"UCONN belongs in a tougher conference"

[DefenseBB]

I believe and thereby predict that by the time Azzi Fudd leaves college for the WNBA that the Big East will be one of the top three Women's basketball conferences with regards to the number of schools that get into the Big
Dance.

You’re ON, I got $200 on that the Big East will not be in the top 3.

 

[UcMiami]

Seriously - Uconn would love to be in a P5 conference and Geno would be pretty happy with that as well, but P5 is driven by FOOTBALL and it isn't going to happen in the current environment.

But ... Uconn has been in the Best women's basketball conference and dominated it for 14 years - 2000-2013. If they had been in any other conference during that time or since, they would have dominated. During that time the BE sent 19 teams to the FF and won 8 NCs. Four different teams Uconn 11/7, ND 4/1, Rutgers 2/0 and Louisville 2/0. The only teams that challenge the rest of the BE 8/1 during that time are TN, LSU, Baylor, and Stanford.

Next best conference is the SEC with 12 appearance and 2 titles. Two teams TN 7/2, and LSU 5/0
Big 12 8 appearances and 2 titles. Four teams Baylor 3/2, Oklahoma 3/0, TX 1/0, TA&M 1/1
ACC 6 Appearances 1 title. 3 teams Duke 3/0, UNC 2/0. Maryland 1/1
Pac10/12 6 appearance 0 titles. 2 teams Stanford 5/0, Cal 1/0
Big 10 4 appearances 0 titles. Perdue 1/0, PennSt 1/0, Minnesota 1/0, Michigan St 1/0
Missouri Valley 1 Appearance by Missouri State.

If Uconn were in the Big10 it would be just like the old Big East with Rutgers and MD taking the place of ND but who replaces Louisville?
If Uconn were in the Big12 it would be just like the old Big East beating up on WV and Baylor taking over for ND but who replaces Louisville?
If Uconn were in the ACC they could go back to beating up on Syracuse, Louisville, and ND with NCSt replacing Rutgers.
etc.
Uconn was bad for basketball before the BE imploded. Would being in one of the P5 really change much?

 

[bluedevil]

I believe and thereby predict that by the time Azzi Fudd leaves college for the WNBA that the Big East will be one of the top three Women's basketball conferences with regards to the number of schools that get into the Big
Dance.

You’re ON, I got $200 on that the Big East will not be in the top 3.

I want a piece of that bet!

 

[LoboDays]

The thing that annoys me about the BE is not their average strength / challenge level. It's actually the size of the schedule. In an ordinary season that's 20 conference games. No conference should have 20 games on the schedule in basketball. Outside of a modest number of conference rivals that any good team has, it's the good OOC matchups that generate interest. Having that many cuts into our ability to strengthen our schedule to make up for the conference's weakness. The latter is obviously less of a problem on the men's side where the average level in the BE is higher than on the women's side, but even there I don't think they need 20.

We simply do not need to play every team in this rather middling group twice. And no other team in this middling group needs it either.

That’s a great suggestion. Allows UCONN to schedule a lot of top OOC teams. UCONN ended the season with 10 conference games that were over at halftime. That’s not good for either team or the Conference.

 

[Martin]

It will be a more competitive conference for everyone once Geno retires.

 

[DEpup]

Gonna say it flat out: People who whine and complain about the conference affiliation are revealing themselves to be both wrong-headed and weak-minded.

Being a member of a "strong" conference didn't save Notre Dame from tumbling embarrassingly from the mountaintop in the past two years. (Here's a visual just in case anyone forgot.)

View attachment 65512

And going back to previous years, "strong" conferences didn't save one-time powerhouses like Tennessee, Duke or North Carolina from dramatic falls-from-grace.

We could also rattle off dozens of programs that have been members of "strong" conferences all along and have never achieved any notable success in the sport.

People reach for the conference thing out of a desperate psychological need for an easy scapegoat. As stated, wrong-headed and weak-minded.

That clip just never gets old for me. Brings a smile to my face every time. Its the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[Plebe]

That clip just never gets old for me. Brings a smile to my face every time. Its the gift that keeps on giving.

Same. As I replied to a Notre Dame fan who questioned last year why I was continuing to disseminate a clip from a game that was no longer current: "Wins and losses may come and go, but GIFs are forever."

Edit to add: I forget who was the Boneyarder who created the GIF from a longer video clip I posted, but whoever it was deserves much credit!

 

[Boreifs]

This is a problem which appears unique to Women's basketball. There is not enough talent to go around, and all the best players want to play together. I can't really blame them.

One solution I suggested before, is for UConn Women to have an independent schedule, similar to Notre Dame football used to be. Of course, this will never happen.

Second, set up a system like English Premier Soccer. The top fifteen teams play each other twice, that's 28games. The rest of the teams have their own tournament, with the top four teams moving up, replacing the bottom four Premier teams. The Premier teams can have their own 8 team end of season tournament. Of course, this would be super exciting, but it's never going to happen. Just a fun idea.

