Creigton writer Shatel suggests UConn rejoin Big East | The Boneyard

Creigton writer Shatel suggests UConn rejoin Big East

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Looking at the news links for today, I saw the following link:

"Shatel: A blueprint to make Big East great again, Omaha.com"

What do others think of his suggestion of UConn rejoining the Big East?

Personally, I never understood how UConn was booted from the Big East. It seems to be a pipe dream for UConn joining the ACC or B1G. I still think basketball is UConn's signature sport and moving back to the Big East may be the best option for retaining greatness in that sport.
 
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Nope, UConn isn't going indy in football.

Agreed, but with the current state of our football program dropping to FCS will eventually be a real possibility. If and when that happens, I'd love to go to the NBE for basketball.
 

DobbsRover2

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Ooooh, give me that pipe to mindless oblivion. Give up on UConn football (i.e. go independent) after the money's been spent, and tell the Big East teams to just spend whatever it takes to keep up with the P5 and get in the FF? Mighty fine fumes.

Sure the Big East has maintained fairly strong basketball stature, but it has crappy media exposure and UConn going back would not guarantee that situation changing and many of UConn's main BEast rivals have gone elsewhere. Would you rather play Creighton or SMU? Providence or Temple? DePaul or Cincinnati? At best it's a wash, and UConn can always still hope that the AAC can eventually reenact something like what happened with the BEast in basketball, and maybe get a miracle year from an AAC team in football.
 

SubbaBub

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EasyEd said:
Looking at the news links for today, I saw the following link:

"Shatel: A blueprint to make Big East great again, Omaha.com"

What do others think of his suggestion of UConn rejoining the Big East?

Personally, I never understood how UConn was booted from the Big East. It seems to be a pipe dream for UConn joining the ACC or B1G. I still think basketball is UConn's signature sport and moving back to the Big East may be the best option for retaining greatness in that sport.

Uconn wasn't booted from the Big East. The C7 paid Uconn a lot of money to leave the Big East.
 

alexrgct

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Ooooh, give me that pipe to mindless oblivion. Give up on UConn football (i.e. go independent) after the money's been spent, and tell the Big East teams to just spend whatever it takes to keep up with the P5 and get in the FF? Mighty fine fumes.

Sure the Big East has maintained fairly strong basketball stature, but it has crappy media exposure and UConn going back would not guarantee that situation changing and many of UConn's main BEast rivals have gone elsewhere. Would you rather play Creighton or SMU? Providence or Temple? DePaul or Cincinnati? At best it's a wash, and UConn can always still hope that the AAC can eventually reenact something like what happened with the BEast in basketball, and maybe get a miracle year from an AAC team in football.

Yeah? And what happens when Cincinnati and/or Memphis and/or UCF get poached? At a certain point you look to save basketball by any means necessary. If that means football has to go then so be it. Shame, I know, since the Rent has been such a fun place to be recently....

I'm not saying this is a decision that should be made anytime soon, but eventually the AAC is gonna get ransacked. And when that happens, it'll be the coup de grace for UConn's P5 dreams.
 

EricLA

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Agreed, but with the current state of our football program dropping to FCS will eventually be a real possibility. If and when that happens, I'd love to go to the NBE for basketball.
The state of the football program is there because Pasqualoni was a horrible choice for a HC and he drove the program into the ground. Diaco just took the team over last year and he will be judged on the hopefully steady improvement he gets out of the program. He's young, energetic, and comes from a historically great program (Notre Dame).

Hopefully his recruiting picks up and the team rises from the ashes, so to speak. They can't get any worse. A move back to the big east would not only be a step backwards, but an indication that UCONN has given up on the football program and accepting mediocrity in conference affiliations.

If teams like Memphis, Cinci, and UCF are poached before UCONN, then it tells me 2 things...
  1. Something is really wrong in the universe
  2. Something is going on that we just aren't aware of
UCONN is doing everything it can IMHO, or almost everything it can. It continues to invest in infrastructure and development/growth of the University to up their standing and reputation nationally. they are putting the $ into the football program as evidenced by the state of the art practice facility and hiring of a young, up and coming coach.

