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Attendance/donations would jump, more games at MSG, help recruiting....
Maybe. But IMO I think it would help. Especially when trying to recruit on the east coast. Big East is still more attractive than the AAC.UConn currently has the #18 recruiting class for next year. And while Ollie couldn't develop players, we always ranked highly in recruiting and getting top 100 talent. Being in the Big East would have little (and most likely, no) impact on recruiting. If any recruit is making the school's conference affiliation a priority, then they are going ACC, SEC, BIG 10 or BIG 12. Being in the BE vs AAC isn't going to make an impact in a recruit like that.
Even this season there was probably 10k for every AAC game that wasn’t on super bowl SundayThe only thing that is objectively true is the fact that we'd be playing more games at MSG assuming we kept the Cuse game and made deep runs into the BE tourney. The rest of those things are maybe... we've already talked at length that CT fans are fare weather fans. If we were good in the AAC we'd have the same or better attendance numbers. Not to mention the Big East schools have rather bad TV contract. There is no value in being a basketball only school right now people like you need to understand that. Read about the economics of college sports, basketball doesn't drive that bus for most schools.
Maybe. But IMO I think it would help. Especially when trying to recruit on the east coast. Big East is still more attractive than the AAC.
Big East + Hurley would be huge.
I think you're putting too much stock on the legacy of the big east. Half of those teams from the glory days are no longer in the conference. Kids we would be competing for in the 2020+ recruiting classes grew up with a different big east than you / I did.
And we can argue year after year about which conference is better based on how many teams make the NCAA Tournament, but one thing that you cant argue is the perception and honestly fact that UConn is on an island of misfit toys in the AAC. We have zero regional rivals, the closest school in our conference is in Philadelphia. We have little in common with most of the schools in our conference. The majority of the schools in the AAC are not, and never will be the main course in the state or region they are located. North Carolina will always belong to Duke, UNC, NC State, nobody cares about ECU. Oklahoma will always be owned by OU, not Tulsa. Texas will always be Longhorn territory, not SMU, and not Houston. I dont care how good USF becomes in basketball or football, Florida will always be Miami, FSU, and Gator country.Since 2013-2014 season:
AAC: 15 NCAA bids
New Big East: 28 NCAA bids
I care more about the future than the past.
Dropping football to move to a marginally better/comparable basketball conference is not good for our long term viability.
I was concerned about the AAC as a basketball conference a couple years ago. Although it will never be anything close to the OBE, it is turning into a very nice basketball conference. We have 7 or 8 legit programs.
If we could move to the Big East for geography/rivalry/tradition and keep football in the AAC, I'm with you. But right now, unfortunately our best bet is the AAC.
Ah yes, all of the expenses, but without the revenue. Somebody get this guy a job at the FedMAAC, Independent. I could care less and I'm a football season ticket holder/supporter.
Do you know where I can submit my resume?Ah yes, all of the expenses, but without the revenue. Somebody get this guy a job at the Fed
Exactamundo. The Big East tournament at MSG was a spectacle and one of the crown jewels of college basketball. NYC was the perfect place to draw fans from all of those teams based in the northeast/Greater NYC Metro area. The AAC conference doesn't have that regional flavor. Will it someday draw more fans? Who knows. It is NOT a terrible conference, but geographically it is weak when it comes to conference tournaments and developing regional rivalries.The huge difference between the Big East vs AAC is the conference tournament. How many fans were in the building for our game today? 2,000? And how many UConn fans traveled to Memphis for the tournament? 300??
Win many more games and conferences will come calling. This does include our football program. No one wants a loser, regardless of pedigree.
They could beat our lousy football teamSo incorrect. Try a Wesleyan game.