National sentiment

[djct1999]

That is not condescending. It is a truth.

UConn can be a national champion basketball team in the BE like Nova.

But won't play in a bowl game again.

I guess a P5 can come calling for Villanova or UConn...but I still see a Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, UCF as more likely.

The P5 will contract before it expands. Your last statement is as dumb as it gets.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I take it you're a Football fan who probably invested money in tickets. I'll give you a hint StubHub would have paid you to take the tickets off their hands.

Hey Hamden boy, if you wanna root for a school with no football team go find the Quinnipiac board.

 

[billybud]

UConn is playing poker...

With increasing blinds and a chip stack getting shorter, and getting bad starters after bad starters, the admin sees a possible hand to play and goes all-in.

It is a gamble...but when your chips are being whittled down, it is sometimes the only strategy.

 

[djct1999]

Football, and it driving 80% of media dollars, has been the great game changer.

Until that dynamic changes...good basketball programs not in a P5 with football, will not have the media dollars available that mediocre basketball programs in a P5 have.

As long as basketball is primarily a one month season



My opinion may be wrong...foolish? That's mainly smack talk.

Except UConn and the AAC are not part of the P5. This decision by UConn is a net gain. My guess is by 2026, there is a greater chance that Syracuse, BC and Pitt re join the Big East than it is Cincy or Houston or UCF joining the P5. And if Texas and OU leave as another poster suggested, its only because the Big12 is being ushered out. That new conference with the Big12 leftovers, maybe with some AAC schools included, will remain on the outside. Kudos to UConn for looking into the crystal ball and seeing the future. This will be a trend and more schools will look to regionalize.

 

[whaler11]

That is not condescending. It is a truth.

UConn can be a national champion basketball team in the BE like Nova.

But won't play in a bowl game again.

I guess a P5 can come calling for Villanova or UConn...but I still see a Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, UCF as more likely.

so you see that staying in the aac dying on the vine wasn’t going to lead anywhere but somehow this move hurts them?

solid logic

 

[djct1999]

UConn is playing poker...

With increasing blinds and a chip stack getting shorter, and getting bad starters after bad starters, the admin sees a possible hand to play and goes all-in.

It is a gamble...but when your chips are being whittled down, it is sometimes the only strategy.

This isn't a gamble. Its the opposite. UConn sees its stack getting increasingly smaller, realizes it doesn't have a big enough stack to play onto the final table, so decides to slow play to ensure a higher net payout.

 

[Drumguy]

Well UConn would be happy to have Wash U’s 8 billion endowment.

How do i know, my wife is a Wash U graduate

That was about the worst comparison that could be made. Kinda funny actually it's so bad - UConn w/o Football = Wash U. That's about as odd as you can get!

 

[JeepCSC]

A thriving basketball program in the Big East helps UConn’s future. Football-Only in the AAC, or independent football, doesn’t hurt UConn’s future P5 prospects. UConn is only better positioned today.

Don’t lie. Be a cheerleader for the BE all you want, but don’t lie. It might be in the same position (no shot) or it might be in a worse position. But UConn is certainly not in a better position.

Whoever said this was football vs basketball was kind of right. Though more accurately it’s half-full vs half-empty crowds. Those that thought there was a chance and those that didn’t. The debate is now academic.

 

[Robertelamin]

That is not condescending. It is a truth.

UConn can be a national champion basketball team in the BE like Nova.

But won't play in a bowl game again.

I guess a P5 can come calling for Villanova or UConn...but I still see a Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, UCF as more likely.

Florida State is a dying program.

 

[billybud]

This isn't about FSU..or Cincinnati...it is about UConn.

I understand that my opinion, like others on this board, angers you.

 

[billybud]

This isn't a gamble. Its the opposite. UConn sees its stack getting increasingly smaller, realizes it doesn't have a big enough stack to play onto the final table, so decides to slow play to ensure a higher net payout.

You slow play a guaranteed winner to keep other players throwing in chips....you go all-in when you must take a "now or never" chance that a hand will allow you to stay in the game.

 

[djct1999]

You slow play a guaranteed winner to keep other players throwing in chips....you go all-in when you must take a "now or never" chance that a hand will allow you to stay in the game.

This isn't going all in. Its the opposite. I get how most "slow play" a winning hand to trap others. So maybe thats not what I meant. Many in the WSOP will slow play just to survive the next round to ensure a higher payout. UConn isn't pushing all its chips to the middle. They are holding on to the few chips they have left.

 

[billybud]

I think that the BE will be good for UConn basketball....

It has been good for Nova.

Will UConn be better off ultimately than Houston, Cincy, Memphis?

That depends on too much crystal balling...but we will see in the upcoming Big Ten and Big 12 contract renewals how much football is still driving.

 

[billybud]

This isn't going all in. Its the opposite.

The opposite is folding.

 

[djct1999]

The opposite is folding.

