UConn is new Big Ten member?

• gorocks99

  

  (posted on College BBall as well)
  
  Hearing from people listening to "The Herd" on ESPN Radio that Colin Cowherd is saying it's about a 100% lock to happen. Obviously it's all speculation, but this is the first a major news source has come out and said it's all but official.
  
  Thoughts? Anyone listening? I can't listen at work, I'd love to hear if anyone has heard the show today.
• LJ

  

  They aren't an AAU so I dunno
• gorocks99

  

  Seems like that's a big hangup, aside from their football program being less-than-stellar. Would be a big chip on the table though if a 14-team league is going to happen. It would introduce the Boston and NYC markets into the equation, and make other big programs (NOTRE DAME) much more likely to bite.
• Little Danny

  

  Michigan State was not AAU when it was invited years ago and that did not stop the B10. With the help of the B10, MSU was admitted to the AAU a few years latter. Delaney has been on records stating they were looking at all possibilities this go around.
  
  The fact is that UCONN's athletic department brings in a lot of money with men's football, hockey and men and women's basketball. They are within earshot of NYC and they are one of ESPN's hometown team. This expansion is all about the money folks, don't kid yourself into believing it is about anything else.
• derek bomar

  

  The Big East has to be shittin their panties right now
• krambman

  

  Pardon my ignorance, but would someone like to enlighten me as the what the AAU is?
• gorocks99

  

  Association of American Universities:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities
• devil1197

  If the B10 wants a school, they can get around any sort of issue with that current school.
  
  UCONN will be a good addition and moving to the B10 can only help their football program.
• krambman

  

  gorocks99 wrote: Association of American Universities:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities

  And why is it so important that Big Ten schools be members?
• LJ

  

  krambman wrote:

  gorocks99 wrote: Association of American Universities:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities

  And why is it so important that Big Ten schools be members?

  Because the Big Ten is an academic conference first and foremost
  
  http://www.cic.net/Home.aspx
  
  They are the only D-1 Conference currently in which every school is a member.
• hoops23

  

  UCONNS football team is pretty solid for only being D-1 for a few years...
  
  Basketball, well, we all know how good that's been.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Barf, great basketball program, another NE team (awful recruiting area) with a disinterested tv base. UConn's football program has done ok given its recruiting area and location (has anyone here besides me been to Snores, I mean Storrs), but it has probably peaked. The NYC/Boston markets simply do not care about college football.
• devil1197

  LTrain23 wrote: UCONNS football team is pretty solid for only being D-1 for a few years...
  
  Basketball, well, we all know how good that's been.

  That is true, I forgot that they are fairly new to D1 football.
  
  They will get more recruits from that area that want to stay home but play in a big conference.
• karen lotz

  

  gorocks99 wrote: Seems like that's a big hangup, aside from their football program being less-than-stellar. Would be a big chip on the table though if a 14-team league is going to happen. It would introduce the Boston and NYC markets into the equation, and make other big programs (NOTRE DAME) much more likely to bite.

  You think UCONN joining the Big Ten is gonna make Notre Dame come running?
• bigkahuna

  I like the idea.
  
  Gino probably wouldn't like it because I think there are a little higher quality women's bball teams
• Manhattan Buckeye

  "They will get more recruits from that area that want to stay home but play in a big conference. "
  
  There aren't any recruits from that area. I had a roomate that was from Connecticut, he went to a high school that by boys' enrollment would probably be D-III and maybe D-II in Ohio. Their football team? They didn't have a football team. People play soccer, hockey and lacrosse in NE. There is some HS football, but not much and the teams aren't that talented.
• gorocks99

  

  NJ has some decent football talent -- I'd put it on par with Michigan in terms of the talent produced. It's actually very interesting, from 1988-2008, 149 NFL draft picks came from New Jersey high schools, but only 22 players actually played their college ball there (can you say untapped talent?). Similarly, 33 picks played their HS ball in Connecticut, but only 18 played college there.
  