When you compare where UCONN is compared to other universities in the B1G and ACC, they are right in the mix - better than some, not as good as others. As a university, there is no reason they aren't a great fit. If any of them are considering UCF, or even Memphis/Cinci, then they aren't looking at the complete picture as UCONN is better all around than any of those universities, and it's short sighted to say "oh but their football team is better". Sure but how good will UCONN be in 3-4 years and how good going forward?

I can't imagine that these conferences are so short sighted to thing that where we are now is where we will be in 5 years. Even if the wanted to add a university, it will likely be a few years before the actual change takes place. A lot can happen in 2 years... And I thin at least our FB program is on the right path, which is why I said I think we are doing all we can...
 
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Yeah? And what happens when Cincinnati and/or Memphis and/or UCF get poached? At a certain point you look to save basketball by any means necessary. If that means football has to go then so be it. Shame, I know, since the Rent has been such a fun place to be recently....

I'm not saying this is a decision that should be made anytime soon, but eventually the AAC is gonna get ransacked. And when that happens, it'll be the coup de grace for UConn's P5 dreams.

One's hopes come down to this, that it's UConn that gets ransacked out of the AAC.
 

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If teams like Memphis, Cinci, and UCF are poached before UCONN, then it tells me 2 things...
  1. Something is really wrong in the universe
  2. Something is going on that we just aren't aware of.
Eric; And these possibilities strike you as unlikely?
 

CL82

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Looking at the news links for today, I saw the following link:

"Shatel: A blueprint to make Big East great again, Omaha.com"

What do others think of his suggestion of UConn rejoining the Big East?

Personally, I never understood how UConn was booted from the Big East. It seems to be a pipe dream for UConn joining the ACC or B1G. I still think basketball is UConn's signature sport and moving back to the Big East may be the best option for retaining greatness in that sport.
Point of clarification: UConn was never "booted from the Big East." The Catholic 7 left the conference and then paid millions for the rights to the name. UConn is still in the same conference in which it won 13 national championships in basketball. The league calling itself the Big East now, has no legitimate claim to that legacy. For example the NCAA credits from the last few years of the Big East are held by the American.

As unhappy as many of us are with the TV money the American receives, the national exposure is light years beyond the Big East's Fox deal. As Fishy is fond of pointing out the ratings for Fox games don't move the needle, literally. A move to the conference calling itself the Big East is a distinct step down for UConn.
 
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Uconn wasn't booted from the Big East. The C7 paid Uconn a lot of money to leave the Big East.
Actually, the C7 left the Big East and paid to take the name with them.
 
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It's all in on the Football program at UConn. Committed all the way. In for a penny, In for a pound.
Big gamble, Big money, Big power. Bets are closed and the game is already underway (WBB team small player).

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What I dont get is (and maybe some wise minds who have more in dept knowledge regarding the goals & state of mind of the Uconn Administration can help me understand this)...Why won't Uconn invest it's money wisely in aFootball Coach who is capable of building & establishing consistency within the football program?

Why keep wasting time investing in coaches who are not equipped in building a powethouse or at least respectful football team? Why keep settling for mediocre year after year?

Is the money not there? Do it not take money to make money? Is it not worth investing in a coach who is skillful and clever in all honesty in attracting & bringing in (good & great) (not decent) football players?

Did Uconn not hit lightning in a bottle twice with calhoun & geno? Who had wisdom from above to build a program out of nothing? Sure no one knew in advance how great theae coaches would become. But they sure found out in due time. Not saying the same can't happen with this football coach though I dont see it happening.

From my years of living in Boston from 1973-1994 I never knew a uconn even existed until Calhoun & Geno started making waves through their players. Not liking Tenn. I immediately jump on the wagon of the underdog and been there ever since that first championship by the uconn WBB.

When the (football) coaching job became vacant the opportunity was there to bring in a renown caliber coach who is (not good) (but great) at recruiting. And when the Uconn Adm. didn't pull the trigger. My head sunk & shook side to side. I couldn't believe it!

I would love to see Uconn become a powerhouse in Football.... (The Icing On The Cake) to all the other achievements that have already been established at The University Of Connecticut.

