Big 12's latest income distribution report adds layer to UConn debate

May 20—When asked if the Big 12's reported interest in UConn was reciprocal by Hearst Connecticut's Mike Anthony last week, athletic director David Benedict's response was "it's a complicated question."

It might just have gotten more complicated.

USA Today reported Friday that the Big 12 made per school TV revenue payouts between $42 million to $44.9 million to its current 10 schools in the 2022 fiscal year, according to the conference's most recent tax filing.

That's compared with the reported $5 million UConn receives annually through the Big East.

That's also compared with UConn athletics' annual budget deficit, which reached $53 million last year, in large part an outgrowth of supporting an FBS football program.

The Big 12's report comes with a big grain of salt — marquee schools Texas and Oklahoma are leaving for the SEC in 2024 and BYU and former UConn American Athletic Conference rivals Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida are joining in the fall. It's unclear what effect those factors, plus the possible addition of more schools, will do to pieces of the pie. The Big 12 has a six-year, $2.28 billion deal with Fox and ESPN starting in 2025.

What the Big 12, Pac 12, and ACC do to counter the Big Ten and SEC is the central question. Among the multitude of scenarios are the Big 12 absorbing some Pac 12 schools. Another — and perhaps ironically from the UConn viewpoint — is seven ACC schools led by football heavyweights Clemson and Florida State heading to presumably greener pastures, leaving Big East escapees Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville in the lurch

Sports Illustrated's Monday report that new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark had UConn among a list of possible additions touched off a fresh wave of conference realignment reporting (including one of a recent Yormark tour of UConn). It also sparked what has turned into a national debate over what UConn should do.

One side, backed by national college writers such as Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde, believes UConn should remain in the Big East Conference it joined (or rejoined, depending on the viewpoint) in 2020 after an unfulfilling seven-year stay in the American Athletic Conference. Factors most often cited included the restoration of regional and longtime rivalries, the Big East's men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden, and not being a geographical outlier with unappealing opponents. All were linked to the quick resurgence of the men's basketball program under Dan Hurley that resulted in UConn's fifth national title.

The pro-Big 12 argument essentially comes down to money. Beyond reducing UConn's deficit, those backing a move suggest UConn is at risk of losing Hurley (who makes about $3 million a year) to a school that can afford a more lucrative contract. The Big 12's strength in men's basketball, led by blueblood Kansas and 2021 national champion Baylor, was also noted. Some observed USC and UCLA will be in a worse position geographically when they join the Big Ten.

UConn's quest to play big-time football, long a punching bag for some national media, again is under scrutiny. Forde called the success the Huskies enjoyed from 2007-10 — modest to some, impressive to others given what at the time was UConn's short tenure in Division I-A — a "false beacon of hope."

Wrote Forde: "Downsize football to the FCS level to reduce cost and maintain the basketball-first foundation. Stay in the Big East. Do not drag your athletes to Lubbock, Provo and Manhattan (Little Apple, not Big) trying to make a buck. Do not try to sell your already ambivalent fans on home football games against Kansas and Iowa State. Do not risk running off your current hero coach, (Dan) Hurley, who could have plenty of employment options that don't include road trips to Stillwater and Fort Worth."

The period to which Forde referred indeed was a heady time. It included two ties for Big East titles, four straight victories over Cincinnati and Syracuse, two consecutive wins over Baylor, a bowl win over South Carolina, and perhaps most memorably, a 33-30 win over a 6-6 Notre Dame team in 2009. All seem unthinkable after a disastrous 2011-2021 when 40,000-seat Rentschler Field/Pratt & Whitney Stadium — usually near full from 2007-10 — became increasingly more desolate by the year.

There was a "beacon of hope" on the football front in 2022. First-year coach Jim Mora led UConn to 6-7 record and its first bowl in seven years. The season included the program's first win over Boston College and its fourth over a team ranked in the AP Top 25 (Liberty).

The Liberty crowd of 15,107 and six-game attendance average of 22,095 reflect the ambivalnce Forde alluded to. The postgame Liberty field storming suggets there's still a heartbeat in UConn football passion.

Mora apparently has voiced his thoughts on conference realignment, at least with one recruit.

"First of all, he explained that he has a goal of joining the ACC within the next few years," Class of 2023 signee Jackson Harper told Anthony in July. "Obviously, they have to have a few respectable seasons for the ACC to really take them seriously. But he also talked about how there are no professional teams in Connecticut, so if you can just get the attention and respect of everyone in Connecticut, we will have a good fan base."