UConn Flirting with Big East? | Page 4 | The Boneyard

UConn Flirting with Big East?

CL82 said:
You are a genius my friend. I'm sold! Now you just need convince the leagues to send us an invite.;)
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I thought we could just tell them... isn’t that what others are saying?
 
HoopsHoppy said:
Lavelie had a beautiful hook shot - either side - and went on to play for both knicks and Celtics. Used to entertain at half time playing his accordion. His hook was virtually impossible to stop in his day - although he was a bit of a string bean and might suffer against bangers.
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That's the shot. I used that one for years. It was/is(?) a very effective shot. I'm not sure who "invented" it; I thought it was Tony. Thanks for the info and memories of one that helped put BB on the map in Ct.
 
RegisteredUconn said:
  • Strong athletic department anchored by multiple programs with national championships. More basketball championships than any other university.
  • Strong academics. (Yes, those are important too).
  • Strong fan support/presence in an underserved section of the country (New England/NYC).
  • Strong brand/name recognition.
Football may be in the driver's seat today (hell, it might be the whole freakin' bus) but it is under pressure at all levels. UConn would be a nice insurance policy if interest in football goes into decline. I bet most, if not all, P5 conferences would trade one of their current members for UConn right now if they could.
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I've said that for a long time. Most of the teams in the P5 are only there right now because they are essentially grandfathered in. And they should thank their lucky stars that it is that way as there's no real (read practical) mechanism to kick schools out. The P5 conferences are stuck with many boat anchor schools that contribute nothing other than history, and I guess loyalty to the league. Some of the factors where UConn is better than many of the P5 schools are quality of academics, media market size, championships, recent success and the publicity that goes along with it.
 
Shmermerer said:
I would happily welcome UCONN to the Big East again. The AAC is making some strides, but the Big East has as well and is already more solid than the AAC. You add UCONN and I think it would boost recruiting for the programs in conference as well IMO.
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The Big East's only national team is Nova on the men's side. And that shining star is not too bright right now after loosing to Penn. They will most likely drop out of the Top 25 on Monday. The BE is not more solid than the AAC.

As to the women's side, you have DePaul and Marquette. We have already crushed DePaul and if we played Marquette, they would not fair any better.

Basketball recruiting for both teams would suffer. BE is not an option!
 
Can someone please tell me what makes Louisville more desirable than the state of Connecticut?
 
If you had the worst defense in the history of football, wouldn't you want to return to defend your title?
 
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huskeynut said:
The Big East's only national team is Nova on the men's side. And that shining star is not too bright right now after loosing to Penn. They will most likely drop out of the Top 25 on Monday. The BE is not more solid than the AAC.

As to the women's side, you have DePaul and Marquette. We have already crushed DePaul and if we played Marquette, they would not fair any better.

Basketball recruiting for both teams would suffer. BE is not an option!
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Ok so on the men's side. How many teams in the AAC do you think will make the tournament and how many Big East teams. Pretty sure that is a good indicator of what conference is more solid correct? 2 teams in the top 25 Marquette and Villanova and 4 other teams receiving votes. AAC has one team in the top 25 and one team recurving votes. It's not even close. Oh and 3 teams have a top 25 recruiting class coming in. Villanova at 6.

On the women's side, yes you crushed us; however, would you rather play USF who underachieves in post season. Or would you want to play a solid Marquette and Depaul in conference and shore up an out of conference game against somebody else? St. Johns played UCONN tough. Outside of UCONN, the Big East on the women's side is probabpy stronger. Conference RPI 4 and SOS 7. AAC conference RPI 8 and SOS 11.
 
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Shmermerer said:
Ok so on the men's side. How many teams in the AAC do you think will make the tournament and how many Big East teams. Pretty sure that is a good indicator of what conference is more solid correct? 2 teams in the top 25 Marquette and Villanova and 4 other teams receiving votes. AAC has one team in the top 25 and one team recurving votes. It's not even close. Oh and 3 teams have a top 25 recruiting class coming in. Villanova at 6.

