The Big East vs. P5 and now the AAC...

[MD#12Fan]

A lack of football is what is hurting the conference. When you talk about programs elevating, it really means committing to the financing necessary to do that. Without big time tv money coming in, there simply is a much lower incentive for any Big East school to say, "We are going to play big time women's basketball." I guarantee that outside of UConn, not one Big East School is spending as much on women;s basketball as ANY program from a Power 5 conference is. Actually, any time the Big East has a team in the top 50, that is a huge over achievement and quite miraculous.

What about the original BE? Not much football there either- Syracuse, ND, Louis.

 

[Vowelguy]

I don't quite get his point, either.

Someone suggested the AAC was equal to/better than the BigEast in wcbb. I pointed out that even if that were true, it wont be once the schools move conferences in a year or two.

 

[npignatjr]

Go back and check their records prior to joining the conference. Yes, they are establish programs now, but that was in prominent part due to the “UConn effect.” There’s no reason to expect that that will not happen again in poor current conference.

Those teams were solid before, UConn didn't bring them up.

 

[CL82]

Those teams were solid before, UConn didn't bring them up.

Disagree

 

[CL82]

No one, except UConn and maybe 1 or 2 other schools, makes money.

True, but that’s true for college athletics in general as well

 

[Zinethar]

I agree that as far as exposure playing UConn at home is a benefit to the other BE teams. it provides experience, exposure, and also in showing the ability to make some money. The UConn game can show the AD and other brass that the women's program could produce more income if they supported it better. Of course at least currently it has the downside of adding 2 losses a year.

 

[Zinethar]

One thing people who like to point out that Women's sports in general and basketball in particular don't generate as much money as the men's programs are of course right. I would like to point out one reason that is easily forgotten is how recent relatively the rise of women's sports is. The real financial support for football and basketball on the men's side doesn't come from ticket sales or championships themselves but rather comes form donations or endowments from alumni and other supporters. Most supporters and certainly former athletes are just now reaching retirement age or unfortunately dying off so dropping large donations to women's sports should be in the early stages. Somethings need time.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Yeah, even as I posted to that I thought to myself “Rutgers may be the exception.” Since Rutgers hahos stopped playing uconn twice every year, their program has steadily declined. Now some of that may be CVS just reaching the end of her career, but I suspect a significant part is the exposure and recruiting advantage that playing against UConn gives other woman’s basketball teams.

For what it’s worth, I suspect that Chris Dailey would have taken the Rutgers job had it been offered to her. CViv was a great choice, but I think Chris may have been a better one.

Yes, Chris actually wanted the Rutgers job, apparently, and was a tad put out by being passed over. Perhaps, as has happened at other programs, they wanted to sever connections completely to TG. There was a 10 year stretch where Rutgers was about the 9th or 10th best program in WBB by a whole bunch of metrics. Of course, they never won a NC. I'm not sure (one way or the other) whether Chris would have outperformed Vivian during that period. As CVS aged and as the program has been less successful, with Chris somewhat younger, perhaps.

Again, playing against UConn - except for beating them - did nothing for CVS's recruiting. Players largely came for CVS's name; witness the huge bunch of players that came after Rutgers was national runner-up in 2007 as well; success is a huge component of recruiting.

The benefit of the oBE was not solely UConn - it was the fact that it was a very strong conference 8 or more deep.

 

[AgStatesman]

What about the original BE? Not much football there either- Syracuse, ND, Louis.

No, there was. It's covered earlier in the thread. Boston College, Pitt, Rutgers also. We forget most of them now because for the most part they have all really sucked since they went to new conferences. At one time in the early 2000's I think it was - the Big East had the most amount of teams in the women's tourney. Once again, someone earlier compiled a great list of every Big East tourney qualifier.

 

[CL82]

Again, playing against UConn - except for beating them - did nothing for CVS's recruiting. Players largely came for CVS's name; witness the huge bunch of players that came after Rutgers was national runner-up in 2007 as well; success is a huge component of recruiting.

Most good players, if they can’t play with top recruits, want to play against them. I would be astonished if that was part of the recruiting pitch at Rutgers. I vaguely remember Rutgers players talking about their desire to UConn.

 

[jchusky]

Interesting that the men's basketball teams of schools that left the Old Big East for the ACC are a lot less competitive. One glaring example is Pitt which used to be really good in men's basketball. The program back then had a recruiting pipeline in to NYC. That pipeline dried up when Pitt left the BE. Pitt has been terrible in the ACC. Same with Boston College. Syracuse is not what it once was in men's basketball. Louisville has been rocked by scandals so hard to say how they'll end up. Don't get me wrong, those schools love cashing the checks they get from the ACC but they sacrificed their basketball programs and the fans who supported those programs.

Pitt being irrelevant had zero to do with leaving the big east. They fired a long tenured hc Jamie Dixon because they thought they could do better. Wrong! Kevin Stallings is one of the worst hc's in cbb history. Now they hired Coach k's assistant Capel and he is also a failure. As for Syracuse, a final 4 and 3 sweet 16's in the past 5 seasons sounds good to me. Louisville also had zero to do with basketball, Rick Pitino ruined that program with his selfishness.

 

[UConnCat]

Pitt being irrelevant had zero to do with leaving the big east. They fired a long tenured hc Jamie Dixon because they thought they could do better. Wrong! Kevin Stallings is one of the worst hc's in cbb history. Now they hired Coach k's assistant Capel and he is also a failure. As for Syracuse, a final 4 and 3 sweet 16's in the past 5 seasons sounds good to me. Louisville also had zero to do with basketball, Rick Pitino ruined that program with his selfishness..

