UConn to Big East May Be Gaining Steam

[JMick]

The American is a better football conference top to bottom than the Big East was. There were legitimate top 25 teams last year and UCF/USF/ECU/UH/SMU/CIN/Tulsa/Tulane/Navy are football schools first and foremost. Laugh if you want but hell even Tulane has a decent football history (nothing really since leaving the SEC besides the 1 undefeated season in the 90's) and Tulsa has won multiple conference titles in their prior leagues.

Basketball this conference sucks but football wise this conference is extremely challenging. If nothing else its the Big East with more conference games/mates to compete in/against

USF/UCF/Cinci were all in the Big East, though. As was Louisville. Louisville was Houston before Houston won double digit games.

 

[Drew]

Also you realize if we have to go independent in football (no conference is taking UConn football as a football only) that we will be begging the teams we are currently in a conference with for home and homes right? Not to mention zero bowl tie ins and zero national viewership.

The goal for UConn athletics isn't to park football on SNY or NESN while nobody watches us play basketball against DePaul on FS2. You guys can't possibly think the NBE is going to get the same amount of $ once this TV deal runs out can you? NOBODY watches these games. Nobody. And the NBE isn't exactly the regional "Big East" you think of. Omaha, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati. You don't just toss the $300m+ the state has spent on UConn football in the past 15 years down the drain so you can short term make $2m more and play Creighton twice a year in basketball.

I'd love to still be in a league with WVU, Louisville, Rutgers, Pitt, et all, but the league was too short sighted and slow to change with the modern collegiate landscape. Looking back on it, had the football Big East separated itself from the basketball Big East when Miami, BC, VT left and added schools to get to 12 it might've had a shot given the fact that there were high population areas prime for a potential TV network. But those days are gone and the American unfortunately is where UConn will be playing sports for the foreseeable future unless we can maneuver into the XII and never have to worry about any of this again (until 2024).

 

[7774]

I guess at the end of the day - I don't understand how anyone can think staying in the American conference is feasible if UConn gets left out. It's bad enough for football - but as a hoops conference it's 1,000% a smoldering corpse - and that's being friendly.

-No Cincy or Memphis.
-A Larry Brown-less SMU
-Houston is still a few years away
-Tulane more so.
-Temple is always OK. Tulsa less so than Temple, but they're mildly competitive.

Everything else is a first-rate dumpster fire. Why light your bread and butter program on fire by staying? I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone would see that as a benefit. Sure maybe some ridiculous miracle happens and the American goes into pitched survival mode and starts casting a national net to rope in as many cast-offs to create the largest island of misfit toys ever seen - but that's just not likely to happen.

At a point - while it's not ideal - if UConn isn't in the Big XII you almost have to look at how you best protect your floor rather than wish casting your ceiling and I honestly think moving hoops to the Big East is a far better option. I'd take 'Nova, Georgetown, Xavier, Providence, Marquette and Butler over almost anyone else left in the remains of the American from a basketball standpoint. St John's seems to be actually trying again - and I figure Chris Mullen is able to pull them out of the abyss in five years or so... and Seton Hall will likely remain what it is. Creighton is a perfectly decent program.

I mean maybe the B1G gets off the pot and decides to swoop in since they'd have the leverage. Maybe the ACC comes around but I doubt it. You're kind of left with a wish and a prayer on the B1G but that's it. The Big East is available and a possibility - you take that.

So i honesty think it depends on which AAC teams get plucked, but if it's more than two and UConn isn't one of them, I'm jumping ship if I'm UConn. Life raft with low likelihood of survival is a better option than sharing a piece of drift wood in a storm. That being said - if it's just say - Houston and BYU, well then of course you stay. But yeah - duck this conference post-realignment.

The reality is that there is no difference between the Big East and AAC. They are both total death sentences when it comes to competing at the highest level of college athletics 50 years from now. We have to escape the AAC. If we went to the Big East, we would have to escape the Big East.

If you have a way to keep our football at its current level, and get us into the Big East for basketball without any sort of large buyout required when we need to ditch it, and without having to pay any money to the AAC, I'm all for it.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I guess at the end of the day - I don't understand how anyone can think staying in the American conference is feasible if UConn gets left out. It's bad enough for football - but as a hoops conference it's 1,000% a smoldering corpse - and that's being friendly.

-No Cincy or Memphis.
-A Larry Brown-less SMU
-Houston is still a few years away
-Tulane more so.
-Temple is always OK. Tulsa less so than Temple, but they're mildly competitive.