If such opportunity should ever show its face again. I say pull the trigger Uconn Adm. Spend the money. No worry. It'll come back (10) fold. If that ever happens. Need not worry about a Big East. Every major conference will be knocking.

And to tell you truth. I personally believe they should have came knocking a long time ago especially after the men & women won national titles again for the 2nd time. Something no program has ever done once.
 
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If teams like Memphis, Cinci, and UCF are poached before UCONN, then it tells me 2 things...
  1. Something is really wrong in the universe
  2. Something is going on that we just aren't aware of
UCONN is doing everything it can IMHO, or almost everything it can. It continues to invest in infrastructure and development/growth of the University to up their standing and reputation nationally. they are putting the $ into the football program as evidenced by the state of the art practice facility and hiring of a young, up and coming coach.

When you compare where UCONN is compared to other universities in the B1G and ACC, they are right in the mix - better than some, not as good as others. As a university, there is no reason they aren't a great fit. If any of them are considering UCF, or even Memphis/Cinci, then they aren't looking at the complete picture as UCONN is better all around than any of those universities, and it's short sighted to say "oh but their football team is better". Sure but how good will UCONN be in 3-4 years and how good going forward?

I can't imagine that these conferences are so short sighted to thing that where we are now is where we will be in 5 years. Even if the wanted to add a university, it will likely be a few years before the actual change takes place. A lot can happen in 2 years... And I thin at least our FB program is on the right path, which is why I said I think we are doing all we can...

I agree that UConn is probably doing all it can. And yet, there hasn't been a whisper of a rumor of a chance that any of the P5 might take UConn since 2012.

I also think you might be wearing UConn-tinted glasses (which I can't blame you for, we all do) when talking about the potential of the football program as it currently stands. We're all hopeful that Bob Diaco is the savior we all thought he'd be when he was hired, but this past season didn't inspire any confidence. The emperor might have no clothes. We don't know how good we'll be in 3-4 years, let alone beyond that.

Meanwhile Cincinnati is consistently a solid program in both basketball and football. UCF just won a BCS bowl a year ago and would provide a foothold in Florida for the Big 12. Memphis just won their bowl against BYU and look to be headed in a good direction. Maybe these schools don't have the academic chops that UConn does, but neither did Louisville. Potential is one thing, but these programs are winning now.
 

Husky25

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What I dont get is (and maybe some wise minds who have more in dept knowledge regarding the goals & state of mind of the Uconn Administration can help me understand this)...Why won't Uconn invest it's money wisely in aFootball Coach who is capable of building & establishing consistency within the football program?

Why keep wasting time investing in coaches who are not equipped in building a powethouse or at least respectful football team? Why keep settling for mediocre year after year?

Is the money not there? Do it not take money to make money? Is it not worth investing in a coach who is skillful and clever in all honesty in attracting & bringing in (good & great) (not decent) football players?

Did Uconn not hit lightning in a bottle twice with calhoun & geno? Who had wisdom from above to build a program out of nothing? Sure no one knew in advance how great theae coaches would become. But they sure found out in due time. Not saying the same can't happen with this football coach though I dont see it happening.

From my years of living in Boston from 1973-1994 I never knew a uconn even existed until Calhoun & Geno started making waves through their players. Not liking Tenn. I immediately jump on the wagon of the underdog and been there ever since that first championship by the uconn WBB.

When the (football) coaching job became vacant the opportunity was there to bring in a renown caliber coach who is (not good) (but great) at recruiting. And when the Uconn Adm. didn't pull the trigger. My head sunk & shook side to side. I couldn't believe it!

I would love to see Uconn become a powerhouse in Football.... (The Icing On The Cake) to all the other achievements that have already been established at The University Of Connecticut.

If such opportunity should ever show its face again. I say pull the trigger Uconn Adm. Spend the money. No worry. It'll come back (10) fold. If that ever happens. Need not worry about a Big East. Every major conference will be knocking.

And to tell you truth. I personally believe they should have came knocking a long time ago especially after the men & women won national titles again for the 2nd time. Something no program has ever done once.
:rolleyes:

So you want UConn to achieve in football, a sport that requires at least 22 players separate and distinct players, what it took Calhoun 4 years to build and Auriemma 10 years (in a sport that requires 5 players) in a matter of 4 months? You don't know what Diaco can do yet.

