Sources: UConn, Big 12 in early talks for potential membership

NT80 · August 24

"The addition would be for all sports, and the delay to 2031 in football would in theory give UConn a chance to catch up to be more prepared to join the league at that time in terms of funding and a talent upgrade through NIL.

The other sports, including UConn's dominant basketball programs, would be added whenever UConn could negotiate or wait out the 27-month waiting period to exit the league."

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/40968712/uconn-big-12-early-talks-potential-membership

Cougar King · August 24

Yuck! They had to leave the AAC because they couldn't compete with UH, Cincy and UCF or hell even Memphis. They definitely wouldn't be able to compete in the XII

DentonLurker · August 24

6 minutes ago, Cougar King said:

Yuck! They had to leave the AAC because they couldn't compete with UH, Cincy and UCF or hell even Memphis. They definitely wouldn't be able to compete in the XII

UConn to the Big XII is about basketball, not football

NT80 · August 24

14 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

UConn to the Big XII is about basketball, not football

It's totally about Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark wanting their elite basketball programs. He earlier had floated the idea of UConn and Gonzaga as basketball-only schools, but I guess it fell thru. The article mentions it'a not near a done deal and several schools have pushed back against it, probably because of their poor football. Perhaps UConn made a counter offer for all-sports and time to get their football in shape?

GMG_Dallas · August 24

16 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

UConn to the Big XII is about basketball, not football

I've mentioned UConn going to the Big XII via their dominant basketball program for at least a year now. I still believe UNT should throw most of their eggs in basketball while keeping the football program afloat. The Big XII specifically has marketed itself as the premiere basketball conference for a few years now. It only makes sense with our location relative to the Big XII to make a push on that front. If a spot came open, being a regular top 25 basketball team would make us an attractive addition. Frankly, it would make us attractive for any conference.

wardly · August 24

27 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

I've mentioned UConn going to the Big XII via their dominant basketball program for at least a year now. I still believe UNT should throw most of their eggs in basketball while keeping the football program afloat. The Big XII specifically has marketed itself as the premiere basketball conference for a few years now. It only makes sense with our location relative to the Big XII to make a push on that front. If a spot came open, being a regular top 25 basketball team would make us an attractive addition. Frankly, it would make us attractive for any conference.

We don't have the money to compete with the big boys in the NIL. Also, our poor attendance of 4,000 average for men's basketball closes more doors than it opens.

wardly · August 24

"Locked on Big 12 " podcast is discussing UTSA's potential to join the Big 12. The moderator is using the recent announcement of the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio merging with UTSA as a big step towards that goal as they now become the 3rd largest research facility in Texas behind UT Austin and Texas A&M . He also compares the Orlando market and UCF to San Antonio. Hey, don't shoot the messenger.If interested check him out.

DentonStang · August 24

7 hours ago, wardly said:

"Locked on Big 12 " podcast is discussing UTSA's potential to join the Big 12. The moderator is using the recent announcement of the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio merging with UTSA as a big step towards that goal as they now become the 3rd largest research facility in Texas behind UT Austin and Texas A&M . He also compares the Orlando market and UCF to San Antonio. Hey, don't shoot the messenger.If interested check him out.

Go read the titles of that guy's other unhinged videos. Pure clickbait, zero info.

GMG_Dallas · August 24

8 hours ago, wardly said:

We don't have the money to compete with the big boys in the NIL. Also, our poor attendance of 4,000 average for men's basketball closes more doors than it opens.

We're closer to competing in men's basketball than football and the much smaller roster means you require less NIL to build and maintain a team. It makes zero sense to make the push in football unless the program suddenly becomes flush with funds.

Regarding attendance, if we become NCAA tournament regulars, I think that will correct itself.

untjim1995 · August 24

The AAC is the perfect league for our teams right now. We need to show we can actually compete here in football and continue to provide strength in hoops.

wardly · August 24

3 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

We're closer to competing in men's basketball than football and the much smaller roster means you require less NIL to build and maintain a team. It makes zero sense to make the push in football unless the program suddenly becomes flush with funds.

Regarding attendance, if we become NCAA tournament regulars, I think that will correct itself.

So we beat Purdue in NCAA's, won NIT, and didn't move attendance needle one point. The students at UNT don't put cheeks in the seats and support athletics .

wardly · August 24

4 hours ago, DentonStang said:

Go read the titles of that guy's other unhinged videos. Pure clickbait, zero info.

Regardless he is talking about UTSA, not UNT.

rcade · August 24

3 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

We're closer to competing in men's basketball than football and the much smaller roster means you require less NIL to build and maintain a team.

Every other team also has those small rosters, so if teams are doling out more NIL money there's no advantage for us.

I don't want to hear that UNT should become a basketball-first program until we start to become a basketball power. Otherwise we will gain nothing by small-timing our football team.

untjim1995 · August 24

35 minutes ago, wardly said:

So we beat Purdue in NCAA's, won NIT, and didn't move attendance needle one point. The students at UNT don't put cheeks in the seats and support athletics .

It’s just not a place that cares enough about our teams. Lots of reasons, but it’s very true.

McCasland built this thing up to be the best thing it’s ever been…and we average less than half capacity.

