I'm not a "UConn back to the BE" guy, but . . .

[BUConn10]

Exactly. The BE is not "the home we left," it's the home where everyone deserted us and stole our conference name with all the trimmings.

They literally bought our program's success and reputation for their own via the transfer of all the past records and titles won under the "Big East" name. Like there was literally a dollar figure they drew up to buy what we helped make valuable enough for them to want to buy, and we are stuck in here, maddening.

 

[Scrutineer]

Not sure if this has been posted here. Written by a Xavier fan and brutal to read if you're a UConn fan, but the writer may be on point with some of the reasons.

Five reasons to keep UConn out of the Big East

 

[Hoophound]

Guys, this is one genius’s opinion. We can go back to the Big East if we want to.

 

[UCDaveD]

I would love to snag Xavier's coach though.

 

[UConnNick]

Why not rebuild the Big East?

What if the Big East were two parts, call it blue and red. One part is only basketball and olympic sports. The other part has FBS football. Take Nova and Butler and move them to the football side, requiring an upgrade of course. Add UConn, Cincinnati and Temple from the AAC. Add three more teams. Perhaps one could be Memphis but I would try to avoid travel issues and Memphis is getting pretty far away. Other options could be UMass, Navy, Army, Buffalo. Even Toledo or Ohio could work.

But I would lean toward Army and Navy to boost the academics and character. Then you could add UMass to get a MA team or Buffalo to get a NY team. Or, if Army doesn't want to join, take both. I prefer that to grabbing teams from the deep south. Enough of that. We will never be the SEC or ACC.

So the Big East Red would be the current Big East minus Villanova and Butler. Big East Blue would be Villanova, Butler, UConn, Cinci, Temple, Navy and two of Army, Buffalo and UMass.

This idea is totally crazy. The reason the league disintegrated in the first place was because it was a dysfunctional mess of FB and BB schools with totally different priorities. The catholic schools want nothing to do with FB schools in their NBE.

 

[Paesano]

This idea is totally crazy. The reason the league disintegrated in the first place was because it was a dysfunctional mess of FB and BB schools with totally different priorities. The catholic schools want nothing to do with FB schools in their NBE.

Crazy? Genius? Whatever. If done the way I proposed, the basketball-only teams won't have to deal with football at all. They also strengthen the basketball side while staying close knit with the basketball-only schools. Rivalries get re-established. And, most importantly, there is strength in numbers.

Look, this won't be a football powerhouse. As such there is little chance any of these football achools are going to try to be a tail wagging the dog. Those schools are all gone. These are all smaller schools less obsessed about football. Look at the names.

And, as much as I hate umess fans, I would love to see them rise above BC. BC is why we aren't, and probably never will be, in the ACC. And we will never get into the Big 10 due to the whole AAU stupidity. The AAC is a mutant. If we are talking about being an FBS also-ran anyways, why not do it in a league focused on basketball?

 

[UConnNick]

Crazy? Genius? Whatever. If done the way I proposed, the basketball-only teams won't have to deal with football at all. They also strengthen the basketball side while staying close knit with the basketball-only schools. Rivalries get re-established. And, most importantly, there is strength in numbers.

Look, this won't be a football powerhouse. As such there is little chance any of these football achools are going to try to be a tail wagging the dog. Those schools are all gone. These are all smaller schools less obsessed about football. Look at the names.

And, as much as I hate umess fans, I would love to see them rise above BC. BC is why we aren't, and probably never will be, in the ACC. And we will never get into the Big 10 due to the whole AAU stupidity. The AAC is a mutant. If we are talking about being an FBS also-ran anyways, why not do it in a league focused on basketball?

UCONN, UC, Temple and Memphis all have P5 aspirations. None of the current NBE schools do. That puts those four schools squarely in the category of schools you describe as obsessed with football, because that is the only sport that matters in the P5. The NBE wants nothing to do with such schools. The handful of NBE schools with IAA football view it as a money loser, which it likely is for them.

 

[chickenhead]

UCONN, UC, Temple and Memphis all have P5 aspirations. None of the current NBE schools do. That puts those four schools squarely in the category of schools you describe as obsessed with football, because that is the only sport that matters in the P5. The NBE wants nothing to do with such schools. The handful of NBE schools with IAA football view it as a money loser, which it likely is for them.

