Will UConn winning their 3rd national title stop the "weak conference" allegations?

[Carnac]

Winning the national championship again this year should put to rest (at least for the time being) all the talk and conjecture about UConn being in a weak conference....but it won't. It will only add more fuel to the fire. Naysayers will continue to argue that UConn's "soft" conference schedule allows then to cruise through the bulk of their season because of the absence of any ranked teams in their conference. Meaning they don't have to play their starters more that half the game, thereby keeping them fresh and relatively injury free for their post season run for the trophy.

The only people that try arguing this point are the jealous and disgruntled fans from other programs choking on "sour grapes", who are tired of UConn's continued success. They would love nothing better than to see the Huskies stumble and fall. Cheers went ...up across the country in WCBB back in November when UConn lost to Stanford. Many people were ecstatic and hoping that this was an omen and a prelude of things to come. Little did they know however that this would be the only game UConn would lose the remainder of the year.

The simple solution to this situation is to for one of the "major" conferences to invite UConn to join it.
It's ALWAYS bitter and angry fans that you hear complaining about UConn's success. Some times it's not a UConn detractor, but a person that does not like or respect women's basketball in general. You never hear a rival coach, administrators from other programs or the news media, make disparaging remarks or comments about UConn's conference affiliation. Two years in the American Athletic Conference has produced two national championships.

The AAC is two for two in having a member of their conference win the national championship. How many other conferences can make that statement? It doesn't appear that being in the AAC has weakened the Huskie's formidability or resolve. Some pundits would try and make a case for UConn not being in a "power conference" a detriment to their program. The fact that the last two national championship trophies now reside in UConn's trophy case would suggest otherwise. Their display removes any potential validity from any such argument.

Recalling a recent observation from former UConn great and 3 time All American Diana Taurasi earlier this season: "If you're going to beat UConn, you'd better do it THIS season. Because Breanna Stewart et. al. are going to be extremely hard to beat next year. After watching the last 3 senior classes go out "the right way", Jefferson and Stewart want nothing less. Next year's team is projected to be more formidable than this team" (more height, more talent and a deeper bench). That's a scary thought, and gives outsiders pause for concern and something to think about over the summer......a great team getting even better.

In a post game interview, Breanna Stewart (winner of the John R. Wooden award, Wade Trophy and the Honda award) said: “We make it look easier than it is. We won three championships in a row; it’s unreal, but it comes with a lot of hard work. We don’t just step on the court and be crowned the champions. We have to get better and it seems like each year somebody else is trying to test us, somebody else is trying to see what we’ve got; if we are pushed to our breaking point. “I don’t think anybody wanted this game to be a walk in the park. They wanted to really have Notre Dame give us their all and they did. It gets to show what kind of team we are.” (end quote)

It is understood that the other top ranked programs are all getting better as well, bringing in blue chip and highly rated recruits in an effort to close the gap between them and the top two ranked programs in the country.......UConn and Notre Dame. Agree or not, there is somewhat of a drop off between these two elite programs and the rest of the teams in Division 1 women's college basketball. Both programs finish at or near the top in the national polls every year. They continue to recruit some (not all) of the best players available each year that will enhance their ability to put a highly competitive team on the floor every year. UConn and ND have consistently made it to the final four for the past several years. No other program in women's Division 1 college basketball can make that statement.

Finally, a thought to ponder Huskie fans as we enter the summer break....Former NFL head coach and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Parcells once said during in a press conference.........."You are what your record says you are". (This is a re-post written several weeks ago on another thread)

 

[Icebear]

No, it won't change anything. Haters gonna hate.

 

[triaddukefan]

No

 

[CocoHusky]

Q: Will UConn winning their 3rd national title stop the "weak conference" allegations?
A: No. Losing regular season games against quality programs like ND (2013-14), Louisville, Baylor, Maryland, Duke, & Stanford in only two years will only give the haters more ammunition. UCONN place in this conference is about the quality of the football team. We'll continue to pile up WCBB Championships and maybe even MCBB Championships but if the football team can't beat Army UCONN is not moving to P5 conference.

 

[Blakeon18]

Whether UConn wins this year or not, the allegations won't stop...and frankly it IS a weak conference compared
to the power 5. Certainly our football program doesn't help us in a future move, but our geography does.
The Big 10 clearly wants to expand its' footprint in the northeast [i.e. metropolitan NYC]. Rutgers doesn't do that.
UConn would....no matter the quality of the football program. The ACC has considerable influence in NYC with Syracuse
and ND....getting UConn would block the Big 10 from any real impact and benefit from NYC. The Big 10 landing UConn
would open their door to the metro population/corporations etc.

