Seth Greenberg on UConn & the Big East

[John]

Uh...yeah. Look at Providence and Seton Hall. They are RELEVANT again, and we are not.

It's easier to be relevant in the NBE because all the BIG DOGS left.

 

[superjohn]

A) There is no way the BE would accept us if we did not downgrade football. Their view (which would be accurate) would be that we would merely be using them until a P-5 offer arrived. They feel that they've been burnt enough by football, they won't open themselves up for the possibility again.

B) Nova at the moment (and until they lose Jay Wright) is a better version of Gonzaga and the BE is a larger version of the West Coast Conference. If you believe that there will be any legitimate sustainability as a major conference once Wright retires (or leaves to an NBA gig) you haven't been paying attention to what the P-5 has been doing the past dozen or so years. Returning to the BE may provide a short term boost to our attendance and may make regional recruiting a bit easier at first but over time all it will do is condemn us to permanent mid-major status.

I don't disagree with much of what you said but you lose all credibility when you compare the WCC to the Big East.

 

[shizzle787]

It's easier to be relevant in the NBE because all the BIG DOGS left.

Irregardless, they are relevant again.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Uh...yeah. Look at Providence and Seton Hall. They are RELEVANT again, and we are not.

Lol. Are they? We stink, how many nationally televised games have we played already this season? How many have PC and Seton Hall played combined? How many are they scheduled to play....and being on Fox Sports 6 isn't really a national telecast. Seton Hall doesn't think Seton Hall is relevant. Lmao

 

[shizzle787]

Lol. Are they? We stink, how many nationally televised games have we played already this season? How many have PC and Seton Hall played combined? How many are they scheduled to play....and being on Fox Sports 6 isn't really a national telecast. Seton Hall doesn't think Seton Hall is relevant. Lmao

Fox Sports 1 is a national telecast, and so is Fox Sports 2. You do realize all of their game bar 2 or 3 are on FOX, ESPN 2, FS1, or FS2, right? We have a worse TV schedule than them. They only have one or two games on FS2 and about 3 on CBS Sports Network. We have about six on CBSSN, a gazillion on ESPNU or ESPNNews. They are doing fine.
FRIARS.COM - Official Athletic Site Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball

 

[CTNative]

Fox Sports 1 is a national telecast, and so is Fox Sports 2. You do realize all of their game bar 2 or 3 are on FOX, ESPN 2, FS1, or FS2, right? We have a worse TV schedule than them. They only have one or two games on FS2 and about 3 on CBS Sports Network. We have about six on CBSSN, a gazillion on ESPNU or ESPNNews. They are doing fine.
FRIARS.COM - Official Athletic Site Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball

Providence has a MUCH better coach than UCONN and are in a much better conference. I still can't figure out why Seton Hall has had a resurgence but they somehow have.

 

[CTNative]

Irregardless, they are relevant again.

Regardless, irregardless isn't even a word.

 

[nadav]

Fox Sports 1 is a national telecast, and so is Fox Sports 2. You do realize all of their game bar 2 or 3 are on FOX, ESPN 2, FS1, or FS2, right? We have a worse TV schedule than them. They only have one or two games on FS2 and about 3 on CBS Sports Network. We have about six on CBSSN, a gazillion on ESPNU or ESPNNews. They are doing fine.
FRIARS.COM - Official Athletic Site Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball

We make less money but have more exposure. ESPNU reaches 30mil more households than FS2. I don’t get FS2 in Seattle for instance.

 

[shizzle787]

We make less money but have more exposure. ESPNU reaches 30mil more households than FS2. I don’t get FS2 in Seattle for instance.

They have one game on FS2. We have a game on ESPNNews. They play most of their games on FOX or FS1.

 

[nadav]

They have one game on FS2. We have a game on ESPNNews. They play most of their games on FOX or FS1.

Gotcha. My point was that TV exposure isn’t our problem. For what we are providing for product, it’s actually quite good. I’m not a NBE hater.

 

[shizzle787]

Gotcha. My point was that TV exposure isn’t our problem. For what we are providing for product, it’s actually quite good. I’m not a NBE hater.

I would say exposure is a wash because they have most games on FS1 even if we have some games on CBS, ESPN and 2, a lot of our games our on CBS SN and ESPNU and News. I think if we joined the Big East, we could probably get 8-10 games a year on FOX.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

So Cinci, Temple, Memphis and WSU aren’t basketball schools? Houston has done more in basketball than 3/4 of the NBE. SMU built a program that has won ever year since this league existed. UCF just beat a ranked Alabama.

It’s a bunch of nonsense. With WSU in the fold, the differences in level of play are minor. The geography favors the Big East a bit, but not all that much beyond PC and St John’s.

The only school in the AAC who has no business being there is ECU in B.B. but they can say the same about UConn football

 

[John]

How would this be a step back from a basketball standpoint? The big east is a better basketball conference, and gets significantly more respect nationally. interms of basketball Big East>>AAC>A-10

It's really not better. It's a mid-major conference with mediocre programs beyond Villanova, just happens to have a sexy name.

