Dallas is becoming the epicenter of the AAC

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Nah. USF and Cinci are from the Big East 2.0, not the "old" original Big East. WVU, Miami and Louisville are not "old" Big East either. Nor are Marquette and DePaul.

Or Notre Dame.

Nor were Rutgers, Pitt and Villanova included in the original 1979-80 Big East
(7 initial members: UCONN, Georgetown, Seton Hall, st johns, syracuse, pc, bcu)

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nor were Rutgers, Pitt and Villanova included in the original 1979-80 Big East
(7 initial members: UCONN, Georgetown, Seton Hall, st johns, syracuse, pc, bcu)

Villanova is considered a "charter member" although they technically joined a year later. They had the invite. There was some other reason they couldn't play in the league that first year. Pitt was next in 1982.

Miami, VT, WVU, Temple and Rutgers were the main initial football conference expansion in 1991. So that's probably 2.0. Then version 3.0 was the replacements for the ACC and Big 12 departures, in 2005. Version 3.0 if you will. I don't really consider those schools Big East schools.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Villanova is considered a "charter member" although they technically joined a year later. They had the invite. There was some other reason they couldn't play in the league that first year. Pitt was next in 1982.

Holy Cross and Rutgers also had initial invitations, but like Nova opted out. Rutgers and Nova wanted to stick with the Atlantic 8, then reconsidered. Nova may be generously referenced as charter members by some, e.g., Nova itself, but like Rutgers and 1/2 pregnancies: traditionally no play, no possible member.

 

[DFW HOYA]

Founding schools: PC, Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John's
Next: UConn (Dave Gavitt called UC the "sleeping giant")
Holy Cross declined, when its president said that the Crusaders "were not in the entertainment business." BC gladly accepted. and Holy Cross has not made the AP Top 25 since.
Rutgers declined, in came the Hall.
Villanova wanted in but had a one year termination clause to leave the Eastern 8 and thus are not an original team.

 

[UConnNick]

Look stainmaster and friends, unbunch your panties. You are right, the location of a conferences' hdqtrs means nothing to recruits. I do not recall ever factoring it in my recruitment process. Nevertheless, conference relocation has significance relative to what's in the best interest of the conference. UConn men's basketball has failed the AAC as its crowning jewel and now the conference will hitch its wagon to the mid-south schools within the conference.

Hdqtrs, in many cases is the locus for operations for an organization and the site is strategically selected for a sound business purpose. Facebook hdqtrs is in Silicon Valley rather than Austin or LA or NYC b/c it allows for them to focus on entities important to them, including tech. vendors, VC firms, start-ups, all of which are plentiful and easily accessible w/in Silicon Valley. Though NYC could work for Facebook, their focus isn't finance or law, it's tech. and their bottom line currently dictates they remain in Silicon Valley. Comparatively, the AAC and Aresco have decided its in their best interest to relocate to a region of the country, near schools w/in that region, that provide the best opportunity for conference success.

So no, recruits don't look at the location of the conference headquarters, but the AAC move implies a deemphasis on UConn and the clout we had going into this league. This deemphasis may result in continued growth of Mid-South programs, including the programs along the I-35 corridor, and an increase in their marketability regionally. The result, continued diminishment of our Men's program all for the crapshoot of a P5 bid with a football program seeking to gain it's footing as a solid D-1 program.

The AAC offices being located in Providence had zero to do with UCONN. It was mere happenstance since the league is the successor to the old Big East Conference. They simply sold the "Big East" name to the schools that now play under that name. They retained the same offices the old Big East had in Providence.

 

[Yardigan]

The AAC offices being located in Providence had zero to do with UCONN. It was mere happenstance since the league is the successor to the old Big East Conference. They simply sold the "Big East" name to the schools that now play under that name. They retained the same offices the old Big East had in Providence.

Right, but if you look at it that way... there's no conspiracy theories to jack up...where's the fun in that?

 

[BlueMAB]

As long as the conference brass continues to prioritize UConn, I don't mind playing Tulane and ECU. But if they start to treat all members as equals, I'm going to have to reconsider UConn.


Said no recruit ever.