I don’t think your right on this.

Pitt did not fire Dixon. Pitt reduced his buyout and he left to take the TCU job, his alma mater. Dixon saw the handwriting on the wall, that Pitt would not be able to recruit to and compete in the ACC. Again, Pitt used to recruit well in NYC with playing in the Big East and and the BET at MSG huge draws. That ended and recruiting to play basketball in the ACC at a school like Pitt was never going to work. Same has been true for Syracuse, a school with a huge number of alums in the NYC area who would annually pack
MSG for battles with UConn and Georgetown.

As I said, Louisville has been rocked by scandals so who knows.

 

[jchusky]

I don’t think your right on this.

Pitt did not fire Dixon. Pitt reduced his buyout and he left to take the TCU job, his alma mater. Dixon saw the handwriting on the wall, that Pitt would not be able to recruit to and compete in the ACC. Again, Pitt used to recruit well in NYC with playing in the Big East and and the BET at MSG huge draws. That ended and recruiting to play basketball in the ACC at a school like Pitt was never going to work. Same has been true for Syracuse, a school with a huge number of alums in the NYC area who would annually pack
MSG for battles with UConn and Georgetown.

As I said, Louisville has been rocked by scandals so who knows.

Tcu in basketball is a death sentence, even bigger than Pittsburgh. They athletic department has become a joke even to the point that in football they can't even go 500. I know if he wasn't forced to leave he would have because the season before, the USC job had opened and he grew up in Burbank and didn't take it. Much easier to win at USC than Tcu.

 

[HitDog]

Tcu in basketball is a death sentence, even bigger than Pittsburgh. They athletic department has become a joke even to the point that in football they can't even go 500. I know if he wasn't forced to leave he would have because the season before, the USC job had opened and he grew up in Burbank and didn't take it. Much easier to win at USC than Tcu.

Small nitpick as Pitt football hasn't been good but you can catch the 10-2 Pitt Panthers this Saturday in ACC Championship game.

 

[CL82]

Most good players, if they can’t play with top recruits, want to play against them. I would be astonished if that was part of the recruiting pitch at Rutgers. I vaguely remember Rutgers players talking about their desire to UConn.

Coincidentally, this was in the Greenwich times today:

 

[npignatjr]

Coincidentally, this was in the Greenwich times today:

View attachment 71501

The game tonight in basically a High School gym, stage on one end, half empty seats.

 

[CL82]

The game tonight in basically a High School gym, stage on one end, half empty seats.

That’s just had a multimillion dollar renovation done to it. Your point?

 

[sun]

UConn elevates WBB period.
Wherever they go and wherever they play, they're ambassadors of the game which creates hopes, dreams and aspirations for young girls all over the country.
It doesn't really matter which Conference that UConn belongs to, their presence will have an effect even if it takes years to develop & produce players.
There's a lot of prestige and tradition tied to the Big East, with The Garden hosting the oldest running NCAA mens tourney in the country.
And the Mohegan Sun is home to a WNBA team.
The newest UConn signings including Paige have mentioned how they have dreamed about playing for UConn since they were very young.
Even being able to play any WBB for a youth is like dreaming about being in the Olympics.
The Big East became a nation wide Catholic college conference that has it's own aura, advantages and prestige besides the quality of womens play in it.
It's a win-win for everyone involved because it allows UConn to play any other school that they want, and with the NIL and the transfer portal, other conference players can move wherever they want and join the Big East too.
UConn makes it own destiny.
It's a stronger WBB conference according to the RPI than the American Athletic where UConn previously belonged.
While the ACC's Syracuse is playing CCSU tomorrow, UConn will be playing ND on Sunday.
Yes, CCSU WBB!
How appealing is that going to be for a tune up game.
IMO no matter which conference UConn or Syracuse plays in, they're growing the sport nationally which is all that really matters.
And UConn is doing it their own way because it works out the best for everyone, and was a sound business decision.
UConn is dropping a few sports because they need to reduce the athletic dept. budget deficit by 25%.
And they also owed about $12 million for switching conferences.
All of the pluses of the Big East outweigh the minuses.

 

[mbr33ct]

The game tonight in basically a High School gym, stage on one end, half empty seats.

All I have read about this game, it was sold out weeks ago. My sources are saying 80% of the 1,655 capacity were in their seats. The beat writers had a great view of the game from the stage.

 

[CL82]

All I have read about this game, it was sold out weeks ago. My sources are saying 80% of the 1,655 capacity were in their seats. The beat writers had a great view of the game from the stage.

View attachment 71527

Bummer because I tried very hard to get a ticket and couldn’t.

 

[npignatjr]

All I have read about this game, it was sold out weeks ago. My sources are saying 80% of the 1,655 capacity were in their seats. The beat writers had a great view of the game from the stage.

View attachment 71527

What happens is season ticket holders buy tickets then never show. Same at Gample. The actual gate count should be what is reported, some schools do it. Maybe I'm overly critical but from watching on TV 80% seems generous. I am from a neighboring town from South Orange have been to Walsh I was a bit disappointed in the turnout. The sold but unused tickets is a pet peeve with me, there are many ways tickets can be given to schools, rec leagues, friends anyone you know that will really attend.