On the women's side, yes you crushed us; however, would you rather play USF who underachieves in post season. Or would you want to play a solid Marquette and Depaul in conference and shore up an out of conference game against somebody else? St. Johns played UCONN tough. Outside of UCONN, the Big East on the women's side is probabpy stronger. Conference RPI 4 and SOS 7. AAC conference RPI 8 and SOS 11.
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I think the only advantage of the Big East is geography. Less travel, easier for fans to go to away games. Other than that it seems to be a bit of a wash. Big East is slightly better in mens and women Bball, AAC is better for football.

I think UCON is still a member of the Big East for Field Hockey. Maybe some other sports too.
 
Shmermerer said:
Ok so on the men's side. How many teams in the AAC do you think will make the tournament and how many Big East teams. Pretty sure that is a good indicator of what conference is more solid correct? 2 teams in the top 25 Marquette and Villanova and 4 other teams receiving votes. AAC has one team in the top 25 and one team recurving votes. It's not even close. Oh and 3 teams have a top 25 recruiting class coming in. Villanova at 6.

On the women's side, yes you crushed us; however, would you rather play USF who underachieves in post season. Or would you want to play a solid Marquette and Depaul in conference and shore up an out of conference game against somebody else? St. Johns played UCONN tough. Outside of UCONN, the Big East on the women's side is probabpy stronger. Conference RPI 4 and SOS 7. AAC conference RPI 8 and SOS 11.
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St Johns lost to Wake Forest..... WAKE FOREST let that sink in for a bit...
 
triaddukefan said:
St Johns lost to Wake Forest..... WAKE FOREST let that sink in for a bit...
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Oh believe I know! That doesn’t negate that they played UCONN tough. All in all I just can’t see how anyone can say with a straight face that the AAC outside of UCONN of course, is a stronger conference than the Big East.
 
Rocket009 said:
I think the only advantage of the Big East is geography. Less travel, easier for fans to go to away games. Other than that it seems to be a bit of a wash. Big East is slightly better in mens and women Bball, AAC is better for football.

I think UCON is still a member of the Big East for Field Hockey. Maybe some other sports too.
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I just disagree. The men are significantly better then the AAC. Especially this year and it’s even a down year for the Big East.

On the women’s side you have two top 25 teams you would get to play twice in conference. Villanova is no slouch either. I would take all 3 of those schools over USF. JMO.
 
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Butch said:
SMU men just won at Georgetown.
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Those are both average teams and their respective conferences. Georgetown isn’t one of the Big East’s teams in the top 25 or receiving votes. On the other hand, Seton Hall beat Kentucky last Sunday.
 
Shmermerer said:
Ok so on the men's side. How many teams in the AAC do you think will make the tournament and how many Big East teams. Pretty sure that is a good indicator of what conference is more solid correct? 2 teams in the top 25 Marquette and Villanova and 4 other teams receiving votes. AAC has one team in the top 25 and one team recurving votes. It's not even close. Oh and 3 teams have a top 25 recruiting class coming in. Villanova at 6.

On the women's side, yes you crushed us; however, would you rather play USF who underachieves in post season. Or would you want to play a solid Marquette and Depaul in conference and shore up an out of conference game against somebody else? St. Johns played UCONN tough. Outside of UCONN, the Big East on the women's side is probabpy stronger. Conference RPI 4 and SOS 7. AAC conference RPI 8 and SOS 11.
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You and I are going to have to agree to disagree. UConn to the Big East would be a huge mistake.
 
Shmermerer said:
Those are both average teams and their respective conferences. Georgetown isn’t one of the Big East’s teams in the top 25 or receiving votes. On the other hand, Seton Hall beat Kentucky last Sunday.
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Either way, we're not going to the Big East. P5 is the goal. The end.
 
Butch said:
Either way, we're not going to the Big East. P5 is the goal. The end.
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Fair enough. My point was never arguing the Big East vs Power 5. Power 5 has more money so that would be more logical. UCONN should go where the money leads and fit. Money = Football and men's basketball unfortunately. The state of UCONN Football won't get attraction from P5. It would have happened already.
 
