A UConn Guide to the Big East

[Guapo]

"This doesn't tell the whole story but it is relevant."

Would you like to disclose what else you’re basing these rankings on? One trip to Hartford of all places during the nadir of UConn basketball?

 

[Zissou]

Would you like to disclose what else you’re basing these rankings on? One trip to Hartford of all places during the nadir of UConn basketball?

Well yeah, sure. What are the best fan bases?
Home attendance. How the fans travel. Look at the distance to NYC, and judge how they represent at BET. How the fans travel to NCAA games in March (and April).

There is of course a correlation to success, but Creighton just plain shows up. X too.

 

[Guapo]

Well yeah, sure. What are the best fan bases?
Home attendance. How the fans travel. Look at the distance to NYC, and judge how they represent at BET. How the fans travel to NCAA games in March (and April).

There is of course a correlation to success, but Creighton just plain shows up. X too.

Again, no hard feelings, since I am happy to be in a conference with legit fan bases again.

I just think if you're ranking UConn 6th...you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

 

[Zissou]

Again, no hard feelings, since I am happy to be in a conference with legit fan bases again.

I just think if you're ranking UConn 6th...you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

It's not a slight. UConn has big upside. This isn't 2011, however, and not only is UConn down, others are up, and the 3 newbies are impressive.

I think UConn will draw at all of the Big East venues. Great for UConn, great for the conference.

 

[Devland]

I had read that Dee Rowe was AD and Head coach at Worchester Academy and Gavitt was an assistant coach for Rowe. Rowe had pull at the time and pushed for Gavitt to become PC's head coach. Gavitt returned the favor by appointing Rowe as an assistant on the 1980 Olympic team. The US boycotted the 1980 games. In 2012 Geno Auriemma, sensing Rowe's disappointment , arranged for Rowe to go in 2012 as an ambassador for the US women's team.

 

[Hoophound]

Loved Tim Coles. Undersized beast always played like a man and handled the paint in a big way for a 6'7 center. Take him right now please!!

I posted this 5 years ago:

The board is getting younger. You've got to be at least 36 to know who he is. I went to a Perno basketball camp one summer and Coles was there taking summer classes. He would always be in the cafeteria when I got breakfast in the morning. He was really quiet and straight faced. One day my buddy dared me to go talk to him (I was probably 11 at the time) and so I went up to Timmy and said,"you eat a lot of Cap'n Crunch". He looks up, milk dripping from his mouth and says, "do you like Cap'n Crunch?" I said "yeah, I love it". He pushed one of his bowls toward me (he had 4 or 5) and said "have a seat". I ate breakfast with him and when the kids I usually sat with tried to come over and join us, Tim goes, "Oh no, you dared him to come talk to me and he wasn't afraid. No guts, no glory, go back to your own table".

 

[mauconnfan]

I posted this 5 years ago:

The board is getting younger. You've got to be at least 36 to know who he is. I went to a Perno basketball camp one summer and Coles was there taking summer classes. He would always be in the cafeteria when I got breakfast in the morning. He was really quiet and straight faced. One day my buddy dared me to go talk to him (I was probably 11 at the time) and so I went up to Timmy and said,"you eat a lot of Cap'n Crunch". He looks up, milk dripping from his mouth and says, "do you like Cap'n Crunch?" I said "yeah, I love it". He pushed one of his bowls toward me (he had 4 or 5) and said "have a seat". I ate breakfast with him and when the kids I usually sat with tried to come over and join us, Tim goes, "oh no, you dared him to come talk to me and he wasn't afraid. No guts, no glory, go back to your own table".

Lol great story great memory too I’m sure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[HuskyHawk]

View attachment 44406

The Top 60 are 8,000+ average attendance. This doesn't tell the whole story but it is relevant. Nova plays on campus to an always sold out 6,500 crowd, and averages up with its games at WFC (Sixers arena).

Seton Hall and DePaul don't make the Top 60, but neither do big state schools like various P5 teams (and FSU).

Our attendance has been down for several reasons. 1. We weren’t good. 2. The teams we played were uninteresting to our fans 3. We were given weird and difficult game times that hurt attendance. 4. We were spoiled and got lazy. The last few years were a wake up call.

By the time we play in the Big East all of that will be resolved. So we will rank quite a bit higher than we do on that list. Even still, teams with NBA arenas have an edge in sheer attendance. Look at where Duke ranks. Gampel is small and XL isn’t modern NBA sized so we can’t crack the top 20.

I went to Kansas for three years and UConn’s fan base is a notch below that. But we won’t be what you’ve seen the last few years.

