Lol @ the fools who think the AAC is better

[Ts5034]

I just wanted to add that in 2018, the Big East had two #1 seeds in the tournament (Villanova, Xavier). I would guarantee there is a zero percent chance the AAC will ever have a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. I would also guarantee there is a less than zero percent chance they ever have multiple #1 seeds in the same tournament.

 

[don356]

I'd still rather play Cincinnati home and away each year with the exception of maybe Nova and Seton Hall twice.

 

[Zissou]

I'd still rather play Cincinnati home and away each year with the exception of maybe Nova and Seton Hall twice.

Nothing wrong with keeping Cincy on the schedule.

Maybe home in football and away in hoops, then away in football and home in hoops.

 

[Psolo12]

I'd still rather play Cincinnati home and away each year with the exception of maybe Nova and Seton Hall twice.

Really over Xavier, Marquette, Georgetown, Creighton? Cmon

 

[glastonbury50]

Yet to see someone argue the aac as better than the nbe. Must have missed it. Bad argument though I do believe the aac is better than a lot of folks make it out to be

 

[Guapo]

I'd still rather play Cincinnati home and away each year with the exception of maybe Nova and Seton Hall twice.

Another fool identified

 

[scoscox]

Yet to see someone argue the aac as better than the nbe. Must have missed it. Bad argument though I do believe the aac is better than a lot of folks make it out to be

on track to be a two, maybe 1 bid league. if anything it gets too much credit

not sure if you're referring to just people on this board, but if you want to see tons of people arguing that very thing, this tweet and comments are a gold mine

 

[Marbles90]

I don't think anyone really thinks the AAC is a better basketball conference than the Big East. People who were in support of the AAC were disappointed that the AAC didn't work out for UConn. In order to include football, the AAC had to pull in schools that were not great basketball programs. The hope was that the American would grow into the Power 6 the Big East (sorta) was and become a solid football and basketball conference especially if UConn dominated in both sports. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Throw in the travel and the TV contract and it just didn't make sense for UConn.

Meanwhile, the Catholic 7 had many basketball only options to replace the football schools and still keep the conference great for basketball. In fact, there are still many other great basketball programs out there like Gonzaga, Dayton, etc. Keeping the Big East name was huge for the conference but the name is just a name. If it was named the Super East, it would still be a great basketball conference.

I for one am not crazy about Independence for football - mainly because having a conference gives you something to play for and I feel like we have lost that - but let's see how it plays out. Obviously, I am very happy for basketball and looking forward to next year.

But seriously, can we stop with these posts? We all know we are going Big East and Independence for Football. It is ancient history. Let's move forward.

 

[John]

Yet to see someone argue the aac as better than the nbe. Must have missed it. Bad argument though I do believe the aac is better than a lot of folks make it out to be

It's more reservations of the general fit of UConn in the BE conference.

1. Big East is not an all-sports conference (structurally quite dissimilar to the P5 which is where many of us feel we belong). Are we torpedoing our P5 chances by essentially waving the white flag?
2. Big East member schools are all private/small Catholic universities with very little growth/scalability potential. UConn will be the odd-man-out 800 lb gorilla as far as size and budgets. Is this a big deal? Not sure.

The problem here is many are viewing this change with the myopic view of just basketball.

 

[wheelerdog]

I saw someone post something on Twitter this weekend that said after July 1st they would pay as much attention to the AAC as they do to the Big South. Count me as a member of that camp.

 

[Guapo]

It's more reservations of the general fit of UConn in the BE conference.

1. Big East is not an all-sports conference (structurally quite dissimilar to the P5 which is where many of us feel we belong). Are we torpedoing our P5 chances by essentially waving the white flag?
2. Big East member schools are all private/small Catholic universities with very little growth/scalability potential. UConn will be the odd-man-out 800 lb gorilla as far as size and budgets. Is this a big deal? Not sure.

The problem here is many are viewing this change with the myopic view of just basketball.

yeah sure it was better for the school to go behind a paywall to play Tulsa.

what you and your fellow fools can’t seem to grasp is that staying in the AAC was waving the white flag. UConn was Capt. Smith on board the titanic.

 

[August_West]

It's more reservations of the general fit of UConn in the BE conference.

1. Big East is not an all-sports conference (structurally quite dissimilar to the P5 which is where many of us feel we belong). Are we torpedoing our P5 chances by essentially waving the white flag?
2. Big East member schools are all private/small Catholic universities with very little growth/scalability potential. UConn will be the odd-man-out 800 lb gorilla as far as size and budgets. Is this a big deal? Not sure.

The problem here is many are viewing this change with the myopic view of just basketball.

Heres the deal as I see it.


