Report: UConn Going To Big East For 2020-2021 Season

[gampelcrazies]

@temery think it’s time to add the old tab that use to have all the big east school’s message board links.

 

[pj]

Front page ESPN article

What UConn's expected move to the Big East could mean for its biggest programs

Our experts weigh in on how a conference change could impact the Huskies.

www.espn.com

Crazy:

Whom does the American add?

The league has done a nice job of marketing itself as the sixth member of the Power 5 with some strong seasons by the likes of UCF, Houston and Navy, among others, so the American can afford to be picky. The best option might be Army, which brings a national fan base and an instant rivalry with Navy. Still, Army's last go-round with conference affiliation -- a seven-year stint in Conference USA in which the Black Knights compiled a 13-67 record -- might be enough to keep Army out.

From there, the American could prioritize up-and-coming programs in stronger media markets (Charlotte, Old Dominion, Georgia State), smaller programs with a recent history of success (Troy, UAB, North Texas) or focus on recruiting hotbeds that would offer good rivalry opportunities with existing members (Georgia Southern, Louisiana Tech, FIU, FAU).

If these are the American's choices, why wouldn't they ask UConn back as football only? Surely a state school is a much bigger revenue producer for the league than the likes of Charlotte, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Troy, UAB, North Texas, Georgia Southern, Louisiana Tech, FIU, or FAU.

 

[Walker11]

Crazy:



If these are the American's choices, why wouldn't they ask UConn back as football only? Surely a state school is a much bigger revenue producer for the league than the likes of Charlotte, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Troy, UAB, North Texas, Georgia Southern, Louisiana Tech, FIU, or FAU.

So happy we aren't dealing with this. Someone would have been poached before us. And Tulane and ECU would eventually become middle of the road programs here.

 

[UconnU]

Crazy:



If these are the American's choices, why wouldn't they ask UConn back as football only? Surely a state school is a much bigger revenue producer for the league than the likes of Charlotte, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Troy, UAB, North Texas, Georgia Southern, Louisiana Tech, FIU, or FAU.

the fact that they are looking to replace us with the likes of Georgia southern or FIU tells you all you need to know about the conference.

 

[UconnU]

So happy we aren't dealing with this. Someone would have been poached before us.

Imagine having to go to North Texas to play them in basketball? Are they even a mid-major?

 

[WrenchFan69]

Crazy:



If these are the American's choices, why wouldn't they ask UConn back as football only? Surely a state school is a much bigger revenue producer for the league than the likes of Charlotte, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Troy, UAB, North Texas, Georgia Southern, Louisiana Tech, FIU, or FAU.

It's obvious isn't it? We were bad for a few years in football and we're better at basketball so now our football brand has detached from our top 25 public school/elite flagship university profile. The people saying UConn doesn't bring anything as football only are morons.

 

[Walker11]

Imagine having to go to North Texas to play them in basketball? Are they even a mid-major?

There are people on this forum who are highly respected and think this move is a disaster. Talk about a stupid fanbase.

 

[Kmart]

Yep

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Can someone explain why this "kills" any hope of a P5 invite ever? That seems to be the common sentiment amongst anti-Big East people.

Is it completely out of the question that our football program improves in the next 5-10 years as an independent, especially with all these series scheduled (Duke, Indiana, Illinois, Clemson, etc.) and Edsall putting some level of his stamp back on this program after a couple more years?

Is there zero chance of movement among the ACC/B1G/Big 12 in the next 10-15 years?

Some people are treating this as a doomsday scenario, and I just don't understand that point of view.
It's not a shot at the anti-Big East people, I just don't have enough knowledge about the politics/financial aspect of conference realignment as to why this move essentially is a guaranteed slow-death for our athletic program.

 

[upstater]

Can someone explain why this "kills" any hope of a P5 invite ever? That seems to be the common sentiment amongst anti-Big East people.

Is it completely out of the question that our football program improves in the next 5-10 years as an independent, especially with all these series scheduled (Duke, Indiana, Illinois, Clemson, etc.) and Edsall putting some level of his stamp back on this program after a couple more years?

Is there zero chance of movement among the ACC/B1G/Big 12 in the next 10-15 years?

