Babcock to Va Tech?

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What people in this town better come to grips with is unless you were born and raised here Cincinnati isn't a destination of choice. Those of us who are born and raised here love the town but if not chances are you'll look to parlay your success to another location.
 
Whit did wonders for UC while he was here. Started renovation of Nippert, hired Tommy T, a big name coach to get donors on board. Whit was a big thinker. Ono needs to hire another big thinker with contacts from the P5 conferences.
 
mdchick said:
Good for Babcock, he was good in the brief stay he was here for, I agree with Jack it is a business decision very understandable. I'm really only a UC Basketball Fan, so as long as the AD Realizes Basketball is UC's past time and it is our best sport that we are competitive in, I don't really care who the AD is.

Heard Mick talking in a interview saying "he found his dream job, he wants to help his players do the same thing". The only way MC is leaving UC is by retirement in my eyes, he isn't going to be fired anytime soon and he definitely isn't going to coach for another university. I love having him as a coach and am very relieved I don't have to ever worry about UC's mens basketball coaching position.
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mdchick, never say never. As a long time sports fan you could have never convinced me that Pete Rose would ever leave the reds or the town he grew up in. If he doesn't get the things he needs to win he will move on.
 
I think it shows that conference realignment has really come to a halt and he probably didn't see us moving out of the AAC any time soon. If he thought we were close to moving to the Big 12 or ACC, he probably would've stayed on board, even though V. Tech has a bigger budget. I hope the Nippert renovations continue, as it is our best shot at getting to a better conference. I know many on this site, including myself, would like to see more done with basketball. The problem is, if we want to take the next step, football is our best option. If we get into a better conference, then we would probably have more money for basketball.
 
JumpinJack5 said:
I think it shows that conference realignment has really come to a halt and he probably didn't see us moving out of the AAC any time soon. If he thought we were close to moving to the Big 12 or ACC, he probably would've stayed on board, even though V. Tech has a bigger budget. I hope the Nippert renovations continue, as it is our best shot at getting to a better conference. I know many on this site, including myself, would like to see more done with basketball. The problem is, if we want to take the next step, football is our best option. If we get into a better conference, then we would probably have more money for basketball.
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I think the opportunity to go home had much more to do with it.
 
JackBauer151 said:
I think the opportunity to go home had much more to do with it.
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Jack the opportunity to go home certainly is a possibility but remember he left there initially for a opportunity. The more likely explanation is he considers the opportunity at V tech to be a better situation then the one he is presently in. chances are its a combination of both home and opportunity.
 
I feel like all this happened really quick. You would think he knew this was coming or something. Seemed very hush hush and then bam..your the new VT athletic director. Crazy
 
Football expansion is a mistake. Our market will not sustain a major college football program, in addition to pro football, pro baseball, two major college basketball programs, minor league hockey, Kings Island, a top-ten zoo, aquarium, and symphony orchestra, and a Tony-award winning regional theater. Not to mention, for the truly die-hard college football enthusiasts, the third-largest program (by revenue) is only a 90-minute drive upstate on Saturday morning.

1. Grab Memphis and join the Big East in all sports, except football. If you add Memphis and us to the Big East, that's an elite basketball conference. We get East Coast media exposure for recruiting and natural rivalries with Xavier and Butler. Logistically, it makes sense for non-revenue producing sports.

2. For football, join the MAC. A lot of MAC graduates reside in Greater Cincinnati. If we dominate the MAC, we may get national exposure (a la Boise State). If not, so what. We are not going to compete for national championships in the AAC, so we might as well play teams with a regional flavor.

3. If possible, reapportion some funds raised for Nippert to basketball. Renovate US Bank and move home games downtown, so people can go after work. (Students can take the streetcar.)
 
Jarad_Hunter said:
Football expansion is a mistake. Our market will not sustain a major college football program, in addition to pro football, pro baseball, two major college basketball programs, minor league hockey, Kings Island, a top-ten zoo, aquarium, and symphony orchestra, and a Tony-award winning regional theater. Not to mention, for the truly die-hard college football enthusiasts, the third-largest program (by revenue) is only a 90-minute drive upstate on Saturday morning.

