Jay Wright: This is the Best BE

[Durks07]

S

I think many of them give a flying F#*& about St. John's and even the Hall if they give a % about their own history. And I know many UCONN fans, even if you aren't one of them, that do.

But tell me, do you give a flying about Tulane, East Carolina, Houston, Central Florida, South Florida, Mid Florda, Kinda East Florida, Tulsa, and whatever else is in the AAC?

You won't win the "lets list terrible sounding basketball colleges in your conference" game. If that's playing in a "national conference" in your mind then I'm thrilled you enjoyed battling your bitter rival "Tulane" last night to kick off your league in front of a rousing crowd of 2,243 in some gymnasium in Louisiana.

LOL, somebody's mad now.

BTW, we made our history, you were all bystanders.

 

[intlzncster]

You're all freaking crazy if you don't think Mark Few is a great coach.

Schools in that league have no business doing what Gonzaga does yearly. He's made the NCAA tournament every year and he's been to five Sweet Sixteens.

There's a reason no one else in a similar circumstance has done what Gonzaga has done - they don't have Mark Few.

I was making the same points as you, but when I compared 'great' vs 'good', 'great' to me implies HOF top 5 type coaches: K, JC, Wooden, Knight, et al. Just a matter of defining terms. If you put him with that group, then I'd disagree.

 

[BigEast]

I'll say it again: the AAC is our life raft.

UConn will still have an NCAA basketball program in 15 years. Your school will not.

Well, I guess you showed me. I'll bump this thread in 15 years and you can do a victory lap.....will you also be handsomer and richer then?

 

[intlzncster]

Maybe I'm alone with this thought, but if the P5 does in fact branch off and form their own self-governing body, my interest in college basketball will diminish severely, regardless of whether or not UConn is involved.

I don't think that's going to happen because ultimately, it isn't good for business. The same could happen in football and I'm not sure anybody bats an eye, but I have a hard time envisioning a world in which schools like Georgetown and Villanova - storied programs located in recruiting hot beds - cease to exist as competitors at the national level.

The name of the NCAA tournament is far more likely to change than the teams competing in it. There's way too much money to be left on the table were the latter to occur.

 

[Stainmaster]

Well, I guess you showed me. I'll bump this thread in 15 years and you can do a victory lap.....will you also be handsomer and richer then?

I'm already handsomer and richer simply because I don't support a dumpy program whose carcass UConn carried for 30 years.

 

[BigEast]

I'm already handsomer and richer simply because I don't support a dumpy program whose carcass UConn carried for 30 years.

Hope you can do the same in the AAC and get more than 2,000 people to show up for your league opener. That had to be thrilling.

 

[Stainmaster]

Hope you can do the same in the AAC and get more than 2,000 people to show up for your league opener. That had to be thrilling.

Keep trying, you're just embarrassing yourself. UConn is bigger than any one conference. Looking at our NCAA titles and our track record of putting kids in the NBA, we are definitely bigger than the rest of both the OBE and the NBE.

 

[BigEast]

Keep trying, you're just embarrassing yourself. UConn is bigger than any one conference. Looking at our NCAA titles and our track record of putting kids in the NBA, we are definitely bigger than the rest of both the OBE and the NBE.

Nobody's been insulting UCONN. This isn't a UCONN pissing match, you can dial back your insult reflex.

UCONN has a tremendous history of success the last few decades. If anything I'm complimenting UCONN. It's an insult that only 2,000 people came out last night to see them play. There's not a Big East arena, short of DePaul, that would happen in. Problem is, AAC has like 7 or 8 DePauls.

 

[David 76]

Do you honestly believe the AAC deserves the name more then the charter schools that are at the core of the BE? A league that was the brainchild of Providence coach Dave Gavitt? And which league most likely resembles what Gavitt had in mind more so now then when it was at it's greatest extent? A basketball-centric league. Dave Gavitt would be delighted by the present BE, and since it was his idea to begin with, it seems only proper that the BE charter schools that are at the core of the present day BE should retain that name for what is still essentially an Eastern conference. Right now, it is an excellent basketball conference. Not quite sure why some here, but not yourself, if they are college basketball fans, would actually want such a league to fail. Personally, I wish UConn was in the BE, rather then the AAC.

