Positives of playing in the big east

[StllH8L8ner]

Living in Philly, playing in the Big East allows me to see them play in Philly, DC, Newark and MSG with a simple train ride. Suspect there are many other UConn grads along the NY-Washington NEC in the same boat.

Big East provides easier travel for our players, coaches and all the non-revenue sporting teams.

Allows us to concentrate our resources on what we’re good at and have a history of success in, rather than have to divert them to the unwinnable arms race that college football has become.

UConn and Nova have proven beyond and shadow of doubt that a team can be successful in March playing out of the Big East.

Is Eda’s Pizza really worth a trip from Chesco?

 

[bendm]

There are quite a few posters on this board that would have UConn trade places with Rutgers or BCU just so they could be a fan of a P4 team.

if Duke can win the ACC in football once in a blue moon AND field a championship caliber team in bball every year then why couldnt we do the same thing with an extra $40 million/year in revenue? if we got into the ACC we wouldnt cut bball spending we'd just be able to increase football spending.

i dont get the BC/rutgers comp, they stink because their staffs stink but if they had our staff then they'd be competing for nattys

to be clear i dont think the objective in football should be to win the ACC every year but but why couldnt we average at least 5 wins/year for bowl eligibility (including 3 or 4 wins against midmajors)

 

[superjohn]

Since we joined the New Big East it has been this way. Don’t confuse this bunch of mediocre teams with the Original Big East. We absolutely don’t fit. It is amazing that people think this group bears any resemblance to the original. At one point in the original there were 4 teams in the elite 8, 3 in the final 4. And none were lucky to be there.

Since you're going back to the glory days/orginal members what did the Big East lose with the original members leaving?

Syracuse will have missed 6 of the last 7 tournaments and they weren't making it in 2020 when the tournament was cancelled for Covid.

This will be the 17th straight year BC hasn't made the tournament, they weren't making it the Covid year.

This will be 9 out of 10 tournaments Pitt (not an original member, came three years later but close enough) hasn't made the tournament, they weren't making it the Covid year.

If you really want to do the nostalgia thing, you have to go way back to the 80's when the Big East was dominating with the originals. UConn dominated the 90's and brought the conference a championship in '99 but the conference really wasn't all that great then, they were living off of UConn and their rep from the 80's. The conference was again the best for a stretch when Syracuse and Pitt were still in the conference and we had additional members Louisville, Marquette, West Virginia, and Cincinnati.

As for the recent Big East are you just going to erase what Nova did from 2016-2022? Is UConn's dominance lately not included in the Big East because you want UConn out of the conference?

 

[superjohn]

if Duke can win the ACC in football AND field a championship caliber team in bball every year then why couldnt we do the same thing with an extra $40 million/year in revenue? if we got into the ACC we wouldnt cut bball spending we'd just be able to increase football spending. and if BC and rutgers had our staff then they'd be competing for bball chips too...

edit- to be clear i dont think the objective in football should be to win the ACC every year but getting to 5 wins for bowl eligibility (including 3 or 4 wins against midmajors) seems doable.

We could be the best program in the country in basketball if the ACC invited us but they haven't done so. We are the best program in the country as a member of the Big East.

Strong disagree on Rutgers and BC competing for national championships if they had our staff, that's fantasyland.

 

[bendm]

Strong disagree on Rutgers and BC competing for national championships if they had our staff, that's fantasyland.

would they cease to be the best staff in the country? coaching is by far the most important factor of a program's success. why can mark few compete for chips at gonzaga but hurley and luke and kimani couldnt at rutgers? this hypothetical of course assumes the school increases its support for bball which it would as a result of attracting/retaining the best staff in the country.

 

[willie99]

Fixed it for you.

Dan Hurley said that he definitely saw a bump in recruiting when UConn came back to the Big East

Nothing carries more weight than the people on the recruiting trail

 

[superjohn]

would they cease to be the best staff in the country? coaching is by far the most important factor of a program's success. why can mark few compete for chips at gonzaga but hurley and luke and kimani couldnt at rutgers? this hypothetical of course assumes the school increases its support for bball which it would as a result of attracting/retaining the best staff in the country.

Pedigree/the laundry matters. Culture and commitment to excellence from the top down matters, it incredibly difficult and takes time if it ever happens at all.

Mark Few built the thing up for many years at Gonzaga after Dan Monson already took them to an elite 8 the year before Few took over...

Fred Hoiberg is a great coach and it's taken him 7 years to where it looks like he finally has a really good basketball team. They won't be competing for a championship this year but they are good. It takes a while at schools that suck at basketball...

