Marcus Williams talks return to Big East

[StepbackDog]

Transition Back to Big East Fires Up Former Husky

College basketball has had a completely different feel to it the last 5 years after UConn won their 4th National Championship in 15 years. The Huskies lost arguably the greatest coach of all-time, …

sidelinesports.report

 

[Mike9904111]

Good article with a lot of solid good points.

I think being back in the Big East with a lot of our rivals will help immensely, especially with fan support. We won't have Syracuse in conference, but we can play them every season.

I know Butler, Creighton, and Xavier aren't original schools, but I would take them over the majority of the AAC programs.

In the AAC I liked Memphis, Houston, Temple, and Cincinnati. Outside of that I could never really get up for a game and I felt that playing ECU, Tulane, SMU, Wichita State, UCF, South Florida (Even in the Big East, it was a terrible fit), and Tulsa wasn't good for our program.

No disrespect to those programs, but I would much rather player Villanova, Providence, Marquette, St John's, Georgetown, Depaul, and Seton Hall, to go along with the three I already mentioned above. The Big East is where we belong. I hold no ill-will towards the administration for trying to make the AAC work, and had things worked out properly and the Big East had turned into the conference it was initially supposed to be we 100% wouldn't be having this discussion.

Football could have had true East/West divisions with the addition of Boise State and San Diego State. Basketball would have been fine because Villanova, Providence, Marquette, St Johns, Georgetown, Depaul, and Seton Hall would have remained in the conference. I recall them bailing once schools like ECU, Tulane and so on were added.

Bottom line is we have the right coach now. I am fully behind Hurley and think he will get us where we need to be and we are also back in the Big East where we belong with the programs we should be in a conference with. Football is a fine sport but it will never be THE sport here. Men and Women's basketball run the show and they always will. We are 4x Men's National Champs and 11x Women's National Champs. It is our identity.

I hate to say this, but we could drop to FCS in football and be way more competitive and build a brand at that level and it would be more fun than what we have been experiencing in the AAC. I know the argument before from some, especially with fans from other programs was that this kills our chances to get into the Power Five. At this point I could care less about the Power Five. I want to save our basketball brand and it was slowly dying. Football wasn't making any headway and it looked liked we'd have been locked into the AAC forever or worse. Every time expansion came up it was always Memphis, Cincy, Houston, UCF, USF etc... and it never happened anyway. We can't live in a what if world. The Big East is where we belong. We will make plenty of money moving forward. We will be competing on the biggest stages again. We will have the majority of our rivals back. We are seeing results on the recruiting trail. This just feels right.

Sorry for the book!

 

[TheChamps990411]

I think being back in the Big East with a lot of our rivals will help immensely, especially with fan support. We won't have Syracuse in conference, but we can play them every season.

I know Butler, Creighton, and Xavier aren't original schools, but I would take them over the majority of the AAC programs.

We played Butler for a national title so the rematch automatically has my interest, Creighten usually has a decent squad but id rather play them than Tulane and Xavier is a name that carries some weight and i think will play us tough year in and year out and over time thatll get us up for that game. We played last season to a heck of a game so im in. This is just how i see it.

 

[Mike9904111]

We played Butler for a national title so the rematch automatically has my interest, Creighten usually has a decent squad but id rather play them than Tulane and Xavier is a name that carries some weight and i think will play us tough year in and year out and over time thatll get us up for that game. We played last season to a heck of a game so im in. This is just how i see it.

Exactly! I agree! There is so much to look forward to! Thanks for the response!

 

[StllH8L8ner]

"The AAC makes it very hard to recruit top prospects because stepping in the front door of a recruits house and saying we can go play Tulsa and ECU, doesn’t seem as appealing as Seton Hall and Villanova."

Absolutely correct.

 

[Chief00]

The AAC has a few really good football teams. Going back to the Big East in MBB definitely has its benefits. The Casual Fans seem engaged again, beyond their usual First Night love feast.
The key will be playing a slate of national elite home and home series. If Danny gets us back to where we want to be, that will establish us again as a national power. The Creigton’s, Xavier’s and Butler’s are very solid backetball schools but don’t get the TV eyeballs as KU, AZ, UT, etc.
I also think Seton Hall, DePaul and St John’s are all programs that display some signs of re-emerging but the jury is still out if that’s a hope or a trend.

 

[CTBasketball]

The AAC has a few really good football teams. Going back to the Big East in MBB definitely has its benefits. The Casual Fans seem engaged again, beyond their usual First Night love feast.
The key will be playing a slate of national elite home and home series. If Danny gets us back to where we want to be, that will establish us again as a national power. The Creigton’s, Xavier’s and Butler’s are very solid backetball schools but don’t get the TV eyeballs as KU, AZ, UT, etc.
I also think Seton Hall, DePaul and St John’s are all programs that display some signs of re-emerging but the jury is still out if that’s a hope or a trend.

Our football schedule will be better than what we played regularly in the AAC. And my last memory of the AAC was our 18-12 fringe-bubble hoops team playing in front of 57 people at a rinky dink green-seated basketball gymnasium with dusty windows in New Orleans.

 

[cohenzone]

Outside of the fact that two of our old main rivals, Cuse and Pitt are gone, the other “new” teams easily replace Pitt. Cuse was really our annual look forward to game regardless of how they or we were in a given year. I kinda miss that.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

Outside of the fact that two of our old main rivals, Cuse and Pitt are gone, the other “new” teams easily replace Pitt. Cuse was really our annual look forward to game regardless of how they or we were in a given year. I kinda miss that.

I couldn’t care less about playing Cuse now. Let them keep losing to duke, UNC, Louisville etc 9/10 times. If we keep scheduling them every year, that will be their “super bowl”, and give them recruiting exposure in New York

 

[StepbackDog]

Outside of the fact that two of our old main rivals, Cuse and Pitt are gone, the other “new” teams easily replace Pitt. Cuse was really our annual look forward to game regardless of how they or we were in a given year. I kinda miss that.

Cuse will be missed but, St John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, PC will all be amazing to have on the schedule over any AAC team.

 

[cohenzone]

Cuse will be missed but, St John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, PC will all be amazing to have on the schedule over any AAC team.

I agree with that. Every AAC game felt like OOC despite a few teams like Cincy and Temple. I know why some folks don’t like Cuse, but that was a true rivalry. Its like Yankees not playing Boston because Boston might have been stealing signs