Reality vs fear

[Jaydumo20]

The big fear looming over this program is that we need to join a football conference or else we'll perish. We fear losing the thing we love so much because, since most of us aren't billionaires, we fear the shadowy power of the big football money schools. But...

When it comes to basketball, recently, this narrative is not only untrue, it is less real than it's ever been.

NIL, conference consolidation, the portal, have all been solidly, not weakly, in place the past 2 years. Teams who have ditched the big east, cincy, WV, bc, Pitt, Louisville, have had their worst years bball wise.

But that's not my point. This is:

Clearly not every body has their price. This is a myth. This is a myth driven by those of who may say they don't value money above all else but secretly do. So we buy in. Kentucky and "the courtship of Andrew's father" proved this flat out: Brinks trucks and football conference included.

He said No!!! Flat out. No!

The reason why I'm not scared is obvious. You can't create danny hurley. You can't buy danny hurley. Mark Pope is not close to DH. Right now no one is.

We don't get the big 5 star recruits consistently. We don't have the biggest bag. We don't get the biggest transfer targets. Yet we embarrass every p4 school out there. Not just beat, but dominate.


I know we've left ourselves open to p4 inclusion but we clearly don't need it. We're coming on year 4 of the NIL, transfer world and we are so far on top of the mountain that all other schools are chasing US!

We have DH. You don't. You wanted him. You waved your cash. He turned his back and said come get me.

 

[upstater]

The big fear looming over this program is that we need to join a football conference or else we'll perish. We fear losing the thing we love so much because, since most of us aren't billionaires, we fear the shadowy power of the big football money schools. But...

On the other hand, Hurley's tenure year (even if it's a decade) will be shorter than the the time for any huge changes to kick in. People are targeting 2032 year as the year the music stops.

Jay Bilas frequently said last month that, from what he's heard, schools like UConn will be on the outside looking in. There will be 60 core schools who have protected status in making the tournament. Conferences like the BE will get scraps. They'll make it harder for us.

In football, this will be even more dire. They should be sued for antitrust violations, but they are planning on excluding practically everybody

 

[Fishy]

If you are not worried about the future for schools that have been left out of the power structure running the game, I do not know what to tell you.

 

[superjohn]

The same people on this board who said UConn basketball was dead 10+ years ago are the same people who said UConn basketball was dead just a couple of years ago and they'll be the same people saying UConn basketball is dead 10 years from now as we continue winning national championships.

 

[FearThePups]

The big fear looming over this program is that we need to join a football conference or else we'll perish. We fear losing the thing we love so much because, since most of us aren't billionaires, we fear the shadowy power of the big football money schools. But...

When it comes to basketball, recently, this narrative is not only untrue, it is less real than it's ever been.

NIL, conference consolidation, the portal, have all been solidly, not weakly, in place the past 2 years. Teams who have ditched the big east, cincy, WV, bc, Pitt, Louisville, have had their worst years bball wise.

But that's not my point. This is:

Clearly not every body has their price. This is a myth. This is a myth driven by those of who may say they don't value money above all else but secretly do. So we buy in. Kentucky and "the courtship of Andrew's father" proved this flat out: Brinks trucks and football conference included.

He said No!!! Flat out. No!

The reason why I'm not scared is obvious. You can't create danny hurley. You can't buy danny hurley. Mark Pope is not close to DH. Right now no one is.

We don't get the big 5 star recruits consistently. We don't have the biggest bag. We don't get the biggest transfer targets. Yet we embarrass every p4 school out there. Not just beat, but dominate.


I know we've left ourselves open to p4 inclusion but we clearly don't need it. We're coming on year 4 of the NIL, transfer world and we are so far on top of the mountain that all other schools are chasing US!

We have DH. You don't. You wanted him. You waved your cash. He turned his back and said come get me.

Well stated. On top of this, recruits see that Danny walks the walk, not going somewhere else for more money. Besides, I’m not sure that power conference realignment ever will stop. NC, Florida and others in the ACC and SEC are disgruntled and want to leave. You are correct at saying the former Big East schools haven’t done anything in basketball since they left. If it ain’t broke no need to fix it.

 

[John]

Thank God you have no sway in the UConn athletic department.

 

[Waquoit]

A lot of whistling past the graveyard here. My strategy is to take it year by year.

 

[TMB4405]

This has been a crazy and awesome run since I came to Storrs as a freshman in 1988. Been an incredible stretch. We are fine in the near term, but when my kids are my age I don't think we will be successful without being with the "in" group. And we all know who that is. I think if you don't think that you are not being realistic. However opinions can differ.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I can't say I 100% align with the original post, but what are others concerned about. Is it one of the following:

• P4 or P2 or whatever it becomes creates their own tournament or simply muscles all the other schools out of the existing tournament?
• Px simply has so much more money they buy all the good players
• Px eventually buys DH

What are the other options people are concerned about?

I can't say I'm 100% aligned with the original post. I disagree with some of the tone/confidence.... but we did just win back-to-back in this "new era"... or whatever we are in. That's not nothing. And we did it with an offense that is incredibly appealing for future recruits. Us and maybe Alabama are running some of the most "NBA-like" offense in college basketball.

 

[shizzle787]

Several things are going to happen shortly that will actually help UConn (and the Big East).