I think the NBE is closer to the original intent of league. But that is irrelevant. They jumped the BE and the name was ours. That is why they had to buy it, Just saying it might have been best to let thr name and records die. The real BE is dead and we didn't kill it. BC and Syracuse did but you could argue that the other Catholics refused to play big time football and doomed the BE. I don't look forward to a time when some one like Xavier can claim the most BE championships, or Jay 's stupid statement.

 

[BigEast]

I don't look forward to a time when some one like Xavier can claim the most BE championships, or Jay 's stupid statement.

It's always been evolving once football changed it in 1991. I mean even Pitt wasn't an original member. Virginia Tech was around for a while. West Virginia. Rutgers....Louisville....there have been teams in and out and they've won titles. It happens. If Xavier's around long enough to set a record, more power to them they are now part of the Big East legacy. And it's exactly what the Presidents wanted when they extended the invite to Xavier - they wanted an elite basketball program. Three years later as we sit today, that Xavier program is rated No. 1 in the RPI. They've been a great addition to a basketball centric conference.

 

[David 76]

They are part of a Big East Legacy they purchased! Never participated in. I'm not picking on Xavier. It could be anyone who didn't play in the real BE.
Yes things change. And, if we had any sense, when they left the league they were so much a part of, that should have been their end of using that name.

 

[BigEast]

It's not a random collection of teams that purchased naming rights. The conference came from Providence and Gavitt. Providence is still there. As is Hall, SJU, Gtown, Nova. This isn't some random collection.

 

[Jerry1714]

It's not a random collection of teams that purchased naming rights. The conference came from Providence and Gavitt. Providence is still there. As is Hall, SJU, Gtown, Nova. This isn't some random collection.

The thing I will never get is fans of programs like St. Johns and PC come here and tell us how good the NBE and how bad the AAC is, but why do not you guys care that your programs have been losers and basement dwellers for decades?

I would think you would be embarrassed.

We are a national program with years of success and 4 banners hanging in our gym, and they are not NIT participation banners. I will take that any day and play in the CCC West over being St. John's and PC playing in any conference.

Go out and win something and maybe people will give two about your crappy programs.

 

[champs99and04]

The thing I will never get is fans of programs like St. Johns and PC come here and tell us how good the NBE and how bad the AAC is, but why do not you guys care that your programs have been losers and basement dwellers for decades?

I would think you would be embarrassed.

We are a national program with years of success and 4 banners hanging in our gym, and they are not NIT participation banners. I will take that any day and play in the CCC West over being St. John's and PC playing in any conference.

Go out and win something and maybe people will give two s about your crappy programs.

Funny thing is that the Providence program has just about done a 180 since moving to an easier league. Even most of the posters on the Providence board admit that, while they're sad the old Big East was broken up, PC may never have been able to enjoy the same success in that conference that they're having currently (and I get that they haven't accomplished anything yet, but it has to be a welcome deviation just to be relevant). You can probably put 'Nova in the same boat, to a lesser extent. It'll be interesting to see if Hall, DePaul, SJU, etc. ever get off the mat and if they can sustain any sort of success.

I've often wondered how programs like Wake Forest and Georgia Tech might benefit from the ACC splitting in half...or if Penn State, Northwestern, etc. might be better served playing in a conference where they're not perennial cellar dwellers, because once your established as a league doormat, it really doesn't matter what league you're playing in...that's a tough label to shake. It's one of the reasons UConn should be fine, at least for a little while, in the AAC. Now having to play Tulane, Houston, and Central Florida instead of Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh makes it less appealing to recruits to some extent, but the prestige of the program itself is still intact which is the most important thing.

 

[mauconnfan]

Hope you can do the same in the AAC and get more than 2,000 people to show up for your league opener. That had to be thrilling.

Your team vs the Johnnies at Carnesseca will be selling a ton of tickets I'm sure, now go FO! Whoever you root for you should come here and say thanks for UConn carrying your *** for the last 20 years in the BE.

