Big East soon to become Mid Major

[Icebear]

Just PSU and Rutgers in football this year.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Thank you. I've been saying this ever since the first rumblings of change came out UConn by itself with a bunch of has-beens or never-weres, at least in terms of women's bb, is a disaster and is exactly like Old Dominion down the road. And here's an even worse scenario, for those of us who like to torture ourselves with disaster scenarios:

Let's say this plays out and UConn is playing top-notch basketball in a lousy league. Three or four years go by and gradually it becomes clear that UConn is not able to attract the kind of top players it used to. No more #1s. no Players of the Year. Decent players, but the university's national reach is reduced because players want to play in a league where there's top competition, day in and day out.

Under that scenario, what does Geno do? Does he want to coach second-level talent once again, as he had to at the start of his career? Will he accept the challenge of building up a school in a major conference that wants to get good at WBB? Will he ride off into the sunset of retirement? At that point, does anyone think UConn WBB would even be relevant except on a regional level?

Okay, it's a bunch of hypotheticals, and there's nothing any one of us can do to change things, nor is there much that UConn can do except hope. But my point is that we are not that far from seeing the next steps toward this scenario play out.

I've been thinking these same thoughts but I don't know whether it's worth it to try to resuscitate this thread or start a new one...or just let such depressing notions lie until we know more or the season is over. FWIW, I can't imagine Geno hanging to and watching the program degenerate due to circumstances beyone his control. If he were younger, maybe he'd take a flyer at a men's program...maybe he would anyway. Taking on the Olympic assignment shows he's still up for a challenge. My best guess is he'd take on a program that's been hanging around the big time for a while but can't get over the hump, probably in a warmer climate.

 

[Vowelguy]

FWIW, I can't imagine Geno hanging to and watching the program degenerate due to circumstances beyone his control.

The program will not degenerate under Geno. He'll always be able to get recruits.
The problem comes after he leaves. That's when any university problems will appear.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

The program will not degenerate under Geno. He'll always be able to get recruits.
The problem comes after he leaves. That's when any university problems will appear.

Disagree. The decline may be almost imperceptible at first but it will be there, and it will increase.

 

[jplotinus]

I'd have to think our politicians would help get us out of the Big East. Our flagship university has WAY too much going to be left out. One of the best public schools in the whole northeast. Who's better? Just Penn State and Rutgers? Is central PA considered part of the northeast or the midwest? This person who thinks the BE is better than our other options is clearly delusional. Four pages...

Delusional? At this point, that word better described those who hold onto wishful thinking about "other options." The ACC has made it clear they do not want UCONN. There are no "other options" that are presently viable.

Once or twice I've said the best way to achieve an invitation to a perceived greener grass conference is for UCONN to lead the BE. Little has been said about that observation. It has been ignored. More attention has been given to nit picks of what I've tried to express in friendly terms.

I'm not sure what interest is advanced by lambasting the BE. One interest that isn't advanced is that of making UCONN a more desirable candidate for a conference switch. Posters have not yet assessed how uconn's presence in the BE might help draw in better colleges. As it is, the overwhelming sentiment is for UCONN to get out of the BE and that UCONN does not want to be where it is, doesn't value the BE, doesn't like it, doesn't respect it's new conference mates and is, in general, characterized by raging, judgmental malcontents when it comes to membership in the BE.

Mightn't that approach be a tad self-defeating?

Just axin'

Ps
Sorry I called a non-dude a dude.
Axin=Asking.
Thanks for the lesson on regression towards vs reversion to

 

[pap49cba]

Whatever......

 

[HuskyNan]

Once or twice I've said the best way to achieve an invitation to a perceived greener grass conference is for UCONN to lead the BE. Little has been said about that observation. It has been ignored. More attention has been given to nit picks of what I've tried to express in friendly terms.

It's being ignored because you offer no specifics on how UConn can lead. What does that even mean, anyway?

 

[speedoo]

It's being ignored because you offer no specifics on how UConn can lead. What does that even mean, anyway?

Isn't it obvious? You lead by winning conference championships.

 

[HuskyNan]

Isn't it obvious? You lead by winning conference championships.

UConn does that now, has done it for decades, and was kicked to the curb by the ACC.

 

[speedoo]

UConn does that now, has done it for decades, and was kicked to the curb by the ACC.

Not in the game that supposedly counts for everything: football, a program that is currently in shambles.

 

[HuskyNan]

Not in the game that supposedly counts for everything: football, a program that is currently in shambles.

UConn has shared the Big East conference championship once and won it outright once. It's gone to a BCS bowl. No one watched UConn get pummeled by Oklahoma and no one cared. How do you change that by dominating Central Florida and East Carolina? Answer: you can't, you need to see the Huskies beat Notre Dame and Louisville and Cincinnati year after year to prove it's not a flash in the pan. Other than maybe Boise State, which is rumored to be looking into staying in the MWC, there's no other decent football team in the New New New Big East.

 

[speedoo]

UConn has shared the Big East conference championship once and won it outright once. It's gone to a BCS bowl. No one watched UConn get pummeled by Oklahoma and no one cared. How do you change that by dominating Central Florida and East Carolina?

Obviously you change it by changing coaches, for starters. Pasqualoni is an epic fail, especially when you compare him to the Cincinnati coach we saw last night.