GMG_Dallas · August 24

1 hour ago, wardly said:

So we beat Purdue in NCAA's, won NIT, and didn't move attendance needle one point. The students at UNT don't put cheeks in the seats and support athletics .

We won a single NCAA game and won an NIT that casual fans don't value. Those are great for us diehards. For everybody else, it's already been forgotten.

Without looking it up, who did 2 seed Ohio State and 3 seed Texas lose to in the first round that same tournament?

I did say NCAA tournament regulars. You brought up a single NCAA tourney win and an NIT. You made my point.

Jonnyeagle · August 24

1 hour ago, wardly said:

So we beat Purdue in NCAA's, won NIT, and didn't move attendance needle one point. The students at UNT don't put cheeks in the seats and support athletics .

Are you certain? Seems like attendance has been trending up. Nevertheless, it isn’t where it needs to be most definitely.

GMG_Dallas · August 24

57 minutes ago, rcade said:

Every other team also has those small rosters, so if teams are doling out more NIL money there's no advantage for us.

I don't want to hear that UNT should become a basketball-first program until we start to become a basketball power. Otherwise we will gain nothing by small-timing our football team.

We'll never become a basketball power until we become basketball-first. We have however been closer with basketball than football despite less funds.

GMG_Dallas · August 24

28 minutes ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Are you certain? Seems like attendance has been trending up. Nevertheless, it isn’t where it needs to be most definitely.

True. Average ttendance by year

23-24: 4132

22-23: 3609

21-22: 3779

20-21: COVID

19-20: 3243

18-19: 3427

Won't go further on the UNT website that I can see. I'd say we're trending upward.

NT80 · August 24

57 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

We'll never become a basketball power until we become basketball-first.

The UTA AD and administrators said the same thing when they were justifying dropping football.

Their basketball is still the same, lame. No change in 30 years even being the spotlight primary sport now with additional funding and a new arena.

Football drives the bus with donors and is the basis for realignment invites. It gets the majority of media coverage for a college. It always has.

GMG_Dallas · August 24

18 minutes ago, NT80 said:

The UTA AD and administrators said the same thing when they were justifying dropping football.

Their basketball is still the same, lame. No change in 30 years even being the spotlight primary sport now with additional funding and a new arena.

Football drives the bus with donors and is the basis for realignment invites. It gets the majority of media coverage for a college. It always has.

When did I ever say drop football?

MeanGreenZen · August 24

I agree that it is easier to compete against P4 in basketball than football.

Fewer players in a basketball game means that if you hit on a high impact player, that player can impact the game more than a high impact football player. He’s 1 of 10 players in basketball vs 1 of 22 (really 44) in football.

And just because we believe that basketball is the sport to invest more heavily in at North Texas, it doesn’t mean that we don’t support football and don’t want football to do well.

Elite college football is driven by its defensive linemen. Those guys are VERY rare and difficult to acquire.

Elite college basketball is driven by guards. There are a lot of those guys and it is easier for a great one to slip through the cracks to us.

Edited August 24 by MeanGreenZen

rcade · August 24

53 minutes ago, NT80 said:

The UTA AD and administrators said the same thing when they were justifying dropping football.

I was attending UTA right after that happened. They were so committed to being a basketball school that they played their games in a class building/theater that seated a measly couple thousand. I took introductory astronomy in there.

Edited August 24 by rcade

UNTcrazy727 · August 24

8 hours ago, DentonStang said:

Go read the titles of that guy's other unhinged videos. Pure clickbait, zero info.

A lot of people acting like UTSA is about to be a powerhouse institution because of the merger. They seem to forget the rest of the university is average at best and is still viewed by most people as the easy way to get into UT. And let’s not get into how most of their sports programs play in high school quality venues.

Edited August 24 by UNTcrazy727

Meangreen Fight · August 24

17 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

If a spot came open, being a regular top 25 basketball team would make us an attractive addition. Frankly, it would make us attractive for any conference.

Maybe a regular top 10 team if you don’t have 25 years of elite basket basketball history. Regular season basketball is not a media revenue generator for any program not on par with UConn historically. Conference Tournaments are the only significant revenue generator for all the basketball teams that don’t have multiple titles or multiple Final Four appearances. I don’t see how adding

I would like to run an informal poll:.

In the past 10 years if you have watched a regular season basketball game without North Texas in it and before the season gets to late January, give me a RV vote. (Less than 30 minutes straight while channel scrolling doesn’t count)

If you have watched multiple per the previous description, give me a downvote

If you haven’t watched any given the previous description but have watched multiple games after January 20 and before the NCAA tournament give me a thumbs up.

If you only watch post season tournament games or games in which UNT is ranked or playing a ranked team give me a trophy 🏆 vote.

I expect most people will like or give me a trophy vote.

Meangreen Fight · August 24

4 hours ago, wardly said:

So we beat Purdue in NCAA's, won NIT, and didn't move attendance needle one point. The students at UNT don't put cheeks in the seats and support athletics .

Don’t let facts get in the way of dreams. A Sweet 16 appearance and a last second lost to a blue blood basketball program at MINIMUM is the only thing that will move the needle here. And the program would have to follow that up, retain those players/head coach, and win a NCAA tournament game the following year.