UCONN loves to talk about our content in the B1G
- Thread starter ruthetiger
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yep - if, if, if ....
If many years ago, the stars had aligned correctly & egos were momentarily subdued & a few visionary dynamic leaders had emerged ... a real quality Mid Atlantic / North East conference could have developed - but that ship sailed long ago - and each school found a place to be... some ended up better off than others - and the ones who got left in a tough spot are bitter - and know that they may wither away over time ...
If many years ago, the stars had aligned correctly & egos were momentarily subdued & a few visionary dynamic leaders had emerged ... a real quality Mid Atlantic / North East conference could have developed - but that ship sailed long ago - and each school found a place to be... some ended up better off than others - and the ones who got left in a tough spot are bitter - and know that they may wither away over time ...
Hmmmm...isn't that some lonely, forlorn, isolated place located up in northwestern Canada?? -Oh wait, we're talking UConn here, not Yukon. -My bad.
Bwahaha. SO they wouldnt take non-member - ND? They didnt know they were about to kick Nebraska out of the AAU?
Please. If UConn were the only BCS team in the NYC market all it would have taken was a promise to work really really hard to be an AAU member, which they would have and they would have taken them. Its not like UCOnn is a terrible school or a tiny liberal arts school.
I think their argument is that we provide nothing to the table for the conference...period!
Their argument is a top 20 university. our argument is where's the research? Their argument, according to 1 publication, UCONN is a more prestigious school in terms of profile. Our argument, is and always will be 1 publication, and they're not an AAU school. We can all play the conjecture game, but as the OSU fan just said, they're not an AAU school. As a whole, they outrank us as a public institution in SOME areas, but not in others, which lead to the sour grapes and and bashing of ours.
With respect and regard to athletics, the third most popular sport in the conference, I believe is wrestling, which they have no program. We've been competetive in wrestling for years, yet they don't recognize this. They're fallback will and always be M/WBB, and probably hockey. It could very well be that they can compete in other sports while we try to labor, but let's not kid ourselves, whose watching those sports anyway?
I'm not too sure of this but I really don't think they were ever in the picture for expansion, because of 1 or 2 factors, market and the infancy of their program. Either of which was not even taken into serious consideration.
Their argument is a top 20 university. our argument is where's the research? Their argument, according to 1 publication, UCONN is a more prestigious school in terms of profile. Our argument, is and always will be 1 publication, and they're not an AAU school. We can all play the conjecture game, but as the OSU fan just said, they're not an AAU school. As a whole, they outrank us as a public institution in SOME areas, but not in others, which lead to the sour grapes and and bashing of ours.
With respect and regard to athletics, the third most popular sport in the conference, I believe is wrestling, which they have no program. We've been competetive in wrestling for years, yet they don't recognize this. They're fallback will and always be M/WBB, and probably hockey. It could very well be that they can compete in other sports while we try to labor, but let's not kid ourselves, whose watching those sports anyway?
I'm not too sure of this but I really don't think they were ever in the picture for expansion, because of 1 or 2 factors, market and the infancy of their program. Either of which was not even taken into serious consideration.
Academics is a fig leaf - one that should have been blown to the wind as soon as the Big Ten took Nebraska.
Yes- they have sour grapes - because despite being literally the worst BCS athletic department in the past 20 years, and them being a pretty good one, we are in a great conference, and they are rotting on the vine. Roughly equal
They might say other stupid things to try to back up their opinion - but it boils down to - rightly so, that they are pissed that basically athletic achievement really doesnt matter in getting invites to athletic conferences, so they will be stuck no matter how great they do, simply due to their location.
We would be doing the same stupid crap they are if the tables were reversed. Hell, we did do it, just playing up our own strengths (i.e. our market, our academics, etc) when it looked like we would be left out in the cold.
Yes- they have sour grapes - because despite being literally the worst BCS athletic department in the past 20 years, and them being a pretty good one, we are in a great conference, and they are rotting on the vine. Roughly equal
They might say other stupid things to try to back up their opinion - but it boils down to - rightly so, that they are pissed that basically athletic achievement really doesnt matter in getting invites to athletic conferences, so they will be stuck no matter how great they do, simply due to their location.