1. Grab Memphis and join the Big East in all sports, except football. If you add Memphis and us to the Big East, that's an elite basketball conference. We get East Coast media exposure for recruiting and natural rivalries with Xavier and Butler. Logistically, it makes sense for non-revenue producing sports.

2. For football, join the MAC. A lot of MAC graduates reside in Greater Cincinnati. If we dominate the MAC, we may get national exposure (a la Boise State). If not, so what. We are not going to compete for national championships in the AAC, so we might as well play teams with a regional flavor.

3. If possible, reapportion some funds raised for Nippert to basketball. Renovate US Bank and move home games downtown, so people can go after work. (Students can take the streetcar.)
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1. Never going to happen. The Big East doesn't want schools with football programs and they already have the Cincinnati market. No chance in hell.

2. Hell the to the no. Possibly the dumbest thing I've ever seen on this board.

3. Nippert is going to happen because of the increased revenue. Again, another horrible idea.

If you are on drugs, seek help, if not...don't know what to tell you.
 
Bearcat_NTS, you are an educated poster, so I respect your comments.

On average, it takes about three years for any ambassador of UC football to realize he is in a battle he cannot win. We are on our fourth football coach, and now our fourth athletic director, in the last decade. Everyone who moved on left voluntarily. One coach left an undefeated team, on the eve of playing in the most important football game in the history of the University.

Forget sales. Worry about profits and reputation. Cincinnati fans are not terrible. We just have a lot of entertainment options, which leaves us uninterested, unless a team is competing for national championships. In basketball, with our coach, we can be a top-ten program for the next twenty years. Focus on your strength. Or, risk mediocrity.
 
Jarad_Hunter said:
Bearcat_NTS, you are an educated poster, so I respect your comments.

On average, it takes about three years for any ambassador of UC football to realize he is in a battle he cannot win. We are on our fourth football coach, and now our fourth athletic director, in the last decade. Everyone who moved on left voluntarily. One coach left an undefeated team, on the eve of playing in the most important football game in the history of the University.

Forget sales. Worry about profits and reputation. Cincinnati fans are not terrible. We just have a lot of entertainment options, which leaves us uninterested, unless a team is competing for national championships. In basketball, with our coach, we can be a top-ten program for the next twenty years. Focus on your strength. Or, risk mediocrity.
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You first paragraph is mostly correct. There are a lot of similar programs to Cincinnati that are "stepping stone schools." The difference is those schools haven't had the success Cincinnati has had, so those coaches just get fired...not promoted.

I am definitely not a pro-football guy, but I do realize that the way to make more money for the Athletic Department is to have a healthy football program. Think about this, Kentucky football generates more revenue than Kentucky basketball.
 
But, profits matter more than sales. And, there are several programs, with both sports, where basketball is more profitable than football. Upon my cursory investigation, Louisville, Duke, Arizona, and Syracuse are prime examples.

The financial question for UC is ROI. Which program is more likely to generate free cash flow? Knowing Cincinnati the way I do, I would argue it's basketball.

Honestly, look at the teams. Do you think the AAC, without Louisville, is better in football than the MAC? You think more fans will attend UC versus Houston than UC versus Miami or UC versus OU?

We are dominating the AAC in basketball. Meanwhile, our RPI is stuck in the twenties. Next year, without Louisville twice a year, it will only get worse.
 
Basketball stays on campus, I'm tired of this downtown garbage. Fifth third is a good areana, and located right next to where the students, our loudest fans, live
 
I understand why Babcock left but it still kinda pisses me off. He sold this program to all the doners and got millions of dollars for nippert and talked about taking that program to next level and leaves before the stadium is finished. It's not like he wasn't getting a good sum of money from cinci. But if you want to leave go ahead and leave. I may be mad but it's because he is good and is a big loss. But at least we still got Santa I love that guy
 

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