Waiting for Nelson's explanation

[Excalibur]

Doesn't exactly fit the narrative, does it?

 

[CTBasketball]

Let's not get negative and enjoy this win! LETS GO HUSKIES!

 

[Excalibur]

I'll enjoy it by rubbing a few faces in it, thank you.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What narrative?

I was going to stay positive, but the original post was so stupid, especially for a lawyer, that it deserves a response.

You can't use UConn in your argument that the American is better than the Big East when my whole argument is to put UConn in the Big East. How would the Big East and American look right now if UConn was in the Big East?

So, if your argument is that a UConn win is somehow validating of the AAC, then you are an idiot. If you are making some other point, let me know.

 

[Excalibur]

What narrative?


You can't use UConn in your argument that the American is better than the Big East when my whole argument is to put UConn in the Big East. How would the Big East and American look right now if UConn was in the Big East?

Did you really just say that? Looks like you had your explanation cooked up well before the horn sounded.

Your position that UConn should join the Big East and go independent in football relies almost entirely on the premise that the Big East is a better basketball conference. It's why you've been pushing that point relentlessly since October. If there's no clear advantage, then we should stay where people are actually watching.

 

[dante]

You can't use UConn in your argument that the American is better than the Big East when my whole argument is to put UConn in the Big East. How would the Big East and American look right now if UConn was in the Big East?

So, if your argument is that a UConn win is somehow validating of the AAC, then you are an idiot. If you are making some other point, let me know.

It does validate that AAC is better then the BE because UConn is in it the if's dont count.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Did you really just say that? Looks like you had your explanation cooked up well before the horn sounded.

Your position that UConn should join the Big East and go independent in football relies almost entirely on the premise that the Big East is a better basketball conference. It's why you've been pushing that point relentlessly since October. If there's no clear advantage, then we should stay where people are actually watching.

The Big East is a better basketball conference. You can't put UConn on one side of the ledger and then say that league is a better league for UConn because UConn is already in it. That doesn't make any sense. You are smart enough to figure this out on your own.

The AAC without UConn is a terrible league. There will be at least 5 teams in the league next year that are worse than 150 RPI.

 

[Palatine]

The Big East is a better basketball conference. You can't put UConn on one side of the ledger and then say that league is a better league for UConn because UConn is already in it. That doesn't make any sense. You are smart enough to figure this out on your own.

The AAC without UConn is a terrible league. There will be at least 5 teams in the league next year that are worse than 150 RPI.

Still batting 1.000 eh Nelson?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Not a lot of stats or science majors on this board.

 

[metsfan2323]

Nelson can you at least have a moment of clarity and admit that we are not being destroyed by the AAC? The basketball program is clearly on the up swing, time to put on some shades and chill.

BTW where is Freescooter? He hasn't been posting much lately. Shaka Dumb Freescooter, Shaka very dumb.

 

[prankster]

Doesn't exactly fit the narrative, does it?

Not very much, ever, fits his narrative.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Doesn't exactly fit the narrative, does it?

I think the events of this weekend fit my narrative pretty well. Memphis got smoked and Cincinnati went out in the first round. Creighton got blown out too, but Providence played very well against UNC and Villanova lost to a good team. The Big East had a down year this year. Georgetown will be back. Other than Temple getting better again, this is about as good as the AAC is going to get.

 

[J-dog]

I think it's fair to say UCONN was good this year in spite of being in the AAC… While we can all agree we need to find our way into a top conference soon, I cringe to say, being in the new Big East next year for hoop would be a better situation than being in the AAC…

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This post season doesn't change the fact that the big east is a better basketball conference than the AAC.

Where Nelson has always been wrong is when he advocates for football independence that's contingent on an invite to the big east. Football independence is just an absolute non starter for reasons listed here hundreds of times.

 

[tzznandrew]

This post season doesn't change the fact that the big east is a better basketball conference than the AAC.