Calhoun is on the record as saying he can turn around a basketball program with 2 guards. Disregarding that basketball is much less specialized than football, the personnel ratio of those 2 guards vs. the starting line up is 2:5 or 40%. 40% of a football starting lineup is 9 players (if you also discount the punter and place kicker).

My guess is you didn't know anything about UConn because for the most part no one inside 95 (or 495 for that matter) follows or covers college sports. It's almost like they make a concerted effort to avoid it.
 
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The state of the football program is there because Pasqualoni was a horrible choice for a HC and he drove the program into the ground. Diaco just took the team over last year and he will be judged on the hopefully steady improvement he gets out of the program. He's young, energetic, and comes from a historically great program (Notre Dame).

Hopefully his recruiting picks up and the team rises from the ashes, so to speak. They can't get any worse. A move back to the big east would not only be a step backwards, but an indication that UCONN has given up on the football program and accepting mediocrity in conference affiliations.

If teams like Memphis, Cinci, and UCF are poached before UCONN, then it tells me 2 things...
  1. Something is really wrong in the universe
  2. Something is going on that we just aren't aware of
UCONN is doing everything it can IMHO, or almost everything it can. It continues to invest in infrastructure and development/growth of the University to up their standing and reputation nationally. they are putting the $ into the football program as evidenced by the state of the art practice facility and hiring of a young, up and coming coach.

When you compare where UCONN is compared to other universities in the B1G and ACC, they are right in the mix - better than some, not as good as others. As a university, there is no reason they aren't a great fit. If any of them are considering UCF, or even Memphis/Cinci, then they aren't looking at the complete picture as UCONN is better all around than any of those universities, and it's short sighted to say "oh but their football team is better". Sure but how good will UCONN be in 3-4 years and how good going forward?

I can't imagine that these conferences are so short sighted to thing that where we are now is where we will be in 5 years. Even if the wanted to add a university, it will likely be a few years before the actual change takes place. A lot can happen in 2 years... And I thin at least our FB program is on the right path, which is why I said I think we are doing all we can...

Good post..... yeah..... UConn has to this point been shut out..... some of that is the fact others do not want to vote us in.... some is from the Blumenthal residual..... but we should fit in somewhere..... I mean Big 10 bent way over and took Rutgers..... just to get a piece of NYC...... our time will come I am sure..... but we seem to have peeps out there that do not like us....

No question Pasqualoni was a terrible choice..... funny thing is most of us knew it was terrible at the time.... what are we doing with a coach who is hired largely because of the high school connections he had in CT..... we do not even recruit in CT largely!!! I think it may have been Hathaway's touché sayanara..... but i do not know that for sure.....

What is laughable about the most recent expansion of the conferences..... most notably the ones we are closest to ACC and Big 10, is that they were always couching the notion that it was THEIR conference which was the academic conference...... concerned with being the institution first, and then facilitators for fine athletic programs...... and it was true..... Michigan, Ohio State, Northwestern, Purdue, Duke, UVA, Ga Tech, etc..... tons of primary research goes through there.....

And then welcome Louisville!!! Where did that come from? #170 in the country for school rankings I think, and Maryland.... OK as an institution but not great..... (understood that it was already in ACC, but seeing it as attractive for Big 10.....) Rutgers.... I mean with all due respect to my Rutgers friends...... they do not have brainiacs there..... and their ranking is way down.....

And what is also funny is the Big 10 saying that their "rules" dictate that a school MUST be within the borders of a state which touches another Big 10 member's state geographically...... that is one way Rutgers and Maryland were approved .... because they both touched Pennsylvania..... So everything fit into the package.....

But then making a play for the Univ of Texas...... I went to my map and struggled to find the Nebraska-Texas border...... after a few minutes I just fave up looking..... although I am sure there is one....... and again, taking schools that are marginally acceptable as academic powerhouses..... OF COURSE, everyone has sold out...... and it is all about the money...... Delaney and Swofford and then
 

DobbsRover2

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I agree that UConn is probably doing all it can. And yet, there hasn't been a whisper of a rumor of a chance that any of the P5 might take UConn since 2012.

