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OT: Rothstein - Big East could play 20 conference games if it adds 11th team

I would look at the AAC dropping either Tulane or ECU for Basketball or completely
If all sports Adding Air Force as a football only. I think outside of BYU it’s the most valuable program to a non regional conference like the AAC .which already has Navy. Army if they decide they want to be competitive again is even better from a location standpoint.
That allows you to then add a school like Dayton or VCU.
All of a sudden you have a pretty good basketball conference especially if Memphis could get it together.
The Football conference is already a pretty good , It becomes a very valuable conference if UConn gets its act together.
A winning football team in the Northeast increases everyone’s value.
If Aresco had some imagination the next contract could easily eclipse the Big East contract
and when you add in playoff and bowl distributions the revenue stream is even wider.
If we go to an 8 team playoff which is probably 50/50 the payouts increases again.
Going to FSB in football only accomplishes incremental cost savings while greatly reducing revenue. The only real on paper cost saving is the total illimination of football .
The effect of that on ancillary revenue streams like donations are pretty difficult to determine.
 
John said:
don't we have 3 football programs in the top 25 right now too?

Edit: I can't believe I'm defending the AAC, but I'm defending the AAC....
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This.

And to be honest, there aren't many "rivals" in the NBE.

I'm ok with playing Wichita State, Cincinnati, SMU, Temple, Memphis, etc.. instead of Catholic schools.

From a coaching standpoint, the AAC is bringing better coaches to Storrs and its NOT. EVEN. CLOSE.

If you like freak shows, then sure.. bring in Ewing and Mullin.. call them "rivals".. I call B.S. to that puppet show. If they aren't suiting up I couldn't care less about their teams.
 
huskiesnyc said:
Come with us
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1473300423262
 
StunningSteve said:
This.

And to be honest, there aren't many "rivals" in the NBE.

I'm ok with playing Wichita State, Cincinnati, SMU, Temple, Memphis, etc.. instead of Catholic schools.

From a coaching standpoint, the AAC is bringing better coaches to Storrs and its NOT. EVEN. CLOSE.

If you like freak shows, then sure.. bring in Ewing and Mullin.. call them "rivals".. I call B.S. to that puppet show. If they aren't suiting up I couldn't care less about their teams.
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This.
I'm as big a Big East guy as there ever was, I'm still in shock that it imploded. That being said, the thing calling itself the Big East now is not the Big East. The name Big East doesn't mean anything anymore, so why get involved with it.
 
John said:
This.
I'm as big a Big East guy as there ever was, I'm still in shock that it imploded. That being said, the thing calling itself the Big East now is not the Big East. The name Big East doesn't mean anything anymore, so why get involved with it.
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Taking the emotion and name-calling out of it, I think it's hard to argue, top to bottom, that the AAC is close to the NBE in hoops. The issue, as many have pointed out, is that the bottom of the AAC is so woefully bad that it totally drags down the conference overall. Not to mention the lack of any kind of geographic sense and ZERO rivalries, save for one or two. I love the addition of Wichita State. If they could find a way to get rid of Tulane, East Carolina, maybe even Tulsa, and get a VCU into the AAC, I would completely change my tune. But as of right now, I'd much rather be in a league with Nova, Providence, Creighton, Butler, Georgetown, Xavier, Seton Hall, etc, with the bottom dwellers being Depaul, then what we have. Again, just my opinion.
 
I think there are two ways of looking at this:

1) UConn wants something from the AAC. Last time there were rumblings, UConn was unhappy with the strength of the basketball conference and Witchita State was added. So, what does UConn want?

Or

2) AD Dave has strong statistaical evidence that fans are much more willing to fork over money to see games in the NBE and we are actually thinking about this.

One thing I don't doubt though:

Rothstein is as well connected to eastern basketball as anyone and his sources are legit.

The fact this comes out between the AAC media day and NBE media is definitely not a coincidence.
 
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uconngb said:
Taking the emotion and name-calling out of it, I think it's hard to argue, top to bottom, that the AAC is close to the NBE in hoops. The issue, as many have pointed out, is that the bottom of the AAC is so woefully bad that it totally drags down the conference overall.
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Actually, that bottom of the AAC is trending in a good way. Brian Gregory has been using his recruiting connections from Georgia Tech and is stocking our old Big East mate USF's roster in short order.
Mike Dunleavy is doing well on the recruiting trail as well. Tulane made a home run hire with their AD from Northern Iowa, and both football and basketball are coming to life.
ECU is the problem, in both football and basketball. However, they just hired Doug Wojcik as an assistant and their basketball recruiting has seemingly improved as of late.
I've never been worried about Tubby Smith and Memphis. Both of them are solid name brands to have during television (and timeslot) negotiations. He's recruited a 7 footer that's playing with Team USA. He'll have Memphis back. They're hot on the heels of Tyler Harris, who could be a pied piper of sorts with other Memphis talent.