 

[tomcat]

The program will not degenerate under Geno. He'll always be able to get recruits.
The problem comes after he leaves. That's when any university problems will appear.

I disagree as well. Like the other poster, there will be small changes at first. And what will happen will be assessed only after a couple of years, when we notice that UConn hasn't attracted anywhere near as many #s 1-5 in draft years. But it will happen. Geno will always be able to attract some kids because he's Geno, but if 75% of the teams he's got on the schedule are cupcakes, and most of the teams in the league he represents are cupcakes, how will he attract the athlete who wants a high level of everyday competition. What does her tell such a recruit? "Well, we won't see most good teams until the third round of the tournament, but if we played in their league, we could beat them." That will work for only so long.

Don't forget, it's not just what Geno says to the recruits, it's what other coaches say as well. How long is it before they start implying that time and the game of women's basketball of the future have passed UConn by? For some of them, even perhaps in the Class of 2014, that may be a compelling argument to choose someone else.

Speaking of that, Geno has implied that he expects a good class of recruits coming in. Who knows what that really means, but measured against the standards of past UConn classes, it'd have to be pretty good. So if it turns out not to be, one reason just may be what has happened to the Big East this year.

 

[jplotinus]

It's being ignored because you offer no specifics on how UConn can lead. What does that even mean, anyway?

You are the first to ax for specifics. Better late than never, I suppose.

The first specific has been given, but it was not well received, to put its reception no more harshly than that. I have said the Big East is the first truly COAST-TO-COAST conference. The response to that was something about how travel costs would lead to bankruptcy.

The second specific is that a little attitude adjustment might help. I'm not saying become Pollyanna. I'm also not ignoring the serious raid on the BE that has gone down. It is serious. It's also debilitating. The BE is scrambling.

Ok?

But, the way forward is to act as if the BE can be rebuilt, rather than further denigration.

Maybe, just maybe, some astute posters around here can find a few positive things to say about some new BE members. Does San Diego State have any positives at all, in anything? Same query for other new members. Where would BE championship games be played, now that it is a coast-to-coast conference? The possibilities are potentially rich, if one chooses to think about them in that way, rather than carping and bad mouthing.

I also used the old AFL as a model. Through its own brand of exciting football, the AFL caught on and couldn't be ignored by the NFL.

UCONN obviously is marquee in basketball. It should aspire for another 2004.

Fans should also indicate some support for new football rivalries. Be welcoming, be interested put on and not :-(

I'm trying to indicate some specifics here and would encourage others to try it.

First, form the intention to see the BE succeed.

 

[Adios]

The ACC DOES want us. Whatever you take to trip, give me some.

 

[connboy77]

We are rapidly becoming the Stanford of the East. UCONN needs to do whatever is necessary to find a strong league. At this point I don't really care if its the ACC, Big Ten, Sec, or any other strong league. It seems that no league wants UCONN, and if this continues it may hurt recruiting. In fact it may already be hurting UCONN'S recruiting. I mentioned UCONN becoming an independent, but after second thought maybe that isn't such a good idea. I just don't want to see UCONN'S Women's Basketball program go the way of LA Tech and other once powerful programs.

 

[Man-Man]

You guys make some very interesting points. Seems like a lot of these incoming programs are selling that "we are going to the Big East" line but what will UConn sell in staying. The good thing is that a lot of middle school kids I talk to have UCONN as their dream school for now.

 

[CL82]

Well, on queue, as it were. It is unseemly to go to Greensboro NC (ACC HQ) begging admission into the ACC. Something that is hard to communicate is that the best way for UCONN to get into some super conference or another is to stand firm, proudly rebuild the Big East by becoming the "beast of the East" and by having conferences come to us begging.

Query: Are posters really saying that UCONN cannot be the leader of a rebuilt Big East?

If so, posters may be overlooking the best avenue for eventual membership where UCONN really wants to be.

I don't think the begging approach sends the right message.

Just say-n :-/

I only wish that you had been advising Tom Jurich.

 

[RadyLady]

the way to garner attention and kudos is to be teams perceived to be as good as or better than you.
In the new Big East, there are none...not even close. UConn by default will be the beast of the east, but there is no pride in stomping lesser competition. There is pride in beating a rival who meets you punch for punch.

Being the beast of the east now is just silly with what is left here. It's all over but the shouting. If UConn is to stay relevant, they need to move to where they will be challenged.

 

[MarlboroughMike]

the way to garner attention and kudos is to be teams perceived to be as good as or better than you.
In the new Big East, there are none...not even close. UConn by default will be the beast of the east, but there is no pride in stomping lesser competition. There is pride in beating a rival who meets you punch for punch.

Being the beast of the east now is just silly with what is left here. It's all over but the shouting. If UConn is to stay relevant, they need to move to where they will be challenged.

As we know, we need an invite to move. As Niebuhr is often quoted:

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Please, let us stop the "woe is me." It doesn't help and doesn't change anything.

 

[UConnChapette]

What some posters are saying is we shouldn't even be wanting the invite. That is the point here.

I think EVERYONE knows we need to be invited, first. We get that, quite clearly. As my kids heard ad nauseum as they grew up "wanting and getting are two entirely different things". Is it wrong to want a change? No, not in my opinion, but clearly some posters think it is.

I have wasted enough of my meager attention span on this thread. I won't be viewing it any longer.