Practical Solution to the American Conference problem

[Uconnjohn]

The conference situation is bad, it will only get worse with the departure of Louisville. We have to assume we are here for a while. What do we do?

My solution:
We have a dozen out of conference games. We enter the pre-season tournament, we try to grab a good out of conference opponent, but we do something consistently:
- play the eastern big east schools in a home-away series annually. (5)
Providence, seton hall, St. John's, villanova, Georgetown

Benefits:
- five games against what should be top 100 teams, with a couple top 50 and even potential top 25 games mixed in
- we can do this consistently. Don't have to scramble to put this together. Sign a six yr deal with them (with an out if we join the acc or big ten)
- see if Georgetown or villanova can give us a January or February game. Those are most likely the best annual teams and it will be good late season press and a good test
- we would lose some of these games, but we should win more than we lose. Going 60% (3-2) should be expected as the low end, and that wouldn't hurt us. If we can go 4-1 or 5-0, nobody can question our place in the pecking order in the northeast.
- we have enough familiarity with these teams that we can sell tickets to these games.
- would give us a definite edge against comparing resumes of other AAC teams. Put our 13-5 AAC record up against something similar from cincy or Memphis or temple and we can point to our willingness to play, and beat, the top teams in the northeast

I have no idea if they would go for it, but I think it would be mutually beneficial to both parties. And I would not mind a road trip to the garden for a weekend or Wells Fargo center for some cheese steaks. Beating Providence is always nice.

Might as well stay on good terms. There are only 8 real teams in the northeast right now. We are on an island. Boston college is, well, Boston college. I like seeing Syracuse become isolated down south right now (but they are smart enough to keep playing these guys). Then there is uconn and these five schools (and I guess Temple, but they have their issues). Forget Boston college, they aren't worth our time. I don't see things developing with Syracuse. Let's rekindle something with these five schools. If we beat them regularly, that will be a definite plus on days like today.

Imagine what a win over nova would have done to our resume this yr. Would have been worth at least two seed lines.

 

[stick]

The conference situation is bad, it will only get worse with the departure of Louisville. We have to assume we are here for a while. What do we do?

My solution:
We have a dozen out of conference games. We enter the pre-season tournament, we try to grab a good out of conference opponent, but we do something consistently:
- play the eastern big east schools in a home-away series annually. (5)
Providence, seton hall, St. John's, villanova, Georgetown

Benefits:
- five games against what should be top 100 teams, with a couple top 50 and even potential top 25 games mixed in
- we can do this consistently. Don't have to scramble to put this together. Sign a six yr deal with them (with an out if we join the acc or big ten)
- see if Georgetown or villanova can give us a January or February game. Those are most likely the best annual teams and it will be good late season press and a good test
- we would lose some of these games, but we should win more than we lose. Going 60% (3-2) should be expected as the low end, and that wouldn't hurt us. If we can go 4-1 or 5-0, nobody can question our place in the pecking order in the northeast.
- we have enough familiarity with these teams that we can sell tickets to these games.
- would give us a definite edge against comparing resumes of other AAC teams. Put our 13-5 AAC record up against something similar from cincy or Memphis or temple and we can point to our willingness to play, and beat, the top teams in the northeast

I have no idea if they would go for it, but I think it would be mutually beneficial to both parties. And I would not mind a road trip to the garden for a weekend or Wells Fargo center for some cheese steaks. Beating Providence is always nice.

Might as well stay on good terms. There are only 8 real teams in the northeast right now. We are on an island. Boston college is, well, Boston college. I like seeing Syracuse become isolated down south right now (but they are smart enough to keep playing these guys). Then there is uconn and these five schools (and I guess Temple, but they have their issues). Forget Boston college, they aren't worth our time. I don't see things developing with Syracuse. Let's rekindle something with these five schools. If we beat them regularly, that will be a definite plus on days like today.

Imagine what a win over nova would have done to our resume this yr. Would have been worth at least two seed lines.