1. Big East TV negotiations are going well
2. NCAA tournament will likely expand to 72 or 76 teams


We will be fine.

 

[GoConn]

Any tournament leaving out the school with the 3rd most titles is illegitimate and no one can take fully serious

 

[Kitaman]

A lot of whistling past the graveyard here. My strategy is to take it year by year.

This is an important issue for 20 and 30 year olds. As for me, I'm good with whatever, because I've experienced and relished in the glory days.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The same people on this board who said UConn basketball was dead 10+ years ago are the same people who said UConn basketball was dead just a couple of years ago and they'll be the same people saying UConn basketball is dead 10 years from now as we continue winning national championships.

I agree that we've defied the odds.

But it's fair to wonder if there will come a point after which we'll say we should have seen the writing on the wall and that the next set of changes will be too much to overcome.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I agree that we've defied the odds.

But it's fair to wonder if there will come a point after which we'll say we should have seen the writing on the wall and that the next set of changes will be too much to overcome.

Totally fair to wonder. That's natural. I think our fear is natural. It seems we are dating the prom queen, just waiting for her to break up with us. But we've been through this before. Many times in different forms, and we were 100% sure it was doom then too. It's just easier to say "yeah but the next one is the real doom" because it hasn't happened yet.

Fwiw- we're still married to the prom queen. We have six kids together. We just needed a break to work on ourselves after kid #4.

 

[Scrutiner]

I keep beating the drum about how much we can add to a conference from a basketball perspective regardless of how much emphasis you want to put on football.

All these conferences have weak sisters in football, weak enough for us to overcome in a few years with the right coach and NIL $$. We were getting to be pretty successful only 15 years ago and can do it again, maybe because of NIL.

What we offer is elite status in basketball especially, until lately, in women's basketball. If you've read my recent post about the B1G you'll understand. How can they claim to be an elite conference when they've only won 12% of the titles in football, men's basketball and women's basketball in the last 25 years. Two titles for Ohio St and one for Michigan in football, one for Michigan St in men's basketball (2000) and none in women's basketball.They can't and the recent heavy coverage of women's basketball will only help us make a case for UConn being brought into a major league.

Plus, if the men's tournament was on a major network and as heavily advertised as the women's tournament was there'd be a lot more revenue on the basketball side.

 

[superjohn]

I agree that we've defied the odds.

But it's fair to wonder if there will come a point after which we'll say we should have seen the writing on the wall and that the next set of changes will be too much to overcome.

What can we possibly do?

I have zero fear of being left out in basketball. We're the best basketball program in the country, there's too many good basketball teams in the country to contract, and the tournament is going to expand which I don't like.

 

[upstater]

Any tournament leaving out the school with the 3rd most titles is illegitimate and no one can take fully serious

What are you going to do? Organize a tournament of also-rans?

People underestimate the shortness of American attention spans.

There will be a bunch of editorials written, a bunch of people whining about the fact that UConn has been doen wrong, and then they'll go on their merry way knowing that their entire job depends on covering the powers that be.

Bilas is the only one who even mentioned the APR ban of 2013.

The rest of college basketball ignored it.

 

[Palatine]

Any tournament leaving out the school with the 3rd most titles is illegitimate and no one can take fully serious

Maybe you missed the massive dis of the BE by the selection committee this year. The big boys don't give rats arse what UConn or the BE thinks is legit.

 

[Jaydumo20]

Maybe you missed the massive dis of the BE by the selection committee this year. The big boys don't give rats arse what UConn or the BE thinks is legit.

How'd that plan work out for the big boys? I mean, since they are in control and all that. Why don't they just get together and kick uconn out of the tournament this coming year? They should be able to, right? Who's stopping them? @upstater says no one will care.

 

[uconnfan68]

Any tournament leaving out the school with the 3rd most titles is illegitimate and no one can take fully serious

Immaculata says you're wrong.

 

[c29328]

There’s going to be a time when this program is exited from the party. Along with a lot of others. One of the things that made this years run special to me is what it means. There will be a short period, historically, when everybody had a chance to win this thing. 64 teams. Neutral sites. No racial divide. Any team in division 1 just has to win enough to get in and run it out. Egalitarian. And in that period of the most open this championship will ever be, Connecticut has dominated. When everyone could throw a punch, ours landed the hardest. I think It’s locked in historically after this. I imagine I will hold the future championships in this coming P2 universe cheap. Regrets for what the sports world will lose, but it’s hard to fear anything after this level of dominance. The world is changing.

 

[John]

What can we possibly do?

I have zero fear of being left out in basketball. We're the best basketball program in the country, there's too many good basketball teams in the country to contract, and the tournament is going to expand which I don't like.

I'm sure CCNY and San Francisco thought similarly.

 

[Chasm64]

I’d love to say I don’t care but I could never say I don’t care about UConn basketball.

 

[Scoe]

And off to the conference realignment board we go.

 

[Waquoit]

Immaculata says you're wrong.

Louisiana Tech couldn't keep it going. They were the last AIAW champ and the first NCAA champ, with another title a few years later for good measure. Kim Mulkey saw the writing on the wall. She was Tech's lead assistant and everyone thought she would move to the head chair. She said no thanks and went to the Big 12.