Everything else is a first-rate dumpster fire. Why light your bread and butter program on fire by staying? I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone would see that as a benefit. Sure maybe some ridiculous miracle happens and the American goes into pitched survival mode and starts casting a national net to rope in as many cast-offs to create the largest island of misfit toys ever seen - but that's just not likely to happen.

At a point - while it's not ideal - if UConn isn't in the Big XII you almost have to look at how you best protect your floor rather than wish casting your ceiling and I honestly think moving hoops to the Big East is a far better option. I'd take 'Nova, Georgetown, Xavier, Providence, Marquette and Butler over almost anyone else left in the remains of the American from a basketball standpoint. St John's seems to be actually trying again - and I figure Chris Mullen is able to pull them out of the abyss in five years or so... and Seton Hall will likely remain what it is. Creighton is a perfectly decent program.

I mean maybe the B1G gets off the pot and decides to swoop in since they'd have the leverage. Maybe the ACC comes around but I doubt it. You're kind of left with a wish and a prayer on the B1G but that's it. The Big East is available and a possibility - you take that.

So i honesty think it depends on which AAC teams get plucked, but if it's more than two and UConn isn't one of them, I'm jumping ship if I'm UConn. Life raft with low likelihood of survival is a better option than sharing a piece of drift wood in a storm. That being said - if it's just say - Houston and BYU, well then of course you stay. But yeah - duck this conference post-realignment.

Without knowing who is leaving the AAC the PlanB will obviously vary somewhat
I give this a great deal of thought
In order to survive to take advantage of any future changes in the P5 landscape the following objectives must be meet:
The most important by far is to create a winning football tradition.
This can be done even in a somewhat depleted AAC .
This very simple act is so huge in our survival with the benifits varying from
Making UConn football at least revenue neutral.
A winning UConn team along with Temple and Navy increase the odds on a decent contract. In any event we have a very powerfull position in the negotions
I viewed the possible candidates and barring a miracle in breaking loose a MW school any other addition is subtraction.
Unless we go I think only 2 AAC teams will be picked.
If one of them is Cinn we take a huge BB hit.
I have previously suggested Wichita State as a BB only with a future option to go FSB, if you can get VCU to do the same offer, I believe the AAC is better than before
A BB league with
UConn
VCU
Temple
Wichita State( they fit nicely into a western Div)
Memphis
Tulsa
SMU
Is a pretty darn good conference

 

[JMick]

A BB league with
UConn
VCU
Temple
Wichita State( they fit nicely into a western Div)
Memphis
Tulsa
SMU
Is a pretty darn good conference

That's basically an A10 level conference + UConn

 

[AZHuskiePop]

That's basically an A10 level conference + UConn

I know you mean A10 as a pejorative,but let's face it is the Big East with Cuse, Pitt ,Cinncy and us really a step up from my suggestion?
The added benifit is your still playing football in a pretty reputable conference.which is a must.
I suppose if you stay in the AAC for football only but take the rest of your sports to the Big East you could achieve the same effect. If the AAC allowed you to be a football only.
The object is providing a way to surviva for both programs

 

[JSB60]

Football is everything right now, but 50 years from now, maybe 20, it will be dead. Concussions are going to kill it.

 

[upstater]

Did you forget about WVU? They almost played in the national championship...

They did? When?

WVU accomplished no more than Houston last year or UCF 3 years ago by winning their big bowl game. But unlike the BE at the time, the AAC actually has multiple good teams, whereas the BE relied on WV. Cincy was the second best team in the conference, but it never won a big bowl game.

 

[upstater]

USF/UCF/Cinci were all in the Big East, though. As was Louisville. Louisville was Houston before Houston won double digit games.

UCF was not in the BE.

And Louisville had a huge slump in the BE for several years, while they came back in the last year. While they beat Florida in a bowl game, they had multiple losses and were not ranked as high as Houston.

 

[Drew]

They did? When?

WVU accomplished no more than Houston last year or UCF 3 years ago by winning their big bowl game. But unlike the BE at the time, the AAC actually has multiple good teams, whereas the BE relied on WV. Cincy was the second best team in the conference, but it never won a big bowl game.