 

[rvwsleep]

Whether or not UConn is in a weak conference depends on how you define weak. Certainly if you take take the overall strength of the AAC, it's behind the power 5 conferences. Sagarin has the AAC as the #6 rated conference out of 33 but significantly behind the power 5 conferences. One or two good teams do not necessarily make a "strong" conference. If UConn played in the Northeast Conference (Sagarin ranked #29 last season) while winning the last 3 NC's, would that make the NE Conference a strong one ? I don't think so.
The generally accepted theory, when UConn was moving to the AAC, was that the easy conference schedule would be a detriment to their success because it would not provide the competition necessary to prepare it for the NCAAT. When that theory proved incorrect, a completely opposite theory was provided for UConn's success. An easy conference schedule allows UConn to rest their players so that they're ready for the NCAAT. Of course the reformulated theory ignores UConn's success when it was in the Big East.
So, to answer your title question, NO, it won't stop weak conference allegations. And, depending on how you define weak, it shouldn't.

 

[rvwsleep]

I was going to say that you left out Anson Dorrance from the Mt Rushmore choices. Any discussion of "What 4 women's college coaches would you put your Mt. Rushmore?" would have to include him.
But after a second reading of the question, I think I have to choose the coaches from Barnard, Wellesley, Smith... What say you Kibitzer ?

 

[Waquoit]

The AAC is a horrible conference. But playing in a horrible conference is a hindrance, not a help. Anyone saying otherwise is just flailing, looking for reasons to denigrate UConn.

 

[Bigpetunia]

This is a rather silly thread, because it implies that a necessary connection exists between the relative strength/weakness of UConn's conference and its post-season success. It is true, as alleged, that many UConn detractors cite the weakness of the AAC as a factor in UConn's recent string of National Championships, but we all know that those championships would have happened irrespective of conference affiliation. The indisputable fact remains that, on a relative basis, the AAC is quite weak, and dreadfully so. A convincing argument can be easily confected that this weakness works to UConn's detriment rather than to its benefit. I would rather see the team play in a conference that renders them much more battle-hardened and well-tested come tourney time. Leading the country in margin-of-victory stats strikes me as pretty unimportant. It is true, also as alleged, that many of the elite programs are improving. We should all be happy to see this development. But are any of those programs, save the lone possibility of USF, in the AAC? UConn's greatness and dominance in WCBB is in spite of, not because of its AAC affiliation, and therefore it doesn't make sense to suggest that its National Championships will suddenly "put to rest" any discussion about conference weakness.

 

[msf22b]

What horrible conference are you talking about?
I think the AAC is great.

 

[Huskyhoops]

Will Christmas follow Thanksgiving this year?

 

[Gus Mahler]

This is a rather silly thread, because it implies that a necessary connection exists between the relative strength/weakness of UConn's conference and its post-season success. It is true, as alleged, that many UConn detractors cite the weakness of the AAC as a factor in UConn's recent string of National Championships, but we all know that those championships would have happened irrespective of conference affiliation. The indisputable fact remains that, on a relative basis, the AAC is quite weak, and dreadfully so. A convincing argument can be easily confected that this weakness works to UConn's detriment rather than to its benefit. I would rather see the team play in a conference that renders them much more battle-hardened and well-tested come tourney time. Leading the country in margin-of-victory stats strikes me as pretty unimportant. It is true, also as alleged, that many of the elite programs are improving. We should all be happy to see this development. But are any of those programs, save the lone possibility of USF, in the AAC? UConn's greatness and dominance in WCBB is in spite of, not because of its AAC affiliation, and therefore it doesn't make sense to suggest that its National Championships will suddenly "put to rest" any discussion about conference weakness.

"confected" Nice!

 

[Bigpetunia]

"confected" Nice!

Why thank you, Gus! Off topic, I watched this morning a youtube video of Lenny B conducting your adagietto from the 5th. Check it out. It's the Vienna Phil., not NY, which you'll immediately grasp from the absence of any female players. As adherents to this Board, well....you know!