It took Hurley until his 5th season at UConn when everything clicked and they won the championship. That was remarkably fast and UConn was already one of the marquee programs in college basketball. Jay Wright is one of the best college bball coaches ever and it took him 15 years to win it all at Nova, a program that had already won it all and had a lot of basketball history before he got there.

 

[bendm]

Pedigree/the laundry matters. Culture and commitment to excellence from the top down matters, it incredibly difficult and takes time if it ever happens at all.

Mark Few built the thing up for many years at Gonzaga after Dan Monson already took them to an elite 8 the year before Few took over...

Fred Hoiberg is a great coach and it's taken him 7 years to where it looks like he finally has a really good basketball team. They won't be competing for a championship this year but they are good. It takes a while at schools that suck at basketball...

It took Hurley until his 5th season at UConn when everything clicked and they won the championship. That was remarkably fast and UConn was already one of the marquee programs in college basketball. Jay Wright is one of the best college bball coaches ever and it took him 15 years to win it all at Nova, a program that had already won it all and had a lot of basketball history before he got there.

Sure but in this hypo Dan has already been at Rutgers for 8 years. Dusty May turned michigan around in his first year and is going to compete for a chip in his second so it can happen more quickly, especially if you have BIG10 money to spend.

 

[superjohn]

Sure but in this hypo Dan has already been at Rutgers for 8 years. Dusty May turned michigan around in his first year and is going to compete for a chip in his second so it can happen more quickly, especially if you have BIG10 money to spend.

Sure it's possible, anything is possible but Michigan basketball sure as hell isn't Rutgers or BC basketball.

 

[Jaydumo20]

Pedigree/the laundry matters. Culture and commitment to excellence from the top down matters, it incredibly difficult and takes time if it ever happens at all.

Mark Few built the thing up for many years at Gonzaga after Dan Monson already took them to an elite 8 the year before Few took over...

Fred Hoiberg is a great coach and it's taken him 7 years to where it looks like he finally has a really good basketball team. They won't be competing for a championship this year but they are good. It takes a while at schools that suck at basketball...

It took Hurley until his 5th season at UConn when everything clicked and they won the championship. That was remarkably fast and UConn was already one of the marquee programs in college basketball. Jay Wright is one of the best college bball coaches ever and it took him 15 years to win it all at Nova, a program that had already won it all and had a lot of basketball history before he got there.

You both make good points.
I've always thought the laundry thing is more powerful than people give credit.
Look at Cooper Flagg. He went to Duke simply because 8 year old Cooper loved Duke.
Im not certain Hurley and staff would rise to best staff in the country if they were doing it in jersey or Boston instead of in Storrs. At UConn you have to walk into your office and see banners. Lots of them. That has to change your perspective as a coach. So yeah I think UConn as a fan base and program and culture helped create Hurley and co. or at least helped elevate them. But of course, how do you measure these things?

 

[LetsGoUC]

Big East is the best place for the school to be right now.

 

[Donyell 360]

Also, agree 1000% that Ross and Stewart need as many minutes as they can get. I don't know a UConn fan who now questions their abilities or importance to this team.

Not sure what you mean by "questioning their ability or importance." They have ability and they are important role players, but the team revolves around Solo, Alex and Reed. Silas is super important but he still seems to be just along for the ride. Hopefully Mullins and Reibe play so well we have to consider them in that camp too. But it seems to me that Stew has had plenty of opportunity to become a star and his ceiling is just not that high. Good piece but after 2.5 years in Storrs, he is what he is. Hope he proves me wrong. Ross has a little more potential because he has had less opportunity than Stew, but he still plays scared in my opinion. So important, yes. Very important, not really. If either of them do take a leap in the coming months, it would be huge for us! Let's go!

 

[jdb50]

I like those guys you mentioned but Ross and Stewie are finally blossoming and I prefer to get them all the minutes they need to feel the mojo in March and April. They both look like they are about to explode if given the chance. Ross already has for 1 game. Would love to see em each go off for 15 in the same game.

At the Marquette game Stewart was the player that got the fans going. He just brought the energy when he came in and I'm glad fans gave him a good ovation when Dan Hurley took him out. Hurley needs to play him more IMO.

 

[FriarJ]

Since we joined the New Big East it has been this way. Don’t confuse this bunch of mediocre teams with the Original Big East. We absolutely don’t fit. It is amazing that people think this group bears any resemblance to the original. At one point in the original there were 4 teams in the elite 8, 3 in the final 4. And none were lucky to be there.

Tell me about those 3 teams in the final four. It must have been amazing. Who were they?

