UConn and the Big East | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn and the Big East

That's okay... Michigan has 5 kids from Wisconsin, 5 from Illinois and 2 from Indiana playing for the CWS Championship tomorrow.

In Penders I trust.

nadav said:
Penders seems to get the local studs from CT/RI/Mass and the Cali jr college transfers. Not worried about recruiting at all. But we will need the OOC games to be warm weather and we do that already. It’ll just be have to be higher RPI teams.
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I do trust Penders
My point is that there are more kids playing in these warm weather states and chances are for a higher percentage of better recruitment grounds.
 
That’s super encouraging to hear, especially from someone who was a highly-rated, drafted, HS player and became a great Husky. I have reflected on it more and while it’s a clear step down there’s no reason to ring alarm bells as long as we’ve got Penders, and he isn’t going to abandon his alma mater.
 
Mason Feole is somewhat overoptimistic. Look, UConn baseball is the strongest program in the northeast, by a fairly solid amount, and the conference shift will not change that in the short term. And, one or two weekend road trips that can be made by bus rather than flying -- and more games your family can drive to to watch you play -- won't hurt. But in the long term, is reducing your strength of schedule a good thing when you want to be competitive on a national level? No, it's not. And I'm not sure there is much they can do to increase the strength of either their pre-conference games or their weekday afternoon games to make up for it.

Baseball and football are the two program that will be hurt by this. Baseball not nearly as much as football, but still. All other programs will benefit, even if it's only by reducing travel.
 
businesslawyer said:
Mason Feole is somewhat overoptimistic. Look, UConn baseball is the strongest program in the northeast, by a fairly solid amount, and the conference shift will not change that in the short term. And, one or two weekend road trips that can be made by bus rather than flying -- and more games your family can drive to to watch you play -- won't hurt. But in the long term, is reducing your strength of schedule a good thing when you want to be competitive on a national level? No, it's not. And I'm not sure there is much they can do to increase the strength of either their pre-conference games or their weekday afternoon games to make up for it.

Baseball and football are the two program that will be hurt by this. Baseball not nearly as much as football, but still. All other programs will benefit, even if it's only by reducing travel.
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Counterargument, we'll also be playing less conference games which means we can schedule more OOC series to boost the RPI
 
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Baseball should get the AQ most seasons while playing in the BE.

But..will that translate to hosting a Regional?
 
gtcam said:
That's okay... Michigan has 5 kids from Wisconsin, 5 from Illinois and 2 from Indiana playing for the CWS Championship tomorrow.

In Penders I trust.



I do trust Penders
My point is that there are more kids playing in these warm weather states and chances are for a higher percentage of better recruitment grounds.
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Aside from the very occasional player from the midwest, UConn recruiting areas are some California JUCO's looking to go Division 1, and the northeast, meaning New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. UConn in its recruiting since I have followed the program has not been getting any freshmen from warm weather states. The success of this program has been primarily from developing blue collar type kids from the northeast. No doubt Penders even with the new baseball facility is going to continue going after the same type of player he has already been recruiting.
 
dbmill said:
No question AAC baseball is superior to Big East baseball. Creighton is also a very good baseball program, and St. John's is better than you give credit for. Xavier seems to be solid. However, teams like Villanova, Georgetown, and I suspect Butler will definitely be potential downers for the RPI.

One thing to remember is that Penders was able to recruit all the players that were on the 2010 and 2011 teams to the old Big East, and that was not exactly a power baseball conference either. With Penders around and a new baseball facility going online next season, I still think UConn baseball has a future that is worth following.
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I've mentioned more than once how proud I am that UConn has made the NCAA tourney 6 out of the last 10 years. Well, it turns out that St. John's has also made the NCAA tourney 6 out of the last 10 years, and 10 out of the last 16 years. Out of those 10 bids, 6 were at large bids. Not bad at all for a northeast team. While there are a few bad teams in the Big East, there will be some competition at the top of the standings. UConn and St. John's were an excellent conference rivalry before, and I expect they will be again.
 
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DefCONNOne said:
Good luck getting the Eastern League on board with that.

Also what's "Dunk"?
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I get your sentiment but hosting a conference tournament is a bit more predictable than hosting a NCAA Regional Series.

For example - the Big East Tournament this year was May 23rd>May 26th. The Yard Goats were away that whole period of time.

If the four parties (YardGoats/UConn/Eastern League/City) really wanted to pull it off it would be feasible. How likely is debatable.
 
huskymedic said:
I get your sentiment but hosting a conference tournament is a bit more predictable than hosting a NCAA Regional Series.

For example - the Big East Tournament this year was May 23rd>May 26th. The Yard Goats were away that whole period of time.

If the four parties (YardGoats/UConn/Eastern League/City) really wanted to pull it off it would be feasible. How likely is debatable.
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I'm aware of that. but there's a growing trend from the minor leagues against blocking off dates for stadiums to host conference tournaments. It screws up the schedule and in fact the International League passed a rule forbidding Durham from blocking off dates in order to host the ACC tournament. I'm quite confident the Eastern League has a similar rule in place.
 
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From a fan viewpoint, it's a plus as more Conencticut fans care about St. John's, Hall, etc. than UCF, Tulane, ECU no matter where a given team is ranked. It may also help with local recruting as there is good baseball talent in the Northeast; but, the team could loose exposure to kids from down south. I don't have actual data on this, so not sure if ist a positive, loss, or wash. Penders will also have to really focus on non-conference as on average, AAC baseball is stronger than new Big East baseball and UConn. Twenty Years ago it may have been different as Providence and St. Johns were both considered strong programs; but, northern colleges have been pulling back from baseball for a while now.
 