Um, we had one of only two wins over the no. 1 seed in the tourney. If that doesn't help with the seed, Nova certainly wouldn't have. Also, in most years, nova is not a 2 seed. Playing PC and Seton Hall provides zero benefit to UConn. Maybe one of the other 3 would be okay, but no way we play all 3 in one season.

 

[Uconnjohn]

The problem is, we have to do stuff out of conference to get the respect. We aren't going to get respect by going 14-4 in the AAC. It is not happening.

And the thing is, we don't need to shock the world out of conference, we just need to do something to distinguish ourselves. We don't need Duke, UNC, Kansas and Michigan State to impress people. Just show them that we are the top team in the northeast.

And Nova and Georgetown are usually solid. They might not be 2 seeds every year, but there will usually be quality opponents in that bunch. But it isn't just about beating a two seed, that is way too narrow and simple minded a view on this.

And this is not a "Let's try to make an all-star schedule" situation. This is a practical solution. Let's try to make a realistic out of conference schedule that benefits us. This is a good way to make it happen. Something that we can manage in down years, but run through in good years.

And playing PC and Seton Hall definitely benefits us. We beat them, we gain a couple top 100 wins. We need those now that our conference doesn't have many. We need winnable games against respectable opponents. That's the key here.

We need to up our out of conference schedule. We need to find an edge on the rest of our other conference mates. We need to increase our credibility. That doesn't mean we need to try to load up on top 25 flavor of the month out of conference teams (that's not realistic, this isn't a video game). That means we need a consistent means of improving the overall quality of our sechedule while still expecting to win games. This is the solution. Let's hope we are working on this, and let's hope the big east schools are interested. Could be mutually beneficial

 

[dante]

First thing is we need to do is get cincy, memphis, temple, smu and whoever to vote against the 20 game conference BS that right there is killer. We need to schedule games against bcs schools before looking to schedule other midmajors..imo

 

[Fishy]

The idea that we have to play Georgetown, Villanova, Providence and Seton Hall to 'get respect' is nutty. Beating three of those teams this year would have done nothing but induce yawns. I do like the return of the mid-February game - we historically have played an OOC in February. Good change of pace.

They scheduled well this year...they were hurt by the non-performance of Indiana, Washington and Maryland, but not fatally so. The strength of schedule was strong enough - there was just plain garden-variety malfeasance in the way the conference was treated.

Play a tournament, play a national schedule and make sure you avoid the disasters like Maine.

I don't ever want to see Maine on the schedule ever again. We're going to see some 200+ RPI in our freaking conference, so we need to avoid them out of conference. No Maine, no Eastern Washington, no Yale, no Loyola.

We're close enough to the MAAC and America East where we can fill the schedule with Manhattans, Ionas, Quinnipiacs, Vermonts, etc....avoiding the train wrecks is the Syracuse Gambit to game the RPI.

Southern Miss usually ends up in the mid-30s of the RPI and never makes the tournament - they schedule very, very smart by avoid the real crap and playing a steady diet of not-completely-terrible teams. Shop carefully for cupcakes.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

The conference situation is bad, it will only get worse with the departure of Louisville. We have to assume we are here for a while. What do we do?

My solution:
We have a dozen out of conference games. We enter the pre-season tournament, we try to grab a good out of conference opponent, but we do something consistently:
- play the eastern big east schools in a home-away series annually. (5)
Providence, seton hall, St. John's, villanova, Georgetown

Benefits:
- five games against what should be top 100 teams, with a couple top 50 and even potential top 25 games mixed in
- we can do this consistently. Don't have to scramble to put this together. Sign a six yr deal with them (with an out if we join the acc or big ten)
- see if Georgetown or villanova can give us a January or February game. Those are most likely the best annual teams and it will be good late season press and a good test
- we would lose some of these games, but we should win more than we lose. Going 60% (3-2) should be expected as the low end, and that wouldn't hurt us. If we can go 4-1 or 5-0, nobody can question our place in the pecking order in the northeast.
- we have enough familiarity with these teams that we can sell tickets to these games.
- would give us a definite edge against comparing resumes of other AAC teams. Put our 13-5 AAC record up against something similar from cincy or Memphis or temple and we can point to our willingness to play, and beat, the top teams in the northeast

I have no idea if they would go for it, but I think it would be mutually beneficial to both parties. And I would not mind a road trip to the garden for a weekend or Wells Fargo center for some cheese steaks. Beating Providence is always nice.

