Providence offer

[FfldCntyFan]

I see no reason to play Rutgers. They may be a rival in football but never on the basketball court. St. John's absolutely if it gets us a continued presence in MSG.
PC brings a lot of history to the equation...

I could be wrong but I believe we can schedule a one off game in the Garden against almost anyone.

I could be wrong on this as well but I don't believe our history with PC pre Big East was anything different than with any of the other original (basically, up to the Pitt addition) BE schools. I don't see how they would be more important than any of the other seven. More convenient perhaps but if convenience is important we'd be better off with Central and Q.

 

[RS9999X]

Ed Cooley was quoted last night as offering KO a home and home deal similar to what Providence has with BC. He is not optimistic that it will happen because as he said, there record here hasn't been the best lately... It would be a local game that always draws well for both teams... Thoughts?

I think we should book home and away against all the C-7 except DePaul. And SU and LU and Notre Dame. 9 games a year. Plus a Tourney, plus 3 other decent OOC teams. Fill out the rest with regional cupcakes

 

[WestHartHusk]

I see no reason to play Rutgers. They may be a rival in football but never on the basketball court. St. John's absolutely if it gets us a continued presence in MSG.
PC brings a lot of history to the equation...

Get on the B1G TV sets, keep our brand in front of their face. This would be especially a good idea if we can package it with a football series.

 

[Durks07]

Play PC OOC?

Upside: Every schedule needs some low-quality mid-major "fodder"
Downside: PC is a low-quality mid-major

 

[UCweCONN]

I say no. A series with UCONN benefits Providence WAY more than it does us. Do we need this game for exposure in the huge Providence market?? No. If they want a game, play us in Gampel. Otherwise, I have no problem with us never playing them again.

 

[Waquoit]

Ed Cooley was quoted last night as offering KO a home and home deal

Why is he lobbying for this in the media? Is he trying to be Squid Jr? FWIW, before the Big East came along and Providence had a bit of heat, they would never play UConn.

 

[UConnSwag11]

we need to strengthen our ooc schedule as much as possible, this will not help

 

[Fishy]

I'd schedule it.

Why not?

It's an easy road game for both sets of fans - this isn't rocket science.

 

[UCDaveD]

I'd schedule them right after Fr. Shanley gets down on his knees and kisses Calhoun's championship rings.

 

[tzznandrew]

we need to strengthen our ooc schedule as much as possible, this will not help

I looked at KenPom, and going back to 2003, PC was only outside the Top 100 once--and even then, they were in the top 150.

They aren't a powerhouse, but they're way better than Maryland Eastern-Shore.

We need to schedule some teams like that to make sure we keep basketball afloat (RPI-wise). Also, it would keep up fan interest.

 

[alexd]

Nice. He wins a couple post season games for the first time in D1 coaching career (does the NIT really count?) and he's offering a home and home to the school that was the face of the conference for 2 decades and has as many national championships in the past 15 years as his school has NCAA tourney victories. He must think he's doing UConn a favor.

 

[TRest]

Why is he lobbying for this in the media? Is he trying to be Squid Jr? FWIW, before the Big East came along and Providence had a bit of heat, they would never play UConn.

If he is already posturing about how we might not want to play in the Dunk because of some past success they have had there, then screw him in the pants. Like UMass it's a game their fanbase desperately needs.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I looked at KenPom, and going back to 2003, PC was only outside the Top 100 once--and even then, they were in the top 150.

They aren't a powerhouse, but they're way better than Maryland Eastern-Shore.

We need to schedule some teams like that to make sure we keep basketball afloat (RPI-wise). Also, it would keep up fan interest.

agreed better than MES, i guess so but i would want to make sure we schedule as many top ooc opponents so pc doesnt take up a game, if that makes sense? hope im saying it right

 

[upstater]

I think we should book home and away against all the C-7 except DePaul. And SU and LU and Notre Dame. 9 games a year. Plus a Tourney, plus 3 other decent OOC teams. Fill out the rest with regional cupcakes

This would doom UConn to irrelevancy. The C& is locked in with Fox. CBS can't double dip under your formula (i.e. show UConn against one of its national teams). This would mean the BEST OOC games would be against the Catholics. No thanx. That would suck. Even worse, the program would be revenue deprived with all these home and homes.

You've basically outlined the worst of both worlds. Crappier competition AND less money.