We would be doing the same stupid crap they are if the tables were reversed. Hell, we did do it, just playing up our own strengths (i.e. our market, our academics, etc) when it looked like we would be left out in the cold.
If Uconn were the only game in town, I'm not sure it would have played out the way it did. For all Rutgers' shortcomings, there was talk of us in the Big Ten going back 20 years (as you know).
I think realignment would have shaken out much differently if Rutgers wasn't on the radar. I think our admission makes the potential of Uconn's admission at least theoretically possible down the road.
For all we know, if UNC was willing to bail we might not have gotten invited. It's not like Uconn and RU are interchangeable realignment parts. imo.
This post was edited on 3/5 4:04 PM by strings74
What a weird criteria you used, Derleider, as if the last two years of UCONN suckage while we were in the same conference as them didn't count.
Let's do it the right way, with an actual apples to apples comparison.
We'll start with 2004, the first year UCONN joined the Big East, and finish with 2013, the last year we were in the same conference (AAC) as UCONN. 10 year period.
2004 - 2013 seasons
Overall records---advantage RUTGERS
RU 75-51
UCONN 63-60
Big East/AAC records----advantage RUTGERS
RU 34-36
UCONN 30-40
Finished the season higher in conference standings----advantage RUTGERS
RU 6 seasons
UCONN 4 seasons
Head to head against UCONN----advantage RUTGERS
RU 6-4
UCONN 4-6
Number of losing regular seasons-----advantage RUTGERS
RU - 2 out of 10 (2004,2010)
UCONN - 5 out of 10 (2005,2006, 2011, 2012, 2013)
there is nothing remotely decent about their football team or program when you do an honest comparison.
Another analogy true even by their own argument. In terms of potential and what each provides:
Rutgers:
UConn
the first lady quite frankly was born with it and you can tell the potential is there without her even trying, the second is trying her best with what she started out with.
Athletically, if UConn tries even harder to make up for its limitations in other areas you end up with the following
Versus if Rutgers gets their shit together:
If you were the B1G, in 10 years who would you want to wake up next to? I don't think they care that we haven't yet figured out how to put the makeup on.
This post was edited on 3/5 6:15 PM by RUTBAY
We were admitted to the Big 10 for due to MULTIPLE factors that made us a great match. We fit the Big 10 profile - large AAU research university with strong academics, 52,000 seat on-campus stadium, 10 year football winning tradition, including 9 bowl games, etc. Being in the shadow of NYC was the icing on the cake.
UConn does NOT fit the Big 10 profile, but it could be a good match for the ACC (good basketball) although their football team and off-campus high school-like stadium is awful. The non-delusional Boneyard posters know this, and it really stings that they were passed over by the ACC. but they really should not be upset about Rutgers being accepted to the B1G - UConn never was, and never will be, on the Big 10 radar screen.
-Scarlet Jerry
UConn does NOT fit the Big 10 profile, but it could be a good match for the ACC (good basketball) although their football team and off-campus high school-like stadium is awful. The non-delusional Boneyard posters know this, and it really stings that they were passed over by the ACC. but they really should not be upset about Rutgers being accepted to the B1G - UConn never was, and never will be, on the Big 10 radar screen.
-Scarlet Jerry
Not even clicking the link. They could all go to hell to be honest. I'm so done with those puppies always whimpering. We're a Big Ten school and they aren't and there's no amount of bitching that will ever reverse that.
Hahaha, Yukon.
I refuse to read some jealousy filled thread, but the thought of that school in the B1G is laughable. First rule of entrance, be an AAU school. Yukon isn't even eligible for B1G membership, regardless of what their hoops program does.
I refuse to read some jealousy filled thread, but the thought of that school in the B1G is laughable. First rule of entrance, be an AAU school. Yukon isn't even eligible for B1G membership, regardless of what their hoops program does.
