Seth Greenberg on UConn & the Big East | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Seth Greenberg on UConn & the Big East

Ironic he brings up "not playing anyone in the northeast" on the day we're playing the university of southern canada!

They have one regional rival, like us.
They play mainly southern teams, like us.
Their football and basketball haven't exactly stayed up to their BE par (barring one freak F4 run), like us.

You could argue they're essentially us, with a bigger bankroll and staring at a HOF coach retiring, again, like us.

Hmmmmmm.
 
tcf15 said:
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Disagree with Greenberg. I understand some of the sentiment but turning back now would be disasterous! UMASS would change places in a heartbeat with us. Their football team is nomadic, scrambling to fill their schedule. Certainly no way to build anything. UMASS plays in the A-10, a decent Mid-Major bball conference. Proponents of the back to the Big East camp fail to realize that this would be moving backwards for UCONN and is essentially giving up on becoming a Major athletic program in the big sports, Football and Basketball.

Current AAC members Memphis and Temple were horrible in football. Temple was kicked out of the Big East because of their lousy program. Both teams have risen to become conference champions. Both schools also have pretty good basketball pedigrees.

Edsall was brought back to turn the football program around. Let's give him the time to do his thing. If KO can't bring UCONN back to respectability then a change must be made. Certainly there are quality coaches out there who would love to coach UCONN at 3,000,000 per regardless of conference!

Cincinnati, Temple, Wichita, Memphis, Houston, SMU, and UCONN are 7 solid AAC programs. Not saying the rivalries are anywhere as sexy as the old Big East days but they are far from the dumpster fire of a league that some describe it as. UCONN has yet to win the conference title in this dumpster! UCF, USF and ECU are getting better as well.
The next TV contract negotiations will be critical to the AAC's future.

The girls always win regardless of conference. This week they had a record crowd of 15,000+, proving it can be done.Recruiting and having a strong OOC schedule is key.

As bad as things are right now, I don't believe going back to the Big East and either going Independent or dropping down to the FCS level in football is the right thing to do.

Stay thirsty my friends!
 
Greenberg angling for a job here?
 
shizzle787 said:
Seriously? The Big East got seven teams in the tournament last year, have a better RPI than half the P5 leagues, and are respected by the NCAA committee. The American will NEVER be able to say any of those things.
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So they had one good year and that means we should realign our entire athletic department.......BRILLIANT!!!

Of course, with all the tv revenue they bring in and all the basketball titles they have won.....
 
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I've been in the "stick it out in the AAC camp until the next tv contract" camp.

But I'm beginning to think that maybe we are too deep in the weeds here and can't see the forest for the trees.

It seems that a lot of people think it's obvious that we should be in the NBE.

And not just "people" but people who, like em or hate em, have a decent understanding of the CBB landscape.

This was not espn telling them to do it.

There is zero incentive for espn to push UConn to the NBE.

These were people that were stating the obvious, as they see it.
 
I have no intel but I would think they do move to the new Big East. I'm starting to realize we will never be in a power 5 conference.
 
Guapo said:
I've been in the "stick it out in the AAC camp until the next tv contract" camp.

But I'm beginning to think that maybe we are too deep in the weeds here and can't see the forest for the trees.

It seems that a lot of people think it's obvious that we should be in the NBE.

And not just "people" but people who, like em or hate em, have a decent understanding of the CBB landscape.

This was not espn telling them to do it.

There is zero incentive for espn to push UConn to the NBE.

These were people that were stating the obvious, as they see it.
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Uconn in the NBE allows ESPN to continue to low-ball the AAC on tv money. We are in a low right now, but our name still has some value. Remove Uconn, and the AAC even less leverage than they do now (if that is possible). No matter how poorly they treat the conference, ESPN still needs content. Right now, they need cheap content more than they ever have. Don't discount that as a motive.
 
MilliniumPrince said:
Uconn in the NBE allows ESPN to continue to low-ball the AAC on tv money. We are in a low right now, but our name still has some value. Remove Uconn, and the AAC even less leverage than they do now (if that is possible). No matter how poorly they treat the conference, ESPN still needs content. Right now, they need cheap content more than they ever have. Don't discount that as a motive.
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I hear what you're saying, but it's pure conjecture.

Based on what we know, I could make the same argument that ESPN plans to bid for NBE rights next time around and they realize it would be a better product, and property, if UConn was part of it.