2007, until they lost to Pitt they were #2 and would've played #1 Mizzou (who lost to OU in the XII Championship game)

But the AAC is way deeper than the BE and if you aren't a real football fan you won't understand that. Having Cinci/UCF/USF/ECU/Navy/UH/Memphis (now)/Tulsa/etc makes this a much deeper league than the BE ever was. The AAC football wise has earned football respect that I don't know that the BE really ever achieved as a league post VT/BC/Miami leaving, and this is evidenced by teams losing games last year and still remaining in the CFP Rankings the following week. WVU individually had earned respect by playing and winning big games, but the league as a whole was a laughing stock in CFB among the big boys

 

[upstater]

2007, until they lost to Pitt they were #2 and would've played #1 Mizzou (who lost to OU in the XII Championship game)

But the AAC is way deeper than the BE and if you aren't a real football fan you won't understand that. Having Cinci/UCF/USF/ECU/Navy/UH/Memphis (now)/Tulsa/etc makes this a much deeper league than the BE ever was. The AAC football wise has earned football respect that I don't know that the BE really ever achieved as a league post VT/BC/Miami leaving, and this is evidenced by teams losing games last year and still remaining in the CFP Rankings the following week. WVU individually had earned respect by playing and winning big games, but the league as a whole was a laughing stock in CFB among the big boys

No doubt, WV was the big dog in the conference and did well.

 

[HuskyHawk]

2007, until they lost to Pitt they were #2 and would've played #1 Mizzou (who lost to OU in the XII Championship game)

But the AAC is way deeper than the BE and if you aren't a real football fan you won't understand that. Having Cinci/UCF/USF/ECU/Navy/UH/Memphis (now)/Tulsa/etc makes this a much deeper league than the BE ever was. The AAC football wise has earned football respect that I don't know that the BE really ever achieved as a league post VT/BC/Miami leaving, and this is evidenced by teams losing games last year and still remaining in the CFP Rankings the following week. WVU individually had earned respect by playing and winning big games, but the league as a whole was a laughing stock in CFB among the big boys

I disagree with your general assertion. Prestige and name recognition are the most important aspects to college football. All of these schools: Miami, BC, Syracuse, VT, Pitt, WVU have more history and name recognition and football success than any school in the AAC. The AAC has been competitive, and is fairly balanced, but hasn't come close to the peak years of Big East football. SMU and Houston have the most history, but SMU's death penalty pretty much wiped that out.

Miami won a NC in the Big East. They were routinely a top 10 team for several years. The VT teams with Vick were terrific, losing a NC game to FSU. WVU had great teams. BC had good teams. None of the AAC teams including Houston last year or UCF with Bortles, really compare. But yes, it was top heavy.

 

[Drew]

I disagree with your general assertion. Prestige and name recognition are the most important aspects to college football. All of these schools: Miami, BC, Syracuse, VT, Pitt, WVU have more history and name recognition and football success than any school in the AAC. The AAC has been competitive, and is fairly balanced, but hasn't come close to the peak years of Big East football. SMU and Houston have the most history, but SMU's death penalty pretty much wiped that out.

Miami won a NC in the Big East. They were routinely a top 10 team for several years. The VT teams with Vick were terrific, losing a NC game to FSU. WVU had great teams. BC had good teams. None of the AAC teams including Houston last year or UCF with Bortles, really compare. But yes, it was top heavy.

I am referencing when UConn was playing in the Big East for football. Yeah, UConn played Miami once in the Big East. That isn't what I'm talking about. I'm referencing the Big East post VT/Miami/BC leaving which is when UConn spent a majority of the time in the league as an established FBS program. The point of this conversation was this is the best football conference that UConn has ever been a part of- and that still holds true today. The AAC is clearly better than the 8 team Big East that UConn played in from top to bottom.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I am referencing when UConn was playing in the Big East for football. Yeah, UConn played Miami once in the Big East. That isn't what I'm talking about. I'm referencing the Big East post VT/Miami/BC leaving which is when UConn spent a majority of the time in the league as an established FBS program. The point of this conversation was this is the best football conference that UConn has ever been a part of- and that still holds true today. The AAC is clearly better than the 8 team Big East that UConn played in from top to bottom.

Ok. I'd call that a toss-up more or less. Several teams are the same. But if we lose Cinci and Houston...it's not even a toss up.

 

[upstater]

I disagree with your general assertion. Prestige and name recognition are the most important aspects to college football. All of these schools: Miami, BC, Syracuse, VT, Pitt, WVU have more history and name recognition and football success than any school in the AAC. The AAC has been competitive, and is fairly balanced, but hasn't come close to the peak years of Big East football. SMU and Houston have the most history, but SMU's death penalty pretty much wiped that out.