I look at what UCF has done in a year, on the strength of their Soph class (BJ and Tacko) and it makes me feel good about what we're seeing with the above teams.

All of the other 8 teams in the AAC, even Tulsa, will be competing for NCAA and NIT bids. The fact that Temple got slotted #7 in the coaches poll should make everyone feel good about the strength of the conference. TEMPLE IS A PRETTY DANG GOOD TEAM WITH ROSE (AN NBA CALIBER PLAYER) ENTERING HIS SOPH YEAR, AND BROWN COMING BACK.

I GUARANTEE YOU the NBE #7 isn't as good as Temple. Tulsa has an injection of transfer talent to put around Etou.

As for the NBE, when Holtmann left and they replaced him with Jordan, that torpedoed their program. Jordan hasn't landed a single recruit for 2018. It looks like Wichita State may beat them out for both Montverde's Udeze and Chance Moore. Moore is visiting them today.

St Johns and Georgetown will both be worse than Temple. Ewing didn't land Waters and he's not landing anyone close to that caliber. Mullins just lost Sid Wilson to UConn.

DePaul has TWO 8th graders in the fold. They are trying to build a "Fab 5" from the Middle School ranks.

As for travel, ALL the main conferences are covering a lot of geography in planes. That's not unique to us.
 
In the end, we have no option but to stay, too much $$$ spent on fball.

I just miss watching a regular season where we're playing teams I have a vested dislike for. I know witchita state is a big get....I still long for those regional battles tho
 
The upcoming television contract negotiation is the focal point now.

The added money from having a football conference that can place 3 teams in the Top 25 at one time during multiple years may change the narrative to such an extent that Nova is the team that gets speculated about.

After all, the administration would be fired for incompetence if they dumped football for a lower paying BBall only league.

Would having Nova in the AAC make hearts pitty patter?

They were rejected once for a reason.. and Temple would probably block them. I'm sure they wouldn't mind leaving Fox.

Beyond FB and MBB, there is a significant drop off from the AAC to the NBE in other sports.

Hypothetically speaking, if Nova were to cross over and play FBS/AAC, would that improve UConn's basketball recruiting one iota? Or... Is winning the special ingredient that impacts recruiting... Seems to me the recruiting was pretty good up until that horrific year last year. And I'm still satisfied with how we closed with Sid, et al.
 
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Sky ball said:
What's the definition of Initial talks?

"Hello AD Dave, this is the Big East calling. Would you have an interest in joining us for B-Ball? You would have to find a new home for football."

AD Dave " No Thanks but thanks for calling.

News Flash: Big East and the UConn Huskies had initial talks regarding a potential partnership, but needed to find a solution and a new home for the Huskies’ football program.
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What makes you think it went like that or would go like that?
 
Chief00 said:
What makes you think it went like that or would go like that?
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Chief, coming off of your calling the Mohegan Sun announcement, can you say if there is any fire to this smoke?
 
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Guapo said:
I think there are two ways of looking at this:

1) UConn wants something from the AAC. Last time there were rumblings, UConn was unhappy with the strength of the basketball conference and Witchita State was added. So, what does UConn want?

Or

2) AD Dave has strong statistaical evidence that fans are much more willing to fork over money to see games in the NBE and we are actually thinking about this.

One thing I don't doubt though:

Rothstein is as well connected to eastern basketball as anyone and his sources are legit.

The fact this comes out between the AAC media day and NBE media is definitely not a coincidence.
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I think the first possibility is more likely to be true.

Can anyone think of something UConn might currently be trying to get from the AAC?
 
UConnDan97 said:
And a fourth team receiving votes. From a Sagarin ratings standpoint, the AAC West is rated right next to the SEC East. I'm not kidding about that.

It's a very solid football conference. And success in football is what drives the P5 bus. If folks want us to be playing bball in the ACC soon instead of the AAC, there's only one avenue to get there. And it ain't by dropping football...
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It's been a solid football conference all along. My question is, does the strength of the conference - as it's currently construed - have any baring on the performance of the program? Point being, the on field product might not be demonstrably worse than what the ACC offers, but geographically we're more isolated and obviously there is a big difference in money and exposure. I think the AAC could consistently challenge for p5 status in any given year, but I don't think it'll ever be a P5 caliber conference because of what the demographics are.