So UConn should leave a football situation for a shittier football situation?

 

[huskyrob1]

Crazy? Genius? Whatever. If done the way I proposed, the basketball-only teams won't have to deal with football at all. They also strengthen the basketball side while staying close knit with the basketball-only schools. Rivalries get re-established. And, most importantly, there is strength in numbers.

Look, this won't be a football powerhouse. As such there is little chance any of these football achools are going to try to be a tail wagging the dog. Those schools are all gone. These are all smaller schools less obsessed about football. Look at the names.

And, as much as I hate umess fans, I would love to see them rise above BC. BC is why we aren't, and probably never will be, in the ACC. And we will never get into the Big 10 due to the whole AAU stupidity. The AAC is a mutant. If we are talking about being an FBS also-ran anyways, why not do it in a league focused on basketball?

Boston College AD Gene DeFilipo is the reason UConn didn't get an invite during the first Big East raid by the ACC. Flipper hated UCONN ever since his playing days at Springfield. It's ancient history now, Flipper is probably flipping burgers at Five Guys now anyway. If anything, now the ACC would want that old BE rivalry to prop up BC athletics. It would be a win win for all concerned.

 

[huskyrob1]

Crazy? Genius? Whatever. If done the way I proposed, the basketball-only teams won't have to deal with football at all. They also strengthen the basketball side while staying close knit with the basketball-only schools. Rivalries get re-established. And, most importantly, there is strength in numbers.

Look, this won't be a football powerhouse. As such there is little chance any of these football achools are going to try to be a tail wagging the dog. Those schools are all gone. These are all smaller schools less obsessed about football. Look at the names.

And, as much as I hate umess fans, I would love to see them rise above BC. BC is why we aren't, and probably never will be, in the ACC. And we will never get into the Big 10 due to the whole AAU stupidity. The AAC is a mutant. If we are talking about being an FBS also-ran anyways, why not do it in a league focused on basketball?

The NBE is a dieing conference, for financial reasons, declining enrollments, among other reasons. Any AD with an FBS football program at his school would have to have rocks in his head to consider your cockamamie plan. I've been saying this now for months.

 

[UConnNick]

So UConn should leave a Shittu football situation for a shittier football situation?

I'm not advocating we move anywhere, short of a call from a P5 conference. The AAC is the best G5 football conference in the country. Our league champ just went undefeated and won a NY6 bowl game. Paesano is the one suggesting a gigantic new Big East with a totally insane mix of football and BB schools, not me. We are fine where we are for the time being, unless a P5 league decides they want us tomorrow.

 

[Paesano]

Boston College AD Gene DeFilipo is the reason UConn didn't get an invite during the first Big East raid by the ACC. Flipper hated UCONN ever since his playing days at Springfield. It's ancient history now, Flipper is probably flipping burgers at Five Guys now anyway. If anything, now the ACC would want that old BE rivalry to prop up BC athletics. It would be a win win for all concerned.

BC and Syracuse will continue to vote against us. If we were ever going to be in the ACC, it would have happened by now. Even the Big 12 doesn't want us. They looked and said no thanks.

 

[chickenhead]

I'm not advocating we move anywhere, short of a call from a P5 conference. The AAC is the best G5 football conference in the country. Our league champ just went undefeated and won a NY6 bowl game. Paesano is the one suggesting a gigantic new Big East with a totally insane mix of football and BB schools, not me. We are fine where we are for the time being, unless a P5 league decides they want us tomorrow.

Sorry. I meant to quote him.

 

[Paesano]

UCONN, UC, Temple and Memphis all have P5 aspirations. None of the current NBE schools do. That puts those four schools squarely in the category of schools you describe as obsessed with football, because that is the only sport that matters in the P5. The NBE wants nothing to do with such schools. The handful of NBE schools with IAA football view it as a money loser, which it likely is for them.

Aspirations aside, none of those teams are likely to get an invite to any P5 conference and we all know it. We are dieing in this conference. People keep saying we can recruit better out of the big east. They also say we will never be a football power. If they are right, the choice is obvious.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

So UConn should leave a Shittu football situation for a shittier football situation?

You can say shittier?