 

[shizzle787]

It's really not better. It's a mid-major conference with mediocre programs beyond Villanova, just happens to have a sexy name.

RPI disagrees with you.
NCAA College Basketball Conference RPI - CBSSports.com

 

[John]

RPI disagrees with you.

The NBE would be the death knell for Uconn athletics. One small data sample doesn't change that. The NBE is small-time.

 

[shizzle787]

The NBE would be the death knell for Uconn athletics. One small data sample doesn't change that. The NBE is small-time.

LOL. My point is proven and it's a death knell. If you care to do any further research in that link, you will find that the AAC NEVER finishes higher than 7th in RPI, even including the year we had Louisville. The Big East has finished no worse than 4th any year of its 10-team NBE existence. The New Big East is a categorically BETTER basketball conference on the court, in public perception, in brand, and in the eyes of the NCAA committee. If the NBE is small time, WTF is the AAC? Tiny time. Look, I get why people are crapping the bed about the NBE: football and its probable death as a UConn sport if we move to the Big East. But here is the reality: unless Texas and Oklahoma move to the Pac-12, we have NO shot at the Big 10. We have a 0% chance of joining the ACC, and at this point I don't think it would make sense to join a weakened Big 12 if Texas, Oklahoma, and possibly Kansas are all gone.
Football as a sport is about to go into its death throws: CTE is going to seriously injure it in the next decade, and let me clarify, I watched all of our football games this year. I have always rooted for UConn football, but that ship has sailed. I enjoyed major CFB at UConn while it lasted but we are now effectively in CFB apartheid and we ain't the white people. We play 1-aa football in the AAC for what it's worth. In review, most people don't even know what conference we are in. It's time for a change. It's time for the Big East.

 

[Jaker]

The neew Big East would be an upgrade in almost everyway and would help in marketing the program. People who think we should hold out for a p5 invite are delusional.

 

[Jaker]

If somehow uconn and Cincy could get into the new BEast, you would have a great bball league.

 

[shizzle787]

If somehow uconn and Cincy could get into the new BEast, you would have a great bball league.

We wouldn't need Cincy to get into the league, and they wouldn't get in any way with Xavier blocking them.

 

[Jaker]

We wouldn't need Cincy to get into the league, and they wouldn't get in any way with Xavier blocking them.

I know we don't need cincy.

 

[shizzle787]

I know we don't need cincy.

We could play them OOC if we wanted.

 

[JMick]

We wouldn't need Cincy to get into the league, and they wouldn't get in any way with Xavier blocking them.

We should have just kept the name. If we were good the league would be viewed differently.

 

[shizzle787]

We should have just kept the name. If we were good the league would be viewed differently.

No way we would have ever got it though. We were the only rightful Big East heirs among the AAC. The new Big East has 5 of the 9 original members. I'm glad they got it so we can join them at some point and lose the Tulane's of the world.

 

[John]

LOL. My point is proven and it's a death knell. If you care to do any further research in that link, you will find that the AAC NEVER finishes higher than 7th in RPI, even including the year we had Louisville. The Big East has finished no worse than 4th any year of its 10-team NBE existence. The New Big East is a categorically BETTER basketball conference on the court, in public perception, in brand, and in the eyes of the NCAA committee. If the NBE is small time, WTF is the AAC? Tiny time. Look, I get why people are crapping the bed about the NBE: football and its probable death as a UConn sport if we move to the Big East. But here is the reality: unless Texas and Oklahoma move to the Pac-12, we have NO shot at the Big 10. We have a 0% chance of joining the ACC, and at this point I don't think it would make sense to join a weakened Big 12 if Texas, Oklahoma, and possibly Kansas are all gone.
Football as a sport is about to go into its death throws: CTE is going to seriously injure it in the next decade, and let me clarify, I watched all of our football games this year. I have always rooted for UConn football, but that ship has sailed. I enjoyed major CFB at UConn while it lasted but we are now effectively in CFB apartheid and we ain't the white people. We play 1-aa football in the AAC for what it's worth. In review, most people don't even know what conference we are in. It's time for a change. It's time for the Big East.

I respectfully disagree with all of this. I'm not going to give up on Uconn athletics as a whole so we can go to a glorified Yankee conference scenario with a bunch of small time schools.

 

[JMick]

No way we would have ever got it though. We were the only rightful Big East heirs among the AAC. The new Big East has 5 of the 9 original members. I'm glad they got it so we can join them at some point and lose the Tulane's of the world.

We have to shut down football to go into the Big East. FCS or Independent isn't an option. I'm not necessarily against it (and I'm 10000x more a football fan than basketball), but it means we will never, ever, have a chance at the P5. I do believe the P5 will break off and start their own thing so it could be the true death to UConn athletics.