On the flip side, the AAC has been bad in basketball in large part because UConn has been bad in basketball. While I'm certainly a basketball first guy, I think there is a contingent of UConn fans looking for a scapegoat for why we've struggled (i.e. jet lag as one guy mentioned) and it should be re-directed towards the coaches and players. I don't think it makes the fan experience markedly better to be losing to Villanova by 30 rather than to Tulane in overtime. There are plenty of teams in this league that are good enough to push us even when we get our stuff together.
 
StunningSteve said:
Actually, that bottom of the AAC is trending in a good way. Brian Gregory has been using his recruiting connections from Georgia Tech and is stocking our old Big East mate USF's roster in short order.
Mike Dunleavy is doing well on the recruiting trail as well. Tulane made a home run hire with their AD from Northern Iowa, and both football and basketball are coming to life.
ECU is the problem, in both football and basketball. However, they just hired Doug Wojcik as an assistant and their basketball recruiting has seemingly improved as of late.
I've never been worried about Tubby Smith and Memphis. Both of them are solid name brands to have during television (and timeslot) negotiations. He's recruited a 7 footer that's playing with Team USA. He'll have Memphis back. They're hot on the heels of Tyler Harris, who could be a pied piper of sorts with other Memphis talent.

I look at what UCF has done in a year, on the strength of their Soph class (BJ and Tacko) and it makes me feel good about what we're seeing with the above teams.

All of the other 8 teams in the AAC, even Tulsa, will be competing for NCAA and NIT bids. The fact that Temple got slotted #7 in the coaches poll should make everyone feel good about the strength of the conference. TEMPLE IS A PRETTY DANG GOOD TEAM WITH ROSE (AN NBA CALIBER PLAYER) ENTERING HIS SOPH YEAR, AND BROWN COMING BACK.

I GUARANTEE YOU the NBE #7 isn't as good as Temple. Tulsa has an injection of transfer talent to put around Etou.

As for the NBE, when Holtmann left and they replaced him with Jordan, that torpedoed their program. Jordan hasn't landed a single recruit for 2018. It looks like Wichita State may beat them out for both Montverde's Udeze and Chance Moore. Moore is visiting them today.

St Johns and Georgetown will both be worse than Temple. Ewing didn't land Waters and he's not landing anyone close to that caliber. Mullins just lost Sid Wilson to UConn.

DePaul has TWO 8th graders in the fold. They are trying to build a "Fab 5" from the Middle School ranks.

As for travel, ALL the main conferences are covering a lot of geography in planes. That's not unique to us.
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Based solely on where they finished last year, Xavier was 7th in the Big East. I'd take Xavier over Temple in a nano-second, and it's not very close.
 
StunningSteve said:
Actually, that bottom of the AAC is trending in a good way. Brian Gregory has been using his recruiting connections from Georgia Tech and is stocking our old Big East mate USF's roster in short order.
Mike Dunleavy is doing well on the recruiting trail as well. Tulane made a home run hire with their AD from Northern Iowa, and both football and basketball are coming to life.
ECU is the problem, in both football and basketball. However, they just hired Doug Wojcik as an assistant and their basketball recruiting has seemingly improved as of late.
I've never been worried about Tubby Smith and Memphis. Both of them are solid name brands to have during television (and timeslot) negotiations. He's recruited a 7 footer that's playing with Team USA. He'll have Memphis back. They're hot on the heels of Tyler Harris, who could be a pied piper of sorts with other Memphis talent.

I look at what UCF has done in a year, on the strength of their Soph class (BJ and Tacko) and it makes me feel good about what we're seeing with the above teams.

All of the other 8 teams in the AAC, even Tulsa, will be competing for NCAA and NIT bids. The fact that Temple got slotted #7 in the coaches poll should make everyone feel good about the strength of the conference. TEMPLE IS A PRETTY DANG GOOD TEAM WITH ROSE (AN NBA CALIBER PLAYER) ENTERING HIS SOPH YEAR, AND BROWN COMING BACK.

I GUARANTEE YOU the NBE #7 isn't as good as Temple. Tulsa has an injection of transfer talent to put around Etou.

As for the NBE, when Holtmann left and they replaced him with Jordan, that torpedoed their program. Jordan hasn't landed a single recruit for 2018. It looks like Wichita State may beat them out for both Montverde's Udeze and Chance Moore. Moore is visiting them today.

St Johns and Georgetown will both be worse than Temple. Ewing didn't land Waters and he's not landing anyone close to that caliber. Mullins just lost Sid Wilson to UConn.

DePaul has TWO 8th graders in the fold. They are trying to build a "Fab 5" from the Middle School ranks.

As for travel, ALL the main conferences are covering a lot of geography in planes. That's not unique to us.
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Big East had 7 teams in the field last year......SEVEN. I dare say that will never happen in the AAC. What's the most the AAC has gotten? 4? And we all know how the seedings have gone.
 