We werent getting into P5 anyway. At least not anytime in the near future. So if we are ever fortunate enough to be in that position I dont see any advantage to being in the AAC rather than the NBE. Either way the odds are infitessimal. We've wasted 7 years on this football folly and are further than ever from a P5 invite. (which we STILL would be even if we werent circling the drain on the gridiron, it simply doesnt matter). Might as well play some decent hoops against some regional competition and put some fannies back in the seats.

 

[Durks07]

[

I saw someone post something on Twitter this weekend that said after July 1st they would pay as much attention to the AAC as they do to the Big South. Count me as a member of that camp.

Aside from specifically watching Uconn games, I paid as much attention to the AAC as the Big South. July 1st isn't going to change anything for me.

 

[John]

yeah sure it was better for the school to go behind a paywall to play Tulsa.

what you and your fellow fools can’t seem to grasp is that staying in the AAC was waving the white flag. UConn was Capt. Smith on board the titanic.

you could get your point across without being a continual DB about it. You're a real tool.

 

[Guapo]

you could get your point across without being a continual DB about it. You're a real tool.

Don’t pretend like you don’t come into these conversations thinking you’re smarter than everyone because you’re the contrarian here.

Although, I do admit you are less abrasive than the others that I’m lumping you in with. I appreciate that you’re at least willing to discuss. I shouldnt take out my frustration at Pal and others on you just because you’re the one willing to respond.

 

[UConnJim]

on track to be a two, maybe 1 bid league. if anything it gets too much credit

not sure if you're referring to just people on this board, but if you want to see tons of people arguing that very thing, this tweet and comments are a gold mine

Two things the tweet writer wouldn't have known at the time was James Wiseman, the probable first draft pick in the NBA draft, would not play the season and UConn would announce they were leaving for the Big East. And, last year, the top 10 teams in the American were rated by Ken Pom about the same as the top 10 schools in the Big East:

Big East average rating of top 10 = 70.0 (30, 33, 55, 60, 65, 72, 79, 88, 100, 118)
American average rating of the top 10 = 68.9 (12, 29, 34, 56, 66, 69, 98, 99, 107, 119)

The problem the American has is with the bottom two teams, typically ECU and Tulane. Last year, they were rated 264 and 283. That is a killer for strength of schedule.

Also, on paper, the American had a better 2019 recruiting year with 7 top 80 recruiting classes including Memphis at #1 vs. 6 top 80 classes with the BE.

And, the Sagarin average team rating of the American has been trending upwards:

2020: 78.97
2019: 78.44
2018: 77.26
2017: 76.74
2016: 77.77
2015: 75.05

The American is an improving basketball conference and it can be a very good basketball conference, but it was a bad fit both geographically and culturally for UConn which is the most important point for UConn fans. I think it would have been very hard for UConn to make the Final 4 out of the American, but I think it is possible out of the Big East. Potential UConn recruits would rather play in the Big East over the American.

 

[scoscox]

Two things the tweet writer wouldn't have known at the time was James Wiseman, the probable first draft pick in the NBA draft, would not play the season and UConn would announce they were leaving for the Big East. And, last year, the top 10 teams in the American were rated by Ken Pom about the same as the top 10 schools in the Big East:

Big East average rating of top 10 = 70.0 (30, 33, 55, 60, 65, 72, 79, 88, 100, 118)
American average rating of the top 10 = 68.9 (12, 29, 34, 56, 66, 69, 98, 99, 107, 119)

The problem the American has is with the bottom two teams, typically ECU and Tulane. Last year, they were rated 264 and 283. That is a killer for strength of schedule.

Also, on paper, the American had a better 2019 recruiting year with 7 top 80 recruiting classes including Memphis at #1 vs. 6 top 80 classes with the BE.

I understand why an eager AAC fan would get carried away and think that, but anyone doing any bit of research would've known the big east was simply down last year and was gonna be loaded this year. i think there were 11 total seniors who started for big east teams last year. sometimes that happens (the acc this year is a good example)

the recruiting thing is a red herring for a number of reasons (ECU bringing in 4 3 stars is viewed as a "better" class than providence bringing in one top 60 guy for example). suffice it to say that the big east has recruited, and is recruiting much better on the whole

Like i said, I can understand an american fan getting overly excited but for anyone in sports journalism/media to say that is pretty bad

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Two things the tweet writer wouldn't have known at the time was James Wiseman, the probable first draft pick in the NBA draft, would not play the season and UConn would announce they were leaving for the Big East. And, last year, the top 10 teams in the American were rated by Ken Pom about the same as the top 10 schools in the Big East:

Big East average rating of top 10 = 70.0 (30, 33, 55, 60, 65, 72, 79, 88, 100, 118)
American average rating of the top 10 = 68.9 (12, 29, 34, 56, 66, 69, 98, 99, 107, 119)

The problem the American has is with the bottom two teams, typically ECU and Tulane. Last year, they were rated 264 and 283. That is a killer for strength of schedule.