 

[2Husky]

It's a top heavy conference, and depending on how you weight different factors it could end up in a number of spots. On average though i would certainly put it ahead of any conference that uses letters other than A or C. Take UConn out of it (please), and it would fall quite a bit in my rankings.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Why thank you, Gus! Off topic, I watched this morning a youtube video of Lenny B conducting your adagietto from the 5th. Check it out. It's the Vienna Phil., not NY, which you'll immediately grasp from the absence of any female players. As adherents to this Board, well....you know!

Thanks for the info. I dare say I'm quite proud of that one!

 

[JellyBean]

No, it won't change anything. Haters gonna hate.

I was about to say the same thing. Short, sweet, and to the point!

 

[alexrgct]

Detractors gonna impugn.

 

[JS]

Derogators gonna disparage.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Derogators gonna disparage.

Derogator, losa hand...

 

[ed4ourgirls]

I don't understand how UConn's winning the NC could change anyone's
perception of the AAC.

UConn's program is the standard against which all others are measured.
That hasn't changed.

The rest of the AAC, taken as a group, is measurably inferior to the 5
majors, taken as a group. That hasn't changed either.

 

[willtalk]

The distance between UConn and the quality of the tier's of teams behind them presently is so wide that any advantage or disadvantage in playing in the AAC has would be negligible. I think it will be at least a couple seasons, before any such effect might actually be ascertained.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

As to the question in the thread, as others stated, they are unrelated facts. UConn's excellence and the quality of its current conference are independent of each other. UConn would do just as well if they were in a P5 conference, and the AAC would stink without 'em.

Folks who want to claim being in a weaker conference is either good or bad for UConn lack any evidence to back it up. So far as I can tell, UConn's performance is just about the same as it was when it was in the BE, which was a WBB power.

As to the poll at the top, forget about it. No one in their right mind would put group 2 (kind of obviously) but my selection would probably not be group 1 either. Pat and Geno for sure, but probably Leon Barmore and the 4th spot to be determined. While Muffett is making a case (lately), Tara made it before her. A fair number of years ago, Jody would have been possible, a few years from now it might be Kim Mulkey or (ach, choke) Brenda Frese or Jeff Walz or who knows who?. Vivian has some things going for her, and I don't think a NC is everything, but without one, I think not.

 

[Sonny44]

Why thank you, Gus! Off topic, I watched this morning a youtube video of Lenny B conducting your adagietto from the 5th. Check it out. It's the Vienna Phil., not NY, which you'll immediately grasp from the absence of any female players. As adherents to this Board, well....you know!

A convincing argument can be easily confected that this weakness works to UConn's detriment rather than to its benefit. I would rather see the team play in a conference that renders them much more battle-hardened and well-tested come tourney time. Leading the country in margin-of-victory stats strikes me as pretty unimportant. It is true, also as alleged, that many of the elite programs are improving. We should all be happy to see this development. But are any of those programs, save the lone possibility of USF, in the AAC? UConn's greatness and dominance in WCBB is in spite of, not because of its AAC affiliation, and therefore it doesn't make sense to suggest that its National Championships will suddenly "put to rest" any discussion about conference weakness.

Well put BP. Couldn't agree more. We didn't arrive at the tournament battle-hardened. Thus, the difficulties against Dayton and an ordinary (by UCONN standards) win against ND.

 

[easttexastrash]

The AAC is a horrible conference. But playing in a horrible conference is a hindrance, not a help. Anyone saying otherwise is just flailing, looking for reasons to denigrate UConn.

I respect UCONN immensely but being in a weak conference where there are no tough games gives UCONN basically 3 months of games in which they experience very little wear and tear on the players. UCONN would win the title in any conference but not having to go through the grind of a tough schedule is a benefit that teams from other conferences don't get.

Other than UCONN the AAC is a pretty weak conference from top to bottom.

 

[The Don]

I respect UCONN immensely but being in a weak conference where there are no tough games gives UCONN basically 3 months of games in which they experience very little wear and tear on the players. UCONN would win the title in any conference but not having to go through the grind of a tough schedule is a benefit that teams from other conferences don't get.

Other than UCONN the AAC is a pretty weak conference from top to bottom.

It is rather interesting that people are now advancing the argument that ETT is making. Remember when the AAC was formed, the talk was that the conference was so weak that it could not prepare UCONN enough to win top NCAA games. Indeed, when UCONN played Baylor that year, there was "Dishin & Swishin" podcast after the game during which one of the contributors (I think it was Brooks but not sure) went out of her way to point out how she felt the AAC had not prepared UCONN for the game.

So folks cannot have it both ways!!!