Ruthetiger, you got sucked into a thread started by their moron of a moderator designed to get clicks. It worked. Uconn will never move up to a power conference. They were passed over by the ACC and not even on the Big Ten's radar. Their football team never was, isn't now and doesn't stand a chance of ever becoming Div 1 quality. The football team is terrible and it's getting worse. It'll be followed by the bball team. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of fans. I' recommend never posting on their boards. why validate them?
Athletic achievement has basically never mattered, and arguing as such is (IMO) a normative statement. Something which Syracuse fans and others don't understand is that past and/or present athletic success is a means to an end for what's actually important: fan support, viewership, national prominence, and money (all of which, while correlated with success, are not exclusively caused by success). In the only sport which actually matters in conference realignment (football), Rutgers basically just started being serious 2 decades ago and already reached higher average home attendance records and viewership numbers than similar peers while being slightly above average in a below average conference. Do we have some built in advantages (like location)? Of course, just like virtually every other major program also has some suite of built in advantages which helped them become big. We are not unique in that aspect, we were just late to the party and are now unlocking our potential.
People shouldn't be saying "Wow rutgers got so lucky!", they should instead be saying "what the heck took so long for Rutgers to become a national player despite being a good academic flagship university in a populous state wedged between two of the biggest media markets in the US with no local D1 competition, fertile recruiting grounds, and a huge alumni base"?
This post was edited on 3/6 1:37 AM by RUGT
No we wouldn't. There wasn't much of that for ANY team that left the Big East for the ACC.. why would UCONN have been any different? We would have just blamed R-selves.. again.
This post was edited on 3/6 8:37 AM by GoodOl'Rutgers
Still hard to believe that in the old, hyper competitive Big East where we slugged it out with WVU, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, UCONN, South Florida...that we ended up with the prized position.
Uconn should give up football. The weak HS football scene in the state will never be anywhere near good enough for a program to thrive there.
Uconn should give up football. The weak HS football scene in the state will never be anywhere near good enough for a program to thrive there.
So all UConn has to do is join the AAU and then colossally fudge up and get kicked out? As long as it gets them in the "academic" conference?
As der pointed out, are we really suggersting that the B1G wouldn't take the non-AAU Notre Dame?
Again I ask: Is Nebraska an AAU member?
This post was edited on 3/6 8:53 AM by mal359
You have it backwards. Being in the shadow of NYC is the cake. All the other stuff is the icing.
The comparison to ND is ridiculous. ND is on another level than all the other schools and every conference would take them as a full member in a heartbeat.
Uconn has done everything right as an athletic department except with respect with football. The Uconn athletic department makes RU look like chicken shit except for their football program.
But, thankfully their football program looks like a failed experiment. The stadium is nothing special and it's not near the campus, nobody cares about that team, the state produces little talent, in their best years they were mediocre, their blow-out loss to Oklahoma was probably the nail in the coffin moving to the playoffs - nobody wanted an afterthought like Uconn in a BCS game.
People care about RU football. Nobody cares about Uconn football.
and of course, as stated by many posters, RU got in because of geography. I can live with that everyday of the week.
But, thankfully their football program looks like a failed experiment. The stadium is nothing special and it's not near the campus, nobody cares about that team, the state produces little talent, in their best years they were mediocre, their blow-out loss to Oklahoma was probably the nail in the coffin moving to the playoffs - nobody wanted an afterthought like Uconn in a BCS game.
People care about RU football. Nobody cares about Uconn football.
and of course, as stated by many posters, RU got in because of geography. I can live with that everyday of the week.
Are you really saying UConn is on the same level as Notre dame in any respect?
Yes an exception would be made for the domers, but only them. Remarks from Nebraska's chancellor says as much, if they had not been a AAU member since 1909 they most likely do not join the B1G.
Yes TV market, stadium size, and all those other things are important, but this is not the ACC where academics mean nothing at all and AAU membership is important to those at the top of the B1G.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/26078/nebraska-loses-aau-status
"All the Big Ten schools are AAU members. I doubt that our application would've been accepted had we not been a member of the organization." - Harvey Perlman
Yes an exception would be made for the domers, but only them. Remarks from Nebraska's chancellor says as much, if they had not been a AAU member since 1909 they most likely do not join the B1G.
