1999.2004.2011
& 2014
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2011
- Messages
- 555
- Reaction Score
- 1,140
I know financially we don't have the television market nor the ability to generate more revenue without the conference affiliation, but what if the ACC isnt expanding, and the Big 12 nabs WVU, Cincy, UofL, and TCU, we are screwed. With that being said, and the news that the Big East is looking to add ECU, UCF, and the other CUSA schools, maybe it is time for us to look into this. You always need an exit strategy and maybe it isn't as bad to look into this, but then the question arises as to what should be done with basketball, soccer, football, etc...
Have football and both basketball programs go independent. A lack of conference affliation wouldnt keep the basketball teams out of the NCAA tournament as long as their RPI, quality wins, etc were still there.
Football could survive as an independent, sign a separate contract with ESPN, SNY, etc and play a national schedule. Sure there would be no direct bowl tie in but a team playing a national schedule who is bowl eligible would find a way into one of these bowl games (I don't care who we play, enough with the schedules where we are playing Buffalo, Western Michigan, and Baylor's of the world)
With respect to the other sports (mainly baseball) join the A-10 as an affiliate member for the rest of our non-revenue sports. In baseball, we play a good amount of these schools, and baseball can't get any worse than the teams we played in the big east the past couple of years (hold louisville and the johnies)
This situation would be very similar to what BYU has done, and I know we have nowhere near the following that BYU or ND have, but maybe this could put UConn in a better position moving forward, because we all know that remaining in the big east could destroy our athletic program (i.e. UMASS)
Have football and both basketball programs go independent. A lack of conference affliation wouldnt keep the basketball teams out of the NCAA tournament as long as their RPI, quality wins, etc were still there.
Football could survive as an independent, sign a separate contract with ESPN, SNY, etc and play a national schedule. Sure there would be no direct bowl tie in but a team playing a national schedule who is bowl eligible would find a way into one of these bowl games (I don't care who we play, enough with the schedules where we are playing Buffalo, Western Michigan, and Baylor's of the world)
With respect to the other sports (mainly baseball) join the A-10 as an affiliate member for the rest of our non-revenue sports. In baseball, we play a good amount of these schools, and baseball can't get any worse than the teams we played in the big east the past couple of years (hold louisville and the johnies)
This situation would be very similar to what BYU has done, and I know we have nowhere near the following that BYU or ND have, but maybe this could put UConn in a better position moving forward, because we all know that remaining in the big east could destroy our athletic program (i.e. UMASS)