The Athletic: KO Article

[HuskyHawk]

Northeastern is fine with football. They are ranked higher than us in the USNWR. And their ranking has only gotten BETTER sense canning football. I have no problem associating with privates like Georgetown, Villanova, and St. John's that are better schools than most state flagships and just about all of the schools in the American bar maybe Tulane (which btw isn't a flagship).

St. John’s? They would be bottom half of the teams in the AAC. Terrible school.

 

[shizzle787]

St. John’s? They would be bottom half of the teams in the AAC. Terrible school.

NYC. End of story.

 

[HuskyHawk]

NYC. End of story.

Queens is a dump.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Tell that to Lew Perkins, you know, the guy who orchestrated the move.

Yes, Perkins was worried about that. Austin wanted visibility and prestige. It’s probably fair to say both were factors.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Northeastern is fine without football. They are ranked higher than us in the USNWR. And their ranking has only gotten BETTER sense canning football. I have no problem associating with privates like Georgetown, Villanova, and St. John's that are better schools than most state flagships and just about all of the schools in the American bar maybe Tulane (which btw isn't a flagship).

NYC. End of story.

How does their location impact their academics? St John's (DePaul as well) is very similar to both Memphis and Houston (primarily commuter campus with open enrollment). The only difference being that St John's and DePaul are part of the Vincentian order while Memphis and Houston are publicly funded. The reality is that there are few current BE schools that are close to state flagships academically

 

[shizzle787]

A comparison of ranking for Big East and AAC:
AAC:
Tulane (private)-40
SMU (private)-61
Tulsa (private)-87
Temple-115
Cincy-133
USF-140
UCF-171
Houston-192
ECU-207
Navy- 21 (Liberal Arts)
Memphis-231-300
Wichita State-231-300

Big East:
Georgetown-20
Villanova-46
Marquette-90
DePaul-120
Seton Hall-124
St. John's-165
Creighton-1 (Midwest Region)
Providence-1 (North Region)
Butler-2 (Midwest Region)
Xavier-5 (Midwest Region)

The regional schools can't be compared to the national schools because they don't offer many Ph.D.s and research. However, if they could be compared, I would bet most of them would be ahead of the middle-tier AAC schools. Keep in my for those who say we should be with like minded public flagships, there are no other flaghips in this conference, and the only schools academically in the AAC we would want to be associated with are all private.

 

[shizzle787]

How does their location impact their academics? St John's (DePaul as well) is very similar to both Memphis and Houston (primarily commuter campus with open enrollment). The only difference being that St John's and DePaul are part of the Vincentian order while Memphis and Houston are publicly funded. The reality is that there are few current BE schools that are close to state flagships academically

How many state flaghips are in the AAC other than UConn?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

How many state flaghips are in the AAC other than UConn?

Your statement was "Better than most state flagships and just about all of the schools in the American bar maybe Tulane (which btw isn't a flagship)." Stop trying to backtrack and make it sound like you were only speaking of flagships in the AAC.

 

[shizzle787]

Your statement was "Better than most state flagships and just about all of the schools in the American bar maybe Tulane (which btw isn't a flagship)." Stop trying to backtrack and make it sound like you were only speaking of flagships in the AAC.

Villanova and Georgetown are better than almost all state flagships, and St. John's is probably better than at least 15-20 of them (so I was off a little there-should have just replaced them with Marquette).

 

[BPT2Storrs]

I was telling people years ago that UConn needed to join the new Big East. UConn is a basketball school. In my mind, so are Kansas, Indiana, and Kentucky. While I understand those schools are in big conferences (Big 12, Big 10, SEC), their football teams have been traditionally abysmal. What is the attendance at a Kansas football game? Have they been a contender at all? What's the pressing issue with UConn moving to a P5 if your football team is going to be bad? Does any UConn fan actually think that we will join a P5 and ultimately land top level football talent over places they already have tradition? Has that happened for Rutgers? On the flip side, did moving to the ACC make BC a football or basketball powerhouse as they thought would happen? I don't think so.

The fact of the matter is, we don't have any history as a football program, yet we are trying to align ourselves with schools that do. Why? Football players want to go to a football program. Basketball players want to go to a basketball program. Our success has been basketball and we are throwing it away for the "possibility" that we can turn UConn into both a basketball and football school.

UConn Football has been rushed since moving to D1. We set these high expectations and have been unable to achieve. I'll admit it was great seeing UConn play at the Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day, but it was terrible watching Oklahoma wax us all over the field all while we had little to no fan base supporting us at the game. It was disrespectful to watch Edsall bolt for Maryland, a team that had no great football success either. That should have told you everything about UConn Football. We had a coach bring little UConn to a major bowl game and then run for the hills. Edsall thought he could have more success at Maryland, being an ACC program and all. How'd that work out for them?

Maryland is everything I don't want to see UConn become. They were a basketball powerhouse at one point and thought they could do the same with football.

Stick with what you know best and what works best. The new Big East has amazing basketball talent, still plays in the Garden and is looked at favorably come March. It would help with recruiting, branding, and matchups. As bad as we are playing against Columbia, Arkansas, etc. We typically play up to better opponents (see MSU game earlier this year). Playing against the likes of the new Big East teams would give our players some more confidence, at least I think it will.

You want football to succeed? Do it the same way basketball did. Let is happen organically. At this point, I would ask the Administration look into if we football could go Independent, stay in the AAC or work out some other arrangement. Schedule tough non-conference games, put the best product you can on the field and coach them to compete. At the end of the day, see what happens.