Where Nelson has always been wrong is when he advocates for football independence that's contingent on an invite to the big east. Football independence is just an absolute non starter for reasons listed here hundreds of times.

Generally agree, although, a thought about the AAC next year.

It will be worse next year, but I think the RPI might end up being higher. I mean, even Louisville had a weak RPI because of poor OOC scheduling.

USF will get a guy back
UCF will be better
Houston will be more experienced
Temple will be better
Tulsa is an upgrade over Rutgers

(let us momentarily forget Tulane and East Carolina...)

Those schools will have better RPIs than last year, and I'd wager by a lot. If they were all between 100-150 rather than between 150-200, the conference would have been ranked much higher. All we need is for those teams to schedule a little better, and we'll be okay for another year (as I expect UConn-SMU-Cincy-Memphis will all be solid to very good).

 

[freescooter]

the Big East is probably deeper, has more of a middle class if you will, but the AAC is better at the top. I think that is pretty clear. Going forward, the real worry is that the lack of depth in the AAC hurts UConn and its seedings. This year we got a 7. That's a pick 'em seed. (Statistically since the tourney went to 64 teams, 7-10 seeds are pretty much equal in terms of first round victories.8-9 game is 51-49 in favor of the 8.(8 went 3-1 this year) 7-10 is 58-42 in favor of the 7, though this year the 10 went 3-1) We happened to get a good match in the first game and an in round 2 (with a horrible coach. How can you not get the ball inside?) But in future years we might not be as fortunate. Every time you play a good team it means you have to play well to win. When you play a 15 seed, you can have an off game and still pull it out. I'd much rather a 2 or 3 seed. Those will be hard to come by just given that we need to play a bunch of awful teams at the bottom of our league which will generate weaker RPIs. It is probable that the Big East teams will have better RPIs, if only because they have better middle class teams and fewer blocks of granite sinking the whole ship.

 

[tzznandrew]

the Big East is probably deeper, has more of a middle class if you will, but the AAC is better at the top. I think that is pretty clear. Going forward, the real worry is that the lack of depth in the AAC hurts UConn and its seedings. This year we got a 7. That's a pick 'em seed. (Statistically since the tourney went to 64 teams, 7-10 seeds are pretty much equal in terms of first round victories.8-9 game is 51-49 in favor of the 8.(8 went 3-1 this year) 7-10 is 58-42 in favor of the 7, though this year the 10 went 3-1) We happened to get a good match in the first game and an in round 2 (with a horrible coach. How can you not get the ball inside?) But in future years we might not be as fortunate. Every time you play a good team it means you have to play well to win. When you play a 15 seed, you can have an off game and still pull it out. I'd much rather a 2 or 3 seed. Those will be hard to come by just given that we need to play a bunch of awful teams at the bottom of our league which will generate weaker RPIs. It is probable that the Big East teams will have better RPIs, if only because they have better middle class teams and fewer blocks of granite sinking the whole ship.

We need the lower teams to take an RPI lesson from Southern Mississippi, who always games it well. We don't need them to be better, per se, we just need them to lose to better teams before the season starts, so that their RPI isn't dreadful.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I will agree 100% that Temple will be back as long as Dunphy is there. Houston, despite tremendous local talent (probably the best basketball city in the South), is always coached by geezers (Penders) or idiots (everyone else). UCF and USF are not getting better. Hartford would be an upgrade over Rutgers, so that is not saying anything. SMU is an unhappy 74 year old retiring away from irrelevance, although to their credit, they are willing to pay their coaches.

The problem with the AAC is that about half the programs are not even trying to get better. They are happy to just suck forever.

The difference between the Big East programs and the AAC programs is that a) the Big East programs have a lot more TV revenue, and b) the Big East programs care about winning because winning equals more fans equals a bigger gate. All the Big East schools draw well when they are good. They are big city programs with a lot of history. But their fans are fickle, so they need to be good to draw fans, which means they will pay up for coaches. Would Donnie Jones or Stan Heath ever be a coach at a Big East school? How about Dickey? If USF was 22-8, they wouldn't draw much more than they do now, so they don't really care who their basketball coach is, and they couldn't afford a good coach anyway.

