12 Reasons Why UConn Will Regret the New Big East

[CL82]

Hey just wanted to circle back to this article and point and laugh at it because it is so very stupid.

I hadn't read this originally, but I just did. Wow. That is mindbogglingly bad.

 

[Guapo]

I hadn't read this originally, but I just did. Wow. That is mindbogglingly bad.

A stupid argument argued badly.

Welcome to the internet!

 

[John]

I wish all of you the best going forward and hope this move will be a success. My biggest fear for you is that the move will push you to be more of a regional school than a national one like I believe you to are striving to be. Maybe (hopefully) I’m wrong and FSN will be a marketing boon for you, but I don’t see how this helps you become a more national school. Maybe I’m underestimating the reach of the Big East (most people here in Michigan didn’t even know what conference Villanova was in) or that UConn wants to be more regional/New England’s flagship. Who knows?

Who gets shafted the most is the football players. They signed on to a UConn thinking they would be playing in a pretty good football conference and are now left out wandering the desert of independence. I hope they have a plan in place for them.

we waved the white flag at being big time. That's the bottom line.

 

[CL82]

we waved the white flag at being big time. That's the bottom line.

Hardly. Staying in the AAC and having our needs repeatedly disregarded would have been "white flag at being big time."

 

[Bobol]

1. UConn in the AAC was doomed from the start because UConn had no geographic rivals to excite its fan base.

2. The decision by the UConn to move to the Big East was not made quickly. UConn's decision was the result of a comprehensive due diligence inquiry as to the likelihood that a P5 conference invite was realistic. Only after discussions with P5 reps lead the UConn Administrators to conclude that the likelihood of a P5 invite was remote did the UConn decide to move to the Big East.

.

 

[don356]

If "geographic rivals" are needed for football for a school with a large bball presence nationally then it was an error to go the fball route to begin with. Given the northeast location, it's likely always going to be an issue. You could probably make that argument for most of the schools in the AAC including the ones who are competitive against the P5 like a Ucf, Cincy or Houston. At the end of the day, you have to be able to recruit players and coaches to where you are located, EOS. It's a bigger issue than geographic rivals in fball.

 

[billybud]

I am interested to see the emphasis put on UConn playing geographic rivals....

I have preached the importance of regionalism since God got his first puppy...(when God created Adam, Adam asked about me.."who is this guy?." God answered, "Don't know, he was here when I got here").

I have moaned about the ACC move to Cuse and BC...those teams should have stayed with the BE. UConn, Cuse, Boston College make a nice anchor for an eastern conference.

 

[Husky25]

I am interested to see the emphasis put on UConn playing geographic rivals....

I have preached the importance of regionalism since God got his first puppy...(when God created Adam, Adam asked about me.."who is this guy?." God answered, "Don't know, he was here when I got here").

I have moaned about the ACC move to Cuse and BC...those teams should have stayed with the BE. UConn, Cuse, Boston College make a nice anchor for an eastern conference.

Yet your school aligned with BC in 2012.

 

[billybud]

Yet your school aligned with BC in 2012.

My school didn't align with BC....BC aligned with FSU, Clemson, Miami, VT, and GT to get in Louisville...

A program that VT, GT and FSU had played with as conference mates in the Metro and one that was thought to be more regional to the south.

 

[billybud]

Surely UConn fans understand wanting an old rival....and a more regional team for the southern programs.

FSU (as a football independent) and Louisville played in football in 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 91, 2000, 2002...

The 1980 game was my first date with my wife.

 

[Guapo]

Surely UConn fans understand wanting an old rival....and a more regional team for the southern programs.

FSU (as a football independent) and Louisville played in football in 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 91, 2000, 2002...

The 1980 game was my first date with my wife.

What years were you there? My mom was at FSU from 1980-84

 

[billybud]

I was far out of school by 1980....Had season tickets and had been a booster since we went 0-11 before Bobby B.

Met my now wife through work and asked her out for the game....

And cool...your mom would have been diagonal from me in the stands across the field....we shared some games, I'll bet.

Some of my favorite night games...

 

[Guapo]

I was far out of school by 1980....Had season tickets and had been a booster since we went 0-11 before Bobby B.

Met my now wife through work and asked her out for the game....

Amazing what Doak has become, even since I was a little kid. I think I read somewhere that it is one of the largest all brick buildings in the world, which is incredible since I remember it as being little more than a glorified erector set project haha

 

[billybud]

The largest continuous brick structure in the US.

And, yes, I spent years in the old metal erectpr set stands.

 

[Bobol]

As stated in my above post I believe (from a UConn perspective) the AAC was doomed from the start because UConn had no geographic or historic rivals to excite its fan base.