The countries are a lot smaller geographically and they have super fast trains. One can literally go from Munich to Hamburg in three hours traveling at over 200 miles an hour. Easy for all the Bundesliga teams to play each other; impossible here.

 

[hoophuskee]

Since Geno/UCONN won their 1st title-- it never was about the conference. And as long as he is there it will continue to never be about the conference. it comes down to the players and the moment. Always has and always will. Anything other than this is just an invention of the imagination.

 

[RedStickHusky]

[Hey. Some of us don't have a few years to give . . .]

In writing about teams and leagues, we're ignoring the real question: what makes teams better? How, for example, did UConn emerge from mediocrity to become not only a powerhouse but a perennial one? Was it that better recruits such as Rebecca Lobo started to show interest? Was it Geno's evolution into a bb mastermind?

This is the crux of the biscuit is it not? IMO, it is
1) vision;
2) patience; and
3) discipline
It took Geno some 10 years of steady improvement before he started getting top national recruits. Success breeds success and a combination of 11 natty's and u.s. team coaching have made recruiting a lot easier but it had to start with an approach to basketball that maximized the available talent and the belief and commitment to do the work. Even now, with world class talent, they still say that no one practices harder than UConn.
- Like Geno says, "if it was easy, everyone would do it".

 

[Adios]

We are easily one of the next additions to the so called glamorous "P5", but our fans....

Do have a business degree from UConn. I have no idea where people get their conclusions about UConn not being P5 worthy. It's simply asinine. We stick out in the Big East quite a bit, don't we? Geez. We also probably have the largest market out of all colleges. Between Boston, NYC and all in between.

The delusion of self grandeur.... Glad we have a competent athletic administrator, these days.

 

[MD#12Fan]

We are easily one of the next additions to the so called glamorous "P5", but our fans....

Do have a business degree from UConn. I have no idea where people get their conclusions about UConn not being P5 worthy. It's simply asinine. We stick out in the Big East quite a bit, don't we? Geez. We also probably have the largest market out of all colleges. Between Boston, NYC and all in between.

The delusion of self grandeur.... Glad we have a competent athletic administrator, these days.

3 reasons: football, football, and football
Don‘t you have Randy Edsal again? MD had to ship him out

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Just to summarize (from my point of view) - of course this is based on the current "program" under Geno -

- Those who suggest UConn would dominate in any conference are correct. Some games would be more competitive, and I doubt UConn would go undefeated for 7 seasons. I'm pretty sure some of those seasons UConn would be undefeated.

- It probably isn't likely that the BE is going to get much more competitive. Some of the teams have had success in the past, many not consistently. DePaul, and arguably Marquette, were good before they were in the BE. But the problem is facilities and money, particularly without football income. And it is unfair to compare women's facilities and men's facilities at many of the schools.

- But the truth is that this doesn't seem to matter all that much to UConn in terms of success. I get the argument that the more one-sided games do not help to prepare the UConn team for postseason, but as others have noted Geno does a good job of scheduling a strong out-of-conference schedule to balance this.

- The one disadvantage of the Big East is the lack of money that would be generated by football. That is the biggest advantage of a P5 conference.

 

[hjoerring]

During my pre -teen years when unhappiness overcame me with my family and I threatened to leave, my father sat me down and said if you are so really unhappy with living here why don't you just leave. Leaving would make you happy and your happiness is all we have ever wished. I am happy with this conference-- have always been. And I am not one of those who think a conference make a team bad. Some teams may, individually, have gotten better. But, there are many many bad teams in the so-called good conferences. I for one cannot see how better Uconn would be in another conf. Another conf. for these people usually mean the ACC, PAC-10(?), etc. What would be the excitement about playing some of those schools. Of course, we would be taking in a lot more $. But that comes with a pricetag.
Take my father's advise, if you are so unhappy become a fan of one of those schools in one of those conferences and you will be happy and your happiness would be all we could ask for.
Apologies for the irritation.

 

[Dokey]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, so I might as well. In the recently completed Pac-12 Conference Championship Tournament, Stanford beat their 3 opponents by: 39 pts (USC), 34 pts (OSU) & 20 pts (UCLA). Clearly, Stanford plays in a weak conference and needs to move to a stronger conference.....

Playing in a weak conference like the Pac-12 is probably why Stanford hasn't won a national championship in almost 3 decades, and even that championship came over powerhouse women's program, Western KY.....

Maybe we should consider allowing Stanford to upgrade their schedule by joining the Big East. Just sayin......

Of course, 6th place Colorado beat Stanford. What Big Easy team could actually beat UConn?

 

[Dokey]

Look, UConn isn’t going to move to a tougher conference. Have you seen it’s football team? There was one good football season when they thought there was a chance they could move to Big 12 but no invitation was issued.

 

[Adios]

3 reasons: football, football, and football
Don‘t you have Randy Edsal again? MD had to ship him out

Do keep in mind that the market is there to develop. It was once ruled by HYPP, overtaken by the NFL. The NY Giants were the first NFL team outside of the Midwest, if I am correct.

 

[Adios]

Look, UConn isn’t going to move to a tougher conference. Have you seen it’s football team? There was one good football season when they thought there was a chance they could move to Big 12 but no invitation was issued.