 

[upstater]

agreed better than MES, i guess so but i would want to make sure we schedule as many top ooc opponents so pc doesnt take up a game, if that makes sense? hope im saying it right

You are. I agree with you. I don't see it. There are only so many OOC home-and-homes that UConn can afford to schedule. I'm thinking 4, or 5 max. Esp. when you count the holiday tourneys. 7 or 8 OOCs against top comp. + 18 conference games leaves you with only 3 or 4 cupcakes. That's not enough for the bottom line: $$$.

UConn should definitely call some others ahead of Providence though: G'town and St. John's. They might not want to play however.

 

[upstater]

CBS wants to show 6 network TV conference OOC games.

Who plays?

Memphis v. Tennessee is one.
Cincy v. Xavier? Or is that ESPN. That's ESPN.
Temple and?

Uh?

You better believe this means UConn plays 2 CBS network games.

Against whom?

There's the kicker. Very likely, UConn will have to schedule 3 or 4 home-and-homes against top competition a year in order to give CBS its 2 needed home games.

I'm sorry, Providence is not going to cut it, especially when you add 2 or 3 holiday tourney games.

7 OOC games against top comp is more than anyone else outside of maybe MSU schedules.

 

[tzznandrew]

CBS wants to show 6 network TV conference OOC games.

Who plays?

Memphis v. Tennessee is one.
Cincy v. Xavier? Or is that ESPN. That's ESPN.
Temple and?

Uh?

You better believe this means UConn plays 2 CBS network games.

Against whom?

There's the kicker. Very likely, UConn will have to schedule 3 or 4 home-and-homes against top competition a year in order to give CBS its 2 needed home games.

I'm sorry, Providence is not going to cut it, especially when you add 2 or 3 holiday tourney games.

7 OOC games against top comp is more than anyone else outside of maybe MSU schedules.

If we have a series of games against good teams, then fine. If we're playing Kansas or UNC or UK or others, fine. I know your points, and largely agree. For money reasons, you do need to have some cupcakes. And I certainly don't think we should fill up our schedule with former BE teams.

But if there's an opportunity to schedule PC, I don't think it should be avoided unless there's a compelling reason.

 

[upstater]

If we have a series of games against good teams, then fine. If we're playing Kansas or UNC or UK or others, fine. I certainly don't think we should fill up our schedule with former BE teams.

But if there's an opportunity to schedule PC, I don't think it should be avoided unless there's a compelling reason.

My problem is that there are only so many OOC games you can schedule. If I'm reading the CBS deal right, UConn might have the chance for 2 network games--which means 4 OOC against top competition (i.e. home and home). Providence would not qualify. Not good enough. And then you have 2 or 3 holiday games, if not more. UConn would have very little space for the smaller teams that make so much money.

If the CBS deal isn't what's been described in the news, UConn might actually be hurting for OOC competition and may NEED to schedule Providence. But if CBS wants UConn on network, they have to play someone, don't they?

 

[djct1999]

I see no reason to play Rutgers. They may be a rival in football but never on the basketball court. St. John's absolutely if it gets us a continued presence in MSG.
PC brings a lot of history to the equation...

If we could schedule Rutgers at the Barclays Center it would help maintain a presence in NYC versus. UConn needs to continously feed the NYC pipeline.

 

[Yonick]

Curious to the supposed timing of Cooley's offer and subsequent prediction. It's less than 24 hours after his last game of the season. And before he gets an answer he predicts this series won't happen because of our lack of success at the dunk.
I do believe we won this years game there. I also think he's trying to shame us into playing there.
It's a damned if you don't, or damned if you do situation.
If we don't play them they'll say we're ducking them. If we do play them we give up the chance to play a Kansas, or even Georgetown or St. Johns at the Garden.
My guess is we'll play them on a rotating basis every 2-3 years along with Nova, G'town & St. Johns. Anything is better than New Hampshire in Dec. at the XL in front of 5,000 fans.

 

[seanmc94]

Fear PC as a program? Obviously not. On the court? It's been pretty even over the last decade, so I understand the concern

 

[Brochacho]

Might as well offer Quinnipiac a home and home.

 

[CL82]

I looked at KenPom, and going back to 2003, PC was only outside the Top 100 once--and even then, they were in the top 150.

They aren't a powerhouse, but they're way better than Maryland Eastern-Shore.