I also think you might be wearing UConn-tinted glasses (which I can't blame you for, we all do) when talking about the potential of the football program as it currently stands. We're all hopeful that Bob Diaco is the savior we all thought he'd be when he was hired, but this past season didn't inspire any confidence. The emperor might have no clothes. We don't know how good we'll be in 3-4 years, let alone beyond that.

Meanwhile Cincinnati is consistently a solid program in both basketball and football. UCF just won a BCS bowl a year ago and would provide a foothold in Florida for the Big 12. Memphis just won their bowl against BYU and look to be headed in a good direction. Maybe these schools don't have the academic chops that UConn does, but neither did Louisville. Potential is one thing, but these programs are winning now.
And what did the 7-1 conference records for Memphis, Cinci, and UCF earn them this year? Memphis climbed up 19% in attendance to 33,851, which is still far below the mean or media for FBS attendance, but UCF and Cinci crashed by -10% and -9% even in their very good years. That's a lot better than UConn did, but that's a pretty low goal line to shoot for.

So just why would any P5 conferences be slavering for these mainly unappreciated programs, and really if you haven't heard a "whisper of a rumor of a chance" about UConn being a target of acquisition in the last three years, you clearly have never visited the Conference Realignment site, where if a P5 commish scratches his ear there will be thread about UConn joining his league. The Big East makeup is nothing like UConn at this point, and talking about going back even if it was a possibility would be a huge defeat and ego killer to a school that now has visits to Texas and Florida at least and still has a double BB brand that is unmatched in recent years by any other school. Whether it will be enough to get an invite from the B10 or ACC remains to be seen, but holding firm is far better than folding the tents.
 

CL82

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What I dont get is (and maybe some wise minds who have more in dept knowledge regarding the goals & state of mind of the Uconn Administration can help me understand this)...Why won't Uconn invest it's money wisely in aFootball Coach who is capable of building & establishing consistency within the football program? They did. Bob Diaco was one of the top people available. He was the Broyles Award winner in 2012 as the top assistant in the nation. He was the Defensive Coordinator at Notre Dame . Here is his Bio from the ND site. It is impressive.

Why keep wasting time investing in coaches who are not equipped in building a powethouse or at least respectful football team? They didn't. Why keep settling for mediocre year after year? They haven't. From 2004 through 2011 they went to five Bowl games including the Fiesta Bowl in 2011 at BCS Bowl Game.

Is the money not there? No it is. We have top practice facilities and a great, all be it a bit small, new stadium. Diaco is paid a very competitive salary. Do it not take money to make money? Um, it do? Is it not worth investing in a coach who is skillful and clever in all honesty in attracting & bringing in (good & great) (not decent) football players? Bringing in top talent is difficult particularly when a team is struggling. The fact that UConn is not in Power 5 conference, makes it all the more difficult. I suspect that you are underestimating the enormity of that task.

...
I would love to see Uconn become a powerhouse in Football.... (The Icing On The Cake) to all the other achievements that have already been established at The University Of Connecticut.

If such opportunity should ever show its face again. I say pull the trigger Uconn Adm. Spend the money. No worry. It'll come back (10) fold. If that ever happens. Need not worry about a Big East. Every major conference will be knocking.

And to tell you truth. I personally believe they should have came knocking a long time ago especially after the men & women won national titles again for the 2nd time. Something no program has ever done once. Building a football program is far more difficult than building a basketball program given the numbers of players involved. The university is making the effort and had great early success. The hiring Paul Paqualoni set us back considerably. It will take time to come back from it. Hopefully Diaco is the guy that can make that happen.
@malevocalist# See my answers above.
 
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Here is an idea: Why doesn't UCONN just DROP the football program. Do people actually think it will ever be any good?
 
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chip said:
Here is an idea: Why doesn't UCONN just DROP the football program. Do people actually think it will ever be any good?

How many flagship state U athletic departments don't have football?

Answer: Vermont

(and Alaska-Anchorage if you want to count them).

Now's not the time to go small time with the big time looking to separate.

We also were good - two conference titles and a major bowl. Several bowl appearances. A shutout win over South Carolina of the SEC in one of them. So the correct question should be "will we be good again?"
 
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