UConn is Now the Head of the Snake

[UConnRock]

For whoever wants to kill the Big East or whatever spin-off of the Big East that may form. If ESPN, the ACC, the B1G or anybody else want to really eliminate competition in both football and basketball they will need to do a bit more elimination (aka expansion)

The league that has been proposed (UConn, Cincy, Temple, USF, UCF, ECU along with Boise, UCSD, SMU, Tulsa, Memphis, UNLV ect....) can and will pose a threat for those who want media dominance. From a football perspective there are multiple BCS appearances (Cincy, Boise, UConn) and decent teams in strong recruiting areas (USF, UCF, SMU, UCSD, Tulsa). From a hoops perspective there is enough firepower to send ripples through the NCAA tourney (UConn, Cincy, Memphis, UCSD and UNLV all have histories with varying degrees of success.

This BE, NBE, NNBE, pseudo-BE snake has always found a way to morph back to life after taking many hacks with an ax. If the powers-that-be at ESPN, the ACC or anyother conference really want to kill this snake they have to take what remains of the head. That would be UConn and to some extent Cincy.

 

[UConnDan97]

I love everything you typed, but try to remember that UCSD (University of California - San Diego) and SDSU (San Diego State University) are two different universities...

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

as are Tulsa and Tulane....but either way, i love the thoughts

 

[UConnRock]

Mistake w/SDSU, but replacing Tulane with Tulsa should be done.

 

[SAMCRO]

The BE is dead. The ACC or ESPN or B1G or whoever has already killed it.

 

[ZooCougar]

As someone who grew up loving the OBE, the BE was dead the second Cuse/Pitt left. Mentality went from "if there's a better offer we'll strongly consider it" to "head to the MFing exits".

Reality is two different groups of schools with completely opposite agendas was never going to survive.

Go back even further. It was dead when Miami and Virginia Tech left. That set the conditions for everyone else to want to leave.

We never got past it, never addressed the root cause of the instability: The Basketball Schools, terrible management from Providence, and the fact that nobody trusted eachother.

 

[ZooCougar]

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Go back even further. It was dead when Miami and Virginia Tech left. That set the conditions for everyone else to want to leave.

We never got past it, never addressed the root cause of the instability: The Basketball Schools, terrible management from Providence, and the fact that nobody trusted eachother.

Very true. The conference did receive a shot in the arm when BC left but that wasn't strong enough to last more than a couple of years.

 

[ZooCougar]

No question, the root of the problem that caused the initial raid/departure (depending on your POV) was still there.

But in 2004 there were some solid additions (Louisville/Cincy) but once Cuse/Pitt there simply weren't enough valuable schools left and they were replaced by schools in the hunt for "markets" no matter the command of the marketshare.

If we go by what the public knows. Then yes. I had always heard that UConn had angled for the ACC in the 2004 raid. Everyone on the inside knew that Syracuse never wanted to stay and was gone at the first opportunity. They were rejected for reasons that were beyond their control, they wanted to be where they felt they "belonged".

Pitt was one of the biggest Big East proponents. They worked as hard as anyone to make the NBE work, they recruited TCU but were frustrated when they were rebuffed in the early goings.

It was a reminder that nothing had changed since before 2004. A bunch of boutique athletic programs from these stupid little Catholic schools had hijacked the agenda. They were benefitting from their association with us, but would never give the football schools the freedom of action to do what could be done.

And even then it wasn't enough.