Are we underestimating the Big East?

[Matt1010]

It hurts not having another top contender this year, but the conference really isn't that bad. BracketMatrix has the BE getting 5 bids and 6 teams are in the Kenpom Top 50. Nova has only lost a neutral game against BYU and @Michigan. SH has one lose by 2 points.

 

[RuffRuff]

It hurts not having another top contender this year, but the conference really isn't that bad. BracketMatrix has the BE getting 5 bids and 6 teams are in the Kenpom Top 50. Nova has only lost a neutral game against BYU and @Michigan. SH has one lose by 2 points.

Right now those are the two teams I'm curious to. SHU won a game at PC, which is solid for them. I'll be curious as to how StJ/SHU/Nova fare against each other, maybe throw Butler in there too, maybe a Creighton.

Care less about the rest of the BE.

 

[shizzle787]

It's never getting down to 20-25 teams - how did you get that number? It could get down to 50-70. It'll be the SEC & B10, likely along with plenty of the B12 & ACC, if it gets there.

Indiana getting there this year was a good example of the most unsuspecting program making a run. All it takes is the right coach.

…and Big Ten membership. People act like Indiana is a cenderella story. No, they were the fat kid with the rich parents who decided to start exercising.

 

[BigTenFan]

…and Big Ten membership. People act like Indiana is a cenderella story. No, they were the fat kid with the rich parents who decided to start exercising.

IU has done what every other University has dreamed of- they just did it more quickly

 

[RuffRuff]

…and Big Ten membership. People act like Indiana is a cenderella story. No, they were the fat kid with the rich parents who decided to start exercising.

Not sure if that analogy sticks. They landed a great coach, very lucky to do so, simple as that. Those kind of guys don't come around often and usually do not end up at IU. Had he done this at an AAC school, or a bottom dwelling ACC school, he'd be gone.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Here is the thing SuperJohn, Benedict would run for another conference as fast as he could if they got an invite. UConn is very loosely connected to the BE. They are a STATE school with a FB program stuck in this thing. It's not by choice. The point of this argument is discussing why anyone but UConn, the Catholics, can pull their weight in hoops to survive as a meaningful power conference. Sure, they are better than the WCC and MW (low bar). But they're also well below a P4. Can they actually pull together NC type rosters on the go forward? So we have some semblance of a legitimate conference that fans of the P4's don't see as second rate.

No spit. In other words, all these conferences that you complain about being better than the Big East ARE NOT OPTIONS FOR UCONN!!!!

But keep doom posting about how every school but UConn will enter basketball/football nirvana because reasons.

 

[RuffRuff]

No spit. In other words, all these conferences that you complain about being better than the Big East ARE NOT OPTIONS FOR UCONN!!!!

But keep doom posting about how every school but UConn will enter basketball/football nirvana because reasons.

It's kind of like, get your act together buddy boys. Land a top 30 hs recruit, land some great portal players. Willard did more in his 5 minutes of off-season than the rest of the league did. Got a top 35 kid, and some solid portal players.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Nelson acts as if the NBE is on a high. UConn has been carrying the league. So who besides UConn and Villanova have made the Final Four? Since 2014 Look at the other leagues. 6 different SEC TEAMS, 6 different ACC teams, 4 different B10 teams, 4 different B12. I don’t even count P12 which is.deduct. To me this shows a league ‘s depth. Multiple teams have championship potential. The NBE is an inch deep while other leagues are feet deep. The NBE is mostly a one trick pony. Villanova is no longer a championship contender, to put it mildly.

If the Big 10, Big 12, ACC and SEC are such obvious choices, why aren't we in those leagues? Could it have anything to do with the fact that none of them want us?

But keep posing about how much better the Big 10 is than us. You are doing great work here.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yes, two schools have had tremendous success during that time span, but claiming Nova is at a similar stature now to it was during the Jay Wright years is like claiming Michigan football is similar to where it was when Harbaugh was in charge.

I do want to see Nova succeed, but until Willard does something impressive, it would be a stretch to believe he can get them to where they can make a deep tournament run. When he was at Seton Hall, he was better at whining than he was at winning and at Maryland, with an enormous amount of resources, he was quite underwhelming. Until he proves otherwise, he's a nepo baby riding on daddy's credibility.

If you were to take the top third of each P-level conference and compare, the middle third, the bottom third, where would be BE rank? Yes, there's a lot of mediocrity and below in P-level conferences these days, but the BE is in the most precarious situation and the conference as a whole is doing very little to help itself. If you want to turn a blind eye to this go ahead, but unless some of these schools turn things around in the next few years they may never have another opportunity to do so.

The same posters have been making the same complaints for over 20 years. Is there anything new to say about this topic?

 

[superjohn]

I'm not seeing a positive trend TBH. From everything I'm seeing, not a lot of reason to think it will be different next year.

I know, you've repeated this dozens of times.

 

[superjohn]

The same posters have been making the same complaints for over 20 years.

Correct but we've added some new posters.

 

[ninety-nine]

I don't think we underestimated the quality of the Big East so far this year (mostly due to St. Joke's), but I do think we overestimated the ability of UConn fans to avoid crossing the event horizon of a black hole.

 

[RuffRuff]

It hurts not having another top contender this year, but the conference really isn't that bad. BracketMatrix has the BE getting 5 bids and 6 teams are in the Kenpom Top 50. Nova has only lost a neutral game against BYU and @Michigan. SH has one lose by 2 points.

Two 11 seeds, two 7 seeds and us. Hmmmm.

 

[freescooter]

I put on another thread earlier in the year that the NBE should have merged with the WCC. UConn and Gonzaga would have been the highlight matchup. St Mary’s against Villanova or St Johns depending on which one is the team of the moment. Not sure it I makes sense any more with the Zags leaving. But would have provided a national audience and the teams pretty much match up.