 

[Ha Who]

Boston College AD Gene DeFilipo is the reason UConn didn't get an invite during the first Big East raid by the ACC. Flipper hated UCONN ever since his playing days at Springfield. It's ancient history now, Flipper is probably flipping burgers at Five Guys now anyway. If anything, now the ACC would want that old BE rivalry to prop up BC athletics. It would be a win win for all concerned.

When did I miss the press conference?

 

[Woof 101]

"Is UConn a power program on a bad coach, or was Jim Calhoun a great coach elevating a mediocre program?"

UCLA is/was considered hoops royalty yet have as many NCs since Wooden retired as KO. IU hasn't won since Knight left.

No attack Bugsy, just an observation of slight confusion. Yesterday you started a thread calling this guy a and stating you were irked by his assessment of UConn going back to the BE for basketball.
Today you agree with one of his major points. Having said that I agree with what you posted here today. Before " it's doable " came along people were screaming for UConn to drop out of the BE and go back to The Yankee Conference.

 

[huskyrob1]

BC and Syracuse will continue to vote against us. If we were ever going to be in the ACC, it would have happened by now. Even the Big 12 doesn't want us. They looked and said no thanks.

I think with the Big 12 it was mostly a geographic issue, they clearly have expansion in mind but westward. When the time is right they will invite teams from the Mountain West to shore up their western flank, as it's no secret that the PAC 12 wants to raid the Big 12 and take Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Inviting us would have not helped them in that respect at all, and would have been geographicly untenable with schools on the east coast AND west coast. BC will not vote against us this time around and even if they did they'd be over ruled. Paul Pasqualoni and Randy Edsall both were football coaches at Syracuse, and again the rivalry issue for the ACC in the NYC - Northeast market trumps a Syracuse no vote. Besides Flipper is long gone and he was the one that convinced Syracuse to vote no last time. There weren't any no votes against UConn more recently when Louisville got in by the slimest of hairs over us.

 

[whaler11]

I think with the Big 12 it was mostly a geographic issue, they clearly have expansion in mind but westward. When the time is right they will invite teams from the Mountain West to shore up their western flank, as it's no secret that the PAC 12 wants to raid the Big 12 and take Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Inviting us would have not helped them in that respect at all, and would have been geographicly untenable with schools on the east coast AND west coast. BC will not vote against us this time around and even if they did they'd be over ruled. Paul Pasqualoni and Randy Edsall both were football coaches at Syracuse, and again the rivalry issue for the ACC in the NYC - Northeast market trumps a Syracuse no vote. Besides Flipper is long gone and he was the one that convinced Syracuse to vote no last time. They're weren't any no votes against UConn more recently when Louisville got in by the slimest of hairs over us.

It's pretty simple. Nobody the Big 12 would want to expand with is interested in joining the Big 12. Anyone willing to join the Big 12, the Big 12 isn't interested in.

What vote are BC and Syracuse participating in? An ACC expansion? UConn wouldn't even be a finalist for that one slot at this point never mind be invited.

 

[huskyrob1]

It's pretty simple. Nobody the Big 12 would want to expand with is interested in joining the Big 12. Anyone willing to join the Big 12, the Big 12 isn't interested in.

What vote are BC and Syracuse participating in? An ACC expansion? UConn wouldn't even be a finalist for that one slot at this point never mind be invited.

I think Brigham Young and Boise State and a few others could be candidates for the Big 12, much more so than UConn ever was, and who is to say the Big 12 wouldn't try and get a PAC 12 team to jump ship. If Notre Dame joins the ACC in football, UConn most definitely would be a finalist for that last spot.

 

[upstater]

Boise is almost as far from Texas as Connecticut.

Be that as it may, a move to the BE as part of a strategic buildup toward the P5 could work, if you managed to get out alive. But the BE is less of a long term solution than the AAC is if you intend to be in a compete against state Us at either football or basketball.

 

[BugsyCT]

No attack Bugsy, just an observation of slight confusion. Yesterday you started a thread calling this guy a and stating you were irked by his assessment of UConn going back to the BE for basketball.
Today you agree with one of his major points. Having said that I agree with what you posted here today. Before " it's doable " came along people were screaming for UConn to drop out of the BE and go back to The Yankee Conference.