Some people are treating this as a doomsday scenario, and I just don't understand that point of view.
It's not a shot at the anti-Big East people, I just don't have enough knowledge about the politics/financial aspect of conference realignment as to why this move essentially is a guaranteed slow-death for our athletic program.

I think the program will actually close down.

Forget about FCS.

Regardless, the UConn AD just told everyone that the school doesn't care about football. How can you be added to a conference that emphasizes football when you don't care about he one thing it emphasizes?

 

[djct1999]

I think the program will actually close down.

Forget about FCS.

Regardless, the UConn AD just told everyone that the school doesn't care about football. How can you be added to a conference that emphasizes football when you don't care about he one thing it emphasizes?

The real question to me is will UConn become a trendsetter here?

 

[Adios]

There are people on this forum who are highly respected and think this move is a disaster. Talk about a stupid fanbase.

Yeah, John Silver just said we set ourselves back big time in P5 aspirations. Meaning, we have P5 aspirations. I assume he is a know-nothing, blow-hard.

Definitely a stupid fanbase.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Perhaps UConn can be the start of the trend to decouple football and Olympic sports. Why not?

I always thought that football should be treated like College Hockey when it comes to conferences. You can make the football conferences with a bigger geographic footprint while leaving everything else on a regional conference.

I guess I can dream...

 

[Deuce]

Yeah, John Silver just said we set ourselves back big time in P5 aspirations. Meaning, we have P5 aspirations. I assume he is a know-nothing, blow-hard.

Definitely a stupid fanbase.

Butch it’s totally your choice if you want to keep believing in Santa Claus but it’s seems like you are just taking it way too personal that the vast majority of us KNOW that it was our parents leaving those presents under the tree for us.

 

[gampelcrazies]

I love how all the people upset by this move say “UConn is giving up on football”. No! Fans gave up on football!

 

[aburks41]

Can’t wait until people can comment. I want to hear from Coach so bad. You know coaching in the big east has been a dream of his for a long time.

Best part about this move is it basically means the only place Hurley will bounce to is the NBA. UConn in the Big East is as close as you can get to the mountain top in NCAAB. There's now a 0% chance we would ever need to worry about a move to Seton Hall since they will be in our conference

 

[AntG168]

I keep seeing the “football” fans taking this false moral high ground of supporting all UConn sports. Yet they in the same breathe support our basketball programs dying a slow death at the expense of football. Just be honest. You’d rather sacrifice the basketball program instead of the football one. You’re no better than us. We just prefer to save the asset which has historically buttered our bread. We and apparently the admin chose the asset with a freakin pulse

 

[djct1999]

I love how all the people upset by this move say “UConn is giving up on football”. No! Fans gave up on football!

Totally. If more fans showed up last year, no way do we go 1-11. I totally blame the losses to UCF and Cincy on this fanbase. What else could it be?

 

[CTMike]

This idea that fans are somehow responsible for where football is is stupid. Fans have reacted entirely rationally to the series of terrible decisions that have been shoved down their throats. It’s those decisions over the last decade that have got us where we are.

 

[Rico444]

I keep seeing the “football” fans taking this false moral high ground of supporting all UConn sports. Yet they in the same breathe support our basketball programs dying a slow death at the expense of football. Just be honest. You’d rather sacrifice the basketball program instead of the football one. You’re no better than us. We just prefer to save the asset which has historically buttered our bread. We and apparently the admin chose the asset with a freakin pulse

I can understand the anger from the football fans. They got the news this weekend that their program is likely going to die in the near future. As awful as getting relegated to the AAC was, and as awful as the nut kicks of Louisville jumping us in realignment and the Big 12 passing were, this is a worse situation, and you can be damn sure us basketball fans would be just as livid if this were happening to our program.

My one issue is with the posters that complain about the men's basketball fans not supporting all of UConn's teams when I've never seen the vast majority of them post on the men's basketball board. I didn't make UConn football appointment watching, but if I was near a TV I would put the game on and root for a victory. That's about the same level of support that I would expect many of these football-only fans had for the hoops program...and that's fine by me. I don't think anyone should be forced to like a certain sport more than another. But don't complain about the basketball only people not caring about football in the same breath.

 

[AntG168]

I can understand the anger from the football fans. They got the news this weekend that their program is likely going to die in the near future. As awful as getting relegated to the AAC was, and as awful as the nut kicks of Louisville jumping us in realignment and the Big 12 passing were, this is a worse situation, and you can be damn sure us basketball fans would be just as livid if this were happening to our program.