For the AAC to have worked for UConn fans the AAC should have not included ECU , Tulsa, SMU, or Tulane because each lacks gravitas in the sport world. IMO the AAC should have included UMass which could have developed into a hatred fueled rivalry with UConn and Temple (recall the Calapari era)..

The smaller 9 team football/ basketball AAC with
UCF
USF
Cincy
Memphis
UConn
Temple
Navy - football
UMass
Houston

would have be more focused, more marketable which would have fostered rivalries better than it did by including ECU, Tulsa, SMU, and Tulane.

The heated rivalries which the Big East brings with Providence, StJohn’s, G’town, Seton Hall and other will more keep the our interests.

 

[billybud]

I am curious since I don't follow them...

Who are UMass's heated football rivals?

And who do think will become UConn's heated football rivals?


I could see BC and Cuse as naturals...but I don't see an annual OOC set up like the four ACC teams have with their SEC in-state rivals.

BYU has their in-state games with Utah and Utah State as a core with Boise State added.

 

[huskyrob1]

What happened to the UConn of my youth? When did we start giving up?

Scores of bad hires after they hired Geno and JC. Jeff Hathaway, Susan Herbst, RE2.0, Disco, PP, Warde. Toner was the one man who had vision for the school, and could have saved the situation had he been 20 years younger.

 

[CL82]

Scores of bad hires after they hired Geno and JC. Jeff Hathaway, Susan Herbst, RE2.0, Disco, PP, Warde. Toner was the one man who had vision for the school, and could have saved the situation had he been 20 years younger.

John Toner was an outstanding guy but Lew Perkins probably gets the credit for seeing the writing on the wall and pushing for the move to 1A.

 

[buddy]

I am curious since I don't follow them...

Who are UMass's heated football rivals?

And who do think will become UConn's heated football rivals?


I could see BC and Cuse as naturals...but I don't see an annual OOC set up like the four ACC teams have with their SEC in-state rivals.

BYU has their in-state games with Utah and Utah State as a core with Boise State added.

When FSU and BC decided to not allow UConn to the ACC (along with ESPN, of course) it basically killed UConn athletics. I don't think there will be any heated rivals for UConn football, as it has been killed. The move to the Big East has basically confirmed it.

 

[Vowelguy]

If "geographic rivals" are needed for football for a school with a large bball presence nationally then it was an error to go the fball route to begin with. Given the northeast location, it's likely always going to be an issue.

Uhh, when UConn announced plans to go FBS, it was in a conference with BC, Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia, and Pitt.

 

[huskyrob1]

John Toner was an outstanding guy but Lew Perkins probably gets the credit for seeing the writing on the wall and pushing for the move to 1A.

Perkins did a lot of great things for the school, I knew him, sat next to him at several basketball games, always carried a big bag of nuts with him. Lol
He hired Edsall then a few years later left UConn for Kansas, left a void that was filled by Jeff Hathaway.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Don't underestimate how impactful Chancellor Mark Emmert was, too.

He grossly mismanaged UConn 2000, which cost the university millions of dollars and delayed several key initiatives. Then, he seemed to be insulted when UConn accused him of such when the issues finally saw the light of day in in 2005 (he left in 1999) even with though his own memos from 1998 showed that he was fully aware of what was going on.

Looking back how UConn was treated for it;s NCAA violations in comparison to other schools, one has the impression that as head of NCAA (he rose to the role in 2010), he had a personal grudge with UConn. He went after UConn's icon (Calhoun) less than a year later in 2011. When that did not work with the Huskies winning it all the same year, he tried again by retroactively applying a new rule resulting in UConn's 2013 post-season ban right in the middle of conference realignment.

Without Mark Emmert, one could argue that UConn would be in the ACC today and things would be a lot different.

 

[ZooCougar]

Perkins did a lot of great things for the school, I knew him, sat next to him at several basketball games, always carried a big bag of nuts with him. Lol
He hired Edsall then a few years later left UConn for Kansas, left a void that was filled by Jeff Hathaway.

Left Kansas in disgrace too. Fired Mangino after making a BCS game and the football program took a nosedive afterwards.

Not saying he didn’t do great things at UConn but he also had a downside.

 

[Waquoit]

Toner was the one man who had vision for the school, and could have saved the situation had he been 20 years younger.

UConn didn't get going as an athletic department until after he was forced out.

 

[huskyrob1]

Left Kansas in disgrace too. Fired Mangino after making a BCS game and the football program took a nosedive afterwards.

Not saying he didn’t do great things at UConn but he also had a downside.

Agree 100%, Perkins did have a downside.