However, I think that is highly unlikely as well.

If we apply Occam's razor, I think it's most likely these were just guys calling it like they see it, rather than a grand corporate strategy.
 
MilliniumPrince said:
Uconn in the NBE allows ESPN to continue to low-ball the AAC on tv money. We are in a low right now, but our name still has some value. Remove Uconn, and the AAC even less leverage than they do now (if that is possible). No matter how poorly they treat the conference, ESPN still needs content. Right now, they need cheap content more than they ever have. Don't discount that as a motive.
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Interesting theory and although down, the UCONN national brand adds value for sure. Greenberg and Vital are old school basketball purest who respect UCONN, remember well the Calhoun era and hate to see the program struggling. I think they really meant it but maybe more on an emotional level. St. John's is still in the Big East. Have they ever been the same since Lou Carnesecca left?
 
We have had our chances already on the national stage this season. Changing conferences will be no panacea for us. The cold, hard reality is that we haven't been prepared to play the likes Syracuse, MSU or really anyone else this year. I think our players can compete, but the team leadership is deficient. K.O. and his BFFs on the bench are not up to it and it shows when we play against well-coached, equivalent talent. 2014 seems like eons ago. That NC was really JC's fourth title. Those kids were tough, disciplined grinders in the Calhoun style. We haven't seen their like since.
 
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Guapo said:
I hear what you're saying, but it's pure conjecture.

Based on what we know, I could make the same argument that ESPN plans to bid for NBE rights next time around and they realize it would be a better product, and property, if UConn was part of it.

However, I think that is highly unlikely as well.

If we apply Occam's razor, I think it's most likely these were just guys calling it like they see it, rather than a grand corporate strategy.
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True, but ESPN on-air personalities rarely push something this obscure so hard in broadcast. But your point is solid. I didn't say it was a fact, just offered it as a possible motive.
 
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Confident Carl said:
Interesting theory and although down, the UCONN national brand adds value for sure. Greenberg and Vital are old school basketball purest who respect UCONN, remember well the Calhoun era and hate to see the program struggling. I think they really meant it but maybe more on an emotional level. St. John's is still in the Big East. Have they ever been the same since Lou Carnesecca left?
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SJU went down because they're no longer allowed to pay their players
 
We were the dogs, literally, of the BE - a very strong BE in the 80's - until what changed?? A great coach and a culture of winning. The dream season had a decent group of players - a few of which were CT POYs. And these less than 4-5 star kids went out and ruled the conference because of teamwork, defensive pressure, effort and transition. I'll secede to the fact that the conference might make the difference on jump ball decisions for recruits - but I'm not subscribing to this hype. It's a cop out. We need leadership and culture, period.
 
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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.
 
Guapo said:
You brought a football to a basketball fight.
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Lol. Does seem that way, huh? Point is, UConn, rather than complain about AAC in either sport, needs to be dominent. Particularly in basketball.
 
MilliniumPrince said:
True, but ESPN on-air personalities rarely push something this obscure so hard in broadcast. But your point is solid. I didn't say it was a fact, just offered it as a possible motive.
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Alternatively, what are they going to say, “Uconn sucks and has gone down hill because Kevin Ollie sunk the ship?” No, they’re never gonna say that publicly. So they need to say something to answer the question many casual viewers are asking as to why the program has declined into oblivion. So the easy explanation is to blame it entirely on conference affiliation, and nostalgia for the old big east days. Also, these are sports talking Heads and I don’t believe any grand conspiracy is beyond their on air comments.
 
MilliniumPrince said:
So they had one good year and that means we should realign our entire athletic department..BRILLIANT!!!

Of course, with all the tv revenue they bring in and all the basketball titles they have won.....
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they have a good year every year lol look it up
 
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FfldCntyFan said:
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.
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The WCC? you know the big east only has ten teams right? and everyone of them except depaul (lol) is recruiting better than us as of late...
 
Couldn't agree more with Greenberg. We can't wait forever for the ACC or Big Ten to come calling. If we can get into the Big East for hoops, grab it and run. Accepting the status quo and accepting the AAC as a good conference is accepting mediocrity and that's basically where we are at right now.
 
Husky SZN said:
The WCC? you know the big east only has ten teams right? and everyone of them except depaul (lol) is recruiting better than us as of late...
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Who beyond Nova has a shot at any sustainable success at a level beyond something we wouldn't be disappointed with?
 
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