Folding, but without putting in a blind. Exactly my point. The rest of the AAC is putting in a big blind with few chips and a bad hand. They will all bust before we do. This move will help UConn net more than the remaining AAC members.

I am not suggesting UConn has a winning hand. They are finally playing their bad hand better than the rest.

 

[AdamaNation]

There is a reason at the beginning of the past few seasons big east teams were ranked and aac teams weren’t. There is a national perception of the big east and the aac is an after thought. They will most likely remain an after thought, unfortunately. But the well tuned b-ball fans know it’s not the case. The move shows we have balls and basketball is taken serious.

Another reason recruiting will blow up!!!! Imagine a school paying more attention to b-ball over anything else. This is a ballsy move stating we are openly a basketball school first.

 

[billybud]

so you see that staying in the aac dying on the vine wasn’t going to lead anywhere but somehow this move hurts them?

solid logic

Kind of.

I think that Connecticut and UConn's financial situation sort of boxed in the administration.

Football is expensive and UConn, no matter what, was going to find it difficult to be in the top third of the AAC.

I think that the move was a solid, but forced choice.

I also think that it squarely moves UConn away from Cincinnati, UCF, USF, Memphis, Houston....and into the basketball school realms of Villanova, Gonzaga, etc.

"Hurt" is a term that depends on the outcome that you desire.

It will not hurt the basketball program and should be an assist. It may hurt future chances to move into P5s if they do expand...

 

[AdamaNation]

We get to relive memories! We're the only original non-Catholic school who's going to help relive them!

Butch Please!!!

 

[billybud]

I think that UConn can bolster its strong national identity and continue that unique institutional identity.

Maybe football had a hand in diluting that identity, I don't know.

 

[whaler11]

Kind of.

I think that Connecticut and UConn's financial situation sort of boxed in the administration.

Football is expensive and UConn, no matter what, was going to find it difficult to be in the top third of the AAC.

I think that the move was a solid, but forced choice.

I also think that it squarely moves UConn away from Cincinnati, UCF, USF, Memphis, Houston....and into the basketball school realms of Villanova, Gonzaga, etc.

"Hurt" is a term that depends on the outcome that you desire.

It will not hurt the basketball program and should be an assist. It may hurt future chances to move into P5s if they do expand...

only someone truly delusional is still framing these decisions on how they impact p5 opportunities.

there is none.

 

[AdamaNation]

Regardless of how you feel about the health of UConn athletics moving forward, you have to LOVE the gigantic the school showed the AAC and ESPN. That alone sure feels good. Other than that, huge short term uptick for hoops. Longterm, is tbd. I still think that if the P5 contracts to the P4 that the NBE is still more viable than the AAC and because of tradition and branding and large tv markets, I can see a scenario that they are included in some basketball only relationship. This is the beginning of the end for football. One of the hardest things in life is to make that very difficult decision to realize a loss. UConn essentially did that yesterday. If you dig deeper, this also shows that they must have good intel that the P5 is never again expanding. Its over. UConn for once was proactive. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the response yesterday by the rest of the AAC. Their delusion was hilarious. Then I was reminded that 24 hours earlier, we were part of that delusion.

You can only sit by the phone waiting for that girl who has your number to call even though you keep seeing and hearing that she’s kicking it to everyone else. The school and state were bleeding and rapidly!!! This is as much a safe gamble if anything. Football has helped for five years or so and the guy who got us there is also part of the demise. I feel like the edsall rehire was to cleanse his soul. No one including UConn has taken football seriously. Time to sum for the notre dame model but in a flip.

 

[billybud]

I get UConn's situation...and the decision to go to the BIg East with the Catholic 7.

It also, given the northeast's love of basketball, makes some sense.

Having a strong regional aspect is valuable, I think. I have always lamented the Frankenstein conferences we have patched together.

Being in a conference that is highly regional, is strongly bent towards one sport, is not a lot different than the SEC. Just the sport doesn't ka-ching as well.

 

[upstater]

If the landscape stays the same, neither are leaving. My guess is by 2024 the entire landscape may change and none of this will matter anyway.

They are watching as schools like Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Missouri, Mississippi State, Nebraska, make more money than them.

 

[billybud]

As you mention the "Notre Dame model"...it illuminates the value of football.

Notre Dame is in the ACC for all but football (where they play five games a year).

Notre Dame brings a national audience, good basketball....soccer, and other non revenue sports for the network...but gets paid $7.9 million for that.

 

[upstater]

UConn can become a Villanova...

They can not become a Virginia or Duke.

Or Michigan State or other all sports program.

Basketball may prosper in the BE...and fans will squint and, through misty eyes, see Marquette, St. Johns, Seton Hall, et al as the beloved old home place.

There is something to be said for being a Villanova....but still a different world from Duke or Michigan State.

And, someday, it may be Memphis, UCF, or Houston moving into that different world.

People like you are so short-sighted when it comes to college sports.

Teams go up, teams go down.

It never stays the same. You would think an FSU fan realizes this.

Nothing stays the same.