Might as well stay on good terms. There are only 8 real teams in the northeast right now. We are on an island. Boston college is, well, Boston college. I like seeing Syracuse become isolated down south right now (but they are smart enough to keep playing these guys). Then there is uconn and these five schools (and I guess Temple, but they have their issues). Forget Boston college, they aren't worth our time. I don't see things developing with Syracuse. Let's rekindle something with these five schools. If we beat them regularly, that will be a definite plus on days like today.

Imagine what a win over nova would have done to our resume this yr. Would have been worth at least two seed lines.

this is exactly why I dont want the NBE to die out. someone finally understands. We need them to be strong so we can play them and [Beat] them. this is really important guys. this is not a joke. we may be rivals and , but we need a Strong northeast. Do you really want to have to travel cross-country to face good teams. We need our local region to be #1 (except syacuse and BostonC). It will help us and keeps us afloat. It would save our team long distance traveling and $$$ and it will maintain CBB enthusiasm in the northeast. Play them and beat them is the key to our short mid term success to have a strong SOS until Connecticut jumps to a power five

I think Connecticut was caught by surprise with this situation. they really never had to worry about OOC schedule as part of the Old Big East. but this is something that will become increasingly important in a weaker league like the AAC. Play the better teams in our regions and then a couple of national powers, avoiding the 250+ RPI train wrecks.

 

[zls44]

The compounded problem isn't playing Tulane, ECU, UCF, etc...it's playing them TWICE.

 

[djct1999]

Blame UConn for this. Usually, the best school in the conference imposes its will and gets what it wants. For Warde and UConn to consistently allow Aresco to run free and weaken a bleak situation either suggests that they have thrown in the towel or secretly know there is a brighter tomorrow. My guess, when the dust settles, is that we will have learned that UConn knew of its fate long before any of us did. Otherwise, none of their actions make any sense.

 

[ShockedTheWorld]

I blacked out when you said Seton Hall.

 

[FASTEDDY]

I like this solution and think that it makes sense.

I do think that it will be difficult to get that many games against former Big East teams. They aren't looking to do UCONN any favors and are looking to maximize their advantage over us from a recruiting / conference perspective.

 

[uchusky32]

We should just break away from the NCAA and form our own league where we pay the players!

 

[freescooter]

Warde is monitoring the heck out of things. that we know...but the idea that we can scheudle our way back to relevance is just wrong. It assumes that you can predict with some certainty what other schools will be like in a given year and as we saw with Indiana, that just isn't possible. FWIW, though, anyone who thought Maryland and Washington would be better than they were was using some good drugs. But you're right, playing Maine, Eastern Washington et al needs to end.

I said months ago that anyone who thought UConn would be just fine in this new conference was just whistling past the graveyard. Anyone who thought that should have been firmly dis-abused of that notion by about 6:45 yesterday evening. Louisville being a 4 seed was bad, SMU getting passed over was bad, but those things happen on occasion, but the absolute sign that we're now in a minor conference was when 3 brackets were filled and there were at least 3-4 AAC teams not yet on the board. Putting 3 of 4 teams from the same league in one region is just a horrible diss. Welcome to the future.

 

[itgoeslike]

The RPI game is stacked in favor of P5 conferences. While I think there's value in scheduling either Georgetown or Villanova annually, we will see more benefit by scheduling more top P5 programs. Our OOC schedule was right this year, but unfortunately Maryland, BC, Indiana didn't play up to expectations. Florida delivered and Stanford came around. Although, even with good metrics, the machine can screw you over.

 

[Palatine]

I'm tired of the complaining. If you were against the idea of a split in 2004, you supported the spiral to the American.