 

[browndog319]

That’s fine. Just as long we acknowledge that you’re not basing this on any real statistical analysis.

I will say this to expand on what I meant by UConn fandom being different by nature of it being a flagship state school; UConn, and it’s athletic department, are woven into the fabric of the state’s culture, especially in greater Hartford and the northern and eastern part of the state, in a way that a tiny religious school cannot be in their respective cities. It’s difficult to explain unless you’ve lived it.

And thats not to take anything away from Villanova and the other schools and their fans. I’m very excited to be in a conference with teams with real fanbases again.

But, for lack of a better phrase, in Connecticut “it just means more.”

(And I acknowledge that this is also a gooey gut based response )

Villanova means a lot to Philly- like the state of CT but at a city level. And it’s super provincial so everyone is from Philly and stays in Philly. It’s kind of weird.

 

[Zissou]

everyone is from Philly

In four years at Nova most adopt a Philly cultural connection, but most students aren’t from Pennsylvania. The top 5:
1)NJ
2)NY
3)PA
4)MA
5)CT

Nova feels much more Northeast than Philly.

Then there is the whole Big 5 thing. Because Nova is in the affluent Main Line burbs, Temple and Joes fans will say we are not really a Philly school.

Philly does embrace Nova, but there are also divides as there is so much college basketball in Philly, and some buy into the city/burb thing.

 

[browndog319]

In four years at Nova most adopt a Philly cultural connection, but most students aren’t from Pennsylvania. The top 5:
1)NJ
2)NY
3)PA
4)MA
5)CT

Nova feels much more Northeast than Philly.

Then there is the whole Big 5 thing. Because Nova is in the affluent Main Line burbs, Temple and Joes fans will say we are not really a Philly school.

Philly does embrace Nova, but there are also divides as there is so much college basketball in Philly, and some buy into the city/burb thing.

Oh, the St. Joe’s/Temple thing is definitely true. And when St. Joe’s was/is good, the city supports them like crazy. My ex-husband went to St. Joe’s (as did his father and 2 brothers). The loathing of Nova runs deep. I once was at a Nova/St. Joe’s game where the Wildcat jumped the Hawk to get him to stop flapping (he didn’t stop - it was hilarious). THAT made the local news. Didn’t beat the housefire, but that’s how weird it is here!
It doesn’t matter that the student body isn’t really from here - the city adopts winning sports teams. So even if it makes no sense that one year you’re all in on St. Joe’s and the next Villanova (unless you went to one of those schools and then that doesn’t happen), that’s what the city does.
I think it’s just Big East membership that sends Nova games to the Wells Fargo center... but Temple was a member for awhile and is a much bigger school. I think it’s the winning that has done it for the city.
Again, post-Super Bowl does this change? Who knows (this town is weird). They also sent their better QB packing...
they’ve got great restaurants, though, and if you love history it’s awesome. You just have to get past the annoying accents and weird sports allegiances. That make zero sense.

 

[Zissou]

I think it’s just Big East membership that sends Nova games to the Wells Fargo center... but Temple was a member for awhile and is a much bigger school.

A few points
- Temple never played a Big East basketball game. They were in for football.
- Temple actually has a nice on-campus arena. Better than Nova's. Temple doesn't have as big of a need to play at Wells Fargo because they rarely fill the Liacouras Center on campus.
- An exception is hosting Kansas. They spanked Kansas at Wells Fargo a few years ago.
- The Hawk is Dead.
- As Nova has become dominant, the hate in the local rivalries is diminished. Most will root for any Philly team come March. Even lowly St Joes.

 

[browndog319]

A few points
- Temple never played a Big East basketball game. They were in for football.
- Temple actually has a nice on-campus arena. Better than Nova's. Temple doesn't have has big of a need to play at Wells Fargo because they rarely fill the Liacouras Center on campus.
- An exception is hosting Kansas. They spanked Kansas at Wells Fargo a few years ago.
- The Hawk is Dead.
- As Nova has become dominant, the hate in the local rivalries is diminished. Most will root for any Philly team come March. Even lowly St Joes.

The Liacoras Center IS nice. However, you can die going there. So there’s that. Temple is in a scary part of Philly.
I forgot they weren’t a basketball team for us.
A St. Joe’s alum will never root for Villanova. And they won’t admit the Hawk is dead. They’re the only ones - although firing Martelli was as close as they’ll come to admitting it. But they HATE Villanova. Have you spent time with actual St. Joe’s families? Like it’s crazy. In 2004, when they missed going to the Final Four by a few buckets but we went and won the whole thing, I spent the whole season listening to how UConn wasn’t the real deal and how they were going to win the whole thing... based on our one bad loss in the fall when Okafor was struggling with back spasms.
The rest of the city will root for any local school in March, however.