 

[BigEast]

Funny thing is that the Providence program has just about done a 180 since moving to an easier league. Even most of the posters on the Providence board admit that, while they're sad the old Big East was broken up, PC may never have been able to enjoy the same success in that conference that they're having currently (and I get that they haven't accomplished anything yet, but it has to be a welcome deviation just to be relevant). You can probably put 'Nova in the same boat, to a lesser extent. It'll be interesting to see if Hall, DePaul, SJU, etc. ever get off the mat and if they can sustain any sort of success.

I've often wondered how programs like Wake Forest and Georgia Tech might benefit from the ACC splitting in half...or if Penn State, Northwestern, etc. might be better served playing in a conference where they're not perennial cellar dwellers, because once your established as a league doormat, it really doesn't matter what league you're playing in...that's a tough label to shake. It's one of the reasons UConn should be fine, at least for a little while, in the AAC. Now having to play Tulane, Houston, and Central Florida instead of Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh makes it less appealing to recruits to some extent, but the prestige of the program itself is still intact which is the most important thing.

I don't think anybody debates that Providence is better off with the Big East as it is today. However you want to frame it is up to you, but they are in an excellent basketball centric conference and likely headed to their third straight NCAA appearance with a nice 12 year deal with Fox Sports and plenty of cash. Worked out well and it sounds like you guys are happy where you are so we're all good.

It's OK to discuss this, I'm not sure why everyone gets so worked up and goes into instant New York Yankee "LOOK AT OUR RINGS" mode. If you guys are good where you are then great - but to the point of the thread and why in the world Jay would ever say that - well, it's an excellent league. If you just want to call him a dipshit and make pretend Xavier and Villanova and Providence suck, I don't know what to yell you.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Funny thing is that the Providence program has just about done a 180 since moving to an easier league. Even most of the posters on the Providence board admit that, while they're sad the old Big East was broken up, PC may never have been able to enjoy the same success in that conference that they're having currently (and I get that they haven't accomplished anything yet, but it has to be a welcome deviation just to be relevant). You can probably put 'Nova in the same boat, to a lesser extent. It'll be interesting to see if Hall, DePaul, SJU, etc. ever get off the mat and if they can sustain any sort of success.

I've often wondered how programs like Wake Forest and Georgia Tech might benefit from the ACC splitting in half...or if Penn State, Northwestern, etc. might be better served playing in a conference where they're not perennial cellar dwellers, because once your established as a league doormat, it really doesn't matter what league you're playing in...that's a tough label to shake. It's one of the reasons UConn should be fine, at least for a little while, in the AAC. Now having to play Tulane, Houston, and Central Florida instead of Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh makes it less appealing to recruits to some extent, but the prestige of the program itself is still intact which is the most important thing.

If Northwestern had Vic Law they would definitely make the tourney this year. They also lost their starting center for the last 2 games and burned the Pardon RS. Collins will start to get NW into the tournament. Then maybe leave for Duke?

Next year with Pardon, Falzon, Ivanauskas (2016), Lindsey and Mcintosh they should contend for a bid. Mcintosh, Pardon and Falzon is a threesome that can compete with the top half of the conference. At least next year if not this year. Collins is a great young coach. IMO that label won't last much longer concerning NW.

 

[BigEast]

Your team vs the Johnnies at Carnesseca will be selling a ton of tickets I'm sure, now go FO! Whoever you root for you should come here and say thanks for UConn carrying your *** for the last 20 years in the BE.

SJU is bad, I wouldn't buy a ticket to see them play anyone either. But I will say that terrible Johnnies team just sold out at Providence yesterday. That probably hasn't happened in a very long time. And it happened without UCONN being involved. Amazing, huh?

 

[David 76]

NBE is not an excellent conference. OBE was excellent. You are less than that. I want you to do well but wish you didn't have the name of the greatest conference in history. Or at least, if you use that name that you don't represent it as one and the same as the one that had 3 teams in 1 final four. And that was the stupid, false thing Wright said.
Funny thing is our conferences are comparable. We think our conference sucks and are afraid it will be the death of us. You think your's is excellent. JJay thinks it's as good as any real BE year.
It's funny...or sad.