My one issue is with the posters that complain about the men's basketball fans not supporting all of UConn's teams when I've never seen the vast majority of them post on the men's basketball board. I didn't make UConn football appointment watching, but if I was near a TV I would put the game on and root for a victory. That's about the same level of support that I would expect many of these football-only fans had for the hoops program...and that's fine by me. I don't think anyone should be forced to like a certain sport more than another. But don't complain about the basketball only people not caring about football in the same breath.

Agreed. I just hate this idea that the “basketball fans” don’t want a successful football program to root for. Of course we do. But after almost a 20 year experiment all we have to show for it is being the worst team in FBS. 7 yrs ago we made a decision for football that put a strain on our basketball program, it didn’t pay off. It’s time to make a decision for our basketball program now. We all love UConn sports. An we very much want the football team to end up in a good position. Just not at the expense of our identity any more

 

[kemba]

Agreed. I just hate this idea that the “basketball fans” don’t want a successful football program to root for. Of course we do. But after almost a 20 year experiment all we have to show for it is being the worst team in FBS. 7 yrs ago we made a decision for football that put a strain on our basketball program, it didn’t pay off. It’s time to make a decision for our basketball program now. We all love UConn sports. An we very much want the football team to end up in a good position. Just not at the expense of our identity any more

Well there are some who root against the football program and are gleeful about what this could mean for the football program, and any bad news that happens to them. And while that might be a minority, its still a noticeable number of people

The other issue is blaming the football program for the basketball programs issues when Kevin Ollie was the problem. It's just excuses, and not based on what's actually happened.

 

[vuchps]

Welcome home...

 

[AntG168]

Well there are some who root against the football program and are gleeful about what this could mean for the football program, and any bad news that happens to them. And while that might be a minority, its still a noticeable number of people

The other issue is blaming the football program for the basketball programs issues when Kevin Ollie was the problem. It's just excuses, and not based on what's actually happened.

The football program isn’t to “blame” for all of the b-ball programs issues. But for the betterment of the football program the basketball program was put in a situation that wasn’t ideal or conducive to running a high major northeastern basketball power. It put a strain on the program. That gave us little to no room for error. Ollie torpedoed the program, you’ll get no argument from me there. But our national irrelevance is definitely tied to the AAC.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Dear Basketball-Only Fans,

The football team averaged an attendance of about 21,000 last year. For an abysmal team. After years of toiling away.

These people Bleed Blue. They are loyal to UConn. They are alumni, they are Connecticut residents, they are boosters, they are fans.

They want what is best for UConn. For football and almost certainly for basketball as well. I don't know any football fans who don't also root for the basketball team.

For us, it's tough, because it feels like this is probably the death of the program. A program that beat WVU on a cold November night in overtime. The team that went to Notre Dame and beat them. The team that beat Pitt on a rocking night by going for it on a 4th down knowing they'd get those few yards. The team that beat South Carolina in a bowl game.

Those memories are precious to us, and it hurts to realize that there probably won't be any new memories like that.

We hoped that the AAC would not kill the basketball program. Memphis was there. Cincinnati. Houston. Wichita State came in. We didn't want the basketball team to suffer, of course. But the hope was that, if the football team could become respectable again, then maybe, just maybe, in the next wave of P5 realignment, we might be considered. It was probably never going to happen. But at least we had a tiny shred of hope.

But those dreams now seem dead. And for thousands and thousands of UConn football fans, that hurts.

And you're dancing on their graves? Calling yourself a UConn fan?

I think this was probably the right move. Maybe the only move. I don't know. It seems as if there are no options left.

But if you're a real UConn fan, then perhaps you shouldn't take such glee from the death of a program followed by thousands of your fellow UConn fans and alumni. Perhaps your constant denigration of the football team doesn't make you a better UConn fan. Maybe it just means you a jerk.

Anyway. I've made a ton of great memories following the football team, tailgating with friends, screaming U-C-O-N-N after touchdowns. Enjoying beautiful afternoons with the Hartford cityscape in the background. And I'm sad that the program seems in a death spiral.

I'm happy for the basketball programs. Cause I'm a real UConn fan.

If you're celebrating the slow death of UConn Football, are you?