Well, I'm in general disagreement with his whole snarky article which is why I posted - he's implying that we're not good enough to return back to a league that he says is just fine the way it is now. I'm not ready to drop football and go back, but I disagree with his premise. As for the specific point you're asking about (regarding if UConn is a power program with a bad coach, or was Jim Calhoun a great coach elevating a mediocre program?), I'd say we WERE a lousy program before Calhoun got here, but he made us into a power program, and now we're a power program with a bad coach. I brought up UCLA and Indiana because they're not perceived as lousy programs despite their lack of titles since their legendary coaches left.

Think that answered your question, Woof.

 

[The Funster]

Xavier? Really?

 

[Ha Who]

We were a good mid-major struggling with the transition to a power conference. Coach C brought us to the promised land. I love the posters who still talk about the coming bidding war between the BIG and ACC over us. My only question is whether we can get back to being a good mid-major The power conference membership is in the past.

 

[huskyrob1]

Boise is almost as far from Texas as Connecticut.

Be that as it may, a move to the BE as part of a strategic buildup toward the P5 could work, if you managed to get out alive. But the BE is less of a long term solution than the AAC is if you intend to be in a compete against state Us at either football or basketball.

Not quite "upstater", northern Texas is about 1000 miles from Boise (Kansas is even less), as the crow flies, if driving it's more because of the mountains. Storrs is 2000 miles from northern Texas. So to say "Boise is almost as far from Texas as Connecticut" is a little bit of a stretch. All I know is Boise and Texas are both in the midwest-mountain west and Storrs is up in New England. Lol

 

[UConnNick]

Aspirations aside, none of those teams are likely to get an invite to any P5 conference and we all know it. We are dieing in this conference. People keep saying we can recruit better out of the big east. They also say we will never be a football power. If they are right, the choice is obvious.

Sure. There was also a time when it was said we'd never be a basketball power. How did that work out?

We don't have to be a football power...just competitive in the FBS. Anyone who says it can't be done is forgetting that we've already done it. We finished 25th in the BCS top 25 final standings in one season, and we went to a BCS bowl game in another. There are quite a few current P5 football programs that have never been in a BCS or other major bowl. We have. It can be done. Saying it can't be done is nonsense, just like the naysayers who wanted us to drop out of the BE and go back to the Yankee Conference in the 1980's.

 

[Waquoit]

Not sure if this has been posted here. Written by a Xavier fan and brutal to read if you're a UConn fan, but the writer may be on point with some of the reasons.

Maybe, but he made no mention of what UConn would do for the BET.

 

[whaler11]

I think Brigham Young and Boise State and a few others could be candidates for the Big 12, much more so than UConn ever was, and who is to say the Big 12 wouldn't try and get a PAC 12 team to jump ship. If Notre Dame joins the ACC in football, UConn most definitely would be a finalist for that last spot.

As the theme song went in WWE.

No chance! No chance in hell!

Not sure which of these impossibilities are the least likely.

1. A Pac 12 team leaving to join the Big 12.

2. Notre Dame joining a conference

3. The ACC picking UConn as their 16th.

I guess it’s #1 but it’s close.

 

[huskyrob1]

As the theme song went in WWE.

No chance! No chance in hell!

Not sure which of these impossibilities are the least likely.

1. A Pac 12 team leaving to join the Big 12.

2. Notre Dame joining a conference

3. The ACC picking UConn as their 16th.

I guess it’s #1 but it’s close.

I would also say #1 is very unlikely, but two and three are very possible, if UConn cans Ollie before he does anymore damage and HCRE gets the football program rolling next year. Let's hope for 6-6 next year and 8-4 the year after. As for Notre Dame joining a conference, they will because they have no choice. If they don't, they'll never make the playoffs again.

 

[whaler11]

I would also say #1 is very unlikely, but two and three are very possible, if UConn cans Ollie before he does anymore damage and HCRE gets the football program rolling next year. Let's hope for 6-6 next year and 8-4 the year after. As for Notre Dame joining a conference, they will because they have no choice. If they don't, they'll never make the playoffs again.

That’s silly. They would have easily make the playoffs this year going 11-1.

They don’t make the playoffs because they aren’t good enough.


The teams that didn’t want UConn in the ACC did it so UConn would turn into this - why in the hell would they ever consider bringing them back from the dead.

There are already not enough players here to recruit. Syracuse and BC would welcome back UConn half past never.