 

[RuffRuff]

I put on another thread earlier in the year that the NBE should have merged with the WAC. UConn and Gonzaga would have been the highlight matchup. St Mary’s against Villanova or St Johns depending on which one is the team of the moment. Not sure it I makes sense any more with the Zags leaving. But would have provided a national audience and the teams pretty much match up.

There was some chatter on this in the realignment area - creating a BE East & West with Stm, Gonzaga, Dayton, St Louis, etc. Alternating BE tourney in Chicago & MSG.

 

[FightOnCT]

There was some chatter on this in the realignment area - creating a BE East & West with Stm, Gonzaga, Dayton, St Louis, etc. Alternating BE tourney in Chicago & MSG.

 

[Scottobot]

Now that the calendar changes to conference play my attitude on the matter changes dramatically. One week ago I would’ve been saying “3 losses at the most.” Today, my opinion remains the same but with heavier reservations.

For instance, tonight has been penciled in as a win by the oddsmakers (UConn -14.5 or so) but Butler always plays us tough despite never beating us.

Seton Hall is a 2 point loss vs USC out at Maui away from being undefeated.

Providence has some pieces.

Omaha is still Omaha.

Johnnies will be competitive throughout.

We ALWAYS struggle on opening day. Even last year we had to sweat out an OT game in Hartford vs Xavier and Sean Miller.

Tell me I’m just overreacting…

Go Huskies!

The conference other than UConn is the worst its been in a while. UConn should win them all and go undefeated but playing true road games against decent teams with wildly inconsistent referees and physical play will lead to some losses. Also seems like there is a stretch every year for n January where players are sick and team slumps

 

[RuffRuff]

The conference other than UConn is the worst its been in a while. UConn should win them all and go undefeated but playing true road games against decent teams with wildly inconsistent referees and physical play will lead to some losses. Also seems like there is a stretch every year for n January where players are sick and team slumps

This year will be interesting because there is a good chance as ever to run the league. I’ll be curious to where are pitfalls are, given our depth. I would not be shocked at 20-0. I can see Hurley looking to make a statement.

 

[HooperScooper]

This year will be interesting because there is a good chance as ever to run the league. I’ll be curious to where are pitfalls are, given our depth. I would not be shocked at 20-0. I can see Hurley looking to make a statement.

Like the Seton Hall loss last year, the first conference loss this year will be on your head. 😀

 

[CL82]

This year will be interesting because there is a good chance as ever to run the league. I’ll be curious to where are pitfalls are, given our depth. I would not be shocked at 20-0. I can see Hurley looking to make a statement.

 

[Fan1978]

Like the Seton Hall loss last year, the first conference loss this year will be on your head. 😀

Villanova seems to be much better than I anticipated. Cheers to willard and shame on 3 wasted on the clown

 

[JwittersPAC]

A lot of things are going to be different in the future.

College football has about a 99% likelihood of becoming maybe 20-25 programs competing for playoff spots, and 5-10 of those competing for an actual championship, and everyone else is completely irrelevant. We could get invited to the ACC tomorrow and it wouldn't fix that. College football fans are going to have to get comfortable with either a) making the playoffs is a big achievement, or b) becoming fans with one of the 5-10 programs that can really compete.

Football is game over. The barriers to entry for competing at the highest level are too high to compete unless the next Jeff Bezos is a UConn grad. If people want to doom post about the future, post about that. The door is closed, the ladder has been lifted, the ship has sailed. Use any analogy you want, UConn will never compete for a football national championship no matter what we do.

Basketball needs fewer players to compete and the talent evaluation is less straightforward since the top players head to the NBA at a young age, so a bigger number of schools will be able to compete for a while. Still, the noose is already tightening. The payrolls needed to compete make it difficult for all but a few dozen schools, and even many of the major conference programs can't compete with teams in their own conference because not all schools are prepared to make that financial commitment to a sport.

Your comment about college football has always been true even before NIL.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I put on another thread earlier in the year that the NBE should have merged with the WCC. UConn and Gonzaga would have been the highlight matchup. St Mary’s against Villanova or St Johns depending on which one is the team of the moment. Not sure it I makes sense any more with the Zags leaving. But would have provided a national audience and the teams pretty much match up.

Why take on all those bad programs? Add Gonzaga, maybe St. Louis and Dayton, and stop there. I don’t love that idea, but I like it better than a merger with the WCC.

If the Big East should merge with anyone, it should be the ACC, and there is some support for that within the ACC. I think it is unlikely to happen because the ACC always chooses the short term solution, but that would actually make sense.

 

[AllHusky]

Your comment about college football has always been true even before NIL.

Good Lord, this has been prognosticated since the early 80's. Got a Masters at UMass in Sport Mgt. The Profs said the FB schools would be taking their ball and going home in 20 years. It took nearly 40, but we are right in the middle of that evolution.

 

[NJHusky]

League is not good this year as of today. Looking like a 2-bid league and SJU is looking like a bubble team (of course, I still expect them to take one of our games). I think the likely scenario is that the BE slips to fifth among the hoops P5 and slips closer to the non-P5 then to the top four conferences. Maybe it will look different next year and I do think Nova and Xavier will be better for sure and maybe Butler too but who knows if Pitino stays at SJU? His presser on Saturday wouldn’t have installed confidence that he is committed there. Holloway is good but has limited resources. Is Shaka staying in Milwaukee? Is McDermott retiring early? Can’t feel great about Cooley and English

Repole matters more for St John’s than anyone. If he’s willing to $$ up, they can buy a team and a coach. Pitino actually screwed up this team with his player selection. Maybe he’s past his prime