Of course UConn is trying to get into a P5

Last week, the University of Cincinnati turned over a bunch of documents to the Cincinnati Enquirer including emails and travel records that showed (surprise!) UC is trying to get into a Power Five conference — namely the Big 12. In the ensuing kerfuffle (because nothing sends Nutmeggers into a tizzy faster than talk of schools not named UConn getting into a P5), the Hartford Courant submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to UConn for documents related to the university’s efforts to get into a P5. In a response that should have surprised no one, the school said there were no relevant documents.

Other corners of the internet, more interested in click-bait than in reporting, have deduced that UConn just isn’t trying to get into a Power 5 conference. But we’re not those people. What does UConn’s response actually mean? First, let me tell you what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that UConn isn’t actively trying to get into a P5 conference. That’s simply false, and anyone who says otherwise is either an idiot or a liar. Everyone understands that getting UConn into a P5 – any P5 – is imperative to the continued success of the athletic program and to the university as a whole.

So let’s get into this. The FOIA entitles the public to access to public records or files produced by or in the control of public agencies (and UConn qualifies as a public agency).

Here’s what a public record is under the law: any recorded data or information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, received or retained by a public agency, or to which a public agency is entitled to receive a copy by law or contract under section 1-218, whether such data or information be handwritten, typed, tape-recorded, printed, photostated, photographed or recorded by any other method.

What we know: Former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese is under contract to advise President Susan Herbst on all athletic matters. We’ve looked through UConn’s active contracts, and Tranghese’s isn’t there, presumably because he’s being paid by the UConn Foundation. [Editor’s note: A Dime Back has submitted its own Freedom of Information request on the subject] Tranghese has his own firm, MT Consulting, and any documents produced or in the control of the firm that did not end up in the control of UConn are not FOI-able. So any emails sent by Tranghese that don’t go to or from a uconn.edu or ct.gov address would not be subject to disclosure. Any communication done by or through the UConn Foundation, which is a private, non-profit entity, is also not FOI-able. Emails sent from personal accounts are also not FOI-able unless they are done so by state employees regarding state business.

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Further, even travel records for Herbst or Warde Manuel could easily be kept out of the FOI sphere. Both travel extensively on university business unrelated to P5 negotiations. If Herbst happens to chat with (hypothetically) the president of Kansas State University while she is somewhere conducting unrelated university business, there’s not going to be a record of it. Certainly not one that you could get from an FOI request.

So UConn’s response that no relevant documents exist really means that no documents exist that were produced by or are in the control of the university. Lots of documents could (and likely do) exist, but they are not going to be available under the state’s FOI law.

Now what’s more likely? That UConn isn’t doing anything at all to get into a P5? Or that they are strategically keeping the efforts out of the public sphere? I’m guessing it’s the latter. Because no one at UConn wants to see stories about failed negotiations with a P5 conference end up on the front page of the Courant.

UConn is trying to get into a P5. We know this. Everyone knows this. But university officials know as well as anyone how to keep those efforts from being made public. While it might seem a little shady, I’m going to say that it’s really smart. As much as we want to know what’s happening, it’s probably in the university’s best interest that any talk is happening away from the public eye. This is tricky stuff, and there are lots of moving parts, and none of it is made easier when it’s splashed across the front page of the paper. Rest assured, despite what you might see elsewhere, the response to the Courant’s FOI request categorically does not mean UConn isn’t trying to get into a P5.