Also, on paper, the American had a better 2019 recruiting year with 7 top 80 recruiting classes including Memphis at #1 vs. 6 top 80 classes with the BE.

And, the Sagarin average team rating of the American has been trending upwards:

2020: 78.97
2019: 78.44
2018: 77.26
2017: 76.74
2016: 77.77
2015: 75.05

The American is an improving basketball conference and it can be a very good basketball conference, but it was a bad fit both geographically and culturally for UConn which is the most important point for UConn fans. I think it would have been very hard for UConn to make the Final 4 out of the American, but I think it is possible out of the Big East. Potential UConn recruits would rather play in the Big East over the American.

You do know that last year was a down year for the Big East right? It was the worst year post-2013 for the league. It would be better to compare the average of the Big East vs the AAC of the past 6 years to get a better sense of where each league stands.

 

[CL82]

How is that any different from early iterations of the Big East? Catholic schools have always had a strong footing on this league.

S---hit, I'm not even religious. I don't even care about the subject. but why so much anti-catholic rhetoric here?

It is a start up rather than the original conference which was started in 1979. The NBE was formed in 2013. It merely purchased the rights to the Big East name. It's not the same conference. How is that hard to understand?

That said, it is a good basketball conference and I look forward to playing in it next year.

(Note: effective July 2020, I will join the rest of NBE fans and pretend that it is the same conference that Gavitt started in 1979 and of which UConn was a founding member.)

 

[Waquoit]

To be fair, the guy has another month to be correct.

 

[scoscox]

To be fair, the guy has another month to be correct.

sure. that wasn't really why i posted it

 

[DefCONNOne]

Another fool identified

Oh good, your smug sense of superiority is still intact. I was worried you didn't have it anymore.

 

[UConnJim]

I understand why an eager AAC fan would get carried away and think that, but anyone doing any bit of research would've known the big east was simply down last year and was gonna be loaded this year. i think there were 11 total seniors who started for big east teams last year. sometimes that happens (the acc this year is a good example)

the recruiting thing is a red herring for a number of reasons (ECU bringing in 4 3 stars is viewed as a "better" class than providence bringing in one top 60 guy for example). suffice it to say that the big east has recruited, and is recruiting much better on the whole

Like i said, I can understand an american fan getting overly excited but for anyone in sports journalism/media to say that is pretty bad

First, I am excited by the BE move and I think the BE is a much better basketball conference. But, the American is an improving basketball conference, but losing UConn in the long run will hurt the American.

As for recruiting, last year, the American recruited about equal to the Big East for the first time:

Top 50 recruits:
American 4 (1, 15, 38, 49)
Big East 2 (16, 17)

Top 100 recruits:
American 8 (1, 15, 38, 49, 52, 58, 66, 92)
Big East 9 (16, 17, 57, 62, 67, 71, 75, 89, 99)

Top 200 recruits:
American 17
Big East 16

 

[AuRevoirAAC]

First, I am excited by the BE move and I think the BE is a much better basketball conference. But, the American is an improving basketball conference, but losing UConn in the long run will hurt the American.

As for recruiting, last year, the American recruited about equal to the Big East for the first time:

Top 50 recruits:
American 4 (1, 15, 38, 49)
Big East 2 (16, 17)

Top 100 recruits:
American 8 (1, 15, 38, 49, 52, 58, 66, 92)
Big East 9 (16, 17, 57, 62, 67, 71, 75, 89, 99)

Top 200 recruits:
American 17
Big East 16

So what happens when you take away the 7 Memphis recruits for impermissible benefits, and shift all of the 3 UConn recruits to the Big East side. This becomes pretty lopsided, no?

 

[scoscox]

First, I am excited by the BE move and I think the BE is a much better basketball conference. But, the American is an improving basketball conference, but losing UConn in the long run will hurt the American.

As for recruiting, last year, the American recruited about equal to the Big East for the first time:

Top 50 recruits:
American 4 (1, 15, 38, 49)
Big East 2 (16, 17)

Top 100 recruits:
American 8 (1, 15, 38, 49, 52, 58, 66, 92)
Big East 9 (16, 17, 57, 62, 67, 71, 75, 89, 99)

Top 200 recruits:
American 17
Big East 16

Like I said, i think that was a red herring for a number of reasons. #1 being that memphis' recruiting pace was clearly a result of a unique situation and wouldn't be sustainable. #2 being that multiple AAC teams basically overhauled their entire rosters and had enormous classes that kind of inflated their numbers a bit. And of course all of UConn's recruits were big east recruits for all intents and purposes, so it's kind of a moot point.

the american is improving, but people took more from that than was really there. this year it's back to normal