Positives of playing in the big east

[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.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

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.

So your stance is that we should say no if the B1G offered us a spot?

 

[boog204]

I prefer being in the new BE to the freakin’ AAC. But that being said, I only get really excited for games against former BE schools. My endless sentimental side would give anything to bring back Cuse and BCU etc and tell the add ons to go find their own league. Since that will never happen, we need to try to go where the $$ is before the whole thing implodes.

 

[REB1094]

It’s nice to have a mostly regional conference in a world where regional conferences don’t really matter anymore

It’s also nice to have the best conference tournament in the country at MSG

The Big East has also won 40% of the last 10 titles. So there’s that

TBD what the future holds!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So your stance is that we should say no if the B1G offered us a spot?

Is your stance that we should complain about something every single day in every single thread when there is not a single person in the UConn community that can do anything about it?

 

[willie99]

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

I didn't argue hypotheticals, didn't know that was the discussion. Just pointed out the obvious and what Hurley said

Not sure how much any conference can help us with recruiting. We're already arguably the best program in the country. We can't get better on the basketball courts

I'm going to suggest Cuse and BC and Pitt and WVU and VT and Louisville and Miami all thought they were heading for greener pastures. To date, they have failed

More money would be nice, it would help the athletic department as a whole. But our basketball programs have nowhere to go but down. Although we may stay on the same plateau, nobody else has

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Is your stance that we should complain about something every single day in every single thread when there is not a single person in the UConn community that can do anything about it?

Kind of like complaining about Kenpom methodology and how it obviously favors the SEC?

 

[RashadRay11]

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

VAL STRIKES AGAIN

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I didn't argue hypotheticals, didn't know that was the discussion. Just pointed out the obvious and what Hurley said

Not sure how much any conference can help us with recruiting. We're already arguably the best program in the country. We can't get better on the basketball courts

I'm going to suggest Cuse and BC and Pitt and WVU and VT and Louisville and Miami all thought they were heading for greener pastures. To date, they have failed

More money would be nice, it would help the athletic department as a whole. But our basketball programs have nowhere to go but down. Although we may stay on the same plateau, nobody else has

UConn is well-positioned to compete effectively in NIL in the Big East. So are all the teams. Paying players is a different story. Not having a football program pulling out $20 million in payroll helps the basketball program, but we really could use a better TV deal.

Unfortunately, that door is closed unless there is some kind of major shock to the system. It is unlikely that any school is ever going to get full membership in a P4 league again without a major shock. Just look at what happened to the Pac 12 schools. So whenever someone says "why wouldn't we join the ACC", the answer is A) we would be at a permanent competitive disadvantage to the other schools by design because they would never give us full membership, and B) we will not be invited until the ACC is in such bad shape that there would be no point in joining.

There are three realistic "shock to the system" scenarios that may actually happen, and then a bunch of minor ones that are distant, distant possibilities. The ones that may happen:

1) Football breaks off - football is putting enormous pressure on the other parts of the athletic department, and with the House settlement, it is a massive cash drain at even many of the P4 schools. I could see football breaking off completely from the other sports, with separate conference affiliations and TV contracts.

2) Prestige schools split - I am surprised that Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Stanford, Cal, Rice and Duke continue to compete in leagues with some of the other schools they are with. Their alumni do not care at all about these schools, and with football suddenly more expensive, conference affiliation is not just free money anymore. If those 6 schools split off to form a new league, there would be 20-30 schools that would be desperate to claw their way into it. Notre Dame would probably give up football independence to join that league. There would be a backfill opportunity if this happened.

3) Big East/ACC merger - Conferences are just TV negotiating coops at this point, so who cares who is in a league with who, as long as all the schools have the resources to compete. If the ACC fanboys are looking for a way for UConn to get into the ACC, this is by far the most likely, because it would not cost the ACC much of anything since the Big East would bring its TV contracts with it.

If you want to get UConn into a P4, these are the ways it could realistically happen. Complaining about it endlessly is not one of the options likely to result in a successful outcome.

 

[willie99]

^^^^^

If we keep winning national championships, somebody might decide they can use us to help them with basketball (and the Northeast BTW)

That's my dream, and I prefer the B10 (hockey, baseball, football)

 

[freescooter]

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.

And they want to go back to the American, too, right Nelson?