Shmermerer said:
Fair enough. My point was never arguing the Big East vs Power 5. Power 5 has more money so that would be more logical. UCONN should go where the money leads and fit. Money = Football and men's basketball unfortunately. The state of UCONN Football won't get attraction from P5. It would have happened already.
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That actually is not true, regarding the desirability of our football program. Its a mess at the moment, yes. The problem was we were new to the FBS level. If UConn football is back on it's feet and historically we've been on our feet, in the Big Ten, a home game against Michigan or Ohio State would be electric. Our ceiling in the Big Ten football is higher than Indiana or Purdue. The game was invented in New England in 1874 and 1875; Princeton-Rutgers tilt in 1869 as the first game is a myth.

Tufts

Harvard played Yale next, thus, The Game. Game of gridiron football was started by McGill and Harvard in 1874, at Harvard.

Believe it or not, Michigan football rose after road trips here against schools such as Harvard, Yale and Wesleyan in the early 1880s.

It all comes down to coaching. Our fans should know that better.
 
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Butch said:
Can someone please tell me what makes Louisville more desirable than the state of Connecticut?
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Football....and their Athletic department's willingness to use hookers and money to make sure UL is good at sports
 
dwalks93 said:
Football....and their Athletic department's willingness to use hookers and money to make sure UL is good at sports
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Other than their dirty athletic department...
 
Butch said:
That actually is not true, regarding the desirability of our football program. Its a mess at the moment, yes. The problem was we were new to the FBS level. If UConn football is back on it's feet and historically we've been on our feet, in the Big Ten, a home game against Michigan or Ohio State would be electric. Our ceiling in the Big Ten football is higher than Indiana or Purdue. The game was invented in New England in 1874 and 1875; Princeton-Rutgers tilt in 1869 as the first game is a myth.

Tufts

Harvard played Yale next, thus, The Game. Game of gridiron football was started by McGill and Harvard in 1874, at Harvard.

Believe it or not, Michigan football rose after road trips here against schools such as Harvard, Yale and Wesleyan in the early 1880s.

It all comes down to coaching. Our fans should know that better.
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I didn't say anything about historically, I said the state of the football team. Historically yes, but UCONN football hasn't had a winning season since 2010. That's difficult to market to a power 5 school. The Big 10 took a shot on Rutgers and it backfired. Do you think they would take another chance like that?
 
Shmermerer said:
I didn't say anything about historically, I said the state of the football team. Historically yes, but UCONN football hasn't had a winning season since 2010. That's difficult to market to a power 5 school. The Big 10 took a shot on Rutgers and it backfired. Do you think they would take another chance like that?
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They don't regret adding Maryland. Maryland actually is winning in other sports in the Big 10. UConn's AD is more comparable to UMD's AD.
 
Butch said:
They don't regret adding Maryland. Maryland actually is winning in other sports in the Big 10. UConn's AD is more comparable to UMD's AD.
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Could be because of the television market share of the area. Same reason why they picked Rutgers for their market. Isn't Rutgers and UCONN in the same TV market? I'm not sure because I'm from the Midwest and live in Cali so not sure. Honest question.
 
The Hartford-New Haven market alone is the largest without a top tier pro team, if I am correct. Fairfield County is another 1 million people, close to NYC. Storrs is in between NYC and Boston, so UConn is also attractive to the New England market.

That's a lot of people.
 
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Butch said:
The Hartford-New Haven market alone is the largest without a top tier pro team, if I am correct. Fairfield County is another 1 million people, close to NYC. Storrs is in between NYC and Boston, so UConn is also attractive to the New England market.

That's a lot of people.
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Fairfield County is in the NYC market. Your are correct about the Hartford-New Haven market.
 
The Hartford-New Haven market is the 33rd largest media market, which puts UConn in a bigger TV market than most P5 schools. The Hartford-New Haven market is slightly bigger than Columbus OH. Of course the media markets in the northeast are fractured and generally only cover a small area because there are many cities, so it would be silly to think that UConn has no impact in the two adjacent media markets, New York which is the largest market covering the southwestern part of Connecticut, and Boston which is #8. There is also the smaller Providence market which is still the 53rd largest market.
 
You guys may find this link interesting. It's from a Times article several years ago that gauges college football fan interest by state and zip code. I know you're probably thinking more about basketball, but it's football that will get you in a P5 conference. This map is good for seeing your reach across the region.

College Football Fan Map
 
Oregon has so many bandwagon fans. And still no championship in football or basketball since 1939.
 
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