I don't want to see UConn's basketball tradition and success go down the drain because high-level people can't clearly articulate that a P5 move is not in our future and most likely not the best option for us.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Gonzaga's distant past is better than our present. Try to make accurate comparisons. Oh, wait, those make Ollie look bad and you don't want that. Nevermind...

Remind us all again how many Champioships Gonzaga has won? Ollie has 1 last time I checked

 

[8893]

There are miles of daylight, academically, between Georgetown and every other school in both the NBE and AAC; and Boston College would be slightly above Villanova, if only because they were overrated a few decades before Villanova was.

 

[shizzle787]

There are miles of daylight, academically, between Georgetown and every other school in both the NBE and AAC; and Boston College would be slightly above Villanova, if only because they were overrated a few decades before Villanova was.

Villanova is a really good school.

 

[auggie22]

Nova? Tulane, UConn, Cinci and SMU. But it’s beside the point, which is that we want to associate with large, flagship public universities. There are none in the Big East. We are the only one in the AAC.

It is besides the point, I agree. And I don't think the difference academically btw the two conferences is meaningful. But we will need to agree to disagree on where nova ranks on that list.

 

[Paesano]

Remind us all again how many Champioships Gonzaga has won? Ollie has 1 last time I checked

With Calhoun's players. Since then? Horrible. Much worse than Few at Gonzaga at the same point in his career there. Doesn't matter what either of us think, however. The AD and president are already working on a change. Only a matter of time...

 

[shizzle787]

I could also care less about academics but who are the three or more AAC schools who are academically superior to Georgetown?

No, and the only schools that are good in the AAC academically aside from us are smaller private schools.

 

[8893]

Villanova is a really good school.

It’s a good school imo; not really good and wayyyyy overpriced for the quality of education. Not in the same stratosphere as Georgetown.

 

[shizzle787]

It’s a good school imo; not really good and wayyyyy overpriced for the quality of education. Not in the same stratosphere as Georgetown.

True, but it's better than UConn. I got into UConn pretty easily but wouldn't have been able to sniff Nova.

 

[8893]

True, but it's better than UConn. I got into UConn pretty easily but wouldn't have been able to sniff Nova.

I know plenty for whom the opposite is true. A lot depends on geographical and other diversity. Depending on what you are studying and what type of school experience you want (e.g., private/religious vs. public; large vs. small; setting, etc.) I don’t think there is much difference between the two academically. Certainly not enough to pay double for Villanova.

 

[shizzle787]

I know plenty for whom the opposite is true. A lot depends on geographical and other diversity. Depending on what you are studying and what type of school experience you want (e.g., private/religious vs. public; large vs. small; setting, etc.) I don’t think there is much difference between the two academically. Certainly not enough to pay double for Villanova.

Oh, I agree on the cost part. UConn is a much better bargain.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It is besides the point, I agree. And I don't think the difference academically btw the two conferences is meaningful. But we will need to agree to disagree on where nova ranks on that list.

Villanova has obviously moved up in USNWR more than I knew. It didn’t used to be in that ballpark (tied for 46). I don’t think it was even in the “National University” categuory.

SMU is #61. Not bad at all. Tulsa #87, pretty solid.

St. John’s by the way, #165.

 

[shizzle787]

Villanova has obviously moved up in USNWR more than I knew. It didn’t used to be in that ballpark (tied for 46). I don’t think it was even in the “National University” categuory.

SMU is #61. Not bad at all. Tulsa #87, pretty solid.

St. John’s by the way, #165.

SMU and Tulsa are small privates, not the peer public schools you aspire us to be with.

 

[HuskyHawk]

How many state flaghips are in the AAC other than UConn?

None. But the only way to get to a conference where there are state flagship schools is via playing FBS football. Going to NBE means abandoning that for all time. That would be a mistake.

And let’s not pretend that the NBE is anything like the old BE with regard to regional appeal. No Syracuse, no BC, no Pitt. Instead we get Creighton in Nebraska, DePaul in Chicago, Marquette in Wisconsin, Xavier in Ohio and Butler in Indiana. Yes, it has Nova, Gtown, PC, SH and St. John’s. All of whom we could probably schedule frequently anyway.

 

[shizzle787]

None. But the only way to get to a conference where there are state flagship schools is via playing FBS football. Going to NBE means abandoning that for all time. That would be a mistake.

And let’s not pretend that the NBE is anything like the old BE with regard to regional appeal. No Syracuse, no BC, no Pitt. Instead we get Creighton in Nebraska, DePaul in Chicago, Marquette in Wisconsin, Xavier in Ohio and Butler in Indiana. Yes, it has Nova, Gtown, PC, SH and St. John’s. All of whom we could probably schedule frequently anyway.

No, it wouldn't. Football won't last much longer. Within 5 years, doctors will able to quickly diagnose CTE among the living. The sport is screwed. I don't care about playing in a conference with other state flagships as long as our national ranking continues to climb. I don't think conference affiliation is one of the factors in determinging the USNWR ranking.

 

[Hurleyman216]

With Calhoun's players. Since then? Horrible. Much worse than Few at Gonzaga at the same point in his career there. Doesn't matter what either of us think, however. The AD and president are already working on a change. Only a matter of time...

Actually the AD and President aren’t working on a solution, but you wouldn’t know because you have zero connections to the program or any inside info, unlike others on this board.