 

[pj]

You can't use UConn in your argument that the American is better than the Big East when my whole argument is to put UConn in the Big East. How would the Big East and American look right now if UConn was in the Big East?

So, if your argument is that a UConn win is somehow validating of the AAC, then you are an idiot. If you are making some other point, let me know.

If whichever conference UConn is in is the superior conference, why should quality of the other teams determine where we go? It's not going to be decisive to our fate.

 

[tzznandrew]

The problem with the AAC is that about half the programs are not even trying to get better. They are happy to just suck forever.

We'll see. I just disagree.

UConn-Cincy-Memphis clearly care, and will usually be the cream of the crop going forward.

As you said, Dunphy will make Temple better next year than this year, and then likely better two years from now than next year. And, SMU will pay to make themselves better, and to try to stay at the level they are now. They have local talent, and I can see them keeping up respectability.

As for some of the other teams:

• Tulsa has traditionally been solid. They always hire up and coming coaches, and have made many runs over the years. Manning seems to have them on the right track.
• USF fired a coach when they didn't really need to. If they didn't care about winning, they could have made the excuse that their PG and best player was injured. They didn't.
• UCF seems to want to improve; whether through nefarious means or not, we'll see. I hear their coach has a rep already
• Let's wait on Houston. They should probably fire their coach, but I'm willing to give them another year or two because of the talent hotbed they're in.

The less said about Tulane and East Carolina as basketball schools, though, the better.

Again, we don't need those bottom schools to make the tournament. We just need their RPI to look better.

 

[itgoeslike]

I would rather be in a 6-7 BB conference that provides a path to upgrade our conference situation. than be in a 4-5 BB conference with no chance for an upgrade. Embracing the NBE means that we've come to the realization that P5 invite is not forthcoming.

 

[itgoeslike]

While the NBE is better top to bottom than the AAC, many of their teams have topped out, and some even risk going backwards in the coming years. Many of the AAC teams are really not that good in basketball, but with guaranteed ESPN exposure and a new more competitive conference, there is only upside for these teams. That doesn't mean that they win a NC anytime soon, but some may crack the top 100.

 

[itgoeslike]

After a year that really fell short of expectations, the NBE should look at raiding A-10 again. It will be interesting to see if there are any takers.

 

[tzznandrew]

After a year that really fell short of expectations, the NBE should look at raiding A-10 again. It will be interesting to see if there are any takers.

They get more money than the A10 or MVC, so they will definitely get takers. And I think they should expand.

St. Louis seems like a no-brainer. Then the question becomes, who else do you take? Do you go with a Butler-esque darling, Wichita State, to give the Western region another team? Or do you stay Catholic, and pick a team like Dayton (how does Xavier feel about that)?

 

[itgoeslike]

They get more money than the A10 or MVC, so they will definitely get takers. And I think they should expand.

St. Louis seems like a no-brainer. Then the question becomes, who else do you take? Do you go with a Butler-esque darling, Wichita State, to give the Western region another team? Or do you stay Catholic, and pick a team like Dayton (how does Xavier feel about that)?

I agree. But with 6 teams in the tourney, the A-10 could argue that they are the superior BB conference. But at the end of the day money talks. . .

Creighton, Marquette, (Butler again) could be question marks next year. So, think they have to go with a program that has infrastructure in place and a tradition of competing. St. Louis, Dayton and VCU comes to mind. Maybe Wichita. St. Louis, Wichita and Dayton help fill out the Western wing of the conference. I doubt Villanova provides wiggle room for a St. Joe's nod.

I do think it's risky for the NBE to hang their hat on the current make up of the conference. They'll add two teams perhaps as early as this summer.