Jeff Jacobs: No Excuses! If UConn Can't Get Into Power 5 Conference I Want To Know Why!

[j66kicker]

j66, I didn't mean to start an attack on your comments. Your posts year-round demonstrtae your interest in our sport. I jumped because I have to listen to non-believers use that word (joke) when describing women's sports, and after more than twenty years of following UCONN's wcbb, and ten years of watching my own tribe play three different sports at three different colleges I can (when given the chance) make a strong case for the validity of the women's sports that we choose to follow. ( Four years ago Penn St. came back from being down 2-0 to Texas in the NCAA women's volleyball championships after they were being blown out, and I adjudged that to be the most exciting sporting event I saw that year. I found it hard to make that case to the misogynists I know)

This thread began with posters stating that the powers to be at the P-5 conference care more about football than they do about any of the other 35 sports that the NCAA recognizes, and that is certainly the truth. But more's the pity for those who mistake spectacle for sport, or size and strength for athleticism.

All good. For sure WBB is a major sport at UCONN. I just don't think WBB is one of the boxes the power conferences are checking when considering expansion candidates. I'm looking forward to the day when it is, and kudos to ESPN who continues to devote resources to promoting our game.

BTW I did check out the Conference Realignment forum per CL82's suggestion, and clearly there are many UCONN fans who have a very sophisticated understanding of this subject. Sometimes I just get frustrated with the assumptions of some on this forum that the P5 conferences actually value WBB as a membership criterion, other than maybe an "all other things being equal" thing. I wish it were true but, you know - reality....

 

[ocoandasoc]

I moved from CT to TN nearly three years ago. When I got here I was stunned at how little interest there was State-wide in WCBB. But football? That's a whole different story. There's more interest here in High School football than there is in CT for UConn football. And SEC football? It's life or death. And there are as many Alabama and Auburn fans as there are Tenn fans. You want to be in a better conference? Have a better football program... on the field and in the stands... home and away.

If you want a two-word answer on why UConn won't be invited to a Power 5 conference anytime soon, here it is: Paul Pasqualoni. Just when UConn football was starting to achieve some respectability, the UConn powers that be made a coaching decision that rivals the worst ever made in the last 25 years. Then they refused to correct it for three years. Diaco is a good man.... but he can't walk on water. He'll need a few more years.

In the past the UConn administration undercut the conference they were in, believing that they were certain to secure a bid to the ACC. They were naive. They were arrogant. They made more enemies than friends. And it cost them.

What the UConn brass should do now is give Diaco everything he needs and pray that 1) he succeeds and 2) if he does that he won't be lured away by another school and 3) if he is they won't repeat the kind of mistake they made with Pasqualoni. They should also work to build the prestige of the conference they are in -- because they may be in it for quite a while. Navy, Memphis, Houston and Temple all have better football programs right now than UConn does. Rants like Mr. Jacobs' are self-serving but have nothing to do with reality. If covering a Power Five conference football team is so important to him, I suggest he freshen up his resume and look for a job in another metro area. Maybe he could get a job here in Nashville covering Vanderbilt.

 

[huskymedic]

In the past the UConn administration undercut the conference they were in, believing that they were certain to secure a bid to the ACC. They were naive. They were arrogant. They made more enemies than friends. And it cost them.

Care to share examples?

 

[Huskies Rule]