Let me guess: Pitt, Cuse, Rutgers? How about WVU, Miami, BCU?
I must have guessed right, because those are the schools that left. It couldn’t be 3 schools still in the conference or you wouldn’t have used such an example to show the BE is cooked.

I haven’t been here in years but it’s incredible to see the same people beating the same drum. Good grief.

 

[mussels]

Is Eda’s Pizza really worth a trip from Chesco?

Never heard of it, but looks sort of interesting. Not close to center city and not intrigued enough to drive out there and lose a parking spot returning after 5. Will maybe take a bike ride up when we have daylight past six. If I do I’ll post in the pizza thread and @you in my reply.

 

[uconnyankee]

I love the rivalries and familiarity with SJU, PC, Nova and Seton Hall (and Georgetown when good). I've enjoyed the competency of Creighton and Marquette to produce good teams that present a challenge. Lastly, I love the Big East tourney, it is by far the best there is.

I want to join a P4 conference for the sake of the program and the university, but I love the Big East. I grew up with it.

I did as well. But the BE I grew up with had Syracuse, BC, Pitt, WVU. Throw in Louisville and Miami.

This isn’t the Big East. It’s a league that bought the name.

 

[Hoophound]

I did as well. But the BE I grew up with had Syracuse, BC, Pitt, WVU. Throw in Louisville and Miami.

This isn’t the Big East. It’s a league that bought the name.

The schools I named are still here and I still enjoy it. I won’t be more excited to play basketball anywhere else. For me, realignment is about football and money, not basketball.

I guess the ACC is the best alternative for basketball, but our old rivals there aren’t good anymore.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I did as well. But the BE I grew up with had Syracuse, BC, Pitt, WVU. Throw in Louisville and Miami.

This isn’t the Big East. It’s a league that bought the name.

To be fair, it's all but a couple original BE schools. The issue is it is no longer the 1980s.

 

[Horatio]

The games are still Big East physical and that usually gets our guys ready for the NCAA’s

 

[superjohn]

I did as well. But the BE I grew up with had Syracuse, BC, Pitt, WVU. Throw in Louisville and Miami.

This isn’t the Big East. It’s a league that bought the name.

And the Big East you grew up with isn't the Big East to fans who grew up in the 80's and 90's. Marquette has been in the Big East longer than West Virginia, Louisville and Miami were in the Big East and Creighton, Xavier, and Butler have been in the Big East the same amount of time as Miami and more than Lousiville.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Since we joined the New Big East it has been this way. Don’t confuse this bunch of mediocre teams with the Original Big East. We absolutely don’t fit. It is amazing that people think this group bears any resemblance to the original. At one point in the original there were 4 teams in the elite 8, 3 in the final 4. And none were lucky to be there.

Either you think we should rejoin the AAC, or you have a secret plan to get us into the Big 10. Which is it?

 

[Kolumbo]

The Big East is mostly Northeast and it has MSG. That's the best part about the conference. I'd love it if we could do some kind of mash with the ACC to build the best basketball conference and a home for football but it just doesn't seem possible. Syracuse & Pitt at a minimum and maybe Louisville, Va Tech. That would make the Big East much better. The Big East and ACC built their identities over years and our former mates are failing in the ACC. They would be much better off either in the Big East or by adding some former Big East members to the ACC when the exodus begins.

 

[Kolumbo]

There are quite a few posters on this board that would have UConn trade places with Rutgers or BCU just so they could be a fan of a P4 team.

 

[Kolumbo]

Pedigree/the laundry matters. Culture and commitment to excellence from the top down matters, it incredibly difficult and takes time if it ever happens at all.

Mark Few built the thing up for many years at Gonzaga after Dan Monson already took them to an elite 8 the year before Few took over...

Fred Hoiberg is a great coach and it's taken him 7 years to where it looks like he finally has a really good basketball team. They won't be competing for a championship this year but they are good. It takes a while at schools that suck at basketball...

It took Hurley until his 5th season at UConn when everything clicked and they won the championship. That was remarkably fast and UConn was already one of the marquee programs in college basketball. Jay Wright is one of the best college bball coaches ever and it took him 15 years to win it all at Nova, a program that had already won it all and had a lot of basketball history before he got there.

It didn't take Jim Calhoun very long to turn UConn into a real basketball player with much less, so it's doable. I think our coaching staff at Rutgers with those B1G checks and the location would turn Rutgers into a basketball power, no question. Being in the B1G in NYC's backyard should be an amazing opportunity for the program given the right coach.

 

[uconn_jack]

Seems like we recuit 1000% better when part of the Big East

Than the AAC? Absolutely. Would it be worse in the ACC or B12? I doubt it.