 

[mauconnfan]

SJU is bad, I wouldn't buy a ticket to see them play anyone either. But I will say that terrible Johnnies team just sold out at Providence yesterday. That probably hasn't happened in a very long time. And it happened without UCONN being involved. Amazing, huh?

Amazing anything happened at the Dunk that meant anything. They're good this year no doubt have the utmost respect for their potential this year. But this is why you are trolling because finally since Pitino you are somewhat relevant. Stay at your place and enjoy your AH friends.

 

[BigEast]

NBE is not an excellent conference. OBE was excellent. You are less than that. I want you to do well but wish you didn't have the name of the greatest conference in history. Or at least, if you use that name that you don't represent it as one and the same as the one that had 3 teams in 1 final four. And that was the stupid, false thing Wright said.
Funny thing is our conferences are comparable. We think our conference sucks and are afraid it will be the death of us. You think your's is excellent. JJay thinks it's as good as any real BE year.
It's funny...or sad.

Hey I get it - you think the Big East is only when your team was involved. WVU fans may think that too, Miami may think that, BC may think that..... I get it.

As for comparable if we take emotions and insults out of the equation and use metrics, RPI has American (8th) comparable to Atlantic 10 (7th) and Colonial (9th)

Big East (4th) is between the ACC (3rd) and Big Ten (5th).

It is what it is.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Hey I get it - you think the Big East is only when your team was involved. WVU fans may think that too, Miami may think that, BC may think that..... I get it.

As for comparable if we take emotions and insults out of the equation and use metrics, RPI has American (8th) comparable to Atlantic 10 (7th) and Colonial (9th)

Big East (4th) is between the ACC (3rd) and Big Ten (5th).

It is what it is.

It also is what it is...that UConn won the National Championship in 13/14. The last time a NBE (including teams from OBE that are now in NBE) team won a title was ???? I don't have that info at my finger tips because my moniker doesn't read BigEast. Anyways please just provide the year. Thanks in advance bro.

Also how many teams in the NBE have a higher ranked recruiting class for 2016 then Connecticut (who is in the AAC)? Sure strength of schedule is tough to overcome being in the AAC. It does hurt our seeding. I am not one to say this often but Dam* we are UCONN. LOL haha...I enjoy watching NBE hoops. Its fun and has some good teams!

http://insider.espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/classrankings?class=2016&date=null

 

[CTMike]

Hey I get it - you think the Big East is only when your team was involved. WVU fans may think that too, Miami may think that, BC may think that..... I get it.

As for comparable if we take emotions and insults out of the equation and use metrics, RPI has American (8th) comparable to Atlantic 10 (7th) and Colonial (9th)

Big East (4th) is between the ACC (3rd) and Big Ten (5th).

It is what it is.

We know the AAC isn't great shakes. It's not because of us, but yeah, the league ain't hot except for a few teams. The NBE is a sham coasting on the strength of its prior incarnation. But hey, congrats on your 4th place RPI championship! Hang that from the rafters at the Dunk.

 

[BigEast]

It also is what it is...that UConn won the National Championship in 13/14. The last time a NBE (including teams from OBE that are now in NBE) team won a title was ????

Now that's a direction you could go in with this - that UCONN is better than any team in the Big East. It doesn't hold true this year to date, but you most certainly won a more recent Championship if that's the metric you'd like to use for strength of conference this year, which was the point of this thread.

 

[BigEast]

The NBE is a sham coasting on the strength of its prior incarnation. But hey, congrats on your 4th place RPI championship! Hang that from the rafters at the Dunk.

You could say that, but we'll probably have three top 10 teams tomorrow when you look at the AP poll. If that's a sham, the Big East is doing a nice job tricking people. I'd love to see 30% of the AAC in the top 10, that would be something. I know you don't like silly metrics and polls, so I guess you can enjoy looking at your banners. As I've said early and often, nobody can take that history away from you and it was impressive. Doesn't really have anything to do with conference strength which was the point of this thread, but I know it's the default argument point here when things aren't going well.