Q&A: Big East commissioner Mike Aresco

[emshorts]

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/42365/qa-with-big-east-commissioner-mike-aresco

 

[UCFBfan]

Lol! This part cracked me up. I'm not going to read into this at all but I think it's hilarious that all he can muster when mentioning all the schools and their football attributes is just "UConn".

I think what we're looking to do is with our group from the North, Cincinnati, [Tommy] Tuberville there now. UConn. Temple, Al Golden left a program that was definitely rebuilt, and they have to sustain that. And eventually Navy, East Carolina with a great fan base.

 

[huskymedic]

Lol! This part cracked me up. I'm not going to read into this at all but I think it's hilarious that all he can muster when mentioning all the schools and their football attributes is just "UConn".

For being a CT native and a UConn Law School grad, he sure minimizes UConn in every conversation - no?

 

[Fishy]

I'll kick him in the face if he utters "challenger brand" so much as one more time.

 

[upstater]

For being a CT native and a UConn Law School grad, he sure minimizes UConn in every conversation - no?

He really does.

 

[upstater]

I've seen you touch on this earlier in other interviews. East Carolina, is that a school you want to become a full member eventually?

MA: That's something we haven't decided yet. We're going to take a hard look at that very soon. I think that would certainly be their preference. We haven't made any decisions yet, but we would certainly give that a lot of consideration.

I don't know why I assumed that with all the changes, everyone would be a full member but Navy.

When you look at it, this makes for a 9 team bball conference if ECU isn't playing bball.

UConn
Memphis
Temple
Cincy
SMU
Houston
UCF
USF
Tulane

 

[junglehusky]

I'll kick him in the face if he utters "challenger brand" so much as one more time.

At least him saying that makes one person in the world happier. (Pudge)

 

[CTMike]

Once again... yes, I know he said exactly what one would expect him to say... and once again, people piss on us and tell us its raining. Kinda tired of getting pissed on, ya know?

 

[Hoophound]

I'll kick him in the face if he utters "challenger brand" so much as one more time.

Lol. I hate that. It basically just says "we suck".

He could so easily say "we will rebuild our conference into a major player and when the time is right, revisit our TV contracts. We have no intention of playing second fiddle to anyone and with our current group of schools we can certainly challenge the ACC and the other major conferences on the field. This will very quickly become evident."

 

[whaler11]

He is aware that Temple has already replaced the coach that replaced Golden right? I mean I wouldn't blame him if he didn't I hate tracking Temple's football program as well.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't know why this guy is sticking around. He didn't sign up for this.

 

[Pudge]

Shrug

When is that invite arriving again? Am I going to read that same twitter crap from the same 5 guys in the basement for 8 years? I get it: you don't want to play in the new neighborhood. You think we deserve to be in the House of Lords NOT the House of Commons.

 

[CL82]

I don't know why this guy is sticking around. He didn't sign up for this.

He took the job. Can't bail quite so soon.

 

[junglehusky]

I get it: you don't want to play in the new neighborhood. You think we deserve to be in the House of Lords NOT the House of Commons.

Unlike British Parliament, the House of Commons (Aresco league, CUSA, MWC) is not where the power is. We have to face up to this reality. The power is in the Big Ten, ACC, Pac12, Big12. Perhaps one of those leagues will get blown apart, perhaps not. But the fundamental disagreement seems to be that despite your UConn degree, you think UConn either does not belong, or should refuse to participate with the nobility of college sports. If the criteria is football only, or if it's based on 1920-1980 you'd have a point. My criteria is institution-wide, with an eye on the future. I see the new league as limiting UConn's future. The future of the Aresco league is not blueblood, it is not the House of Lords. It is supposed to be a challenger league, perhaps it will match the 1990-2010 era where "new brands" in football from Miami, VTech, Louisville, Cincy got traction. But that's far from certain, and I think a neutral observer would say the odds of exceeding that era are quite remote. That's why everybody except you wants to get out of dodge the first invite we get. That's why we want UConn to position itself for the future, since #BegHarder wasn't enough.

Maybe your irritation is that most of the schools in the bigtime leagues don't deserve the nobility status. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Washington State, etc. How will you take that away from them? I don't think you can - that perception comes from their fans and alumni, and is perpetuated by ESPN and the other networks who are selling them. It sounds like you think UConn aiming for the ACC/BigTen is akin to chimneysweep wanting to wash off the soot and abandon his commoner status. That instead, we should link arm in arm with the other commoners (Houston, UCF, SMU) and lead some kind of revolution to make the commoners and nobility equal.

News flash - that ship sailed when Utah got in the Pac 12, now Orrin Hatch can go back to worrying about taxes or trade policy instead of leading the revolution. Another news flash - we already abandoned our "commoner status" 20 years ago, we already outgrew the "challenger brand" phase (apart from football, perhaps). Challenger brands are worth a tenth of the big boys, at least according to the networks. We're not going back.