You don't know much about athletics administration. Have you taken a peek at our schedule as an independent and seen how much support we get from P5 conferences or schools for home and home series with P5 schools? Let me guess......

 

[Discograd]

No question UCONN WCBB belongs in a P5 conference. UCONN in a P5 has been discussed more times than I care to remember. Drop it. It ain't gonna happen unless football justifies it. Good luck with that one.

 

[LETTERL]

I haven't read through all of the comments...but it will take some time for the other Big East teams to improve and increase the skilled players on their rosters to give UCONN a challenge. Until then, UCONN will be the Queens, especially with what is coming down the recruiting pike.

 

[LETTERL]

When UConn joined the original Big East, the better teams were Providence, Seton Hall, Miami and Villanova. UConn quickly blew past them. Ultimately UConn’s presence boosted both Rutgers and ND recruiting to where they were real rivals and nationally competitive. Ultimately Louisville and to a lesser extent, DePaul got there. A few other programs became pretty good for more than one year, Syracuse, West Virginia, BC. Hopefully UConn’s presence will have the same impact on rival recruiting in the current BE.

Whoa! This confirms that my memory definitely isn't what it used to be. Was Providence ever really decent in WCBB? I've been following the sport for 40+ years but I can only recall a couple of years when they won 20 games. Looks like I've got some research to do.

 

[LETTERL]

We belong in the ACC. But BC will never let us in!!!!

I would trade BC for UCONN in a heartbeat. Boston College has no business being in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

 

[oldude]

Whoa! This confirms that my memory definitely isn't what it used to be. Was Providence ever really decent in WCBB? I've been following the sport for 40+ years but I can only recall a couple of years when they won 20 games. Looks like I've got some research to do.

The Friars had a pretty good team back in the late 80’s, led by their talented pg Doris Sabel. Sabel went on to a career in sports broadcasting, got married and changed her last name to Burke.....,,,,

 

[Fairfield Fan]

First off, let me say that given how incredibly well UCONN has played the past week, I would think the BY would be filled with mild euphoria. Color me surprised, and wrong apparently. Numerous folks are not following Geno's excitement about the team, how they progressed, and how proud he is of them. They are actually lamenting the smackdown UCONN put on Marquette. UCONN held Marquette and Villanova to 39 points, and SJU to 41.

Smothering defense both from individual accomplishments, and team defense, and I would argue it's more a testament to our great defense than "lack of quality competition".

Second, it is VERY unlikely that UCONN will EVER make it to a traditional P5 conference. But first let's look at the men's side. 4 teams in and 2 more on the first 4 out/next 4 out. So the BE had the potential to get 6 teams into the big dance. I know there are other "tougher" conferences, but the BE is no slouch on the men's side. So WCBB fans better hope that the women's side of the conference improves and gets better, like the men's side has.

This is UCONN's first year back in the BE. Other coaches have already talked about having to "up" their games both in coaching and in recruiting. The Big East could have gotten 4 teams in - UCONN, DePaul, Marquette and Seton Hall if not for Seton Hall's implosion twice against Creighton. Bodes well for the future. Many of the teams in the BE were decimated by injuries early on. There's reason to hope that next season the entire conference will at least be as competitive as a few of the traditional power conferences.

It's going to be a slow roll. I'm hopeful that all the teams in the BE will continue to improve, dedicate resources, get stronger players, and make the BE as competitive as some of the P5 conferences. It never happened in the AAC. I'm hopeful that like the men's side, the women's side can consistently get 4-5 teams into the NCAA's. Seems like UCONN, DePaul, Marquette, Seton Hall and at least Villanova are all trending in the right direction. Butler, SJU and Creighton seem like they are working hard to improve. The jury is still out on Georgetown, Xavier and Providence.

Bottom line - this is IT for UCONN.

Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin' each night of his charms
That won't get you into... a new conference.

You know, looking at the ACC, that's not a particularly strong conference. And the PAC-12 seems to have regressed back to its pre-Ionescu days of balanced and tough teams. Had Marquette been able to schedule better teams, especially late in the season, I should think it would have beaten a lot of SEC, ACC, and Big-10 teams. Same with DePaul pre-late season meltdown. (What happened to them?). Seems as though most conferences in WCBB aren't real powerhouses. BE clearly was vastly more competitive, top to bottom, than AAC. Big change from last year!

 

[oldude]

You know, looking at the ACC, that's not a particularly strong conference. And the PAC-12 seems to have regressed back to its pre-Ionescu days of balanced and tough teams. Had Marquette been able to schedule better teams, especially late in the season, I should think it would have beaten a lot of SEC, ACC, and Big-10 teams. Same with DePaul pre-late season meltdown. (What happened to them?). Seems as though most conferences in WCBB aren't real powerhouses. BE clearly was vastly more competitive, top to bottom, than AAC. Big change from last year!

There is also much better coaching in the BE than the AAC. Teams like Butler, Creighton and others make you work for everything you get. Many of the teams in the AAC would just roll over when facing UConn.