 

[7774]

One thing that makes this impractical is the fact that we can't really afford to give up the home games which would have to happen in your scenario. We need that revenue.

 

[pj]

Imagine what a win over nova would have done to our resume this yr. Would have been worth at least two seed lines.

Imagine what a win over Florida would have done!

 

[HuskyHawk]

There is but one solution to this problem until we can escape this conference: win all your games. The scheduling this season was fine. The problem? We lost to Stanford, Houston and twice to SMU, including at home. Three of those are inexcusable losses. 29-5 would have yielded a decent seed.

Next year, with Louisville gone, it gets more difficult. We can lose two games, @ Cinci and @Memphis. That's it. Any other loss in conference is intolerable. That's where we are now. No more than two losses in the league, and we'd better win OOC and play decent teams. Basically, do what Wichita State did, and what Gonzaga has done in the past. There can be no off days, every single game is a must win.

 

[Brochacho]

UConn is carrying its weight as far as scheduling, the other schools sans Memphis are lagging behind. As for next season's OOC, this is what we are working with:

3 games vs BC, Charleston, Dayton, George Mason, New Mexico, TA&M, or WVU
@ Florida
@ Stanford
Texas

Can also assume that Harvard will be at home as well. In addition to these schools, home and homes with Kansas, UCLA, Nova, and Wichita State have been rumored. Last offseason it was reported Warde was in talks with Kansas. UCLA was brought up by someone close to the Hamilton's, saying that UConn would be playing at UCLA next year. Wichita State and Nova were brought up by their coaches on their radio shows, saying that they were trying to get UConn on the schedule.

I think we could assume that one of those four names will be on our schedule next year. If I had to guess it would probably be @ UCLA, since we will already be in California to play Stanford so it wouldn't be a bad idea to swing by UCLA while we were out there.

 

[djct1999]

For UConn, its not about scheduling or conference...............its about being blackballed.

 

[zls44]

http://www.basketballtravelers.com/game-schedule-board/?e_type=1


USC and Xavier are among schools looking to start a series vs. a major team on the road.

Also note how Ohio State mentions wanting top-200 buy games. They are really good at gaming the system.

 

[Brochacho]

http://www.basketballtravelers.com/game-schedule-board/?e_type=1


USC and Xavier are among schools looking to start a series vs. a major team on the road.

Also note how Ohio State mentions wanting top-200 buy games. They are really good at gaming the system.

Thank you for posting that. I remember it was posted here about a year ago and I've been looking for it ever since.

 

[patrick]

Blame UConn for this. Usually, the best school in the conference imposes its will and gets what it wants. For Warde and UConn to consistently allow Aresco to run free and weaken a bleak situation either suggests that they have thrown in the towel or secretly know there is a brighter tomorrow. My guess, when the dust settles, is that we will have learned that UConn knew of its fate long before any of us did. Otherwise, none of their actions make any sense.

Gods I hope you're right!

 

[jibsey]

Blame UConn for this. Usually, the best school in the conference imposes its will and gets what it wants. For Warde and UConn to consistently allow Aresco to run free and weaken a bleak situation either suggests that they have thrown in the towel or secretly know there is a brighter tomorrow. My guess, when the dust settles, is that we will have learned that UConn knew of its fate long before any of us did. Otherwise, none of their actions make any sense.

If this is the case they are not the only two that know and I would guess that Calhoun and KO would be at the top of the list sworn to secrecy. Unfortunately I think it's the latter. BTW a big run by Memphis, Cincy and us would be a tonic but we are all in the same bracket.I don't want Louisville in our bracket but they should have put one of us others in another for fairness. Conspiracy? No just stupidity on their part.

 

[BlueHen]

The AAC needs to get a representative on the selection committee. I don't know who picks the reps, but the AAC has to make as much noise as needed until it's done.

 

[johnhuskies95]

By rule, big time programs don't play three OOC games or more a year where they don't control the gate. So playing a bunch of marquee non conference games is nice, but we need some home games.