Yes TV market, stadium size, and all those other things are important, but this is not the ACC where academics mean nothing at all and AAU membership is important to those at the top of the B1G.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/26078/nebraska-loses-aau-status
"All the Big Ten schools are AAU members. I doubt that our application would've been accepted had we not been a member of the organization." - Harvey Perlman
And it's quite possible they may regain it. As I recall, there were serious disagreements about the classification of Nebraska's research - those judging AAU standards felt some of it didn't meet certain criteria, hence NU losing AAU status. I know NU has appealed - I don't know if that was already settled or if that is still ongoing.
A lot of NU's research grant are related to agriculture. AAU did not let agricultural research carry much weight. They also cannot claim their medical school because it is located in Omaha.
A lot of speculation is there was resentment by the president of the AAU, who used to be president at Texas, that NU left the Big 12 and because the NU chancellor sent out an email to B1G schools letting them know they were being review before the AAU released the information so he pushed for NU to lose their AAU status.
Im not even from NJ.
The AAU thing is convenient because basically any school the Big Ten would want is already an AAU school. But we know they would take non-AAU ND. And its a safe bet that they would have taken Nebraska if they were or werent AAU, since they got kicked out of AAU and not out of the Big Ten, despite being, academically, and research wise the worst school in the conference.
UConn would be the lowest Big Ten school in research (similar to Nebraska its med school is a separate institution), but basically on par with Indiana. Better than Notre Dame. In other rankings its as good as or better than quite a few Big Ten schools. SO I think its safe to say - given that the Big Ten isnt wedded to the AAU thing, and that UConn is within the general footprint of Big Ten academics that if UConn were in NJ, and Rutgers were in CT, then UCOnn would be in the Big Ten and Rutgers would be in the AAC.
Of course this is just pointless banter. UConn isnt in. Its sour grapes are somewhat understandable, but mostly - who cares. We hit the lottery, they didn't.
But I agree, getting Rutgers fans to admit that we were admitted for any other reason than - we make the Big Ten alot of money by being in a huge untapped market is in fact tilting at windmills.
Because we were already invited, that's why. The last two years in the desert and the first Big Ten year are not worthy of comparison, because once we were in -- which came during the 2012 season, if I'm remembering correctly, meaning that year and the two after it don't matter for purposes of this conversation -- you can stop comparing.
Irrelevant information.
Bottom line is this: We are in because of where we are located and what kind of overall university we have. We fit the profile better and bring more eyeballs to the TV sets. NOTHING we did in football got us a Big Ten invitation. Nothing.
Of course our overall football has been better, but we didn't win or share a conference title until after they did. You can't take that away from them, just as they can't argue their program has been better for the past decade, because it hasn't been.
Look, if the roles were reversed, we would feel the exact same way. But saying we've done ANYTHING to merit our inclusion in the Big Ten is preposterous. Delany can say all the right things, and Rutgers people can say all the right things, but the exact same program in Storrs, Conn. would not have gotten in, while their program in New Brunswick would have, assuming the universities attached to them aren't also switched. (And that's no knock on UConn, just a recognition that Rutgers is in a better position in that way, too.)
Where we are on solid ground ripping some of those clowns is on some of the crap they spew when they whine about the situation, because they often are way off base. If they want to analyze the program in a vaccuum, they can sometimes be right, but comparing it to theirs? Let's face it, on the football field alone, neither one had merited an invite to a better conference, but that doesn't change the fact ours is in better shape than theirs.
But, not to piggyback on others, we're in because of where we are (first) and what our school is (second). If you want to throw in potential for football, fine, but we've been talking potential in football since the move to "bigger time" and we don't have that much to show for it aside from a fistful of minor bowls and a really, really bad conference record over the years.
But, to paraphrase something Geno used to say when they had Taurasi, "We're in the Big Ten, and you're not." The "nyah nyah nyah nyah" is merely implied.
