when they leave. From that standpoint, not too bad of a loss, but a loss nonetheless especially in perception.

(06-24-2019 12:00 PM)Ourland Wrote:  II'm not convinced that UCONN is such a big loss. The AAC just cut ties with an awful football program and a struggling basketball program. Any of the top four CUSA programs would be an instant upgrade. The AAC is probably relieved that UCONN is gone. Move on to ODU, Marshall, or Southern Mississippi.

This. They were a HORRID football program and haven't been good in hoops in years now. Memphis has the #1 class in the nation and WSU had a down year last year, yet we had 4 teams in the Tourney and none were UConn.

(06-24-2019 11:27 AM)deb025 Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 11:06 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

Temple and Cincy too. They'll rejoin UConn in the Big East by at least 2025 if they don't get in the Big 12 by then.

Cincy just last year played on ABC Primetime in Orlando as part of a College Gameday feature, and you think they're going to blow up their football program within 5 years all for the sake of joining some basketball only conference?

My God, some of the takes here are just too good.

You guys are hilarious sometimes. Pimp out schools that had their heyday in the 70's and 80's when it fits the narrative but when they haven't done anything in the last three year well they suck when it fits that narrative. LMAO.

It's only been five years since UConn won the national title. Perhaps the problem with UConn was the AAC - not the other way around? Hmm. Think about that for a sec.

Which is probably another reason why they recognized they needed to get out.

(06-24-2019 11:29 AM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  

(06-24-2019 11:06 AM)va-eagle Wrote:  

(06-23-2019 10:04 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm curious what the new ESPN contract will look like once UConn leaves. There is no question that the AAC was bad for UConn - all the AAC supporters chiming in here can't deny that. You have to wonder if Temple is next - that's another school that is like 500 miles from its nearest conference rival.

You have to wonder if Navy is next. Army isn't joining same league as Navy because that would screw up the Army-Navy game date. The true flagship of AAC just bounced and will put it's football as a Indy. Can't see Navy sticking around long.

Why would UCONN leaving have any bearing on Navy’s status? They don’t even play bball in the AAC. From all accounts, the midshipmen are happy...very happy with the increased exposure and resulting dollars. (The Army deal is separate and they kept Sat. CBSSN games). The access bowl and the exposure it gives is also in play. Anyone remember 2016, when the committee made the decision to delay declaring the G5 rep. until after the Army/Navy game? It ended up all for naught, but many were complaining of AAC bias and undo favoritism as Navy was behind WMU in the polls at the time.

What’s the incentive for leaving? Not that they couldn’t eventually leave, but just having a hard time seeing how it could be related to UCONN as they are in very different situations. If anything, UCONN was probably ticked b/c Navy got to keep their special deal and they didn’t.

Where in conference realignment has a conference been better off when a flagship program leaves? Not in any of the many cases.

Yes, I remember the 2016 situation being a problem. If Navy had won the CCG, some bowl teams would have had to wait an extra week to find out who they were playing and prepare. Fans would have had to wait an extra week to make travel arrangements. Those are both negatives.

(06-24-2019 12:35 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  You guys are hilarious sometimes. Pimp out schools that had their heyday in the 70's and 80's when it fits the narrative but when they haven't done anything in the last three year well they suck when it fits that narrative. LMAO.

It's only been five years since UConn won the national title. Perhaps the problem with UConn was the AAC - not the other way around? Hmm. Think about that for a sec.

Which is probably another reason why they recognized they needed to get out.

Except they won a national title while in the AAC. I think they got unlucky with injuries and I think Ollie wasnt as a good a coach/recruiter as Calhoun (lol...not a big stretch there). I think UConn was already on the rebound under Hurly and I expect they will do well this year.

I think the real issue is the UConn fanbase never really embraced the AAC. The administration understood that the only reason they were in the AAC at all was for football. After 5 years in the AAC---I think they concluded their downward trending football team was never going to be successful. Once they made that determination---they elected to concentrate on what they do well at UConn---basketball.

Once they reached that decision---moving to a more regional, basketballcentric conference---that was extremely highly regarded and offered them games against rivals their fans really cared about---was a the logical and prudent move. Its a loss for the AAC---but I absolutely understand the reasoning behind the move. The AAC was fine platform for UConn to continue to be a national power in basketball--but the UConn fans were never going to embrace that far flung conference in the same way they would embrace the familiar regional members of the Big East. This move was done for the fans and to align UConn with basketball first peers.