Miami won a NC in the Big East. They were routinely a top 10 team for several years. The VT teams with Vick were terrific, losing a NC game to FSU. WVU had great teams. BC had good teams. None of the AAC teams including Houston last year or UCF with Bortles, really compare. But yes, it was top heavy.

If you're talking about the BE pre-UConn, then yeah, Miami and VT were great.

But this whole conversation is about the BE with UConn post-2004.

 

[Chief00]

If you're going to vote libertarian, which has always been expressly in favor of things like Citizen United, then why would you care about people giving money for influence? This is all legal--nothing illegal about it. It stinks to high heaven, but the fact remains, we don't want to regulate people who own politicians.

You don't have a clue - donations to charity for governmemt access do not fall under the same rules as political contributions. It's a complete waste of time discussing this with you.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

If you're talking about the BE pre-UConn, then yeah, Miami and VT were great.

But this whole conversation is about the BE with UConn post-2004.

That's correct the league UConn played in was not the same as the Big East Prior to the the loss off Miami ,VT, and BC. As a taxpayer of CT I felt cheated by that fact.
Of the three desperate adds ,Louisville had the best rep but they immediately went into the tank when the joined.
Cinn and SFU were B list schools in football.
In other words the Big East we joined was perceived to be dieing already.
Laugh if you want about the Hillbillys of WVA but they carried the conference

 

[businesslawyer]

That's basically an A10 level conference + UConn

If you add UConn to the A-Ten, the A-Ten becomes competitive to the SEC, Pac Ten and Big East most years.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you add UConn to the A-Ten, the A-Ten becomes competitive to the SEC, Pac Ten and Big East most years.

And if you add UConn to the New Big East, it's even better than that. I'm not advocating, just saying that we can't pretend that a gutted AAC is anything but crap for basketball. I still don't think we will need to find out.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

And if you add UConn to the New Big East, it's even better than that. I'm not advocating, just saying that we can't pretend that a gutted AAC is anything but crap for basketball. I still don't think we will need to find out.

I think if we failed this time to get into a p5 and that is still our chief objective
We have to continue to play football in one of the two clearly top G5 conferences
We also have to address basketball as that's UConn's core competence, with a recognizable national brand and by far the biggest fan base.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think if we failed this time to get into a p5 and that is still our chief objective
We have to continue to play football in one of the two clearly top G5 conferences
We also have to address basketball as that's UConn's core competence, with a recognizable national brand and by far the biggest fan base.

There is no question that we can't sacrifice football. That being said, I think Benedict and Herbst know that, and will not consider a move to the Big East unless they think football is unharmed vs. the AAC. That would require some pretty blunt discussion with the B1G and ACC. The MAC is a step down. Independent, if we could get a scheduling alliance with a P5, might not be. That's a big if.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

There is no question that we can't sacrifice football. That being said, I think Benedict and Herbst know that, and will not consider a move to the Big East unless they think football is unharmed vs. the AAC. That would require some pretty blunt discussion with the B1G and ACC. The MAC is a step down. Independent, if we could get a scheduling alliance with a P5, might not be. That's a big if.

That's why I favor no AAC exspansion unless we lose thre,it allows us to be in a conference but schedule aggressively.
We could play a very compelling OC schedule in a 10 team league but more importantly the signal that needs to be sent is we're are ready for prime time.
It's basketball that needs some out of the box thinking if we want to continue to actually be viable.
I keep hammering on the fact that the AAC conference with a dominant UConn football program is just as compelling as the current league but in Badketball we need to be in a conference that sends 4-6 teams annually to the dance.
Think of our situation as being in the NCAA tourney the most important thing is survive and advance. In our situation blinking is not an option.

 

[upstater]

You don't have a clue - donations to charity for governmemt access do not fall under the same rules as political contributions. It's a complete waste of time discussing this with you.

So make it illegal. It's not illegal. But you'd never make it illegal in 1 million years. You just loved Halliburton's access in 2000-2008.

 

[Chief00]

So make it illegal. It's not illegal. But you'd never make it illegal in 1 million years. You just loved Halliburton's access in 2000-2008.

You are the partisan and too emotional to logically debate with - what does Halliburton 8-16 years ago have to do with any of this?

 

[Stinger92860]

Football is everything right now, but 50 years from now, maybe 20, it will be dead. Concussions are going to kill it.

Ah, you read the article on Casey today. Yes?

No way I'd let my child play. However, if you grow up in a poor area and it's a ticket out of a terrible environment, would you do it?