 

[Zissou]

The Liacoras Center IS nice. However, you can die going there. So there’s that. Temple is in a scary part of Philly.
I forgot they weren’t a basketball team for us.
A St. Joe’s alum will never root for Villanova. And they won’t admit the Hawk is dead. They’re the only ones - although firing Martelli was as close as they’ll come to admitting it. But they HATE Villanova. Have you spent time with actual St. Joe’s families? Like it’s crazy. In 2004, when they missed going to the Final Four by a few buckets but we went and won the whole thing, I spent the whole season listening to how UConn wasn’t the real deal and how they were going to win the whole thing... based on our one bad loss in the fall when Okafor was struggling with back spasms.
The rest of the city will root for any local school in March, however.

Yeah, the Temple neighborhood is not great.
Joes fans are cute. Often a Philly family will have both Joes and Nova Alumni. That's fun.
Even with their brewing inferiority complex, I still think the Holy War animosity isn't what it once was. It was much easier for them to hate Rollie when the series was a little closer than Jay today. St Joes never wins, and Jay is a big Philly supporter, Big 5 supporter, and he's always diplomatic and respectful. He's harder to hate.

UConn fans should make an effort to show up at Wells Fargo this year. We will give you a good welcome as your first unofficial conference game.

 

[browndog319]

Yeah, the Temple neighborhood is not great.
Joes fans are cute. Often a Philly family will have both Joes and Nova Alumni. That's fun.
Even with their brewing inferiority complex, I still think the Holy War animosity isn't what it once was. It was much easier for them to hate Rollie when the series was a little closer than Jay today. St Joes never wins, and Jay is a big Philly supporter, Big 5 supporter, and he's always diplomatic and respectful. He's harder to hate.

UConn fans should make an effort to show up at Wells Fargo this year. We will give you a good welcome as your first unofficial conference game.

I’ll definitely go to the WF center - I was at the Hartford game last when we played and that was painful. WF is much closer. Hopefully we can make a game of it this time.
Even I like Jay Wright... he’s a damn good guy. Big 5 games are a lot of fun - I haven’t been in a long time. But they’re a lot of fun.

 

[unclejohn]

A UConn guidebto the Big East

Syracuse ain’t there. Pitt? Nope. Louisville? Uh-uh. West Virginia. Nay. Miami? BC? No and No. Notre Dame? Gonzo.

So who is there? Well St Johns. You know the place that has to virtually beg a D2 guy to coach the team. There is some team from Nebraska called the Blue Jays. And Butler. Remember how good they were when Brad Stevens was there? Yeah, they aren’t that good anymore. Georgetown. JT is long gone and his kid is too. Like us they are trying the nostalgia route with Ewing. LOL.

If you want to go team by team and bad mouth them, you can. I think it just makes you look stupid, but have at if if you like. But here are some other factors to consider. Yes, Syracuse is gone. So is Louisville. But you really miss Miami? Good once a decade and just a quick jog down the turnpike for road games? Pitt, BC? they are terrible, and BC has been for a while. Pitt is a mess right now and I would take just about any Big East team over BC. Meanwhile, you can make snide remarks about Creighton, Butler, and Xavier. But check out their records long term. Creighton is near the top in attendance numbers every year. Xavier lost its coach recently. So did Butler. They've been doing that for years. In fact, Butler lost Thad Matta to Xavier. And what has happened since? They replaced them with someone else and kept going. Any school is going to have a hard time keeping Brad Stevens from jumping to the NBA, but for decades, the two of them have lost coaches - and replaced them. They have also been consistently good. The conference added three quality basketball schools. Oh, and by the way, Butler is better than Notre Dame.

As a Marquette fan, I can tell you we miss Louisville. Our relationship with them predates the Big East and there has always been a respectful and often friendly animosity between the the two. But Louisville is heading for a major crash, and I do not think even pirating away Xavier's coach is going to prevent that.

Teams are going to go from good to bad from year to year. Somebody has to be on the bottom of the conference. But if you are bad-mouthing Ewing, you are not paying attention to what he is doing. Meanwhile, BC has dwelled in the basement of the ACC since they got there, and Tommy Amaker turned them down to remain at Harvard.