Mr. Conehead said:
From a fan viewpoint, it's a plus as more Conencticut fans care about St. John's, Hall, etc. than UCF, Tulane, ECU no matter where a given team is ranked. It may also help with local recruting as there is good baseball talent in the Northeast; but, the team could loose exposure to kids from down south. I don't have actual data on this, so not sure if ist a positive, loss, or wash. Penders will also have to really focus on non-conference as on average, AAC baseball is stronger than new Big East baseball and UConn. Twenty Years ago it may have been different as Providence and St. Johns were both considered strong programs; but, northern colleges have been pulling back from baseball for a while now.
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Try not to confuse YOU caring more about St. John's, Hall, etc........with "Connecticut fans"
 
uconnflyer88 said:
Try not to confuse YOU caring more about St. John's, Hall, etc...with "Connecticut fans"
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I actually care little about either one, outside of catching a UConn game at those schools when possible. What I am referring to is that rivalries are typically local, i.e. one high school graduate goes to UConn his best friend goes to Hall and thus they want to see therir schoosl play each other. For a student from anywhere in the Northeast, it is more likely that such a situation happens between UConn/St. John's/Hall than between UConn/ECU/UCF as the AAC is dominated by regional univerities that trully national universities, outside of Tulane and Navy, and Navy is only plays football in the AAC.
 
nadav said:
So you know I’m referring to an Eastern League stadium in Hartford, but can’t figure out what I’m referring to with Dunk? Cool
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If that's what you choose to believe, then cool.

Just let it be known, I was mocking you for your inability to type out Dunkin Donuts Park.
 
DefCONNOne said:
If that's what you choose to believe, then cool.

Just let it be known, I was mocking you for your inability to type out Dunkin Donuts Park.
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I know tough guy
 
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Underrated part of this move is timing up the opening of a brand new soccer stadium with good and traditionally rival programs of ours. I'm excited for soccer to get back to the big time.
 
This little blurb about UConn baseball was part of a Hartford Courant article on Geno Auriemma and the move to the Big East.

Mike Anthony: UConn women’s basketball better off in the Big East, even if the program never struggled in six years without it

>Take baseball. Jim Penders’ program is taking a step back because Big East baseball is not as strong as AAC baseball. Still, Penders is also said to be backing the Big East move. He didn’t need the AAC to build UConn into a top-25 program. And after years of doing more with less than anybody, one could argue he’ll have the best job in a conference and the best facilities.<

One other thing that I have been thinking about. Geno in this article talks about all the road travel from playing in the AAC, and getting back to Storrs after road games in the early morning hours. UConn baseball over the years has built a reputation for being road warriors. UConn baseball will no doubt still be taking long road trips in February and March. However, with the move to the Big East, UConn baseball in April and May will have a few more bus trips and short flights. And unlike the basketball teams, I believe it was a rare thing for the baseball team to take charter flights. A little less road travel could end up having a positive effect on the baseball team.
 
huskymedic said:
I get your sentiment but hosting a conference tournament is a bit more predictable than hosting a NCAA Regional Series.

For example - the Big East Tournament this year was May 23rd>May 26th. The Yard Goats were away that whole period of time.

If the four parties (YardGoats/UConn/Eastern League/City) really wanted to pull it off it would be feasible. How likely is debatable.
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Also possible that Dodd Stadium could host the Big East Tournament. Last several years Dodd Stadium has been hosting the NEC tournament.
 
Mr. Conehead said:
From a fan viewpoint, it's a plus as more Conencticut fans care about St. John's, Hall, etc. than UCF, Tulane, ECU no matter where a given team is ranked. It may also help with local recruting as there is good baseball talent in the Northeast; but, the team could loose exposure to kids from down south. I don't have actual data on this, so not sure if ist a positive, loss, or wash. Penders will also have to really focus on non-conference as on average, AAC baseball is stronger than new Big East baseball and UConn. Twenty Years ago it may have been different as Providence and St. Johns were both considered strong programs; but, northern colleges have been pulling back from baseball for a while now.
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We'll see how the Big East move will affect UConn baseball recruiting. I'm not worried that the Uconn baseball team could lose exposure to southern kids, as UConn baseball rarely gets freshmen recruits from outside the northeast, and they pretty much never get freshmen recruits from the south.
 
People who don't follow college baseball closely seem to think that the AAC is a powerhouse conference that does not continuously get snubbed by the NCAA selection committee as is.

With the majority of our 56 games being OOC our atlarge chances will be the same. Decreased travel for conference games will be a huge benefit that can not be discounted and may open up more of a travel budget for OOC games.
 
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dbmill said:
We'll see how the Big East move will affect UConn baseball recruiting. I'm not worried that the Uconn baseball team could lose exposure to southern kids, as UConn baseball rarely gets freshmen recruits from outside the northeast, and they pretty much never get freshmen recruits from the south.
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I haven't changed my view with more thought. This is by no means a good move for the baseball program. If you want to compete nationally -- and we do -- being in a better conference is better than being in a weaker conference. But it's not a terrible thing for baseball, as there will be some advantages -- mostly a little less travel -- to offset the disadvantages, and we are in a position to overcome it.
 
Soooo?

UConn will have Men's Lacrosse team...

...the contract states that UConn will participate in all Big East Sponsored sports.
 
billybud said:
Soooo?

UConn will have Men's Lacrosse team...

...the contract states that UConn will participate in all Big East Sponsored sports.
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"... for which the University has a varsity program."
 
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