We need to schedule some teams like that to make sure we keep basketball afloat (RPI-wise). Also, it would keep up fan interest.

This. If the choice is between PC and Maryland Eastern-Shore PC is the far better choice. If the choice is between PC and Georgetown, well of course we'd rather play G-town. Where it gets tougher are schools like Stoneybrook. Similar RPIs and a UConn connection makes me think Stoneybrook gets the nod. What about Rutgers? Abysmal RPI, but NYC metro games have value and B1G games are probably a good choice for us right now. In the end I hope that our AD, in consultation with KO, makes logical choices specifically designed to advance the program. The jury is still out on Manual, but after a slow start he seems like he's doing ok on the football side.

 

[noeynox]

Fear PC as a program? Obviously not. On the court? It's been pretty even over the last decade, so I understand the concern

No concern. You don't expect to dominate anyone like the run we had against BC. The series with Providence was close to even. IM sure that is a measuring stick game for your program every year and brought your a game.

Upstater, has the right take. If there is room, and playing doesn't with possibility of being on CBS fine. Has nothing to do with any potential loss on the court, PC just isn't going to be a scheduling priority for the school or our fans.

 

[SubbaBub]

Former BE teams I'd rather play in MBB before PC

Cuse
GTown
Nova
Pitt
ND
BC
Ville
Wvu
StJ
Marq
Depaul
TCU

OOC games needs to be RPI, TV, and Recruiting positive. PC offers none of that. When it comes to OOC, we need to have our own AAU-like benchmarks.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[upstater]

No concern. You don't expect to dominate anyone like the run we had against BC. The series with Providence was close to even. IM sure that is a measuring stick game for your program every year and brought your a game.

Upstater, has the right take. If there is room, and playing doesn't with possibility of being on CBS fine. Has nothing to do with any potential loss on the court, PC just isn't going to be a scheduling priority for the school or our fans.

I agree with almost all of this, bt people would be surprised if they look back to see how UConn dominated PC during the 1980s.

 

[gars44]

Ummm.....all of our Big East games drew well. I'm not so sure PC was the little engine that could, filling up half our otherwise empty arena.

I'm good with PC. Depends who else we can get, but they are certainly a good game for us.

 

[johnhuskies95]

I'm glad you don't see much of a difference. I'll take your word over that of the market for TV rights, I guess, and not be nervous any more.

Many of you are nuts. We are in a very precarious position. We will need to play more RPI Top 50 OOC games than we're used to, but the others will all need to be top 150 to 75, and not dregs, if we're going to keep attendance up with the new lesser conference schedule.

Keep thumping your damn chests. It's certainly served us well in dealing with other schools and conferences to date.

Read Upstater's posts. UConn's only going to get to play about 3 non-conference away games at most every year. We already have Washington this year and then go to Texas the following year.

Let's call up the top 50 before we entertain Providence.

 

[noeynox]

I'm glad you don't see much of a difference. I'll take your word over that of the market for TV rights, I guess, and not be nervous any more.

Many of you are nuts. We are in a very precarious position. We will need to play more RPI Top 50 OOC games than we're used to, but the others will all need to be top 150 to 75, and not dregs, if we're going to keep attendance up with the new lesser conference schedule.

Keep thumping your damn chests. It's certainly served us well in dealing with other schools and conferences to date.

I don't get this, were in a precarious position because our fans thump their chest's on our message board? I get that we are in a bind, but that's because we were late to the football party not because we have some perceived superiority complex.

 

[UConnLen]

Fear PC as a program? Obviously not. On the court? It's been pretty even over the last decade, so I understand the concern

Sean, yes the series has been pretty even over the last decade, most times it was looked at as PC upset UConn. But I remember back in the 60's and seventies when PC was the top program in NE, they didn't play UConn except in the ECAC tourney for an NCAA bid. PC had nothing to gain, just to lose by playing us [they did lose to us in ECAC in Springfield 1975?-I was there]. Dave Gavitt was a great coach and a better human being-he pulled Steve Strother out after he cheap shotted Joey Whelton in that game, maybe costing PC the game. But today UConn is the top dog and we need to play top competition to increase our strength of schedule used in NCAA selection and seeding. I don't see any reason to play PC but for old time sake-and the rivalry from our point of view has deminished from the early days. If PC improves their bball team, then we may have a reason to schedule a home and home.