Perhaps we are never going to see another year when the BE puts three teams in the Final Four, or when it has three top seeds and puts eleven teams in the tournament (hard to do when you have eleven teams.) What you do have is eleven schools with great basketball traditions, solid programs, a commitment to keep them that way, great fan bases, and (present company excluded) don't give a $#!+ about football, so there will be no decisions made for the benefit of football (present company not excluded.) The reaction of UConn fans speaks for itself. So welcome back to a conference where basketball is king. And look forward to some wars on the court.

 

[freescooter]

St Johns. They were one more rejection away from make the school president take the job as head basketball coach too.

 

[freescooter]

If you want to go team by team and bad mouth them, you can. I think it just makes you look stupid, but have at if if you like. But here are some other factors to consider. Yes, Syracuse is gone. So is Louisville. But you really miss Miami? Good once a decade and just a quick jog down the turnpike for road games? Pitt, BC? they are terrible, and BC has been for a while. Pitt is a mess right now and I would take just about any Big East team over BC. Meanwhile, you can make snide remarks about Creighton, Butler, and Xavier. But check out their records long term. Creighton is near the top in attendance numbers every year. Xavier lost its coach recently. So did Butler. They've been doing that for years. In fact, Butler lost Thad Matta to Xavier. And what has happened since? They replaced them with someone else and kept going. Any school is going to have a hard time keeping Brad Stevens from jumping to the NBA, but for decades, the two of them have lost coaches - and replaced them. They have also been consistently good. The conference added three quality basketball schools. Oh, and by the way, Butler is better than Notre Dame.

As a Marquette fan, I can tell you we miss Louisville. Our relationship with them predates the Big East and there has always been a respectful and often friendly animosity between the the two. But Louisville is heading for a major crash, and I do not think even pirating away Xavier's coach is going to prevent that.

Teams are going to go from good to bad from year to year. Somebody has to be on the bottom of the conference. But if you are bad-mouthing Ewing, you are not paying attention to what he is doing. Meanwhile, BC has dwelled in the basement of the ACC since they got there, and Tommy Amaker turned them down to remain at Harvard.

Perhaps we are never going to see another year when the BE puts three teams in the Final Four, or when it has three top seeds and puts eleven teams in the tournament (hard to do when you have eleven teams.) What you do have is eleven schools with great basketball traditions, solid programs, a commitment to keep them that way, great fan bases, and (present company excluded) don't give a $#!+ about football, so there will be no decisions made for the benefit of football (present company not excluded.) The reaction of UConn fans speaks for itself. So welcome back to a conference where basketball is king. And look forward to some wars on the court.

Yeah the reason teams like Providence and St Johns and company are winning now is that they don’t have to actually play Syracuse Pitt West Virginia et al. A game or two vs Villanova and that does it. 3 teams in the Final Four. This league will be lucky to get 2 in the sweet 16. But MSG.

 

[unclejohn]

Funny, but the conference put a bunch of those teams in the Top 25 last year. Pitt sucks, Syracuse is inconsistent, and who the hell wants to go to West Virginia? The conference has done pretty well in non-conference games the past six years. I'll take what we got Feel free to cheer for the Mountaineers if you like. I mean, they are nice people out there in the middle of nowhere, even if their coach is psychotic.

 

[MU in MKE]

Yeah the reason teams like Providence and St Johns and company are winning now is that they don’t have to actually play Syracuse Pitt West Virginia et al. A game or two vs Villanova and that does it. 3 teams in the Final Four. This league will be lucky to get 2 in the sweet 16. But MSG.

This is a bad take. The only way you are saying this is if 1. you are only familiar with last season (after the BE was gutted by graduations and the NBA draft) or 2. you're just trolling. Since the split, BE has consistently been top 3 or 4 league, with the only exception being 2018 when they were ranked second and 2019 ranked 5th. That is true regardless of what metric you use or what service you're looking at. Kenpom, T-rank, heck even the NCAA NET and RPI rankings.

There are no pushovers in the league anymore. I'd confidently put my money on Depaul in a game vs. the bottom dwellers of any other P6 league. BE has had an uncanny level of parity in the last few years with a few exceptional teams (Nova obviously, plus varying other teams) each year except the down year of 2019. Even 2019 could have been salvaged is Marquette didn't utterly collapse at the very end of the season.

Time to embrace the Big East again. UConn is coming home, and the league has the culture of the BE from before they over expanded and chased FB.

 

[Son of Robert]

never liked ucant anyways easily like my 32nd favorite team. later loserz

I'm going to miss playing Cincinnati. Props on your toughness, your brand, the players who get after it. One of my favorite teams to play any time, any where, any year. Hope we keep playing going forward, always a good test for our team's will to win.

This year @kobe, you better be ready bubba, we're coming hard, and you're going down.