  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/draft-history-graphic.htm
  
  But you're right about New England, compared to places like Ohio, there is next to no big time high school football talent.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Yeah there are some good programs in Jersey (Ramapo, Don Bosco, even Hoboken has some good teams), but the metro area itself just doesn't care about college football, unless we're talking about people that moved to NYC that previously cared about college football. A buddy of mine who is from Richmond, VA but has lived in NYC for the last 10 years just emailed me this:
  
  "the fact that the Big 10 wants the non-existent New York college sports market has been floating around for months and indicates that no one from the Big 10 has ever, you know, been to New York."
• devil1197

  Manhattan, there are quality players from around that area. Those players will want to play in a big BCS conference.
  
  Rivals has 3 players in the Top 50 from the area same as Ohio.
  
  Now, I know that some states have more overall depth in talent.
• krambman

  

  Manhattan Buckeye wrote: Barf, great basketball program, another NE team (awful recruiting area) with a disinterested tv base. UConn's football program has done ok given its recruiting area and location (has anyone here besides me been to Snores, I mean Storrs), but it has probably peaked. The NYC/Boston markets simply do not care about college football.

  There have actually been a few big D-1 recruits to come out of Connecticut in football in recent years. Let's not forget that a lot of former college and NFL greats now live in Bristol and surrounding areas because of their work at ESPN. And there's some good football in New Jersey too. Remember Malcolm Jenkins? He was a product of Piscataway, NJ, home of Rutgers.
  
  Yes, adding these teams would be more of a boost for basketball than for football but let's be honest, there aren't nearly as many big time college football programs (BCS bowl teams) that are going to be willing to move to the Big Ten. If you add say Texas and Notre Dame you now have five teams most years (Texas, ND, OSU, Michigan, PSU) fighting for two BCS bowl slots. It will be easier to add schools that bring a lot in basketball than in football.
  
  I honestly think that adding Notre Dame will do more for the Big Ten in the NY media market than adding Rutgers and UConn will do. There is a very large Catholic population in NY and the northeast and Notre Dame has a history of playing some games in Yankee Stadium and they are picking that history back up again soon. I think that adding three Big East schools will make it even more likely that Notre Dame (who plays in the Big East in everything but football) will finally join the Big Ten.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Why don't you guys name all of these wonderful recruits from the northeast? From a per capita perspective its a wasteland compared to places like Louisiana, and again anyone that has lived in the area knows that it simply is not a college football market.
• gorocks99

  

  From a per capita perspective it is a wasteland compared to the southern states. Lets look, using the link posted above, at % of NFL players drafted from a particular state's high schools from 88-08:
  
  State, % of US Population, % of NFL draftees
  
  Ohio, 3.75%, 4%
  Michigan, 3.29%, 3%
  Indiana, 2.07%, 1%
  Illinois, 4.2%, 3%
  Iowa, 0.98%, 1%
  Minnesota, 1.7%, 1%
  Pennsylvania, 4.06%, 3%
  Wisconsin, 1.83%, 1%
  
  And some of the new states:
  New Jersey, 2.84%, 3%
  Connecticut, 1.15%, 1%
  New York, 6.3%, 2%
  
  Some southern states, for comparison:
  
  Florida, 5.97%, 10%
  Louisiana, 1.4%, 4%
  Alabama, 1.51%, 3%
  Texas, 7.81%, 11%
  
  So, the Big Ten states in general, as well as two out of the three new additions, do not produce more than their fair share of big-time talent, but rather about what you would expect (Illinois is a little low, Pennsylvania is a little low). New York does much worse. The southern states, however, definitely do produce more than population alone would suggest.
• devil1197

  Manhattan Buckeye wrote: Why don't you guys name all of these wonderful recruits from the northeast? From a per capita perspective its a wasteland compared to places like Louisiana, and again anyone that has lived in the area knows that it simply is not a college football market.

  No shit its not that great when compared to THE best areas to recruit from.
  
  But you make it seem like its some dried up desert with no talent whatsoever which is not true.
• enigmaax

  bigkahuna wrote: I like the idea.
  
  Gino probably wouldn't like it because I think there are a little higher quality women's bball teams

  Ha ha ha ha...yeah, I bet he's shaking in his boots thinking about having to play....well....no one...outside of maybe a men's rec league team
• Big Gain

  Jim Foster is the person "shaking in his boots". UCONN becoming a member of the Big Ten ends his consecutive streak of Big Ten woman's bball championships.
  
  13 sports at Ohio State WILL NOT be affected by UCCON joining the Big Ten. They only field teams in 22 sports, Ohio State has 35.