Guapo said:
Chief, coming off of your calling the Mohegan Sun announcement, can you say if there is any fire to this smoke?
Expand ...

Blaze has wood fire ovens. But, GT hates us.
 
champs99and04 said:
It's been a solid football conference all along. My question is, does the strength of the conference - as it's currently construed - have any baring on the performance of the program? Point being, the on field product might not be demonstrably worse than what the ACC offers, but geographically we're more isolated and obviously there is a big difference in money and exposure. I think the AAC could consistently challenge for p5 status in any given year, but I don't think it'll ever be a P5 caliber conference because of what the demographics are.

On the flip side, the AAC has been bad in basketball in large part because UConn has been bad in basketball. While I'm certainly a basketball first guy, I think there is a contingent of UConn fans looking for a scapegoat for why we've struggled (i.e. jet lag as one guy mentioned) and it should be re-directed towards the coaches and players. I don't think it makes the fan experience markedly better to be losing to Villanova by 30 rather than to Tulane in overtime. There are plenty of teams in this league that are good enough to push us even when we get our stuff together.
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There are multiple things going on here.

First, most people wouldn't care who we were playing against if we were making 30 million a year while others were making 5 million a year. The fiscal disparity in the wrong direction is the underlying hatred that most folks have for the league. We have no problem scheduling a game against GTown, Cuse, or any other former rival whenever we want to.

Second, we just happened to enter the AAC at a time when our basketball team got hit with a ridiculous, retroactive scholarship penalty. It also happened to be the same time our football coach left (thankfully he's back) and we suffered through two bums for 6 years.

There's light at the end of the tunnel for both bball and football. Even in the AAC. What we need now is to get a better contact in the next negotiation or perhaps demand our tier 3 rights back if we get a crappy deal, so that we can remain a powerhouse athletic department...
 
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UConnSwag11 said:
B1G doing the same in 18-19. ACC in 19-20
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SEC will be next. Will be interesting to see if Pac-12 goes to 20 even though they have 12 teams.
 
uconngb said:
Based solely on where they finished last year, Xavier was 7th in the Big East. I'd take Xavier over Temple in a nano-second, and it's not very close.
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So what??? Both Xavier and Temple are different teams than they were last year.

Temple last year didn't have Josh Brown and a Sophomore Quentin Rose, along with the NC Freshman class. Rose will be one of the biggest talents in the country this year.

Xavier is also stronger this year than they were last year. They wont be 7th.

7th is likely to be Butler, sans Chris Holtmann, Kyle Young, Cooper Neese, etc. Jordan hasn't peed a drop as a HC. His first season at Milwaukee was pedestrian to be polite.

Making assumptions based on last year is not the most wise thing to do around here.
 
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uconngb said:
Big East had 7 teams in the field last year.SEVEN. I dare say that will never happen in the AAC. What's the most the AAC has gotten? 4? And we all know how the seedings have gone.
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It's too bad the NBE can't bottle up last season and relive it again.
I'm sure the MVC wishes they could've frozen time and replayed that season they had close to a decade ago.
For that matter, the MWC had multiple bids a few years ago and now they're a 1 bid conference.

Point being, that was last year. The committee was very generous. They were so generous in fact that Butler got poached by Ohio State because they looked cherry sitting there.

I couldn't care less if 7 never happens in the AAC. A 4+ conference is perfectly fine with me, provided that UConn pulls its weight consistently as one of the ramrods.

The NBE will be close to that same range. You can't use a high water mark and assume that its a constant. Not when they are hiring coaches on the reputation they had as a player at their schools. If they were luring the big marlin HCs to come to their schools than I might see why you are frothing at the mouth.

College sports is a coach driven business and I think the AAC has the better coaches.

All of the other sports (which conspicuously includes football) are better in the AAC.
 
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StunningSteve said:
So what??? Both Xavier and Temple are different teams than they were last year.

Temple last year didn't have Josh Brown and a Sophomore Quentin Rose, along with the NC Freshman class. Rose will be one of the biggest talents in the country this year.

Xavier is also stronger this year than they were last year. They wont be 7th.

7th is likely to be Butler, sans Chris Holtmann, Kyle Young, Cooper Neese, etc. Jordan hasn't peed a drop as a HC. His first season at Milwaukee was pedestrian to be polite.

Making assumptions based on last year is not the most wise thing to do around here.
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In Eggsaviers defense, they lost their starting PG for the season at the end of January and their best player had an ankle injury that was partly responsible for a 6 game losing streak down the stretch.

With that being said there was only a 1 game difference between 3rd and 7th place (a bunch of mediocre teams). Eggsavier was the probably the 2nd best team in the Big East when healthy. That comparison to Temple is not fair.
 
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