It’s Official: UConn Formally Accepts Big East Offer

Details Emerge on Big East Deal

The Story: UConn’s Board of Trustees accepted an invitation from the Big East yesterday. UConn will refrain from comment until the press conference this afternoon, but the Huskies will pay a $3.5 million entrance fee and will be on the hook for at least $10 million in exit fees.

BUYOUT, ENTRY FEES AND MORE: Open the wallet. This is going to cost a bit.

UConn wants to enter the Big East for 2020-21. But, contractually, UConn can hold off until July 1, 2022, if it can’t get out earlier (read: pay more money to the AAC). UConn will pay $3.5 million to the Big East and must negotiate an exit from the American Athletic Conference if it wants to leave sooner than 27 months from now (it does). The American’s exit fee is $10 million, and expect the Huskies to likely pay north of that figure because they will leave early. So, a good bet on this is UConn will pay more than $15 million to leave the AAC to join the Big East. Yes. This is an expensive exit for a school that still might have to pay $10 million to Kevin Ollie, is still paying Bob Diaco and required a university subsidy of about $41 million to balance the budget last fiscal year. Let’s hope Dave Benedict has some donors who can help pony up this cash.

THE ‘UCONN’ CLAUSE: There are some interesting clauses about, specifically, UConn. The biggest is if the Huskies wanted to leave the Big East. If UConn leaves the conference in the next six years, it will have a huge $30 million buyout. In Year 7, it goes down to $15 million. After a decade, it is a manageable $10 million. Why is this? UConn has a higher buyout because it plays FBS football. So, if the big-money Power 5 comes calling, UConn can leave the Big East for the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC (😂) or Pac-12 (🤪) for the cool sum of $30 million. This shuts the door on UConn leaving for a non-big revenue conference. It’s either the Big Time or the Big East.

FOOTBALL ONLY CLAUSE: Interestingly enough, UConn can enter another conference for football, such as remaining with the AAC or joining the MAC or even C-USA. UConn, however, is prohibited from joining a power conference as a football-only member. This is an interesting clause since there is no feasible scenario where a Power 5 conference would take UConn as a football-only institution at this juncture. This is likely protection in the event there is another round of chaotic realignment in the next decade. If UConn wants to once again go for the football glory, the Big East isn’t going to be a backstop. Our opinion? The Big East is just protecting itself in case of unknown happenings.

SNY BACK IN PLAY! SNY, the home of the New York Mets and UConn sports, is potentially alive and well. The current deal allows UConn to keep its third-tier rights, which means the Huskies can air those games on SNY as they have in the past. UConn was going to have all of its third-tier content shift to ESPN+ if it wasn’t taken by the linear cable network, per the AAC contract. UConn’s SNY deal is one of the more attractive in the nation. As a football independent, UConn could have its games at Rentschler Field televised on SNY. That’s a big deal for the network, and the school, and we imagine could attract some major teams who would like to play a game televised in the New York market. This all has to be negotiated, but this is the upside of leaving the AAC. UConn will have greater control of its third-tier rights and its football game times. Maybe there will be more pregame and postgame shows for all of UConn sports on SNY.

BOTTOM LINE: UConn is headed to the Big East and we now know what it is going to take. We are big on transparency, so no that one saw even some details on this momentous deal until it was already official is not ideal. We aren’t talking full public comment, but a strategic leak or maybe a trusted advisor can at least serve as a sounding board. The success or failure of this move and its costs are now directly in the lap of Benedict, outgoing president Susan Herbst, incoming president Thomas C. Katsouleas, the Board of Trustees and ultimately Governor Ned Lamont. If there is an issue that something costs too much, people are not happy with the results or UConn is subsidizing athletics too much, those leaders will be responsible. That group owns this.

Edsall Speaks, Gets Another Commitment, On To Wagner!

The Story: Randy Edsall, whose nearly entire career has been spent building, and now rebuilding the football program, released a statement after we are sure he was inundated by the move to the Big East, which leaves the AAC without a football home.

EDSALL STAYS IN HIS LANE: Edsall didn’t blow anyone up and he could have. Edsall did not criticize the move, and we were all looking for the architect of UConn football to shoot some daggers at the administration for this move. Instead, Edsall acknowledged the obvious — it really isn’t his decision. He isn’t the athletic director. He is the football coach.

NOT HIS BABY ANYMORE: What we like is the fact is he won’t talk, nor allow his players to talk, about the move from the AAC to the Big East and the upcoming independent status. Celebrating his silence? Weird, isn’t it? But we like it. For too long, Edsall has had to answer about football’s financial and structural shortcomings, taking heat away from the administration and Benedict, who is not a very visible athletic director. Now, Edsall is just responsible for wins and losses.

It’s unfair to ask Edsall about this landscape. Sure, we would like unrestrained Edsall to give his take on the dangers of this move and the program’s uncertain future. He is certainly qualified to talk about how independent status and scheduling games will be a problem. It’s not up to Edsall to justify where UConn football’s place is. “That’s a Dave question” should be Edsall’s standard response to questions about scheduling, attendance, game atmosphere and ticket and revenue concerns.

JUST A FOOTBALL COACH: Edsall’s task is to no longer be the guy behind the scenes pushing UConn football. His job is to be the football coach. Win games, leave the selling job and scheduling up to the athletic administration. If they need his advice, it’s only a walk across the street.

GETS ANOTHER COMMIT: Incredibly, with all this turmoil, UConn added another commitment via the Northern pipeline of Canada, Christopher Fortin. Fortin is a 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive lineman. He’ll be over 300 pounds when he sees the field at UConn, and it’s the fourth commit from Canada for the Huskies. That Edsall pulled in his seventh commit, and his third since the move out of the AAC was announced, is just stellar. If there was anything that would hurt UConn in recruiting, this is it. We like that they are still getting commits.

Morning Read

LOUD AND UNCLEAR: UConn’s decision to move to the Big East still leaves few clear answers to several pressing questions, especially when it comes to the football program. (Hearst Connecticut Media)

A QUICK FIX: UConn will install dehumidifiers at Gampel Pavilion to address condensation problems that have emerged in the new roof. (Hartford Courant)

A BIGGER FIX: If UConn really professes to be a basketball school, it cannot ignore the condition of the XL Center any longer. (The Day)

LEFT IN THE DARK: With the NCAA deciding to update its guidelines for granting waivers following a transfer, Evina Westbrook could find matters a little more difficult as she attempts to play for UConn after a move from Tennessee. (The UConn Blog)

BIG THINGS COMING: After moving from London to the U.S. to play basketball, and then from Gardner-Webb to Murray State and now UConn, Evelyn Adebayo is ready to do one thing: Win games. (Storrs Central)

READY FOR MORE: Although Anna Makurat has only been in summer school for a month, she is already happy with her adjustment from Poland to the United States. (Journal Inquirer)

SMOOTH TRANSITION: WNBA rookie Napheesa Collier has looked right at home during her first month with the Minnesota Lynx. (The UConn Blog)

MCMURPHY TALKS UCONN: Brett McMurphy, a long-time college football writer who is considered an authority on expansion matters, discussed the move to independent status. (Connecticut Sports Podcast)